Wisely, the Cure decided to start fresh upon signing with their new label in 2004 by cleaning house, remastering the old albums, and bringing their fans Join the Dots: B-Sides & Rarities, 1978-2001. Not only is it the ultimate companion to the official releases, but it is, in a way, the new-super-deluxe-updated version of that cassette release of Staring at the Sea. Every B-side is included, in order, with cleaned-up sound, liner notes, and explanations by the man who made it all happen. All tracks, from "10.15 Saturday Night" (the B-side to the debut single "Killing an Arab") to covers of "Hello, I Love You," "Purple Haze," and "World in My Eyes," to entries from the Bloodflowers singles, are an indication that while the Cure made both strong albums and singles, they were not afraid to experiment along the way, and more importantly, they didn't let pride keep them from not making them available to those who were willing to look for them…
The C-Sides were formed in 2007 by Magenta band members Martin Rosser (guitars, keyboards, voices), Allan Mason-Jones (drums, percussion) and Dan Fry (bass, voices). Taking a modern rock element and weaving it with the classic early 1970's Rush sound, they made the C-Sides (aka The C Sides Project). The music industry is a strange business and it is ultimately music lovers who triumph over the machine. The internet has liberated music from the grip of the record industry and this has made it possible for those of us passionate about our chosen genera to find the sounds we love amidst the plethora of plastic pop being peddled by commercial radio. A thorough search on the internet, Band Camp, Reverb Nation or other similar platform will often be rewarded with great new music.
Rarities & B-sides is a 2015 compilation album with previously unreleased tracks and remixes by Delerium from the last 15 years. First single Glimmer was released in January as an EP with some extra remixes. Two other new songs are included; "Aurora" featuring Swiss-Canadian vocalist Rykka and "Ray" featuring Kristy Thirsk…
In 1970 the Isle of Wight Festival was one of the largest musical events of its time. Bigger than Woodstock, and controversial from the get-go, hundreds of thousands of people descended on the island. Many of those without tickets set up camp on a hill overlooking the festival site, opposing the consumerism of the event and intent on taking the music back by any means necessary…
Magnificently packaged in a CD-sized hardcover book filled with personal artwork, lyrics, and photos, Damien Rice's debut full-length, O, is nothing less than a work of genius, a perfect cross between Ryan Adams and David Gray and a true contender for one of the best albums of 2003. This Irish singer/songwriter works with impassioned folk songs that move from stripped-down to grandly orchestrated in a heartbeat. The production is reminiscent of Songs of Leonard Cohen – simple guitars, vocals, and then those swelling strings, all of which sound like they were recorded right in the same room. Rice is master of what critic/ranter Richard Meltzer called "the unknown tongue" – basically the musical equivalent of the "punctum" in photos, it's that thing that grabs a hold of you, the detail that makes it happen. After wooing critics in 2003 with his stunning debut album, O, Damien Rice built upon his growing success with this quaint B-sides collection. This EP features seven previously unreleased songs that are soul-stirringly classic of the Irish singer/songwriter.