Valhalla Plugin

Across 5 mesmerizing rhythm-laden tracks, Julian Cope brings us his masterful upbeat tribute to John Balance. All of the tracks instrumental, save for the vocal opener ‘Sandoz’, these hefty grooves shimmer and shake as Cope guides us through the various stages of the artist’s journey into legendary Valhalla. The massive motorik groove of the 15-minute title track depicts John’s journey out of the Earthly Realm, its final musical moments enacting a conversation between two air-force pilots mistaking John’s Shamanic Spectral Body for a distant UFO. Next is ‘John Valour’, an emphatic piano-led Glam Rock beast that pushes ‘Virginia Plain’ and ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us’ into true Lamonte Young/John Cale territory.

The 40th Anniversary edition of Jethro Tull’s Minstrel In The Gallery. Original album plus seven bonus tracks (six previously unreleased) and all to stereo by Steven Wilson. The album has been expanded to include the b-side Summerday Sands, several studio outtakes, and alternate session material recorded for a BBC broadcast. The second disc features a live recording of Jethro Tull performing at the Olympia in Paris on July 5, 1975, a few months prior to the release of Minstrel In The Gallery. During the show, the band played songs from several of its albums, including War Child and Aqualung, as well as an early performance of Minstrel In The Gallery.
Minstrel in the Gallery was Tull's most artistically successful and elaborately produced album since Thick as a Brick and harked back to that album with the inclusion of a 17-minute extended piece ("Baker Street Muse")…