Nick Flanagan says he'll have vinyl copies of his new comedy record at Thirsty & Miserable on June 3.
Writes the Flanster...
"Can’t even believe this is happening! My new album MORTAL KOMEDY is out June 1st. I just picked up the vinyl copies yesterday. They look really good. I’m so happy with how the album turned out. Thank you to the monarch, Davida Nemeroff for putting out the vinyl on her label Tujunga and to Michael Palumbo for recording the show and patiently mixing and co-producing it with me!Would love to see you at the release show."- Nick Flanagan
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Yes, you've heard those things right. Nick Flanagan! Mortal Komedy! Next Wednesday (June 3)! Tickets very very limited as Thirsty and Miserable (2102 Dundas St West), while being a great bar, is SMALL. That means not many seats! Perhaps you want one of those seats? You should. Tickets are $27.94 advance. Get 'em while you can via Dice right here.
Nick, aka FLANS, will have copies of 'Mortal Komedy' on vinyls! With an S! Brought to you by Tujunga Records!
He will be joined for the show by The Big 3 (Ben Stager, Sam Burns, Nathan O’Hare) & Ahn Phung (flautist). Wow!
Do you like jokes and or laughing? Well. You know what to do.
Eleni Mandell's enchanting new album Tailspin was released today (Friday, May 29). Check out the video for "Music and Motion" along with a few tracks.
Writes Eleni...
"Hello!!!!! I made a new record, and I just dropped my new single, "Music and Motion."
I'm so, so, so, so excited!
It's been 7 years since I released a full-length album, and this is my first single from it - Tailspin will be out in the world May 29th, and I am beyond thrilled to share this project with you.
We are living through such tough times. I hope this song will sprinkle a little joy into your lives!
Go stream the hell out of my latest release, "Music and Motion", wherever you stream music, and grab the pre-order link for the new album right here: https://www.elenimandell.com/."
Check out the video clip for the first single "Music and Motion" directed by Manny Marquez below along with a few tracks from the new album: "Teardrop Ghost," "Lemon Tree," "White Car," "Life Is Sometimes," and "Earthly Home." Watch Eleni's charming acoustic duet performance of "Lemon Tree" with Milo Jones right here.
Gravest Gravy is a new compilation of 1977 studio recordings by the Cramps which is planned for release on August 21st.
Here's the scoop...
In October 1977, the Cramps ventured into Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee with producer and Cramps translator extraordinaire, Alex Chilton. The band had planned on recording their song ‘TV Set,’ as an A side, along with another track or tracks. Mr. Chilton told them the way he liked to work was to have a band record a lot of songs and from that they would pick the best of the bunch.
Luckily for Cramps fans everywhere, the band did just that. The first evidence of these sessions was unleashed upon an “unsuspecting human world” in April 1978 on the band’s own Vengeance Records label. It was a two song 7-inch with a version of the Trashmen’s 1963 classic ‘Surfin’ Bird,’ pushed well beyond its breaking point, forcing it to mutate into a much higher form of lowdown, and Jack Scott’s 1959 cool burning ‘The Way I Walk,’ dragged back into the Stone Age...
After one listen, it was clear the Cramps had absolutely tapped into Rock ’n’ Roll’s mainline. In November of the same year, and again from the October 1977 sessions came another two song lesson in how it’s done, or undone, with easily one of the greatest A sides of all time: ‘Human Fly.’ The B side was held hostage by “Domino,” originally sung by Roy Orbison. The Cramps’ version swaggers with infinite confidence and is an absolute thrill to listen to. In the summer of 1979, young degenerates in England were treated to a 12-inch by the Cramps called Gravest Hits, which featured not only the aforementioned four tracks, but also a fifth, again from the October 1977 sessions...
“What happened to the rest of the tracks from those auspicious days in October 1977? In 2026, Larry Hardy, owner and operator of In The Red Records, rapelled down, deep into the vast, sunless vault of the Cramps tape collection, and resurfaced hours later, disoriented and out of breath, but overjoyed with what he’d returned to topside with: six ¼” reels of tracks, mixed by Lux [Interior] and [Poison] Ivy...
Gravest Gravy is one of the purest collections of unrestrained, wild music you’ll ever hear—like Jerry Lee Lewis unchained, like Elvis meets Tarzan—like it should be. The Cramps were one of the greatest bands in the history of recorded music, and anyone who heard or saw them, knows and abides by this groovin’ truth. From their inception to this day, the band has fans whose enthusiasm for their life-changing music never wavers. The Cramps made this music for the love of Rock ’n’ Roll. Lux and Ivy made this record for you.” – Henry Rollins
The Cramps – Gravest Gravy will be out in August but you can pre-order the LP, CD or digital files from Midheaven right here. Check out the video for "TV Set" by Jason Willis following the tracklisting below.
Sadly, jazz great Sonny Rollins has passed away at 95. He'll be greatly missed. We're remembering Sonny with a few interviews and recordings.
From Sonny Rollins HQ...
It is with deep sorrow and profound love that we announce the passing of Sonny Rollins. The Saxophone Colossus died this afternoon at his home in Woodstock, NY at the age of 95.
“I think when the creative person ends, he continues in the next existence. I’m a person who believes this life isn’t the be-all and end-all of everything. A spiritual person doesn’t feel like that.”– S.R. (2009)
Sonny Rollins 48-Hour Memorial Broadcast
on NYC's WKCR 89.9 FM
May 29-30
This Friday and Saturday, May 29th and 30th, WKCR will air 48 hours of Sonny Rollins to honor the life and work of the renowned saxophonist, who passed away this Monday, May 15th, at the age of 95.
Hailing from Sugar Hill, Harlem, Rollins was immersed in the budding scene of hard bop right out of high school, collaborating with J.J. Johnson, Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Max Roach, Clifford Brown, and Miles Davis. In his autobiography, Davis writes, “People loved Sonny Rollins up in Harlem and everywhere else. He was a legend, almost a god, to a lot of the younger musicians. Some thought he was playing the saxophone on the level of Bird. I know one thing–he was close. He was an aggressive, innovative player who always had fresh musical ideas. I loved him back then as a player, and he could also write his ass off…”
Over his many years and broad influence, Rollins became a defining voice in his craft through landmark recordings such as Saxophone Colossus (1956), Way Out West (1957), and The Bridge (1962). Past his legendary improvisation, or lasting compositions such as “Oleo,” “St. Thomas”, and “Tenor Madness”, his dedication to this music manifested in pauses from the scene. Most famously, his two-year hiatus, where he took to practicing on the Williamsburg Bridge so as not to disturb his neighbors.
We invite you all to join us at WKCR 89.9 FM in celebrating the enduring legacy of Sonny Rollins through 48 hours of programming from one of the most transformative voices in the tradition of jazz.
Listeners in NYC can tune in at 89.9 FM or at wkcr.org.
Legendary singer Jimmy Scott's overlooked 1990 album Doesn't Love Mean More? is getting a welcome re-release from Modern Harmonic in July.
Here's the scoop from Modern Harmonic...
Step into the Red Room with us... you may remember Jimmy Scott as the angelic voice in Twin Peaks. We're thrilled to announce the reissue of Doesn't Love Mean More? is coming to stores July 17th!
Jimmy Scott's distinct high register, contralto voice has been heard in David Lynch's Twin Peaks, and on the turntables of his fans Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, Madonna and more. Recorded in 1990, and previously only available directly from Jimmy at his shows, this album finally gets its due! Newly remastered and featuring a booklet chock full of photos and liner notes!
For a while, Jimmy was everywhere: performing on the final episode of Twin Peaks’ initial run, and at the wedding of super fans Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin; attending the GRAMMYs when another one of his albums, All the Way, was nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Performance; singing at Bill Clinton’s 1993 inaugural ball and on the soundtrack of huge 1994 film Philadelphia; appearing in the Ethan Hawke-directed Chelsea Walls alongside the likes of Uma Thurman and Kris Kristofferson, and in a video for Madonna, who described him as “the only singer who makes me cry.”
In Doesn’t Love Mean More? You can hear why Jimmy evokes such strong emotion from listeners. Like a doting parent with a newborn infant, Scott cradles and caresses each note with emotional intention. Having learned bebop from the best as a young man, he was a master at subverting the tyranny of beats and bar lines, elongating or shortening his notes as his muse demanded. His phrasing was so advanced and exploratory that it could make others fearful, but every melody was under expert control.
You Were Right Next Door • Doesn’t Love Mean More • Itchy • How Can I Tell You • I’ll Love You Just The Same • Portrait of Family • To Say I Love You • Blues For Little ‘J’ • Another Side of Me
Colombia's Meridian Brothers & the Mexican Institute of Sound got Beck to voice their single "Ritmo Babilonia" – check the clip.
Here's the scoop...
Mexican Institute of Sound (MIS) and Meridian Brothers join forces on Ruido Tovar, a cross-border collaboration that reimagines the tropical traditions linking Mexico and Colombia. Drawing inspiration from icons like Rigo Tovar and the psychedelic Mexican cumbia era, the project blends danzón, son, cha-cha-cha, and experimental electronics into a vibrant new language. MIS’s genre-bending electronic tropicalism meets Meridian Brothers’ avant-garde eccentricity, resulting in a sound that is both reverent and playfully distorted. Together, Camilo Lara and Eblis Álvarez pay tribute to decades of musical exchange while pushing tropical music into unexpected territory.
Get a copy of Ruido Tovar via Bandcamp right here here. Check out Mateo Rivano's animated clip for "Ritmo Babilonia" featuring Beck following the album tracklisting below.
Ruido Tovar by Mexican Institute of Sound & Meridian Brothers
The Dick Spottswood-curated 2CD archival comp 1925 Songs documents a the beginning of commercial electronic recording.
Dick Spottswood & Tompkins Square present '1925 Songs'
A New Archival Set. Out June 19th
PRE-ORDER via Bandcamp right hereor ask your local indie store for it.
1925 marked the advent of electrical recording, the dawn of the "Jazz Age", a pre-"big bang" country recording session in Asheville, and a few landmark blues recordings. Tompkins Square's new compilation brings it into focus.
Dick Spottswood is a legendary musicologist with deep knowledge of early jazz, blues, international, and vernacular American music from the first half of the 20th Century. He has contributed notes and transfers of records from his collection to hundreds of influential reissue albums on many labels over the decades. Spottswood teams up with Tompkins Square to offer a selective view of our favorite 78 rpm sides from 1925, a pivotal year in the development of jazz, blues and early country music. Extensive notes by Grand Ole Opry photo archivist, guitarist and writer of books, Cameron Knowler. Digital restoration by Grammy-nominated mastering engineer Jessica Thompson. Design by Clay Conder.
Various Artists – 1925 Songs: Blues, Country, Jazz & More
1. Dora Carr - Cow Cow Blues
2. Rosa Lee Carson - The Drinker's Child
3. Wheat Street Female Quartet - Go Down, Moses
4. Wm. B Houchens & J. M. Houchin - Fisher's Hornpipe and Opera Reel
5. Old Southern Jug Band - Hatchet Head Blues
6. Bascom Lamar Lunsford - Sherman Valley
7. Tweedy Brothers - Cripple Creek
8. Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra - Kater Street Rag
9. Brownlee's Orchestra of New Orleans - Peculiar
10. Charlie Jackson - Drop That Sack
11. Jimmy O'Bryant's Washboard Band - Hot Hot Hottentot
12. Hersal Thomas - Suitcase Blues
13. Deacon L.J. Bates - All I Want is That Pure Religion
14. Seminole Syncopators - Sailing on Lake Pontchartrain
15. Osey Helton - Cacklin' Hen
16. Ernest Helton - Royal Clog
17. Dr. James Roach - Gue Gue Solingaie
18. R.B. Smith & S.J. Allgood - American and Spanish Fandango
19. Hitch's Happy Harmonists - Washboard Blues
20. Lonnie Johnson - Mr. Johnson's Blues
21. Charles Creath's Jazz-O-Maniacs - Grandpa's Spells
22. Ida Cox - How Can I Miss You When I've Got Dead Aim
23. Bix & His Rhythm Jugglers - Davenport Blues
24. Clifford's Louisville Jug Band - Struttin' The Blues
25. Homer Davenport & Young Brothers - The Fox Chase (Reel)
26. Lem Fowler's Washboard Wonders - Salty Dog
27. Sonny Clay's Plantation Orchestra - Jambled Blues
Long overdue reissues of Deja Voodoo's Too Cool To Live, Too Smart To Die, Swamp Of Love, Worst Of and Big Pile Of Mud are in the works.
Here's the scoop from Gerard Van Herk...
"An update on the reissues of the Deja Voodoo albums: Cemetery is already out, as you probably know. The next four albums -- Too Cool to Live, Swamp of Love, Worst of, and Big Pile of Mud -- should be out late this summer. I signed off on the album cover art a few days ago. Maybe I should do a couple of relaunch gigs, or listening parties, or something.
"Too Cool will be mastered from vinyl, like Cemetery was. But the other three will be mastered from the original two-track tapes. These are the actual tapes that those albums were recorded live onto, with no mixdown from multi-tracking. The RTA folks say the tapes were in really good shape, for something that old. I'm looking forward to hearing them again!"
You can get the reissue of Deja Voodoo's Cemetery album right here. Listen to 1985's "Too Cool To Live, Too Smart Too Die" and 1986's "Swamp Of Love" followed by a recent performance by Gerard Van Herk at The Horseshoe in Toronto and another in Vancouver below.
Don't miss Gerard Van Herk in Hamilton at Ooey Gooey's (107 George St.) with the always entertaining Night Chill on Friday, May 29th! Doors at 8 pm. Tickets are $20 at the door.
"It Always Can Get Worse" is off Tex Perkins & Matt Walker's forthcoming Before The Show album due in August.
Here's the scoop...
‘It Always Can Get Worse’ is the first taste of Tex Perkins and Matt Walker’s forthcoming debut album, Before The Show.
Released on Friday, May 22, the acoustic track reflects on pushing through the hard times without getting stuck in your own pain, reminding us to be grateful - as others have been through, and got through, worse.
The song unfolds in a way that can catch you off guard - something that carries across the whole album.
Before The Show encapsulates the nexus of these two celebrated Australian artists. Perkins and Walker’s working partnership - which includes recorded work with The Fat Rubber Band and The Cruel Sea - has led them to this album which shines a light on their unique collaboration.
"It Always Can Get Worse" is available now on Bandcamp (get the digital version here) and most streaming platforms.
The album, Before The Show, will be out in August via Cheersquad Records & Tapes.
The Drive-By Truckers reunited with guitarist Jason Isbell for their final appearance on The Late Show on December 2, 2025.
From Patterson Hood...
"To say that DBT are massive fans of Stephen Colbert is an understatement in the league of saying I kind of like The Beatles, The Stones, Zeppelin or The Clash. Mr. Colbert is not only the best at what he does on TV, he is among The BEST of what America has to offer itself and the world. A true class act, top to bottom. Smart (another understatement), kind, caring, full of love and joy. And funny as hell. Truly sidesplitting hilarious, always punching up and never punching down, speaking truth to power and the ridiculousness that so often accompanies it.
"We were honored to play Hell No, I Ain’t Happy (with Jason Isbell sitting in) on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert this past winter. We did it knowing that it would be the last time. To say it was joyful would be another understatement. DBT has been doing late night TV for nearly 25 years, having done so numerous times for hosts ranging from Craig Kilborn, Conan O’Brien (numerous times on two of his shows), Jimmy Fallon and David Letterman, but this was a next level experience. The joy we witnessed backstage was moving and infectious. The staff was next-level wonderful to us and Mr. Colbert himself came back to personally greet us. It was truly one of my favorite experiences of the 30 years DBT has been a band.
"I’d like to thank Stephen Colbert for being the man you are. A man of rare intelligence and grace, a source of joy and light in these dark times, a man of wisdom and humor when we needed it most. Thank you for what you’ve done and especially for how you’ve gone about doing it."
Much Love and Respect,
Patterson Hood and Drive-By Truckers
Watch The Drive-By Truckers with Jason Isbell perform "Hell No, I Ain't Happy" from the Definitive Decoration Day box set below.
Check out the Macbain Brothers' "White Devils" off their 2014 debut 999999999 4-song EP for Hozac.
Here's the scoop from Hozac HQ...
"Isn’t it insane that we are STILL mining some incredible bands and side projects from the MySpace heyday? Yes, those days of throwing your identity to the wind and any baggage your previous band(s) carried, and creating an entirely new musical persona, a shedding of the skin, nothing to hold anyone back from investigating.
"Someday this will be looked back on as a phenomenon, but we can tell you that already, and 999999999 are one of the many great “side projects” such as SPIDER, NICE FACE, BLACK ORPHAN, BLANK DOGS that we built this label on during that golden era, all who found themselves uploading tracks and “putting on the mask,” avoiding any comparisons to previous work or prejudice based on external criteria.
For fans of the pivotally punk Brookline, MA rulers TUNNEL OF LOVE, who effortlessly decapitated crowds during the mid 2000’s, this 999999999 concoction cooks down the Macbain brothers’ formula into a glistening pop serum no one could have expected. Anthony Macbain started recording as 999999999 as far back as 2004, and we have rescued four face-fucking, skin-scathing, and filthy pop gems from his quiver, presented here on vinyl for the first time. Instantly drawing comparisons to King Tuff and Sic Alps, this EP sizzles with nasty fuzz, yet rolls like a river, and will leave you panting for more, aching to have your “face carved on the side of a mountain.”
We are proud to present such a crucial and raw underground slab of pure skuzz pop gold wrapped in a grimy layer of infectious flytrap-fidelity, for now, and for the ages." – Victimoftime.com
Get a digital copy of 999999999's debut EP via Hozac right here. Listen to "White Devils" below.
New York's WKCR-FM is once again celebrating the life and music of Sun Ra for 24-hours on Friday at 12 am to midnight.
Here's the scoop...
New York's WKCR 89.9 FM is excited to announce a 24-hour broadcast on May 22nd celebrating the 112th anniversary of the arrival of Sun Ra! This special broadcast will run from 12am to midnight on the 22nd and will preempt all regularly-scheduled Friday shows.
Le Sony’r Ra began his life in Birmingham, Alabama, where he studied piano under teacher Fess Wheatley at Industrial High School, before attending Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College. By the mid-1940s he had moved to Chicago where he apprenticed with swing bandleader Fletcher Henderson. This mentorship eventually led to him experimenting with his own bands and compositions during the 1950s, often utilizing instruments previously deemed as unconventional for jazz music. Sun Ra’s bands were also some of the first jazz bands to employ electronic instruments, including electric piano, clavioline, celeste, and synthesizers.
The Sun Ra Arkestra was officially formed in the mid-1950s and led by Sun Ra until his death in 1993. During his roughly forty year leadership of the Arkestra, with whom he relocated to New York in 1960 and Philadelphia in 1968, Sun Ra and the band invented a music that was deeply rooted in spirituality, various philosophies, and multimedia experience.
While many would be quick to label this new sound as Avant-Garde, Sun Ra held that the music was more than that: “[My Music is] more than avant garde, because the ‘avant garde’ refers to, I suppose, advanced earth music. But this is not earth music.” While the musicians in the Arkestra often changed, several crucial contributors stayed with the group for many years such as John Gilmore, Ronnie Boykins, Pat Patrick, and Marshall Allen.
Sun Ra is an eternal pioneer and cosmic adventurer, and he continues to be a guiding light for those very fortunate to have discovered his music. His music and concepts have ignited inspiration among artists and movements spanning diverse realms, including Afrofuturism, and electronic music. His legacy persists as a testament to his enduring influence as one of the preeminent artists of our time, and WKCR is honored to celebrate him this month on the 112th day of his arrival.
"Jailbird" is taken from the GOONS! album Never Go Back out June 12 via Hi-Tide Recordings, now available for pre-order.
When you are looking for trouble, who do you call? GOONS!
Who's waiting in a dark alley looking for a fight? GOONS!
Who's going to start a riot on the dance floor? GOONS!
Guilty of rock 'n' roll in the first degree? GOONS!
The GOONS! Never Go Back album is being released by Hi-Tide Recordings on June 12th but you can pre-order a copy now via Bandcamp right here. While you're there, you can also pick up their 2023 single "Crime Spree" b/w "Junkie For Your Love" – neither of which appears on the new 11-song album. Watch the Bryan Moak-directed videos for "Jailbird" and "Rob Cheat Steal" below.
