Grace Jones - Force Of Nature (2001)

Following the release of Grace Jones' 1989 album 'Bulletproof Heart', she made several comeback attempts throughout the 1990's, including the aborted 'Black Marilyn' project in 1994, but her next full-length record would not appear until almost two decades later. In 1996 she released the 'Love Bites' single, which was taken from the Sci-Fi channel's Vampire Week special, and in 1997 she started a collaboration with trip-hop producer Tricky and his Durban Poison label, recording tracks for an album to be called 'Force Of Nature', with a proposed release date of 1998. The first results of the partnership were 'Cradle To The Grave' and 'Clandestine Affair', but due to heavy disagreements between Jones and Tricky, the album was never completed, and only a scarce white label 12" single featuring two DJ Emily mixes of 'Cradle To The Grave' slipped out. To date, these are the only tracks to ever have surfaced of the three or four that they had apparently finished (Jones once said three, Tricky reportedly alleged four) from their sessions, and 'Cradle To The Grave' was later to be re-recorded as the title track to her 2008 album 'Hurricane'. Tricky himself had also previewed another version – one which he had remixed himself on a radio show that he hosted in September 1999. Despite the apparent demise of her partnership with Tricky, there still seems to have been some resurgent interest in Jones' career at the turn of the millennium, as she appeared with Lil' Kim on 'Revolution' from her album 'Notorious K.I.M', while a remix of 'Pull Up To The Bumper' by Funkstar De Luxe became a top 5 hit on the Billboard Club Charts in November 2000. In 1998 she'd re-recorded the classic 'Walking In The Rain' from her 'Nightclubbing' album, but of all the one offs she did during this time, her finest would have to have been 'Storm' from the soundtrack of the ill-received 1998 'Avengers' movie. With its epic orchestration and Jones' larger-than-life cinematic presence, 'Storm' sounded like the the Bond theme that she had never been given. Having signed a record deal in 2000 with an emerging web-based company, MCY.com (with planned distribution by EMI), things seemed to be looking hopeful once again. A prominent press interview with The Independent gave hints to an imminent album release, with appearances being cited by the likes of Roni Size, Stevie Wonder, and P. Diddy (or Puff Daddy, as he was known then). Around mid-2001, there were also some reports mentioning that 'Storm' producer, Marius De Vries had been enlisted as a co-producer on the project, but not long afterwards hopes of an album release seemed to be dashed with the project appearing to be all but scrapped. She did issue the single 'The Perfect Crime' in 2000, which was featured in the Danish crime thriller 'Rejseholdet', and in 2001 two performances from her character Christoph/Christine were included on the soundtrack to the TV film 'Wolf Girl' (a.k.a. 'Blood Moon'), but it was to be another seven years before she released the 'Hurricane' album, to generally positive reviews. Much of her music which was recorded during this fairly quiet period of her career is too good to be forgotten, and so by taking the best of her singles, collaborations, lost sessions and soundtrack offerings, we can piece together a pretty good album from just before to just after the millennium, with another earlier soundtrack contribution tagged on the end as it seemed to fit the loose 'vampire' concept.    

Track listing 

01 Cradle To The Grave (from the 'Force Of Nature' sessions 1997)
02 Love Bites (from Sci-Fi Channel's 'Vampire Week' 1996)
03 World Of Wonders (from the soundtrack of the film 'Wolf Girl/Blood Moon' 2001)
04 Revolution (from 'Notorious K.I.M.' by Lil' Kim 2000)
06 Storm (from the soundtrack to the film 'The Avengers' 1998)
06 Clandestine Affair (from the 'Force Of Nature' sessions 1997)
07 Walking In The Rain 1998 (re-recording 1998)
08 The Perfect Crime (from the Danish TV show 'Rejseholdet' 2000)
09 Two Sides To Every Story (from the soundtrack of the film 'Wolf Girl/Blood Moon' 2001)
10 Vamp (from the soundtrack of the film 'Vamp' 1986)

theaudience - Quiet Storm (1999)

theaudience were founded in 1996 by guitarist Billy Reeves, formerly of the indie group Congregation, and he was joined by vocalist by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, drummer/producer "Patch" Hannan (ex-The Sundays), keyboard player Nigel Butler (ex-The Bridge), guitarist Dean Mollett (ex-Porcupine), and bass guitarist Kerin Smith. After the release of a couple of well-received singles on the Elleffe albel, the band issued their eponymous debut album in 1998, which received critical acclaim and reached No. 22 in the UK Albums Chart. Four singles were released from the album, but shortly after it came out, their main songwriter Reeves left the band due to "extreme frustration", and subsequently their label Mercury opted not to release any more singles from the record. The remaining members cobbled together some music of their own, destined for an unreleased second album which was rejected by Mercury, and then they  disbanded in late 1998. Ellis-Bextor signed a solo deal with Polydor, but before she released any of her own music, her vocals were featured on Spiller's 'Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)' single in 2000, after which she carved out an extremely successful solo career for herself. Fans of her solo work soon discovered her old band, which led to a couple of the former members of theaudience giving around thirty second album demos to a fan, who uploaded fourteen of them to the internet as a bootleg CD, and it turns out that the lost second album, now titled 'Quiet Storm', is well worth a listen. 

Track listing

01 The Greatest Gift
02 How It Should Be Done
03 Day And Night
04 Headcase
05 Wisdom (Out With The Old School)
06 The Fool Will Rise Again
07 So Clever
08 Twilight Of The Teenage
09 Grey With Dusty Rain
10 You Will Do For Now
11 King Of Action
12 Repetition Kills
13 Two Way
14 Sanctuary Hill

Thanks to the sophierazzi blog for the remastering and for the original cover, which I've colourized.

Lana Del Rey - Baby Blue Love (2010)

We're almost at the end of the albums from 2010, with this penultimate collection.

Track listing

01 Caught You Boy (I Want You)
02 Dum Dum
03 Match Made In Heaven
04 Push Me Down
05 Be My Daddy
06 Never Let Me Go
07 Summer Of Sam
08 Off To The Races
09 Coca Cola
10 Other Woman
11 Baby Blue Love
12 True Love On The Side

Foxy Brown - Black Roses (2006)

Following the disappointment in the cancelled promotion of her studio album 'Ill Na Na 2: The Fever', Foxy Brown left Def Jam Records, and in 2004 she began recording new material, later reuniting with Jay-Z and performing dates on the Best of Both Worlds Tour. After signing back to Def Jam under his regime, Brown and Jay-Z began work on her new album 'Black Roses', with production by The Neptunes, Kanye West, Timbaland, Trackmasters, and Dave Kelly. Guest appearances were confirmed from Barrington Levy, Dido, Luther Vandross, Mos Def, Baby Cham, Spragga Benz, Shyne, Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, KRS-One, Roxanne Shante, and Jay-Z, although it was uncertain whether all would make the final cut for the album. In November 2004, Brown confirmed that the title for her upcoming album would be 'Black Roses', explaining that her best friend Barrington Levy has a song called 'Black Roses', and while he'd been traveling all over the world he'd never seen a black rose in any other garden, so when he found his black rose, he knew that shit was special. Brown identified with this, saying "you can have all the female rappers in the world, but there's only one black rose. I feel that's me." Brown also announced that she would be the first artist signed to Jay-Z's upcoming imprint record label S. Carter Records, although rather than launching the imprint, Jay-Z became the new president and CEO of Def Jam Records, where he signed Brown as one of the first artists on his new roster. 

On 08 December 2005, Brown announced she had experienced severe and sudden hearing loss in both ears and she had not heard another person's voice in six months, and so 'Black Roses' was put to one side while her health issues were investigated. In June 2006, she announced that her hearing had been restored through surgery, and that she was planning to resume recording, and although her label did not set a release date, she hoped the album would be out by the end of 2006. It was unsure if the title 'Black Roses' would be retained, but in the end that turned out to be the least of her worries, as in November 2006 there was speculation that Jay-Z was disappointed in Brown's "lack of productivity on the album", and was planning to drop her from the Def Jam label, and so the planned December 2006 release of 'Black Roses' was cancelled. In May 2007, Black Hand Entertainment announced a management deal with Brown, and although she confirmed that the album was nearly complete, the release would be six months later, on 06 September. On August 16, Black Hand Entertainment announced that Brown would leave Def Jam to launch an independent record label, Black Rose Entertainment, distributed by Koch Records, but despite the name of the label, 'Black Roses' would not be the first album to appear on the label. A brand new record titled 'Brooklyn's Don Diva' was eventually scheduled with a release date of December 4, although it was delayed until the following year, coming out on 13 May 2008, after many delays triggered by Brown's prison sentence, after she was jailed for a year in September 2007 for violating the terms of her probation after she was accused of hitting a woman with a cell phone. 'Brooklyn's Don Diva' included two previously unreleased songs from her shelved album 'Ill Na Na 2: The Fever', but none from 'Black Roses', which became yet another legendary unreleased record from the rapper, and although no definitive track listing circulated like that for 'The Fever', most reconstructions agree on about two thirds of the intended songs, and so I've added in the best of the rest to make up this version of this second cancelled album from Foxy Brown. 

Track listing

01 Intro/Dem Don't Like Me
02 That Dude/That Chick (feat. Mos Def)
03 In A Trap (feat. T.I.)
04 X-Clusive (feat. Stacy McKenzie)
05 Hennesey & Bacardi
06 Come Fly With Me (feat. Sizzla)
07 Mr. DJ (feat. Barrington Levy)
08 Boss (feat. Young Gavin & Mousey Baby)
09 Drugz
10 Too Ill (feat. Loon, Coke & Exo)
11 Ride Ya Bike (feat. Ron Browz)
12 All Night (feat. Lady Saw)
13 Why You Hating (feat. Red Handed, Young Gavin & Curtains)
14 Art Of War
15 Up Jumps The Boogie
16 I Don't Need Nobody

The Dream Machine - Mountain For My Head (2023)

The Dream Machine are a modern psychedelic pop band from The Wirral in Merseyside, and taking their name from a William Boroughs invention that recreates hallucinations similar to psychedelics without taking substances, the band was formed in 2021 after meeting at The Mosslands School in Wallasey. Comprising Zak McDonnell (vocals, acoustic guitar and percussion,), Matt Gouldson (backing vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, lap steel, piano), Jack Inchboard (backing vocals, bass) and Isaac Salisbury (drums), Zak's dad David McDonnell was a former member of Hoylake heroes The Coral, and so music was in his blood. After hearing an album that his dad had made in his bedroom under the name of The Sand Band, Zak started drumming in his first band The Mysterines when he was 13, and by the time he was 16 he'd left them and started to play guitar and write songs, and while working in Parr Street Studios in Liverpool, The Corals' James Skelly encouraged him to start his own band. After recruiting his school-mates and forming The Dream Machine, the band released a couple of EPs in 2021, and a single and a third EP in 2022, and they have just issued their debut album 'Thank God! It's The Dream Machine...' on Modern Sky Records, and it's great stuff. So much so that I delved into their back catalogue to hear their earlier releases, and I found that a lot of the music on them was not on the album, and so for a band who have only been together for a couple of years they already have enough extra material for a second record, and so here it is. If you like what you hear then do check out the album, as I think that they could turn out to be something special.    

Track listing 

01 Introduction (from 'Vol 1: Sacraments' 2021)
02 Jesus Babe (from 'Vol 1: Sacraments' 2021)
03 I Still Believe (In Jim Jones) (from 'Vol 1: Sacraments' 2021)
04 Days Of Heaven (from 'Vol 1: Sacraments' 2021)
05 Oceans Wide (from 'Vol 2: On The Water' EP 2021)
06 Me And My Ghost (from 'Vol 2: On The Water' EP 2021)
07 The Sea Is My Friend (from 'Vol 2: On The Water' EP 2021)
08 Taking The Reins (from 'Vol 2: On The Water' EP 2021)
09 Too Stoned To Die (from 'Vol 3: Pooch Slingers' Wild Round Up!' promo EP 2022)
10 Wild One (from 'Vol 3: Pooch Slingers' Wild Round Up!' promo EP 2022)
11 Om Kring (from 'Vol 3: Pooch Slingers' Wild Round Up!' promo EP 2022)
12 Peregrine (from 'Vol 3: Pooch Slingers' Wild Round Up!' promo EP 2022)
13 Yokozuna (b-side of 'TV Baby/Satan's Child' single 2022)
14 The Blue Rose (from 'Lola, In The Morning' EP 2023)
15 Mountain For My Head (from 'Lola, In The Morning' EP 2023)
16 Song To Betty (from 'Lola, In The Morning' EP 2023)
17 Trip Away (from 'Children, My England' EP 2023)
18 U-Train (from 'Children, My England' EP 2023)
19 Baby Run (from 'Children, My England' EP 2023)

Kitchens Of Distinction - Elephantine (1996)

Drummer Dan Goodwin met guitarist Julian Swales at college in 1980, who already knew bassist Patrick Fitzgerald from a party he attended in 1985, and the trio began rehearsing together, taking their name from a Hygena advert that Swales spotted on the side of a bus. The band's first single, 'The Last Gasp Death Shuffle', featuring Swales on lead vocals and bass, as well as guitar, was recorded in just one day on an eight-track in a Kennington basement, and was released in December 1987 on the band's own Gold Rush Records. It gained a 'Single of the Week' accolade in NME, and this led to the band signing with British indie label One Little Indian Records. It was around this time that Fitzgerald put his career as a medical doctor on hold to devote himself fully to the band, and their first singles for One Little Indian, 1988's 'Prize' and 1989's 'The 3rd Time We Opened The Capsule', both made it onto the NME Writers' '100 Best Indie Singles Ever' list, published in 1992. Their first full-length album, 'Love Is Hell', was released in April 1989, with Fitzgerald's impassioned, wordy, often bluntly personal vocals careening over what sounded like a mass of swirling guitars, even though the band only had one guitarist. Swales' chiming, effects-laden style of playing drew comparisons to the guitarists of the Chameleons, Cocteau Twins, and A.R. Kane, and the group's melodic yet abstract sound was a precursor to the shoegaze scene of the late 1980's/early 1990's. Despite the promising start, the band faced a subdued reception from the mainstream music industry, generally due to their lyrical content, such as 'Margaret's Injection', from the 1989 'Elephantine' EP, being a fantasy about killing then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Fitzgerald was openly gay, and his lyrics were unapologetic, especially on tracks like 'Prize' and 'Within The Daze Of Passion', but for once their label was very understanding, with A&M never asking him to change his words or closet himself in interviews. However, some indie-focused television programs like Snub TV and Rapido failed to give them much coverage, and they were not at first offered a John Peel radio session, although they did eventually did get one after asking Peel personally. 

The group had signed with A&M Records in the US in 1990, and went into the studio with producer Hugh Jones, with their second album 'Strange Free World' being released in February 1991, and spawning some moderately successful singles which were very well received by college radio in the US. The band went back into the studio in 1992, again with Jones at the helm, and their third album 'The Death Of Cool' came out in August that year, named in honour of the recent passing of Miles Davis, whose influential album titled 'The Birth Of The Cool' had been released in 1950. A&M were wary of the band's choice of 'Breathing Fear' for the first single, due to its touchy subject matter of gay bashing, so 'Smiling' became the album's initial single in the US, although 'Breathing Fear' was released later in the UK only. The band toured extensively, including a high-profile slot opening for their US label-mate Suzanne Vega, and in late 1993 they began work on their fourth album, co-producing it themselves with engineer Pete Bartlett. Their label rejected the album twice, but eventually both label and band agreed to bring in up-and-coming producer Pascal Gabriel to work on a couple of tracks, as one of the label's complaints about the album  was that it seemed to lack a potential hit single. Gabriel produced the new song 'Come On Now', that had been written after the rest of the record was already recorded, and he also remixed two of the album's other tracks. 'Cowboys And Aliens', was released in the UK in October 1994, and although the band admitted that they enjoyed working with Gabriel, his changes did nothing to help the album's dismal sales. When it was released in the US a few months later, it was largely ignored by the same alternative rock radio and media that had championed them just a few years earlier, and by the end of that year, both A&M and One Little Indian had dropped the band. Shortening their name to Kitchens O.D. and signing to the London-based indie label Fierce Panda Records, they issued the single 'Feel My Genie' in May 1996, but despite being named 'Single of the Week' by Melody Maker, the group officially disbanded that summer after a farewell gig at Kings Cross in London. Although I knew of the band's work, I didn't have any of their albums, and so this collection of non-album b-sides is my introduction to the group, and I must say that I was impressed enough to investigate their other recordings, so if you don't know them either then  give them a try. 

Track listing

Disc I - 1987-1990
01 The Last Gasp Death Shuffle ‎(single 1987)
02 Escape (b-side of 'The Last Gasp Death Shuffle')
03 Concede (b-side of 'Prize' 1988)
04 Innocent (b-side of 'Prize' 1988)
05 Into The Sea (b-side of 'The 3rd Time We Opened The Capsule' 1989) 
06 Elephantine (single 1989)
07 Margaret's Injection (b-side of 'Elephantine')
08 The 1001st Fault (b-side of 'Elephantine')
09 Anvil Dub (b-side of 'Elephantine')
10 These Drinkers (b-side of 'Drive That Fast' 1990)
11 Elephantiny (b-side of 'Drive That Fast' 1990)
12 Three To Beam Up (b-side of 'Drive That Fast' 1990)

Disc II - 1992-1996
13 Goodbye Voyager (b-side of 'Breathing Fear' 1992)
14 Skin (b-side of 'Breathing Fear' 1992)
15 Air Shifting (b-side of 'Breathing Fear' 1992)
16 Glittery Dust (b-side of 'When In Heaven' 1992)
17 Don't Come Back (b-side of 'When In Heaven' 1992)
18 Spacedolphins (b-side of 'When In Heaven' 1992)
19 Jesus Nevada (b-side of 'Now It's The Time To Say Goodbye' 1993) 
20 White Horses (b-side of 'Now It's The Time To Say Goodbye' 1993) 
21 What We Really Wanted To Do (b-side of 'Now It's The Time To Say Goodbye' 1993) 
22 Feel My Genie (single 1996)
23 To Love A Star (b-side of 'Feel My Genie')

The Lilac Time - Tree (1989)

In early 1989, the Lilac Time's record company Fontana/Phonogram asked the band to begin recording their second album, which the band had hoped to record at their country retreat in the Malvern Hills, although Phonogram insisted that it be recorded in a modern studio not far from the company's London headquarters instead. It was originally intended to be a double album titled 'Tree', with one album consisting of singer-songwriter Stephen Duffy's songs and the other one of instrumentals, primarily composed by his brother Nick. Fontana refused to release it in that format, and so the record instead became a single album, with the revised title of 'Paradise Circus', and made up of twelve tracks written by Stephen and one by Nick. Many of the instrumentals that were recorded during the sessions instead saw release on the b-sides of the singles taken from 'Paradise Circus' and its follow-up '& Love for All', as well as on the first album by Nick Duffy's spin-off band Bait. The sound that Duffy and engineer/producer Tony Phillips were attempting to achieve on the recordings was later described by Duffy as a "small folky sound without the de rigueur large ambient snare drums of the age", but as the recording sessions progressed, Fontana became unhappy with the music that the band had committed to tape, and insisted that they return to the studio to cut more commercial songs which could be released as singles, while also urging them to "Americanize" their sound - something that was reportedly parodied by Duffy in his song 'American Eyes'. Fontana also insisted that the pedal steel guitar was lowered in volume, as the wife of one of the Phonogram executives didn't like sound of the instrument (!!). As a result of this, which served to both annoy the band and delay the album's release, it didn't appear until October 1989, two years after the release of the band's debut album. When 'Paradise Circus' was reissued in 2006, its bonus tracks included an additional twelve instrumentals from the recording sessions that had been intended for the second disc of the proposed double album, and so I've extracted them and made them into a stand-alone record, with its own cover art of a Peking lilac tree. 

Track listing

01 Ponderosa Pine 
02 Night Mail/Dirty Armour 
03 Shepherd's Plaid 
04 Ounce Of Nails 
05 Spin á Cavalu 
06 Australian Worm 
07 On Milkwood Road 
08 Night Soil 
09 Rubovia 
10 Silver Dagger 

11 November 
12 Paradise Circus (Old Smithy version)

Lana Del Rey - My Best Days (2010)

And another collection from the prolific Lana Del Rey from 2010.

Track listing

01 Dangerous Girl
02 St. Tropez (Party Girl)
03 In The Sun
04 My Best Days
05 Afraid
06 Behind Closed Doors
07 Jealous Girl
08 Butterflies
09 So Legit
10 Dynamite
11 Noir
12 Velvet Crowbar

Nine Inch Nails - Purest Feeling (1988)

While living in Cleveland in 1987, Trent Reznor played keyboards in the Exotic Birds, a synthpop band managed by John Malm Jr., with Malm informally becoming his manager when he left to work on his own music. At the time, Reznor was employed as an assistant engineer and janitor at Right Track Studios, and studio owner Bart Koster granted Reznor free access to the studio between bookings to record demos, and as he was unable to find a band that could articulate the material as he desired, he was inspired by Prince to play all instruments himself, except for the drums which he programmed electronically. In November 1988 Reznor used his free studio time to record nine demos, some of which would later be re-recorded for Nine Inch Nails' debut album 'Pretty Hate Machine'. The first Nine Inch Nails performance, featuring Reznor and Chris Vrenna on drums, took place at the Phantasy Theater in Lakewood, Ohio, on 21 October 1988, with the band later supporting Skinny Puppy, after which Reznor aimed to release a 12-inch single on a small European label, having signed to TVT Records after several labels responded favourably to the demo material. After six of the demos were released in revised form on Nine Inch Nails' first studio album 'Pretty Hate Machine' in 1989, the original demo recordings appeared on a number of unofficial CDs in 1994, released in Germany, Italy and the US. The overall sound of the demos is lighter than that of 'Pretty Hate Machine', with several songs containing more live drumming and guitar, as well as a heavier use of film samples, and both 'Sanctified' and 'That's What I Get' could be considered better versions that those that were officially released. 'Twist' is an early version of 'Ringfinger', featuring different lyrics and less use of sample loops, and some of the songs re-recorded for 'Pretty Hate Machine' had lyrics cut from them, but Reznor chose to print the full lyrics in the 'Pretty Hate Machine' booklet to retain some of the original meanings of his songs. Because of the differences between these demos and the eventual sound of Nine Inch Nails, fan's opinion is divided over them, but newcomers should find them a good introduction to the band, while hard-core fans can now hear Reznor's original vision of his songs before they were re-imagined for official release.   

 
Track listing 

01 Slate (Intro)
02 Sanctified
03 Maybe Just Once
04 The Only Time
05 Kinda I Want To
06 That's What I Get
07 Purest Feeling
08 Twist
09 Down In It

I, Ludicrous - Preposterous Tales (2008)

I, Ludicrous were formed by John Procter and Will Hung (David Rippingale) in Brixton, South London, England in 1986, and their music satirized insular British society while remaining provincial and in-jokey themselves. They can be seen as a cross between The Fall and Half Man Half Biscuit, with the witty and acerbic lyrics of Half Man Half Biscuit intoned over huge Fall-like riffs, and they readily admit their Fall influence, which is why they are still popular with fans of that band. In fact, The Fall leader Mark E. Smith booked them to support his band once he heard an early four-track cassette. Initially restricted to a bedroom studio set-up, Procter and Hung recorded their first single, 'Preposterous Tales', and released it as a free flexi-single in Blah Blah Blah magazine. It was a comical observation of a self-aggrandizing man regaling a pub with his exploits, backed by a drum machine and a distorted guitar, and as usual I first heard it on the John Peel show and fell in love with it, especially when it made that year's listener-voted Festive 50. In mid-1987 they were invited to record a Peel session, an event which saw them became a trio with the temporary recruitment of Mark Crossley on bass, and in September 1987 the group issued their debut album, 'It's Like Everything Else', on Kaleidoscope Sound Records. The debt to the Fall was more apparent, with Hung's limited vocals and delivery sounding like those of a London-born Mark E. Smith, while the music restricted itself to repetitive riffs. 

A follow-up album was in the works in 1988 when Kaleidoscope Sound folded and took the master tapes with them. 'A Warning To The Curious' continued the mockery in 1989, taking aim at yuppies and television personalities, and it also marked the start of a short relationship with the Rodney Rodney! Records label. 'Light And Bitter' followed a year later, salvaging some of the songs from the lost 1988 album, and that same year saw a re-recording of 'Preposterous Tales' issued as a 10" single. Another label switch, this time to Old King Lud, occurred with 1992's 'Idiots Savants', a more accomplished set with better production and arrangements, and a lighter tone. Following this six year flurry of activity, the band wound down, occasionally supporting the Fall on tour in Britain, but not releasing any new material until the 'Approaching 40' EP in 2000, and 'The Museum Of Installation' album in 2003. The retrospective '20 Years In Show Business' was issued by Sanctuary in 2007, and in early 2008 the duo became a trio with the recruitment of former Voice Of The Beehive bassist Martin Brett, leading the band to go into the studio to record the 'Dirty Washing' EP, which came out later that year. Another seven years passed before 'Dull Is The New Interesting' surfaced in 2015, and then just two just two years later we were treated to 2017's 'Songs From The Sides Of Lorries', the final song of which was titled 'Obituary', so perhaps that's telling us something. I think that fans of both Half Man Half Biscuit and The Fall will get some pleasure from this collection of rare singles, EPs and b-sides, but if you are unsure then check out 'Preposterous Tales' and 'Three English Football Grounds' on Youtube, and when you've finishing chuckling to yourself then come back and download this album.   

Track listing

01 Preposterous Tales (flexi-disc given away with Blah Blah Blah fanzine 1987)
02 Quite Extraordinary (Peel session version 1987)
03 Mistakes (b-side of 'Quite Extraordinary' 1988)
04 Kick Down The Stumps (b-side of 'Quite Extraordinary' 1988)
05 At The End Of The Day (b-side of 'Quite Extraordinary' 1988)
06 Spock's Brain (b-side of 'Preposterous Tales' 10" single 1990)
07 Hats Off To Eldorado (single 1993)
08 Hacky's Wine Bar (b-side of 'Hats Off To Eldorado')
09 Our Mates (b-side of 'Hats Off To Eldorado')
10 Man's Man (b-side of 'Hats Off To Eldorado')
11 Football, Beer And A Cigarette (b-side of 'Approaching 40' 2000)
12 Autobiography (b-side of 'Approaching 40' 2000)
13 Away From The Rabble (b-side of 'Approaching 40' 2000)
14 Argument In The Laundrette (from the 'Dirty Washing' EP 2008)
15 The Highland League (from the 'Dirty Washing' EP 2008)
16 The Ruby Wax Song (from the 'Dirty Washing' EP 2008)
17 Chav It Up With Jeremy Kyle (from the 'Dirty Washing' EP 2008)
18 Finding Things Out About John (from the 'Dirty Washing' EP 2008)

Foxy Brown - Ill Na Na 2: The Fever (2003)

Inga DeCarlo Fung Marchand, known as Foxy Brown, was born on 06 September 1978, growing up with her two older brothers in Park Slope, a middle-class neighbourhood in Brooklyn. While still a teenager, she won a local talent contest, and members of the production team Trackmasters, who were working on LL Cool J's Mr. Smith album, were in attendance that night. They were impressed enough to invite Brown to rap on 'I Shot Ya', following this with appearances on several RIAA platinum and gold singles from other artists, including remixes of songs 'You're Makin' Me High' by Toni Braxton, as well as featuring on the soundtrack to the 1996 film 'The Nutty Professor'. She became an instant sensation due to rapping provocatively at such a young age, and this led to a label bidding war at the beginning of 1996, which was won in March by Def Jam Records, who then added the 17-year-old rapper to their roster. In 1996 she released her debut album 'Ill Na Na' to strong sales, helped in no small part by being heavily produced by Trackmasters, and featuring guest appearances from Jay-Z, Blackstreet, Method Man, and Kid Capri. Following the release of 'Ill Na Na', Brown joined fellow New York-based hip hop artists, Nas, AZ, and Cormega (later replaced by Nature) to form the supergroup known as The Firm, releasing their debut album on Aftermath Records. It boasted production duties by  Dr. Dre, the Trackmasters, and Steve "Commissioner" Stoute, and crashed into the Billboard 200 album chart at No. 1. She spent the first half of 1997 touring, joining rapper Snoop Dogg, pop group The Spice Girls, and rock band Stone Temple Pilots, for the spring break festivities hosted by MTV in Panama City, Florida, and then joining the Smokin' Grooves tour, performing alongside Cypress Hill, Erykah Badu, The Roots, OutKast, and The Pharcyde. 

Her second solo album was released in January 1999, with 'Chyna Doll' once again topping the Billboard 200 Album chart, equalling Lauryn Hill's record as the first female rapper to accomplish this feat. Two years later she released 'Broken Silence', but despite a couple of popular singles being released from it, it could only manage a number 5 showing on the Billboard Charts, although like previous albums, it did sell over 500,000 records and was certified gold by the RIAA. In 2002, Brown returned to the music scene with her single 'Stylin'', which was to be the first single from her upcoming album 'Ill Na Na 2: The Fever', and the next year, she was featured on DJ Kayslay's single 'Too Much for Me' from his 'Street Sweeper's Volume One Mixtape', as well as on Luther Vandross' final studio album 'Dance With My Father', but her fourth studio album stayed mysteriously absent from the schedules. In April 2003, Brown appeared on popular New York radio DJ Wendy Williams' radio show, and revealed the details of her relationship with Lyor Cohen, president of Def Jam Recordings at the time, and also with Sean "P. Diddy" Combs. Brown accused both of illegally trading her recording masters, and announced that Cohen had cancelled promotion for 'Ill Na Na 2: The Fever' over personal disagreements between them. 'Stylin'' was later released on the compilation album 'The Source Presents: Hip Hop Hits Vol. 6', but its parent album has never seen the light of day. It did get as far as a promo CD, but with no support from the record company it quietly vanished, and so here is the cancelled fourth album from Foxy Brown, which as is so often the case with these shelved projects, is far too good not to be heard.    

Track listing

01 Intro (Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood) (feat. Nina Simone)
02 Magnetic
03 The Original
04 We Makin' It (feat. Pretty Boy) 
05 Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep 
06 Open Book 
07 Memory Lane 
08 Jumpin' (feat. Fox-5) 
09 Streets Love Me 
10 Why, Why, Why?
11 All My Life (Black Girl Lost) 
12 Fan Love 
13 I Need A Man (feat. The Letter M) 
14 Superfreak (feat. Jazze Pha) 
15 Stylin' 

Lana Del Rey - Hit & Run (2010)

More from Lana Del Rey from the year 2010.

Track listing

01 Hit & Run
02 Backfire
03 Oooh Baby (Are You Ready)
04 Lift Your Eyes
05 Go Go Dancer
06 Girl That Got Away
07 Put The Radio On
08 She's Not Me
09 Driving In Cars With Boys
10 Break My Fall
11 Television Heaven
12 Scarface

The Lilac Time - Crossing The Line (2008)

Stephen Anthony James Duffy was a founding member, vocalist, bassist, and then drummer of Duran Duran, formed after meeting John Taylor at the School of Foundation Studies & Experimental Workshop at Birmingham Polytechnic. Together with Taylor's childhood friend, Nick Rhodes, on synthesizer and Taylor on guitar, Duffy was the band's vocalist/lyricist and bassist, but when bass player Simon Colley joined, Duffy moved to drums, eventually leaving both the school and the band in 1979, just before Duran Duran signed with EMI in 1980. He went on to form Obviously Five Believers, sometimes known as The Subterranean Hawks or The Hawks, and he made his first four-track recordings with the group, who also released their only single 'Words Of Hope' in 1981. In 1982, he created the band Holy Tin Tin, with John Mulligan and Dik Davis (both then of Fashion), Andy "Stoker" Growcott (of Dexys Midnight Runners) and Bob Lamb (original producer of Birmingham band UB40). Shortening their name to Tin Tin, they signed with WEA Records in the UK, and released the single 'Kiss Me' in 1982, to little acclaim in the UK. By 1983, Tin Tin had signed with Sire Records in the US, and when 'Kiss Me' was released over there it hit the dance charts, while a second single was released in the UK, with 'Hold It' stalling just outside the UK Top 50. After a stint of working in the US, Duffy returned to England and signed a deal as a solo artist with Virgin 10, now working under the name Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy. He recorded a new version of 'Kiss Me' which was released in 1984, this time only in the local West Midlands area, followed by a nationwide release of 'She Makes Me Quiver' which peaked at no. 88 in September 1984. 

At the end of 1984, Duffy recorded a third version of 'Kiss Me', produced by J.J. Jeczalik and Nicholas Froome, which was released in February 1985, and the song finally cracked the UK Top 10, peaking at number 4, and staying in the Top 10 for five weeks. His first album, 'The Ups And Downs', came out in 1985 and reached number 35 in the UK, while at the same time he formed a design office with his brother Nick, exhibiting paintings, drawings, photographs, and video at the album's launch. Dropping the "Tin Tin" from his name, he released the single 'Unkiss That Kiss', as Stephen A.J. Duffy, following that with the album 'Because We Love You' in 1986, for which he was credited simply as Stephen Duffy. In 1986, Duffy began writing and recording music that would become The Lilac Time's first album, released on Swordfish Records, with 'The Lilac Time' coming out in November 1987, and subsequently being reissued in remixed form by Fontana in February 1988. The group originally consisted of Stephen Duffy, his elder brother Nick Duffy, and friend Michael Weston, who recorded the first album together, with Michael Giri and Fraser Kent joining when the band was ready to go on tour. Their second album 'Paradise Circus' was released in October 1989, and was initially intended to be a double album, titled 'Tree', and consisting of one album of songs by Stephen Duffy and one of instrumentals, mostly composed by Nick, but it ended up being condensed into a single record at the record company's insistence. It's generally regarded by critics as being bolder and fuller-sounding than the band's first album, with a greater country & western influence. Many of the instrumentals that were recorded during the sessions saw release on the b-sides of singles taken from 'Paradise Circus' and its follow-up '& Love For All', but after its release in 1990 the band were dropped by Fontana. 

They were then briefly signed to Creation Records, with their sole release on the label being the 'Astronauts' album in 1991, after which the band temporarily split up, and Duffy pursued a solo career for a second time. In 1999 The Lilac Time regrouped with Claire Worrall and Melvin Duffy (no relation to the brothers), and after signing to spinART Records they recorded 'Looking For A Day In The Night' with producer Stephen Street. 'Lilac 6' appeared in 2001 on yet another label, this time on Cooking Vinyl Records, while the melancholic 'Keep Going' was released in 2003 under the name Stephen Duffy and The Lilac Time on Folk Modern. For the next few years the band took a break while Duffy collaborated and toured with Robbie Williams, and on his return the band released 'Runout Groove' in October 2007 on the Bogus Frontage label. In 2009 Stephen handed over leadership duties to his brother NIck, who released 'Sapphire Stylus' as Nick Duffy And The Lilac Time, while yet another label change resulted in 'No Sad Songs' coming out on Tapete Records in 2015, while their most recent record was 'Return To Us', appearing in October 2019. Throughout their career The Lilac Time have often added non-album songs to the b-sides of their singles, although these became fewer as the years progressed, and so this collection therefore concentrates on their most prolific period of 1987 to 1991, with a few later offerings added to the end. 

Track listing

Disc I - 1987-1989
01 Railway Bazaar (b-side of 'Return To Yesterday' 1987)
02 Reunion Ball (b-side of 'Return To Yesterday' 1987)
03 Gone For A Burton (b-side of 'Return To Yesterday' re-issue 1988)
04 Rooftrees (b-side of 'Return To Yesterday' re-issue 1988)
05 Rain On A River (b-side of 'You've Got To Love' 1988)
06 Tiger Tea (b-side of 'Black Velvet' 1988)
07 Street Corner (b-side of 'Black Velvet' 1988)
08 Black Dawn (b-side of 'Black Velvet' 1988)
09 The Queen Of Heartless (b-side of 'The Days Of The Week' 1989)
10 The World In Her Arms (b-side of 'American Eyes' 1989)
11 Crossing The Line (b-side of 'American Eyes' 1989)
12 Big Yellow Taxi (b-side of 'American Eyes' 1989)

Disc II - 1990-2008
01 Julie Written On The Fence (b-side of 'It'll End In Tears' 1990)
02 Cover (b-side of 'It'll End In Tears' 1990)
03 Bed Of Roses (b-side of 'All For Love & Love For All' 1990)
04 Oeil Biques A Bacs (b-side of 'The Laundry' 1990)
05 Only Passing Through (b-side of 'The Laundry' 1990)
06 Hurricaned Rice (b-side of 'The Laundry' 1990)
07 Bird On A Wire (b-side of 'Madresfield' limited 7" single 1990)
08 The Rain Falls Deepest On The Shortest Haircut (b-side of 'In Inverna Gardens' 1991)
09 Hard For Her (b-side of 'A Dream That We All Share' 1999)
10 Ratoon (b-side of 'A Dream That We All Share' 1999)
11 Talkin' Pessimism & Pain Blues (from the 'Happy Birthday Peace' EP 2008)
12 Run Out Groove (from the 'Happy Birthday Peace' EP 2008)