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.
cherry red records
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.
Staring at the Rude Boys: The British Ska Revival 1979-1989
Cherry Red’s latest superb compilation, Staring at the Rude Boys, highlights big hits and lost tracks from the British ska revival.
Buzzcocks Beat the Bootleggers with ‘Late for the Train’
Buzzcocks' Late for the Train features concert recordings and radio sessions from the second age of punk rock's most resilient romantics.
‘Stratoplay’ Revels in the Delicious New Wave of the Revillos
Cherry Red Records' six-disc Revillos compilation, Stratoplay, successfully charts the convoluted history of Scottish new wave sensations.
Judie Tzuke’s ‘The Chrysalis Recordings’ Highlights Her Early ‘80s Transition to Synthpop
One day, perhaps, the collected works of Judie Tzuke, one of the United Kingdom's most prolific, long-serving, and interesting singer-songwriters, may be seriously reappraised. Until then, dive into The Chrysalis Recordings.
2011’s ‘A Different Compilation’ and 2014 Album ‘The Way’ Are a Fitting Full Stop to Buzzcocks Past
In the conclusion of our survey of the post-reformation career of Buzzcocks, PopMatters looks at the final two discs of Cherry Red Records' comprehensive retrospective box-set.
The Fall Go Transatlantic with ‘Reformation! Post-TLC’
The Fall's Reformation! Post-TLC, originally released in 2007, teams Mark E. Smith with an almost all-American band, who he subsequently fired after a few months, leaving just one record and a few questions behind.
2006’s ‘Flat-Pack Philosophy’ Saw Buzzcocks Determined to Build Something of Quality
With a four-decade career under their belt, on the sixth disc in the new box-set Sell You Everything, it's heartening to see Buzzcocks refusing to settle for an album that didn't try something new.