Author: Paul Sinclair

ABBA’s Voyage: track-by-track review

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

Don’t know if you’ve heard the news, but ABBA have a new album out. It’s called Voyage and SDE offers it’s verdict on the new 10-track long-player.

I Still Have Faith In You

This opening number is an ABBA 2021 mission statement, of sorts. It’s an openly sentimental number about friendship, doubt, faith, togetherness and longevity. Benny, Björn, Agnetha and Frida tick every single box when it comes to relationships (friends, lovers, wives/husbands, parents, workmates, ex-wives/husbands) and so their feelings towards each other must be deep, layered, complex and rich.

This song could easily have been a simple and straightforward piano ballad, but with ABBA there is always musical ambition, construction, building blocks and different elements to keep you interested. The first two minutes are about rumination. I still have faith in you but “do I have it in me?” And then at around the two minute mark the questions are answered with a triumphant ‘chorus’ section: “We do have it in us / New spirit has arrived / The joy and the sorrow / We have a story / And it survived“. Things calm down at the end and we are back to Frida, piano and some strings.

One gets the feeling that this was a song that they needed to sing. It sounds like ABBA, which is obviously important, and there’s plenty to enjoy including Frida’s superb lead vocal, some strong melodies and even a hint of ‘Fernando’ drums at one point. The triumphant – somewhat bombastic – section is probably the weakest part of the song but it’s hard not to be moved by the sentiment, which declares “We alive, we’re back and we’re ABBA!”
4/5

When You Danced With Me

This is a Celtic-themed, mid-paced jig which ties in with the lyrical narrative of a guy who abandons his girl and leaves Kilkenny (a county in southeast Ireland, geography fans!) to go to the city – or the “outside world” as it’s described later in the song! The narrator has a good line in passive aggression (“so you left for the city, I hope you like it there”) but she gets her hopes up when he returns for “the village fair” (“could it be / you miss the good times when you danced with me”).

We never find out what happens but presume he’s ‘moved on’. To be honest, the guy might be well advised to get a restraining order out on the narrator, or a least check his legal position, if he wants to drop in on next year’s “village fair”.

The lyric is harmless fluff, but the music is enjoyable enough and ‘When You Danced With Me’ has the ‘clap along’ quality during the verses and resolves nicely into the payoff line and the catchy cèilidh post-chorus instrumental section. The song doesn’t outstay its welcome and is done and dusted in less than three minutes.
4/5

Little Things

ABBA’s unabashed Christmas song! It’s easy to mock a number like ‘Little Things’, but a lot harder to write such a festive ditty. The melody is precision-engineered, in true ABBA style, and wanders off-piste delightfully to the higher end of Agnetha and Frida’s vocal range (“and why don’t we stay in bed for a while”) before coming back around again. Benny and Björn have really aced the self-given brief here and the song’s structure, arrangement and the vocal performance are all of a very high quality. ‘Little Things’ is not crass, it’s gentle, and even when the children’s choir come in at the end, it’s far from overblown and actually introduces some new Christmas Carol-style melody lines. This song is certainly high up the running order of Voyage, but shoving it towards the end of the record would have spoiled the ‘Ode To Freedom’ finale. ‘Little Things’ is one of the most accomplished tracks on the record.
4.5/5

Just A Notion

‘Just A Notion’ sees ABBA revive an outtake from 1978’s Voulez Vous. The original remains unreleased, aside from a snippet being included in 1994’s Thank You For The Music four-CD set by way of the ‘ABBA Undeleted‘ medley. The version on Voyage uses the original vocals but apparently replaces most of the instrumentation. There’s a good time, Chas & Dave charm to this mid-paced track, although ironically, sometimes the old vocals feel somewhat buried in the slightly muddy mix and you wonder why they didn’t just alter the key (if necessary) and re-record the whole thing. Still, by definition this is the most like ABBA from ‘the old days’ because it mostly is ABBA from the old days.
3.5/5

Don’t Shut Me Down

This Agnetha-led first person narrative starts beautifully with some wonderful words describing our protagonist hanging around in the park waiting to go and confront her man. There are rich strings, a harp, some ‘ooh, oohs’ and just before you start to wonder if this heading towards ‘ballad land’, a Benny piano glissando and some vaudeville-style saxophone transform ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’ into a wonderful perky, mid-paced pop song which has the bounce of The Visitors‘ ‘Head Over Heels’ and the knowing lyric of ‘The Day Before You Came’.

‘Don’t Shut Me Down’ is brilliant and doesn’t put a foot wrong, most noticeably in the extremely catchy chorus which combines words and melody beautifully. It’s a great idea to put the women in the position to challenge and confront the man, even if she’s acknowledging she was a bit of a pain before. She goes to his flat and says “And now you see another me, I’ve been reloaded, yeah / I’m fired up, don’t shut me down“. The next line rather suggests Björn was a fan of Christopher Nolan’s 2010 film Inception: “I’m like a dream within a dream that’s been decoded“.

The song flows effortlessly from that preface in the park, to the verses as the narrator confronts who we presume is her ex, to the defiant choruses. There’s a skilful post-chorus section which brings things down and eases us gently back to the verses via that swaggering sax and some strings.

The whole thing is classic ABBA and I’m convinced if this was a single from Super Trouper or The Visitors it would have been a major hit. And let’s be clear, it sounds a lot like ABBA from 1980/81, which in itself is a remarkable achievement.
5/5

I Can Be That Woman

A slow-paced ballad with Agnetha on lead vocals, ‘I Can Be That Woman’ disconcertingly spends much of the first verse focused on the family dog, ‘Tammy’. The poor thing is stuck in the middle of a relationship crisis and god knows what her fella has trained the mutt to do (“she jerks every time you swear”).

I know ABBA came first, but this song sounds quite Roxette-esque when Agnetha sings “And then you wake up and you’re bleary-eyed / I say I’m sorry, I can see you’ve cried”. In truth, the verse melody is a little bit pedestrian and doesn’t even scan well in places (“Then you curse and kick a chair”) which feels a bit lazy. The chorus is better, although rather like ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’, the lyric is arguably a little bit ‘old-fashioned’ in places (if you are being generous) or sexist (if you’re not) with the woman taking much of the blame and being prepared to change (although, to be fair, she does sing “You’re not the man you should have been” as well).

One of the weaker tracks on the album, this awkward, family drama lyric could have been saved by some pace and a decent tune, but sadly not.
3/5

Keep An Eye On Dan

‘Keep An Eye On Dan’ depicts another family in crisis. This time it’s not Tammy, but ‘Dan’ who is stuck-the-middle-with-you. I’m making the assumption that Dan is a human and not a canine. This song is basically about a joint custody arrangement (“I’ll be back at on Sunday to get him”) with the woman asking her estranged partner to keep an eye on their son – i.e. don’t go to the pub and leave him on his own, you stupid bastard!

Lyrically, it’s almost as weird as ‘I Can Be That Woman’, but this song is MUCH more fun, thanks to some pace, some great synths and a strong melody and arrangement. Bonus points for Benny and Björn evoking ABBA of old with the melody of the line “He throws me his ‘go-mummy’ kiss” and at the end, with a piano motif that references ‘S.O.S.’.
4/5

Bumblebee

‘Bumblebee’ imagines a world without, er, Bumblebees, and is pure ‘Fernando’ at the beginning , with recorders and flutes set to acoustic guitars and warm synth pads. It’s a simple little song that reminds us of the pleasures and importance of the Bumblebee and then moves on to consider it “quite absurd” that the pace of change in the world might be “too fast” for this social insect to adapt. ‘Bumblebee’ is sweet and innocent and raises serious global concerns in an almost childlike manner. Frida sings wonderfully and the arrangement is perfect with military drum rolls, acoustic guitar figures, orchestral flourishes and the odd dramatic timpani. Very ABBA.
3.5/5

No Doubt About It

Good though ‘Bumblebee’ is, ‘No Doubt About It’ is some welcome biscuits and cheese after the sweetness of the song it follows. This is a rollicking, fast-paced number with handclaps, pumping bass and a strident vocal delivery and melody. ‘No Doubt About It’ is very hooky and starts with the strong and memorable chorus line (“I messed it up, alright / And there’s no doubt about it”) before going into the equally good verse and brilliant pre-chorus break (“Well, then why, do I let it upset me..”). ‘No Doubt About It’ doesn’t put a foot wrong although it’s hard not to notice that the woman is taking the blame again (“Björn, take a seat on the psychologist’s couch…”). No matter, a brilliant pop song.
4/5

Ode To Freedom

The last ABBA song on probably the last ABBA album, ‘Ode to Freedom’ is a waltz that owes a fair debt to Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. There’s a stately grandeur to this orchestral closing statement, that’s very moving if you are a big ABBA fan. Agnetha and Frida’s voices blend beautifully, both with each other, and with the music. Björn’s thoughtful lyric is also very good, because within it the narrator expresses doubt and ponders what his/her ‘Ode to Freedom’ might be like, should they ever write it. It would be “simple… not pretentious, but with dignity”. In many ways it’s a line that encapsulates how ABBA went about their business in the 1970s and describes the pop music they have given the world. Almost as good an ending to an ABBA album as ‘Like An Angel Passing Through My Room’, but not quite.
4.5/5

Summary

Let’s be clear (as politicians like to say), Voyage isn’t the album ABBA would have made after The Visitors if they hadn’t called it a day. The band were finessing their sound in the late Seventies and altering their approach to arrangements and songwriting, album-by-album. This ultimately ended up with the synth-laden masterpiece that was the 1981 studio album, and the standalone single ‘Under Attack’, with its notable use of a vocoder. Look to something like Murray Head’s ‘One Night in Bangkok’ from the Chess musical (co-written and co-produced by Benny and Björn with Tim Rice), if you want to imagine how ABBA might have sounded in 1983 or 1984.

What the band have chosen to do in 2021 is release an album of mostly new songs that together sound like an ABBA ‘greatest hits’, not in terms of the quality of the tracks (although they are largely pretty good), but in terms of the style, sounds and arrangements that go a long way to defining ABBA. If the band told you that these were ALL outtakes from various albums from the 1970s, you would believe them, and that is the key to the success of ABBA’s Voyage. It has the group’s DNA running through all aspects of the record. It does not contain ten songs of the quality of ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’, but that’s okay because Super Trouper didn’t have ten songs of the quality of ‘The Winner Takes It All’, either.

Voyage‘s weaknesses are its strengths, because while ABBA were unstoppable and unrelenting when it came to near-perfect hit singles, their albums never quite reached the same heights and more often than not had the odd dodgy song, weird lyric, or ill-advised digression. Even The Visitors had ‘Two For The Price Of One’ (although I actually like that song). And so it is with Voyage. Björn’s much publicised comment that the album was recorded “trend-blind” is the secret to the album’s success. Voyage‘s musical reference points end in 1981 and rather than move on from The Visitors, arguably they’ve stepped back a bit. It’s as if Benny and Björn wrote the name of every ABBA song they’d ever written on pieces of paper, put them all into a hat and picked nine of them out at random; on each occasion declaring: “we will write a song for Voyage that sounds like this!”.

Voyage is more than an ABBA-badged record. It feels like ABBA, sounds like ABBA, and – at the risk of stating the obvious – is ABBA. The band left us in our own ‘Kilkenny’ in the early eighties and we always hoped they’d return “next year” but they never did. Now they’re back. Will you dance with me?

Voyage album rating: 4/5

Voyage is out now.

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ABBA

Voyage amazon exclusive orange vinyl

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Out This Week / on 12 November 2021

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

Nirvana / Nevermind 30 CD, Vinyl

Six months after the 2CD and single vinyl editions were released, UMC release the 8LP vinyl super deluxe edition of Nirvana’s Nevermind.

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Queen / The Studio Collection 18LP coloured vinyl box set

Another opportunity to pick up this superb Queen vinyl box set. First issued back in 2015, then reissued in 2020 and now available again. It features all 15 studio albums, half-speed mastered and pressed on 180g coloured vinyl and comes with an 108-page hardback book.

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Queen

The Studio Collection 18LP vinyl box

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Michael Jackson / Dangerous 2LP red vinyl

A fairly late in the schedule double red vinyl reissue of Michael Jackson‘s rather good follow up to Bad. Very expensive.

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Jackson,Michael

Dangerous 2LP red vinyl

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Rod Stewart / The Tears of Hercules

Sir Rod returns with his 32nd studio album. Stewart has a hand in writing nine of the long-player’s 12 tracks and co-produces.

Jethro Tull / The Zealot Gene

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

Early next year, Jethro Tull will release The Zealot Gene, their first studio album in over 18 years. The album began to take shape as early as 2017 and was intended to be released in 2020 before the pandemic intervened. The album is said to explore themes of Biblical storytelling, as Ian Anderson explains:

“While I have a spot of genuine fondness for the pomp and fairytale story-telling of the Holy Book, I still feel the need to question and draw sometimes unholy parallels from the text. The good, the bad, and the downright ugly rear their heads throughout, but are punctuated with elements of love, respect, and tenderness.”

Looking back on the earth-shaking disruption of the Coronavirus pandemic… It was so sudden”, says Anderson. “Amidst the concerns and warnings of the scientific community and a few more enlightened politicians, we all retreated in disbelief to our homes to wait out the storm.”

You can preview ‘Shoshana Sleeping’ from the album, below.

‘Shoshana Sleeping’ from the new album The Zealot Gene

The Zealot Gene is available across a number of formats. The 2CD+blu-ray edition offers a bonus disc of demos and a blu-ray which features a 5.1 surround sound mix (by Jakko Jakszyk). Sleeve notes include an interview with Ian Anderson conducted by Tim Bowness.

The 2LP vinyl edition includes a large format art book and comes with a CD of the album, while a deluxe box set also contains the booklet along with three white vinyl LPs (one is exclusive and contains demos) along with two CDs and the 5.1 blu-ray. This also includes a turntable slipmat and a hand-numbered print.

The deluxe box set of The Zealot Gene (click image to enlarge)

There’s also an indies 2LP red vinyl edition which also comes with the CD and large format art booklet.

The Zealot Gene will be released on 28 January 2022, via InsideOut Music.

Tracklisting

The Zealot Gene Jethro Tull /

    • CD / 2LP vinyl
      1. Mrs Tibbets
      2. Jacob’s Tales
      3. Mine Is The Mountain
      4. The Zealot Gene
      5. Shoshana Sleeping
      6. Sad City Sisters
      7. Barren Beth, Wild Desert John
      8. The Betrayal Of Joshua Kynde
      9. Where Did Saturday Go?
      10. Three Loves, Three
      11. In Brief Visitation
      12. The Fisherman Of Ephesus
    • CD 2
      1. 1Mrs Tibbets (Rough Demo)
      2. Mine Is the Mountain (Rough Demo)
      3. The Zealot Gene (Rough Demo)
      4. Shoshana Sleeping (Rough Demo)
      5. Barren Beth, Wild Desert John (Rough Demo)
      6. The Betrayal of Joshua Kynde (Rough Demo)
      7. The Fisherman of Ephesus (Rough Demo)
      8. Jacob’s Tales (Initial Idea Demo)
      9. Sad City Sisters (Initial Idea Demo)
      10. Where Did Saturday Go? (Initial Idea Demo)
      11. Three Loves, Three (Initial Idea Demo)
      12. In Brief Visitation (Initial Idea Demo)
      13. She Smells So Sweet (Initial Idea Demo)
    • Bonus LP in box
      Side A
      1. Mrs Tibbets (rough demo)
      2. Mine Is the Mountain (rough demo)
      3. The Zealot Gene (rough demo)
      4. Shoshana Sleeping (rough demo)
      Side B
      1. Barren Beth, Wild Desert John (rough demo)
      2. The Betrayal of Joshua Kynde (rough demo)
      3. The Fisherman of Ephesus (rough demo)

Midge Ure / In A Picture Frame

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

Midge Ure will release In A Picture Frame, later this month, a new photo book that documents his life with Ultravox in the early 1980s.

Between 1980 and 1985, the Scottish musician travelled with his trusty Canon A-1 camera while on tour, in the studio or undertaking promotional duties with the band. Healso documented holidays and far flung road trips.

Selections from In A Picture Frame (click image to enlarge)

Ure’s photographic archive has now been scanned and retouched from the original negatives to showcase these images and produce this 240-page travelogue (which has dimensions of 290mm x 220mm x 32mm and weighs in at 2kg).

The book is released on 18 November 2021 and can be pre-ordered exclusively from the official shop. It can be bought with a set of signed postcards or on its own (not signed).

Further selections from In A Picture Frame (click image to enlarge)
The volume contains 240 pages (click image to enlarge)

Pixies / Live in Brixton

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

Big vinyl and CD box sets features all four London shows from 2004

The Pixies’ triumphant live shows at Brixton Academy in 2004, which ended an 11-year hiatus, are to be released as Live in Brixton early next year and will be available as large format 8CD and 8LP coloured vinyl box sets.

Over the course of the four sold-out shows the band played almost all of the big hitters and fan favourites from the Doolittle and Surfer Rosa; key songs and obscurities from the rest of their catalogue; and covers in the shape of Neil Young’s Winterlong, Peter Ivers’ ‘In Heaven’ (from the David Lynch film Eraserhead) and The Jesus and Mary Chain’s ‘Head On’. Each of the four set lists was pretty different. 

The 8LP coloured vinyl box set of Live in Brixton (click image to enlarge)

The audio has been newly mastered by Phil Kinrade at Alchemy Mastering. The vinyl box set is spread across eight 180g LPs with each show split between two translucent coloured records. June 2nd is red, June 3rd is orange, June 5th is green, and June 6th is blue.

The vinyl is housed within a “beautifully crafted deluxe slipcase box” featuring silver foil detail that depicts the Brixton Academy venue. 

There is also a second version of the vinyl box set for independent retailers. The only difference here is that the records are clear vinyl with colour ‘splattered’ on them.

The 8CD box set of Live in Brixton comes in large format packaging (click image to enlarge)

The 8CD box set again uses the same colours for each night, with each show spread over two CDs. It will be packaged within a large format deluxe casebound book, with similar artwork to the two vinyl versions. 

All formats include a 24-page booklet which includes photos and memories and paraphernalia from fans who attended the shows. To top it all off, the packages are completed by a 68 x 48 cm fold-out poster which features the new Live In Brixton box set artwork. 

Live At Brixton will be released on 25 February 2022 (was 28 January).

The indie-exclusive ‘splatter’ coloured vinyl box set (click image to enlarge).

Tracklisting

Live in Brixton Pixies / 8LP vinyl box

    • LP 1 (or CD 1)
      Side A: 
      1. Winterlong 
      2. Nimrod’s Son 
      3. The Holiday Song 
      4. Here Comes Your Man 
      5. Vamos
      Side B: 
      1. In Heaven 
      2. Wave Of Mutilation (UK Surf) 
      3. I Bleed 
      4. Monkey Gone To Heaven 
      5. Bone Machine 
      6. Velouria 
      7. Dead 
    • LP 2 (or CD 2)
      Side C: 
      1. No. 13 Baby 
      2. Subbacultcha 
      3. Gouge Away 
      4. Caribou 
      5. Hey 
      6. Cactus 
      7. River Euphrates 
      Side D: 
      1. Debaser 
      2. Broken Face 
      3. Something Against You 
      4. Tame 
      5. Gigantic 
      6. Wave Of Mutilation 
      7. Into The White 

Now Yearbook ’83 Extra!

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

Eighties pop fans enjoying Now That’s What I Call Music‘s new Yearbook series will be interested to know that a supplementary compilation to June’s Now Yearbook ’83 will be released in December.

Now Yearbook ’83 Extra offers 60 more tracks from this superb year and features a bevy of usual suspects (Wham!, Paul Young, Eurythmics, Culture Club etc.) while showcasing the rise of some ‘alternative’ artists (including The Cure and Echo and The Bunnymen). There’s some quirky selections to keep things interesting such as Tears For Fears‘ ‘The Way You Are’, Elvis Costello & The Attractions‘ ‘Everyday I Write The Book’ and ‘Two Hearts Beat As One’, the non-top 10 hit from U2‘s 1983 album, War.

Now Yearbook ’83 Extra is a three-CD set and features 60 tracks (click image to enlarge)

No vinyl for this release and sadly no deluxe ‘book’ packaging this time around. This will be presented very much in the style of the non-deluxe Yearbooks.

Nevertheless, a worthy companion to the original compilation, this Now Yearbook ’83 Extra three-CD set will be issued on 10 December 2021.

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Various Artists

Now Yearbook 83 extra - 3CD set

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Tracklisting

Now Yearbook 83 extra Various Artists / 3CD set

    • CD 1
      1. Wham! – Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?)
      2. Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson – Say Say Say
      3. Elton John – I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues
      4. The Police – Wrapped Around Your Finger
      5. Eurythmics, Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart – Who’s That Girl?
      6. Paul Young – Come Back And Stay
      7. Spandau Ballet – Communication
      8. Culture Club – Church Of The Poison Mind
      9. Tears For Fears – Change
      10. Nick Heyward – Blue Hat For A Blue Day
      11. Billy Joel – Tell Her About It
      12. The Kinks – Come Dancing
      13. The Style Council – Speak Like A Child
      14. Madness – The Sun And The Rain
      15. UB40 – Please Don’t Make Me Cry
      16. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Everyday I Write The Book
      17. Patti Austin & James Ingram – Baby, Come To Me
      18. Hall & Oates – Family Man
      19. Toto – Rosanna
      20. Yes – Owner Of A Lonely Heart
    • CD 2
      1. U2 – Two Hearts Beat As One
      2. Echo And The Bunnymen – Never Stop
      3. Aztec Camera – Walk Out To Winter
      4. The Creatures – Right Now
      5. The Cure – The Walk
      6. New Order – Confusion
      7. Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – Genetic Engineering
      8. Thompson Twins – Love On Your Side
      9. Kajagoogoo – Ooh To Be Ah
      10. Heaven 17 – Come Live With Me
      11. H2O – Dream To Sleep
      12. Japan – All Tomorrow’s Parties
      13. Tears For Fears – The Way You Are
      14. Annabel Lamb – Riders On The Storm
      15. Kissing The Pink – The Last Film
      16. Soft Cell – Soul Inside
      17. Michael Sembello – Maniac
      18. Shalamar – Disappearing Act
      19. David Joseph – You Can’t Hide (Your Love From Me)
      20. Level 42 – The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up)
    • CD 3
      1. Agnetha Fältskog – The Heat Is On
      2. Donna Summer & Musical Youth – Unconditional Love
      3. Tracey Ullman – Breakaway
      4. Jo Boxers – Boxerbeat
      5. Roman Holliday – Don’t Try To Stop It
      6. Tracie – The House That Jack Built
      7. Shakin’ Stevens – Cry Just A Little Bit
      8. Kim Wilde – Love Blonde
      9. Nick Heyward – Take That Situation
      10. Limahl – Only For Love
      11. Modern Romance – Walking In The Rain
      12. Toyah – The Vow
      13. Thompson Twins – We Are Detective
      14. Bucks Fizz – When We Were Young
      15. The Kids From “Fame” – Friday Night
      16. Kenny Everett – Snot Rap
      17. Status Quo – Marguerita Time
      18. Meat Loaf – Midnight At The Lost And Found
      19. Big Country – Fields Of Fire (400 Miles)
      20. Slade – My Oh My

Saint Etienne’s I’ve Been Trying To Tell You super deluxe box set

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

A few years back, SDE was delighted to offer some signed copies of the super deluxe reissue of Saint Etienne‘s Tiger Bay album. It was a memorable experience in many ways, not least because I didn’t know what I was letting myself in for! The logistics were horrendous and involved me unpacking and unwrapping 300 box sets (so the band could sign the lids). I then had to pack them up again, rent a van, drive to north London (where the band were rehearsing for their 2019 Barbican show) and then – with the help of a good friend of mine – get Saint Etienne (actually only Pete Wiggs and Sarah Cracknell – Bob came round to SDE HQ on the Saturday morning and did his separately!) to sign all the box sets in some ‘downtime’. Of course, afterwards we had to load the van, drive back, unload all the boxes again and then pack and ship them off to everyone who had ordered them! Phew! Remind me not to do that again…

SDE editor Paul Sinclair with Pete Wiggs and Sarah Cracknell in 2019

Except we are doing it again – sort of – since we are pleased to offer what are effectively the last copies of the band’s brand new, and acclaimed, album I’ve Been Trying To Tell You in its super deluxe edition guise.

This time, thankfully, it’s not quite so arduous, since these are already signed inside. This a lift-off lid box that matches the dimensions and presentation of both the Foxbase Alpha and Tiger Bay box sets. It’s first and foremost a vinyl box set, but here’s a list of what it contains:

  • a black vinyl edition of the new Saint Etienne album*
  • an exclusive 10 inch single with two songs ‘Escalade’ and ‘Hello Holly’ unavailable elsewhere
  • a DVD of the Alasdair McLellan film ‘I’ve Been Trying To Tell You’ packaged in a special card eco wallet (PAL format, region 0)
  • a folded 94cm x 69cm (37 x 27 inches) film poster
  • two Alasdair McLellan band portraits personally signed by Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs – 30cm x 30cm (12×12 inches) each.
  • a 30cm x 30cm print personally signed by director Alasdair McLellan
  • 5 more 30cm x 30cm prints of Alasdair McLellan images from the film
  • 2 exclusive enamel badges
  • a download card for all the music contained in the box
  • two ‘road sign’ stickers for the vinyl LP *note the album contained in this set does not include the clear plastic outer sleeve that usually carries these
The contents of the I’ve Been Trying To Tell You super deluxe edition (click image to enlarge).

It’s very nicely done. There’s eight prints, three of which are personally signed (one by Bob and Pete, one by Sarah and one by the director of the film Alasdair McLellan). The film poster is massive and of high quality, the enamel badges are actually very cool and of course there’s the album on vinyl, the feature-length film to go with the album (be aware the DVD is PAL, although it is region-free) and two exclusive songs on the 10-inch single. This also comes with a download card for all the music.

‘Pond House’ from I’ve Been Trying To Tell You

This box is limited to 2,000 units worldwide and as I say, there’s only a few hundred left, so now’s your chance before they go out of print. Secure your copy today from the SDE shop by clicking on this link or using the button below (fans in the EU please be aware of possible extra import/admin charges before ordering).

We will ship these early next week!

What’s in the box!

Tracklisting

I’ve Been Trying To Tell You Saint Etienne / super deluxe edition vinyl box set

    • Vinyl LP
      1. Music Again
      2. Pond House
      3. Fonteyn
      4. Little K

      Side B

      1. Blue Kite
      2. I Remember It Well
      3. Penlop
      4. Broad River

       

    • 10-inch single
      1. Escalade
      2. Hello Holly

Slade in Flame coloured vinyl

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

BMG continue their coloured vinyl Slade reissue series with a limited edition of Slade In Flame pressed on yellow and red splatter vinyl.

The soundtrack to their much admired 1974 film (“The Citizen Kane of British pop movies” according to Mark Kermode”), the band’s fifth studio album was released in November ’74. In contains the single ‘Far Far Away’ which was Slade’s 12th consecutive top five hit on the UK singles chart.

Slade In Flame is reissued on yellow and red splatter vinyl

This reissue follows similar editions of 1972’s Slayed? and Old New Borrowed and Blue (which was issued in February 1974).

Slade In Flame will be reissued on 26 November 2021 via BMG.

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Tracklisting

Slade In Flame Slade / Yellow and red splatter vinyl

    • Side A
      1. How Does It Feel
      2. Them Kinda Monkeys Can’t Swing
      3. So Far so Good
      4. Summer Song (Wishing You Were Here)
      5. OK Yesterday Was Yesterday
    • Side B
      1. Far Far Away
      2. This Girl
      3. Lay It Down
      4. Heaven Knows
      5. Standin’ On the Corner

This Week’s Box Set and Reissue Deals

Posted on by Paul Sinclair
The Beatles / Let It Be 5CD+blu-ray super deluxe box set

The Beatles / Let It Be 5CD+blu-ray super deluxe

£75 was £130

Deal Over!

Superb price in Spain for the 5CD+blu-ray super deluxe edition of The Beatles Let It Be. This features Giles Martin’s new stereo mix, two CDs of outtakes/sessions, the Glyn Johns 1969 mix of the album and the ‘Let It Be EP’. The blu-ray has Dolby Atmos and 5.1 mixes. This comes with a 100-page hardcover book. It’s about £80 including shipping if you are ordering from the UK. Alternatively, you can buy direct from Amazon in the UK for £93

Tangerine Dream / Pilots of Purple Twilight 10CD box set

£70 was £80

Deal Over!

Very good price for some great music in this 10CD Tangerine Dream box. Watch the SDEtv unboxing video.

Cat Stevens / Mona Bone Jakon super deluxe

Mona Bone Jakon / Cat Stevens super deluxe edition

£67 was £140

Deal Over!

Pretty sure this is as cheap as this (very good) box set has been!

Primal Scream / Screamadelica: The Singles 10×12″ box set

£80 was £110

Deal Over!
Neil Young / Archives Vol II second edition

Neil Young / Archives Vol II (1972-1976) 10CD box set

£70 was £110

Deal Over!

Cracking price in Italy for the retail edition of Neil Young‘s superb Archives Vol II (1972-1976). Shipping to the UK is less than £4 and there’s no issues with import duty etc. because it’s under the £135 threshold.

Marillion / Fugazi deluxe edition

Marillion / Fugazi 3CD+blu-ray

£17 was £22

Deal Over!

Diana Ross / Thank You Amazon Exclusive CD

£6 was £11

Deal Over!

The Magnificent Seven / The Waterboys 5CD+DVD+book deluxe

$80 was $100

Deal Over!

Great discount on the pre-order for the forthcoming Waterboys deluxe set. Five CDs and a DVD from the Fisherman’s Blues / Room to Roam era, plus a 240-page book.

Various Artists / Best of Bond 2CD edition

£8 was £11

Deal Over!

Various Artists / Now Yearbook ’84 4CD special edition

£10 was £16

Deal Over!

Supergrass / In It For The Money 3CD deluxe

£12 was £17

Deal Over!

Cracking price for the recently reissue Supergrass album.

Paul McCartney & Wings / Wings Wildlife 3CD+DVD super deluxe

$102 CA was $169 CA

Deal Over!

Superb time-limited price in Canada for the excellent Wings Wildlife super deluxe

David Bowie / The Width of a Circle 2CD set

David Bowie / The Width of a Circle 2CD deluxe set in hardcover book

£14 was £20

Deal Over!

Excellent price for what is a very well put together package. Read the full SDE review.

Porcupine Tree / new album: ‘Closure /Continuation’

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

British rock band Porcupine Tree return in 2022, after a hiatus of over a decade, with a new studio album Closure/Continuation and dates in place for a UK/European tour.

Porcupine Tree are Steven Wilson, Richard Barbieri and Gavin Harrison, a hugely influential, ‘genre-defying’ rock band dreamt up by Wilson in 1987 as an outlet for experimental recordings he was making outside of his synth-pop duo No-Man. They released ten albums between 1992’s On The Sunday of Life and 2009’s The Incident, including the critically acclaimed In Absentia from 2002. Following their biggest live show up to that point at the Royal Albert Hall in October 2010, it all went quiet.

Porcupine Tree photographed by Alex Lake

The new album, Closure/Continuation is described as being “over a decade in the making” and you can preview a track from the album, Harridan, below.

The band have the following to say about it:

“’Harridan’ and a few of the other new songs have been in play since shortly after the release of The Incident. They initially lived on a hard drive in a slowly growing computer file marked PT2012, later renamed PT2015, PT2018, and so on. There were times when we even forgot they were there, and times when they nagged us to finish them to see where they would take us. Listening to the finished pieces, it was clear that this wasn’t like any of our work outside of the band – the combined DNA of the people behind the music meant these tracks were forming what was undeniably, unmistakably, obviously a Porcupine Tree record. You’ll hear all of that DNA flowing right through ‘Harridan’.”

Closure/Continuation is a seven-track album (the track listing hasn’t been revealed) and will be available on CD, 2LP black vinyl, 2LP blue vinyl, cassette and as two limited edition box sets (3LP or 2CD+blu-ray).

The limited edition 3LP box is a 45RPM pressing on audiophile approved crystal clear vinyl and includes two bonus tracks.

The 2CD+blu-ray deluxe set includes three bonus tracks, instrumental versions, 5.1 and Dolby Atmos versions plus hi-res 96/24 stereo. This comes in a large format art book presentation.

The box sets, the 2LP blue vinyl and the cassette are exclusive to the Official Porcupine Tree Shop. JPC in Germany have a worldwide exclusive on a sky blue 2LP vinyl version and a white vinyl 2LP set is available via indie stores including Rough Trade in the UK.

The 2CD+blu-ray deluxe box set of Closure/Continuation (click image to enlarge)

The bad news is that the album isn’t released until June next year and those tour dates will follow in October/November 2022. The good news is that all pre-orders at the official shop offer access to pre-sale tickets for those UK and European dates. Dates for the Americas and Canada will be announced shortly.

Closure/Continuation will be released on 24 June 2022 via Music For Nations/Sony.

Browse the Official Porcupine Tree Shop for formats and bundles

Shop highlights:

Out This Week / on 5 November 2021

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

ABBA / Voyage CD, Vinyl

After all the build-up and all the hype, ABBA‘s first studio album in over 40 years is finally out this week. The SDE shop has a few copies of the limited blue vinyl available.

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Pink Floyd / A Momentary Lapse of Reason reissue unboxed

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

SDEtv takes a close look at the standalone reissue of the ‘remixed & updated’ versions of Pink Floyd‘s 1987 album, A Momentary Lapse of Reason. Half-speed mastered 2LP vinyl and CD+DVD box set are examined. Watch the video below:

Elvis Costello / The Boy Named If

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

Elvis Costello and The Imposters will release a new studio album, The Boy Named If, early next year.

The record is described as having “urgent, immediate songs with bright melodies, guitar solos that sting and a quick step to the rhythm”. Costello himself says that the album is a collection of thirteen snapshots “That take us from the last days of a bewildered boyhood to that mortifying moment when you are told to stop acting like a child – which for most men (and perhaps a few gals too) can be any time in the next fifty years”. You can preview ‘Magnificent Hurt’, below.

Costello goes on to explain the album’s title. “The full title of this record is ‘The Boy Named If (And Other Children’s Stories).’  ‘IF,’ is a nickname for your imaginary friend; your secret self, the one who knows everything you deny, the one you blame for the shattered crockery and the hearts you break, even your own”.

The record has been produced by Sebastian Krys & Elvis Costello and is available on CD, 2LP black vinyl and limited 2LP purple vinyl. The official store (UK link) offers the CD in a book, signed by “the artist” (?) for £44, which feels rather overpriced. Is it too much trouble to tell us the NAME of the artist!! There are other bundles too.

The Boy Named If will be released on 14 January 2022.

Tracklisting

The Boy Named If Elvis Costello /

      1. Farewell
      2. The Boy if Named
      3. Penelope Halfpenny
      4. The Difference
      5. What If I Can’t Give You Anything But Love
      6. Paint the Red Rose Blue
      7. Mistook Me For a Fool
      8. My Most Beautiful Mistake
      9. Magnificent Hurt
      10. The Man You Love To Hate
      11. Death of Magic Thinking
      12. Trick Out The Truth
      13. Mr Crescent

Eddie Piller presents British Mod Sounds of the 1960s

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

Acid Jazz founder and Mod enthusiast Eddie Piller has curated a new 100-track compilation called British Mod Sounds of The 1960s which captures the essence of ‘60s Modernism, across six LPs or four CDs

Piller has a family connection to Mod royalty The Small Faces (Eddie’s mum ran the Small Faces’ fan club) and in 1979 he co-founded Mod Revival fanzine Extraordinary Sensations. Since then he’s become a well-known figure within the music industry, setting up and continuing to own the Acid Jazz record label, signing artists such as Jamiroquai and The Brand New Heavies, collaborating on compilations with Martin Freeman and broadcasting via his own Totally Wired Radio station.  

This new collection mixes the Mod mainstays (the Small Faces, The Who in embryonic form as The High Numbers, The Action, The Fleur De Lys), with a generous selection of future superstars (David Bowie, Rod Stewart, Elton John, Marc Bolan, Jeff Beck and Graham Gouldman of 10cc are all represented here), and a few artists so obscure, so rare, that they never got to release a record in the ’60s, but Eddie has managed to track down the tapes nonetheless!

The same 100 tracks are on the 4CD set and the 6LP edition and both CD and vinyl versions are available as limited edition SIGNED (by Eddie) editions on Amazon in the UK. Signed 6LP black vinyl is also available for a limited time via Rough Trade in the UK, who also have unsigned 6LP clear vinyl edition.

In addition, there’s a 34-track ‘highlights’ version which is available as a 2LP set on black vinyl or red and blue coloured vinyl via indie stores, like Rough Trade in the UK.

All formats include sleeve notes by Paul ‘Smiler’ Anderson, author of the best-selling and highly regarded books ‘Mods: The New Religion’ and ‘Mod Art’. 

Eddie Piller presents British Mod Sounds of the 1960s will be released on 18 February 2022.

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Various Artists

British Mod Sounds of the 1960s - 4CD signed amazon exclusive

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Various Artists

British Mod Sounds of the 1960s - 6LP vinyl amazon signed version

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Amazon ca   399.99 Order
JPC de   164.99 Order
Rough Trade uk   119.99 signed black vinyl
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Various Artists

British Mod Sounds of the 1960s - 2LP black vinyl

Shop Price gbp Stock
Amazon uk   29.99 Order
Amazon de   49.39 Order
Amazon usa   27.49 Order
Amazon ca   58.83 Order
JPC de   36.99 Order
Rough Trade uk   29.99 red and blue vinyl
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British Mod Sounds of the 1960s - 4CD standard edition

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Amazon usa   33.36 Order
Amazon fr   2000.00 Order
Amazon es   77.91 Order
JPC de   39.99 Order
Rough Trade uk   29.99 pre-order
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Tracklisting

Eddie Piller presents British Mod Sounds of the 1960s Various Artists / 4CD edition

    • CD 1 (or sides A, B & C in the 6LP vinyl set)
      1. The High Numbers – ‘I’m The Face’
      2. The Bo Street Runners – ‘Bo Street Runner’
      3. Cyril Davies & His R&B Allstars – ‘Country Line Special’
      4. Tom Jones – ‘Chills And Fever’
      5. John Mayall & The Blues Breakers – ‘Crawling Up A Hill’
      6. The Koobas – ‘You Better Make Up Your Mind’
      7. John’s Children – ‘Desdemona’
      8. Shyster – ‘Tick Tock’
      9. Billie Davis – ‘Wasn’t It You’
      10. The Hollies – ‘Bus Stop’
      11. All Night Workers –  ‘Tell Daddy’
      12. Kenny Lynch –  ‘What Am I To You’
      13. The Frays –  ‘My Babe’
      14. The Shots –   ‘Keep A Hold Of What You Got’
      15. Mike Stevens & The Shevelles – ‘The Go-Go Train’
      16. P. Arnold –  ‘(If You Think You’re) Groovy’
      17. Dusty Springfield –  ‘Little By Little’
      18. The Poets – ‘Wooden Spoon’
      19. The Muleskinners –  ‘Backdoor Man’
      20. Jimmy Winston & His Reflections –  ‘Sorry She’s Mine’
      21. Rod Stewart – ‘Good Morning Little Schoolgirl’
      22. The Yardbirds –  ‘Over Under Sideways Down’
      23. Bluesology –   ‘Come Back Baby’
      24. James Royal  –   ‘A Little Bit Of Rain’
      25. The Rocking Vicars –  ‘It’s Alright’
    • CD 2 (or sides D, E and F for the 6LP set)
      1. The Fleur De Lys – ‘Circles’
      2. David Bowie – ‘Can’t Help Thinking About Me’
      3. Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames – ‘Sweet Thing’
      4. Small Faces – ‘Don’t Burst My Bubble’
      5. Tony And Tandy – ‘Two Can Make It Together’
      6. Jimmy James & The Vagabonds – ‘Ain’t No Big Thing’
      7. Episode Six – ‘Put Yourself In My Place’
      8. Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band – ‘Michael (The Lover)’
      9. Dog Soul – ‘Big Bird’
      10. The Organisers – ‘The Organiser’ (feat. Harold Smart)
      11. Rod Stewart & P.P. Arnold – ‘Come Home Baby’
      12. Wynder K. Frog – ‘Henry’s Panter’
      13. The Alan Bown Set – ‘Emergency 999’
      14. The Soul Agents – ‘Seventh Son’
      15. Timebox – ‘Soul Sauce’
      16. Harold McNair – ‘The Hipster’
      17. The Spencer Davis Group – ‘High Time Baby’
      18. The Zombies –  ‘Gotta Get A Hold Of Myself’
      19. Manfred Mann – ‘Don’t Ask Me What I Say’
      20. The Top Six – ‘I’m A Man’
      21. Love Affair – ‘Everlasting Love’
      22. Madeline Bell – ‘Picture Me Gone’
      23. Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers – ‘Good Times’
      24. The Beazers – ‘Blue Beat’
      25. The Penny Blacks – ‘I’m Coming Home To You’
    • CD 3 – (or sides G,H & I in the 6LP set)
      1. The Syndicats – ‘Crawdaddy Simone’
      2. The Attack – ‘Magic In The Air’
      3. The Kinks – ‘She’s Got Everything’
      4. The Clique – ‘Ooh Poo Pah Doo’
      5. The Truth – ‘Who’s Wrong’
      6. The Artwoods – ‘I Take What I Want’
      7. The Creation – ‘Makin’ Time’
      8. The Sorrows – ‘Take A Heart’
      9. The meddyEvils – ‘Ma’s Place’
      10. The Birds – ‘How Can It Be’
      11. The Eyes – ‘I’m Rowed Out’
      12. The Sneekers – ‘Bald Headed Woman’
      13. The Untamed – ‘My Baby Has Gone’
      14. The Quik – ‘Bert’s Apple Crumble’
      15. The Move – ‘You’re The One I Need’
      16. The Mark Four – ‘I’m Leaving’
      17. The Gods – ‘Garage Man’
      18. Waygood Ellis – ‘I Like What I’m Trying To Do’
      19. The Nocturnes – ‘Hay, That’s What Horses Eat’
      20. The Mojos – ‘Everything’s Alright’
      21. The Wards Of Court – ‘How You Can Say One Thing’
      22. Platform Six – ‘Money Will Not Mean A Thing’
      23. The Silence – ‘Down Down’
      24. Apostolic Intervention – ‘Madame Garcia’
      25. The Deejays – ‘Black Eyed Woman’
    • CD 4 (or sides J, K & L in the 6LP set)
      1. The Action – ‘Never Ever’
      2. The Carnaby – ‘Jump And Dance’
      3. The Riot Squad – ‘Anytime’
      4. The Spectres – ‘(We Ain’t Got) Nothin’ Yet’
      5. The Mike Cotton Sound – ‘Soul Serenade’
      6. Sharon Tandy – ‘Hold On’
      7. Quiet Melon – ‘Engine 4444’
      8. Ossie Layne Show – ‘Midnight Hour’
      9. Dave And The Diamonds – ‘Think About Love’
      10. Fearns Brass Foundry – ‘Don’t Change It’
      11. Simon Dupree & The Big Sound – ‘Reservations’
      12. The Habits – ‘Elbow Baby’
      13. Maxine – ‘A Love I Believe In’
      14. The Blue Rondos – ‘Baby I Go For You’
      15. The Mindbenders – ‘The Morning After’
      16. The Shapes Of Things – ‘Striving’
      17. Wainwright’s Gentlemen – ‘And That’s Just Like Me’
      18. The Richard Kent Style – ‘I’m Out’
      19. Sean Buckley & The Breadcrumbs – ‘No Matter How You Slice It’
      20. The Afex – ‘She’s Got The Time’
      21. Syd’s Crowd – ‘Times Are Good Babe’
      22. Tony Colton – ‘Further On Down The Track’
      23. The Troop – ‘You’ll Call My Name’
      24. Razor – ‘It’s A Hard Way But It’s My Way’
      25. Dave Anthony’s Moods – ‘New Directions’

Tracklisting

British Mod Sounds of the 1960s Various Artists / 2LP vinyl

    • LP 1
      Side A. 
      1. The High Numbers – ‘I’m The Face’ 
      2. The Action – ‘Never Ever’ 
      3. The Hollies – ‘Bust Stop’ 
      4. Small Faces –  ‘Don’t Burst My Bubble’ 
      5. Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames – ‘Sweet Thing’ 
      6.  Tony And Tandy – ‘Two Can Make It Together’ 
      7. Jimmy James & The Vagabonds – ‘Ain’t No Big Thing’ 
      8. Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band – ‘Michael (The Lover)’ 
      9. The Artwoods – ‘I Take What I Want’ 
      Side B. 
      1. Dusty Springfield – ‘Little By Little’ 
      2. The Richard Kent Style  – ‘I’m Out’ 
      3. Bluesology – ‘Come Back Baby’ 
      4. Wynder K. Frog – ‘Henry’s Panter’ 
      5. The Organisers – ‘The Organiser’ (feat. Harold Smart) 
      6. Timebox – ‘Soul Sauce’ 
      7. The Spencer Davis Group –  ‘High Time Baby’ 
      8. The Syndicats – ‘Crawdaddy Simone’  
    • LP 2

      Side A

       

      1. The Fleur De Lys – ‘Circles’
      2. Rod Stewart – ‘Good Morning Little Schoolgirl’
      3. The Yardbirds – ‘Over Under Sideways Down’
      4. The Birds – ‘How Can It Be ‘
      5. The Creation – ‘Makin’ Time’
      6. The Carnaby – ‘Jump And Dance’
      7. The Eyes – ‘I’m Rowed Out’
      8. The Kinks – ‘She’s Got Everything’

      Side B

       

      1. The Mike Cotton Sound – ‘Soul Serenade’
      2. Mayall & The Blues Breakers – ‘Crawling Up A Hill’
      3. The Alan Bown Set – ‘Emergency 999’
      4. The Quik – ‘Bert’s Apple Crumble
      5. Apostolic Intervention – ‘Madame Garcia’
      6. Madeline Bell – ‘Picture Me Gone’
      7. Sharon Tandy – ‘Hold On’
      8. P. Arnold – ‘(If You Think You’re) Groovy’
      9. Love Affair – ‘Everlasting Love’

       

       

Tori Amos on her new album Ocean to Ocean

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

Tori Amos releases here new album Ocean to Ocean this week. The 11-track long-player includes the songs ‘Speaking With Trees’ and ‘Spies’ (which have already been made available online) and a European tour follows in February next year. SDE recently caught up with Tori to discuss the new record.

SDE: I was admiring your massive greenhouse [which Tori posted a picture of, on twitter]. You seem very connected with nature from your home in Cornwall and that’s something that seems to come through with the new album Ocean to Ocean, since there’s lots of references to flowers, water, ocean, trees etc. Is that really important to you these days, to be at one with nature?

Tori Amos: It became important; it became a lifeline. And you know, it was here all the time but it just became something so valued by me. I really appreciated it, maybe for the first time in this way, the depth of it.

And that must have been increased I suppose, because of the whole lockdown situation. You were trapped, if ‘trapped’ is the right word. You were in that environment for an extended period.

My American friends say I was exiled here [laughs], but if you’re going to be somewhere, this was a beautiful place to be. We all know Cornwall. Even when it’s rainy, it’s telling a story; you’re part of some kind of story. But in March of this year, as winter turned to spring [it was a joy] seeing what Mother Earth was up to, while all of us had been in lockdown. And that she was busy. Yes, she was fighting fires across the world and fighting floods later on, in other parts, but here she was regenerating. And oh God, it was a relief. It was a relief to see that.

I was I was sorry to hear about your mum [Tori’s mother passed away between Native Invader and Ocean to Ocean]. How much did writing and recording this album, and specifically ‘Speaking With Trees’, help you process your feelings of loss?

Yes, that one and ‘Flowers Burn To Gold’ are very much for her and contain her energy in them. She was quite something. Somebody said to me,”You know, Tori, you mourn the mother you have, or the mother you wish you’d had”. And this person said to me I mourned the latter when my mother died. So if you can hold on to the fact that you’re mourning the mother that you had, because she gave so much love, then hopefully at least that can give you some kind of comfort. And I know that’s a bit of tough love talk, but sometimes you need to hear that stuff.

The record itself sounds a lot more of a band album than maybe the last two records were. Did you get the band back together?

Yeah, I got them involved. They’re playing on almost every track. And I think it just felt time to do that. We did it during Christmastide, which was the EP that came out this time last year, and we realised that our process could work. That using Martian down here, the studio – it’s not a home studio, it’s a proper studio – as a control, and then going out to the satellite, recording studios, wherever they needed to go, so to Matt [Chamberlain, drummer] in California, and Jon [Evans, bass player] in the Cape [Cape Cod], and the tracks would keep coming back to us, and we would be working on the tracks before we send them out again and so would be building these layers.

Putting the lyrics aside, how do you approach the sound of your next record? In terms of the production, the arrangement, the instruments. Do you give a lot of thought to that beforehand, or do you just see where the muse will take you?

Each song is different. There are times when, when Mark [Hawley, Tori’s husband and recording engineer] will just set up a bunch of keyboards, different sounds, so maybe some Wurley [Wurlizter], the B3 [Hammond], the CP80 [Yamaha electric grand piano], the Bösendorfer [piano] and then the synths, of course, and it was freeing, in that I would go from keyboard to keyboard, working on, even a different part within a song itself, and trying different sounds. And then, you know, he would bounce back off me. But he’s ‘Mac Aladdin’ [the once mysterious – but still used – pseudonym that was eventually acknowledged as Mark Hawley] so this isn’t new. We’ve been doing this a long time. And so we would start developing what sounds [good] in the mids, we would work with the mids, and [establish] what was working together there, because once we cracked that, sometimes we’d send that idea to Matt [Chamberlain], or sometimes we just send the keyboard knowing we’d cracked the mids and what was going to happen there. But that was very important, to get what works with the melody, and what is working between keys and guitar – because they can stomp all over each other, they can really argue for space. And so if they’re going to argue for space it has to be part of the story. Like in ‘How Glass Is Made’ we’re allowing the guitar to take over that space, because of what the story is. So that’s that’s how we address the mids and the upper-mids. And then that’s when it goes to ‘rhythm land’.

Do you demo everything? Do you have piano and vocal versions of all your songs? Is that part of your process?

No… Well, I have a recorded reference of them with a keyboard and a voice somewhere, as they’re developing, so that we can clock if I’ve lost something along the way. I go back a version and say, “Oh my god, I really changed that middle eight. What did I do?”. Things like that. So that they’re referencing things all the time. But usually now what I do is… yeah, I do a scratch track, that I redo once the real drums come in. Because I’m gonna play to that drummer. This time that was Matt Chamberlain, but whether it’s programmed drums or whatever, once I did a scratch and once things get tightened up on the rhythm side, I’m going to play back to that, because I’m going to be tight. I’m going to be in that pocket.

You don’t appear to have to worry too much about what is ‘commercial’ anymore. Is that is that the case? Is a new album for you, these days, fairly much purely a creative process?

Yes, it is [laughs]. And I think that… Look, it doesn’t mean that I don’t work really hard on the structures, I do. But I’m not scanning what people – or what the music business – think is commercial, because I just can’t get my head around all that. I just can’t. I just have to create what I think will resonate.

And ‘veteran’ acts – people who have been around for a while – having hit singles doesn’t really happen much anymore, anyway.

That’s its own game. Yeah. And I think you know about that. Yeah. I just I just make the music that I think is the music I should be making.

You’re an amazing live performer. I saw you at the Royal Albert Hall on your last tour – you with just a piano and a keyboard on stage. How much have you missed live performance?

Well, it’s been the longest time since I’ve been on stage in my life, and I think most live musicians would tell you, it’s been really tough to describe because of all kinds of things. Because of the collaboration you have with an audience; that kind of voltage that you get in a live setting; how things can change from minute to minute. And that being gone, it’s been a huge loss.

You’re going on tour again next year. Is that going to be a solo tour or are you going to have the band with you? What’s the plan?

I’m not exactly sure of the configuration yet because we had to move that American tour twice. So people that had committed to that had then committed to other things down the line, if you follow me, whether that’s crew or music people. So I’m having to figure that out as we speak. But the Bösendorfer and I will be there, and hopefully there’ll be other people too.

You’re extremely prolific. This is your 16th solo album. Where does that that drive, that work ethic, that creativity… where does that all come from?

I don’t know [laughs]. I’m not sure. I really don’t know the answer to that.

Is songwriting something that you would just do, regardless? You know, just get up and write a song? Or do you have long breaks and then then have a big period of working?

It depends on the projects I’m working on. Sometimes there’s a moment when I’m doing some research or something, and then that inspires other things. There’s an intake period of just new information. And sometimes you find, or I find anyway, that I’m writing on the road. Because you’re in a new town, every day, you’re experiencing new things. And that starts to sort of rattle the rhythms, and rattle the melodies and the ideas.

Tori says they “will be doing something” to mark Little Earthquakes 30th anniversary

Your Little Earthquakes album is going to be 30 years old next year. That’s obviously quite a special album to a lot of people. Have you got any plans to mark the anniversary or do anything special around that record?

I think we do [laughs]. I think we have something going on. It’s not announced yet. And I have to make sure that it’s what I think it is. But yeah, it is 30 years, so I do think we will be doing something.

Are you likely to play more tracks from that album on the tour, do you think, because of the anniversary?

That’s a good question. I haven’t really got my head around what the repertoire will start off being, because it will change. It will change because we were going to add to it.

One of the good things with you is you do genuinely change the setlist, from date to date, don’t you? Not everyone does that.

Yeah, I think it keeps me fresh. It keeps everybody very focused and alive at the shows and we can’t fall into patterns; we have to be really alert. And there’s something quite exciting, I think, about that. And there’s something about adding new material – and when I say ‘new material’, it can be 20 years old from my back catalogue – but I find that when you add a new scene, a new chapter into the story every night, that it changes the story. And it can it can help us go somewhere different, say on the second London show than the first London show. And I think that’s really important because then we’re not repeating ourselves. We’re always telling a somewhat different story, even if we only have three new songs in that night.

How much material did you write for this new album, because there’s 11 tracks on the record, and I noticed there’s no kind of deluxe edition with any bonus tracks or anything like that. Is that Is there a reason for that?

There were a bunch of songs from before, that just were not in the same kind of energy space. They were for a different project. So I had to really make a clear decision, to say, okay, this sounds like it’s in a different world, almost a different galaxy than some of these other things, even just energetically. And so I don’t want to bring any confusion to it.

You had some quite long albums in the past, with 15 or 16 tracks. Have you made a concerted effort to try and make shorter records?

I think it’s a project to project and that might have been a time, in my canon when I was doing that, and maybe those days are gone. I’m not sure unless I write a song-cycle again, or something like that.

Thanks to Tori Amos who was talking to Paul Sinclair for SDE. The new album Ocean to Ocean is released on CD on Friday, 29 October 2021. The vinyl edition follows next year.

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Tracklisting

Tori Amos / Ocean to Ocean new studio album

Ocean to Ocean Tori Amos /

      1. Addition of Light Divided
      2. Speaking with Trees
      3. Devil’s Bane
      4. Swim to New York State
      5. Spies
      6. Ocean to Ocean
      7. Flowers Burn to Gold
      8. Metal Water Wood
      9. 29 Years
      10. How Glass is Made
      11. Birthday Baby

The Wedding Present / 24 Songs

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

Win a subscription to 24 Songs (see below)

The Wedding Present have announced a new project for 2022 called, simply, 24 Songs.

The idea, which echoes what the band did with Hit Parade in 1992, is that each month next year, The Wedding Present will release a seven-inch single with two new songs, giving a total of, you guessed it, 24 songs for the year!

This initiative sees David Gedge writing with Sleeper guitarist Jon Stewart for the first time, and the first release, We Should Be Together, is a duet featuring David and Louise Wener. It is backed with another new track called ‘Don’t Give Up Without A Fight’ which combines classic Wedding Present feistiness with a Krautrock finale.

Talking about this concept, David Gedge says: ““Even though The Wedding Present have never been known for taking the easy route, the idea of recording 24 tracks and releasing them in this way could seem daunting to any band.

I’ve been utterly inspired by the music that has been written since Jon and Melanie joined the group

David Gedge

However, I’ve been utterly inspired by the music that has been written since Jon and Melanie joined the group. The thought of celebrating this exciting new line-up with an exciting new series has motivated us all… and I suppose we also didn’t want any of these songs to be hidden away in the middle of an album!”

The idea is that fans subscribe to the 24 Songs and get sent a single each month, although there is also the option to buy individually and singles will also be available via participating record shops. All the details can be found here.

SDE competition!

SDE is excited to announce that we are giving away a 24 Songs subscription to one reader which is worth at least £175. The competition is open to all and if you’d like to enter, do so using the poll below. The winner will be announced at some point in November.

This competition has now ended. See who won by following this link.

Out This Week / on 29 October 2021

Posted on by Paul Sinclair
Joni MItchell / Archives Vol 2: The Reprise Years 1967-1971 5CD box set

Joni Mitchell / Archives Volume 2: The Reprise Years (1967-1971) CD, Vinyl

The delayed Volume 2, a second five CD box set of Joni Mitchell‘s Archives is released this week. The Reprise Years (1968-1971) is sequenced chronologically to follow Mitchell in real time through one of the most creative periods of her career.

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Emerson, Lake & Palmer / Out of this World: Live (1970-1997)

New Emerson, Lake & Palmer box set offers almost three decades of the prog-rock giants and is available as a 7CD package or a 10LP vinyl offering. Mastering is by Andy Pearce and this includes a previously unreleased live show of Phoenix 1997.

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Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Out of This World 7CD box set

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The War On Drugs / I Don’t Live Here Anymore

The War On Drugs release their fifth studio album, I Don’t Live Here Anymore.

Dead or Alive / Fan the Flame Part 2: The Resurrection

In 2016, Pete Burns and Steve Coy indicated that they wanted to revisit an album that they had started to record in 1990. Fan the Flame (Part 2): The Resurrection Is the culmination of the work that Pete and Steve recorded over the next four years but which was never completed. This 2CD edition includes the extended versions of both singles, as well as instrumental versions of all ten vocal tracks.

Plans to ‘celebrate’ the 25th anniversary of George Michael’s Older pushed back to 2022

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

Having not even tweeted about the 25th anniversary of George Michael‘s third solo album Older on 13 May this year, the very next day GM’s official twitter account promised fans ‘something special’ later this year, in way of celebration. That now will not happen with George’s team citing “reasons beyond our control”.

The full statement posted yesterday on twitter was as follows:

For reasons beyond our control, due to global supply and manufacturing difficulties, it is with great regret that we have had to delay plans to mark and celebrate the 25th anniversary of Older until the first half of 2022.

Team George Michael via Twitter

We still don’t know what these ‘plans’ actually are, but manufacturing difficulties only really applies to vinyl right now so clearly a vinyl reissue of Older is the minimum we can expect. There are no such issues with CD manufacturing, so they could have chosen to split the ‘celebrations’ and issued something on CD this year with vinyl to follow next. The fact they haven’t done this makes SDE wonder if CD are in their plans at all.

While it’s certainly true that there are great challenges right now with vinyl production, one suspects that the team started work far too late on these plans to ‘mark’ the 25th anniversary of Older (which is already five months past). The lead time for vinyl is around six months at the moment, so if they’d got their act together in the autumn of 2020 they could have easily have delivered something in May (or early summer) this year. And let’s face it, there were no production issues in late 2019, when the Symphonica album was being prepared to be reissued on vinyl. TWO YEARS LATER there’s still no sign and Amazon France now have a pre-order listing showing a release date of September 2022! George Michael fans need the patience of a saint.

Sadly, this is yet another case of SOMETHING NOT HAPPENING on the watch of George’s de facto manager, David Austin. Since George’s untimely death on Christmas day in 2016 there has not been one single reissue campaign of any Wham! or GM album (Listen Without Prejudice was all but completed before George died). The Japanese Wham! Singles Collection: Greatest Hits CD+DVD was admittedly an interesting release, although it seems unlikely that was driven by the team in the UK.

For now, we wait with interest to see what exactly the Older plans are and if they can keep to the promised timetable of “first half of 2022”.

Duran Duran’s Future Past ‘all formats’ unboxing video

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

Out yesterday was Duran Duran‘s 15th studio album, Future Past. SDE has already published a track-by-track review and now presents for your viewing pleasure an unboxing video that explores all the formats.

Future Past is out now via BMG.

Browse all formats on the official Duran Duran store

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Duran Duran

Future Past Amazon UK exclusive signed deluxe CD

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16-track Japanese CD of Future Past with one bonus song - thought to be Five Years

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The Band / Cahoots 50th anniversary

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

The Band‘s fourth album, Cahoots, will be reissued for its 50th anniversary in December across four physical formats, including a five-disc super deluxe edition.

All releases feature a new stereo mix of the 1971 album by Bob Clearmountain and the two-CD and box set editions offer eight bonus tracks in the form of outtakes/alternate mixes plus Live at the Olympia Theatre, Paris, May 1971, which is described as “a rousing bootleg partial concert” consisting of 11 tracks culled from a European tour.

The super deluxe edition (which is 2CD+blu-ray+vinyl LP+seven-inch) adds Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround mixes of the album (also by Clearmountain) and four bonus tracks. The box set also includes a reproduction of the Japanese pressing of the ‘Life Is A Carnival‘/’The Moon Struck‘ seven-inch single (these are the new stereo mixes).

The box set also includes a black vinyl edition of teh album, a 20-page booklet with new notes by Robbie Robertson and sleeve notes by Rob Bowman and three lithographs.

Cahoots super deluxe edition features two CDs, a blu-ray, vinyl LP and seven-inch single (click image to enlarge).

Interestingly, for the stereo mix, Bob Clearmountain was told to “transform” the original mixes based on what was lacking. He says: “Robbie told me, ‘Just think of the original mixes as rough mixes. Pretty much don’t pay attention to the mixes themselves'”. Robertson concurs: ““I told Bob, ‘There are no rules. So, every mix we do, I want to start from scratch. I don’t even want to listen to the original. I want to listen to the way we hear it now and be fearless and experimental with it”.

As before with The Band reissues vinyl will be available separately and a half-speed mastered gatefold vinyl edition will also be available via specific channels.

Cahoots is reissued on 10 December 2021 via UMC. Super deluxe box set is delayed until 21 Jan 2022.

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The Band

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Tracklisting

Cahoots The Band / super deluxe edition

    • CD 1
      1. Life Is A Carnival
      2. When I Paint My Masterpiece
      3. Last Of The Blacksmiths
      4. Where Do We Go From Here?
      5. 4% Pantomime
      6. Shoot Out In Chinatown
      7. The Moon Struck One
      8. Thinkin’ Out Loud
      9. Smoke Signal
      10. Volcano
      11. The River Hymn
      Bonus Tracks
      1. Endless Highway (Early Studio Take, 2021 Mix)
      1. When I Paint My Masterpiece (Alternate Take, 2021 Mix)
      2. 4% Pantomime (Takes 1 & 2)
      3. Don’t Do It (Outtake – Studio Version, 2021 Mix)
      4. Bessie Smith (Outtake)
    • CD 2: Live at The Olympia Theatre, Paris, May 1971 (Bootleg, Partial Concert)*
      1. The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show
      2. We Can Talk
      3. Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever
      4. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
      5. Across The Great Divide
      6. The Unfaithful Servant
      7. Don’t Do It
      8. The Genetic Method
      9. Chest Fever
      10. Rag Mama Rag
      11. Slippin’ And Slidin’
      Bonus Tracks
      1. Life Is A Carnival (Instrumental)*
      2. Volcano (Instrumental)*
      3. Thinkin’ Out Loud (Stripped Down Mix)*
      * Previously unreleased
    • blu-ray
      Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, and Stereo
      High Resolution Audio: 96 kHz/24 bit
      1. Life Is A Carnival
      2. When I Paint My Masterpiece
      3. Last Of The Blacksmiths
      4. Where Do We Go From Here?
      5. 4% Pantomime
      6. Shoot Out In Chinatown
      7. The Moon Struck One
      8. Thinkin’ Out Loud
      9. Smoke Signal
      10. Volcano
      11. The River Hymn

      Bonus Tracks

      1. Endless Highway
      2. (Early Studio Take, 2021 Mix)
      3. When I Paint My Masterpiece
      4. (Alternate Take, 2021 Mix)
      5. 4% Pantomime (Takes 1 & 2)
      6. Don’t Do It (Outtake – Studio Version, 2021 Mix)
      * Previously unreleased
    • Vinyl LP (33RPM)
      Side One
      1. Life Is A Carnival
      2. When I Paint My Masterpiece
      3. Last Of The Blacksmiths
      4. Where Do We Go From Here?
      5. 4% Pantomime
      Side Two
      1. Shoot Out In Chinatown
      2. The Moon Struck One
      3. Thinkin’ Out Loud
      4. Smoke Signal
      5. Volcano
      6. The River Hymn
    • Original 1971 7” Capitol Single, Japanese Pressing (45 RPM)
      1. Life Is A Carnival
      2. The Moon Struck One