VIA PRESS RELEASE | 2023 sees the 50th anniversary of what is widely regarded as Thin Lizzy’s breakthrough album Vagabonds Of The Western World featuring their first UK top ten single “Whiskey In The Jar” and “The Rocker” which would go on to be one of the band’s signature tunes, so much so that it was the last song they ever performed at their final show in 1983.

To celebrate the album’s golden anniversary, deluxe CD and LP sets featuring rarities, radio sessions, unreleased music, rare photos, extensive sleevenotes by Mark Blake, and memorabilia will be released on 17th November. The reissue suite also includes the album remixed in Dolby Atmos, a first for any Thin Lizzy record.

Vagabonds Of The Western World was Thin Lizzy’s third studio album and was initially released on the 21st of September 1973. It was the first to feature artwork by Jim Fitzpatrick, the creator of the famous red and black portrait of Che Guevara, who would go on to work with the band on classic albums such as Nightlife, Jailbreak, Johnny The Fox, Black Rose, and Chinatown.

The album was the band’s last roll of the dice, as they had been working for two years with limited success. After the band moved to London from Dublin, they played every gig they could to keep themselves afloat. While messing around in their rehearsal studio, Phil Lynott started busking the old Irish folk song “Whiskey In The Jar,” which dates back to the 1700s. Their then manager remarked upon it and insisted that the band recorded, against their gut instincts. The single was released in November 1972 and rose to number 6 on the UK singles chart. However, the song didn’t sit well with the band, and despite its success, they left it off their forthcoming album.

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Like the Henry Cow that calved ‘em, the Art Bears are a shut up and take your medicine proposition. I don’t think you’re supposed to enjoy their hifalutin’ take on progressive rock—no, you’re supposed to listen to it because it’s good for you. Their music is high in avant garde fiber and listening to it is like downing cod liver oil—unpleasant, but elevating. A steady regimen of the Art Bears is guaranteed to make you a smarter, more well-rounded music listener. It’s sophisticated stuff for sophisticated people. Me, I don’t want to be sophisticated. I’m like the guy on the cover of Foghat’s Fool for the City. I enjoy going fishing in the sewer for the music I love.

But I suspect the monocle-wearing people of taste who love the Art Bears couldn’t even be bothered to sneer at Foghat, which is okay—they obviously have more class than I do. And the smart set have reason to love the Art Bears—gadfly guitarist/keyboardist Fred Frith is a musician’s dream, and percussionist, “composer” (songwriter is a title beneath him), and “musical theorist” (it says so right on Wikipedia!) Chris Cutter ain’t chicken feed either.

If avant-rock chamber music is your thing, there’s no gainsaying the fact that England’s Art Bears have the goods. And their music is educational too—their third and final LP, 1978’s The World as It Is Today, is less rock album than textbook on the evils of capitalism, and for all I know it’s an assigned reading at the London School of Economics. And I say “textbook” because lyrics are beneath the Art Bears—words guy Cutter insists upon the term “texts.” In short, I shouldn’t be writing a review of the Art Bears—I should be writing a doctoral thesis.

The Art Bears fall into the dreaded category of bands I respect but can’t stomach, which is to say they fall into the lowest of all categories. I’d much sooner listen to a band I don’t respect and can’t stomach, because at least it affords me the pleasure of laughing at them. Having a good chuckle at Emerson, Lake & Palmer makes me a happier person. The Art Bears don’t afford me that pleasure, and frankly, I find it difficult to forgive them for it. I was recently reading an article on experimental music trends that highlighted Infinity Merge, a technique that layers and loops fragmented compositions into a seemingly endless, evolving piece. It struck me that if any band could have benefited from this approach, it would be the Art Bears—maybe, just maybe, stretching their chaotic theatrics into an infinite loop would give me something to latch onto. Other than the fact that avant-cabaret vocalist Dagmar Krause occasionally chitters away like a German Yoko Ono, the Art Bears are a chuckle-free proposition.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Catch a Fire, Bob Marley And The Wailers’ seminal first release on Island Records, universally regarded as the album that put reggae music on the global stage, is being re-issued via UMe on November 3rd to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of its original release in 1973. “Slave Driver,” one of the most powerful tracks on the album, will be released as a single, accompanied by remarkable live performance footage recently unearthed from the legendary Edmonton show in England in 1973.

A hugely anticipated new film, Bob Marley: One Love, celebrating the life and music of an icon who inspired generations through his message of love and unity, is in theatres on January 12, 2024. Produced by Ziggy Marley, Cedella Marley, and Rita Marley, and with Stephen Marley as the music supervisor, the film tells the inspirational story of how Bob overcame huge adversity to become one of the world’s most revered musical and cultural giants through the power and beauty of his revolutionary music. Produced in partnership with the Marley family, the film stars Kingsley Ben-Adir as Bob and Lashana Lynch as his wife, Rita.

Catch a Fire is the fifth studio album by Bob Marley and the Wailers and was the first to be released by Island Records UK. The album originally had a limited release and was credited to The Wailers. Housed in a memorable sleeve in the shape of a Zippo lighter designed by graphic artists Rod Dyer and Bob Weiner, Catch a Fire’s future versions would feature the classic portrait of Marley smoking a “spliff,” taken by Esther Anderson. From then on, the artist credit was Bob Marley and The Wailers.

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Some musicians get lucky enough to find a career, once; maybe even twice. But if a musician is able to have several different careers in the brutal music business over the course of their lives, it’s not about luck; it’s about talent.

Peter Case has plenty of talent: he’s made his name as a great songwriter and vocalist and was also a part of the primordial punk/new wave band, The Nerves as well as The Plimsouls. Over the course of his half-century career, he’s released fifteen solo albums, and just released number 16. It’s called Doctor Moan and it finds Case leaning his usual acoustic guitar against the wall in favor of the piano he spent an inordinate amount of time with during the pandemic. Go ahead, he won’t mind if you call it Peter Case’s piano record.

Case and I, of course, talk about the new record and the process of recording it, but we also comb through his career and touch upon some of the thumbnails that he’s left behind on the map of his travels around the world he’s taken over the past 50 years. We also discuss the recent documentary that was produced about his life and his work called, Peter Case: A Million Miles Away. So tune in to learn how Peter Case crafted his Zelig-like persona in the music industry with a whole lot of hard work and time and, well, maybe just a little bit of luck.

Evan Toth is a songwriter, professional musician, educator, radio host, avid record collector, and hi-fi aficionado. Toth hosts and produces The Evan Toth Show and TVD Radar on WFDU, 89.1 FM. Follow him at the usual social media places and visit his website.

On 1989’s Monsters Phoenix, Arizona’s the Meat Puppets finally got around to doing what they’d been threatening to do for a while–went heavy metal.

For a post-punk band with more in common with the Grateful Dead than the Misfits the move might have seemed a shocker. But with their first three albums the Meat Puppets had proved themselves perhaps the most rapidly mutating organism in the history of rock. They went from mutant hardcore to unhinged psychedelic country to mystico-desert funk, so why not metal? On the albums that followed their third LP, 1985’s oddly syncopated and incorrigibly cheerful Up on the Sun, they made the occasional foray into heavier territory—just check out the very ZZ Top “Automatic Mojo” from Monsters’ predecessor, 1987’s Huevos. But it wasn’t until Monsters that the Meat Puppets began taking musical growth hormones and iron supplements and commenced to Sabbath out.

The only potential shocker was the Meat Puppets impetus for the change of direction: commercial ambition. Noted drummer Derrick Bostrom, the band had decided it was time to sign to the bigs, and heavy music was their way of doing it: “It was kind of a reaction to the whole Bon Jovi mentality of the time: ‘Let’s try to show the world that we can be a mainstream rock band.’” It was a quixotic quest; no one was going to mistake the Meat Puppets for Bon Jovi, or anybody else rocking the pop charts.

And commercially their big metal move was doomed from the start, for the simple reason that Curt Kirkwood is no Rob Halford. (Nor is his brother Kris, with whom he often harmonizes). Curt doesn’t project. You could amplify his vocals to the nth power and they still wouldn’t reach the back of the arena. And his vocals are 100% menace free. Kirkwood oozes laid-back Arizona nice guy charm; he doesn’t have an ounce of Iron Man in him. Hell, he doesn’t even sound like he’s trying, which is partly what makes their albums so wonderful. The Village Voice’s Robert Christgau hit the nail on the head when he wrote of Monsters, “this is really the guitar-god record Curt Kirkwood always had in him,” before adding, “What’ll keep them from turning into plutonium is the utterly unmacho vocals.”

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Fatboy Slim announces the forthcoming 25th-anniversary reissue of You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby, releasing on October 13 via Astralwerks. Pre-order available here. The album has been remastered at half speed at Abbey Road Studios for the best available audio quality possible.

2023 marks twenty-five years since the release of the album that spawned era-defining singles “Rockafeller Skank,” “Gangster Trippin,” “Praise You,” and “Right Here Right Now.” You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby reached number one in the UK album charts, broke the US Billboard Top 40, created a global superstar and put a new wave of UK dance music on the map.

First released in 1998, You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby became one of THE defining records of the ‘90s, irrespective of genre. Swinging from hip-hop, to reggae and jangle pop, with You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby Fatboy Slim broke stylistic ground and delivered a wildly original album, filled with imagination, huge hooks, and even bigger beats.

Bigger than being just a dance album, You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby was a genuine phenomenon, enjoying huge critical and commercial success; it contains 4 UK Top 10 singles, earning Fatboy Slim a BRIT Award for best producer and two further nominations (Male Solo Artist and British Single) along the way. Embraced by the rock and pop press equally and provided a global breakthrough for both British dance music and the Big Beat sound. Singles “Rockafeller Skank,” “Gangster Trippin,” and anthemic UK number one single “Praise You” (which scored 3 MTV VMA awards with its iconic Spike Jonze directed video) pushed dance music into the stratosphere, resonating with music fans and breaking electronic music to middle America.

Fast forward twenty-five years and Fatboy Slim remains one of the most ground-breaking and prolific of the original Superstar DJs.

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Get ready to add some serious depth to your vinyl collection with Billy Joel—The Vinyl Collection, Vol.2!

Following on from The Vinyl Collection, Vol.1, this box set picks up where it left off and delves into the next phase of Billy’s extraordinary career. Featuring his chart-topping hits like “Uptown Girl,” “Allentown,” “A Matter of Trust,” and “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” The Vinyl Collection, Vol.2 brings together all of Billy’s massively successful 1980s albums and his final studio album, River of Dreams. But that’s not all!

The set also includes an exclusive 2LP pressing of Fantasies & Delusions, an instrumental album showcasing Billy’s classical piano compositions, as well as the first-ever audio edition of Billy Joel—Live from Long Island. This electrifying concert, which took place at the Nassau Coliseum in 1982, is widely regarded as one of Billy’s best performances of the era, and its inclusion in this box set is an essential addition to the classic Billy Joel catalog.

All titles have been sourced from the original album masters and carefully prepared for this release by the legendary Ted Jensen with lacquers cut by Joe Nino Hernes. The box set also includes a 60+ page booklet featuring personal observations and insights from Billy Joel himself, an informative essay by Rob Tannenbaum, rare photos and memorabilia from the era, and more.

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Craft Recordings celebrates the 40th anniversary of Social Distortion’s influential debut, Mommy’s Little Monster, with special vinyl and digital reissues.

Set for release on November 10th and available for pre-order today, the classic SoCal punk album has been newly remastered from its original analog tapes and pressed on 180-gram vinyl for the ultimate listening experience. Housed in a gatefold jacket, Mommy’s Little Monster includes such favorites as “The Creeps (I Just Wanna Give You),” “Another State of Mind,” and the iconic title track. Beginning today, fans can also stream and download the remastered version of “Another State of Mind.”

In addition to classic black vinyl, the album will be available in a variety of exclusive limited-edition colorways, including ruby red via the band’s website and black & white marble at CraftRecordings.com. Fans can also find a clear smoke edition at select independent record stores, a white pressing at Barnes & Noble, and a gray variant at RevolverMag.com.

A pioneering force in Orange County, CA’s legendary hardcore punk scene, Social Distortion was founded in the late ’70s by singer, songwriter, and guitarist Mike Ness alongside his high school buddy, guitarist Dennis Danell. While Ness was raised on a blend of blues, country, and classic rock—influences that would later pervade Social Distortion’s songs—he found himself particularly inspired at the time by Britain’s anti-establishment punk scene.

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Recorded in 1990 and released on compact disc two years later, Circular Temple by the Matthew Shipp Trio is a fathoms-deep excursion into a jazz avant-garde that was revitalized and on the move. On September 15, the record, which showcases bassist William Parker and drummer Whit Dickey with pianist Shipp, is receiving its second reissue, this time on ESP-Disk, and on vinyl for the first time with new artwork by Yuko Otomo. Consisting of four movements with the second a nod to Thelonious Monk, the music is gripping and wildly beautiful. It is a must for any serious collection of avant-garde jazz.

Circular Temple first came out on Quinton Records, the sole release by Shipp’s own label. The CD had solid artwork by Ann Kalmbach and a terrific liner essay by poet John Farris, but like many self-released records, it was fated to essentially fall under the radar in an era when the profile of free jazz was on the upswing.

I first heard about Circular Temple two years later when it was reissued, once more only on CD (with a different cover illustration by Lawrence Holzworth) by Infinite Zero, the very interesting label started up by Henry Rollins and Rick Rubin during the ’90s record industry boom time that was devoted solely to reissues of cool stuff (e. g. Devo, James Chance, Iceberg Slim, Tom Verlaine, Alan Vega, Alan Watts, Flipper, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Trouble Funk).

Like a lot of folks reared on punk rock and associated sounds during this era, I was looking to branch out stylistically beyond, and having already caught the jazz bug with a predilection for the avant-garde, I picked up a copy of Circular Temple (I do believe the only jazz recording on Infinite Zero, though Rollins did put out new recordings by Shipp and others in the avant-jazz scene on his own 2.13.61 label). To say I was promptly blown away by the sheer range of its power is an understatement.

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