Day two of the Lion Heart Music Festival arrived with another packed lineup, plenty of sunshine, and temperatures that promised another long, hot day of music. What no one knew was that Mother Nature was about to throw a serious curveball into the schedule. But if there was one thing the second day proved, it was just how well this festival is run.

Before getting into the music, a huge shout-out needs to go to the volunteers, staff, and everyone behind the scenes who make Lion Heart happen, especially Rebel Sounds Rising. A storm rolled through mid-afternoon, forcing set times to change, artists to move between stages, and the schedule to be reshuffled on the fly. They even found room for an artist whose day one performance had been rained out.

Behind the scenes, people were running everywhere making adjustments. Out front? You would have barely known anything was wrong. The music kept flowing, the crowd kept moving, and the festival never seemed to miss a beat. Pulling that off takes serious organization.

Coastal High got day two rolling on the main stage with their sweet reggae-rock vibe, while Head High opened the Dub Stage tucked away in the woods. Head High immediately established a rootsy feel, but it was their take on Bob Marley’s “The Heathen” that really stood out. Rather than simply covering the classic, they completely made it their own, stretching it into an almost dub-style interpretation. It worked beautifully and easily ranked among my favorite songs of the entire weekend.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Reggae Girlz, the powerful new documentary from Oscar-winning director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Trish Dalton, shining a light on one of the biggest sporting underdog stories in modern times, will be released by Red Bull Studios to stream exclusively on Jolt from 27th August 2026 and on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube Movies, TubiTV, and Xumo from October 27th 2026.

During the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Jamaican women’s football team challenged the powerhouses of France and Brazil in historic matches. Fighting against all odds, the groundbreaking and beloved team proves to the world with heart and determination that anything is possible.

Set against the backdrop of one of the most attended women’s sporting events in history, the documentary follows the Reggae Girlz on their extraordinary journey to Australia. When the team is struggling from limited resources, the Bob and Rita Marley Foundation and Cedella Marley, the Global Ambassador of the Jamaica Women’s Football Team (2014–2024), step in to help pave their way.

As the first Caribbean team to qualify for two consecutive World Cups, the team is determined to prove that, even with everything against them, their talent and resilience are unstoppable. This is more than just a sports story; it’s a powerful testament to courage, determination, and the relentless fight against adversity.

Two-time Oscar-winning director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Trish Dalton bring to life the ultimate underdog story. Reggae Girlz is a vibrant portrayal of Jamaica’s heart and soul, with the rhythms of Bob Marley’s reggae, whose daughter, Cedella Marley, is an executive producer on the film. Fueled by the spirit of the Jamaican people, the film embodies Marley’s iconic words, “football is freedom.”

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Celebrating Terry Adams on his 78th birthday. —Ed.

The music of NRBQ is one of rock ‘n’ roll’s great paradoxical pleasures. How can a band this accessible and joyous be banished to the musical fringe? It’s a true stumper. But if widespread success was denied them, the group endured and excelled through relentless bar gigs, college radio play, and via the persistent word of mouth of the converted. Their early days found them hopping labels only to be dumped after disappointing sales, but instead of quitting, they smartly decided to put out their own records. 1977’s All Hopped Up was the first, and for new listeners it makes a fine introduction.

Their name originally stood for the New Rhythm and Blues Quintet. Formed by guitarist Steve Ferguson, pianist Terry Adams, drummer Tom Staley, bassist Joey Spampinato (aka Jody St. Nicholas), and vocalist Frank Gadler, they combined a stylistic eclecticism—the titular R&B, rockabilly, early Brit-invasion pop, jazz, and even more into a highly potent and easily digestible brew. But if one possesses an unusual level of diversity, constant factors were also at play. Foremost was a lighthearted sincerity about their shared influences, but NRBQ are also among the least egocentric bands, both musically and in terms of personality, to have spanned decades of neglect.

They came together in Florida but moved to New York City, where they quickly gathered steam, even playing Fillmore East, and eventually found themselves signed to Columbia Records. This resulted in a truly swell self-titled debut in ’69 that didn’t sell squat. And that’s not really a surprise; if the Q’s long-term lack of a wide following is hard to fathom, in the year of Woodstock, they weren’t exactly the height of trendiness. What to make of a group that covered Eddie Cochran, Sun Ra, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, and Bobby Channel’s oldies station rotation warhorse “Hey Baby” all on the same album? The high number of covers alone was a little divergent from the era’s norm of boldfaced originality.

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I recently spoke with Stephen “Mal” Mallinder of Cabaret Voltaire, the Sheffield group that helped invent the sound of British electronic and industrial music.

Formed in 1973 with Chris Watson and the late Richard H. Kirk, Cabaret Voltaire stands alongside Throbbing Gristle and Clock DVA as a pioneer of the late-’70s and ’80s experimental underground, fusing tape manipulation, found sound, early synthesizers, and confrontational visuals into something no one had heard before. Records like the 1979 single “Nag Nag Nag” and 1980’s “Three Mantras” drew from Dadaist provocation and post-industrial Britain, rejecting rock orthodoxy in favor of pure experimentation and, in doing so, shaped industrial music, post-punk, EDM, and club culture itself.

Across five decades Mallinder has carried that vision forward, through the band’s own Western Works studio and Doublevision video label, through collaborations with producers like Adrian Sherwood and Marshall Jefferson, and into his own work as an artist, writer, and academic.

Cabaret Voltaire recently announced the long-awaited remastered reissue of Code, their 1987 eighth album and most commercially successful record, out of print for years and newly remastered from the original tapes by Denis Blackham. The reissue was begun in 2019 with Richard H. Kirk before his death and completed from his notes, a fitting tribute to his legacy.

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Of all the Ladies of the Eighties, one stands alone as the most bellicose, sanguine, and pugilistic to ever walk around in Day-Glo Spandex and a headband. I’m talking, of course, about Margaret Thatcher.

No, it was Pat Benatar, who fought on the battlefield of love, wielded sex as a weapon like a V2 or a spear, could take a haymaker and brush it off, and declared herself invincible. Non-fans like me tend to think of her—when we think about her at all—as a second-tier (and second-rate) rocker. Truth is, she recorded two multi-platinum albums, five platinum albums, and 15 US Billboard top 40 singles.

Turns out she was invincible after all.

And while her hipness quotient was in the tank, there’s no denying she had a voice that could send small woodland creatures sailing and released a small handful of songs that make even Benatar haters stand up and say, “Holy Midde of the Road!” Naturally, very few of them are willing to admit it.

Benatar wasn’t treated kindly by the critics either. Village Voice smartass Robert Christgau wrote, “…she shows about as much aesthetic principle as Don Kirshner. Though she does have a better voice than Kirshner.” And he called her “Cher without innocence, chutzpah, acting ability, or “Gypsys, Tramps, and Thieves…”

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There are music festivals, and then there are festivals that feel like their own temporary community. The Lion Heart Music Festival falls firmly into the latter category. Held August 7–8 at Paradise Lakes Campground in Hammonton, New Jersey, Lion Heart spread across 100 acres of fields and woods, combining live music with camping, food, vendors, yoga, workshops, and enough space to disappear into nature between sets.

The Vendor Village added to that atmosphere, offering everything from original artwork and handmade clothing to jewelry, glasswork, wellness products, and plenty of food choices. It felt less like something placed alongside the music and more like another part of the festival itself.

But on Friday, the music was unquestionably the story—and day one belonged to the louder side of reggae. Dr. Beardface wasted no time establishing that theme. Charged with getting the day moving, the band came out rocking and brought an immediate burst of energy to the Lion Stage. Opening a festival can be a difficult assignment, as people are still arriving and settling in, but Dr. Beardface attacked it as if they were playing much later in the evening. It was exactly the jolt the afternoon needed.

ialive followed with a change of pace, delivering a hip-hop-driven set before Ashley LaRue Band provided the first real standout performance of the festival. LaRue has a voice that immediately commands attention. Powerful and remarkably versatile, she can soar one moment before digging deep into the next line with an almost growling edge. That contrast gives her vocals some serious personality, and the crowd responded accordingly. By the end of the set, Ashley LaRue Band had established themselves as an early crowd favorite—and one of my personal highlights of the entire weekend.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | UMe announces a very special new vinyl reissue of Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers’ classic GRAMMY® Award-winning third full-length offering, Conscious Party, out September 25, 2026.

This will be the very first vinyl pressing of the album since its initial release nearly forty years ago in 1988. Conscious Party launches in multiple configurations, including limited-edition 1LP 180g emerald green color vinyl, 1LP 180g standard black vinyl, 1CD, and a digital Deluxe Edition via streaming services. Pre-order/pre-save Conscious Party HERE.

Founded in 1979, Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers featured four of Bob Marley’s eleven children in its ranks, namely Sharon, Cedella, Ziggy, and Stephen.

Throughout the eighties, the musicians had quietly and diligently honed their chemistry as a band by touring nonstop and delivering the GRAMMY® Award-nominated Play the Game Right and Hey World!, forging the path for Conscious Party.

The quartet cut the album at Sigma Sound in New York City with producers Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club). Together, they tapped into the spirit of classic reggae with a fresh fire, off-the-cuff fluidity, sonic fearlessness, and unapologetic creative freedom.

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Billy Preston had been making music as far back as 1956, backing Mahalia Jackson at the age of ten, and had recorded four albums since 1963 before he first entered The Beatles’ orbit.

After playing on the group’s Let It Be album in January 1969, and being the only musician credited on a record by The Beatles, he signed with the group’s fledgling Apple Records. He recorded two albums for the label before Apple fell apart, then moved on to A&M. His two solo Apple albums have been reissued by Dark Horse Records, run by George Harrison’s wife, Olivia, and their son, Dhani.

That’s the Way God Planned It, released in 1969, is a fine album and, for the most part, follows the same soulful, gospel-funk groove as his previous works. George Harrison produced the album and included such guest musicians as Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Keith Richards, along with singers Doris Troy and Madeline Bell. Troy, who was also signed to Apple Records, co-wrote three songs here with Preston.

Preston offers a few glimpses into his future direction with his take on Bob Dylan’s “She Belongs To Me” on the lush, orchestral “Morning Star,” aided by string arrangements of John Barham, who worked with The Beatles solo and collectively, and on the title cut, his signature performance song two years later at the Concert for Bangladesh.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | UP YOURS! Collective presents God Save The Queens, a new London festival dedicated to the past, present, and future of female punk. The event will feature a very special show at Electric Brixton on Friday 16th October, featuring a phenomenal supergroup of she punk legends and an exceptional multi-generational bill of artists, reimagining the Poly Styrene playlist and she punk anthems.

The show is part of a new festival marking 50 years of punk with a joyful and overdue celebration of the female creative forces that shaped the punk movement.

The first edition of God Save The Queens is dedicated to Poly Styrene, with the God Save The Queens event taking place at Electric Brixton, near where Poly Styrene grew up. Lora Logic (X-Ray Spex/Essential Logic), Paul Dean (X-Ray Spex), Gina Birch (The Raincoats), Hollie Cook (The Slits), and Akiko Matsuura (Comanechi / Pre) will come together to reimagine the Poly Styrene playlist and she punk anthems, with very special guests still to be announced.

They will also be joined by an exceptional multi-generational bill of artists including Big Joanie, Essential Logic, Gina Birch & The Unreasonables and HotWax.

Poly Styrene was the groundbreaking singer-songwriter and frontwoman behind pioneering punk band X-Ray Spex. Billboard described her as “the archetype for the modern-day feminist punk.” In 2021, Poly’s daughter Celeste Bell co-directed British Independent Film Award-winning documentary Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché to universal acclaim. In 2023, Rolling Stone magazine hailed Poly as “one of the greatest singers of all time.”

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Although he never rose to star status, alto saxophonist, composer, and improvisor Marion Brown is a crucial figure in the history of free jazz, playing on a few records by those bigger names, leading a bunch of energetic bands, and blazing trails into the transitional 1970s and beyond. The new limited edition CD and digital release Live in Europe 1968 & 1972 deepens the riches of an already considerable discography as it derives from two key periods in Brown’s musical development. The set is out now through the discerning and persevering Lithuanian label NoBusiness Records.

Lots of folks with knowledge of the jazz avant-garde are hip to Marion Brown through his earliest recordings. Those would be Archie Shepp’s Fire Music and John Coltrane’s Ascension, with both vastly important albums dating from 1965 and released by the Impulse label. As a groundbreaking large band experiment, Ascension is likely the better-known of the two recordings today, but Fire Music is more indicative of the path Brown would follow on his own albums.

His debut as a leader was The Marion Brown Quartet, released by ESP-Disk in 1966 with Alan Shorter (Wayne’s bro) on trumpet for three tracks, Bennie Maupin on tenor sax on the track where Shorter lays out, Reggie Johnson on bass except for one track where Sun Ra associate Ronnie Boykins steps in, and Rashied Ali on drums. It’s a solid session that established Brown’s ability to strike a sweet equilibrium between compositional potency and high-energy improv.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Recorded on a sultry hot August night at the Roman Amphitheatre, Théâtre Antique d’Arles, Schmidt recalls, “I remember a very beautiful atmosphere. It was a summer night in the South of France, everybody was stoned and the atmosphere was very special.” This incredible recording mirrors the gauzy ambience of the evening.

The new album—out on 25 September 2026—originates from a fan recording of the show, and documents a performance that founding member Irmin Schmidt remembers fondly. Can Live in Arles 1975 features the core line up of Irmin Schmidt, Jaki Liebezeit, Michael Karoli, and Holger Czukay. The concert, with Nico and Kevin Ayres as well as Ash Ra Tempel supporting, is remembered by two fans—including the author/journalist Pascal Bussy—for the sleeve notes, which also feature a translation of a French magazine article from the time.

The new album is the latest in a series of live recordings that have been unearthed from the Spoon Records vaults and from fan recordings, then painstakingly assembled by founding member Irmin Schmidt and producer/engineer René Tinner.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Originally released in March 1980, Nobody’s Heroes is the second album from Stiff Little Fingers. To be released on 18 September, this brand new reissue is available as both a limited edition 3CD/DVD box set and 2LP and 2CD editions. This release follows the huge success of their Inflammable Material reissue last year, which was voted the number two Reissue of the Year 2025 by Vive Le Rock magazine.

The limited edition 3CD/DVD set contains a brand new remastered version of the original album with six bonus tracks. The second disc brings together all the relevant BBC Radio 1 John Peel and Mike Read sessions from the period with the DVD offering five live TV appearances—three from Top Of The Pops, a BBC regional Something Else appearance and a rare Dutch TV romp through At The Edge.

The third CD of the set is a recently discovered and previously unreleased full live performance from April 1980 at Pop Met, Rotterdam that was originally broadcast on Dutch Radio. This special live recording features rarely played tracks—”No Change,” “Bloody Dub,” as well as a blast through the Undertone’s “Teenage Kicks.” The sleevenote booklet includes a plethora of previously unseen and rare photographs, an array of period memorabilia, and unique pieces from original manager Gordon Ogilvie’s archive.

The 2LP version contains the 2026 remastered album as well as a selection of the unreleased BBC Radio 1 sessions. The 2CD contains the 2026 remastered album with additional bonus tracks and a second disc of the unreleased BBC sessions. Both versions are available to pre-order now from here.

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