Kula Shaker - Another Life (1999)

The origin of Kula Shaker can be traced back to 1988, when Crispian Mills (grandson of Sir John Mills and son of actress Hayley Mills and film director Roy Boulting) met Alonza Bevan at Richmond upon Thames College in South-West London. The two went on to play together in a band named Objects Of Desire, with an initial line-up of Mills on lead guitar, Bevan on bass, Richard Cave on drums, Leigh Morris on rhythm guitar, and Marcus Maclaine (then Hayley Mills' boyfriend) on lead vocals. In 1991, Paul Winterhart joined the band as replacement drummer, and during this period, MIlls and Bevan were also responsible for running the Mantra Shack, a psychedelic nightclub at the back of Richmond ice rink. The Objects Of Desire disbanded acrimoniously in early 1993, after which Mills went on a spiritual pilgrimage, backpacking around India, with the trip having a profound effect on him, fostering a deep interest in Indian culture and Hinduism. Upon returning to the UK he formed a new band named The Kays, with Bevan, Winterhart, and Mills' cousin Saul Dismont on vocals, and the band's debut live performance was at the 1993 Glastonbury Festival. Within a year, Dismont had left the band, to be replaced by organist Jay Darlington, who had previously been a member of several mod revival bands. 

After two years of touring and recording, The Kays elected to change their name and musical direction, and so in 1995 Mills suggested that the band take the name Kula Shaker, in honour of one of the twelve Alvars (saints of south India), the ninth-century Indian emperor and holy man, King Kulashekhara. He also said that Kula Shaker's music should follow a more spiritual and mystical direction in future, in line with his own growing interest in the philosophy of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. This new emphasis on Indian mysticism and instrumentation, dovetailed with the Beatlesque, 1960's derived influences already present in the band's music, created a sound heavily indebted to 1960's psychedelia. In September 1995 Kula Shaker were joint winners of the In The City contest (along with Placebo), which quickly resulted in a record contract with Columbia Records, who were eager to sign another band that had the multi-platinum, crossover appeal of Oasis. A debut single, 'Tattva (Lucky 13 Mix)' was released on CD and limited 7" vinyl in January 1996, but it just missed the UK Top 75, peaking at number 86. This was followed quickly in April by the band's second single, 'Grateful When You're Dead', a slice of Jimi Hendrix-esque rock which was to become their debut UK Top 40 single, entering the chart at No. 35. Music press and public alike finally began to take notice of the band, and this sudden exposure propelled the re-released (and re-recorded) 'Tattva' to No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart. 

The band's upward climb continued with their third single 'Hey Dude', a more traditional rock song which was only kept off the top spot by the Spice Girls when it was released in August 1996. September saw the release of the band's debut album 'K', which became the fastest selling debut album in Britain since Elastica's debut the previous year. The fourth and final single from 'K' was 'Govinda', which reached No. 7 in the UK charts in December of that year, with the song being sung totally in Sanskrit, and mixing swirling guitars with traditional Indian music. In 1997 they carried off the BRIT Award for "British Breakthrough Act" at the ceremony in February, and to celebrate they released what would turn out to be their biggest hit, a cover of the Joe South/Deep Purple classic 'Hush'. After playing T in the Park, Glastonbury and the V Festival, the band shifted their focus to the US, where both 'Tattva' and 'Hey Dude' were receiving some radio exposure. After initial disagreements with management, Kula Shaker resurfaced with the UK-only single 'Sound Of Drums' in April 1998, peaking at number 3, but the promised album in the summer of that year failed to materialise, and the momentum generated by the single was lost as a result. 

'Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts' finally appeared in March 1999, and was preceded by the single 'Mystical Machine Gun' which failed to make as strong an impact on the charts as their previous singles, peaking at Number 14 and only remaining in the top 40 for two weeks. The album itself received mixed reviews, and only sold a mere 25,000 copies in its first week, as it crawled in at Number 9 on the album chart. In June they played the Glastonbury Festival, and headlined the Lizard Festival in Cornwall in August, to coincide with the total eclipse, but in September the band announced their split. They reformed in 2004, with their first gig back together as a 3-piece, consisting of Mills, Bevan and Winterhart, taking place at the Wheatsheaf, Leighton Buzzard, England, on 21 December 2005, and in January 2006 Kula Shaker announced that they had reformed permanently. The new incarnation has released four albums and a few singles, but it's generally accepted that their most productive and innovative period was the five years between 1995 and 1999. During this time they added many non-album tracks to the flips of their singles, and this post collects them all together, to remember a truly unique band, with a sound that was all their own.  

Track listing

Disc I - 1995-1997
01 Tattva (Lucky 13 Mix) (single 1995)
02 Another Life (b-side of 'Grateful When You're Dead/Jerry Was There' 1996)
03 Under The Hammer (b-side of 'Grateful When You're Dead/Jerry Was There' 1996)
04 Tattva On St. George's Day (b-side of 'Tattva' 1996)
05 Dance In Your Shadow (b-side of 'Tattva' 1996)
06 Moonshine (b-side of 'Tattva' 1996)
07 Troubled Mind (b-side of 'Hey Dude' 1996)
08 Drop In The Sea (b-side of 'Hey Dude' 1996)
09 Gokula (b-side of 'Govinda' 1996)
10 The Leek (b-side of 'Govinda' 1996)
11 Govinda '97, Hari & St. George (from the 'Summer Sun' EP 1997)
12 Raagy One (Waiting For Tomorrow) (from the 'Summer Sun' EP 1997)

Disc II - 1997-1999
01 Hush (single 1997)
02 Hurry On Sundown (Hari On Sundown) (b-side of 'Sound Of Drums' 1998)
03 Reflections Of Love (b-side of 'Sound Of Drums' 1998)
04 Fairyland (b-side of 'Sound Of Drums' 1998)
05 The One That Got Away (b-side of 'Sound Of Drums' 1998)
06 Smile (b-side of 'Sound Of Drums' 1998)
07 Avalonia (b-side of 'Mystical Machine Gun' 1999)
08 Prancing Bride (b-side of 'Mystical Machine Gun' 1999)
09 Holy River (b-side of 'Mystical Machine Gun' 1999)
10 Guitar Man (b-side of 'Mystical Machine Gun' 1999)
11 Goodbye Tin Terriers (b-side of 'Shower Your Love' 1999)
12 The Dancing Flea (b-side of 'Shower Your Love' 1999)
13 Light Of The Day (b-side of 'Shower Your Love' 1999)
14 Ballad Of A Thin Man (from abandoned Bob Dylan tribute album 1999)

Tracks 3 and 6 on Disc II are from the short film 'Reflections Of Love'.

Mike Solof - Off The Beatle Track - Episode 55 (2019)

Time for another episode of Mike's radio showing exploring all things Beatles, and on this one he looks at how the blues influenced the band. 
The Beatles were not primarily known for their blues music, as they were more famous for their pop and rock songs, however, they did incorporate elements of blues into some of their tracks. 'Yer Blues' is one of the most blues-influenced tracks by the band, featuring raw vocals and a heavy blues-rock sound. While 'Why Don't We Do It in the Road?' is not a traditional blues song, it has a bluesy vibe with its simple structure and raw vocals, whereas 'For You Blue' is a more traditional blues track with a slide guitar and a 12-bar blues structure. These are all later tracks from the band's catalogue, but they weren't averse to covering old blues songs on their early records, such as 'Kansas City' or 'Honey Don't', and so on this episode Mike shows how what the guys learned in the band carried on when they embarked on their solo careers, with examples of how the blues broke through every so often in their later work. 

Track listing

01 Episode 55 - Beatles Blues

Cornershop - Straight Aces (2012)

Tjinder Singh formed General Havoc in 1987, while he was a student at Lancashire Polytechnic in Preston, and when he relocated to Leicester, where his brother and sister lived, he formed Cornershop in 1991 along with his brother Avtar on bass, David Chambers on drums and Ben Ayres on guitar, keyboards and tamboura. They first came to the public's attention in the early 90's, when singer Morrissey was being vilified by the UK music press after accusations of racism, and the band were invited to comment, with Melody Maker running a story featuring the band burning a picture of the singer outside the offices of EMI. Their debut release, the 'In The Days Of Ford Cortina' EP, was pressed on "curry-coloured vinyl", and contained a blend of Indian-tinged noise pop, but by the time they released their debut album, 'Hold On It Hurts', in 1994, their sound had mellowed somewhat, and Trouser Press described it as "a politically charged popfest, ten tracks of noisy delights that meld incisive social commentary with a firm hold on British post-punk." The album impressed David Byrne sufficiently for him to sign the band to his Luaka Bop label, but David Chambers left the band after the release of the album, and was replaced by Nick Simms. 

The band re-emerged in 1995 with the '6 a.m. Jullandar Shere' single, and a new album titled 'Woman's Gotta Have It', and they embarked on a tour of the United States, including some dates on the Lollapalooza tour. The critically acclaimed album 'When I Was Born For The 7th Time' came out in September 1997, and featured collaborations with Allen Ginsberg, Paula Frazer, Justin Warfield and a Yoko Ono/Paul McCartney-approved cover of 'Norwegian Wood', recorded in the Punjabi language. Rolling Stone called it one of the essential recordings of the 1990's, and it was ranked No. 1 on Spin's list of 'Top 20 Albums of the Year'. The track 'Brimful Of Asha' was released as a single, and it topped the Festive 50 rundown of John Peel's tracks of the year in 1997, leading to Norman Cook (a.k.a. Fatboy Slim) offering to remix the track, whereupon it became a worldwide phenomenon. In 2000, Ayres and Singh released a disco inspired album, 'Disco And The Halfway To Discontent', as part of their side-project, Clinton, and this album inspired the launch of the London-based clubnight called Buttoned Down Disco, which took its name from the third track on the album. Their next official Cornershop release was the 2002 album, 'Handcream For A Generation', which featured Noel Gallagher on guitar, but it was two years before they released any new music, when 'Topknot', featuring the vocals of Bubbley Kaur, appeared on Rough Trade Records. 

Another two year wait resulted in the February 2006 release of the single 'Wop The Groove', featuring guest vocals from Happy Mondays backing singer Rowetta, and in something of a pattern, their 'Candyman' was featured in the Nike advertisement for the LeBron James VI shoe, called the Six "Chalk", in 2008. Cornershop finally released the follow-up to 'Handcream...' in July 2009, with 'Judy Sucks A Lemon For Breakfast' finally appearing seven years after its predecessor, and both the album and it's lead single 'The Roll-Off Characteristics (Of History In The Making)' appearing on their own record label Ample Play. An album in collaboration with Punjabi folk singer Bubbley Kaur, of the 'Topknot' single, was issued in March 2011, with 'Cornershop And The Double 'O' Groove Of' receiving much critical acclaim in the UK. The band also set up the Singhles Club Club, a subscription service featuring a series of musically diverse collaborations and exclusive digital artwork. During the early part of their career the band treated their fans to a number of rare tracks on one-off singles, rare EP's and b-sides, but by the time the band's eighth album 'Urban Turban' was released in May 2012, and was followed in February 2015 by 'Hold On It's Easy', this had ceased to be a regular occurrence, and so this collection of those rare and hard to find non-album songs has to stop in 2012, with a reverential Beatles' cover from a 2012 b-side. It also includes a call-back to the hidden track from the 'Lock Stock & Double Barrel' EP, with their own take on the country tune 'Houston Hash', a discussion about Dixon's D90 cassette tapes, and a pretty straight version of the 50's skiffle classic 'The Battle of New Orleans', proving that they were a much weirder band than I ever gave them credit for!

Track listing

Disc I - 1993-1994

01 Waterlogged (from the 'In The Days Of Ford Cortina' EP 1993)
02 Moonshine (from the 'In The Days Of Ford Cortina' EP 1993)
03 Kawasaki (More Heat Than Chapati) (from the 'In The Days Of Ford Cortina' EP 1993)
04 Hanif Kureishi Scene (from the 'In The Days Of Ford Cortina' EP 1993)
05 England's Dreaming (from the 'Lock Stock & Double-Barrel' EP 1993)
06 Trip Easy (from the 'Lock Stock & Double-Barrel' EP 1993)
07 Summer Fun In A Beat Up Datsun (from the 'Lock Stock & Double-Barrel' EP 1993)
08 Breaking Every Rule Language English (from the 'Lock Stock & Double-Barrel' EP 1993)

09 Naii Zindagi Naya Jeevan (NME/Peel Sessions Singles Club 7" single 1993)
10 Inside Rani (Short Version) (b-side of 'Reader's Wives' 1994)
11 Tandoori Chicken (b-side of 'Reader's Wives' 1994)
12 The Safety Of Objects (b-side of 'Born Disco; Died Heavy Metal' 1994)
13 Rehoused (b-side of 'Born Disco; Died Heavy Metal' 1994)
14 Seetar Man (Clawfist Singles Club split single 1994)

Disc II - 1997-2012
01 Easy Winners (Part 1) (b-side of 'Brimful Of Asha 1997)>
02 Easy Winners (Part 2) (b-side of 'Brimful Of Asha 1997)
03 U47's (b-side of 'Brimful Of Asha 1997)
04 Returning From The Wreckage (b-side of 'Lessons Learned From Rocky I To Rocky III' 2002)
05 Green P's (b-side of 'Staging' 2002)
06 Straight Aces (b-side of 'Staging' 2002)
07 Wop The Groove (single 2006)
08 The Dixons D90 Series (b-side of 'Wop The Groove')
09 Houston Hash (from the 'Battle Of New Orleans' EP 2010)
10 The Battle Of New Orleans (from the 'Battle Of New Orleans' EP 2010)
11 Lynndie England (from the 'Battle Of New Orleans' EP 2010)
12 Love You To (b-side of 'Something Makes You Feel Like' 2012)

Can - Cannibalisms (1971)

It's well-known that Can used to set the recorder going every time they decided to play together, and previously unheard tapes have been surfacing for years, so here is an album of early recordings, two from the Malcolm Mooney era and one from Damo Suzuki's time with the band. 'Upduff's Birth' is very much as the title suggests, and is the full instrumental take of what was pared down to become 'Mother Upduff' for inclusion on the 1974 compilation 'Limited Edition', and this is followed by an alternate take of 'Man Named Joe' with Mooney on vocals, which later appeared in 1981 on 'Delay 68'. As the title suggests, 'Delay '68' was a belated issue of Can's very first album, then called 'Prepared To Meet Thy Pnoom', which no record company was prepared to release to the world at the time. Lastly, we have 'Tagothrowaway', which is exactly what it says on the tin - an out-take from the 'Tago Mago' sessions which was discarded when the final track listing was being put together. There might only be three tracks, but it's 55-minutes of classic Can, which any fan of the band needs to hear.     

Track listing

01 Upduff's Birth (studio 1968)
02 Man Named Joe (alternate take 1968)
03 Tagothrowaway ('Tago Mago' out-take 1971)

Team Sleep - Appolonia (2003)

Team Sleep started when Chino Moreno and his friend Todd Wilkinson bought a cassette tape Portastudio-type four-track recorder in 1994, and the two of them jammed and recorded the odd song while Moreno's main band The Deftones recorded and released their first two albums. DJ Crook, a long-time friend and roommate of Deftones turntablist/keyboardist Frank Delgado, added beats and turntables to 'Teenager', a song featuring glitch and trip hop influences, and although it was originally intended as a Team Sleep song, it eventually appeared on The Deftones' third album 'White Pony' in 2000. Team Sleep performed a number of live shows on the West Coast of the United States in late 2001 and early 2002, with Moreno, Wilkinson, DJ Crook, Verrett (of Tinfed), Zach Hill, Dan Elkan, Sonny Mayugba, and Joel Tidwell handling instrumentation. A full album's worth of material was finished in 2002–03, with singers Mike Patton of Faith No More and Melissa Auf der Maur of Hole being involved in the recording sessions, although their contributions were not included on the final album, being replaced by vocalists Rob Crow and Mary Timony, singing alongside Moreno. The debut album was supposed to be released in 2003 but was scrapped due to the premature leakage of demos onto the internet, following which the band split for a brief period, before getting back together and recording new material for the album. The new record was scheduled for release in November 2004, but Maverick Records were reportedly so impressed by it that they postponed the release until mid-2005 to allow for promotion. 'Team Sleep' was finally released on 10 May 2005, to mostly positive reviews, although only five of the original recordings appeared on it, with three of those being heavily re-recorded. Notably absent from the completed debut album were 'Mercedes', 'Appolonia', 'Iceache', 'Death By Plane', 'Solid Gold', 'Acoustic One' and 'Kool-Aid Party' (with vocals by Mike Patton), while a demo of 'Cambodia' was revamped and appeared on the album as 'Ever (Foreign Flag)', and 'Natalie Portman' was revised into 'Live From The Stage'. Following the album's release, the band toured and began posting various demos on their MySpace page, and by adding a few of those to the recordings which were omitted from that first official release, we can hear what could have been the band's real debut album, released some time in 2003. With their 2005 record just now receiving a deluxe re-issue, it's the perfect time to give their earlier efforts a try.  

Track listing

01 Natalie Portman

02 Solid Gold 
03 Boulevard Nights 

04 Cambodia
05 King Diamond 
06 Death By Plane 
07 Appolonia 
08 Iceache 
09 Mercedes 
10 Acoustic One 
11 Interlude 
12 Kool-Aid Party 

UPDATES 3

As usual I took a number of these albums on holiday with me, and on listening to them on headphones I heard a couple of things that I hadn't noticed before. 

For the Elvis Costello post 'The Imposter', I'd segued the two sides of 'A Town Called Big Nothing' into one track, but listening to it again I felt that I could do much better, so I've completely redone the mix.

The opening track on The Rutles 'Yellow Submarine Sandwich' was obviously sourced from a scratchy 7" vinyl single, and so I've found a CD quality copy to replace that. 

jman mentioned that there was a track that I could have included on my Family Cat post, as they recorded an otherwise unavailable number called 'Fearless' for John Peel in 1990, so that's now included on Disc I. 

And finally, not exactly an audio fix, but I noticed that the Tom Jones album was tagged as Tom Jnes, so if you can't fix that yourself then you can download the corrected file of that, and the other three, from Soulseek or Mega.  

pj

Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Albert Hammond (1974)

Albert Louis Hammond was born on 18 May 1944 in London, after his family had been evacuated from Gibraltar during World War II, and shortly after the war ended they returned to Gibraltar where he grew up. In 1960 he joined Gibraltarian band The Diamond Boys, which had no real commercial success, but played a part in Spain's introduction to pop and rock music. In 1966 he co-founded the British vocal band the Family Dogg, reaching number 6 on the UK Singles Chart in 1969 with 'A Way Of Life', taken from the album of the same name. He also wrote songs for other artists with frequent collaborator Mike Hazlewood, including 'Little Arrows' for Leapy Lee, 'Make Me an Island' and 'You're Such A Good Looking Woman' for Joe Dolan, 'Gimme Dat Ding' for the Pipkins, 'Good Morning Freedom' for Blue Mink, 'Freedom Come, Freedom Go' for the Fortunes, and 'The Air That I Breathe' for the Hollies. In 1970, at age 26, he moved to the United States, continuing his professional career as a musician, although his greatest commercial success was in mainland Europe, with successful singles on Columbia subsidiary Mums Records, including 'Down By The River', 'It Never Rains In Southern California', 'The Free Electric Band' (his only single to chart in the UK), 'Half A Million Miles From Home', and '99 Miles From L.A.'. In 1971, he also sang on Michael Chapman's fourth album 'Wrecked Again', and he worked briefly with the Magic Lanterns on recordings of his and Hazlewood's songs. In 1972 he released his first solo album, 'It Never Rains In Southern California', following the success of the single of the same name, and with his reputation as a successful songwriter already established, other artists soon wanted to cover the songs on it. A couple of them seemed a bit too idiosyncratic to be attempted, and so as there were two that have yet to be covered, I've added some of the afore-mentioned hits from 1971 to replace them.  

Track listing

01 Listen To The World (The Undivided 1973)  
02 If You Gotta Break Another Heart (Cass Elliott 1972) 
03 Brand New Day (Cindy Kent 1973)
04 It Never Rains In Southern California (Sonny And Cher 1973) 
05 Anyone Here In The Audience (Agnes Chan 1973)
06 Names, Tags, Numbers & Labels (The Association 1973)
07 Down By The River (The New Seekers 1972)
08 The Air That I Breathe (The Hollies 1974)
09 Freedom Come, Freedom Go (The Fortunes 1971)
10 Good Morning Freedom (Blue Mink 1971)
11 Mama Sure Could Swing A Deal (The Magic Lanterns 1971)

Low Roar - Low Roar (2011)

Low Roar was a project from singer/songwriter Ryan Karazija, who was originally the singer for San Francisco band Audrye Sessions, who were signed to the Sony BMG sub-label, Black Seal. They had attempts at EP's and albums, but they received mixed reviews at best, and so he re-assessed his life and made the brave decision to up sticks and move to Reykjavik, Iceland, where he thought that his music would have a better fit. Now recording as Low Roar, he released his self-titled debut album on Tonequake Records in November 2011, eliciting comparisons to artists such as Bright Eyes. Like fellow Icelanders, Sigur Ros, he matched timelessness with the cinematic, beauty and uplift with pain and harrowing melody, and there is a distinct Radiohead feel to some of the music. Recruiting drummer Logi Guðmundsson, the two toured Europe extensively, including early appearances at Iceland Airwaves & ATP Festival in 2014, and with the addition of Leifur Björnsson on keyboards, the band released their second record '0' in 2014. However, before the 'Low Roar' album came out in 2011, Karazija had recorded another set of songs which were intended to be the first release from his new band. When 'Low Roar' was released by Tonequake Records, this other collection was abandoned, but they are too good to be forgotten, so here is the record that Karazija wanted to be the first that the general public heard of his new project. 

Track listing

01 Aspirin 
02 The Gardener 
03 Big Parade  
04 Oh My God  
05 Voru2 
06 Son Of Mine 
07 Bergthorugata 
08 Build Up? Build Down? 
09 Not Where My Heart Is  
10 Samples 
11 Let Me Know When You Get There  
12 Butterflies 
13 Conscious, Not Really 
14 Idiot 

Echobelly - Here Comes The Scene (2001)

Echobelly were formed in 1993 by Indian-born vocalist Sonya Madan and Glenn Johansson, a native of Sweden who previously edited an adult magazine called Eros in his home country. Madan was born in Delhi, India, before moving to England at the age of two, and she had an atypical background for a pop star, with her upbringing making rock music an unusual choice for her as a youngster, attending her first rock concert while she was in college. In 1992 she first met Johansson in a pub, and after expressing her desire to sing in a band, the duo teamed up with bass guitarist Alex Keyser and drummer Andy Henderson, who had previously played with PJ Harvey's band. Guitarist Debbie Smith, formerly of Curve, came on board in 1994, and they named themselves Echobelly, apparently from the notion of "being hungry for something". With Madan and Johansson as the band's songwriters, they recorded their debut EP, 'Bellyache', on the independent Pandemonium label in late 1993. The favourable response to 'Bellyache' helped Echobelly secure a recording contract with Rhythm King, which was then part of Epic, and once on board the label, the group released the 'I Can't Imagine The World Without Me' single in June 1994. Their debut album 'Everyone's Got One' was released in October 1994, and reached number eight on the UK Albums Chart. 

As their music received more airplay, Echobelly won admiration from other artists as well, and Madonna expressed interest in putting them on her Maverick label, although existing contractual arrangements prevented that, and R.E.M. requested the group as the opening act for their upcoming tour. They returned to the studio in 1995 to record their next album, 'On', produced by Sean Slade and Paul Kolderie, who had also produced Hole and Radiohead.  Madan's lyrics often ventured into the less explored side of life, addressed in songs such as 'King Of The Kerb' and 'Dark Therapy', and while many of the songs lamented the state of things, others on the 'On' album celebrated the endless possibilities of the human spirit. Listeners in the UK responded favourably to the album, driving three singles from it into the Top 30 of the UK Singles Chart, and sales of the album rose to nearly double that of 'Everyone's Got One'. Health and legal problems interrupted the success of Echobelly in 1995 and 1996, as Madan experienced a serious thyroid problem during a world tour that was potentially life-threatening, but luckily it was later cured. Bass guitarist James Harris joined after Keyser defected because of personal and artistic differences, and the group also had disagreements with Rhythm King after the label moved to Arista, with Echobelly choosing to stay with Epic. In 1996, Madan also ventured away from the group when she sang on a recording of the club band, Lithium, and Smith left the band before the release of the band's third album 'Lustra', which was produced by Gil Norton and issued in November 1997. 

The group then went on a four-year hiatus, which ended in 2001 when they returned with the 'Digit' EP and their fourth album, 'People Are Expensive', which was produced by Ben Hillier, both of which were released on their own Fry Up label. 

In 2004 they released a fifth album, again through their own Fry Up label, with 'Gravity Pulls' being produced by Ian Grimble. In July 2009 Madan and Johansson performed an acoustic show in Manchester, featuring brand-new songs and older Echobelly tracks, and the new material turned out to be part of two mini-albums that had already commenced recording under the alternative name Calm Of Zero. Alex Reeves was brought in to record the drumming and percussion for the albums, and 'Acoustic Sessions 1' was released in January 2011 and 'Acoustic Sessions 2' in October 2012. In October 2015, Echobelly made a successful return to the stage, playing a sell-out gig at the 1,500-capacity Scala venue in London, and in May 2016 it was announced that they were entering the studio to record a new album entitled 'Anarchy And Alchemy', which was released in May 2017. Because they were around in the early 90's they were often linked to the Britpop scene, although they were more on the fringes of it rather than being one of the major bands involved, but they produced a lot of fine music, including many non-albums tracks on their singles, which are all collected here, mostly from their first five years, but also including a few tracks from their post-hiatus comeback in 2000.  

Track listing

Disc I - 1993-1995
01 Bellyache (from the 'Bellyache' EP 1993)
02 Sleeping Hitler (from the 'Bellyache' EP 1993)
03 Give Her A Gun (from the 'Bellyache' EP 1993)
04 I Don't Belong Here (from the 'Bellyache' EP 1993)
05 Venus Wheel (b-side of 'I Can't Imagine The World Without Me' 1994)
06 Sober (b-side of 'I Can't Imagine The World Without Me' 1994)

07 Talent (b-side of 'Insomniac' 1994)
08 Centipede (b-side of 'Insomniac' 1994)
09 So La Di Da (b-side of 'Close...But' 1994
10 Here Comes The Scene (b-side of 'Great Things' CD1 1995)
11 On Turn On (b-side of 'Great Things' CD1 1995)
12 God's Guest List (b-side of 'Great Things' CD1 1995)

Disc II - 1995-2001
01 Car Fiction (b-side of 'King Of The Kerb' - French version 1995)
02 One After 5am (b-side of 'Great Things' CD2 1995)
03 Bunty (b-side of 'Great Things' CD2 1995)
04 We Know Better (b-side of 'Dark Therapy' 1996)
05 Atom (b-side of 'Dark Therapy' 1996)
06 Aloha Lolita (b-side of 'Dark Therapy' 1996)
07 Holding The Wire (b-side of 'The World Is Flat' 1997)
08 Drive Myself Distracted (b-side of 'The World Is Flat' 1997)
09 Falling Flame (b-side of 'The World Is Flat' 1997)
10 Tesh (b-side of 'Here Comes The Big Rush' 1997)
11 Mouth Almighty (b-side of 'Here Comes The Big Rush' 1997)
12 Kathmandu (b-side of 'Digit' 2000)
13 I Am Awake (b-side of 'Tell Me Why' 2001)
14 When I See Red (b-side of 'Tell Me Why' 2001)

Madison Beer - Clumsy (2014)

Madison Elle Beer was born on 5 March 1999 in Jericho, New York, and appeared on the cover of Child magazine after winning a modelling competition at four years old. In early 2012 she began posting videos on YouTube of her singing covers of popular songs, and one of them gained the attention of Justin Bieber, who tweeted a link to her cover of Etta James's 'At Last' to his followers. This caused Beer to trend worldwide on Twitter and gain substantial media coverage, after which Bieber signed her personally to his record label Island Records. In September 2013 she released her debut single and music video called 'Melodies', which was written by Peter Kelleher, Ben Kohn, Thomas Barnes and Ina Wroldsen, and the video featured a guest appearance by Bieber. Beer then began work on her debut album, which was slated to have pop and R&B influences, stating there "will be slow songs, sad songs, happy songs, songs about boys, and songs about being who you are". She released her second single, 'Unbreakable', in June 2014 as a taster for her album, and in February 2015 it was announced that she was set to be a featured artist on a new single by DJ Mako titled 'I Won't Let You Walk Away', which reached number 19 on the Dance/Mix Show Airplay charts in the US when it was released. Two more singles followed in 2017, but there was silence on the album front, and eventually fans had to accept that it had been scrapped, and they had to wait until 2021 for her actual debut album 'Life Support' to appear. Some of the songs recorded during 2013 and 2014 have since appeared online, so if we add those to the early singles we can get an idea of what an album from the then 15-year old singer might have sounded like. 

Track listing

01 Melodies
02 (Don't You Tell Me) You're The One (feat. Justin Bieber)
03 Crimes
04 Possy
05 Do It Like That (feat. Justin Bieber)

06 Hit Me Back
07 Clumsy
08 Unbreakable
09 Valentine (feat. Cody Simpson)
10 Smile
11 Shooting Stars (Just A Plane) (feat. Tayla Parx)

12 Silhouette
13 Something Sweet

Sleeper - This Is The Sound Of Someone Else (2019)

Guitarist Jon Stewart met vocalist/guitarist Louise Wener at Manchester University in 1987 in a political philosophy class, and together they played in a number of bands at university, including jazz outfit the Lime Street Blues Band. After graduating in 1988 they moved to London to seek gigs, with their music becoming increasingly influenced by US bands such as Hole, Nirvana and, most especially, Pixies, and after advertising for new band members in Melody Maker ("Bass player and drummer wanted. Influences The Pixies and The Partridge Family"), they recruited Diid Osman and Andy Maclure. At one point, the band called themselves Surrender Dorothy, after the smoke trail in the sky from the Wizard of Oz movie, but abandoned this idea after discovering that several other bands had done the same thing. They subsequently chose the name Sleeper after the Woody Allen film 'Sleeper', and also because the word has a number of different meanings (a spy, an unexpected hit, etc.). In 1993 they signed to Indolent Records, a subsidiary of RCA Records, and released three EPs and singles before their breakthrough single release, 'Inbetweener', which notably featured UK TV personality Dale Winton in the promo video. Prior to the release of 'Inbetweener' Sleeper had been the opening act for Blur on their tour to promote the 'Parklife' album, and as a result they became embroiled in the whole Britpop movement. 

Their debut album 'Smart' was released in 1995, and was certified gold by the BPI for sales of over 100,000 copies, and it was followed by the platinum-selling 'The It Girl' which yielded four top 20 hit singles in 'What Do I Do Now?', 'Nice Guy Eddie', 'Sale Of The Century' and 'Statuesque'. In 1996 Sleeper recorded a cover of the Blondie song 'Atomic', which was used in the film 'Trainspotting', after Blondie refused to allow the use of the original version. The band's third album, 'Pleased To Meet You', was released in October 1997 and was a UK Top 10 hit, being certified silver even though it had fewer sales than the previous albums. In March 1998 the band split up, after a tour in which venues had been cancelled or downsized due to lower than expected ticket sales, and Wener and Maclure recorded material for a new project, aimed at a more mainstream market, and featuring a guest appearance by George Michael. However, the project was not completed at the time, and Wener went on to have a successful career as a novelist. Stewart moved to Los Angeles, California, where he played with West Coast band UFO Bro, and contributed as a session guitarist to k.d. lang's 'Invincible Summer' and Melanie C's 'Reason' albums. 

Osman subsequently went on to become a session player with Parlophone records band 'Dubstar', and Maclure later ran a "Punk Rock Karaoke" enterprise with DJ Steve Lamacq, but in 2017 Sleeper reformed to play in four British cities in July and August, as part of the Star Shaped Festival, alongside other Britpop acts including Space, Dodgy and The Bluetones. The following year they announced that they were recording a new album in collaboration with their old producer Stephen Street, for release in early 2019, and 'The Modern Age' duly appeared that year, and it prompted Wener and Maclure to compile some unreleased material from previous recording sessions, including the George Michael collaboration, with new material as the basis for a new Sleeper album 'This Time Tomorrow', which was released in December 2020. One of the band's claims to fame is that they were the inspiration for the phrase "Sleeperbloke", referring to the disparity between the glamorous singer Wener and the other frequently ignored members of the band, who tended to be far more anonymous and stood at the back, and Wener revelled in wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with "Another Female Fronted Band". But they also produced some fine music during their career, with a lot of it being tucked away on the flips of their singles or rare EPs, so here they all are, on a great 3-disc collection of rare and hard to find tracks by a mainstay of the Brtipop era.   

Track listing

Disc I - 1993-1994
01 Alice In Vain (from the 'Alice' EP 1993)
02 Ha Ha You're Dead (from the 'Alice' EP 1993)
03 Big Nurse (from the 'Alice' EP 1993)
04 Swallow (from the 'Swallow' EP 1994) 
05 Twisted (from the 'Swallow' EP 1994) 
06 One Girl Dreaming (from the 'Swallow' EP 1994) 
07 Lady Love Your Countryside (original version from the 'Delicious' EP 1994)
08 Bedside Manners (from the 'Delicious' EP 1994)
09 Tatty (from the 'Delicious' EP 1994)
10 Little Annie (b-side of 'Inbetweener' 1994)
11 Disco Duncan (b-side of 'Inbetweener' 1994)
12 Bank (b-side of 'Inbetweener' 1994)

Disc II - 1995-1996
01 Hymn To Her (b-side of 'Vegas' 1995)
02 It's Wrong Of You To Breed (b-side of 'Vegas' 1995)
03 Close (b-side of 'Vegas' 1995)
04 Paint Me (b-side of 'What Do I Do Now?' 1995)
05 Room At The Top (b-side of 'What Do I Do Now?' 1995)
06 Package Holiday (b-side of 'Sale Of The Century' 1996)
07 Oh Well (b-side of 'Sale Of The Century' 1996)
08 Atomic (b-side of 'Sale Of The Century' 1996)
09 She's A Sweetheart (b-side of 'Statuesque' 1996)
10 Other End Of The Telescope (b-side of 'Statuesque' 1996)
11 Spies (b-side of 'Statuesque' 1996)

Disc III - 1996-2019
01 Pokerface (b-side of 'Nice Guy Eddie' 1996)
02 Blazer Sleeves (b-side of 'Nice Guy Eddie' 1996)
03 Motorway Man (Artic Dub Mix 1997)
04 Come On Come On (b-side of 'She's A Good Girl' 1997)
05 I'm A Man (b-side of 'She's A Good Girl' 1997)
06 C*nt London (b-side of 'Romeo Me' 1997)
07 This Is The Sound Of Someone Else (b-side of 'Romeo Me' 1997)
08 What Do I Get? (b-side of 'Romeo Me' 1997)
09 When Will You Smile (b-side of 'Romeo Me' 1997)
10 I Am Not A Computer (b-side of 'The Sun Also Rises' 2019) 

Amelle Berrabah - Save Myself (2017)

Amelle Berrabah was born on 22 April 1984 in Aldershot in Hampshire, and is best known for being a former member of the girl group the Sugababes, replacing founding member Mutya Buena, who left the group in December 2005. She attended The Connaught School in Aldershot and the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, and it was there that she met her managers and formed the group Boo2, with her sister Samiya. In 2003 she won Top of the Pops magazine's Star Search, which gave her the chance to be the lead singer of a new group, but in 2006 she was brought in to replace Mutya Buena when she left Sugababes, having impressed their management when they saw her perform at an American showcase a few years earlier. The first single to feature Berrabah's vocals, 'Red Dress', entered the UK singles chart at number four, but because of the hastiness of the replacement, she could only re-record vocals for three of the tracks on the band's latest album 'Taller In More Ways', making the group a four-piece for this record only. They performed the 2007 Comic Relief single with fellow girl band, Girls Aloud, with 'Walk This Way' topping the UK charts. The first single from their album 'Change', the Dr. Luke-produced 'About You Now', topped the UK singles chart for four weeks, with the album becoming the group's second UK Albums Chart number one, giving them the top position on the singles and albums charts simultaneously.  The group quickly began working on the follow-up to 'Change', and 'Catfights And Spotlights' was released in late 2008, but it was their lowest charting album. 

After the commercial disappointment of 'Catfights And Spotlights', the group started working on the 'Sweet 7' album, signing with Roc Nation and working with their in-house producers in the US. Around this time, Berrabah also featured on 'Never Leave You' by Tinchy Stryder, which debuted at number one on the UK singles chart. In 2009 it was rumoured that Berrabah had left the group, as she had missed two engagements promoting the album, but it was later revealed that in fact Keisha Buchanan had been removed due to disagreements with Berrabah and Heidi Range, and she was replaced by Jade Ewen. Following these events, Berrabah checked into a European health clinic for a three-week stay, citing "severe nervous exhaustion". After the release of 'Sweet 7' in early 2010, Sugababes left Island Records for a distribution deal with RCA Records, and the first single from their next album, 'Freedom', was released for free in August as a gift to fans. A few months later Range announced that Sugababes were taking a break while they pursued individual endeavours. 

Berrabah began working on solo material in 2011 with producer Pete Kirtley, and in January 2012 she announced that she had been working on a solo album in Los Angeles. In May 2013 she confirmed she had nearly completed work on the record, and was looking to release the collection some time in the summer, having written every song on the album apart from two. 'Summertime' was released as the lead single on 21 September 2014, and around this time she also made a series of appearances on reality TV competitions, competing in the BBC celebrity gymnastics show Tumble (with professional partner Douglas Fordyce) in mid-2014, and Celebrity Masterchef in 2016. This effectively put her musical career on hold, as when she listened back to the album, she realised that the music she had made over the previous two years was not to her taste, and so she scrapped the whole record. In 2019 she made her theatre debut with the jukebox musical Club Tropicana, and in January 2022 she was announced as the presenter of the late show on Milton Keynes radio station MKFM, so it looks like it's unlikely that she will ever release an album. That being the case, here is your chance to hear the only one that she made, and to decide if it was as bad as she thought it was.  

Track listing

01 Come On
02 So Complete
03 Never Leave You (feat. Tinchy Stryder)
04 Silly Cow
05 Runaway (feat. Beenie Man)
06 Save Myself
07 How Beautiful My Love Is
08 Testify (feat. K-Syran)
09 Summertime
10 Love Is All We Need (feat. Adam J)
11 Shelter
12 God Won't Save U Now (feat. BBX)

Malik Pendleton - Look Around (1999)

"Zavy Kid" Malik Pendleton is the professional name of Charles Pendleton, and after serving an 11 month sentence in a North Carolina prison for illegal street activities, he got his act together and pursued his true calling in music, which was song-writing. In a productive four year period he penned lyrics for R&B artists like 702, Diana Ross, SWV, George Benson and Zhane, and his teamwork with R&B diva Mary J. Blige on 'Seven Days' for her 1997 album 'Share My World' earned him a 1999 Rhythm & Soul Music Award from the American Society Of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. He also wrote four songs for Diana Ross's 1999 album 'Every Day Is A New Day', including the title track, and that same year he stepped out from the production boards and recorded his own album titled 'Look Around'. The title track was released as a single by Atlantic Records, but despite the beautiful vocals and soulful beds of R&B on the album, Atlantic decided to cancel it, and it remains unreleased to this day. So that we don't miss out on yet another excellent shelved R&B record, here is Malik Pendleton's cancelled debut from 1999. 

Track listing 

01 Bad Ass Little Kid
02 You Remind Me 
03 Look Around 
04 Gonna Love You Anyway
05 Little Bro/Little Sis (feat. Mary J. Blige) 
06 Sum Supa Soul Song
07 No Longer Home 
08 She's Got Papers
09 Lucky Guy
10 February-March 
11 Ain't No Sunshine
12 Make It Right
13 I'm Still Winning
14 You're All I've Got 
15 Little Ghetto Boy