VIA PRESS RELEASE | Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols, an album that rewired 20 years of rock in under 40 minutes, is available today from Rhino High Fidelity (Rhino Hi-Fi), the premium vinyl reissue series. Order HERE.

Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols (Rhino High Fidelity) was cut from the original master tapes by Kevin Gray and pressed on 180-gram black vinyl at Optimal in Germany. This release is limited to 5,000 individually numbered copies and available exclusively at Rhino.com and select Warner Music Group stores internationally.

Singer and main lyricist Johnny Rotten (John Lydon), guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook, and bassist Glen Matlock—later replaced by Sid Vicious—recorded the Sex Pistols’ only studio album at Wessex Sound in London.

Released in 1977, it debuted at #1 on the U.K. charts despite being banned by major retailers and causing widespread controversy. Bristling with broadsides like “Anarchy In The U.K.,” “God Save The Queen,” “Pretty Vacant,” and “Holidays In The Sun,” the album distilled rage and disillusionment into a single, unrelenting statement.

In the album’s new liner notes, producer Chris Thomas recalls how the band found their recording approach almost by accident during an early session. “We put down a track, just rhythm guitar and drums, pretty much first-take, no mistakes. It was impossible to know if it was any good, so, being a bit stumped, I asked Steve if he would like to have a go at putting the bass part on.”

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Slow Down Sounds, in collaboration with renowned photographer and filmmaker Bruce Weber, announces the November 7 release of Chet Baker Performs and Sings Swimming by Moonlight, a 15-track collection of previously unreleased studio recordings by the legendary trumpeter and vocalist Chet Baker. Available on deluxe 2LP, 2CD, and digital formats, the album is now available for pre-order.

Recorded during the making of Weber’s 1988 Oscar-nominated documentary Let’s Get Lost and shelved for nearly 40 years, Swimming by Moonlight was curated from Weber’s archives and boasts a blend of intimate studio sessions captured at Sage and Sound Studio in Hollywood, CA and Studio Davout in Paris, alongside an electrifying live performance from Cannes 1987, recorded during the premiere of Weber’s first feature documentary Broken Noses.

Today, the closing track of the collection, a haunting interpretation of Elvis Costello’s “Almost Blue,” is unveiled and underscores why Costello once said that Baker could “make every note sound like the last word you’d ever hear.” Early streaming release tracks “Remember,” “Arbor Way,” “I’ll Be Around,” “Milestones,” and “C’est Si Bon” have amassed incredible fan support.

Recorded on analogue tape and meticulously transferred and edited by bassist and producer John Leftwich—an original collaborator on Let’s Get Lost—Swimming by Moonlight is an audiophile listening experience that respects both the spirit of the sessions and the legacy of Baker’s singular sound. A new essay by Bruce Weber, Nan Bush, and John Leftwich reflects on these recordings from a 40-year perspective of their time working with Chet.

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Remembering Sterling Morrison, born on this date in 1942. —Ed.

Have you ever driven over what you thought was a speed bump, only to discover later it was your grandmother? I know, I know, so have I. Well, don’t beat yourself up about it. It’s partly her fault for falling face down in the street like that, and then failing (those old hips shatter like china!) to get back up. And the rest of the blame lies with the fact that you weren’t paying attention, but instead singing “too busy sucking on a ding dong” along with Loud Reed on “Sister Ray,” the centerpiece of the Velvet Underground’s magnum dopus, 1968’s White Light/White Heat.

Like many people I know and despise, I’ve gone through phases with the Velvet Underground. Their 1967 debut will be my favorite for a while, then I’ll switch allegiance to White Light/White Heat, and then I’ll go turncoat and spend a year or so listening only to Loaded. But I have given the matter a lot of thought, and have decided that White Light/White Heat is VU’s best LP, because it alone gets to the point, the point being that life is an absurd and awful place, and the only real and valid goal of art is to communicate said absurdity and awfulness in as absurd and awful a manner as possible.

Lou Reed was a Janus-faced fellow, an Apollonian and a Dionysian by turns, and as capable of producing songs of formalist beauty (“Pale Blue Eyes”) as he was of creating songs of seemingly chaotic ugliness (“I Heard Her Call My Name”). Me, I’ve decided (having spent the past year in an anteroom of Hell) I prefer the ugliness and chaos, and all of the nihilistic accoutrements that come with them. And on White Light/White Heat Reed was definitely in chaos mode.

As for vocalist/multi-instrumentalist John Cale, who would leave the Velvets after White Light/White Heat, he preferred the chaos to the beauty for aesthetic reasons having to do with his avant-garde predilections. Meanwhile, guitarist Sterling Morrison and drummer Maureen Tucker were simply along for the ride. That said, they weren’t unwilling participants in the creation of the masterpiece of malignity and malice that is White Light/White Heat. Morrison summed up the band’s collective gestalt at the time by saying, “We may have been dragging each other off a cliff, but we were all definitely going in the same direction. In the White Light/White Heat era, our lives were chaos. That’s what’s reflected in the record.”

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Slow Magic, 1977–1978 is a collection of never-before-heard songs that Jeff Bridges wrote and recorded with a band of his oldest and closest friends.

Culled from a single decaying cassette tape labeled “July 1978,” these recordings are a window into the musical life of one of our greatest living actors who holds music as dear as all the art forms he participates in. The raw and organic tone of these recordings evokes the breeze and spirit of 1970’s Venice and Malibu beach where they were recorded.

I talked with Jeff about these sessions, his process as an artist, and how the multitude of mediums he participates in all blend together.

Slow Magic is in stores exclusively on Record Store Day on April 12th. You can go to jeffbridges.com to check out all of Jeff’s work including his amazing photography, drawings, and the fascinating “Life is but a Dream” series.

Radar features discussions with artists and industry leaders who are creators and devotees of music and is produced by Dylan Hundley and The Vinyl District. Dylan Hundley is an artist and performer, and the co-creator and lead singer of Lulu Lewis and all things at Darling Black. She co-curates and hosts Salon Lulu which is a New York based multidisciplinary performance series. She is also a cast member of the iconic New York film Metropolitan.

“Art is a stuffed crocodile,” wrote the French proto-dadaist Alfred Jarry. If I were a stuffed crocodile, I’d be insulted, but Jarry had a point. You have to look hard to find live crocodiles in the indie rock world, where stuffed crocodiles like Tame Impala and their tepid ilk hold sway, but I think I’ve found a real live one that could actually bite your leg off in South London’s Fat White Family. They may be a lot of things, including debauched and depraved, but they have the uncommon decency to be amusing about it.

Fat White Family (who got their start in a squat in Peckham) have been offending the intestinal sensibilities of listeners since 2013, when they released their debut LP Champagne Holocaust—a play on Oasis’ “Champagne Supernova.” An NME writer described the (then) six-piece’s music as “constantly on the brink of collapsing under the weight of its own politics, poverty, and vicious intent,” and how wonderful is that “vicious intent”?

Fat White Family also established a reputation for their self-destructive habits. Said vocalist (and band Withnail) Lias Saoudi to an interviewer for The Guardian, who commented on how… unwell they looked, “Rock ‘n’ rollers are supposed to be close to death, aren’t they? It’s your job to be out there on the edge, pummeling your body with weird shit.”

Speaking of weird shit, the no-fi music on Champagne Holocaust brings to mind the Mekons, The Fugs, The Fall, even the Manson Family. But they’re not strictly primitives, as the organ and funk guitar that propel opener “Auto Neutron” make clear. The song is slick, by Fat White Family standards, and almost sedate, and the group vocals (“We are auto neutron,” they sing, like they’re Devo or somebody) are, if anything, soothing. Guitarist Saul Adamczewski’s stinging solo, which devolves into pure fuzz, isn’t soothing, and that “gonna burn your shed down” at the end is a bit disquieting, but for the most part, what we have here is a song that won’t make anyone scream “Turn this shit off!”

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | “I never wanted to be famous, I only wanted to be great.” —Ray Charles

Founded by Ray Charles in the 1960s, Tangerine Records is proud to celebrate the 17x GRAMMY® Award-winning singer, songwriter, and pianist’s singular legacy with the Tangerine Master Series, a new slate of reissues highlighting Charles’ best-known music alongside classic records long out of print, and ready for rediscovery. Each album has been restored and remastered under the direct supervision of The Ray Charles Foundation, painting a vivid new portrait of an artist and icon whose impact continues to expand and inspire.

The Tangerine Masters Series continues today with the reissue of Come Live With Me, a blend of pop and gospel-infused soul that sees Charles demonstrating his unmatched versatility available now at all DSPs and on vinyl for the first time in over 50 years; a CD edition arrives on Friday, September 26.

Remastered by 5x GRAMMY® Award-winning engineer Michael Graves and acclaimed vinyl mastering engineer Jeff Powell, Come Live With Me showcases Ray Charles in full ’70s crossover mode, embracing everything from string-laden arrangements, country-tinged ballads, and soulful soft rock to R&B and funk. At a time when R&B was defined by the politically charged, genre-blending work of Sly Stone, Funkadelic, Curtis Mayfield, and Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles didn’t chase trends. Instead, he carved his own path, doing something entirely his own.

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Remembering Wayne Osmond, born on this day in 1951. —Ed.

I used to know this rather dim garbage head who gobbled a handful of pills he thought were opiates but weren’t, and he swore—on a stack of ludes!—they didn’t do anything but make his waist-length hair stand straight up in the air and vibrate. I’m pretty sure his story was bullshit. That said, if you’re looking for an album that will do the same thing, you could do much worse than check out The Osmonds’ Crazy Horses.

You heard me right: The Osmonds. Because despite what you may have heard about Ogden, Utah’s finest, they weren’t a do-goodie, whiter-shade-of-pale tweenie-pop imitation of the Jackson Five but substance-abusing (they sometimes took as many as three aspirin at once!) Mormon mofos who took their Tang straight yet still managed to stand up on their hind legs and bray. And the culmination of their badassness was Crazy Horses, one of the greatest hard rock albums your ears will ever hear. And that’s not just me talking: in Stairway to Hell: The 500 Best Heavy Metal Albums, rock crit Chuck Eddy puts Crazy Horses at No. 66—which is too low in my opinion, but then everybody underestimates the Mormon Motörhead.

The brothers began their career as a barbershop quartet, The Osmond 5 (math is not taught in the schools of the Church of Latter Day Saints) before becoming worldwide superstars thanks to little brother Donny and the bubblegum classic “One Bad Apple.” Meanwhile, though, Donny’s older siblings were chomping at the bit. They wanted to write their own songs and play their own instruments and smoke fake cigarettes and change their name to The Gentile Killers. So they staged a coup of sorts, relieving Donny of lead singer duties to toughen up their sound while honing their protopunk chops by playing along to Hollies’ records until they were the five maddest, baddest, LDS-taking apples in the whole bunch, girl.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Seventy years ago, Carl Perkins’ single, “Blue Suede Shoes,” struck down on a staid music landscape like a bolt of lightning. It shocked and electrified the world with its infectious blend of country, blues, and pop, and is often considered one of the first rockabilly songs.

The King Of Rockabilly, Carl Perkins, returns to Sun Records just in time to celebrate 70 years of “Blue Suede Shoes” with the landmark, never-before-heard album, Some Things Never Change, out October 24th, 2025. The 10-song collection was produced by Grammy-nominated songwriter, musician, recording artist, and producer Bill Lloyd. Nashville-based Lloyd is often remembered as half of the chart-topping country-rock duo Foster & Lloyd. The album’s first single, revved-up rocker, “Memphis In The Meantime,” is out today. Some Things Never Change will be available on vinyl, CD, and across all streaming platforms.

“Working with Carl Perkins remains one of the biggest highlights of my career,” says Bill Lloyd. “What makes this release especially meaningful is knowing that rockabilly continues to resonate with new generations. I hope young artists will hear this album and feel the energy, authenticity, and joy that Carl brought to every note.”

Some Things Never Change couldn’t be a truer proclamatory title. Perkins sounds full of vigor and swagger, making 1990—the year it was recorded—feel as vital as 1955, ground zero for rockabilly’s genesis. The recordings are complete with all the classic fixings: slapback echo, twanging guitars, snarled singing, and dreamy balladry.

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With Dolores O’Riordan as their distinctive vocalist, the Irish four-piece The Cranberries took alternative rock by storm in the 1990s, crafting a sound drawn from ’80s UK indie pop and adding elements of dream pop, post punk, and the nascent alt-rock scene. It was their second album, 1994’s No Need to Argue, that made the biggest splash and remains the band’s biggest seller; it’s just been given an expanded 30th anniversary edition that includes remixes of “Ode to My Family” and “Zombie,” a demo of “Zombie” and live tracks from Woodstock ’94 and MTV Unplugged. A fresh consideration of the LP is below.

If No Need to Argue was The Cranberries biggest success, their debut album from the previous year, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? laid the groundwork. That first record, like its follow-up, was produced by Stephen Street, and landed the band an alternative hit in “Dreams” and a legit mainstream breakthrough with “Linger.”

Released in October 1994, No Need to Argue managed four singles, with the first, “Zombie,” issued a month prior to the album, becoming huge internationally. The heaviest song they’d recorded up to that point, and featuring O’Riordan’s sharp, heavily accented wail, “Zombie” wasn’t a complete change of pace, as they’d gotten loud on their debut, and O’Riordan’s vocal prowess was a defining trait on their first album.

Second single and album opener “Ode to My Family” is closer to what fans would’ve expected; it’s pretty and achy and showcases O’Riordan’s singing exceptionally well. It’s followed on the LP by the more straightforward, punked-up rocker “I Can’t Be With You,” which was the third single from the album everywhere in the world except the USA, where it was single number four.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | GRAMMY® Award-winning Rock & Roll Hall of Fame® Inductees and iconic New Jersey R&B group Kool & The Gang will unveil their new Greatest Hits collection on October 17, 2025 via Island, Mercury Records, and Universal Music Enterprises (UMe). It notably stands out as the band’s first new vinyl release in decades. Greatest Hits will be pressed on limited-edition 1LP platinum ice vinyl as a special online exclusive as well as black 1LP vinyl and 1CD. Pre-order HERE through the group’s Official Store.

Assembling a definitive sampling of smashes, the group serves up a “Kool Dozen” of signature staples and generational anthems. The album flaunts everything from funky gems such as “Jungle Boogie,” “Ladies Night,” “Celebration,” and “Get Down On It” to the soulful “Cherish” and more. Greatest Hits features a compelling and extensive historical essay penned by one of the band’s closest confidants. In July, Kool & The Gang dropped the “Kool Summer” EP, collecting 6 brand new Official Remixes of various classics from their catalog by the likes of Young Franco, DJ Crazy, Prince Hakim Bell, and more.

Kool Summer has generated millions of streams in addition to earning acclaim from the likes of The Urban Music Scene and more. Right out of the gate, WE RAVE YOU applauded how “They teamed up with top-tier producers from around the world to breathe new life into tracks like ‘Celebration,’ ‘Get Down On It,’ and ‘Fresh,’ blending nostalgia with cutting-edge production.” In the EP’s wake, Digital Journal also spoke to Co-Founder and bassist Robert “Kool” Bell for a career-spanning interview.

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Paul Weller is regarded as one of the most important pop music artists of all time in his native UK. Weller is nearly peerless among British musical artists who first came up after the ’60s. His first group, The Jam, along with the Sex Pistols and The Clash, were the most important seminal UK punk bands of the 1970s. Of them all, no other member of any of those groups has had the kind of sustained success, critical acclaim, and singular place in music as Weller.

After The Jam, Weller formed the criminally underrated Style Council. Since their breakup, he has recorded nearly 20 solo studio albums, which have only solidified his stature and following. Unlike many artists to emerge from the 1960s or 1970s, Weller never rests on his laurels, relies on his earliest works in concerts, or seems to be slowing down or losing his touch. The only other English artist who comes to mind who has some of these attributes is Richard Thompson.

After three albums on Polydor in the UK, Weller, now 67, is back on Parlophone, with the album being domestically released here in the US by Warner Bros. The album is somewhat of a follow-up to his 2004 album Studio 150. Both albums are exclusively made up of covers and sometimes focus on songs from artists from the US. Both also have a more stripped-down acoustic and rural feel. It’s American folk and singer-songwriter music played in the smoky basement of an English pub. The difference in the two is that Studio 150 had a more rootsy, even at times blues and R&B feel, while the new album is more lush.

It’s telling that Weller starts off the album with a cover of a Richie Havens song. Havens was one of the most beloved, forceful, and singular artists to emerge out of the Greenwich Village folk scene. His incendiary performing ability was on full display in his live set that opened the Woodstock festival in 1969, and he would successfully transition into the ’70s singer-songwriting genre, although he was more of a song interpreter.

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