Listen: Real Gone’s New Release Round-Up – April-June 2021

It seems unbelievable that we’re now half way through the year, but here we are. We discovered and shared a truckload of new music during the first quarter, half expecting things to fizzle out as we moved towards the northern hemisphere summer, but it really wasn’t the case. If anything, the year’s second quarter was every bit as strong.

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Stream: The Ghost Of Indie Top 20 (A Real Gone Playlist)

Back in the 90s, a series of compilation albums called ‘Indie Top 20’ provided exciting listening for a generation of NME readers.  The series of cassettes (and latterly CDs) brought together 20 indie hits and underground bangers of the day, providing what would become an important time capsule for future generations.

The compilers were unafraid to pitch the era’s heavyweights Pop Will Eat Itself and Carter USM against the then up and coming Sleeper and Salad; it also gave a huge platform to bands that now seem too often forgotten, like Tiny Monroe and 18 Wheeler.  Whatever appeared, fans absorbed like sponges.  Those compilations were often responsible for creating cast iron favourites.

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Rubies & Rudders: The Real Gone Sampler 2020

It’s that time of year again when Real Gone takes stock of all of the great music that’s been sent our way over the last twelve months.  Changes in how people consume their music has meant shifting from providing a free download to offering an album length stream, but the variety and quality of the new music remains very high.

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The Great 80s Project: 1985

After 1984’s gargantuan greatness with the dominance of Frankie and meteoric rise of Madonna and Prince, 1985 had a lot to measure up to.  …And indeed, some have said it’s a rather more forgettable year for pop.

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The Great 80s Project: 1983

Looking back, it’s easy to see that 1983 was a massive year.  It represents the point where a few of its stars were making huge steps to being the decade’s megastars.  Five years into his career, Prince had finally succeeded in gaining worldwide success with his ‘1999’ album (a double platter of much filthiness); with their ‘War’ album, U2 made the leap from successful rock band to being an act with much bigger potential and Madonna showed early signs of being more exciting than your average pop performer.

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