Keep ‘Em Peeled!: Real Gone’s Top Music Predictions For 2018

As we head into a new year at Real Gone, we’re committed to our ongoing voyage of musical discovery…and we really hope you’ll join us for the ride. Our inbox is bulging with new promos and we’re ready to share our opinions with you all.

Before we set off, though, here’s a quick look forward. There will be a lot of musicians either coming up through the ranks or making their first important musical statements throughout ’18 and – as always – we’ll do our very best to champion some of the more interesting but, in the meantime, here are our five picks most hotly tipped to either make the leap to bigger things or release favourite tracks. Continue reading

BRUTAL YOUTH – Sanguine

Hailing from Toronto (via St. Johns, Newfoundland), Brutal Youth have shared stages with Sick of It All, Descendents and old-school UK shouters Cock Sparrer. This third release – mixed by the legendary Mass Giorgini – captures their aggressive and insanely focused sound on a studio disc without losing too much of the intensity you’d expect from a great live set. With a sound that fuses hardcore roots with a touch of skate punk, then combines that with a distinctly Canadian edge – as per Propagandhi and Ste. Catherines – ‘Sanguine’ is one hell of a punk record.

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Deluxe 3CD version of Twelfth Night’s prog classic ‘Fact & Fiction’ coming in 2018

For the past few years, prog legends Twelfth Night have been raiding their archives.  Their cassette only release ‘Smiling At Grief’ has seen a much-loved expanded CD reissue, while their classic live albums ‘Live At The Target’ and ‘Live & Let Live: Live at The Marquee’ were afforded a wealth of bonuses on thoughtfully created deluxe sets.

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REAL GONE GOES OUT: My Life Story, Islington Academy, London 22/12/2017

In August 2017, Real Gone attended the Star Shaped Festival in London. Like so many, the re-formed Sleeper were the big draw for us, but the day brought something rather unexpected. A mid-afternoon set from Jake Shillingford’s My Life Story ranked a close second in terms of entertainment. We approached the set with no real expectations and…an hour later, we considered ourselves fans. It wasn’t just the material that won us over; it was Shillingford’s command of the stage and audience. At approximately 3:30PM, from the back of the venue, we watched as a few pockets of people bounced, while others looked on. About forty minutes later, most of the venue was bouncing and waving in unison, so obviously swept along with the band’s infectious levels of enthusiasm. We knew, after that, we just had to see My Life Story again…

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VARIOUS ARTISTS – Songs, Bond Songs

In 2014, music fan and entrepreneur Andrew Curry masterminded ‘Here Comes The Reign Again’, a double disc set of recordings by cult singer-songwriters and power pop bands covering various UK hits from the 1980s. The results, as you’d expect, were a mixed bag, but the high points were high enough to recommend an addition to any quirky record collection. Three years in the making, the follow up brings back various familiar faces for a near complete run through of themes from James Bond movies. The results are…interesting…but mostly, nowhere near as good as such a project seems on paper. This is a project fraught with problems, not least of all that Bond themes just can’t be reproduced on a meagre budget. Continue reading