Primal Scream

In her 85 years, Yoko Ono has played the pioneer of the primal scream, the icy avant-disco diva, the abstract poetess of peace, and many other challenging roles. She’s also a consummate rebel who refuses to become creatively complacent or remain silent about the world’s ills. Ono’s last major project, the two volumes of Yes, I’m A Witch, invited younger fans like Cat Power and Tune-Yards to help reinvent her songbook. Warzone is another radical act of re-creation, taking 13 songs from across her career and revamping them in startling ways. Just compare the original 1970 version of “Why,” featuring John Lennon’s thrashing proto-punk guitar, with this new take in which Ono shrieks into an unsettling void. Expressly political, Warzone, Ono’s 14th proper studio album, ranks as one of her most difficult listens, full of eerie ambiance, off-kilter arrangements, and scalding vocals. But it’s playfully experimental, too, especially in its lighter second half, which features the giddy, grooving “Children Power” and the blunt-but-beautiful “I Love You Earth.”

“I’ve been a fan of PP ever since hearing ‘The First Cut’, and then ‘Tin Soldier’. Her voice is still as great as it was when she was 18/19 years old! Steve Cradock has tried to keep something of the early Immediate Records sound on this new record, whilst still sounding fresh, and it is for me one of the finest in her collection” – Paul Weller. Five decades after she became a ’60s icon with the timeless pop hits ‘The First Cut Is The Deepest’ and ‘Angel Of The Morning’ on Rolling Stones manager Andrew Oldham’s ultra-hip Immediate label, soul singer P.P. Arnold is set to release a double-album of stunning new material featuring contributions from, among others, Paul Weller, Ocean Colour Scene’s Steve Cradock, The Specials and P.P’s songwriter son, Kodzo.

Really The Orb should need no introduction by now, but in essence they’re a rotating cast of members helmed by Paterson that began in 1988 and still thrives to this day. They were there since UK acid house day one, providing a unique ambient take on the musical milieu and soon rising to chart-topping, huge-venue-headlining prominence. They’ve released 19 albums plus EPs, singles, compilations and live recordings, influencing countless other musicians along the way. The Orb (Alex Paterson and Michael Rendall) release their new album on March 27th. The album features Youth (Killing Joke), Steve Hillage (Gong, System 7), Roger Eno (co-creator of the Apollo album with Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois) & Jah Wobble (PiL, Primal Scream Orb, Invaders of the Heart).

When We Were the New Boys finds Rod Stewart tackling the music of his Brit-pop offspring and coming to terms with his pub rock roots. It's a bit of a risky move, since he could have embarrassed himself with stodgy singing but, surprisingly, he (more or less) pulls it off…