MANIC STREET PREACHERS – ‘SLEEP NEXT TO PLASTIC’

MANIC STREET PREACHERS – ‘SLEEP NEXT TO PLASTIC’

A CAREER SPANNING PLAYLIST FEATURING NEW & LOST RECORDINGS 

Streaming on Spotify now

Manic Street Preachers have posted the second in a series of career spanning Spotify playlists specially curated by the band. 


 
Sleep Next To Plastic focuses on the cover versions Manic Street Preachers have performed over the years. It includes new/lost recordings, B-sides and album tracks. Fifteen of the covers have previously been unavailable officially through streaming services; the version of Madonna’s Borderline was recorded in the band’s Door To The River especially for this playlist. 
 
Covers have away been central to Manic Street Preachers ethos, whether playing raw versions of Happy Mondays or Clash songs at early gigs or adding inspirational classics written by Guns N’Roses or Echo and the Bunnymen to recent live shows. 
 
Manic Street Preachers on Sleep Next To Plastic: “Cover version have always offered us  a chance to pay direct, public tribute to records we grew up obsessing over, be that C86 bands or artists as diverse as Madonna, John Cale and Paul Robeson. Collectively, these covers are a heartfelt musical tribute to our formative influences.”

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That tracklisting in full: 

1. Borderline (Madonna, new recording) 

2. Take The Skinheads Bowling (Camper Van Beethoven)

3. Red Sleeping Beauty (McCarthy)

4. Jean’s Not Happening [featuring Finlay George] (The Pale Fountains, lost recording)

5. The Endless Plain of Fortune (John Cale – new to Spotify)

6. Feels Like Heaven (Fiction Factory – new to Spotify)

7. Umbrella (Rihanna)

8. Out Of Time (The Rolling Stones)

9. Train in Vain (The Clash)

10. Pennyroyal Tea (Nirvana, recorded live at the BBC – new to Spotify)

11. Let’s Stay Together (Al Green, recorded live at the BBC – new to Spotify)

12. Theme From M*A*S*H [Suicide Is Painless] (Johnny Mandel/Michael Altman/The Ron Hicklin Singers)

13. Vision Blurred (The Horrors – new to Spotify)

14. Working Class Hero (John Lennon)

15. Wake Up Alone (Amy Winehouse – new to Spotify)

16. Bright Eyes (Art Garfunkel, previously unreleased full band version) 

17. Been A Son (Nirvana)

18. Foggy Eyes (Beat Happening)

19. This Is The Day (The The)

20. Inbetween Days (The Cure, recorded live at the BBC – new to Spotify)

21. Sweet Child O’ Mine (Guns N’Roses, live recording – new to Spotify) 

22. All Or Nothing (The Small Faces recorded live at the BBC – new to Spotify)

23. Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel (Paul Robeson)

24. Can’t Take My Eyes Off You (Andy Williams)

25. Bring On The Dancing Horses (Echo & the Bunnymen, recorded live at the BBC – new to Spotify) 

26. Wrote For Luck (Happy Mondays)

27. What’s My Name (The Clash)

28. We Are All Bourgeois Now (McCarthy)

29. Under My Wheels (Alice Cooper, recorded live at the BBC – new to Spotify)

30. Rock’n’Roll Music (Chuck Berry)

31. Damn Dog (Sleaze Sisters)

32. Velocity Girl (Primal Scream)

33. The Instrumental (The June Brides – new to Spotify)

34. Summer Wind (Frank Sinatra – new to Spotify)

35. Last Christmas (Wham!)

36. Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head (B.J. Thomas)

37. Primitive Painters (Felt – new to Spotify)

Chubby & The Gang with new video and EP

Chubby & The Gang with new video and EP

Chubby and the Gang have shared a new EP entitled ‘Labour of Love’, featuring three brand new songs, as well as a music video for lead single ‘Who Loves Ya (Coup d’état)‘. Labour of Love is available now digitally, and a special picture disc 7″ is available to pre-order now (HERE). Steve Lamacq premiered ‘Who Loves Ya (Coup d’état)’ on his BBC 6Music show yesterday evening.

The video for ‘Who Loves Ya (Coup d’état)’ was filmed and edited by the band’s tour manager, Ted Foster. Frontman Charlie Manning Walker says of the song: “We had the idea to do a Valentine’s Day single and I sort of wanted to show all the angles of love. Warts and all. Quite often it’s not such a smooth experience. Can often feel scary and insane. So I wanted to write a bubblegum song about it but also show the duality of the emotion.

Chubby and the Gang released their acclaimed second album – The Mutt’s Nuts – last year via Partisan. The album was produced by Jonah Falco of Fucked Up, and was featured on year-end lists by Rough Trade and Kerrang! (“uncompromising Brit-punk anthems”). It also earned them a spot touring with Turnstile in the UK, which they just wrapped up. Chubby and the Gang will tour throughout 2022, full dates HERE. US headline touring is set to be announced soon.

The Mutt’s Nuts followed the band’s surprise 2020 critical hit, Speed Kills. Thanks to an unrelentingly fun concoction of hardcore, pub rock, doo wop, and blues, the album cemented them as leaders in a pack of new bands coming out of a new wave of British Hardcore. Alongside classic rock and roll themes of love and loss, their lyrics are rooted in worker’s rights, inequality, police brutality, government failure and gentrification – issues that are built into the fabric of the UK, and magnified in the English capital.

BOB MOULD ANNOUNCES 2022 SOLO ELECTRIC UK + IRELAND TOUR DATES

BOB MOULD ANNOUNCES 2022 SOLO ELECTRIC UK + IRELAND TOUR DATES

BOB MOULD

ANNOUNCES 2022 SOLO ELECTRIC UK + IRELAND TOUR DATES

8LP DISTORTION: LIVE BOX RELEASED AUG 6th ON DEMON

Legendary musician Bob Mould today announces a run of Solo Electric 2022 UK and Ireland tour dates beginning January 19th at Whelan’s in Dublin. The tour, perfectly timed with the incoming release of Mould’s Distortion: Live vinyl boxset, will see him perform solo versions of music from across his 40+ year career, including songs from the Distortion collection and from his landmark band Hüsker Dü, as well as from last year’s explosive and critically acclaimed Blue Hearts album. As Mould notes: “I’m looking forward to the upcoming Solo Electric shows in the UK and Ireland. I’m excited to be performing songs from 2020’s Blue Hearts, as well as revisiting the prior 40 years of my songbook.”

On top of that Mould has also shared a video in which he, along with his friend, actor, comedian and avid Mould fan Fred Armisen, open the boxes of the different vinyl volumes of Mould’s career retrospective boxset Distortion. Armisen penned the introduction to Mould’s massive 24-CD Distortion box which was released last autumn by Demon.  The vinyl volumes have been released periodically over the last year, with the fourth and final vinyl box Distortion: Live now scheduled to be released by Demon on August 6th. The 8LP set includes live recordings from Mould’s solo career as well as performances by his band, Sugar.

 

As on the previously released box sets in the Distortion collection, the fourth volume sees each album being mastered by Jeff Lipton and Maria Rice at Peerless Mastering in Boston and is presented with brand new artwork designed by illustrator Simon Marchner and pressed on 140g clear vinyl with unique splatter effects. This box set includes 4 live albums: Live At The Cabaret Metro, 1989 (first time on vinyl); the Sugar album The Joke Is Always On Us, Sometimes; LiveDog98 (first time on vinyl), and Live at ATP 2008 (first time on vinyl). In addition, the set includes a 28-page companion booklet featuring liner notes by journalist Keith Cameron; contributions from Bully’s Alicia Bognanno; rare photographs and memorabilia, and a bonus LP Distortion Plus: Live, which features live rarities including B-Sides and stand-out tracks from the Circle of Friends concert film.

 

Pre-order:

Pre-order Distortion: Live here: http://smarturl.it/DistortionLive

UK/IE tour dates:

Jan 19th | Dublin, IE – Whelan’s
Jan 21st | Liverpool, UK – Arts Club
Jan 23rd | Cardiff, UK – The Globe
Jan 24th | Chester, UK – The Live Rooms
Jan 25th | Birmingham, UK – The Mill
Jan 27th | Stoke, UK – The Sugarmill
Jan 28th | Bristol, UK – Thekla
Jan 29th | Nottingham, UK – Rescue Rooms
Jan 31st | Glasgow, UK – Oran Mor
Feb 1st | Newcastle, UK – Riverside
Feb 3rd | Southampton, UK – Engine Rooms
Feb 4th | Brighton, UK – Concorde 2
Feb 5th | Oxford, UK – O2 Academy 2
Feb 7th | Leeds, UK – Brudenell Social Club

Tickets for all shows available Here

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Bob Mould – ‘Wishing Well’ video and live ‘Distortion’

Bob Mould – ‘Wishing Well’ video and live ‘Distortion’

10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF MOULDS MEMOIR ‘SEE A LITTLE LIGHT: THE TRAIL OF RAGE & MELODY’ WITH A READING AND SOLO PERFORMANCE OF ‘WISHING WELL’

On top of that Mould has shared a trailer for his fourth and final vinyl box Distortion: Live an 8LP set that includes live recordings from both his solo career and his band Sugar. This set will be released on July 16, 2021, through Demon Music Group.

“After three years of writing my 2011 autobiography, See A Little Light, I was ‘full speed ahead’ — no more looking back. But over the past few years, during the production of the Distortion reissue series, many of the people, places, and circumstances that fuelled those albums came back to life. Oddly, I didn’t see that coming!

“As for today: the book is ten years old, I’m thrilled that 30 years of my work has been re-released in so many configurations, and I’m very grateful to be able to take these songs and stories to the stage later this year — and hopefully many years to come. As time marches on, I’m learning to embrace my past, enjoy the moment, and still have hopes and dreams for the future.”

As on the previously released box sets in the Distortion collection, the fourth volume sees each album being mastered by Jeff Lipton and Maria Rice at Peerless Mastering in Boston and is presented with brand new artwork designed by illustrator Simon Marchner and pressed on 140g clear vinyl with unique splatter effects. This box set includes 4 live albums: Live At The Cabaret Metro, 1989 (first time on vinyl); the Sugar album The Joke Is Always On Us, Sometimes; LiveDog98 (first time on vinyl), and Live at ATP 2008 (first time on vinyl). In addition, the set includes a 28-page companion booklet featuring liner notes by journalist Keith Cameron; contributions from Bully’s Alicia Bognanno; rare photographs and memorabilia, and a bonus LP Distortion Plus: Live, which features live rarities including B-Sides and stand-out tracks from the Circle of Friends concert film.

Mould has also announced that Jason Narducy will open the solo portion of his Distortion and Blue Hearts! tour starting October 15th, 2021, in Bloomington, IL at Castle Theater. These solo dates are the second part of a tour that begins with his band — Narducy on bass and drummer Jon Wurster on September 16th at Paradise Rock Club in Boston.

Narducy has been the bass player in Bob Mould’s band since 2005. The Evanston, IL-based musician first gained renown in 1982, when at 11 years old, he formed the seminal punk rock band Verböten with his childhood friends in an Evanston basement. Narducy would later go on to front Verbow, releasing three albums with the band (one in its earliest incarnation as Jason & Alison). Since his days in Verbow, Narducy has gone on to tour with such acts as Robert Pollard and Telekinesis. Today, along with playing bass for Mould he performs the same role in Superchunk, and fronts Split Single, with whom he’s recorded three albums with a rotating cast of stellar musicians, including Jon Wurster, Spoon’s Britt Daniel, R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, and Wilco’s John Stirratt. Split Single’s new album, Amplificado, is out June 25th.

Discover more about the boxsets including full tracklistings and FAQs Here

The 8LP Distortion: Live boxset is released July 16th, 2021, via Demon Music Group. The 24CD Distortion: 1989-2019, 8LP Distortion: 1989-1995, 9LP Distortion: 1996-2007, 7LP Distortion 2008-2019 boxsets and Distortion: The Best of 1989-2019 2LP, 2CD and 4CD compilations are all available now. 

 

Pre-order Distortion: Live Here

MANIC STREET PREACHERS NHS DATE MOVED TO SEPTEMBER 2021

MANIC STREET PREACHERS NHS DATE MOVED TO SEPTEMBER 2021

 

Manic Street Preachers have moved their previously announced shows in July at the Cardiff Motorpoint Arena to Sunday 19th and Monday 20th September 2021. This is due to the recently announced capacity restrictions and continued uncertainty over if the shows can be played in full in July.The first night is a free show for NHS staff, the second had tickets available to the public with all profits going to NHS Wales charities.

All tickets remain valid for the rescheduled dates. For anybody who is unable to make the free show for NHS staff should contact Ticketmaster so they can be offered to another member of NHS staff. For anybody who is unable to make the rescheduled date for the fundraising NHS charities show, refunds will be available at point of purchase.

Tickets for Free Concert for NHS staff originally scheduled for Friday 16th July 2021 will only be valid for NEW date of Sunday 19th September 2021.

Tickets for fundraising show for NHS charities originally scheduled for Saturday 17th July 2021 will only be valid for NEW date of Monday 20th September 2021.

Bob Mould Fourth ‘Distortion’ Box Set and video

Bob Mould Fourth ‘Distortion’ Box Set and video

BOB MOULD

ANNOUNCES FOURTH DISTORTION VINYL BOXSET

8LP DISTORTION: LIVE BOX RELEASED JULY 16th ON DEMON

 

 

On July 16th 2021,  Demon Music Group will conclude their year-long celebration of legendary musician Bob Mould with the fourth and final vinyl box in their ongoing Distortion series, Distortion: Live. The 8LP set includes live recordings from Mould’s solo career and his band Sugar.

Meanwhile, today Mould also announces his “Distortion and Blue Hearts!” tour starting September 16th 2021, in Boston at Paradise. The tour is in two parts. For the first three weeks, Bob will be joined by Jason Narducy on bass and drummer Jon Wurster. Beginning October 15th in Bloomington, IL, Mould will perform “Solo Distortion” electric shows.

The Distortion: Live box follows October 2020’s 8LP Distortion: 1989-1995 vinyl set, which took in Mould’s early solo outings as well as his records with the much-beloved Sugar, January 2021’s 9LP Distortion: 1996-2007 box set continuing through the next steps in Mould’s solo career and his outings as LoudBomb and Blowoff, April 2021’s 7LP Distortion 2008-2019 covering District Line to Sunshine Rock, and the 24 CD Distortion: 1989-2019 box, which covers the entirety of his post-Hüsker Dü output (excluding last year’s Blue Hearts LP).

Mould’s live shows will span his entire 40+ year career, including songs from the Distortion collection and from his landmark band Hüsker Dü, as well as songs from the explosive and critically acclaimed Blue Hearts — about which Rolling Stone’s 4 out of 5 star review raved, “feels like a lost Hüsker Dü album with Mould howling invective over his buzzsawing guitar.”

Bob writes: “It’s been a year and a half away from the stage. I’ve missed the noise, the sweat, and seeing your smiling faces. I’m fully vaccinated, and I hope you are too, because this Fall will be a punk rock party with the band — and the solo shows will be loud and proud as well. It’s time to make up lost time, reconnect, and celebrate together with live music!”

As with the previously released box sets in the Distortion collection, each album has been mastered by Jeff Lipton and Maria Rice at Peerless Mastering in Boston and is presented with brand new artwork designed by illustrator Simon Marchner and pressed on 140g clear vinyl with unique splatter effects. This box set includes 4 live albums: Live At The Cabaret Metro, 1989; the Sugar album The Joke Is Always On Us, Sometimes; LiveDog98 (first time on vinyl), and Live at ATP 2008 (first time on vinyl). In addition, the set includes a 28-page companion booklet featuring liner notes by journalist Keith Cameron; contributions from Bully’s Alicia Bognanno; rare photographs and memorabilia, and a bonus LP Distortion Plus: Live, which features live rarities including B-Sides and stand-out tracks from the Circle of Friends concert film.

Discover more about the boxsets including full tracklistings and FAQs here:
https://www.demonmusicgroup.co.uk/bob-mould-distortion/

The 8LP Distortion: Live boxset is released July 16th, 2021, via Demon Music Group. The 24CD Distortion: 1989-2019, 8LP Distortion: 1989-1995, 9LP Distortion: 1996-2007, 7LP Distortion 2008-2019 boxsets and Distortion: The Best of 1989-2019 2LP, 2CD and 4CD compilations are all available now. 

Dinosaur Jr – ‘Sweep It Into Space’ (Jagjaguwar Records)

Dinosaur Jr – ‘Sweep It Into Space’ (Jagjaguwar Records)

Here we have album number 12 from the alternative rock stalwarts and the fifth since reuniting the much welcomed classic lineup of J Mascis, Murph and Lou Barlow. And for this reviewer their strongest release in this new era of the original band.

Although there are radio-friendly songs present, such as lead single ‘I Ran Away’. It’s the first two tracks on the record ‘I Ain’t’ and ‘I Met The Stones’ that give the listener a well-painted picture of the group as the loud rock entity they are in the flesh. Nicely finished off with third track ‘to be waiting’ which is quite surprising that this has not been utilised as a single considering it’s a Dinosaur Jr classic waiting in the wings. I imagine this will be on their setlists for years to come, up there with ‘start choppin’ and ‘freak scene’.
Midway through we get a number penned and sung by guitarist Lou Barlow, ‘Garden’. A very well-written track with a bit of an anthemic, radio-friendly, College Rock vibe, but unfortunately sounds a little out of place on this record. Certainly not as savage and pummelling as his Sebadoh output which I have always been a big fan of. In the end Barlow makes up for this on his second stab with the final song on the album ‘You Wonder’, with an overall more complex and interesting sound.
We get back on track with ‘Hide Another Round’ which is a bit, J Mascis, by numbers but still showcases the band and leads on nicely to ‘and me’ which is very reminiscent of J’s recent solo work Elastic Days. Even more so with ‘take it back’ where the overall makeup is almost like the band taking on classic Elton John but muddied up with their own beloved elements added to the end result.
On the whole, the album is a strong effort with a lot of familiar bits to please the die-hards and the deviations are more successful than not, complementing rather than challenging their classic sound. 35 years in with more than a few bumps in the road, seeing trends come and go and contemporaries fall by the wayside. The band is still here, sounding confident, competent and thankfully not tired and going through the motions.
Most reunions for rock fans have an all too recognisable sight of gritted teeth with a need to top up the bank balance rather than a genuine desire to play. Dinosaur Jr are still out there most years, playing mid-sized venues looking like they’re having a blast. Here is hoping this will be the case for many years to come.
Buy ‘Sweep It Into Space’ Here
Website​  / Twitter​ / Facebook
Author: Dan Kasm
*This May, Dinosaur Jr. will play two socially distanced shows in the Northwest. Following, they’ll host their beloved Camp Fuzz and then kick off a North American tour later this year. Tickets for all dates are on sale here. Additionally, to celebrate the release of  the album, Dinosaur Jr. will play a livestream performance from the Sinclair in Boston, MA on May 1st at 9pm EST. Tickets are available here, with upgrade options for exclusive merchandise and VIP Soundcheck Experience.*

Chubby & The Gang – MAMMOTH 40-DATE TOUR / Video and Single Pre Sales

Chubby & The Gang – MAMMOTH 40-DATE TOUR / Video and Single Pre Sales

 

Fast rising London punk 5-piece Chubby and the Gang have shared a new song and accompanying music video. ‘Lightning Don’t Strike Twice‘ was premiered yesterday evening by Steve Lamacq on BBC 6Music, and is part of a double A-side 7″ out on May 28th via Partisan that will feature another new track entitled ‘Life’s Lemons‘. ‘Lightning Don’t Strike Twice’ is a three-minute ride through the band’s entire moodboard – opening with lap slide noodling before steering into anthemic pub rock with snarling lyrics. The video was directed by Jasper Cable-Alexander, and takes inspiration from ’90s internet cafés.

 

Speaking of the track, frontman Charlie ‘Chubby’ Manning offers: “I wrote this song about social inequality. Not mine but the people I saw around me. I feel like the whole premise of poverty is presented like this game in which if you play your cards right you can escape. In reality it’s more like playing a game of dice when they’re loaded against your favour. Constantly being struck by lightning and being told that it will never happen again. I remember witnessing someone’s telephone voice where they had to change their voice when conducting business or applying for jobs so they don’t come across as if they are from a lower class.

“I wrote the last verse about that because it disgusted me that in a system supposedly created on meritocracy a human being has to change their identity to try and shake unemployment. I’ve had very few jobs that required me to go for an interview. No one really cares who you are when you drive a minicab or lay out cables so I’m lucky in that sense. But many people aren’t.”

Both ‘Lightning Don’t Strike Twice’ and ‘Life’s Lemons’ will appear on the band’s highly anticipated second LP due out later this year. More music + info on that coming soon!

Chubby and the Gang recently performed virtually for SXSW, watch them play ‘All Along the Uxbridge Road‘, from their acclaimed 2020 debut Speed Kills HERE.

The band have also announced a bumper 40-date tour of the UK and Ireland through November and December of this year offering a chance for many to finally see just why they’ve become one of the most exciting and talked-about punk bands in the world over the past year. All dates go on sale at 10am today – Friday, March 16th.

Fronted by Manning (a former cabbie who now also works as an electrician), Chubby and the Gang have been leading a pack of bands coming out of a new wave of British Hardcore. Speed Kills was one of the critical surprises of the year thanks to its unrelentingly fun concoction of hardcore, pub rock, doo wop, and blues. The album was produced by Jonah Falco of Fucked Up, and boasts songs of deep substance and political conscience with a precise sense of time and place. It received an 8.0 Pitchfork review, Stereogum praised its “massive barroom gang choruses, power chords at breakneck tempos, rock spelled R-A-W-K and visceral gratification,” while The Guardian declared them “UK punk’s most vital new band” and NME called them “the scene’s clear front-runners” and Speed Kills “a thrilling white-knuckle ride through multiple flavours of hardcore punk”.

 

UK/IE Tour Dates:

Nov 4th | Woking – Fiery Bird
Nov 5th | Bournemouth – Anvil
Nov 6th | Coventry – Central Library
Nov 7th | St. Albans – The Horn
Nov 8th | Hull – The Polar Bear
Nov 10th | Hebden Bridge – Trades Club
Nov 11th | Stoke – The Sugarmill
Nov 12th | Blackpool – Bootleg Social
Nov 13th | Edinburgh – Mash House
Nov 14th | Aberdeen – Café Drummond
Nov 16th | Sunderland – Independent
Nov 17th | Huddersfield – Parish
Nov 18th | Liverpool – Jimmy’s
Nov 19th | Sheffield – Delicious Clam
Nov 20th | Sheffield – Delicious Clam
Nov 21st | Milton Keynes – Crauford Arms
Nov 23rd | Exeter – Cavern Club
Nov 24th | Southampton – Joiners
Nov 25th | Oxford – The Bullingdon
Nov 26th | Bedford – Esquires
Nov 27th | Cambridge – Portland Arms
Nov 28th | Southend – Chinnery’s
Nov 30th | Tunbridge Wells – Forum
Dec 1st | Margate – Elsewhere
Dec 2nd | Dover – Booking Hall
Dec 3rd | Portsmouth – Guildhall Studio
Dec 4th | Brighton – Green Door Store
Dec 5th | Norwich – Waterfront Studio
Dec 6th | Nottingham – Bodega
Dec 8th | Birmingham – Castle & Falcon
Dec 9th | Leeds – Belgrave Music Hall
Dec 10th | Newcastle – Think Tank
Dec 11th | Glasgow – King Tuts
Dec 12th | Cardiff – Clwb Ifor Bach
Dec 14th | Manchester – YES
Dec 15th | London – Scala
Dec 17th | Bristol – Exchange
Dec 18th | Dublin – The Workman’s Club
Dec 19th | Belfast – Voodoo

“Lightning Don’t Strike Twice” from Chubby & the Gang. 7″ available to pre-order now: Here

Bob Mould’s career-covering Distortion boxset gets 3rd installment

Bob Mould’s career-covering Distortion boxset gets 3rd installment

The third vinyl installment of Bob Mould’s career-covering Distortion boxset series – this time covering 2008-2019 – alongside a series of Best Of compilations, all of which land Apr 16th on Demon.

 

The main vinyl box being announced includes: 2008’s District Line, 2009’s Life and Times, 2012’s Silver Age, 2014’s Beauty & Ruin, 2016’s Patch the Sky and 2019’s Sunshine Rock covering a particularly fruitful and resurgent period for Bob in which he penned some of his most beloved records. Alongside them is a bonus LP which features Bob’s collaborations with Foo Fighters and Butch Walker and his 2019 Buzzcocks cover single ‘I Don’t Mind’, as well as a 28-page booklet featuring liner notes by journalist Keith Cameron, contributions from J Mascis and Shirley Manson, lyrics and memorabilia.

 

DISTORTION: THE BEST OF 1989-2019 2LP, 2CD, 4CD + DIGITAL ALSO OUT APR 16th ON DEMON

 

On April 16th, 2021, Demon Music Group will continue their year-long Bob Mould reissue campaign with Distortion: 2008-2019, the third of four vinyl boxsets chronicling the solo career of the legendary American musician. It follows hot on the heels of October’s 8LP Distortion: 1989-1995 boxset, which took in Mould’s early solo outings as well as his records with the much-beloved Sugar, January’s 9LP  Distortion: 1996-2007 boxset continuing through the next steps in Mould’s solo career and his outings as LoudBomb and Blowoff, and the 24CD Distortion: 1989-2019 box, which covers the entirety of his post-Hüsker Dü output.

Distortion: 2008-2019 follows Mould through a number of standout records that include some of his most celebrated work – collected here are District Line (2008), Life and Times (2009), Silver Age (2012), Beauty & Ruin (2014), Patch the Sky (2016) and Sunshine Rock (2019), as well as a bonus disc Distortion Plus: 2008-2019, which features Mould’s collaborations with Foo Fighters and Butch Walker plus the 2019 single ‘I Don’t Mind‘. It comes pressed on clear vinyl with an etched B-side.

Meanwhile, also seeing release on April 16th via Demon are 2LP, 2CD and 4CD Distortion: The Best of 1989-2019 compilations – the first career-spanning compilations of Mould’s solo recordings, all of which were compiled by the man himself. Gathering 24 tracks (2LP), 32 tracks (2CD) and 73 tracks (4CD) respectively, the sets collect the cream of the main Distortion boxes and offer a fascinating glimpse of a musician at the vanguard of his field for over four decades. The 2CD edition also includes a 16-page booklet with a new essay by Cameron and artwork by Marchner, while the 4CD version comes with a 32-page companion that includes all of the above alongside a foreword by Fred Armisen and contributions from Richard Thompson, Bethany Cosentino and Shirley Manson. Both compilations will also be available digitally via all DSPs and iTunes. The audio on the Best Ofs has been mastered by Jeff Lipton and Maria Rice at Peerless Mastering in Boston.

“It’s called Distortion because it describes the music and it fits the world we live in,” says Mould of the boxsets. “In this new age, everybody shares their life in real time. But I’m not done yet. If I didn’t have a constantly active career, this anthology might feel like the proverbial dirt landing on top of my coffin — though somehow I seem to be able to crawl my way out of the dirt every time!”

As Cameron offers:

“In 1989, Bob Mould was already a renowned figure, thanks to his trailblazing work with Hüsker Dü: the Minneapolis trio which refracted ’60s pop melody through the discord of hardcore punk, creating a new language that Pixies and Nirvana would subsequently teach the world to sing. With his debut solo album Workbook, however, Bob Mould amazed his audience with its pastoral beauty and contemplative tone.

“It would be the first in an ongoing series of artistic transformations, each profoundly shaped by Mould’s sensitivity to his environment. In 1992, he formed Sugar, a band whose debut album Copper Blue earned both critical plaudits and a long overdue popular dividend. Just three years later, with Sugar at its commercial peak, Mould ended the band and made a self-titled solo record mapping the most nakedly personal path down a road already hallmarked by unsparing self-expression. He shocked then confounded fans by announcing his retirement from rock music in 1998 and re-emerging in the new century as an experimental electronica artist and successful DJ, whose club night Blowoff became a phenomenon across the US. By the end of the ’00s, Mould had found a harmonious accommodation between his musical selves, and in 2012 released the catalytic Silver Age, made with his latest power trio configuration, and heralding a resurgent decade. A succession of albums up to 2019’s Sunshine Rock followed, each one a real time/real life distillation of fearless artistic vision and a master craftsman’s skill.”

Discover more about the boxsets including full tracklistings and FAQs:
Here

The 7LP Distortion: 2008-2019 boxset and Distortion: The Best of 1989-2019 2LP, 2CD and 4CD compilations are all released Apr 16th, 2021, via Demon Music Group. The 24CD Distortion: 1989-2019, 8LP Distortion: 1989-1995 and 9LP Distortion: 1996-2007 boxsets are all available now. 

MANIC STREET PREACHERS – CHANGE OF CARDIFF NHS DATES TO 2021

MANIC STREET PREACHERS – CHANGE OF CARDIFF NHS DATES TO 2021

 CARDIFF SHOWS PAYING TRIBUTE TO NHS STAFF NOW MOVED TO JULY 2021

Manic Street Preachers have moved their previously announced shows in December at the Cardiff Motorpoint Arena to Friday 16th and Saturday 17th July 2021. This is due to the ongoing Covid 19 restrictions for the live music industry.

The first night is a free show for NHS staff, the second had tickets available to the public with all profits going to NHS Wales charities.

All tickets remain valid for the rescheduled dates but anybody who is unable to make the free show for NHS staff should contact Ticketmaster so they can be offered to another member of NHS staff.

The band who have championed the incredible NHS for many years explained: “We wanted to do something to show our appreciation, love and respect for the NHS and its amazing brave workers. One free show and one fundraising show seemed the best way for us to express our deep gratitude for all their heroic work. We tried our hardest to make these shows happen in December but due to the current situation have had to move them to 2021.”

New Dates: Friday 16th / Saturday 17th July 2021 – CARDIFF, Motorpoint Arena