Located at 30 Berwick Street in London, Reckless Records packs a lot of cool stuff into a small space. The place had a lot of customers while I was there, most of them flipping through the extensive racks of vinyl in the building.
As you can see, they had nearly an entire wall of rare “white label” pressings, and I love that they have a section called “Cheaps.” Don’t worry, fellow CD lovers, they have those, too.
I wasn’t sure where to begin, but I ended up scoring a Julian Cope EP I’d never seen before, so that was a win. I was short on time, too, so I didn’t get to spend as much time in there as I’d like to have spent. This was probably better for my wallet, too, but I’d be happy to go back there. Be sure to check it out if you’re in London.
It’s a good thing I don’t live in London, because I would be perpetually broke from spending so much money at Sister Ray Records at 75 Berwick Street in Soho.
Not only is their collection extensive and widely varied, but the bargains to be had there are second to none.
This is a tiny sample of what they had to offer. They had any genre you wanted, and a lot of great collections for dirt cheap prices. I scored a three-disc house music collection for not even eight bucks, an Ian Dury three-CD anthology, a Jam collection, a live Julian Copealbum, a remastered version of Psychedelic Furs‘ Talk Talk Talk album, a Viagra Boys album, and a live album by The Damned. The Julian Cope disc was the most expensive thing I bought, and that was barely twelve dollars after the price conversion from British pounds. They had a staggering number of multi-disc collections for under ten pounds each.
There was a lot more I wanted, and I barely even looked in their basement.
CDs upstairs, vinyl downstairs. Both floors have enough in the racks to keep you busy for hours. I could’ve stayed there until they closed the doors, and, again, the prices are stunning.
Do not miss this place if you’re ever in London. It’s a must-stop for music lovers and collectors.
Chock-full of floor-filling beats and sexy grooves, Movement Remixesis a collection of eight tracks by Gimenö done by DJ and producer pals of his. It’s difficult to choose a favorite because they’re all good.
Vøsne‘s dub remix of “@cid” builds like the effects of something you took earlier but aren’t sure if it’s working. It is. It builds into a thumping, bumping, humping dance track. Vøsne also has a “regular” remix of the same track later on the EP that’s sexy and menacing at the same time. Reeko remixes “It’s my break” into something you’ll want to crank during your lunch break in the storeroom so you can drown out those Black Friday customers and your boss’ ridiculous demands…and then play the song for your boss so he / she / they can forget their stress for a little while.
The Hd Substance remix of “DT001” percolates for a bit to let you know you’re about to receive a hot, energizing brew. Avox25‘s remix of “Old Trib” buzzes and crackles with industrial touches and racing heartbeat rhythms. Jorge Ciccioli turns “Movement” into something you might hear at a haunted attraction next year. Klint‘s remix of “Day One” is something you might hear at an underground club that features both dancing and bare-knuckle boxing.
Edgar De Ramon piles on the electro-cymbals and hi-hats on his remix of “Ports.” The last cut is, appropriately, RE-ST‘s remix of “Finale.” It doesn’t send you out on a mellow note, however. It keeps you dancing, reminding you of the energy this record’s given you, and tempting you to just play the thing on a loop for an hour or more.
There isn’t a bad mix on here. Don’t miss it.
[Move over to the subscription box before you leave.]
I was on my way back from a road trip to Atlanta and had time to stop in Louisville, Kentucky on the return route to catch the recently reunited Nashville punters Be Your Own Pet. I was late to the news that they’d reformed, let alone were touring and had a new album, so I was happy to have the chance to see them for the first time.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get there in time to see local rockers Zerg Rush, and Birthday Girlwere already a few songs into their set. Birthday Girl play a wild mix of post-punk, power pop, and some kind of art rock. I mean, they even have a cellist in the band – who adds a great extra bass line to all the tracks.
Birthday Girl
Be Your Own Pet came out blazing, with classic tracks like “Zombie Graveyard Party,” “Food Fight,” and “The Kelly Affair,” and tracks from their new album like “Hand Grenade,” “Goodtime!”, and “Worship the Whip” (the title of which was emblazoned on lead singer Jemina Pearl‘s shirt).
Worshipping the whip.
Not only was BYOP’s set fiery, crazy, and downright frenetic, it was also free of any set list. A good portion of it was done on the fly, with band members suggesting songs to each other as they went or taking audience requests. This led to guitarist Jonas Stein saying, “Call it out.” to Pearl, who immediately said, “Girl U Want,” and then they launched into the Devo cover as easily as crossing the street.
Don’t miss them if they’re near you. It’s a wild show, and it’s great to have them back after fourteen years.
Tuareg music legends Tinariwen are known for not only hypnotizing guitar work and mesmerizing percussion, but also soulful lyrics about their homeland uniting in peace – and the rest of the world with it. Their latest album, Amatssou (“Beyond the Fear”), is no exception.
The album opens with simple chords and chant-like lyrics on “Ken Arghalm,” and then the wicked, wonderful hand percussion comes in and soon you’re dancing around a fire…or your living room. “Tenere Den” crackles like sparking wood in that campfire, and the addition of violin to it is a great touch. The call for unity is strong on “Arajghiyine,” in which Ibrahim Ag Alhabib sings “Dear brothers, all rest. All leisure will always be far reach unless your homeland is liberated and all the elders can live there in dignity.”
“Tidjit” has the kind of Tuareg rhythm that no other culture can seem to recreate. It lifts you up and you feel like you’re drifting on warm wind. If you want to continue this feeling, listen to “Jayche Atark” while watching drone camera footage of the American southwestern desert (where Tinariwen recorded their last album). This happened to me when my laptop PC’s screensaver kicked on during the track and I was immediately hypnotized by the perfect blend of imagery and (North African) desert sounds.
“Imidiwan Mahitinam” makes you want to dance, or at the very least clap along to it while admiring the smooth guitar solo. “Ezlan” is perfect for morning yoga, and “Anemouhagh” is perfect for a morning run. The beat on “Iket Adjen” seems odd at first, but it makes perfect sense when the vocals, handclaps, and acoustic guitars join it. “Nak Idnizdjam” and the mantra-like outro send the album, and us, off on a spiritual high.
It’s another solid record from a band who makes nothing but solid records, and a wonderful journey across the desert of your choice.
I took a friend to see three crazy bands in Indianapolis not long ago. Those bands were new wave / no wave punk rockers Playboy Manbaby, Transformer rockers The Cybertronic Spree, and “drive-thru metal” giants Mac Sabbath. He had no idea what to expect, and is pretty much a 1980s metal guy. He’d heard from another friend that Mac Sabbath were some sort of killer clown band, but that’s about it.
I hadn’t heard Playboy Manbaby either until this evening, and they were great. They came out looking like average dudes and then tore up the stage with a wild punk set and even held a mini-election in the crowd decided by a game of rock-paper-scissors.
“Oh wow…” was all my friend could say when The Cybertronic Spree came onstage in their Transformer outfits. He was even more stunned when they shredded for their entire set, playing originals from their new album, Ravage, and covers of fun tunes like AC/DC‘s “Thunderstruck” and Weird Al‘s “Dare to Be Stupid.” You have to be able to play well if you’re going to have a gimmick like this, and The Cybertronic Spree play very well. At one point, co-lead singer Arcee was hitting such high notes that my friend said he thought his eardrums were going to rupture.
“We’re the toy in your happy meal!” – Hot Rod on bass (3rd from left)
The “main course” was Mac Sabbath’s weird and wild rock / comedy show, full of heavy Black Sabbath parodies like “Sweet Beef” and “Frying Pan,” bad fast food-rock band puns (“Dokken Donuts,” “Dairy Queensryche,” “International Bauhaus of Pancakes,” etc.), water sprayed on the crowd, bizarre characters, and even a tribute to David Lynch‘s Blue Velvet and Roy Orbison.
Again, you have to be able to play well to do stuff like this, and Mac Sabbath have no problems doing so. Slayer McCheese can change riffs on a dime, The Catburglar is a sharp drummer and comedian, Ronny Osbourne never stops moving, singing, or joking when he’s onstage, and I don’t know how Grimalice plays bass in that outfit.
My friend was happy and dumbfounded by the end of the show. “I’ve never seen anything like that before,” he said. I hadn’t either, and I loved it. This was the last show of the first leg of their “More Than Meats the Eye” tour with the other bands, so don’t miss your chance to catch the second half.
Keep your mind open.
[Thanks to Annie at Adrenaline PR for the press passes!]
This was my fourth time seeing some iteration of Goblin, the third time I’d seen a version including founding member Claudio Simonetti, and the first time I’d seen the film Demons (properly known as Demoni in Italy, where it was made). Simonetti and his crew were performing a new prog-rock version of the film’s score to a live screening of the film – the first time they’d done this in the United States.
It was a fun show right out of the gate, with good sound quality the whole time. Simonetti announced that the original score was synth-based, but hoped we’d all enjoy this new take on it by him and his band.
In case you haven’t seen it, Demons, is flat-out nuts and is about a bunch of people trapped in a movie theatre while most of the patrons turn into blood-thirsty monsters. I can’t tell you more than that, not because I’d spoil it, but because there isn’t more than that. Simonetti said he loves the film, stating, “I think it’s very funny.” It is, actually. It’s a wild ride, and so was their new score.
After that came a brief intermission and then they returned for another full set of Goblin classics and even some rarities – including the theme to Ruggero Deodato‘s crazy action / horror film Cut and Run.
And, of course, there was plenty of music from Dario Argento‘s films, including the themes to Opera, Tenebrae, Deep Red, and Suspiria.
Simonetti’s current band includes Daniele Amador on guitar (who played a great solo during the Opera theme), Federico Maragoni on drums (who delivered double-kick drum beats so fast that I thought they were programmed tracks), and Cecilia Nappo again on bass.
It was a fun night all-around, and a fun way to kick off the Halloween season. The crowd was made up of prog-rock fans, horror fans, and movie buffs. It felt like a bunch of friends (including the band) just hanging out to watch movies and listen to good music.
Apparently there was a bit of a ruckus when Motörhead released their Another Perfect Day album forty years ago. The band had a new lineup, as guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clarke had been replaced by Brian Robertson, and this caused some rumblings among the band’s fans. Robertson was no slouch, however. He formerly played for Thin Lizzy. The rest of the ruckus came from Lemmy Kilmister‘s new “musical” approach to recording and deciding to add more hooks and guitar effects on the record instead of hammering everyone with raw power all the time (which they were still doing in live performances, mind you).
What’s interesting about Another Perfect Day is that despite it being a “divisive” album among the fans, a lot of tracks from it became staples of their live shows and fan favorites. “Back at the Funny Farm” doesn’t scrimp on any of Kilmister’s fuzz-heavy bass or Phil Taylor‘s wicked double-kick drum madness. “Shine” became a hit for them, and why shouldn’t Motörhead have made radio friendly singles if they wanted?
Robertson’s solo blazes like a lit trail of gasoline on “Dancing on Your Grave.” On “Rock It,” they do exactly that for four straight minutes without taking a breath. The title track has a long solo from Robertson that borders on psychedelic rock. “Marching Off to War” covers one of Kilmister’s favorite subjects – the effects of war on those who fight it. A couple tracks later, “Tales of Glory” has Kilmister snarling at those who brag about their war experiences that were nothing like those who were on the front lines. “I Got Mine” is another track off this “controversial” album that is now considered a Motörhead classic. The closing track has one of the best titles of any Motörhead song, “Die You Bastard.”
The bonus tracks on the CD and digital download versions include live versions of “Hoochie Coochie Man” and “(Don’t Need No) Religion” and demo versions of “Shine” (one an instrumental), “Die You Bastard,” and “One Track Mind.”
If you can score the vinyl version, you’ll also get a full, previously unreleased recording of a concert at Hull City Hall in Hull, England recorded June 22, 1983. You can’t miss.
Another Perfect Day has reached a new group of fans, and (rightfully so) the ruffled fan feathers have smoothed over the course of four decades. The album deserves to be revisited and heard, and this new version is a great way to do it.
Next month, Busty and the Bass will release their newly announced album, Forever Never Cares, a record which sounds, at once, of a bygone era and completely modern. They recently shared lead single, “Give Me A Smile” ft. Son Little, and today they are sharing a new preview of the record, a track called “Never Get Enough“, led by the smokey vocals of ascendant soul singer Katie Tupper.
The sensual R&B single is an emphatic ballad about the conditional longing and desire for the one you love: ‘We got less time than you think we do / Forever ain’t long enough’ Katie’s sultry voice soars throughout the song, while building budding tension until the band swoops in with an anthemic coda.
“The words and vocal melodies came relatively quickly to me once I heard the track the guys had made,” says Tupper. “I knew I wanted a lot of vocal layers and harmonies to hold their own against the lush production that comes with a busty song. I wanted the lyrics to be classic and soulful and the idea of never getting enough of someone even if you could spend forever with them seemed right.”
“For me, I’m playing off of Katie’s theme of ‘forever ain’t long enough’,” says founding member Alistair Blu. “While her theme is referencing a lover who’s eternal presence isn’t enough, my lyrical themes relate to the broader concepts of eternity and forever-ness (hence where the album gets its name, Forever Never Cares) and the desire to let go of clinging and attachment.”
MORE ABOUT FOREVER NEVER CARES For the Canadian-American soul-jazz collective Busty and the Bass, collaboration has always been at the forefront of their music. Formed at McGill University in Montreal over a decade ago, the group is now scattered across four North America cities from coast to coast. Yet, with a collaborative spirit at the heart of their third studio album, Forever Never Cares, the members have never been more connected.
Over the years, the group has collaborated with legendary artists George Clinton, Macy Gray, Earth Wind & Fire, Slum Village, and exciting new voices like Polaris Music Prize winners Cadence Weapon and Pierre Kwenders. Most recently, the group dropped a mini-album with Philadelphia poet and rapper STS. Despite such a strong history of partnerships, Forever Never Cares reshaped the band’s creative formula and redefined how they worked together a decade into their career.
After a founding member and primary songwriter left the band in 2022, the collective used the opportunity to re-approach their creative process for the first time in years. Songs would be brought to the group from individual members or smaller formations of two or three members writing together. Interestingly, more voices involved in the songwriting resulted in the group’s most refined output to date.
Two previous studio albums, Uncommon Good (2017) and Eddie (2020), saw the band experiment with genres effortlessly changing styles song to song, from soul to funk to pop.
Forever Never Cares finds the collective both broadening and distilling their influences into a unified sound that is entirely their own. This is due in large part to founding member Christopher Vincent who engineered and mixed the album. Vincent found a sonic language that would compliment all of the disparate genres being stacked atop one another.
With soul and R&B as the album’s cornerstone, the record is sprinkled with cross-genre explorations. From the indie rock-inflected uptempo singles “All The Things I Couldn’t Say To You” and “Wandering Lies,” to slow-burn ballads like “Give Me A Smile” and “Never Get Enough,” to the celebratory pop-funk of “Starstruck” and “No Angels,” a touch of 70s singer-songwriter on “Smoke and the Pine” and “Holiday Drive,” and the psychedelic jazz explorations of “Far From Here” and “No Self Control” featuring saxophonist Terrace Martin, a frequent collaborator of Kamasi Washington and Robert Glasper.
oday singer-songwriter and composer María Mónica Gutiérrez (aka Montañera) shares another look at her forthcoming album ‘A Flor de Piel’, which is set for release on November 17th via Western Vinyl.
‘A Flor de Piel’ is a meditative journey of self-discovery across oceans, time, and the traditional confines of genre. Originally from Bogota, Colombia, Gutiérrez began the album as a way to explore her identity after a difficult move to London for school left her feeling untethered and alone in a strange new place. The daunting 5,000 mile journey over a seemingly endless ocean, sparked the beginning of a metamorphosis, imparting her with a new understanding of herself as an artist, and as a human being. Throughout the album Gutiérrez examines the immigrant’s experience through a rich sonic lens inspired by sources as disparate as traditional Colombian and Senegalese music, contemporary ambient and experimental production, and whalesong from the depths of the Atlantic.
Produced by one of the most interesting bands of the moment in Colombia, Rizomagic, and composed by Montañera, it is an album that captivates for the singularity of her voice and melodies, and for the finely crafted production. It was mixed by Joseph Shabason and mastered in Germany by Stephan Mathieu.
The only track on the album to feature percussion, today’s new single “Santa Mar“ is an atmospheric piece featuring marimba player Cankita from the band Bejuco and the expressive voices of Las Cantadoras de Yerba Buena, a group of traditional singers from Tumaco, Colombia.
Montañera comments: “It’s a song that talks about peace in Colombia, specifically with the afro pacific women. The lyrics were inspired by them after investigating their musical practice for my master’s studies. Understanding their personal and collective healing processes within the peace-building process of the country. I want to portray the importance of womanhood for peace-building in their territory and the song talks about the forces of the sea to cure and the sea as a female saint, of how these women have the power of the sea in themselves. The marimbas are played by the amazing Cankita from Bejuco, who is very close with the Cantadoras de Yerba Buena, he calls them his “aunts”, his masters. It’s a true honour having the voices of these elder women in the album, they have such a strong life story and nevertheless, so much vitality, strength, and drive in life, a true inspiration for me.”
Using skilfully restrained synths and electronic textures, ‘A Flor de Piel’ triumphs by re-contextualising traditional sounds and sentiments into something fresh, urgent, and pulsing with life. It’s a fitting representation of Montañera’s personal struggles, while also echoing universal truths, as she summons the strength of past generations, to emerge as a phoenix full of hope and potential. As she describes it, “The album has accompanied me through inner journeys of finding myself in a new territory — of redefining myself, of remembering who I am — in a strange place.” As we drift towards an uncertain future, perhaps Montañera’s ‘A Flor de Piel’ is exactly what we need: a deep well of strength, to bring us peace, and to accompany our own journey into the unknown.
