Apex Price: $15.00 Artist: Alain Pire Experience Description: While the first album was a reference to English psychedelia, the second was closer to American psychedelia, " Apex" refers to the initials of the Alain Pire Experience and is perhaps a reference to itself. “Once again, we are going to take the laurels out of the cardboard box and pave the way to welcome this third opus of authentic psychedelic rock. Pire retains this philosophy of psychedelic authenticity by masterfully associating the interstellar impulses and exhilarating outbursts of a rock that also has its feet on the ground. His third album continues to explore the vein and we still have great surprises, with a dozen pieces a little more concise than usual (five minutes average) and all have their own personality. We take off towards Jupiter under the enormous push of ‘I Saw The Light Today’, sufficiently powerful and removed to put the listener in orbit. We immediately notice the bass worked by Rene Stock, which will work wonders throughout the disc. We find this beautiful bass on the swaying and Floydien ‘On The Other Side’, where it highlights the fabulous solos of Pire, who sings here in a voice of young pre-adolescent. This eternal young man takes us back in 1969 on the very cool and very nostalgic ‘Ride Away’. The cover of George Harrison’s ‘Only A Northern Song’ starts out slow, but soon bursts electro psychedelic shocks to the eyes, for another great moment of this album, beautiful by the counterpoint between savagery of the guitar and the angelic singing. Same enthusiasm with ‘Have Some Fun’ which gallops like a pink stallion with green flowers in a field of mauve daisies. The 1966 Beatles and the 1969 Who are not far off on ‘Never Go Your Way’, where a reverb guitar and indomitable rhythm make the law and impose respect. This is not usurped because Alain Pire and his band can easily pose as standard meters of good taste and relevance in neo-classical psychedelic rock.” – MusicInBelgium.com TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR EXCLUSIVE 3-FER OFFER AND GET THIS, “SONGS FROM THE 13th FLOOR”, AND “CAMBRIDGE” CDs FOR ONLY $39! IF PAYING BY CREDIT CARD, YOUR CARD WILL BE CHARGED ACCORDINGLY. IF PAYING BY PAYPAL, YOU WILL BE REFUNDED THE APPROPRIATE DISCOUNT! GREAT!! ... read more » Quantity in Basket: none

Songs from the 13th Floor Price: $15.00 Artist: Alain Pire Experience Description: It is highly unlikely that the sympathetic doctor leading the charge is about to end 64 years in this futile world. The most paradoxical thing is that the unlikely Mr. Pire hides at least 30 years of age when he sings. And this wonderful, youthful voice and interpretation would probably be the most exciting on the record if the trio didn't deliver the chops and lessons it delivers: we're talking about great musicians, but their ability not to stifle their youthful excitement as if we are in 1967 and they are opening new avenues for music. “Despite the band's declarations and clear influences, the album's production is full and clear, and in combination with all of his youthful disposition, makes the whole thing sound fresh. Pire has the talent to blend the pop side of psych sound into tracks like the wonderful opener ‘The Sun Don't Shine’, but most of all, when ‘The Moon Is On The Rise’ and its awesome climax, with rockier formats like the also good ‘Smoking DMT’, and from there comfortably in a la ‘Interstellar Overdrive’ exercises ‘Turn on, Tune in, Drop Out’ and improvisational mood of ‘You Walk Around’ and ‘Learn to Fly’, result in a simple, clean, beautiful melody of ‘Our Life’. If it's not already clear, here's a great recording, all of which listens to you and at the same time makes you in the mood. Lovers of psych audio are well worth a look.” – Soundgaze.gr “As excellent as the ‘Cambridge’ album was, ‘Songs From The 13th Floor’ is even better!” – PsychProgFan TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR EXCLUSIVE 3-FER OFFER AND GET THIS, “APEX”, AND “CAMBRIDGE” CDs FOR ONLY $39! IF PAYING BY CREDIT CARD, YOUR CARD WILL BE CHARGED ACCORDINGLY. IF PAYING BY PAYPAL, YOU WILL BE REFUNDED THE APPROPRIATE DISCOUNT! GREAT!! ... read more » Quantity in Basket: none

Cambridge Price: $15.00 Artist: Alain Pire Experience Description: Alain Pire received a PhD for his thesis on 60's British Psych Music - he continues his devotion for that holy period with his Psych Trio: Alain Pire Experience . The trio aim to restoring the spirit of Psych bands from the 60's such as Cream, Tomorrow, Beatles circa 66/67, Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd, Blossom Toes, The Syn, and The Open Mind, etc. “Nicely recorded and performed batch of paisley-psych tunes. The Alain Pire Experience will appeal to those of us searching for music with a strong late 60’s influence (both in the production as well as the performance). For those who are familiar with the music of that period, think ‘Axis: Bold As Love’ as played by the Hollies in their psychedelic years.” – Richard B. “Self-produced and recorded at home, what it develops in 45 minutes will be quite amazing. To fully understand the object, we must plunge back into the period 1967-69. If you can get a floral shirt, turquoise pants with elephant leg, green suede boots and have a haircut in the bowl, we are completely in the trip. Yes, you understand, you have to look like Austin Powers and believe in Swinging London. After such a psychedelic leaching, it is clear that Alain Pire and his henchmen have not invented anything new but they recycle with a wonderful sense of style and personality English psychedelic references that must be considered sacred, as they were beautiful and liberating in these magical 60’s. After this, we must return to the present, but what prevents us from replaying this record and being stuck indefinitely in 1967? Nothing.” – MusicInBelgium.com TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR EXCLUSIVE 3-FER OFFER AND GET THIS, “APEX”, AND “SONGS FROM THE 13th FLOOR” CDs FOR ONLY $39! IF PAYING BY CREDIT CARD, YOUR CARD WILL BE CHARGED ACCORDINGLY. IF PAYING BY PAYPAL, YOU WILL BE REFUNDED THE APPROPRIATE DISCOUNT! GREAT!! ... read more » Quantity in Basket: none

She’s Studying Evil Price: $8.00 Artist: Beowulf Umbrella Description: A 4-SONG, 12” VINYL-ONLY EP (that comes with a downloads card)! WOW!!!!! Recorded over three days in August 2018, “She Studying Evil” is the work of Tommy Keene band alumni Brad Quinn and John Richardson with help from bassist/keyboardist Kevin Dailey, guitarist Adam Ollendorff, guitarist Mike Schlenker, and Paul Chastain (Velvet Crush/The Small Square)!. Although a studio project in essence Quinn performs under the Beowulf Umbrella name in Japan where he lives both solo and group configurations. The title track was inspired by a line from Robert Johnson's “Kindhearted Woman Blues” and is a send up of those “Evil Woman”, “Black Magic Woman” types of tunes. “Just Say The Word” the oldest song on the record was written and demoed with a different title and a rough draft of the lyrics in 1989. The lyrics were formally finalized in August 2018 hours before the song was recorded, capping nearly 30 years of neglect. The song is highlighted by harmonies from Paul Chastain and an extended understated jam at the end. “In The Rough” is highlighted by Quinn's intimate vocal, pedal steel from Ollendorff, and a piano solo by Dailey. The song is a meditation on knowing where to start, when to stop, and when to leave well enough alone. “When We Began” is a song about being in a band, made especially poignant by the loss of Tommy Keene in 2017, to whom this song is dedicated. WE WANT A FULL-LENGTH BRAD!!!! PLEASE HEAR OUR PLEA!! GREAT!!! ... read more » Quantity in Basket: none

Big Stir Magazine - Issue #4 Price: $6.00 Artist: Big Stir Magazine - Issue #4 Description: Issue #4 is the most jam-packed issue to date! Beautifully designed (as always), and always a fun read, this issue features contributions from artists, and reviewers from around the world that reads like a who’s who of the pop community. Here are just a few of those present here: John Borack, Aaron Kupferberg (Powerpopaholic), yours truly (Kool Kat Musik), Nelson Bragg, Robbie Rist, Don Valentine (I Don’t Hear A Single), Rex + Christina of The Armoires/Big Stir, Alan Haber, Russ Tolman, Kai Danzberg, Nick Frater (Kool Kat Musik artist), Victor Erwin (Spyderpop Records), and more! ... read more » Quantity in Basket: none

2GTRSBSDRMS - Live At The Blackbird Academy Price: $13.00 Artist: Bill Lloyd and The Tallymen Description: A brand new live Bill Lloyd CD that finds him with a smokin’ band that includes Pat Buchanan on guitar! Bill revisits 10 tracks from his “Set To Pop”, “Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants”, and "Boy King Of Tokyo” albums. Track listing: “Boy King Of Tokyo”, “Buy On Credit”, Let It Slide”, “I Went Electric:, “Trampoline”, “The Fix Is In”, “Turn Me On Dead Man”, “Out Of The Picture”, and “Indubitably”! “Whether toiling in the country trenches with Foster & Lloyd or flying solo with his own pop-oriented material, Bill Lloyd has always been all about the song.” John Borack/Goldmine Magazine “Bill Lloyd mines the rich seam of power pop. Ringing guitars and Beatles harmonies - few can pull this off, but Bill has a knack for lasting melodies and nagging hooks.” – MOJO Magazine GREAT!!! ... read more » Quantity in Basket: none

Sounds Like Music Price: $15.00 Artist: Chip & Tony Kinman Description: Brothers Chip and Tony Kinman had fronted some of the most influential bands of the last quarter of the 20th century. After forming the seminal punk band, The Dils, the brothers became cow-punk pioneers with their next band, Rank And File (whose early line-up included Alejandro Escovedo). They took a more industrial turn with their next band, Blackbird, and returned to more traditional country with Cowboy Nation. For the first time, 22 previously unissued performances from all 4 bands are collected on “Chip & Tony Kinman: Sounds Like Music”. Selected by Chip, and taken from the brothers' archives, these restored and remastered tracks trace their journey like no other collection has, or could. Featuring photos, ephemera, and new notes from Chip, it takes listeners from the D.I.Y. aesthetic of L.A. punk to cowboy songs that feel like they've been around forever. Speaking of liner notes, while you're in reading mode, Chip is featured in the new book by John Doe (X) with Tom DeSavia and Friends, “More Fun In The New World: The Unmaking And Legacy Of L.A. Punk”. Sadly, Tony passed away in 2018, but “Chip & Tony Kinman: Sounds Like Music” solidifies the brothers' legacy, adds to their already beloved body of work and is a fitting tribute to the music they made together. “Tony and Chip created an unbelievably wide range of music together. The pair's career receives well-rounded representation on this overview of their partnership. Some of the Blackbird tracks can be challenging for traditionalists, particularly due to the oddly affected vocals for ‘Me Too.’ Yet, Blackbird's cover of Tom Waits' ‘Jersey Girl’ couldn't have been more straightforward. Ah, but it's so good to hear the Everly Brothers-esque vocal harmonies of Rank And File's ‘Amanda Ruth,’ presented here in an alternative version. ‘Paniolo,’ also an alternative version, is the lone Cowboy Nation track. It shines because of its aggressive acoustic guitar strumming and slightly Tex-Mex vibe. The Dils are also only represented once, with the noisy ‘Folks Say Go.’ That leaves mostly Blackbird and Rank And File tracks filling out the collection. Few artists straddled the line between roots rock and sonic adventurism better than Chip and Tony Kinman. ‘Sounds Like Music’ is a happy reminder of all the wonderful music they created together. It's also a sad document of a partnership that ended far too soon with one member's death.” – CountryStandardTime.com EXCELLENT!! ... read more » Quantity in Basket: none

New Songs For The 20th Century (2CD) Price: $24.00 Artist: Chris Stamey and The Modrec Orchestra Description: The title should give you pause. These are new songs but for an older time. Chris Stamey has built his stellar reputation primarily on infectious power pop and loud rock n’ roll so it’s a bit shocking (unless one is hip to his recent work) to discover the “vintage” material contained within these two discs. The way Chris tells it, "One day in 2015, an old piano arrived at my home, with a bench full of magic: songs by Jerome Kern, George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Henry Mancini, Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein... many more. I fell head-first under their spell, awakening three years later with a long white beard and this collection: 26 songs on two CDs, written and arranged 'under the influence,' performed by some of my favorite singers and players. This record is about, to me, my search for more impactful ways to vary the harmonic content in order to make key (‘hinge’) moments of the lyric have a corresponding melodic impact, and to try to find a closer connection between words and melody, and to try to travel down paths that I, personally, have not trod before. It's all about the learning. The arranging is totally fun, but the basic song ingredients (melody, words, harmonization) are ultimately more compelling, to me, than the timbres that shape them. Make sense?" Vocalists on the two volumes of this lush, orchestrated, jazz-flavored outing include jazz legend Nnenna Freelon, pop icons Marshall Crenshaw, Don Dixon, and Caitlin Cary (Whiskeytown), North Carolina stalwarts Skylar Gudasz and Brett Harris, and exciting newcomers Millie McGuire, Kirsten Lambert, and Faith Jones. Highlights include Django Haskins (The Old Ceremony) and renowned saxophonist Branford Marsalis together on the Irving Berlin-like overture, "Manhattan Melody (That's My New York)," and rising-star pianist Ariel Pocock singing "There's Not a Cloud in the Sky." Cary adds a bit of Americana into the mix, with "Your Last Forever After." All are backed by the "ModRec Orchestra" (named after Chris’ studio home base) that includes Bill Frisell, Nels Cline (Wilco), and Matt Douglas (Mountain Goats). “A stunning project that will capture the attention of listeners from several genres and from those who bestow awards for such projects. The Great American Songbook, in this case the spirit thereof, will likely live into the next century too.” – GlideMagazine.com This is certainly not a “power pop” record, but still melodic throughout! Kudos to Chris for stepping “outside of the box” on this! EXCELLENT!! ... read more » Quantity in Basket: none

"Upstairs Planet" Soundtrack Price: $15.00 Artist: Cleaners From Venus Description: Every seven years, Graham Bendel turns up with a film about key outsiders from the UK music scene. In 2005 he brought the world “Billy Childish Is Dead”. 2012 saw the release of “Derailed Sense: A Film About Vic Godard & Subway Sect”. Now he’s back in 2019 with a film about maybe the most outsider-y of outsiders yet, Martin Newell titled “Upstairs Planet: Cleaners From Venus & The Universe of Martin Newell”. “The third in Bendel’s ‘rugged individualists’ trilogy and its subject is far more obscure and difficult to grasp than those of the earlier films. However, rather than creating a slick and mythologising cinematic document, Bendel honours Newell with a low-budget video testament that feels perfectly suited to the story of the ‘Godfather of Lo-Fi’. The interviews and inserstitle title cards feature facts and musings about Newell and his music with little sense of an overarching sense of direction for the audience. They simply present events and ideas, without any sense of a coherent narrative in terms of artistic or career trajectory. Through this superficially ramshackle but ultimately incisive and enlightening technique, the film becomes a moving and fascinating portrait of an artist who dedicated his life to music and rejected at every turn the corporate machinations of the music industry. Newell released music on self-distributed cassettes – something that is all the rage again, making the timing of the film apt – and pioneered, through a commitment to independence, a lo-fi sound that has (apparently) inspired artists including XTC, Ariel Pink and John Cooper Clarke, the latter writing a poem in Newell’s honour.” – TheQuietus.com This is the soundtrack to the documentary. GREAT!! ... read more » Quantity in Basket: none

Dave Cope and the Sass Price: $11.00 Artist: Dave Cope and the Sass Description: Happy times surely need lightness and Philadelphia based songwriter Dave Cope's latest musical venture is here to happliy and hookfully provide it. “The Paisley Pop of Dave Cope and the Sass is nostalgic in the best, warmest way possible - invoking the laid-back sounds of the 70’s and making for a perfect summer soundtrack in the process. Instantly hummable, the record swims and sweet melodies and mellow playfulness: the winning power pop of ‘My Way Out’ and ‘Living In The Middle’ is invigorating and infectious, while ‘If Your Mama Only Knew’ wouldn’t have been out of place on in a ‘That 70s Show’ episode (Big Star love included of course). ‘Show Your Love’ borrows a riff from the Fairports’ instrumental ‘Matty Groves’ and turns it into the album’s trippiest moment. Intently daydreaming about days gone by, Dave Cope and the Sass retrieve some laid-back pride for today; a surprisingly delightful finding.” – Shindig! Magazine “They are sassy, they are sexy, they are stone cold dangerous - and they rock!” – George Mostoller “The level of talent coming out of Philthy Philly is astonishing. What could possibly be in the water? Hearing ‘If Your Mama Knew’ made me question if there was potentially a Big Star track I’d missed. The catchy chorus and power popping riffs hit me with that same sugary bell bottom rush. I welcome the return of some good ol’ fashioned bittersweet power pop rock with crushing/chiming guitars. The lyrics center around a teenage girl sneaking out at night. A rock cliche’ if there ever was one? Sure, but it’s delivered here with such crisp conviction that it’s nearly impossible to take a jaded stance. Spirits of The Raspberries and Alex Chilton haunt every corner of this track, and the 36-second guitar solo is one of those ‘This is all you need’, not-even-one-excess-note moments. It’s a stunner of a track that looms tall over the thousands of ‘September Gurls’ chasers currently toiling away on Bandcamp and the lower Spotify rungs. Sass needs to be firmly on your radar if you long for that not-so-innocent but oh-so-pure ’70s hooky guitar rush that has still rightly refuses to die.” – Niche-Appeal.com GREAT!! ... read more » Quantity in Basket: none