CD: John Harle & Marc Almond - The Tyburn Tree: Dark London

A dark cabaret show about London's darker thoughts

It's hard to countenance sometimes that there was an era where Marc Almond could have been a bona fide, chart-smashing pop star. His ability to parlay the archest of high camp and the most grotesque of low life into something digestible by genuine mass culture was, from the very beginning, quite uncanny.

CD: Damien Jurado – Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son

Concept album about loss of self from Seattle auteur is a game of two halves

Damien Jurado last surfaced as one of Moby’s collaborators on the Innocents album. From the sound of Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son, Beck might have been a more logical musical partner. Texture-wise, Jurado’s new release sits alongside Sea Change-era Beck as well as the dense, fuggy atmosphere of his own last outing, 2012’s Maraqopa.

Reissue CDs Weekly: Small Faces

Justice is finally done for the band Pete Townshend hails as ‘a place of joy in the early UK music scene’

 

Small Faces Here Comes the Nice The Immediate YearsSmall Faces: Here Comes the Nice - The Immediate Years

Reissue CDs Weekly: Love, Poetry and Revolution

REISSUE CDs WEEKLY: LOVE, POETRY AND REVOLUTION Gems aplenty on a journey through a Beatles and Pink Floyd-free alternate psychedelic universe

Gems aplenty on a journey through a Beatles and Pink Floyd-free alternate psychedelic universe

 

love poetry and revolution Various Artists: Love, Poetry and Revolution

Reissue CDs Weekly: The Best of 2013

Shadow Morton comes out from the dark

Despite his nickname and habit of doing a bunk, George “Shadow” Morton was one of America’s highest-profile and most distinctive producers and songwriters. He was responsible for shaping the sound and style of The Shangri-Las, Janis Ian, Vanilla Fudge and The New York Dolls. Until the release of Sophisticated Boom Boom!! – The Shadow Morton Story, the musical side of his story had not been told. A consummate collection, this significant release was pulled off with style. The packaging was superb, as was the annotation. Its music was amazing too.

Reissue CDs Weekly: Beachwood Sparks, John’s Children

REISSUE CDS WEEKLY: BEACHWOOD SPARKS, JOHN'S CHILDREN Early days of the seminal psychedelic space cowboys and the punk attitude of Marc Bolan’s brief home

Early days of the seminal psychedelic space cowboys and the punk attitude of Marc Bolan’s brief home


Beachwood Sparks: Desert SkiesBeachwood Sparks: Desert Skies

Album of the Year: Jonathan Wilson – Fanfare

A disconcertingly familiar musical dreamland which will last

It’s ironic that the album which has invited itself back onto the turntable more often than any other this year is wholly redolent of another time and place: the California of the early Seventies. Whatever the shortcomings of his live performance, on his second album Fanfare Jonathan Wilson fashioned a dense, atmospheric whole whose constituent ingredients were explicitly acknowledged – and not just by the identity of those guesting on the album. But it was also wholly original and showcased a unique yet disconcertingly familiar voice.

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