BEEHIVE CANDY

This is Brinsley Schwarz in concert back on the 19th June 1974 at the former Top Rank venue in Cardiff, Wales (UK). This is a superb recording and demonstrates what a first class live act the band truly were. Nick Lowe (bass, vocals) and Brinsley Schwarz (guitar, vocals) originally met at Woodbridge School where they played in school bands with Barry Landerman (keyboards, vocals) and Phil Hall (guitar). In 1964, whilst still at school, they toured RAF bases in Germany as "Sounds 4+1". On leaving school, Schwarz formed "Three's A Crowd" with Pete Whale (drums) and Dave Cottam (bass). Landerman joined in 1967 and they renamed themselves "Kippington Lodge". Their first two singles, produced by Mark Wirtz, in a close-harmony pop style, both flopped. Cottam left, and Schwarz invited Nick Lowe to join. Landerman then left to join Vanity Fare, Bob Andrews joined on keyboards, and finally, Whale was replaced by Billy Rankin on drums. Although the next thr...

Background: Kopecky Family Band released a limited edition, hand-assembled split 7” vinyl with friends, and Seattle locals Ivan and Alyosha on February 4th 2011. Animal and I Was Born to Love Her feature on the two-track release. Both bands have long been vinyl enthusiasts and thought it the ideal time to offer their friends and fans a limited edition piece of music to not only listen to, but to keep as a creative addition to their music collection. The artwork was designed in-house by Kelsey Kopecky, and the vinyl was lovingly packed and assembled at Kopecky Headquarters. Kopecky Family Band is readying themselves for a busy 2011 after achieving much in 2010. The band kicked off the year at SXSW in Austin, wowed locals and industry execs at Next Big Nashville, and floored the likes of Bob Boilen at CMJ in New York. A solid work ethic and collaborative approach to songwriting resulted in two EP releases in the second half of the year - The Disaster and (Of Epic Proportions), plus...

The Guess Who are a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Initially gaining recognition in Canada, they also found international success from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s with numerous hit singles, including "American Woman", "These Eyes" and "Share the Land". This concert  performed at The Ambassador Theatre, in St Louis, MO, on the 6th May 1974 was one of the last show before guitarists Kurt Winter and Donnie McDougall left the group and is considered by a good number of fans as the overall best line up. Broadcast live on FM by radio station KSHE (the source of this recording), the concert is both fascinating and a testimony to the band getting on with the job when the bass amp fails and a probable electrical outage left the band with no option early on but to do a couple of unplanned acoustic numbers "Artificial Flowers" and "Sour Suite" both of which actually add to the gig and are well received by the audience. ...

Background: The elusive and talented man behind a long list of film scores and musical projects, Ben Lovett , is unveiling a new opus that spans the country and includes an all-star carnival of contributing musicians, film directors, kids, choirs, and painters. The Lovett collective are releasing Highway Collection, available March 15th, 2011. Through a nomadic and exploratory lifestyle, Ben Lovett has created an album of compelling variety, captured in motion, each song brilliantly crafted ‘from a different part of another life’, into a diverse philosophy of sound deep enough to sink a ship. On Highway Collection you find a driving pulse and child-like innocence akin to The Shins, layered with zany and dreamy backing vocals a la The Flaming Lips, floating above the rolling drumbeats of a modernized Strawberry Fields-era Beatles, all led by a constantly evolving voice with an eloquent message of mature and heartfelt universality. Lovett's eclectic cast of contributing mu...

These days they are known as The Unthanks and for good reason as Rachel Unthank explained - It makes me very happy and proud to be changing our name to The Unthanks, and relieved too, as my sister Becky has shared lead vocals with me from the start. Back then when she was just 17, about to start university and unsure about committing indefinitely to our partnership, we chose a name that gave her the freedom that was perhaps key to us still being together now. Back in 2008 they were still Rachel Unthank and The Winterset , and this short session is from December 2008. It makes a fine introduction to the band who are an English folk group from Northumberland. They made their debut performance at Towersey Village Festival in August 2004 and in May 2005, launched their debut album, Cruel Sister at Holmfirth Folk Festival. Cruel Sister received support from a number of DJs on BBC Radio 2 and was subsequently awarded Folk Album of the Year by Mojo magazine. Their 2007 follow-up album, Th...

You may have noticed a considerable amount of excitement in the mainstream media including The Word Magazine, Rolling Stone, NPR (American public radio) and the Los Angeles Times in the latter part of December along with a good number of fellow music fan sites regarding the 'release' of a double album vinyl bootleg called The Smiths - Unreleased Demos and Instrumentals. Indeed such was the quality of this material, my first reaction when listening to it initially, was to check out if this was an official compilation and someone was having me on, regarding the material being a bootleg 'release'. As a result of searching around online I have picked up a fair amount of additional information and my thanks go out to the many fans of The Smiths who have researched this (and whom I am unashamedly copying from in the details section below). The original vinyl rip was in mono and this is a vastly cleaned up version that improves the quality considerably. The 'informed ...