At the turn of the 1960s, when free jazz was making its initial seismic impact, multi-instrumentalist Phil Cohran-he later added the name Kelan-was living in Chicago and playing trumpet for Sun Ra's Arkestra. He contributed to crucial recordings by the band during his tenure, including We Travel the Space Ways, but Cohran was a restless autodidact who never stuck with any one project for long.
When Braid broke up, guitarist/secondary vocalist Chris Broach formed The Firebird Band, and the remaining three members - frontman Bob Nanna, bassist Todd Bell, and drummer Damon Atkinson - recruited guitarist Mark Dawursk of Alligator Gun and continued on as Hey Mercedes. They recorded it with Jawbox's J. Robbins, who had also produced Braid's classic 1998 swan song Frame & Canvas, and in many ways, it picked up where Frame & Canvas left off.
Cali indiepop greats Rocketship are celebrating the 30th anniversary of their 1996 debut album A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness by giving it its first vinyl pressing since the original release. This is much needed as original copies fetch for over $200 in the secondary market. It's out March 20 via Slumberland and you can preorder it here. The album, which mixed sugary melodies and jangly guitars with shoegaze atmosphere and krautrock drone, sounds pretty fresh in 2026 and you can listen below.
Released today, October 10th, via Ode Records, the 50th anniversary vinyl edition of The Rocky Horror Picture Show is pressed on 180-gram red-in-gold vinyl and comes housed in a heavyweight gold-foil jacket with a newly designed inner sleeve. The album package features never-before-seen photos and production diary excerpts from producer Richard Hartley. It's available for purchase on Amazon and through Record Store Day.
Guns N' Roses have announced an expanded vinyl reissue of their 1999 release Live Era '87-'93, set to arrive in various editions on November 21st. The 4-LP set contains the remastered version of the original double album, and includes the previous Japan-only bonus track "Coma," for a total of 23 songs - including classics like "November Rain," "Sweet Child O' Mine, "Welcome to the Jungle," "Don't Cry," and "Paradise City."
Matthew Friedberger wrote "Far Away" at Eleanor's request, according to a press release, for a November 2003 show at New York's Mercury Lounge. "I liked the idea of writing a special song for each show, but that was the only time we ever did it," explained Matthew. "In the end we decided to not put it on the album. I'd thought it would fit because it didn't. It turned out it just didn't. I told myself that the songs on Blueberry Boat are about working and not working, as opposed to loving and not loving." Eventually, "Far Away" morphed into " Waiting to Know You," which landed on 2006's .
The same month that The Blood Brothers released the instant classic Burn Piano Island, Burn, they got back in the studio (this time with Sleater-Kinney/Bikini Kill producer John Goodmanson) and proved that they clean up good. Crimes is just about as chaotic as its predecessor, but everything sounds a little cleaner and Jordan Blilie and Johnny Whitney's voices veer closer to what the average person would call "singing," though cleaning up did not mean watering anything down.
The reissue of Hallelujah Sirens includes the band’s debut album and 2005 EP on vinyl for the first time, along with two new tracks.