Gloucestershire, ENG | Stroud band to launch debut single with Sound Records: An exciting new band from Stroud will mark the release of their debut single with a gig at Sound Records this Saturday. The gig will take place at the Sound Records store in Gloucester Street at 2pm in an event that is sure to showcase their new single Come Alive. Stroud residents Tom Percival and Mathew Lacey founded Grasscourt after meeting at a fundraiser for their community playgroup. Tom outlined how the upcoming band caught the attention of their record label, Lost Map Records. “We didn’t really expect the band to develop beyond the fundraiser, but we’re thrilled to have caught the attention of a small record label,” said Tom. “Now we’ve released the single, we are hoping to gig as much as we can around Stroud starting at Sounds Records.”
Atlantic City, NJ | Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City: Music, Music, Music: If you’re not busy seeing or listening, hotel habitués can take in Hard Rock’s “Sound of Your Stay” program where guests check out Fender guitars or vinyl record turntables and a selection of albums. “From the 50 music zones throughout the property where we curate every single song and monitor their tone and volume, to our “365 Live” aspect of musicians playing somewhere — everywhere — when you walk into Hard Rock, it’s an immersive experience,” said Adam Zenegl, the hotel’s locally-born “Vibe Manager.”
Our 10 favourite reissues of 2018 so far: We begin our mid-year round-up with a look at the most compelling reissues and compilations of the last six months. Perhaps more so even than new releases, the best reissues are gateways to new worlds, one-way tickets to far flung destinations and lost eras of music. Year on year, the scope of these retrospectives gets wider. Whether they’re compilations like Soundway’s superb South African bubblegum pop release Gumba Fire that bring a scene to life once more, or Finders Keepers’ lost Serge Gainsbourg soundtrack, that expose something both classic and altogether new in one go, the best reissues are those which add the sum knowledge of this musical world, and increase our access to it in the process.
A Kaleidoscope Of Sounds: Psych & Freakbeat Masterpieces Vinyl Box Set: Seems to be the season of the box set. Next on the upcoming list is A Kaleidoscope Of Sounds: Psych & Freakbeat Masterpieces, which is actually a vinyl box set. This is a 7 x 7-inch box set compiled by Phil Smee and containing what is described as ‘some of the rarest and most valuable Psychedelic & Freakbeat singles from the 1960s’. Quite a boast. It is also a first time reissue for nearly all of these singles since their original pressings, with each housed in replica label bags with original artwork alongside an extensive booklet and rare photos. Each box is also individually numbered (just 1,000 are being made) and includes download card if you want to take the tunes with you.
