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

She’s Got The Power! Female Power Pop, Punk and Garage. Label: Big Beat Records. Format: CD. Release Date: ‘28th’ April 2023. Back in August 2020,  Big Beat, an imprint of Ace Records, released the compilation Girls Go Power Pop to widespread critical acclaim. Now, just under three years later, comes the much-anticipated followup, Girls Go Power Pop. It will be released on CD on the Girls Go Power Pop. For fans of power pop, the wait is nearly over. This carefully curated compilation features twenty-four tracks that were released between 1978 and 2018. There’s contributions from familiar ..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

Songs Of Light and Darkness Written By Leonard Cohen. Label: Ace Records. Format CD. Release Date: ‘25th’ November 2022. Just over six years ago, on October the ’21st’ 2016, Canadian singer-songwriter, novelist and poet Leonard Cohen releasedYou Want It Darker to widespread critical acclaim. Sadly, it turned out to be that last album released during his lifetime. Just seventeen days later, on the ‘7th’ of November 2016, Leonard Cohen passed away aged eighty-two.  That day, music lost a true great whose recording career had spanned nearly fifty years.  During that time, Leonard Cohen ..read more

Cult Classic: The Bathers-Sunpowder. With Chris Thompson at the helm, the The Bathers could’ve and should’ve, been one the biggest Scottish bands ever. Their music was articulate, beautiful, dramatic, ethereal, elegiac, emotive, languid, literate and melancholy. This is music for those that have loved, lost and survived to tell the tale. Sadly, The Bathers never scaled the headiest of heights and instead,  it’s story is a case of what might have been.  The Bathers were formed in Glasgow, in 1985, by singer, songwriter and troubled troubadour Chris Thomson and released six albums betw ..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

You Showed Me-The Songs Of Gene Clark. Label: Ace Records. Format: CD. Like so many of his generation, Gene Clark developed an interest in folk music after hearing the Kingston Trio. It was no surprise that after graduating from Bonner Springs High School, in Bonner Springs, Kansas, in 1962, that the seventeen year old formed his own folk group, The Rum Runners. Little did he know that this was the start of a musical career that would span nearly thirty years. A year later, in 1963, Gene Clark was asked to join The Surf Riders, who were an established regional folk band based in Kansas City. T ..read more

Teenage Fanclub-Endless Arcade. Label: PeMa. Format: CD. Much has happened to Teenage Fanclub since they released their tenth album Here on the ‘9th’ of September 2009. It was their first album since the release of Shadows on the ‘21st’ of May 2010, and marked a return to form for the band that was formed in Bellshill in 1989. Since then, much has happened, especially in the last three years. In 2018, the five albums that Teenage Fanclub had released on Creation Records between 1991 and 1997 were reissued. Fans had long awaited the reissue of 1991s The King and especially Bandwagonesque which ..read more