Mar 08

For Immediate Release: “I Found That Essence Rare” – The Sounds Of Beauty (V.A)

“It’s a rare thing to find a song that really makes you happy, inspires you and makes you want to shout out, at the top of your voice about the wonderful discovery so that everyone else can enjoy it too. Like the song by Gang of Four that provides the title of this sampler, we hope that we have gathered that rare essence in these 20 songs that will bring you that same excitement” – We feel this is the best compilation around so join us for the ride and please find some further details about the songs below & why not visit their Bandcamp page and support the bands and treat yourself to some more wonderful tunes. A huge thanks to all the bands and musicians that gave us permission to use these songs. – Wally

Click here to download the free sampler and liner notes:
“I Found That Essence Rare” – The Sounds Of Beauty (Beauty 043)

1. Exploding Flowers – A Daunting Thought (Beauty 051)
2. Summerhouse – I May Not (A sort of Beach Boys cover) *
3. Dot Dash – Gray Blue Green (Beauty 042)
4. The Yellow Melodies – Don’t Think Twice (Beauty 041)
5. The Fish John West Reject – Cath (The Bluebells cover) *
6. The Dupont Circles – Nowhere Man (The Beatles cover) *
7. Adventure Playground – The Girl With The Hand Me Down Clothes (Beauty 035) **
8. Armstrong – In A Memory (Beauty 034)
9. The Poems – Temptation (New Order cover) *
10. David Long – Hand Of Love – MONO (The Sound cover – Beauty 049) ***
11. Peter Hall – English Rose (The Jam cover) *
12. James Clarke Five – Under My Skin (Beauty 044)
13. Si Farrier – Heaven Sent Me An Angel (The Times Cover – Beauty 030)
14. Skytone – Without You (John Girgus Remix) ***
15. Summerhouse – Tears On A Rainy Sunday (The Times cover – Beauty 030)
16. Crumb – McArther Beach Park (Jim Webb/Martha & the Muffins cover) *
17. Roy Moller – These Things I Do (Beauty 027)
18. Gretchen’s Wheel – Tears (Teenage Fanclub cover) *
19. Lisa Mychols & SUPER 8 – You & Me Me & You (Beauty 052)
20. Peter Hall – Everything Is Fading Fast – Megane Fast Mix (Beauty 048) ***

* – Non-Beauty Prime Cut or an Unreleased Rarity
** – A Television Personalities cover from a distant future release
*** – Alternate version to the official release, past, present or future

Mastered by Phil Shaw Bova
Design by Jamie Nordstrand

Jan 11

Armstrong’s “Happy Graffiti” Now Available!

We are very excited about our next release by Julian Pitt, aka Armstrong, as it is one we have hinted at and teased, especially with the inclusion of the wonderful song “This One” on our label sampler that was released several years back. So to say that the release of Armstrong‘s “Happy Graffiti” album was highly anticipated and eagerly awaited by some of us would be a huge understatement. 

Previous albums have received excellent reviews with Julians’s music being compared to Aztec Camera/Roddy Frame, The Pearlfishers, Teenage Fanclub, Prefab Sprout, Lloyd Cole, Dream Academyand Trash Can Sinatras. Alex Green (Caught In The Carousel) once wrote: “Under Blue Skies is one of the most satisfying and melodic albums in recent memory…Armstrong’s lustrous debut presents Pitt as the new unheralded prince of pastoral pop. With a voice that lilts and soars like Roddy Frame or The Pearlfisher’s David Scott, Pitt is truly a splendid find.” Powerpopaholic stated about Songs About The Weather: “Fans of sunshine and baroque pop would do well to check out the latest album from Armstrong … If you enjoy wistful ballads and sun-kissed melodies that are brimming with emotion you’ll want to listen to Armstrong”

We are very proud to finally, after many years, release this wonderful gem of an album and hope it brings you much joy.

For this album we teamed up again with the brilliant UK label, Country Mile Recordshttp://www.countrymile.org/ a partnership we are very proud to involved with.  Please Enjoy!

The Beautiful Music

Armstrong – Happy Graffiti
Beauty 034
$15.00 CDN OUT NOW!

The Beautiful Music

“Happy Graffiti” is available as a CD (Beauty 034) directly from our store 
and also from Country Mile Records http://www.countrymile.org/.

Armstrong info:  http://thebeautifulmusic.com/the-bands/armstrong/

Armstrong Bandcamp:  https://armstrong2.bandcamp.com/

 

Sep 28

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: In Search of the Family Gredunza by The Dupont Circles

Thirty years in the making and it is finally here, and we are so excited to be finally releasing the long-anticipated debut album by The Dupont Circles, a band that has been lost in time, but are now ready to be rediscovered. We have been working on this album for about five years and the recordings span a period of about 30 years. They were formed originally as The Spills in 1988 in Washington D.C. and morphed into The Dupont Circles, with their early recordings dating back to several rare 7” singles on the Cara Records label – “Sarah The Weather Girl” in 1995 and “The 53 Bicycles EP” in 1998 and after that several appearances on compilations, on some pretty cool labels like March Records, Planting Seeds Records, Japan’s Rover Records, and Italy’s Lost In Tyme label, not to mention a contribution to our very own Television Personalities tribute series.

Described by one magazine as “psych-tinged indie pop of the post-TV Personalities variety,” The Dupont Circles merge their love of 60’s UK pop-psych and U.S. garage rock with their fondness for C86 era indiepop jangle to come up with a set of songs that tickle the ear and keep the listener coming back for more.  Likened by reviewers to early Creation and Flying Nun recording artists, “Chronic Town era R.E.M.,” and of course the Television Personalities, The Dupont Circles set melodies “last heard of coming from a bakelite transistor somewhere in pre-Profumo era Britain” to a musical pallet “packed with a cabinet full of lysergic trimmings.”  The paisley infused songs feature an eclectic cast of characters from the Syd Barrett/Ray Davies school of songwriting, including shopkeepers, circus fleas, pulp fiction detectives, and insomniacs.
 

An interview with The Dupont Circles in Lost In Tyme magazine referred to “the band’s usual glacial pace”, a phrase that takes on added meaning when you consider how long it has taken to get this album finally released. A common lament of reviews of the two 7”s is that the band’s releases are so infrequent.  As one reviewer commented, “What is really sad is that The Dupont Circles are one of the best bands out there right now, but they have only two 7″s and a few compilation tracks. Someone please light a fire under this band and get them working again” (Kissing The Cat). Well we helped do that and we are happy to say that what the band lacks in speed, they certainly make up for it in quality and creativity, as can be heard on this collection of brilliant songs. Sit back and enjoy The Dupont Circles “In Search Of The Family Gredunza”.

“The Dupont Circles – In Search Of The Family Gredunza” is available as a CD (Beauty 039) directly from The Beautiful Music’s secure, PayPal-enabled ordering portal at www.thebeautifulmusic.com and also from select quality distributors.

 

The Beautiful Music

In Search of the Family Gredunza
The Dupont Circles
Beauty 039
$15.00 CDN OUT NOW!


The Beautiful Music

Sep 09

Stumbling Blocks by Exploding Flowers – Out Now on The Beautiful Music

We are very pleased to welcome to the beautiful music collective, Exploding Flowers, a Los Angeles-based quartet, who create a wonderful sound that recalls so many of our favourite bands.

Their unique blending of various styles, create a jangle pop that touches on 70’s-era Chilton/Twilley, mid-80’s ‘Splash Of Colour’ scene and the early Creation sound, New Zealand guitar pop of  The Chills & The Bats, hints of the Australian label Summershine Records, L.A.’s Paisley Underground, and 90’s noise pop all perfectly mutated, and swirled into their own modern day hook-filled racket. They also remind me of Robyn Hitchcock, The Byrds, and even at times The Barracudas, Dot Dash & Skytone.

Rob Morgan describes it up perfectly: ”Exploding Flowers tip their collective hats towards some intriguing music. Sure, the twelve strings chime like the Byrds in flight as you would expect but there’s a plainly chorded organ harking back to the Chills and numerous US 60s garage bands or even the early sides by the Sea Urchins(think “Sullen Eyes”)…The sound is fresh and vivid, and the songs are superb too.”

”The music will draw you in and the lyrics will intrigue you and you will sing these songs all summer.” (https://agoldfishcalledregret.wordpress.com/).

A DJ at KCRW stated that the Exploding Flowers had “some of the most dynamic, self-assured, jangly pop music that I’ve ever encountered in a while. There were twinges of psychedelia in just the right places, and all sorts of cool effects pedals being put to great use.” (DJ Marion Hodges).

“Stumbling Blocks” (beauty 051) includes guest vocalist Suki Ewers’ (Mazzy Star, Opal) duet on the song “Are We So Disposable?” and is the follow up to Exploding Flowers’ self-titled debut album on Smash It Up! Records(and an EP on the Edition 59 label).

The Beautiful Music

Exploding Flowers – Stumbling Blocks
Beauty 051
$15.00 CDN OUT NOW!


“Exploding Flowers is a Los Angeles-based quartet, comprised of members of many other cool bands. Their unique brew of jangle pop is akin to 70’s-era Chilton/Twilley, mid-80’s New Zealand guitar pop, L.A.’s Paisley Underground, and 90’s noise pop all blended, mutated, and swirled into their own modern day hook-filled racket. They also remind me of Robyn Hitchcock, The Byrds, and even at times Dot Dash & Skytone.” – Wally

The Beautiful Music

Jun 30

Lisa Mychols & SUPER 8

This is a very exciting release for the Beautiful Music label, when you get to release an album by two extremely talented musicians, whose careers you have followed for years. So what happens when you combine the talents of the queen of power pop, Lisa Mychols AKA Ellie, on the sunny west coast of the USA, with the talents of pop maverick, and one of the most productive musicians, across the ocean in Scotland, Paul Ryan, aka Trip, aka SUPER 8? Well let me tell you, it’s the soundtrack of your Summer, The Hit of Summer 2020 and an album you will return to year after year! These Sun-drenched melodies, just conjure up images, of sandy beaches, surf boards, shiny cars, crashing waves and beautiful people. It’s here, a Summer Smash (sort of like Denim‘s Summer Smash, but without the car crash), an album to cherish and love & blast on the car speakers with the roof down. Estella from Fadeaway Radiate, described their single Honey Bee as “a must for lovers of sunshine pop, northern soul and the sound and aesthetics of the 60’s in general. The song is a groovy feel-good tune with lush layers of sprightly harmonies”. The whole album, carries on in a similar theme, and I dare you to get these songs and melodies out of your head, once lodged there. This is what timeless music is made of.

This all sounds swell, you are thinking, but who are these two musicians, that give them the right to create such a classic. Lisa has an impressive history, having worked with some of my all-time favorite musicians like The Wondermints (they were even her backing band for some of her recordings), The Well Wishers, and Kai Danzbergand she contributed to many excellent compilations and tributes, not to mention her beginnings with her band The Masticators, that made an impressive splash on the LA pop underground of the 1990’s. And as if that is not enough, she has also released at least 4 solo albums, two of which were on Joe Foster’s Rev-Ola label, which in itself is a stamp of quality. Trip, also has quite a history, almost discovered by Giles Martin, working with David Scott (The Pearlfishers, another one of my all time favorites), and praised by Duglas of the BMX Bandits (another favourite), and with stellar releases on several of my favorite labels, like Futureman Records & the Subjangle label.

We are certainly pleased that these two have landed on our label for this magnificent release. As Trip states: “Working on this album with Lisa has been an honour and a blast. In many ways I feel these songs just wrote themselves! My hope is that, in some small way here, they might serve to lift folk’s spirits in these trying times. We hope you enjoy the melodic sunshine we’ve cooked up!”.

The Beautiful Music

Lisa Mychols & SUPER 8
Beauty 052
$15.00 CDN PRE-ORDER

https://www.facebook.com/TripAndElliesMusicFactory/

Jun 26

TBM Update 2020

We have been quiet for what seems to be forever and our last release on the label is already over 6 months old. But we haven’t just been sitting around doing nothing and we have been planning our best year ever.

So now you’re thinking it’s already June and no releases in 2020, so what’s up? So I have to admit life has been a bit strange ride and we’re not talking about viruses and protests, but more of a personal nature, with several family tragedies & changes in direction & an end of an era with work while trying to juggle and complete many exciting projects which we will fill you in on.

First we have 4 releases that should be ready in the next month, an EP by an excellent musician from the UK, Peter Hall EP that Stephen Maughan recommended; an album by US band The Exploding Flowers; an album that will become a Summer Smash by the queen of Powerpop Lisa Mychols working alongside a favorite of ours, Super 8; and the long awaited first album by The Dupont Circles.

And if that’s not enough, after that we have a new label sampler planned; as well as finally completing part 2 of our Adrian Borland tribute; and the tribute to Edward Ball & The Times, which we hope to finish up. As if that’s not enough (now this is starting to sound like a bad advertisement from the 70’s, but hang in there), we have even more planned with an album by The Yellow Melodies, an album by Armstrong, an album by Honeybourne, and albums by Dot Dash and Skytone and then we will be able to start on something new.

Put your seat belts on and hang on for an exciting ride, which is just about to begin.
-Wally

Jun 21

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Peter Hall – There’s Something Wrong With Everyone

Peter Hall may not be a familiar name to most of you but hopefully that changes soon, as he is an incredibly talented musician, that is just waiting to be discovered. Some may recognize the name as the person behind the wonderful band Play People who first recorded two EP’s on the brilliant This Almighty Pop! label run by a person with impeccable taste, Stephen Maughan (of Bulldozer Crash, Kosmonaut and The Memory Fades) and a 7” single on another highly regarded label Cloudberry Records (run by Roque Ruiz, who is one of the most knowledgeable people in the indie pop world). So already with a pedigree like that, you know it is going to be excellent and we are immensely proud to have it as a Beautiful Music release.

This EP combines beautiful melodies with intelligent lyrics, and will bring to mind bands like Aztec Camera, The Lilac Time, Elliot Smith, Delta, Captain Soul, January, Paul Weller, and Nick Heyward’s recent release “Woodland Echoes” and probably several other Scottish Pop bands and maybe even with a hint of mod thrown in as an influence. Janglepophub mentions a few more, if you are looking for possible similarities: “the two stripped back tracks of Hold Me and She Fell From The Sky, visit Tame Impala / De Marco style semi chill jangle and piano-less Nick Batterham guitar strums respectively, whilst maintaining definitive originality by adding the sort of smooth, rounded production, that just about slides into sophisti-pop territory.” “However, it is when his music ventures into mid-tempo and increases the ‘surround sound’, that the EP really reaches it’s heights. Blood Flow and Everything is Fading Fast (both below) are able to take their place alongside modern guitar pop luminaries like Dropkick, The Boy With Perpetual Nervousness … as volumes of melodic intent bubble to the surface with a lack of intensity that borders on ‘summer perfect’.”

And to quote When You Motor Away: “We are not particularly familiar with UK artist Peter Hall, but the four tracks on “There’s Something Wrong With Everyone” have made fans of us. This is intimate, carefully crafted and richly melodic indie pop that has lifted our spirits today. We suggest it may well do the same for you. There may be something wrong with everyone, but there is nothing wrong about this EP.”

Give Peter Hall a listen, you will be richly rewarded and as a bonus, we even through in an extra hidden track as a surprise, but you will need to get a copy of the EP to discover that :).

The Beautiful Music

Peter Hall – There’s Something Wrong With Everyone
Beauty 048 – CD Version
$10.00 CDN


The Beautiful Music

Here is more information:
Peter Hall Bandcamp: https://peterhallmusic.bandcamp.com/
Peter Hall Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterhallmusic/

Nov 26

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Lloyd Meadows – Oxford Synthesiser Club

This is a brilliant mini LP/EP and my favorite track is every song on this release!

It starts off with Lost and Lonely in beautiful, meandering, dreamy Beatles influenced song and followed by the amazing OXFORD Guitar Club with it’s hints of New Order meets The Jazz Butcher feel and keeps that beautiful momentum all the way through – Highly Recommended!

We first heard some of these songs on the fabulous radio show “It’s A Jangle Out There” and then soon after, we purchased these songs on Bandcamp (released in October 2018) and then we fell in love with these batch of songs. “Oxford Synthesiser Club” has been described as a smooth and relaxing mix of synthesiser and guitar indie pop music. That however, might be a bit of an underwhelming statement, as there appears to be quite a lot more going on in the music of these songs and Lloyd isn’t that easily pigeonholed. The release starts off with “Lost & Lonely” in a beautiful, meandering, dreamy Beatles influenced song with hints of “Strawberry Fields Forever” and then picks up a bit with some mid 70’s soft rock / easy listening, lounge moods sneaking in, but it’s Lloyd’s vocals that tear at your heartstrings but inspire hope when he sings lines like “leave me down here on my own” & “the suns coming up”. However, it’s what follows, the amazing “OXFORD Guitar Club” with its hints of New Order meets The Jazz Butcher, with a bit of an Altered Images guitar feel that really hooked us. We won’t give our impressions on all the songs, as we would prefer you make your own, but suffice to say Lloyd keeps that beautiful momentum going all the way through these songs. This is a brilliant mini LP/EP, in our opinion, but we prefer you made your own opinions.

“Imagine, if you will, the John Lennon of his first Plastic Ono Band album, collaborating with the George Martin Sgt. Pepper’s studio musicians. It’s a combination that never happened, but to degree, it does happen here … “Oxford Synthesiser Club” is noteworthy due to its ability to draw its inspiration and energy from multiple, well-known sources, without becoming shackled by them and mired into a single, easily defined sound. It’s open-ended and filled with free-form inspiration.

– Mike DeAngelis (There Once Was A Note).

This CD release has been remastered by none other than Grammy nominated (please allow us to name drop just a little bit), Philip Shaw Bova and includes a mysterious cover bonus track if you are fortunate to find yourself a copy of the physical release. We are excited to finally share it with you and we hope you will enjoy it as much as we do. Happy Listening!
 

“Oxford Synthesiser Club” is available as a CD (Beauty 047) directly from The Beautiful Music’s secure, PayPal-enabled ordering portal at www.thebeautifulmusic.com and a few select online distributers.


Oxford Synthesiser Club by Lloyd Meadows
Beauty 047
$10.00 CDN


It starts off with Lost and Lonely in beautiful, meandering, dreamy Beatles influenced song and followed by the amazing OXFORD Guitar Club with it’s hints of New Order meets The Jazz Butcher feel and keeps that beautiful momentum all the way through – Highly Recommended!

Digital release is already available on Lloyd’s Bandcamp page: https://lloydmeadows.bandcamp.com/album/oxford-synthesiser-club
 Visit him on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lloyd-Meadows-Music-107654644045249/
 

Jul 30

NEW RELEASE: The Irony Board – Unfinished Business

Just who are The Irony Board & why have we not heard of them before? Information about the band is quite scarce, but we do know that they had a song featured on one of Firestation Records legendary “The Sound Of Leamington Spa” series (Volume 7), which in itself automatically gives them some street cred., as Firestation Records are certainly one of the purveyors of great taste in this modern era. We also know that a published novel, “Capturing The Wry”, was written about the band, this book written by John Hartley (aka Johny Nocash) chronicles the crazy and fascinating story of the trials and tribulations of his unsigned band The Irony Board. That book, which is highly recommended, was endorsed by Merric Davidson (editor of Toppermost.co.uk) and Steve Williamson (EIO40 kingpin), and several members of the Trash Can Sinatras, making this story even more intriguing. Initial copies of the book were accompanied by a free bonus CD, of studio recordings, of the tracks featured within the book. That however is just the tip of the iceberg.

This brings us to the release of, “Unfinished Business” by The Irony Board, as we dig deeper into this mysterious 90’s indie band and unearth more of their wonderful music. They have been described, at the time, by renowned music journalist Martin Aston, as “bittersweet, naive, hook-lined, captivating, unpretentious, clever – but not clever-clever – and deserving of more widespread attention”. And we couldn’t agree more, which is why we are releasing this fine collection of songs. To give you an idea of what the music sounds like, here are a few comparisons, although none of these are completely accurate, they give you a sense of some possible influences or maybe traces of sounds that I heard on repeated listening of these songs: Television Personalities, The Wedding Present, The June Brides, The Razercuts, Trash Can Sinatras, some of the Sarah Records bands like The Orchids, The Field Mice, 14 Iced Bears and possibly a few others.

A few more pieces to the puzzle that I will add, is that John Hartley, has also written a book “Who’s He? an A-Z of The Trash Can Sinatras” and has released music as a solo artist and under the guise of several other bands on the Broken Down Lorry label – please check out their page on Bandcamp here – www.brokendownrecords.bandcamp.com/

We are very proud to release this album and hope it finds a home in your ears and heart as it has in ours. Please Enjoy “Unfinished Business” by The Irony Board!

“Unfinished Business” is available as a CD (Beauty 046) directly from our site and a few select online distributers.

Order your copy now:

The Beautiful Music

Unfinished Business by The Irony Board
Beauty 046

NOW AVAILABLE on CD ONLY! Digital Copy Coming Soon.
$12.00 CDN


The Beautiful Music

For Immediate Release: Parlour Sounds by James Clarke Five

As we get back in action, we have a brand new album to be released on our label in May, which I’m very excited about, it’s an album by James Clarke Five, the latest project by James Hughes (AKA Clarke), an amazing musician who played in the short lived, but very talented 80’s Liverpool band, The Cherry Boys who were contemporaries with the Teardrop Explodes and Echo & The Bunnymen and Wah! but had a unique sound of their own, influenced by a mod sound but incorporating some of the post punk sound also. Sadly they only released a handful of singles, but they were all amazing, with one of my all time favorite songs being Kardomah Cafe. In more recent years, James has released several solo albums that didn’t get the attention they deserve. This new album, reminds me at times of Madness, as well as some of Terry Hall’s solo albums and has been compared to The Zombies and The Left Banke – hope you enjoy it.

Order your copy now:

The Beautiful Music

Parlour Sounds by James Clarke Five
Beauty 044 NOW AVAILABLE on CD!!
$15.00 CDN


The Beautiful Music

Here’s a review from Jack Rabid, featured in the upcoming issue of Big Take Over magazine.

“Not the Dave Clark Five, Sex Clark Five, or James Gang, this is Jimmie Hughes of early ’80s Liverpool faves The Cherry Boys. Unlike Zoo Records’ legends (Bunnymen, Teardrop Explodes, Wah!, Big in Japan, etc.), their half dozen strong singles couldn’t parley Merseyside popularity into stardom, although two members went on to The La’s. 35 years on, their ex-keyboardist/singer is still playing harpsichord/piano-based sugar pop like the Cherrys’ best platter, the La’s/Ocean Rain Bunnymen/Pale Fountains-ish “Kardomah Cafe.” His ripening is the baroque feel in “Jade” or “Just a Smile,” like a mash of 1968 music by Paul McCartney, Kinks, Emmit Rhodes, Left Banke, Zombies, Cyrkle, and Association. That’s the purlieu of Belle and Sebastian, only Parlour is more akin to Roddy Frame, Andy Partridge, Martin Newell, and lighter Bevis Frond (with a voice more like Supertramp’s Roger Hodgson). The above wrote/still write great songs; so, too, does Hughes.” –Jack Rabid, Big Take Over

jamesclarkefive.com
JC5 on Facebook