Music Reissues Weekly: The Long Ryders - Native Sons

THE LONG RYDERS - NATIVE SONS How the Paisley Underground scene nurtured Americana

How the Paisley Underground scene helped nurture Americana

Native Sons joyfully reframed musical styles of the past for the present. Even so, the freshness and oomph of The Long Ryders’ debut album meant revivalism was sidestepped. Originally issued in October 1984, it was a landmark in helping to nurture what would later be habitually defined as Americana. The word had been around, but Native Sons was pivotal to it gaining traction.

Music Reissues Weekly: Mike Makhalemele & Winston “Mankunku” Ngozi - The Bull And The Lion

Important, Apartheid-flouting South African jazz album from 1976 re-emerges

The Bull And The Lion was originally released in 1976 by Jo'burg, a South African label which opened-up for business in 1973 with a couple of singles and the first album by black singer Margaret Singana. Her debut LP was titled Lady Africa. The same year, the imprint issued the second single by Rabbitt, a white pop-rock band whose guitarist Trevor Rabin became internationally known when he played with Manfred Mann and then joined Yes.

Music Reissues Weekly: East Village - Drop Out

EAST VILLAGE - DROP OUT UK indie outfit whose profile should have been greater

UK indie outfit whose profile should have been greater

The album’s opening track is titled “Silver Train.” Built around a choppy acoustic guitar refrain, it features Hammond organ, spindly electric guitar lines, pattering percussion and has a vibe – with a gospel edge – suggesting a familiarity with Let It Bleed- and Sticky Fingers-era Rolling Stones. Or, in a different time, the Primal Scream of “Movin’ On Up.”

Best of 2023: Music Reissues Weekly

BEST OF 2023: MUSIC REISSUES WEEKLY When the past excites as much as a new thrill

When the past excites as much as a new thrill

In the Light of Time - UK Post-Rock and Leftfield Pop 1992-1998 was unexpected. Collecting 17 tracks, it brought a fresh perspective on a particular aspect of the UK’s independent-minded music. This ground-breaking, agenda-setting release was effectively the soundtrack to what has been written about post-rock.

Music Reissues Weekly: Hawkwind - Space Ritual

HAWKWIND - SPACE RITUAL 50th-anniversary box set makes the great live album even greater

Fiftieth-anniversary box set makes the great live album even more great

As Britain headed towards the end of 1972, pop fans had fair cause to scratch their heads about a single which first charted in July. In mid-August, Hawkwind’s “Silver Machine” peaked at number three behind Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs skiffle-esque “Seaside Shuffle” and, in the top spot, Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out.” Donny Osmond’s oleaginous “Puppy Love” was number four. At 11, David Bowie’s “Starman.”

Music Reissues Weekly: Brinsley Schwarz - Thinking Back: The Anthology

BRINSLEY SCHWARZ - THINKING BACK: THE ANTHOLOGY The agenda for new wave

How the wayward pub rockers helped to set the agenda for new wave

Typically tagged as the originators of pub rock, Brinsley Schwarz were where Nick Lowe honed his muse. But there were twists, turns and a waywardness which makes approaching them as a linear proposition difficult. Sometimes, they pointed one way yet then headed in a different direction. Next, off elsewhere. The complete-catalogue, seven CD set Thinking Back - The Anthology 1970-1975 encapsulates all of this.

Music Reissues Weekly: Chelsea - The Step-Forward Years

CHELSEA - THE STEP-FORWARD YEARS Fundamental to the birth of British punk rock

How Gene October’s perennial vehicle was fundamental to the birth of British punk rock

On 21 June 1977, listeners to John Peel’s radio show heard a song titled “Pretty Vacant.” It wasn’t a preview of the forthcoming Sex Pistols single of the same name, which would be in shops on 2 July, but a different song. The band lifting the title was Chelsea, a UK punk outfit whose first single, “Right to Work,” had been released on 3 June.

Music Reissues Weekly: Myriam Gendron - Not So Deep As A Well

The surprise reappearance of the Canadian stylist’s interpretations of Dorothy Parker’s poems

Myriam Gendron's debut album Not So Deep As A Well was originally released in 2014 by Feeding Tube, a US label run by the prominent music writer Byron Coley. When it came out, he wrote that she was a “wonderful if spectral guitarist and singer, whose signature sound was as light as it was intoxicating. This album glows with holism and is one of the most beautiful evocations of times past and present and future you will hear this year.”

Music Reissues Weekly: Soft Cell - Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret

SOFT CELL - NON-STOP EROTIC CABARET Marc Almond & Dave Ball’s landmark 1981 debut

Head-spinning box-set makeover of Marc Almond and Dave Ball’s landmark 1981 debut album

"Both of us have always enjoyed listening to dance music, and we wanted to interpret disco in our own way. We wanted to make good quality soulful electronic dance music, more biting than the usual bland disco stuff. We wanted to make records that would stand out in a disco and that you could listen to in your own bedroom."

Music Reissues Weekly: High Tide - The Complete Liberty Recordings

HIGH TIDE - THE COMPLETE LIBERTY RECORDINGS Heavy, dark and relentless

Heavy, dark and relentless music from the London underground of 1969 and 1970

High Tide were one of many late Sixties and early Seventies British bands unearthed in the early Eighties by record collectors digging into what came after psychedelia. The bands didn’t have similar musical styles but were united by their obscurity and having sold barely any copies of their albums. All were largely forgotten until their rediscovery. Ben, Gracious!, Pussy, Red Dirt, T2, more. Who were these bands? Who were High Tide?