Celebrating Johnny Marr on his 62nd birthday. —Ed.

I’m a Morrissey fan by temperament—of all the musicians who have ever lived, Manchester’s most famous miserabalist (he even beats Mark E. Smith!) comes closest to sharing my belief that hope is the lubricant that keeps the human meat grinder running—and because I consider him the funniest musician to ever kvetch into a microphone.

I can’t help but love a man who quipped, “What’s the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning? Wish I hadn’t.” And was quoted as saying, “I have found the best way to avoid ending your life as a bitter wreck is to start out as one.” The Mancunian misanthropist’s feckless take on life is utterly hilarious, and what I’ll never get over is there are people out there who don’t think he’s funny. No wonder Morrissey’s miserable; he’s a great comedian but nobody gets his jokes.

And the jokes just keep on coming on The Smiths’ third studio LP, 1986’s The Queen Is Dead. Morrissey possesses a savage wit; “Girlfriend in a Coma” is a black comedy for the ages. And on The Queen Is Dead Morrissey is in top form. He opens “Bigmouth Strikes Again” with the lines, “Sweetness, sweetness I was only joking/When I said I’d like to/Smash every tooth in your head/Sweetness, sweetness I was only joking/When I said by rights/You should be bludgeoned in your bed” and you can practically hear him cackling. And his take on dying a romantic death on “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” (“And if a double-decker bus/Crashes into us/To die by your side/Is such a heavenly way to die/And if a ten-ton truck/Kills the both of us/To die by your side/Well, the pleasure—the privilege is mine”) never fails to crack me up.

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WORDS AND IMAGES: TODD JUDD IN HARRISBURG, PA | Hirie’s Phases Tour Phase III kicked off with an unforgettable performance at XL Live in Harrisburg, PA, delivering a night of sweet island reggae infused with love, positivity, and vulnerability. The show was brilliant on so many levels, blending upbeat rhythms with deeply personal lyrics that took the audience on a journey of resilience and growth—with a killer setlist that seamlessly wove together fan-favorite classics and fresh tracks from her latest album, Phases, Hirie and her extraordinary band created an energetic and emotional atmosphere that had the crowd singing, swaying, and smiling all night long.

The evening began with an electrifying set from Mr. Mota, a Colorado-based band that brought a unique fusion of reggae, rock, grunge, and blues. Their feel-good anthems, such as “Touch the Sky” and “Stuck in ‘82,” had the audience grooving from the start, while new tracks like “On My Mind” showcased their evolving sound. Frontman Max’s versatile voice and Rosen’s standout guitar work made their performance unforgettable.

Next up was Wilmington, DE’s own Signal Fire, whose laid-back, rootsy reggae vibe set the perfect tone for the night. With Sean’s soothing vocals, Kenneth’s impressive drumming, and Tristan’s mesmerizing saxophone solos, the band captivated the crowd and built anticipation for the main act.

When Hirie finally took the stage, the energy in the room was electric. She opened with “I’m High,” a track from her new album, setting the tone with smooth reggae rhythms and her effortlessly chill vocals. The crowd was immediately hooked, swaying and singing along as she transitioned into “Boom Fire” and “Elevation.” The connection between Hirie and her fans was palpable, with the audience belting out lyrics and dancing to every beat.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Gary Numan’s second studio album Telekon was released in 1980 and was his third successive #1 album in the UK. Gary refers to this album, along with its two predecessors, Tubeway Army’s Replicas and his debut solo album The Pleasure Principle, as the “machine” phase of his career. While it was hard to follow up the previous releases, Telekon proved to be hugely influential. Unlike its predecessors, Telekon had plenty of guitars, along with strings and lush synthesizer textures. Trent Reznor claimed to have listened to it every day during the making of Pretty Hate Machine.

We are reissuing this album in a few formats, and pre-orders for all are available now. On November 14th, we will release a limited-edition sustainable version of Telekon. On December 12th, we will release a Deluxe Expanded Edition double rainbow sparkle LP of Telekon with four unreleased tracks, one of which is a never-before-heard Gary Numan song from the album sessions titled “Like A B-Film.” This deluxe edition also contains a replica of the original 1980 Telekon 12-page tour booklet. On January 30th, we will release a standard edition double LP and CD of the expanded album.

We asked Gary to reflect on 45 years of Telekon and he told us that “Telekon has always held a rather warm place for me whenever I look back at the early years. I was very proud of it. I thought the production had moved up a gear for one thing. I was also proud of the fact that I’d not gone the commercial route and tried to repeat the formula and sound of “Cars” and “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” I was still trying to move forward, find new sounds. It was a reasonably bold stance I think, to not follow a safer, more formulaic path, as I suddenly had a lot to lose after the success of the year before.”

Beggars Banquet has partnered with Good Neighbor Music, an environmentally conscious record manufacturing company, to create a very special, limited-edition version of Telekon on their patented PET (polyethylene terephthalate) alternative to traditionally pressed vinyl. The sustainability goals of Good Neighbor align with that of Beggars Group, and we are happy to utilize their patented eco conscious product for this forward-thinking album.”

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Oasis celebrate the 30th anniversary of “Wonderwall.” Three decades since its first release and with over 3 billion streams, “Wonderwall”’s significance, popularity, and legacy continues to grow amidst the unprecedented glow of the Live ‘25 Tour.

A song with massive importance to so many, the significance of “Wonderwall” is hard to overstate. Originally debuted by Noel Gallagher on UK television backstage at Glastonbury, it’s featured in countless lists of the greatest songs of all time and has soundtracked key moments in the lives of fans from all corners of the globe.

To mark the anniversary and announced today is a limited edition (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? 7” Singles Box Set—a replica of the highly collectible 1996 CD cigarette-style box. The Box Set includes four 7” singles, featuring the 2014 remastered versions of “Wonderwall,” “Some Might Say,” “Roll With It,” and “Don’t Look Back In Anger,” along with their original B-sides.

Released 12th December, it’s available for pre-order here. The box set follows the highly sought-after re-release of the Definitely Maybe 7” Singles Box Set last year, a limited-edition re-press of which is now available exclusively to pre-order via Amazon.

This landmark anniversary arrives shortly after the release of the (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition, which featured a brand-new unplugged version of “Wonderwall.” The deluxe edition charted at number 2 on Official UK Albums Chart and was described by MOJO as “Indestructible,” with Record Collector adding “This was the moment Oasis truly became the band of the people,” and Uncut concurring that this is “Britpop’s landmark.”

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Celebrating Grace Slick on her 86th birthday. —Ed.

You should be ashamed of yourself. Here the most important date on my holy calendar has come and gone, and you didn’t buy me a single gift. I’m talking about the anniversary of Altamont, of course, the benighted free concert held on December 6, 1969 at the Altamont Speedway in northern California. Four people died, one poor fellow at the hands of the Hells Angels, who were hired to provide security. The Angels, anger fueled in part by the $500 in beer they received as payment for their services, also rendered Jefferson Airplane vocalist Marty Balin unconscious with a blow to the head, which is why the anniversary of Altamont is also known to strict religious observers such as myself as “Punch Marty Balin in the Mouth Day.”

Altamont is perhaps rock’s most significant day because it, along with the Manson Family killings, put paid to the Age of Aquarius. It was the end of the innocence, to quote that dick from the Eagles, the high water mark of peace, love, and understanding, and on that dark day the glorious lysergic wave of good vibes and universal brotherhood broke and receded forever, as Hunter S. Thompson so astutely notes in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

I write all of this because the Jefferson Airplane was Thee Official Band of the LSD era. “White Rabbit” and “Somebody to Love” were as much countercultural signifiers as they were songs, as was “Crown of Creation,” as in “you are the.” But the whole scene went south, first with the numerous drug casualties of Haight-Ashbury, then with Charles Manson’s bloody murder spree and the disaster at Altamont, about which Grace Slick noted, “The vibes were bad. Something was very peculiar, not particularly bad, just real peculiar. It was that kind of hazy, abrasive and unsure day. I had expected the loving vibes of Woodstock but that wasn’t coming at me. This was a whole different thing.”

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Letters to Cleo’s debut album offers a classic indie rock rags-to-riches story we just don’t hear enough of anymore. The band was close to breaking up (vocalist Kay Hanley had already started another band on the side) when they released Aurora Gory Alice on a small, local (Boston) label called Cherrydisc Records in 1993.

A year later, after receiving extensive airplay in New England, Billboard finally reviewed the album and the next day the band played a much-celebrated show at South by Southwest. Major labels then came calling, and Warner Brothers imprint Giant Records signed Letters to Cleo, re-releasing the album in 1994. But fame and fortune STILL eluded the band until Giant was asked to compile a soundtrack for the TV Show Melrose Place and put “Here & Now” on it.

Success, however long-delayed, was swift; the song went Top Ten on the Modern Rock charts and the album likewise cracked the album charts. That success was also richly deserved; Aurora Gory Alice presents smart, melodic indie pop graced with Hanley’s soaring vocals. We’ve remastered this ‘90s classic for vinyl, and, with the band’s blessing, are bringing it to retail on LP for the first time with a sea blue pressing. Recommended!

Nonstop touring afforded Letters to Cleo an opportunity to develop a harder-edged, more diverse sound, heard to excellent effect on 1995’s Wholesale Meats and Fish. The single, the propulsive “Awake,” is good…but the album highlight is definitely “Little Rosa,” a masterpiece of ‘60s-influenced jangle pop. Once again, Real Gone had the album remastered for its first widespread vinyl retail release. Highlighter yellow pressing, released with the band’s blessing.

On October 13 the Mushroom Hour Half Hour and New Soil labels co-release kwaNTU, a gorgeous album of South African guitar from the duo of Madala Kunene (the elder) and Sibusile Xaba (the protégé). Known as the King of the Zulu Guitar, Kunene is little known outside his home country, while the younger jazz-influenced Xaba is poised to break out even more on the world stage. This 10-track collection is a splendid balm for troubled times, available on vinyl, compact disc, and digital.

That Madala Kunene isn’t better known by international listeners can be chalked up to the difficulties of exposure that befell South African musicians in the waning moments of Apartheid and then immediately after. His self-titled 1990 debut album, originally released by Third Ear Music, is certainly a pleasant experience, if unsurprisingly a wee bit dated in the production department.

Sibusile Xaba’s 2017 debut, the double set Open Letter to Adoniah/Unlearning, was the first release on Mushroom Hour Half Hour, an adventurous Johannesburg-based label that began as a vinyl-only radio show on a pirate radio station. If jazz influenced (Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall are cited as having impacted his style), Xaba is no trad cat; his debut finds him just as moved by South African sounds and also singing, often exuberantly in a sort of dialogue/counterpoint with his guitar playing.

After a meeting and time spent together, Kunene and Xaba became friends, with a budding mentorship to follow, and now comes this collaboration, which is often stunning in its beauty, and immediately so in opener “Umkhulu Omkhulu,” with its exchange of folky and jazz guitar as Xaba sings atop.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | The Doors’ 60th anniversary celebration continues with the re-release of Tom DiCillo’s GRAMMY® Award-Winning documentary film When You’re Strange.

Remastered in 4K for the first time, the film will feature an introduction from John Densmore and Robby Krieger and the worldwide exclusive debut of a newly recorded performance of “Riders on the Storm” featuring Densmore, Krieger, and special guests in partnership with Playing For Change. The film will be released worldwide in theaters on December 4th and 6th. Tickets for When You’re Strange are on sale from Thursday, October 30 at 6 a.m. PT / 9 a.m. ET / 1 p.m. GMT at WhenYoureStrangeMovie.com. Visit the event website to sign up for more information and ticketing details for cinemas.

The chemistry of four artists made The Doors one of America’s most influential rock bands. With rare footage shot from their formation in 1965 to Jim Morrison’s death in 1971, When You’re Strange, Tom DiCillo’s GRAMMY® Award-Winning film narrated by Johnny Depp, follows the band through their career, providing insight into the revolutionary impact of their music.

On the occasion of the band’s 60th anniversary, the film will be presented in cinemas in 4K for the first time ever, and feature a newly recorded performance of “Riders on the Storm” featuring Densmore, Krieger, and special guests performing the song in exotic locations around the world in partnership with Playing For Change.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | At the height of summer of 1976, the sun was setting on The Band. Having ushered in the decade’s folk-rock movement by seamlessly weaving elements of rock, blues, jazz and country, The Band was at its breaking point.

Guitarist and songwriter Robbie Robertson was tired of the road and interested in exploring new musical avenues, pianist Richard Manuel was still recovering from a boating accident, and Garth Hudson, Levon Helm, and Rick Danko were all ready to go their separate ways. As the group prepared for their farewell concert, one that would go down in history, they released The Best of The Band, a retrospective of timeless classics that would influence music for generations to come.

On December 12, Capitol Records/UMe will release the newly remastered The Best of The Band on vinyl, CD, and Super High Material CD. The long out-of-print LP version will be available on standard weight black vinyl, marking the first time it’s been available since the 1980s. Both the CD and SHM CD versions have been mastered for digital format, with the SHM CD utilizing a special polycarbonate material that leads to additional clarity, depth, and definition of sound.

Released on July 16, 1976, The Best of The Band is a precursor to a landmark moment in music history. Having first formed in the 1960s as Ronnie Hawkins’ backing band, The Hawks, the group—Helm (drums, vocals, mandolin), Robertson (guitar, piano, vocals), Danko (bass, vocals, fiddle), Manuel (keyboards, vocals, drums), and Hudson (keyboards, horns)—would back Bob Dylan during his controversial electric “plugged-in” phase.

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Neil Young remains one of the most consistently prolific artists in music. He turns 80 on November 12, and his latest album is a self-reflective work that is heartfelt, honest, and occasionally angry, but ultimately uplifting.

Young’s output is staggering. Every year, he puts out unreleased music from his vast archives, reissues of previous works, and often albums of all-new recordings. It’s the variety, quality, and approach of these new recordings that spotlight his continued relevance. Young does not rest on his laurels, he favors making gritty, organic music with songs that are deeply personal and is not creating product for the marketplace or pandering to popular tastes.

The new album features many of the musicians Young has been recording and touring with since 2015. They are musicians who play with Young as Promise of the Real (Lukas Nelson, Anthony LoGerfo, Tato Melgar, Corey McCormick, Logan Metz) and in the case of this album, the Chrome Hearts (Micah Nelson, Spooner Oldham, Corey McCormick, Anthony LoGerfo). Lukas and Micah are Willie Nelson’s sons.

Oldham is one of the true legends of American music, stretching back to his unparalleled work as a lynchpin of the history-making Muscle Shoals sessions, including the key Atlantic Recordings of Aretha Franklin. He is a member of Young’s current touring band and has collaborated with him on a total of nine albums, dating back to 1978. His contributions to Young’s albums and music in general cannot be overstated. He was inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in 2009 as a sideman with Bill Black and D.J. Fontana.

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Beware of the clown! On the heels of the release of a handful of new songs, Swedish metal masters Avatar (guitarist Jonas “Kungen” Jarlsby, drummer John Alfredsson, vocalist Johannes Eckerström, guitarist Tim Öhrström, and bassist Henrik Sandelin) unleash their anticipated tenth album, Don’t Go In The Forest, on Halloween. True to form, Avatar’s latest effort is haunting, genre-bending, and a hell of a lot of fun.

If Avatar had a mission statement, it might say, “Never make the same album twice.” True to that approach, Don’t Go in the Forest is a step forward from 2023’s Dance Devil Dance. On that album, the lead-off track “Dance Devil Dance” set an ominous tone for the rest of that carnival ride as a danceable, devilish metal album. In 2025, “Tonight We Must Be Warriors” begins with flute and military-style drums, evolving into a fist-pumping power metal anthem. It’s a rallying cry to the listener, urging us to be brave as we journey into the dark forest of taboos.

Other singles have already provided tastes of the album’s eclectic sound. The catchy, growly, thrashy “In the Airwaves” is a return to “speed,” and I can already see the mosh pits that are sure to break out on club floors. “Death and Glitz” is glam and danceable—it would not have been out of place on Dance Devil Dance. But instead of the devil, the song takes aim at society’s fascination with true crime. The phrase “tragedy with tits” is likely to be written across chests at every Avatar show from now until the end of time.

“Captain Goat” is a sea shanty for chrissakes and is already a fan favorite, with affections fueled by a video featuring a Black Philip-looking sea captain and bassist Sandelin as a merman. Is it weird? Yes. Is it weird even for Avatar? No.

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Sublime Frequencies has travelled the globe in pursuit of worthy sonic discoveries, but until the arrival of West Virginia Snake Handler Revival “They Shall Take Up Serpents,” the set available now on LP and digital wherever adventurous music is sold, the label had never focused an entire release on a locale from inside the borders of the United States. As the title indicates, West Virginia is the destination, specifically Appalachia, for a deep dive into the fervor of a group known simply as the Pastor Chris Congregation. It’s one of the wildest and totally unexpected releases of 2025. The vinyl comes with a 13-minute bonus track.

The reality is that many will listen to West Virginia Snake Handler Revival with the intention to laugh and point. When people let it all hang out, a reliable reaction is derision. Soaking up these excerpts as captured by Grammy-award-winning record producer Ian Brennan (Tinariwen, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Zomba Prison Project, Peter Case), if nothing else, illuminates the difference between sincere Christian belief in its extremity and those who profess religious conviction but are in reality frauds.

But this album delivers much more, capturing the last snake-handling church in the only state that still legally tolerates the practice prior to the likelihood (if not inevitability) of the tradition’s disappearance. It offers excerpts of church service preaching ascending into the realms of pure mania. In Sublime Frequencies’ notes, Brennan details a snakebite that can be heard in the track “Don’t Worry It’s Just a Snakebite (What Has Happened to This Generation?).”

The whole of West Virginia Snake Handler Revival is fascinating, and most of all for the sheer power of the music. Those preaching excerpts are infused with the raw musicality that can be the byproduct of sheer conviction and the evaporation of inhibition. The intensity is galvanizing, formidable, at times uncomfortable, even from the distance this recording provides. One can only imagine what it was like for Brennan up close as he tended to his duties as an audio documentarian.

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