Little Girls-Valley Songs. Label: Playback Records. Format: CD When sisters Caron and Michelle Maso grew up in Colorado, they were complete opposites, and had a love-hate relationship. Michelle was a cheerleader, while Caron enjoyed partying and hanging out with her friends. However, the pair became firm friends when they decided to move to Los Angeles in the late-seventies. Having made the move from Colorado to LA, the pair bonded over their their shared love of comedy and music. They loved to “ham,” and wrote sketches that were inspired by their love and appreciation of Monty Python. The sis ..read more

Guerrilla Girls! She-Punks and Beyond 1975-2016. Label: Ace Records. Format: CD. Eclectic describes the twenty-five tracks on Ace Records new compilation Guerrilla Girls! She-Punks and Beyond 1975-2016. This carefully curated compilation features everything from mid-seventies punk pioneers to leftfield post-punk groups, jangly female pop combos grunge bands and vigilante Riot Grrrl groups of the eighties and nineties right through to the she-punk bands that made their presence felt in recent years. Nowadays, the artists and bands on the compilation are regarded as musical trailblazers, who ove ..read more

Bob Stanley/Pete Wiggs Present Winter Of Discontent. Label: Ace Records. Format: CD. Release Date: ‘27th’ January 2023. Karl Marx said that: “history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce.” This is true. Proof of this was the Winter of Discontent which took place between November 1978 and February 1979. For four long months strikes took place across Britain in the private and public sector causing chaos and bringing a once proud country to its knees. The problem was caused when trade unions demanded wage increases above the limits the then Prime Minister James Callaghan and the Labou ..read more

Do It Again! The Songs Of Brian Wilson. Label: Ace Records. Format: CD Release Date: ‘28th’ October 2022. Brian Wilson is seen by some as the closest thing music has had to a genius. Proponents of this argument cite the Beach Boys 1966 progressive, psychedelic Magnus Opus Pet Sounds. By then, he was one of the most successful singer, songwriter and producers of his generation. Already, he had masterminded twenty-four hit singles including two number one singles for the Beach Boys. It looked like he could do no wrong. Sadly, Smile, the followup album to Pet Sounds was cancelled. It was a huge b ..read more

Jon Savage’s 1977-1979-Symbols Clashing Everywhere. Label: Ace Records. Format: 2CD Set.  Jon Savage’s 1977-1979-Symbols Clashing Everywhere is the seventh instalment in the compliant series he has curated for Ace Records. This long-running series has been released to critical acclaim, and like previous volumes features a truly eclectic collection of tracks. They reflect just what music journalist Jon Savage was listening to during what was an important period in his burgeoning career.  He had been writing small live reviews but in April 1978, while work ..read more

Lenny Kaye Presents Lightning Striking.  Label: Ace Records. Format: 2CD. Versatile describes musician, composer and producer Lenny Kaye. Many music fans remember him as the guitarist in the Patti Smith Group. Lenny Kaye also worked with everyone from REM and James to Suzanne Vega and Kristin Hersh right through to Soul Asylum and even poet and writer Allen Ginsberg. This is just part of the story of a career that began in 1964. Lenny Kaye has also enjoyed a successful career as a music journalist, and has written for a variety of magazines. This includes Rolling Stone, Crawdaddy, Creem a ..read more

Girls Go Power Pop! Label: Big Beat. Format: CD.  When Pete Townsend of The Who was promoting Pictures Of Lily in 1967 he was asked how he would describe their music? He replied: “power pop is what we play.” That day, a new genre was born. However, back then, music journalists didn’t always feel the need to pigeon hole music, so the power pop sub-genre never really caught on.  It wasn’t until the late-seventies when power pop became common currency amongst music journalists. They knew exactly what power pop sounded like, and it was like a  form of musical shorthand. Power pop wa ..read more

Cult Classic: Non Band-Non Band . In the summer of 1978, a musical revolution took place in Japan, which changed music forevermore,..punk. The Japanese punk rockers were christened Tokyo Rockers, and initially were disregarded by the mainstream music industry. Record company executives made the mistake of thinking that the Japanese punk movement was just a passing fad, and that before long, it would be replaced by another musical movement. How wrong they were. Left to their own devices, a vibrant and thriving underground music scene was born. Over the next few years, the Tokyo Rockers headed t ..read more

The Non Band Story. In the summer of 1978, a musical revolution took place in Japan, which changed music forevermore,..punk. The Japanese punk rockers were christened Tokyo Rockers, and initially were disregarded by the mainstream music industry. Record company executives made the mistake of thinking that the Japanese punk movement was just a passing fad, and that before long, it would be replaced by another musical movement. How wrong they were. Left to their own devices, a vibrant and thriving underground music scene was born. Over the next few years, the Tokyo Rockers headed to underground ..read more

Band Apart-Band Apart. Label: Crammed Discs. French-American group Band Apart were founded in the early eighties by New York-based poet and performance artist Jayne Bliss, and Marseille-based musician and producer M.Mader and signed to Marc Hollander’s nascent Crammed discs who released the group’s critically acclaimed eponymous EP in 1981. Two years later in 1983, Band Apart returned with their debut album Marseille, which was also released by Crammed Discs to plaudits and praise. Great things were forecast for Band Apart, but sadly, that wasn’t to be. After just two years together, Band Apar ..read more