VIA PRESS RELEASE | As part of its ongoing series of definitive reissues, Iodine Recordings proudly presents the 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of Quicksand’s Manic Compression—a landmark of post-hardcore innovation and one of the defining albums of the 1990s. More than just a reissue, this edition restores the record’s sound and visual art in full, honoring the band’s enduring influence and the intensity that reshaped heavy music’s trajectory.

If Slip announced Quicksand’s arrival, then Manic Compression proved they weren’t just a moment—they were a movement. Released in early 1995 on Island Records, the record built upon the foundation of their debut and expanded it into something sharper, darker, and more dynamic. Its tightly-coiled songs fuse hardcore ferocity, metallic heft, and alt-rock melody into a streamlined 12-track assault that perfectly captured the tension of its time.

Opening track “Backward” throws listeners straight into the deep end with slashing guitars and rhythmic precision that set the tone for the album’s relentless pacing. Lead single “Thorn in My Side” finds Quicksand at their most immediate—raw urgency refined into anthemic form, earning heavy rotation on MTV’s 120 Minutes and carving the band’s place in the wider alt-rock landscape of the mid-’90s. Tracks like “Landmine Spring” and “Delusional” balance jagged riffs with space and atmosphere, proving Quicksand’s ability to stretch hardcore into entirely new terrain.

Upon release, Manic Compression peaked at No. 135 on the Billboard Top 200 and earned the band an invitation to the first-ever Warped Tour—milestones that carried their sound far beyond the hardcore underground and into the broader alternative rock conversation.

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Celebrating Graham Parker on his 75th birthday. —Ed.

Some guys just can’t catch a break. Especially if their name is Graham Parker, who released four stellar albums from 1975 to 1979 and never came close to making the big time. Just how good was he in his prime? The English rocker’s first two LPs (1975’s Howlin’ Wind and 1976’s Heat Treatment) made the top five of The Village Voice’s annual Pazz and Jop poll. But has your average music fan heard his music? Not so much. The guy might as well be invisible.

Parker had his own suspicions about his failure to reach the big time, and it was Mercury Records, who in his opinion did nothing to promote his music. He laid out his argument in the scathing “Mercury Poisoning” with its lines, “I got Mercury poisoning/It’s fatal and it don’t get better/I got, Mercury poisoning/The best kept secret in the west, hey the west.” It’s a great song. It never made its way on to an LP. Parker’s new label, Arista Records, planned to release it as a single in 1979, but ultimately relegated it to a B-Side. Too risky to release–Parker could turn on you next.

Parker’s voice bears a distinct resemblance to that of Elvis Costello, but he doesn’t go in for Costello’s witty wordplay. Parker’s songs address everyday concerns in everyday language that Costello’s clever songs never do. Just check out “Local Girls” (don’t bother with ‘em) and “Saturday Nite Is Dead” (“I used to know a good place to go/But now it’s nothing like it was then”).

Parker had a crack backing band in the Rumour, who would go on to release three albums in their own right. Furthermore, ace guitarist Brinsley Schwarz has gone on to record six well-received solo albums, while rhythm guitarist Martin Belmont has released a neat dozen. Keyboard player Bob Andrews, drummer Steve Goulding, and bass player Andrew Bobnar rounded out the quintet, providing more than enough coloring and backbone to fuel the hard rockers and ample subtlety to add nuances the slow ones.

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In terms of popularity, America never produced an equivalent to David Bowie. But there was Jobriath, an unfortunate victim of record label hype and consumer indifference who produced what’s easily the USA’s purest expression of glam sensibilities.

Jobriath Boone, né Bruce Wayne Campbell is one of the more fascinating casualties in rock’s colorful history. Starting out in the ultra-obscure pop-folk-psyche group Pigeon (who recorded an LP and a single for Decca in ’69) after defecting from a Los Angeles production of Hair, his demo tape was stumbled upon by ‘70s mover-and-shaker Jerry Brandt, who managed to get him signed to Elektra Records for the reported sum of $500,000.

A barrage of publicity followed, including a billboard in Times Square and an appearance on the late night TV variety program The Midnight Special. Problem was, his ’73 debut tanked commercially, setting off a media backlash that left his follow-up Creatures of the Street to wither without promotion.

His relationship with Brandt severed, Jobriath was held in the clutches of a ten year contract that kept him from recording any further material. Instead, he worked as a cabaret singer under the name Cole Berlin and lived in the Chelsea Hotel, where he died of AIDS in 1983.

Jobriath’s status as an openly gay musician sets him apart from his glam contemporaries. Where Bowie and others flirted with the perception of bi-sexuality, Jobriath made no bones about his sexual orientation. He described himself to the press as a “true fairy,” displaying frankness and flamboyance that surely damaged his chances with many observers hiding a closed mind in the closet, and in fact this defiant boldness situates Jobriath as an exponent of the camp theatricality that’s long been an aspect of gay culture.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Filmtrax today released the Keeper—Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, featuring an original score by composer Edo Vanbreemen, available digitally beginning November 14. Known for his evocative and psychologically immersive soundscapes, Van Breemen brings his haunting, textural style to NEON’s Keeper, directed by Osgood Perkins.

For the film, Van Breemen crafted a minimal, organic score built from live acoustic recordings and bespoke sample instruments, incorporating tapping, knocking, and wooden textures that reflect the film’s eerie cabin setting. Made By Mutant will release the Keeper—Original Motion Picture Soundtrack on vinyl on Tuesday, November 18. Keeper is now playing in theaters. Edo notes “I’m thrilled to announce the release of the Keeper original score. It was an honour to work on Oz Perkins’ newest film and I’m grateful for all the talented musicians who contributed to create this. It’s rare to experience such creative freedom on a project of this scale. I hope the music delights and terrifies.”

Edo Vanbreemen is a Canadian-American film composer celebrated for his evocative, immersive, and at times haunting scores. Known for his ability to craft gripping soundscapes across narrative films and documentaries, Edo often composes in solitude from a remote cabin on a small island in the Salish Sea near Vancouver, British Columbia—an environment that deeply informs his atmospheric style.

Recent work includes The Monkey, Keeper, The Track, and BRATS, as well as the upcoming The Backrooms (A24) with Kane Parsons. These projects showcase Edo’s wide-ranging mastery of synthesis and acoustic orchestration, drawing from his background as a classically trained and improvisational pianist, multi-instrumentalist, and accomplished producer. His collaboration with director Osgood Perkins on Keeper demonstrates his experimental edge—building an original sample library from bespoke live recordings to shape the film’s eerie sonic identity.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | The London Records reissue Chicken Rhythms, the debut and only album by Northside, is out now on LP and CD.

Produced by Ian Broudie (The Lightning Seeds), Chicken Rhythms was originally released on Factory Records in June 1991, charting in the Top 20, and contains the singles “Take 5” and “Shall We Take A Trip?,” which have been remixed by The Reflex and Leo Zero for a White Label 12-inch single available now. “Take 5 (The Reflex Revision)” is available digitally now. An exclusive three-track CD single ‘The 12”s’ is available with D2C album pre-orders and includes the original 12-inch mixes of “Shall We Take A Trip?,” “My Rising Star,” and “Moody Places.”

The 2025 vinyl reissue has been cut from the original Factory Records masters and comes on solid green vinyl with restored artwork by Central Station Design. The expanded CD edition includes 1990 single “My Rising Star” and “Moody Places” (AA side with “Shall We Take A Trip”), radio edits as well as the new remixes, plus a 24 page booklet with new liner notes from venerated Manchester music journalist John Robb.

From the north Manchester suburbs of Blackley and Moston, Northside were an integral part of the Manchester early nineties soundtrack. Signed to Factory Records by its visionary founder Tony Wilson, the band were the bridge between the Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays, fusing psychedelic rock with Acid House.

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Remembering Gordon Lightfoot, born on this date in 1938. —Ed.

Robbie Robertson has called Canadian folk rock singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot “a national treasure,” and so he is. Canadians don’t just love their Orillia, Ontario native son, they worship him in temples that can only be entered by pilgrims clad in the holy sandals Gord wore on the cover of his 1974 LP Sundown.

And their devotion is understandable–Lightfoot has contributed many a timeless song to the world, and none other than Bob Dylan has gone on record saying that when he hears a Lightfoot song he wishes “it would last forever.”

Lightfoot wrote many a great song from 1965 to 1970 with United Artists, including “Early Morning Rain,” “Ribbon of Darkness,” and “Canadian Railroad Trilogy,” to name just a few. But he recorded his best known work for Warner/Reprise Records, with whom he signed in 1970. And it’s this work you’ll hear on 2018’s aptly titled compilation An Introduction to Gordon Lightfoot.

There are other Lightfoot compilations out there, but they either include music only your hardcore fans will want to own (see 1999’s Songbook or 2019’s The Complete Singles 1970–1980). 1975’s Gord’s Gold is arguably the best comp out there, including as it does material from both his United Artists and Warner Brothers years, but it omits “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” (inexcusable!) and (even more inexcusable!) includes re-recordings of the songs from Lightfoot’s years with United Artists.

All ten of the tracks on An Introduction to Gordon Lightfoot provide indisputable proof that Lightfoot is the best singer-songwriter to stand his ground in Canada (Neil and Joni and Robbie defected and never looked back), and if you’re inclined to argue this fact with the peace-loving Canucks of the Great White North they might just crown you with a hockey stick and toss you into Lake Ontario.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) commemorates the uncanny musical legacy and life of iconic artist, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and “Godfather of Neo-Soul”—the late Roy Ayers—with the release of a new compilation entitled Secrets Of The Sun out now.

This body of work notably boasts four previously unreleased recordings in addition to four recharged and re-upped reinterpretations of essential deep cuts. It arrives on all DSPs today as well as on limited-edition vinyl. The LP is pressed on 180-gram vinyl and packaged inside of a vivid gatefold jacket with a stunning lithograph.

Fans will undoubtedly gravitate to this newly unearthed quartet of soul gems. Anchored by a slick bass thump, upbeat drums, and boisterous horns, “Pathfinder” swaggers straight into the spotlight. Ayers’s signature vibraphone lifts the song into another stratosphere, and the words ring out, “I’m the one that you don’t know yet.” Elsewhere, “Pleasure” offers a dose of aural ecstasy chased by funkified guitar, a bedroom-ready bounce, and lusty vibraphone transmissions. The hazy and hypnotic “Intermission” simply smolders, and “Dragon’s Nest” enchants with its butter-smooth rhythm and cinematic instrumentation.

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Guess who just got back from Funkytown? I did, and it was fantastic! One minute I was in my car driving down Salem Church Road in insufferable Newark, Delaware and the next I was stepping aboard the Love Train on Electric Avenue in mid-town Funkytown passing Studio 54s left and right and Mick and Bianca and Andy and Elton and Cher were on the train and high above Funkytown I could see a disco inferno blazing atop Disco Mountain like a giant disco ball, and what a disco they must have up there, I thought! And I looked down at my feet and I was wearing boogie shoes!

It was an amazing thing to happen, and it can happen to you too. All you have to do is turn on Lipps Inc.’s late-stage (1980) disco classic “Funkytown,” one of the greatest bursts of dance floor ecstasy of the pre-ecstasy era. Only several things need be said about “Funkytown,” because everything you really need to know about it is coming to you through your ears, but the most important (and I’ll return to this soon) is that it’s a robotic synthpop/disco synthesis with a solid four-on-the-floor basstastic beat that was as revolutionary as it was impossible not to bump Bertha Butts to.

But first a brief history. The song (and Lipps Inc.) were the brainchildren of Steven Phillip Greenberg, a wannabe-musical Svengali/party and wedding DJ from St. Paul, Minnesota who scored a regional hit with “Rock It,” which scored him a deal with legendary Casablanca Records. Lipps Inc. weren’t even a band yet, so Greenberg gathered up some sessions players (guitarists David Rivkin and Tom Riopelle, keyboardist Ivan Rafowitz, synth and vocoder programmer Roger Dumas, and bassist Terry Grant), then snatched lead vocalist (and saxophonist) Cynthia Johnson from a band (Flyte Tyme) that would soon become Prince side-project The Time.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Godsmack and Republic/UMe proudly announce the release of the 25th Anniversary edition of the landmark sophomore album, Awake, available on March 6, 2026, on deluxe 2LP smoky green color vinyl and CD. This commemorative edition includes a special holographic lithograph of the cover art and features five bonus tracks, including “Why,” which was featured on the Any Given Sunday soundtrack, and a Black Sabbath cover of “Sweet Leaf.”

Following their multi-platinum self-titled debut in 1998, Godsmack returned two years later in 2000 with an album that not only met but surpassed all expectations. The release delivered a powerful collection of songs that quickly became fan favorites, including “Bad Magick,” “Awake,” and “Greed,” and cemented the band’s reputation as one of the defining acts of their era. Building on the momentum of their breakthrough success, the sophomore album’s title track earned Godsmack their first Billboard No. 1 hit, while another standout single, “Vampires,” garnered the band their first GRAMMY® nomination.

The reissue celebrates a defining moment in Godsmack’s career, showcasing the enduring legacy of an album that continues to resonate with fans worldwide. Preorder the 25th Anniversary of Awake HERE.

With over 20 years of chart-topping success, the Boson rock band has cemented themselves as 21st-century hard rock titans. To date, they’ve accomplished a staggering 12 #1 singles at mainstream rock radio, including “Surrender,” “Soul on Fire,” both from the band’s most recent album, Lighting Up the Sky.

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Celebrating Anni-Frid Lyngstad in advance of her 80th birthday tomorrow. —Ed.

I love ABBA. I love them so much I contacted the Swedish ambassador last week to see if I could buy them. “ABBA are a national treasure,” the ambassador informed me. “But a thousand kroner would probably do it.” I was rather taken aback really, given ABBA are Sweden’s biggest export behind Swedish Red Fish and Swedish meatballs.

ABBA’s frothy brand of Europop and disco bring back fond memories of my first and last visit to a discotheque. The experience was unforfeitable insofar as it ended with me throwing up in the parking lot, but it wasn’t ABBA’s fault–staring at the revolving glitter ball above the dance floor gave me vertigo.

From disco classic “Dancing Queen” to “Waterloo,” ABBA’s songs were good, innocent fun. Who can resist their infectious melodies and perfect harmonies? Lots of people, evidently. ABBA were anathema to the “Let’s burn down the disco crowd,” and none other than Robert Christgau saw fit to describe their “real tradition” as “the advertising jingle.”

Formed in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, ABBA first made their mark by winning the 1974 Eurovision Contest–a sure step to superstardom, as evidenced as by such memorable bands as Teach-In and Herreys. It took awhile for ABBA to catch on with US listeners, but when they did they did it big—in the years between 1974 and 1981 they placed a dozen singles on the American Top 40.

The ABBA sound is a study in contradictions. On one hand their music is as frothy as it’s frosty; detractors will tell you their music is as cold as a dip into a Hellasgården ice bath. But to pop and disco lovers their music is something you’ll want to warm your hands over—especially if you spent your formative years listening to “Dancing Queen.”

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