Primal Scream

Primal Scream are to release the original ‘Memphis Recordings’ that eventually became their 1994 album Give Out But Don’t Give Up. Give Out But Don’t Give Up: The Original Memphis Recordings is a document of the sessions with Tom Dowd and the Muscle Shoals rhythm section (David Hood (bass) and Roger Hawkins (drums)). These took place at Ardent Studios in Memphis and these sessions are said to showcase a more ‘country soul/rock ‘n’ roll’ side to the band. These recordings were apparently found in Andrew Innes’ basement.

The act with the first arena-sized sound in the electronica movement, the Chemical Brothers united such varying influences as Public Enemy, Cabaret Voltaire, and My Bloody Valentine to create a dance-rock-rap fusion which rivaled the best old-school DJs on their own terms – keeping a crowd of people on the floor by working through any number of groove-oriented styles featuring unmissable samples, from familiar guitar riffs to vocal tags to various sound effects. And when the duo (Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons) decided to supplement their DJ careers by turning their bedrooms into recording studios, they pioneered a style of music (later termed big beat) remarkable for its lack of energy loss from the dancefloor to the radio. Chemical Brothers albums were less collections of songs and more hour-long journeys, chock-full of deep bomb-studded beats, percussive breakdowns, and effects borrowed from a host of sources. All in all, the duo proved one of the few exceptions to the rule that intelligent dance music could never be bombastic or truly satisfying to the seasoned rock fan; it's hardly surprising that they were one of the few dance acts to enjoy simultaneous success in the British/American mainstream and in critical quarters.

Curated by the same team behind last year's award-winning 5-CD box set Scared To Get Happy, this highly anticipated reissue will be housed in a 'clamshell'-style hinged box, with a chunky booklet including a 11,500-word sleeve-note by Neil Taylor and lots of pretty pictures. In the NME's own words…"The album, first released on a cassette with NME in 1986, went on to inspire a generation of indie bands and features music by Primal Scream, The Pastels, Shop Assistants and The Wedding Present among many others. Former NME writer Neil Taylor, who assisted in compiling the original 22 track album nearly 30 years ago, has written the liner notes for the reissue and helped with the curation of two bonus discs of material which will include songs exclusive to CD and some never released before including tracks by The Love Act, North of Cornwallis and Paul Groovy & The Pop Art Experience."

Following in the wake of his popular and well received Punk and New Wave and Lost 80s compilation box sets, English broadcaster, TV presenter and DJ Gary Crowley is at it again. This time, he takes on the music of the Nineties via his Indie 90s Playback Classics, Curveballs and Bangers.

In 2003, Mötley Crüe as we know it were done and like all bands that are over the hill they regaled us with the release of several compilations to showcase their glory days to a new audience. During this time, there were also grumbles of a second reunion tour. With the advancement in technology and the development in the field of DVDs, "Greatest Video Hits" was a perfect opportunity to reach out to the generation of today with the help of some great videos…