Blur Japanese

Following on from the disheveled collapse of the Deviants, the wired delinquent garage fuzz monster which propelled him to counterculture superstardom, Mick Farren convened a more-or-less all-star band from the same disreputable circles he'd always moved in. Carnivorous Circus was cut, the first essential album of the 1970s, and its still one of the most unrepentantly nasty, gratuitously ugly records ever made. Rock history loves to bandy those terms around, then apply them to this week's most fashionable long-haired gnarly snarlies. And it's true, the Pretty Things, the MC5, the Pink Fairies, the Broughtons, any of the myriad '60s freakbeat bands captured on sundry Nuggets and Pebbles type collections, they've all dipped a toe into those malevolently murky waters…

The partnership between founding Survivor member and Ides of March Grammy Award-winning songwriter Jim Peterik and singer Marc Scherer started in 2010 when Peterik, impressed with Scherer's vocals, started composing an album designed to showcase Marc's talent. The result is a collection of songs that fulfil their promise to be the perfect vehicle for Marc's 4-octave range a voice of astonishing clarity and strength…

Scabdates' accompanying photography is a frenetic blur of instruments and sweaty hair. Singers stand on amplifiers, and keyboardists stare intently at the veins popping in their hands; drummers reach over snares to tweak guitar strings, and saxophones appear out of the ether. It's an accurate portrayal of the Mars Volta's collagist sound, their subtitled and bullet-pointed avant metal that increasingly seems like the soundtrack to a film only Omar Rodriguez-Lopez can see. Still, even at their most insular (some would say self-indulgent), the Mars Volta seethe with intensity. Scab Dates proves this. Most of the more wandering elements of De-Loused and Frances the Mute disappear for this live document, replaced by hails of screaming organ, increased thump to the rhythm section, and Cedric Bixler-Zavala showing off the insane volatility in his voice…

Lana Del Rey could have retired after the cinematic grandeur of her 2019 high-water mark Norman Fucking Rockwell! That album's imaginative songwriting, finely crafted performances, and exceptional production served as a realization of the magnificence promised by earlier efforts, and the deepest look yet at Del Rey's stormy inner world. Subsequent albums suggested a little bit of a comedown after such heights. Both released in 2021, Chemtrails Over the Country Club felt like an NFR! bonus reel, while Blue Banisters played like a mixtape of solid but random song ideas. Ninth album Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd finds Del Rey returning to the powerful level of song sculpting she reached on NFR!, and feels like a strong step forward as much as it does a worthy follow-up to her best record.

Compilation of early tracks produced or remixed by the legendary Adrian Sherwood; a pioneering blend of post-punk, mutant disco, dub, funk and electro. Includes 6 tracks that have never been reissued in any format, and 2 completely unreleased tracks from the On-U vaults. Features The Slits, Prince Far I, The Fall and Mark Stewart.