We Are Only Riders- The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions

A band project of a stellar cast of musicians to honour the late great frontman of The Gun Club, Jeffrey Lee Pierce. Cypress Grove, his former bass player, worked his way through his private archive, finding lost songs, lost tapes, lost lyrics and over the past 13 years he got together with a lot of musicians who were friends with JLP, influenced by him or simply fans. He was able to get them working on the fragments he had and over the years an album came together which will drive you to tears of its sheer beauty and intenseness.

Nick Cave duets with Blondie's Debbie Harry on 'Free To Walk'. Both singers also contribute solo tracks to the collection & Cave also plays piano on Harry's track 'Lucky Jim'.

This compilation also features Mark Lanegan and Isobell Campbell, Mick Harvey, Lydia Lunch, The Raveonettes and Barry Adamson.

Tracklisting

1. Nick Cave - Ramblin' Mind
2. Mark Lanegan - Constant Waiting
3. The Raveonettes - Free To Walk
4. Debbie Harry - Lucky Jim
5. Lydia Lunch - My Cadillac
6. David Eugene Edwards - Ramblin' Mind
7. The Sadies - Constant Waiting
8. Mark Lanegan & Isobel Campbell - Free To Walk
9. Lydia Lunch - St. Marks Place
10. Crippled Black Phoenix - Bells On The River
11. Cypress Grove - Ramblin' Mind
12. Johnny Dowd - Constant Waiting
13. Nick Cave & Debbie Harry - Free To Walk
14. Mick Harvey - The Snow Country
15. David Eugene Edwards & Crippled Black Phoenix - Just Like A Mexican Love
16. Lydia Lunch, Dave Alvin, And The JLP Sessions Project - Walkin' Down The Street (Doin' My Thing)

Download

The Hot Rats- Turn Ons

In an era when "cover" often means emasculation via tasteful piano or kitschy synth, Supergrass' Gaz Coombes and Danny Goffey deliver 12 blasts of stylistic tinkering that never subsume the songs' original intent: to rock. Slathered in amp-busting fuzz and gussied up with signal interference courtesy of Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, Turn Ons leaves certain classics (the Kinks' "Big Sky") intact -- but louder. The best remakes, though, surprise: On "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!)," the Beastie Boys become falsetto-voiced psych shamans, and most amazingly, the Doors ("The Crystal Ship") turn awesome with the magic of tectonic feedback.

Download

Victor Olaiya- All Stars Soul International

Victor Olaiya is certainly one of the legendary foundation stones of modern Nigerian music, yet he has never received much acknowlegement or really had his albums released or promoted in any quantity outside of Nigeria. So this Vampisoul release is a step in the right direction and not before time, for a 77 years old who was probably Nigeria's leading star of 50's and early 60's, his golden years. Dr. Victor Abimbola Olaiya, the evil genius of Highlife, is still sockin' it to them after 60 years on stage. If you're lucky you can catch him blowing that trumpet and singing his heart out at his own celebrated 'Stadium Hotel' in Lagos, Nigeria.

This album from 1970 is from Olaiya's Highlife / Funk phase, but its worth taking a trawl through his back pages to see how he became the Evil Genius, before you roll back the rug and get down with the Highlife-Funk.

Download

Tim Barry- 28th & Stonewall

Barry's third full-length recording as a solo artist builds on the sound that's garnered him a small but dedicated following over the past few years, weaving together folk, low-fi country, and classic rock. If you ask Barry, he'll tell you he just got together with friends in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia and put down a bunch of fresh songs with some real talented musicians. He thinks the tunes are pretty good.

Download

Kings of Nuthin- Old Habits Die Hard

The Kings of Nuthin' are easily one of the best bands I've ever seen live!... I had the pleasure of touring with them and every night they hit the stage the whole place would fuckin' explode! The sad part to their story is they all stayed true to their name as "The Kings of Nuthin" and never really went any where... Just finding them or getting them on the phone these days is an adventure in itself let alone getting them in a room to play together again. Any how, "Old Habits Die Hard" is the last record the Kings recorded or as I like to call the lost record. I remember hearing tracks from this album many years ago and now its finally finished.... Enjoy!

Download

Ben Nichols- The Last Pale Light in the West

I read the book "The Road" a few months ago and was blown away by Cormac Mc Carthy's writing, and after seeing the film I felt the need to publish this record onto my blog. So that Cormac's Novel could in some way be redeemed by that horrific movie... "The Last Pale Light in the West" is based on the characters in the "The Road" and is one of the best records I've heard in years! It may even be better then some of Ben's stuff in Lucero... Enjoy!

1) The Last Pale Light in the West
2) The Kid
3) Davy Brown
4) Chambers
5) Tobin
6) Toadvine
7) The Judge

Download

Beirut- March of the Zapotech

For the past year, Beirut has alternated between touring in support of 2007's much-lauded The Flying Club Cup and writing a wealth of new material. With no sense of a release in mind, bandleader Zach Condon recorded in any style that struck his fancy. Some early discussions about recording material for a film being shot in Mexico morphed into a new idea: What about finding a local band in a small city in Mexico, hiring them to play some new material, and recording the result?

Download