VARIOUS ARTISTS – Psych!: British Prog, Rock, Folk & Blues 1966-1973

The world isn’t short of great psych and prog themed anthologies. The fact is, if you’re a keen psych/freakbeat/early prog fan, you’ve probably got those Cherry Red sets bringing together a wealth of stuff from between 1967-69, the many ‘Rubble’ releases, and more besides. Why should you add another psych oriented release to your already solid collection of compilations? Simply that ‘Psych!: British Prog, Rock, Folk & Blues 1966-73’ brings together a wealth of great music in less of a scattershot manner. Its three disc, sixty four track selection celebrates the more “out there” releases from Decca Records and their Deram off-shoot, and in doing so, plays more like a journey through an ever changing landscape from a more focused perspective, showing how the label often found themselves at the forefront of one of history’s most exciting periods in music.

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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #56

Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the individual mp3s that have landed in our inbox over the previous few weeks. For lovers of great indie rock, there’s a real treat; for those who like the folkier end of the indie scale, there’s something almost as strong. We’ve got electronica, we’ve got something a little gothy, and even something with a death metal core. Stylistically speaking, this week, the gloves are well and truly off…

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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #55

Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the individual mp3s that have landed in our inbox over the past few weeks. As always, we’ve been swamped with submissions – although there’s always room for more! – and we’ve had a tough job picking out some of the best tunes. This week, the Singles Bar features some brilliant shoegaze, a couple of bluesy bits, a slice of indie folk, two very different styles of punk, and more besides. Hopefully you’ll find something new to enjoy…

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THE SPEED OF SOUND – A Cornucopia: Minerva

Celebrating their thirty fifth year in the music business, Manchester’s The Speed of Sound have pulled out all the stops for the follow up for their critically acclaimed 2021 release ‘Museum of Tomorrow’. As it’s title suggests, ‘A Cornucopia’ offers fans a whole bounty of music, and the band have split that into three volumes. The first disc, ‘Minerva’ is a fourteen track indie-ish journey which explores a musical universe that takes in jangling retro guitar work, 60s fuzz, a bit of power pop and a few other styles.

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Come On, Come In: Big Hits From The Real Gone Singles Bar, Year One

In May 2023, Real Gone ran a column highlighting some of the best digital singles that had come our way. We’d always shied away from singles, preferring instead to concentrate on detailed album and EP reviews, but too much good music was falling by the wayside. The column was an experiment, of sorts: it was a departure from what had gone before, but still came with the same enthusiasm. Would people embrace this new feature? Would “quick takes” weaken the Real Gone brand?

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