Latest News / Announcements
6 Aug 2020: Calling All We 4 Fans
We're looking for any memorabilia relating to We 4 for an upcoming project. If you have photos, magazine articles, posters, etc, basically anything you can photograph or scan, please get in touch.
Naturally, any recordings would also be of interest.
And who remembers that Suzanne Murphy demo single, anyone have that? Don't be shy.
We 4 A-side on Gael Linn comp CD.
2 Aug 2020: Whipping Boy Live In The Venue 1995
This fantastic video of Whipping Boy performing live at the Venue in London in 1995 has just surfaced on youtube:
25 years ago!
1 Aug 2020: Is the Shellshock Rock box set released?
The Shellshock Rock box set (on Cherry Red) was supposed to be released yesterday but I haven't seen or heard a peep about it. Anyone receive it yet?
Available from cherryred.co.uk
May 2020: Protex repress
There was a year long gap between these last couple of updates and the previous one in May 2019,
so I was trying to think back over the past year or so to see if there was anything else I needed
to bring to your attention. And there is: when Sing-Sing Records gave Protex's unreleased 1980
debut LP 'Strange Obsessions' it's first ever issue in 2010, no-one dreamed (i.e. I never dreamed)
it'd sell out in a matter of weeks. Or become ridiculously expensive on the secondhand market.
Luckily, Bachelor Records of Austria issued it again in
November last year, with a slighlty different cover and, they claimed, slightly superior sound.
Limited to 500 copies, it sold out almost immediately but it has just been repressed, so go get it
now if you haven't already done so. For the seriously user friendly price of € 16.50 too.
The same label also issued their 2016 'Tightrope' LP.
May 2020: Jonathan Kelly RIP
Jonathan Kelly died May 2nd after a long illness. More details on his website here.
May 2020: More Northern Reissues
Cherry Red have announced a 4-disc box set Shellshock Rock: Alternative Blasts From Northern
Ireland 1977-1984, containing 3 CDs (74 tracks) and a DVD of the 'Shellshock Rock' documentary,
set for release on July 31 and pre-ordering now. Get in early and get the way cooler blue vinyl
edition. Hang on, that can't be right.. It can be pre-ordered
here.
An alphabetic tracklisting arranged by artist (grr!) is here.
Is it worth it? While the track listing contains no surprises it's pretty comprehensive but best of all is
the inclusion of Shellshock Rock. Theres not much information about remastering, etc -- it just says NTSC and region
free -- but it's hard to say no at only £24.99 plus shipping.
And while I'm at it, Spit Records have unearthed two unreleased tracks by The Singles which
sound fantastic. You can get them on the website. The blue vinyl edition is sold out but the
black vinyl can still be had for £10.99 inside Europe (though I was charged £12.64 through Paypal
including a fee which I had to pay upfront).
April 2020: Allchival Releases
Hats off to AllChival Records for the forthcoming Nun Attax/Five Go Down To The Sea/etc
compilation. You probably need it. It's available from the handy social distancing friendly
order form on their bandcamp page. Get it now.
Is there any truth to the rumour that the nun pictured on Quare Groove Vol.1 is looking for a royalty cheque?
Have you said the word 'AllChival' out loud yet? It's an awkward, angular mouthful, not to be
trifled with. Allchival is a contraction of 'All City', the reknowned Dublin record shop and
parent record label, and 'Archival', as in Constituting Archives. The good thing about it is
you know you're not going to have to wade through reams of irrelevant google search results
when you type it in.
May 2019: 5xCD BOOTLEG BOX SET!
Particles Records, a 'twilight' label specialising in reissues of 60s material, has just released
a 5xCD box set of Irish beat/pop/rock/mod/etc recordings spanning 1963-70. In keeping with
the long tradition of atrocious titles and dreadful cover artwork for releases of this kind,
this one is titled "People! Let's Freak Out! The Irish Rock Rebellion 1963-1970" (PART5CDBOX8).
It features Eire Apparent on the front and looks like this:
Did you spot the green, white and orange motif? And the reference to 'rebellion'?
Resorting to such tiresome cliches is a bit cheap. The music deserves better. One wonders
what someone like Phil Smee would have done with this material?
Subtitled "The Explosive Sounds of Dublin, Belfast and Beyond!", this release
has come as a complete surprise to anyone I've spoken to about it, so whoever did the
leg-work compiling these tracks has done so without the co-operation of the usual suspects.
There are no credits in the accompanying booklet so his/her identity remains a mystery.
The Verdict: while these tracks are certainly not taken from master tapes, and
the package is not exactly error free (Teddie Palmer and Tiger Taylor are not the same person)
and the tracklist order is irritating, and there are some glaring omissions and some puzzling
inclusions, you are simply never going to get the opportunity to buy
all these tracks together in one place like this -- and for a relatively low price too. The amount of time and
energy (not to mention expense) it would take to source this material legitimately means it'll probably never happen.
So this is your one and only chance. You need this box set.
Pendilum tapes surface
Pendilum recorded a demo tape at Keystone Studios on 30 March 1980 and, as this photo shows,
these tapes have now turned up! But who were Pendilum??? Please get in touch if you have any information.
Last Bandits 2xLP Record Store Day 2018 reissue
It's blink and you missed it time again. The Last Bandits discography has been
remastered and reissued as a double-LP set with one previously unreleased track
by Seventeen Records (UK) as part of Record Store Day 2018. It's credited
to Nikki Sudden, Johnny Fean & Simon Carmody, reflecting the labels primary
interest, i.e. issuing Nikki Sudden's rarities. It's debateable whether it should be credited
like this as the Angels Are Calling EP and the xmas single were both credited as Last Bandits
releases. The accompanying
press release tends to exaggerate the 'lost' nature of the album but its good to see it available
again . . . though it's possibly
sold out at source now. Still plenty of copies available online including discogs last time
I looked.
Cypress Mine LP re-issued on 25/10/2017
With little or no fanfare, the excellent and frankly impossible to find Cypress Mine LP
has been reissued by the Spanish Pretty Olivia label. The double-LP set includes the
original Exit Trashtown album plus unreleased and other recordings on the second disc.
The price is € 20 plus shipping
Get it here.
Oct 20: The Sussed EP on Spit Records
Spit! Records have reissued The Sussed's 1981 single as a 4 track EP with two bonus tracks.
300 copies were pressed and apparently half the pressing has sold since it's release on Oct 6.
So get yer skates on. It's £ 8.99 postpaid in the UK, £ 10.99 in Europe, and £ 11.99 ROW.
Get it here.
Hey U2! Where are my complimentary tickets for Croker?
Or Amsterdam is cool too. Two tickets please.
Update: No tickets materialised.
January 2017: Cromwell reissue is released on LP and CD
On Guerssen's Got Kinda Lost imprint.
It sounds great so go out and get it.
November 2016: Images Not Displaying
Thanks to all who took the time to contact me to let me know that images are not displaying on the site.
I think it's a server problem. I'm trying to get it sorted ASAP.
17 December 2015: Mick Lynch RIP
Very sad news of the untimely death of Stump frontman Mick Lynch reported by the band on facebook.
Notice on rip.ie
3 September 2015: Al O'Donnell RIP
Folk singer Alistair O'Donnell died today. Very sad news.
Check out his two LPs, released on Trailer (1972) and Transatlantic Records (1978).
There are some great performances on them, including some definitive
renditions of well known songs. It's a pity there weren't more.
20 January 2015: RIP Edgar Froese
14 December 2014: Dorian Mood download album
XXV, presumably referring to the 25th anniversary of the Can't Stand Still mini-LP,
contains most of that album (one track is omitted) plus three tracks from the 1985
demo. Let's hope this leads to a full discography CD. Meanwhile the downloads are
available on tax-dodging Amazon and elsewhere.
31 October 2014: The Slowest Clock unreleased LP
The unreleased debut LP by The Slowest Clock "Smile Futurismo! All I Heard Was Purple" has been
released on Eye Unseen Records. Recorded in 1989, these recordings were shelved for
financial reasons and then went missing. None of these recordings were not included
on the Life Still CD from 1994. If you know their two EPs, then you'll want this CD.
No vinyl version, alas! Check out the track on youtube. Highly recommended.
9 June 2014: Eamon Gibney RIP
Notice on rip.ie
17 January 2014: Austin 'Stac' Coll RIP
Austin Coll passed away yesterday (Jan 16) in Zwolle, The Netherlands.