A defining album of the 90s, Last Splash by The Breeders turns 30 this year. To celebrate, the band have returned to the original tapes to give it its first-ever remaster, and by doing so have also unearthed two lost tracks that will delight fans. Recorded by the ‘classic’ Breeders line-up of Kim Deal, Kelley Deal, Josephine … read more ➜
The fifth album from shoegaze giants Slowdive will be released on September 1, 2023. The title is Everything Is Alive. It began with Neil Halstead in the role of producer and writer, working on demos at home. He experimented with modular synths and originally conceived of the new album as a, “more minimal electronic record.” … read more ➜
Tame Impala have announced a 10-year anniversary box set for their second album, Lonerism. (pre-order here) The box set, due May 26th, will include 3 vinyl records and a 24-page booklet. Two bonus tracks, Retina Show and Sidetracked Soundtrack, which were left off of the album are available to stream now. Also available are “assorted … read more ➜
Big Bliss is the Brooklyn-based brainchild of brothers Cory and Tim Race, and friend/collaborator Wallace May. Formed in late 2015, the trio melds harmonic post-punk grooves with art-rock sensibilities all propped up on the pillars and hooks of pop structure. Their sound is at once melancholic, tense, noisy, and ultimately uplifting, laced with lyricism that … read more ➜
British Alternative band Blur announced their ninth studio album, The Ballad Of Darren, and it’s scheduled for release on July 21, 2023. It was produced by James Ford (Foals, Arctic Monkeys, Depeche Mode) and recorded at Studio 13 in London and Devon. Damon Albarn wrote demos for the new album, mostly while touring with Gorillaz. Albarn states, … read more ➜
Rhino Records is launching a new series of the exclusive premium vinyl series, Rhino High Fidelity (Rhino Hi-Fi). They claim, “These high-end, limited-edition vinyl reissues of classic albums represent the pinnacle of sound and packaging.” The first two Rhino High Fidelity albums are available today exclusively at Rhino.com – The Cars (1978) by The Cars and Coltrane’s Sound (1964) … read more ➜
“AISIS is an alternate reality concept album where the band’s 95-97 line-up continued to write music, or perhaps all got together years later to write a record akin to the first 3 albums, and only now has the master DAT tape from that session surfaced. We’re bored of waiting for Oasis to reform, so we’ve … read more ➜
UK alternative rock band Catherine Wheel has released a remastered version of their 1991 debut EP, She’s My Friend, called The Norfolk Remasters – She’s My Friend. It contains the original recording of She’s My Friend and Salt, which were rerecorded for Ferment, and 2 previously digitally unreleased songs, Upside Down and Wish. Upside Down … read more ➜
Pasteboard was a Japanese Shoegaze band based in Saitama. It was formed by Makoto Igarashi and Mihoko Tanoue. They only released one album before switching to another project, Roly Poly Rag Bear. 7th Heaven is releasing their only album, Glitter, on vinyl. It goes on sale tomorrow, April 14th. It’ll be available in black and … read more ➜
When it comes to technology, usually people want the latest and greatest. So why are vinyl records making a comeback? For some people, it never went away. Larry Potash goes deep into the modern revival of wax tracks in this piece for Backstory.
Richard Hutter charged up to £35 for counterfeit albums by bands like the Beatles and Nirvana over six-year period. “A businessman who made more than £1m selling fake vinyl records was caught after a fan of punk band the Clash complained that the sound quality of an LP he had bought was not as sharp … read more ➜
Catherine Wheel’s social media teased some news yesterday that got many people all worked up. The likelihood of new music, or a reunion tour of any kind is very low, however we can hope for back catalog reissues and unreleased songs. Perhaps one day a proper box set with all of the great b-sides on … read more ➜
Cherry Red Records is releasing Cherry Stars Collide – Dream Pop, Shoegaze & Ethereal Rock 1986-1995, a 4CD Box Set. Buy: Popmarket, Cherry Records UK, Amazon US • 4CD Journey Through Key Tracks, Lesser Known Half-Lit Gems and Sleepy Pop Nuggets of the 1980s and 90s. • Featuring Mazzy Star, A.R. Kane, Cocteau Twins, Spiritualized, … read more ➜
The proposed agreement, filed in court last month, would allow Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab customers to receive a full refund for any eligible records that they purchased. Alternatively, it would also allow them to keep their albums and instead take a 5% cash refund or a 10% refund in credit. The proposed settlement, filed on … read more ➜
“In 2022 we pressed roughly 60% of our global vinyl products on 140g discs, reducing our output of virgin raw plastic by approximately 470 tonnes.” “94% of frontline (Atlantic UK, Parlophone UK, and Warner Records UK) vinyl new releases were pressed on 140g vinyl reducing our output of virgin raw plastic by 27 tonnes.” WMG … read more ➜
Dream Pop and Shoegaze has had no shortage of artists and albums in the last 10 years. So many that it’s easy to miss some great releases. Below are 5 albums that you may have missed, starting with one from the original 90s heyday that flew under the radar, followed by 4 more recent ones. … read more ➜
WHRO, in Norfolk, Virginia, is giving away its record collection. To make a newsroom for its 10 journalists, WHRO is giving away all the hard copies of music on Saturday. Security has been hired. “It’s going to be a mad house,” said Bert Schmidt, president and CEO of WHRO Public Media. The first thousand people … read more ➜
It seems like major labels never learn. From jacking up CD prices, to fighting digital media, to now charging absurd prices for vinyl albums. (and reportedly raising them again soon) In 2004, Universal tried to lower prices to sell more CDs and it didn’t work. Stores didn’t always lower their prices, and the idea of … read more ➜
‘Waves of Distortion’ brings in some of the original shoegazer classics – Ride’s peerless ‘Vapour Trail’, Lush’s ‘Sweetness and Light’ from 1990 ,and Chapterhouse’s ‘Pearl’ from 1991. They are all incredible and timeless tunes. Then there are some others that were never really a part of that other great music press construct, The Scene That … read more ➜
Music producer/educator Rick Beato has a very successful YouTube channel where he does many things like breaking down popular songs or artist interviews. His most recent interview is a great 90 minute interview with The Smashing Pumpkins‘ Billy Corgan where they discuss many topics but most are in the music production realm. They discuss many … read more ➜