Joe Meek and the Blue Men See the Future on Essential Outtake Compilation
Joe Meek and the Blue Men’s I Hear a New World Sessions delves into Meek’s famed archive and delivers on the promise of an “Alternative Outer Space Fantasy”.
cherry red records
The Auteurs’ New Box Set Neatly Slims Down Their Legacy
While Luke Haines’ morbid British rock outfit is happy as a cult act, this box set, repackaging their 2014 reissues, makes a case for the Auteurs’ greatness.
British ToyTown Pop Anyone? ‘Climb Aboard My Roundabout’
Grab your copy of Climb Aboard My Roundabout! The British Toytown Sound 1967-1974 and settle down to listen to three CDs of pre-pubescent pop.
Luke Haines and Peter Buck Subvert Alt-Rock with ‘All the Kids Are Super Bummed Out’
Luke Haines and Peter Buck’s All the Kids Are Super Bummed Out is a weird jumble of pop art, lo-fi, and gallows humor thrown in a bucket and left unattended.
‘Howard Jones at the BBC’ Looks at a Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man
Howard Jones at the BBC highlights the new wave and synthpop star’s early ascension and the role of BBC Radio in his discovery and development.
The Beau Brummels ‘Turn Around’ As a California British Invasion Band
The Beau Brummels’ Turn Around: The Complete Recordings (1964-1970) presents the San Francisco band in all of their folk-rock glory.
Various Artists: Musik Music Musique 2.0 – 1981
This 51-track compendium of 1981-vintage synthpop tries mighty hard but ultimately falls short. Licensing issues likely kept some of 1981’s best from this set.
The Stooges Remained Musically Powerful on the Verge of Total Collapse
These recordings still carry that talismanic “lost album” energy that makes one wonder what a fit and healthy Stooges might have done next.
Level 42 Deliver a Masterclass of Aspirational 1980s Pop
Level 42 started off wanting to be Return to Forever and ended up next to Culture Club and Spandau Ballet in the top 40. How did that happen?
It’s 1981. I’m Hip. I’m British. But What Am I Dancing To? ‘Shake the Foundations’ Will Tell You
Cherry Red’s Shake the Foundations: Militant Funk and the Post-Punk Dancefloor 1978-1984 is a beginner’s guide to pre-millennial, UK cool.
L7’s Major Label Catalog Is Salvaged From Out-Of-Print Limbo With 3-CD Box
L7’s new box set Wargasm: ‘The Slash Years 1992-1997’ reminds us how essential the band’s classic material was—and still is.
Luke Haines ‘Setting the Dogs on the Post-Punk Postman’
You get all the good stuff on Luke Haines’ Setting the Dogs on the Post-Punk Postman: oblique references, great tunes, and lyrics often laugh-out-loud funny.
