Garage August September 2017

An iconoclast with a large, loyal audience and a long, very successful career, Neil Young has explored a impressive range of styles – from acoustic introspection and wistful country rock to blistering hard rock, electronic experimentation, blues, rockabilly, and heartfelt polemics – while sounding entirely like Neil Young at all times, with his engagingly craggy voice, his flinty sincerity, and unique gifts as a songwriter. Young's creative restlessness is a comfortable match for his prolific nature, and he's not averse to dropping his current fascinations for something else on the drop of a dime, which frustrates some fans but also helps keep his music fresh and full of ideas. Even when he's in relatively familiar musical territory (his electric music with Crazy Horse, his rootsy semi-acoustic work, the intimacy of his solo performances, his thematic albums focusing on life experiences and his take on the world around him), there's a spark of unpredictability that fuels his muse and keeps him in the present day despite a career spanning over seven decades.

Two CD set. First-ever complete anthology of wild mid-'60s UK garage R&B band The Betterdays who briefly reformed in the early '90s. The West Country's leading exponents of British Garage R&B, The Betterdays' thrillingly raw sound and unkempt, long-haired appearance initially saw them banned by local promoters in their native Plymouth. The national success of The Rolling Stones turned the tide in their favor, and by mid-1964 they boasted a thriving local fan club and were provoking riots among audiences. Having acquired local hero status, they opted not to relocate to London, although they did cut a handful of demos at venues like RG Jones (Morden) Ltd and even released a single via Polydor in September 1965. By that juncture the R&B scene was fading, and The Betterdays duly disbanded - although they did reform in the early '90s with the original five-man line-up, promptly recording the album they'd been denied in their mid-'60s heyday. The first-ever complete anthology of their work, Hush Your Mouth brings together their small but valuable cache of mid-Sixties acetates, their feverishly-pursued Polydor single, a clutch of August 1964 live cuts (including three tracks now being heard for the first time) and those early '90s recordings - which initially gained a partial release as No Concessions before an expanded version appeared in 2017 as Backlash. Featuring a 24-page booklet with numerous rare photos and a new essay on the band, 'Hush Your Mouth' is the final word on this legendary mid-'60s British R&B band.

Two CD set. First-ever complete anthology of wild mid-'60s UK garage R&B band The Betterdays who briefly reformed in the early '90s. The West Country's leading exponents of British Garage R&B, The Betterdays' thrillingly raw sound and unkempt, long-haired appearance initially saw them banned by local promoters in their native Plymouth. The national success of The Rolling Stones turned the tide in their favor, and by mid-1964 they boasted a thriving local fan club and were provoking riots among audiences. Having acquired local hero status, they opted not to relocate to London, although they did cut a handful of demos at venues like RG Jones (Morden) Ltd and even released a single via Polydor in September 1965. By that juncture the R&B scene was fading, and The Betterdays duly disbanded - although they did reform in the early '90s with the original five-man line-up, promptly recording the album they'd been denied in their mid-'60s heyday. The first-ever complete anthology of their work, Hush Your Mouth brings together their small but valuable cache of mid-Sixties acetates, their feverishly-pursued Polydor single, a clutch of August 1964 live cuts (including three tracks now being heard for the first time) and those early '90s recordings - which initially gained a partial release as No Concessions before an expanded version appeared in 2017 as Backlash. Featuring a 24-page booklet with numerous rare photos and a new essay on the band, 'Hush Your Mouth' is the final word on this legendary mid-'60s British R&B band.