Simply Red are back with a unique album, an unplugged 'Best Of' with three new tracks. Twelve songs in all, stripped back to mainly acoustic arrangements. To add some spice, there is a decidedly Latin flavour to the record. The new tracks include 'Perfect Love', a soon to be Simply red classic, and 'Song For You', originally penned by Leon Russell, and the latest in a long line of classy Simply Red covers.
To buy click here
Bands occasionally get described as being 'ahead of their time'. Usually it means nothing, mere hack hyperbole employed to describe the latest fledging bunch of chancers. In Gang of Four's case, it's a stone-cold empirical fact. So the time is right for a return of the great men themselves with Return Of The Gift, a double album that finds Go4 re-recording seminal tracks from Entertainment, Solid Gold and Songs Of The Free. Classic stuff indeed.
To buy click here
Widely acclaimed as his best solo work wince Wild Wood, Paul Weller is back with As Is Now. "It really is a gem of an album. We are catching a man at the peak of his powers", Today FM Tom Dunne recently enthused. Earning four star reviews in Q, Mojo, Uncut, The Times and Sunday TribuneAs Is Now is the return to form everyone has been waiting for.
To buy click here
The Guggenheim Grotto is a multi-instrumental three piece act completely in charge of a breathtaking array of instruments both in the studio and onstage. Comprised of top class engineers and musicians, their natural musical instinct has led them to play support slots with incredible artists like Christy Moore, Mundy, Damien Dempsey and Damien Rice. To cap it all they create some of the finest vocal harmonies going and write some of the sweetest tunes, this album is a must.
It's been two years since the Devlins last released an album (the gold-selling Consent) but don't think the band has escaped the public's radar. Between contributing to high-profile movie and television soundtracks and touring internationally, The Devlin's brand of swirling, emotion-driven rock is now being taken in by more ears than ever. Thankfully, though, a new album has finally arrived, and there's no word more suited to it than 'mesmerising'. Hauntingly gorgeous and stunningly understated, Waves proves that the best things in life are worth waiting for.
Unplugging the amplifiers brings out the gentler, more vulnerable side of any band. Acoustic 05 offers an unprecedented expose of these moments, drawing from an impressive pool of A-list artists. From monumental names such as Oasis, Snow Patrol, Paul Weller, Damien Rice and Stereophonics to up-and-coming favourites like Brendan Benspon, Rufus and Martha Wainwright, Josh Ritter, Ray Lamontage and Bright Eyes, there's something for anyone who appreciates the subtle beauty of turning the music down.
It's been two years since the Devlins last released an album (the gold-selling Consent) but don't think the band has escaped the public's radar. Between contributing to high-profile movie and television soundtracks and touring internationally, The Devlin's brand of swirling, emotion-driven rock is now being taken in by more ears than ever. Thankfully, though, a new album has finally arrived, and there's no word more suited to it than 'mesmerising'. Hauntingly gorgeous and stunningly understated, Waves proves that the best things in life are worth waiting for.
SOLD OUT
Unplugging the amplifiers brings out the gentler, more vulnerable side of any band. Acoustic 05 offers an unprecedented expose of these moments, drawing from an impressive pool of A-list artists. From monumental names such as Oasis, Snow Patrol, Paul Weller, Damien Rice and Stereophonics to up-and-coming favourites like Brendan Benspon, Rufus and Martha Wainwright, Josh Ritter, Ray Lamontage and Bright Eyes, there's something for anyone who appreciates the subtle beauty of turning the music down.
SOLD OUT
The Dangermen Sessions is no ordinary Madness album. Rather, it's a collection of ska covers and classic tunes, each infused with Madness's signature energy and excitement. Tracks include Bob Marley's 'So Much Trouble In This World', The Supremes' 'You Keep Me Hanging On' as well as The Kinks' 'Lola'. The album is the offspring of a handful of super-secret gigs at Camden's Dublin Castle, where Madness performed under the name of its alter-ego The Dangermen. It'll have you seeing this superb band in a unique new light, guaranteed.
To buy click here
If award-winning DJ Tom Dunne says it's a great song, you'd be remiss not to have a listen. Now he's compiled the best of it into Alternative Irish Anthems, a two-disc set containing selections from Ireland's most beloved artists, from international successes such as U2 to local heroes like The Frames.
SOLD OUT
From the beautiful opening drone of ‘Caribou’ to the hypnotic, looped madness of their 15-minute take on ‘Planet of Sound’, Frank Black and collaborators Two Pale Boys have managed to capture the off-kilter magic of old Pixies classics while pulling them into their own gorgeously surreal soundworld.
Recorded and produced in Los Angeles with Tom Rockrock (Beck, Elliott Smith, Badly Drawn Boy) James Blunt’s debut album takes the listener through heartfelt songs of unattainable romances, lost loves and friend’s failures...
"...the album comes together like an effortless puzzle and echoes the influences of Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Chaka Khan, Tina Turner and Elton John"
The album won him countless new admirers all over Europe and revealed evidence of Blake's reverence for classic Motown, with lush strings, brass and choral arrangements and a fresh authority in his writing.
Rather than simply reproduce the band’s live sound, tracks like “First Wave Intact,” “Nowhere Again” and “Lights ON!” mix live drums with multi-hued layers of treated guitars and keyboards, while still retaining the elastic, adventurous spirit of a Secret Machines performance.
Delivered with compelling lyrical dexterity and all the elements of a great story (love, crime, betrayal, action and substance abuse), this is a superbly crafted record.
Calling on the wonderful vocal talent of Tina Dico, Sam Hardaker and Henry Binn have found the perfect voice to layer over their soft, soulful, electronic sound.
Hey, the word is that the hotpress.com member offer CDs are selling like proverbial hot cakes! A note of warning: THEY DO SELL OUT, so grab them while you can.
Late in November of 2002 The Frames played four nights in Vicar St, Dublin to capacity audiences. The highlights of those gigs have found their way on to their first official live album, Set List [hotpress.com member offer]
With their sixth album, the follow up to their magnum opus Rings Around The World, these Furry freak brothers have delivered a subtler and more finely nuanced grower of a record that deals with the political and the personal [hotpress.com member offer]
Break out the denim flares, lock up the soap and water and prepare to get dirrty. From New Zealand they come, these bastard offspring of AC/DC and just about every ragged-arsed garage combo you care to mention.
InMe are the current cover-star darlings of Kerrang! and MTV2 video stars. Potential bona-fide big players on the world alt-rock stage [hotpress.com member's offer]
The diverse appeal of Donegal outfit Berkeley has seen them notch up an impressive array of support slots with visiting international acts of the calibre of Jimmy Eat World, The Cooper Temple Clause, The D4 and Death In Vegas – and it’s not too difficult to see why. [hotpress.com member's offer]
