VIA PRESS RELEASE | With a run of very special arena dates across Dublin, London, and Glasgow this summer, The Waterboys have announced Atlantic Rain-The Lost Fisherman’s Blues Recordings, previously unheard music from the classic Fisherman’s Blues era. Released by Chrysalis Records on July 17 and available in 3CD/3LP and digital versions, Atlantic Rain may be pre-ordered HERE.

Consisting of 25 tracks, Atlantic Rain contains long-lost music recorded during the prodigious sessions for Fisherman’s Blues (1986–88). During this period the Waterboys recorded almost 400 multi-track reels of music, many running at half-speed in order to pack more music on without having to change tapes. Around a fifth of these reels had no song titles on them, only notes like “instrumental,” “unknown,” “soundcheck,” or “jam.”

Band leader Mike Scott finally went through these mysterious tapes in 2024–25 and found many long-forgotten release-worthy performances, including never before heard songs such as “Come Back To Galway,” “Light Shine On Me,” and “Endless Store,” the epic “Man With The Wind At His Heels,” and gorgeous covers of numbers by Dylan, Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie, and Willie Nelson.

These and many other lost treasures have been collected to create this stunning set which stands proudly in addition to the now legendary 6-disc Fisherman’s Box, released in 2013, thought at the time to be the last word on the Fisherman’s Blues sessions.

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Celebrating George Alexander, born on this day in 1946. —Ed.

Of the three records the Flamin’ Groovies made upon regrouping in the second half of the 1970s, Flamin’ Groovies Now isn’t the most celebrated, but it does deliver a covers-heavy good time from start to finish. Released in 1977 and produced by Dave Edmunds, the disc’s 14 songs offer sturdy, inspired guitar-pop classicism that still sounds fresh 45 years later. 

These days the Flamin’ Groovies’ best-known album is probably Shake Some Action, the band’s first record without founding member Roy Loney, with guitarist Cyril Jordan stepping up as leader after a hiatus. As Flamin’ Groovies Now’s immediate predecessor, Shake Some Action attained its stature in no small part due to its opening title track, the song sitting amongst the band’s most beloved, alongside “Teenage Head” (the title cut to their 1971 album) and “Slow Death” (a non-LP 45 from ’72).

There is classicism and there is the revivalist impulse, and even at their best, the Flamin’ Groovies walked the fine line in between. This is in fact part of their appeal, a state of being consistently out-of-step with what was contemporarily popular that solidified them as one of the foundational bands of cult fandom and an enduring proto-punk act.

Cover songs are a constant in the Groovies discography but really entered the equation during the Cyril Jordan-era, alternately called their Sire Records period, as Shake Some Action, Flamin’ Groovies Now, and 1979’s Jumpin’ in the Night were all issued by Seymore Stein’s punk-affiliated label prior to another longer run of inactivity (there wasn’t another “new” Groovies album until 1987’s One Night Stand, which is a dive into covers and previously recorded originals cut live in the studio).

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PHOTOS: TODD JUDD | There are artists who make songs—and then there are artists who build worlds you can step into, drop a needle upon, and live inside for a while. Protoje has always been firmly in that second category.

Catching up with him ahead of a show, the conversation moved easily between craft, intention, and the constant push to evolve—something that’s been a defining thread throughout his catalog. But what stood out most in this moment wasn’t just where the music is going—it was how deliberately he’s thinking about how it’s experienced.

This latest chapter feels different. More controlled. More intentional. And when you talk to him about it, you start to understand why. For Protoje, it’s not just about making records—it’s about building something cohesive from start to finish. Something that invites you to listen to the way albums were meant to be heard. So naturally, that led us to vinyl.

Because for an artist whose music lives in the details—the basslines, the space, the message—there’s something fitting about hearing it all come back through a needle, pressed into wax, exactly as intended.

You’ve always carried a strong sense of purpose in your music. When you look at where you are right now creatively, what’s driving you the most?

I’m just trying to make things—just the art. Trying to get better at the art of making music and making songs and seeing if I can get things to sound exactly how they sound in my head. Bringing the vision to its closest point. As long as I’m making music, I want to reach my highest ability as an artist. That’s the main driving force.

There’s a consistency in your work, but also evolution. What feels different about this current chapter?

Just the science of the music—understanding reggae, the way we’re able to make live music now. It’s always been a challenge to recreate live drums the way we want without sampling. The songwriting—where I’m at, what I’m talking about—feels more controlled, more direct, more purposeful.

I love the new album. I actually waited to listen until my vinyl came in so I could hear it front to back, and it feels very intentional. Were you building it as a full listening experience?

Definitely. Thinking about how it flows, which song fits where, giving each song its best chance to be heard. I like when people just turn it on and listen straight through.

There’s a certain cohesion to the project—was that something you mapped out early, or did it reveal itself as the music came together?

It reveals itself. The key is finding the intro and the outro. Once you have that, everything builds. For me, there are always identity tracks—the intro, the outro, and track two. Once I find those, they get easier.

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Memo to: Jon Meyers, Publisher, The Vinyl District
From: Michael H. Little, Staff Writer
Subject: The Electric Knickers, “You’ve Got Electric Knickers!”

As you well know, I am no band promoter/cheerleader. Frankly, I hope they all fail out of sheer spite. I am, however, a ruthless opportunist. I’ve got scruples, but I don’t let them get in my way. Which is why I want to write a short but gushingly laudatory piece about The Electric Knickers’ “You’ve Got Electric Knickers!”

Here’s the pitch: No one, and I mean literally no one, knows about this brilliant contribution to second-tier Glam. Which gives us the chance to get in on the ground floor. To become known as the best print tastemakers in the music biz by singlehandedly propelling “You’ve Got Electric Knickers!” to the Top of the Pops! Which is where it should currently be sitting! And the band claims it is!

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “I received the exact same memo regarding Black Oak Arkansas a while back, and your ‘gushingly laudatory’ review made us the laughingstock of the online universe. The worldwide mockery and humiliation almost put us out of business.”

To which I can only say, “Is it my fault most sentient beings are totally incapable of recognizing musical genius when they hear it? Your average sentient being can’t stomach Killdozer either!”

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On Tuesday night at the National in Richmond, VA, my very favorite Swedish metal visionaries, Avatar, proved once again that few metal bands understand live performance as they do. Their “Don’t Go in the Forest” tour stop in Richmond felt less like a traditional concert and more like a theatrical journey into controlled, delightful chaos—equal parts horror carnival, death metal spectacle, and celebration. Supported by Texas death metal crushers Frozen Soul and Italy’s symphonic extremists Fleshgod Apocalypse, this stop on Avatar’s tour delivered nearly four hours of energy, musicianship, and off-the-charts atmosphere.

Frozen Soul opened the night with a set that hit like a punch to the face. Hailing from Ft. Worth, Texas, Frozen Soul’s (Chad Green, Michael Munday, Samantha Mobley, Matt Dennard, and Chris Bonner) death metal immediately set a punishing tone for the night. Frontman Chad Green worked the audience with the experience; he connected with the crowd through his booming voice and somewhat surprising heart.

The band performed shrouded in darkness at the National—this was unfortunate as it obscured the full charisma of Green’s stage presence and made capturing that charisma challenging. Nonetheless, his raw, death metal vocals pierced the darkness and hit the crowd like an ice storm.

There was no elaborate stage production, no unnecessary tricks, just pure heaviness delivered with icy force. Even early on Tuesday night, circle pits had already begun opening across the floor; the dedicated metal fans hurled themselves into chaos created by Frozen Soul. Frozen Soul’s latest album is appropriately titled No Place of Warmth, released this year.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | From October 15–18, 2026, Acoustic Sounds will host the inaugural Vinyl Summit, a landmark gathering at the center of the analog universe, inviting audiophiles, vinyl collectors, and dealers into an immersive, four-day experience at the helm of high-fidelity sound.

Featuring a behind-the-scenes look at Acoustic Sounds production scale, record fair, hifi show, and world-class live performances in multiple venues, The Vinyl Summit marks 40 years of Acoustic Sounds, celebrating the past, present, and future of audio excellence. Interested dealers can access more information on The Vinyl Summit here.

Founded in 1986 by Chad Kassem, Acoustic Sounds began as a one-man mail-order operation that has since grown into both a global analog powerhouse and the standard-bearer for audiophile vinyl.

Over four decades, Chad has built a fully independent analog ecosystem spanning mastering, pressing, printing, recording, and distribution—all driven by uncompromising standards and an obsessive commitment to superior sound. Dubbed the “wizard of vinyl” by The New York Times, Chad has spent 40 years redefining what it means to hear recorded music at its highest fidelity.

As Acoustic Sounds enters its fifth decade, The Vinyl Summit stands as both celebration and culmination: a living expression of craftsmanship, community, and conviction. What began as Kassem’s personal mission to “save the world from bad sound” reaches its greatest heights this fall, with a four-day, fully immersive experience, offering attendees the opportunity not just to hear the music, but step inside how it’s made, preserved, and experienced at the highest level.

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Celebrating Brian Eno on his 78th birthday. —Ed.

What a divine creature: In the first half of the 1970s the pre-ambient Brian Eno flitted about England’s glitter rock scene in fantastical glam attire, making an indelible mark on Roxy Music’s first two LPs with his VCS3 synthesizer and “tape effects” before moving on to create two utterly idiosyncratic art rock masterpieces with Here Come the Warm Jets and Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy, both released in 1974.

On the former album, Eno utilized a boldly original approach to recording that placed a high premium on happy accidents that were not really accidental; Eno very deliberately lined up a cast of studio musicians he felt would be incompatible with one another just to see what would happen. In his own words he organized the situation “with the knowledge that there might be accidents, accidents which will be more interesting than what I had intended.” He then doubled down on the oddness by “treating” instruments and doing a lot of heavy condensing and mixing of the recorded tracks, some of which ended up sounding nothing like what the musicians played in the studio.

In short Eno puts chance in charge, and like any good gambler chance works in his favor. Marcel Duchamp abandoned art to play chess; if Eno were to retire, he would no doubt take up craps. Not enough random variables in the game of kings.

Art Rock with a sense of humor and none of the grandiosity, Here Come the Warm Jets is a collection of beautifully textured songs filled with staggering performances by the slew of stellar performers Eno gathered together because he thought they didn’t belong together. All of Roxy Music (excepting Bryan Ferry) were on hand, as were guitar aces Chris Spedding and Robert Fripp; other players included members of King Crimson, Hawkwind, Pink Fairies, and Matching Mole. They don’t seem like such an incongruous bunch to me–Spedding excepted, there’s a decided tilt towards art- and prog-rock–but if Eno considered ‘em an Odd Bunch, well, he’s the guys with the ears.

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I recently spoke with Linda Perry, frontwoman of 4 Non Blondes and one of the most prolific songwriters and producers of the past three decades.

After “What’s Up?” became an era-defining hit in 1993, Linda stepped behind the boards and wrote and produced some of the biggest songs in pop music: Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful,” Pink’s “Get the Party Started,” Alicia Keys’ “Superwoman,” plus work with Dolly Parton, Adele, Miley Cyrus, Celine Dion, Ariana Grande, Joan Jett, and Courtney Love. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015, and made history in 2019 as the first solo woman nominated in the Grammy’s Producer of the Year category in fifteen years.

Now, Linda is stepping back to the front. Her first solo album in over 25 years, Let It Die Here, was released May 8, 2026 via Kill Rock Stars/670 Records. The 17-track record is a raw, cinematic reckoning with grief, family, and survival, written and recorded alongside the making of her new documentary of the same name.

Linda Perry: Let It Die Here, directed by Don Hardy, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and is rolling out theatrically through Mercury Studios and Evan Saxon Productions: New York was on May 8, Los Angeles today, May 13, with screenings continuing through May and June in San Francisco, Palm Springs, San Diego, Denver, and London, with many featuring live Q&As and acoustic performances from Linda.

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Half Man Half Biscuit—the only band in rock history to break up due to, in their words, “musical similarities.” Half Man Half Biscuit—the geniuses who brought us such brilliant songs as “Joy Division Oven Gloves,” “National Shite Day,” and “Horror Clowns are Dickheads.” Oh, and let us not forget “Styx Gig (Seen by My Mates Coming Out of A),” which could be the funniest song this side of Randy Newman’s “Wedding in Cherokee County.” I should add that in 2005, they released an LP entitled Achtung Bono.

What else do you need to know about Half Man Half Biscuit? Well, they’re witty, incorrigibly sardonic, and their band motto (as found on their website) is “Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime.” What you also need to know is they’re from Birkenhead, Merseyside (okay, maybe you didn’t need to know that) and are prone to writing songs replete with obscure pop culture references to people, places, and things (e.g., “Dickie Davies’ Eyes,” “I Hate Nerys Hughes”), a Yank like me has to Google to make sense of.

And this can be a problem, unless you’re willing to either a) let the obscure pop cultural references sail right over your head or b) be prepared to Google up a tsunami.

What else do you need to know? Well, guitarist/songwriter Nigel Blackwell was “still robbing cars and playing football like normal people do” when he co-founded the band with his confederate in arms, vocalist/bassist Neil Crossley.

Oh, and early on (when they needed the publicity), the band was twice invited to perform on The Tube, Channel 4’s live music show. Thanks but no thanks, they said. Playing live on TV would have kept them from watching TV, where their local football team, Tranmere Rovers, were wallowing at the bottom of League Two.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Ween’s beloved country music detour, 12 Golden Country Greats, turns 30 this summer and Rhino is celebrating by remastering the album and expanding it with more than 20 unreleased demos and outtakes from the Nashville sessions.

12 Golden Country Greats (Deluxe Edition) will be available July 31 on 3CDs and 3LPs, with a color-vinyl version available exclusively from Rhino.com and Ween.com. The Deluxe Edition will also be available for streaming and digital download. Pre-order here. Previously unreleased track “Bad Day In Brownsville” is available digitally today.

To make 12 Golden Country Greats, Dean Ween (Mickey Melchiondo) and Gene Ween (Aaron Freeman) traded the Tascam four-track cassette recorders of their early years for the professional polish of Bradley’s Barn near Nashville.

Produced by Ben Vaughn, the duo recruited The Shit Creek Boys—a group of elite session musicians including The Jordanaires, who had previously backed Elvis Presley. Sticking to Nashville tradition, Melchiondo and Freeman provided only vocals, allowing veteran players like pianist Hargus “Pig” Robbins and fiddler Buddy Spicher to handle the instrumentation across songs like “Piss Up A Rope,” “I’m Holding You,” and “Pretty Girl.”

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Craft Recordings and HighTone Records proudly announce the long-awaited return of Boone Creek—the self-titled 1977 debut from the boundary-pushing supergroup featuring future bluegrass luminaries Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Douglas, Wes Golding, and Terry Baucom.

Long out of print and previously unavailable outside its original release, the album returns across all formats—marking its first vinyl pressing in nearly five decades, alongside its debut on CD and streaming platforms (including hi-res digital). In addition to the original album tracklist, this reissue includes four recently unearthed bonus tracks salvaged from the long-lost session tapes—startling, left-field performances that show Boone Creek pushing the form into truly uncharted territory.

Arriving on June 26 and available for pre-order, the release is previewed by Boone Creek’s soul-stirring take on the Flat & Scruggs bluegrass classic, “I’m Gonna Settle Down,” available to stream/ download now. The track showcases the dazzling musicianship and fiery chemistry of four bluegrass masters coming together to form Boone Creek.

In 1976, Skaggs (mandolin, fiddle, guitar, lead and harmony vocals) and Douglas (Dobro, harmony vocals), fresh off of their tenure with bluegrass powerhouse J.D. Crowe & the New South, joined forces with songwriter Golding (guitar) and Baucom (banjo) to create a daring new sound that honored bluegrass tradition while boldly expanding its possibilities.

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