NEW RELEASE: The Bluetones Expecting To Fly

“Expecting To Fly (is) the tale of quiet resolve winning out against the clatter of instant acclaim, of the redeeming power of single-mindedness against compromise; the joy in winning the battle bloodlessly, by force of personality alone.”
NME – 8/10, 1996
“This combination of classic pop hooks and emotional intelligence ensures that Expectin To Fly has dated far better than might be expected… well worth revisiting”
Q – 4/5, 2016

Order your copy at the 3 Loop Music shop.

20 years ago, in 1996, The Bluetones released their debut album, Expecting To Fly. It knocked Oasis ‘What’s The Story Morning Glory’ off the top of the charts in the week the Mancunians scooped an armful of BRIT Awards and heralded the start of The Bluetones hugely successful career.

The Number 1, platinum album featuring the hits Bluetonic, Cut Some Rug and Slight Return is now re-issued with a second disc of previously unreleased material including demos, live and session tracks. The demos are from the Proper Demo Thing cassette which got the band signed to A&M Records and taken from a copy recently found in drummer Eds’ archives.

There is a complete concert of the band playing one of their earliest gigs. Supporting Supergrass in March 1995 at the LA2 in London, the small sister venue of the legendary Astoria venue. It captures the vibrant energy and spirit of a band taking their first steps and the 7 track set features the songs that would go on to become some of their most famous hits.

Additionally, each band member has chosen their favourite b-side from the era and along with the stand-alone single Are You Blue Or Are You Blind?, the band’s first hit single, make this a fitting package to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the album.

The 2CD comes in a tri-fold sleeve with new artwork, never seen before photographs, sleevenotes from guitarist Adam Devlin, and contributions from the Eds, Scott and Mark.

Order your copy of the 2CD set now from the 3 Loop Music shop and get an exclusive 7″ artprint signed by the boys – it’s perfect for framing!

NEW RELEASE: The Pre New Remix EP

Catalan based Glam Fusion Punk Crossover Disco Pop Explosion Band, THE PRE NEW, release a selection of mixes based around EUROPA SUPERSTAR PT 2 taken from the critically acclaimed album THE MALE EUNUCH.

The digital EP is available to order exclusively at The Pre New shop – click here.
You can get the EP as a single 23 minute mix or as individual tracks.

The collection entitled 2016: La Odissea Català pulls together a varied mix of European influences with three mixes by artists Derealise, Alien and THE PRE NEW themselves.

A bonus track features house singer, Jim Fry’s Karaoke version of the Eddie and The Hot Rods classic, Do Anything You Want To Do… re tilted ‘Fes el Que Vulguis’ and was recorded in a Irish themed pub just of La Ramblas, sung entirely in Catalan.

A spokesman (who learnt Catalan from a Rosetta Stone CD course) for the band said:
‘La disco al cap d’en Jim eracontrat, nomesencanviava la distribcio … Simplement es posa millor … millor I millor’.
Which translates to “The disco Jim carried in his head was constant only his distribution changed…Better and Better Better and Better.”

THE PRE NEW will now be referred to as EL PRE NOU until further notice.

THE PRE NEW ALBUMS

The Pre New - Music For People Who Hate Themselves
The Pre New - Music For Homeowners
The Pre New - The Male Eunuch

NEW RELEASE: Earl Brutus – the re-issues

“Earl Brutus are a legendary band, even though they’ve never had a hit” Select Magazine, 1995.
“Gloriously unfettered… still filthy after all these years” Uncut – 8/10, 2016
“Repackaged with obsessive care… the sound, fury and humour of Earl Brutus is here for all to marvel” Record Collector – 5/5, 2016
“Worship here” Q – 4/5, 2016

Order your copy at the 3 Loop Music shop.

We are thrilled to announce the Earl Brutus re-issues of their two albums, Your Majesty… We Are Here, released on Deceptive in 1996 and Tonight You Are The Special One, originally released on Fruition / Island in 1998.

Both will be available on vinyl and as double CD packages including a disc of rarities and unreleased tracks. Lavishly packaged and featuring extensive sleeve notes, this will also be the first time Tonight You Are The Special One has been available on vinyl.

The packaging of both albums have been art-directed by acclaimed artist Scott King who also designed a poster for the limited edition ‘glitter-dipped’ box set which houses the 2CD editions of both albums. This limited edition box, which brings the Earl Brutus story to an end, is appropriately titled Closed.

Standing outside of their time then and now, Earl Brutus gave no simple answers. Born in the north and west of England in the early 60s, they were old enough to know better – but they did it anyway.

Stuart Boreman, Nick Sanderson, Jim Fry, Gordon King and Rob Marche had variously served time in groups including World Of Twist, Clock DVA, The Gun Club, Subway Sect, JoBoxers, If? and English Boy On The Love Ranch. But when they came together in north west London at the end of 1992, they would achieve a true expression of themselves, and fuse obsessions with Bowie, Kraftwerk and everyman stadium rock of the most extreme pomposity with an absurdist worldview steeped in lager, paradox and an undeniable sense of the mythic.

With synaptic cues including an imaginary greyhound, the unloved jeans brand, a seventies aftershave and “a council estate pub with a flat roof that could get a bit rough on Saturday night but did a nice carvery on Sunday lunchtimes,” the group were named Earl Brutus in a boozer off Kilburn High Road.

Live shows were where the Brutus myth began. At early shows the band wore sweat-soaked nylon safari suits bought from a Nigerian leisurewear outlet in Shepherd’s Bush, they tipped their gear over, let off pyrotechnics and soon got noticed. By 1993 they had put out their first single, Life’s Too Long, on Bob Stanley’s Creation subsidiary, Icerink and a couple of year’s later Stanley released a second single, Bonjour Monsieur, on his new label, Royal Mint.

Signing to Deceptive in 1995 after label boss Steve Lamacq had seen them at a beery, riotous show at The Dublin Castle in Camden which saw them blowing Brut aftershave through a wind machine, Earl Brutus would pick up talismanic member Shin-Ya Hayashida around this time.

“Nick had an idea about me to join the band to shout and scream swear words in Japanese and in English,” confirms Shins, an early twenty-something at the time. Visually and socially strong, the classic Brutus line up was set and it was this team that would record their debut album, Your Majesty…We Are Here, at Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire with Happy Mondays engineer John Pennington, which was released in 1996.

A move to Fruition / Island Records in 1997 saw the band begin work on their second album which was again recorded at Chapel Studios. Released in 1997, first single The SAS And The Glam That Goes With It was one of the band’s most transcendent moments: pounding and livid, it was named after a VHS tape of Sanderson’s, where the 1980 storming of the Iranian Embassy sat next to a pro¬gramme about Mick Ronson.

The new year would see gushing press coverage and a further two singles, Come Taste My Mind and Universal Plan before the release of their second album, Tonight You Are The Special One in June 1998, a record that was conclusive proof of the remarkable durability of Earl Brutus’ singular vision.

Former manager Gareth Sweeney named the album Tonight You Are The Special One: to understand it, you must look in a mirror when staying home alone on Saturday night, wearing your best clothes and drinking a can of nice bitter, “trying to tell yourself you’re alright.”

Following its release guitarist Rob Marche would depart, they would be joined by former Intastella guitarist Martin Wright and release one final single, Larky in 1999.

Continuing to play sporadically – highlights being the appearance of their celebrated floral wreaths reading ‘Fuck Off’ at gigs at the Scala and the Embassy club in 1999 and a deranged and legendary ten-minute show at the Austrian Cultural Forum in Knightsbridge in 2001 which saw a return to the pandemonium of their early shows – they would play their last show in 2004, a fundraiser for Ken Livingstone at Hammersmith Working Men’s Club.

Earl Brutus never really ended as such, a track listing for proposed third album ‘Victorian Wanking Machine’ was devised but sadly the death of lead singer Nick Sanderson to cancer in June 2008 meant it was never to be.

“I’m so proud to have been part of that group,” recalls Jim Fry. “I don’t think it ever would have died. We were taking time off when Nick got ill… I think with Nick, we would have been in a group together by now. I think we would have been more riotous. I think it would have been called Earl Brutus.”

By the cold lights of market reach, not much happened for Earl Brutus. But in other ways, it all happened. Their explosive performances and compact, volcanic discography made anything seem possible, and to those who saw them, they’ll always be the greatest unsung band of all. To those who didn’t, their recorded work reveals a singular and uncompromising vision that cannot die. It continues to transmit the most important message to live by: You Are Your Own Reaction.

Order your copy at the 3 Loop Music shop.

THE PACKAGING
The presentation of these re-issues have been directed by acclaimed artist Scott King. Working alongside production guru, Daniel Mason (Something Else) we have a very special set of releases.

THE BOX
The rigid lift of lid box is an offset set printed in 5 colours, silk screen printed with Silver glitter and gloss laminated wrapped over a Black lined board. 2 colour permanent adhesive label applied to lid. Base is printed in 1 colour, silk screen printed with silver glitter and gloss laminated.
It exclusively includes an offset printed poster booklet in 1 colour with detail offset printed in 3 fluorescent colours on a 57gsm Bible paper stock and features an essay by Ian Harrison that complements his sleevenotes for each album.

THE CDs
The CD packaging is offset printed in 4 colours with album artwork and text silk screen printed with a gloss varnish on a 300gsm coated board. Construction follows in standard CD digipack format.
The CD discs are printed in 2 colours plus a Silver glitter ink for a unique audio CD.
The concertina booklet is offset printed in 4 colours on a 120gsm off white uncoated paper stock.


THE VINYLS
The LP outer sleeve is offset printed in 4 colours with album artwork silk screen printed with a gloss varnish on a 320gsm coated board and the inner sleeve
is offset printed in 4 colours on a 240gsm off white uncoated board. Both are die cut and glued.
The LP vinyl record is pressed on 180gsm heavyweight vinyl with all centre labels printed in 1 colour.
The Your Majesty… We Are Here MP3 Download Code Card is offset printed on a 320gsm uncoated board. Download code digitally printed to the reverse.
The Tonight You Are The Special One MP3 Download Code Card is die stamped in 1 colour on a 350gsm high rag content uncoated board. Download code digitally printed to the reverse.

Order your copy at the 3 Loop Music shop.

NEW RELEASE: The Bluetones

“Return To..” is as fresh as your first outdoor breath on a crisp spring day, as adrenalising as a five mile freefall into neat vodka and as heartbreaking as finding an ex’s hair on a long forgotten shirt.”” Melody Maker, 1998

THE BLUETONES – RETURN TO THE LAST CHANCE SALOON


The Bluetones return!
The Bluetones - Return To The Last Chance Saloon - 2CD and LP re-issue on 3 Loop Music

The Bluetones - Return To The Last Chance Saloon - 2CD and LP re-issue

The Bluetones are one of the most important and successful bands from the Britpop era. Clocking up an impressive 17 years together with the same line-up (and managing to get through those 17 years without brothers Mark and Scott Morriss having any Gallagher-esque fall-outs), they finally called it a day in 2011.
They’ve reformed for a UK tour and we are thrilled to announce that we are kicking off a re-issue camapign of their catalogue with the glorious Return To The Last Chance Saloon.

The album was the follow up to their debut Expecting To Fly in which the band explored a more rockier blues-tinged sound. In 1998, Melody Maker described the album as a “17 year old, good looking and popular” teenager. Now 17 years since its release, it is apparent that that teenager has retained its exciting, fresh and joyous (superior) qualities.

Return To The Last Chance Saloon is a hit packed, gold selling, Top 10 album that includes the hit singles Solomon Bites The Worm, If…, and Sleazy Bed Track plus mail order only single 4 Day Weekend.

The re-issue will be available on 2CD set and heavyweight vinyl on 18th September and you can get a signed copy when you pre-order your copy at the 3 Loop Music store.

The bonus material on the expanded 2CD set includes standalone Top 10 single Marblehead Johnson, each band member’s hand-picked, favourite b-side, previously unreleased BBC session tracks from the era and a stunning gig recorded at BBC’s Sound City in Newcastle in 1998. It’s a set packed with all their hits and is the sound of a band at the top of their game playing to a jubilant and adoring audience.

CLASSIC VIDEOS


Here’s the videos for some of the singles from Return To The Last Chance Saloon.

Hold Me Down

Solomon Bites The Worm

4 Day Weekend

TOUR DATES


The Bluetones 20th Anniversary Tour Poster

The Bluetones back on tour


The Bluetones are back on the road to celebrate 20 years since their first single was released. See them in September at:
16th – Leeds O2 Academy
17th – Glasgow ABC
18th – Newcastle O2 Academy
19th – Manchester Ritz
23rd – Portsmouth Pyramids
24th – London Forum
26th – Birmingham O2 Academy
27th – Bristol O2 Academy
Click here for tickets

Sea Of Bees Build A Boat To The Sun – Boxset

Sea Of Bees new album, Build A Boat To The Sun, is available on CD, LP, Download and as a very special, limited edition boxset.

SEA OF BEES – BUILD A BOAT TO THE SUN – THE BOX SET

The box includes:
Build A Boat To The Sun CD
Build A Boat To The Sun LP

Build A Boat To The Sun MP3 album
Exclusive digital EP of unreleased tracks made during the recording of the album

Hand pulled screen print on French brand paper by Laura Maltranga, numbered and signed by Jules and Amber
A special handmade, illustrated lyric book with hand stitched binding revealing the stories behind each track on the album.
An individual, one off photo taken, printed and annotated by Jules – they’re randomly allocated so you may get a picture of Jules, Amber, a pet, some flowers, their favourite view or piece of studio equipment or something else completely different instead!

All of these items are housed in a bespoke 12″ x 12″ lidded box with unique artwork.

Click here to visit the Sea Of Bees shop and order your copy.

For full information on the album and to listen to some tracks from it click here

NEW RELEASE: Sea Of Bees

Keep going, don’t stop, and be yourself. Never settle for less. I have finished the record I have been meaning to make. Things are changing for the good and I am happy.” Jules, April 2015

SEA OF BEES – BUILD A BOAT TO THE SUN

Sea of Bees is the musical project of Julie Ann Bee, or Jules as everyone calls her. She sings, writes the songs, and plays lots of musical instruments. She is the kind of singer-songwriter you come across only a few times in a lifetime – special, unusual, leaping out at you like an alien, her character fully-formed, her uniqueness intact.

Sea Of Bees - Build A Boat To The Sun - signed LPBuild A Boat To The Sun is Sea Of Bees third album (following the acclaimed Songs For The Ravens and follow-up Orangefarben) and this time Jules is gathering the good things up and moving to brighter horizons. Musically, she has moved forward too, with more of a full band sound after Jules bought a drum set and spent as much time playing it as she played guitar, much to her neighbour’s dismay.

The album, described as “a little gem” by MOJO (who gave it 4 stars!) has a variety of sounds all united by Jules’ unique positivity and charm. The album, mixed by Jesse Lauter (The Low Anthem), was recorded in Marin County and Sacramento, California so it’s no wonder this is an album full of sunshine!

Head over to our shop to get your album on CD, LP or Download. We have a very limited amount of signed CD and LPs, and a very special, limited edition, exclusive boxset.

THE BOX SET


The boxset contains all formats of the album plus a hand pulled screen print on French brand paper by Laura Maltranga, numbered and signed by Jules and Amber, an exclusive digital EP of unreleased tracks not available elsewhere, and a a special handmade, illustrated lyric book with hand stitched binding revealing the stories behind each track on the album.

Each box also includes an individual, one off photo taken, printed and annotated by Jules – they’re randomly allocated so you may get a picture of Jules, Amber, a pet, some flowers, their favourite view or piece of studio equipment or something else completely different instead!

Click here to visit the Sea Of Bees shop.

LISTEN TO SOME TRACKS


Want to hear what Build A Boat To The Sun sounds like? You’re in the right place!
Here’s Dad and the single, Test Yourself

“Test Yourself is one of those songs that grab you in the first second – you can almost feel the tide swelling under your feet.” Stereogum
“(Test Yourself) is catchy as all get out. Sing-along bits, a catchy chorus, hooks for days, it’s really the total package – this song alone has made this album one of my most anticipated summer albums” If It’s Too Loud

NEW RELEASE: The Pre New

The Pre New

The Pre New are making some of the most original music in this country right now” Record Collector

3 Loop Music are proud to announce the release of The Pre New‘s new album, The Male Eunuch.

Taking their name from a Jeff Koons’ art installation, The Pre New centre around the trio of writers and musicians Jim Fry, Laurence Bray and Stuart Wheldon. Formed in Zone 2 of Central London in 2010, the original intent of the group was to perform at that year’s Glastonbury Festival. Assembled by ex-Earl Brutus members (Fry, Gordon King, Stuart Boreman and Shinya Hayashida) with a shot of new blood from Bray (first generation Milton Keynes) and Wheldon (north of England via Canada), The Pre New first unveiled their unmistakable brand of hi-art lo-fi to an unsuspecting Queen’s Head Stage at a time when other revellers were watching Muse or the Pet Shop Boys.

A lot has happened since then. Their debut album, Music For People Who Hate Themselves was released in 2012 and was followed in 2013 by Music For Homeowners, a collection of remixes of their work by fellow travellers such as Saint Etienne, Public Service Broadcasting and Mogwai. Around this album, founder member Hayashida left the group to live in Sweden and provided an opportunity to re-think and re-shape the group.

Fry, Bray, Wheldon and Boreman moved away from a more traditional rock approach and experimented more with electronics and created The Pre New of today recruiting Vinny Gibson, ’a protest singer from Paisley’, full time for both writing and performing. There are many forces at work: Krautrock, Bowie, West Coast USA Rock, MRI scanners and Mike Leigh; there is no jamming, just computing, things pulling in new apposing directions. The Pre New are unique in the way that they excavate their current surroundings for their work; wherever that may be at any given point.

The Pre New also have a revolving door policy of guests who sit upon their ‘fourth plinth;’ including new boy Jay Davy and times Fry’s old partner in Earl Brutus, Gordon King.

All of this adds to the high-concept magic that surrounds the band. Their third album, The Male Eunuch was launched in May 2015 with a PowerPoint presentation at a central London hotel. The bands own protest ambassador Stu Boreman stated:
“Binary Digital Bankruptcy converts this Sonic Debris into the sound of summer. Off shore becomes on shore as British Summer Time arrives early. Shot thru the Black Hole into the hole in your heart, it’s the colour chart from hell. Foxton’s still burns. Face-sitting is banned. Froch vs Groves. Farrow & Ball. We are at War.”

Using Concorde, British Rail logos, they honour the past while resolutely looking forward. There is no-one else making a noise like this in British Popular Music.

The Male Eunuch is available now on CD, LP, Download, Limited Edition Boxset and PowerPoint.
Music For People Who Hate Themselves is available now on CD and Download
Music For Homeowners is available now on Download
Order your copy at The Pre New shop

Praise for The Male Eunuch

Variously angry, moving, disturbing and extremely funny – there isn’t really anything else around like it – 4/5 – The Guardian, Album Of The Week

THE PRE NEW dissect the modern world with the precision of a cultural pathologist. Boasting song titles such as ‘100% Beef’, ‘The Mars Bar Within You’ and ‘Middle Class Heavy Metal On Anti-Depressants’, this is a frequently funny yet thoroughly absorbing listen, the laughs emanating from a grim recognition of the world that’s formed them – The Quietus

Super barbed – 4/5 – MOJO

A splendid blast of pop art – with the accent on tunes and outrageous fun – 4/5 – Q magazine

Both World of Twist and Earl Brutus have a classic album to their name, and now, so do The Pre New – 9/10 – The Line Of Best Fit

Ferocious head-melting havoc with an all out assault of unsettling samples, discordant effects and cross-patterned vocal clamour – file under Riotously Uneasy Listening – The Mirror

Their tunes are loaded with insightful lyricism… by dissecting the present the Pre New add currency to our cultural future – we have the Pre New to thank for this tumultuous soundtrack for the end of days – 7/10 – Louder Than War

VISIT THE PRE NEW SHOP

WE ARE THE PRE NEW. THIS IS WHAT WE DO.

Listen to The Pre New Anthem
Watch Photographed
Listen to Teenage Taliban live in session with Marc Riley
Watch the unboxing of The Male Eunuch
Watch Janet vs John
Watch Speed Queen
Read an in-detph interview with Gordon and Jim
Listen to I Believe In Jackie


IF YOU LIKE THE PRE NEW, YOU MAY ALSO LIKE….

World Of Twist - Quality Street
Earl Brutus - Your Majesty... We Are Here
Earl Brutus - Tonight You Are The Special One

NEW RELEASE: Christopher Cordoba

“I often said that there isn’t a better unknown guitarist in London than Chris Cordoba and I stand by this. His combination of toughness in tone and his street-wise approach is contrasted with his fluidity, elegance and technical bravado. He’s got blues, jazz, NY downtown experimental, glam, no wave, new wave, new age wrapped around his fingers. Here we have an artist whose ability of self-expression has pushed the world of guitar into new territory…” Max Vanderolf, LMS

CHRISTOPHER CORDOBA – US POOR HUMANS


Christopher Cordoba - Us Poor Humans

Order Christopher Cordoba - Us Poor Humans

Us Poor Humans is Christopher Cordoba’s third collection of instrumental music and is again charged with imagination, intrigue and emotion. It is a dynamic, filmic collection, which morphs seamlessly from genre to genre while being very much a singular statement. Cordoba seems totally in control of the contrasts of shade and light in his music, giving us just enough information to settle on before we are introduced to another dizzying guitar line, sweet synthesizer or intriguing mood.

Touchpoints of the album include Jaga Jazzist, John Foxx, Steve Reichian, Spike Jonze, Kraftwerk, Tortoise, Jim O’Rourke, EST and even Jackie Mittoo meeting Georgie Fame. These pull together to form an set of 13 tracks each of which could be the soundtrack to a film. And someone should make the films these songs deserve.

Order the album now on CD or Download at the 3 Loop Music store – click here

“a determinedly intelligent listen… Christopher Cordoba has a gimlet eye and a magpie ear for bits and pieces of sound which fit wonderfully well together to create something unexpected.Louder Than War

STOP, LOOK, LISTEN

Vanishing High And Low

Us Poor Humans

4 Day Weekend