Teenage Fanclub announce North American tour with Toronto date May 3!

Teenage Fanclub are scheduled to play the Concert Hall in Toronto on May 3. Tickets go on sale Friday, February 23. 

Watch a Teenage Fanclub interview on The New Music with footage from their Opera House show in 1992.  

Charles Peterson's Nirvana photo book out today – Kurt's birthday!

Photographer Charles Peterson documented Nirvana from the moment they hit Seattle so his new book promises to be epic.

Writes Charles Peterson...

I’ve known Michelle Dunn Marsh, the co-founder of Minor Matters, in the Seattle art photo world for many years, and she was always a great friend and champion of my work. I knew that she could help edit a book that would be beautiful, dynamic and most of all artistic. I also love the idea of keeping things local and in the family (Jeff Kleinsmith of Sub Pop fame is doing the design). Michelle is committed to releasing books by a diverse array of artists, and if I can help in that vs letting Random Bucks f*ck up my book, I’m all for it.

The book: Let’s just say it’s been a process to get this far, with some major psychological hurdles to overcome in order to figure out how to say, in the words of Kurt, something that hasn’t been said before, and not just merely serve the servants, both real and imagined. 

So I went to the meat of the material, and nevermind the posed shit that I was never really that good at, I cranked up the music. It was the beautiful chaos, anger, joy and sheer relentlessness of the band’s music and performance that inspired me to choose the photos and order them in the way I did (with a heap of tough love and intellect from Michelle’s studied and impartial eye). So it’s what I consider a tight, practiced book, visceral, exciting and to the point. 

There are very few posed or candid photos of the band in the book. We tried, but it veered into becoming yet another 'band book' of which there are plenty already. Rather, it's a relentless, 'dive' into experiencing the music of Nirvana via my visionary take on live performance photography. It certainly contains all of the greatest hits and many new ones uncovered from the archives, sequenced in a way that makes the music come alive again. I think it is poised to be unique in straddling art and music culture. 

 

 

Charles Peterson's Nirvana will be published by Minor Matters on February 20th.

Sub Pop (2130 7th Ave, Seattle) is hosting a Charles Peterson book signing with slide show and Q&A on Feb. 20 from 6pm to 8pm. 

Nippon Psychedelic Soul collects trippy 70s workouts from Japan

Kay Suzuki's Nippon Psychedelic Soul comp featuring Haroumi Hosono's Happy End is out via Time Capsule on March 15th. 

Here's the scoop...

The follow-up to Time Capsule’s Nippon Acid Folk compilation, Nippon Psychedelic Soul takes myriad pathways into the tripped-out undergrowth of 1970s Japan. Finding their feet at home and looking for inspiration abroad, the musicians featured here were engaged in the communal soul-searching that followed the breakdown of the 1960s protest movements. Some made it big, others drifted into oblivion. The music they left behind shimmers with intensity. 

At the core was Happy End, the first project of YMO’s Haroumi Hosono, whose distortion-heavy guitar and crisp back-beat laid the foundations for Japanese lyrics that flipped the paradigm of Japanese rock music on its head. With it came a new found sonic ambition, such as in the bold Philly-soul style arrangements of producer Yuji Ohno, whose work with occult wandered Yoshiko Sai shares some of the bittersweet grandeur of Rotary Connection or David Axelrod. 

Then there was Jun Fukamachi, a pioneer of Japanese synthesis, whose debut album was a carnival of orchestral funk, euphoric horn lines and rich production, complete with soaring guitar solos, psychedelic organ and a truly cinematic finale. The first and only time Fukamachi would sing on record, ‘Omae’ rips like the ultimate end-of-nighter. 

Influenced by giants of the US soul scene, maverick composer Hiroshi “Monsieur” Kamayatsu (otherwise known as ‘the Brian Wilson of Japan’) went one step further, enlisting Tower of Power to play on ‘Have You Smoked Gauloises?’ The B-side to Monsieur’s biggest-selling single, it coasts with sophisticated cool - a liquid bassline and suave keys comping under a roaring trademark ToP sax solo. No surprise it found favour once more on the Acid Jazz dance floors of ‘90s London. 

Such was the spirit of experimentation that big studio productions and private press releases sat side-by-side, with the likes of Momotaro Pink and Kazushi Inamura, taking their hopes of success into their own hands with the resources available to them. More reflective but no less robust, theirs was a heavy, fat-backed drum sound, soaked in dramatic, soulful psychedelia. 

If some were dreamers and others space cadets, none were further out than sci-fi writer, musician, activist and self-made scientist Tadashi Goino, who transformed his own fantasy novel Messenger from the Seventh Dimension into an operatic prog odyssey with few discernible musical reference points – a majestic and completely bonkers outlier even among company as strange and brilliant as that which is collected here. 

Less a compilation of a scene, as a compilation of a sentiment, Nippon Psychedelic Soul is a wild ride from start to finish, shattering the narratives of the Japanese folk and rock tradition into a million tiny pieces. 

Get a copy of Nippon Psychedelic Soul 1970-1979 via Bandcamp right here. Check out a few tracks following the tracklisting below. 

Nippon Psychedelic Soul 1970-1979

Hiroshi Kamayatsu - Have you smoked Gauloise?

Happy End - Haruyo Koi (Oh Spring, Come!)

Yoshiko Sai - Aoi Galasu Dama (Blue Glass Ball)

Tadashi Goino Group - Jikan Wo Koero (Go Beyond Time)

Jun Fukamachi - Omae (You)

Momotaro Pink with Original PINKS - Hachigatsu No Inshow (August’s impression)

Vol.1 Chap.100 - Heya No Naka (In The Room)

Previously unissued Sun Ra Arkestra Live in Chicago 1976-77 due for RSD

Zev Feldman's Jazz Detective label is releasing the limited-run Sun Ra At The Showcase 2LP set on April 20th. 

Here's the scoop...

Sun Ra At The Showcase: Live In Chicago 1976-1977 contains previously unreleased live recordings of the legendary intergalactic composer/pianist Sun Ra captured live at Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase in Chicago. This is an official release on producer Zev Feldman's Jazz Detective record label, in partnership with Elemental Music, and in cooperation with the Sun Ra Trust. Researched and compiled by longtime Sun Ra archivist Michael D. Anderson, and transferred from the original tape reels, this limited-edition 180-gram 2-LP set includes an extensive insert with rare photographs; liner notes by GRAMMY-winning author and historian Ashley Kahn; and interviews and statements from a who's who of music icons. Vinyl pressing of 3,000 copies available on Record Store Day, April 20, 2024. Check out the Jazz Detective site for the 2CD version and more info. 

Sun Ra At The Showcase: Live in Chicago 1976-77

SIDE A:

1. A NEW BEGINNING

2. VIEW FROM THE OTHER DIMENSION

3. VISITOR'S APPROACH

4. ANHK NATION (aka ANHKNATON)

SIDE B:

5. MOONSHIP JOURNEY

6. CALLING PLANET EARTH

7. VELVET

SIDE C:

8. HALLOWEEN IN HARLEM

9. KING PORTER STOMP

10. COCKTAILS FOR TWO

11. TAKE THE "A" TRAIN

SIDE D:

12. STOMPIN' AT THE SAVOY

SIDE E:

13. OUTER SPACEWAYS INCORPORATED

14. ENLIGHTENMENT

SIDE F:

15. MEDLEY: A MEMBER OF THE ANGEL RACE (aka SOMEWHERE THERE)

16. END OF CONCERT / JOE SEGAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Now you can hear Dan Penn's demos for Bobby Purify's Better To Have It album

Here's the scoop...

The Inside Track on Bobby Purify traces the journey of one of Dan Penn's recording projects from its original conception to final commercial release, offering listeners a unique behind-the-scenes look at the entire process of songwriting and production from Dan's side of the desk.  The CD package, released by The Last Music Company, includes a sixteen-page booklet with photos and interviews with Dan about the recording process.

Inspired by Solomon Burke's profound rendition of Don't Give Up On Me in 2002, Dan Penn reunited with his co-writers of the Grammy-winning song for a new project.  He instinctively knew the team had more great songs in the same vein just waiting to be unearthed, but to dig them up, they needed to take some time to go south and write ... and eat just as well.  

The demos he recorded during these songwriting sessions with collaborators Carson Whitsett and Bucky Lindsey are a joy to behold, showcasing Dan's voice at its absolute, soulful best.  Normally these private tapes would not be released, but when heard alongside the final versions he produced with Bobby Purify, Dan Penn's vision as a producer becomes clear.  Dan had identified Bobby as the ideal singer for this next production after getting to know him again after a break of some twenty years.  

At home in his Nashville studio in 2004, Penn recorded ten new tracks based on the demos, which Jerry Wexler described as "Bobby Purify's glorious, God-given voice".  Dan called on other Southern soul session stars like Carson Whitsett, Spooner Oldham, Reggie Young, Jimmie Johnson, David Hood and Wayne Jackson to create the perfect foundation for Bobby Purify's 2005 album Better To Have It.  

Bobby had gone completely blind in Nashville a few years before these recordings and unfortunately didn't have the confidence to tour with this great studio band as planned. As a result, the album was deleted and unavailable until this re-release.  The twenty tracks on this release consist of the ten original demo versions of the songs sung by Dan Penn, followed by the same ten that appeared on Bobby Purify's original album. 

Get a copy of Dan Penn's The Inside Track On Bobby Purify via Bear Family right here.  Listen to a few tracks below. 

B-Side Wins Again: Grupo Pan

Caracas-based Grupo Pan hid their whumpin' heavy rock workout "Dices" on the flip of their 1972 Promus-label single. 

Munster Records reissues Grupo Pan's overlooked gem "Dices"

The mind-blowing ‘Dices’ somehow did not make it onto the Grupo Pan’s only album and instead found its home on the B side of a long-forgotten 1972 single. One can only wonder why this great song with a devastating guitar riff and an irresistible rhythm section was not granted a place in the grooves of the LP of the Venezuelan band… Late 60s hard rock sounds made by salsa musicians! 

First time reissue! 

On the flip, a rare hard psych gem from Peru by the one and only Jean Paul “El Troglodita”. First time single reissue! Get a copy via Bandcamp right here. 

---------------------- 

El alucinante ‘Dices’ no logró hacerse un hueco entre los surcos del único disco del Grupo Pan y, en su lugar, encontró su sitio en la cara B de un ya olvidadísimo single de 1972. Solo cabe preguntarse cómo un temazo de este calibre, con un riff de guitarra devastador y una sección rítmica irresistible, no fue incluido en su álbum homónimo… Sonido hard rock de finales de los 60 grabado por salseros! 

Reeditado por primera vez. 

En la otra cara, una rarísima joya de hard psych peruano a cargo del único Jean Paul “El Troglodita”. Primera reedición en vinilo!

R.I.P. Dexter Romweber, 1966-2024

Sadly, Dexter Romweber, influential mainman of the Flat Duo Jets, has passed away at the age of 57. He'll be greatly missed.