The Invitation To The Voyage is the second full-length from Eugene McGuinness and his most powerfully conceived and fully realised artistic statement to date. Recorded with the dual assistance of producers Clive Langer (Madness, Elvis Costello, Morrissey) and Dan Carey (MIA, Hot Chip, Santigold), it's an unabashedly bombastic, brave and above all, thoroughly contemporary update on a distinctly English strand of lyrical, gently fantastical pop songwriting that locates and celebrates the beautiful and the bizarre in modern life.

His first album since 2008's When The Haar Rolls In, I Was A Cat From A Book finds James playing with a new band comprised of members of Lamb & The Cinematic Orchestra alongside old friends. The album was produced by James Yorkston and Dave Wrench and mostly recorded live during 5 wintry days in Bryn Derwen Studios, North Wales. It's an album full of energy and great musicianship, and contains James' strongest and most bewildering set of songs yet.
Since the release of When The Haar Rolls In, James has published a book (It’s Lovely To Be Here), collaborated with The Big Eyes Family Players on Folk Songs & seen the 10 year anniversary release of Moving Up Country, his landmark debut album
I Was A Cat From A Book will be available on CD, 2 x 10” vinyl (exclusively featuring 2 extra tracks ‘Thar She Blows’ and ‘Black Horse White’) and digitally. There is also a spectacular Box Set version, containing 2 x 10" gatefold vinyl with download, the CD of the album, a DVD of James’ performance at the Union Chapel in 2011, a remix album by David 'A' Jaycock, printed backgammon pieces and dice to be played on the LP gatefold and 3 badges.

Antony and the Johnsons will release CUT THE WORLD through Rough Trade August 6th and August 7th via Secretly Canadian. CUT THE WORLD is a collection of live symphonic performances of songs from the band's 4 full length albums (SWANLIGHTS, THE CRYING LIGHT, I AM A BIRD NOW, S/T). Recorded in Copenhagen, DK with The Danish National Chamber Orchestra, CUT THE WORLD features arrangements by Nico Muhly, Rob Moose, Maxim Moston and Antony.
Additionally the title track "Cut The World" is featured here for the first time. It is one of Antony's new songs for The Life and Death of Marina Abramovi? directed by Robert Wilson and staring Antony, Marina Abramovi? and Willem Dafoe.
CUT THE WORLD was recorded live on September 2nd and 3rd, 2011 at the DK Concert Hall in Copenhagen, DK and represents Antony's continued meditation on light, nature & femininity. Antony discusses his ideas on the track "Future Feminism", a speech he made during one of the concerts. Addressing the affects of patriarchy on the global ecology, Antony explores the possibility of shifting towards feminine systems of governance in a gesture to restore our world.

Gallon Drunk were an English alternative rock band formed in London in 1988. Their sound contains a variety of influences, from noise to blues and jazz, and is noted for its dark subject matter.

英伦乐队 Spiritualized最新专辑《Sweet Heart Sweet Light》带着厚厚70年代的声音，不论歌曲旋律、编曲、录音以及溷音的声音处理，总是让人不其然地联想起那个 「音乐乌托邦」 的年代，如专辑中一曲 《Little Girl》。歌词中更谈及了不少对生命的看法和体验。

“净化”Spiritualized 是由80年代著名噪音乐队Spacemen 3蜕变而来的，Jason Pierce离开乐队之后，没有延续一贯的实验噪音，而是转而探索英式迷幻摇滚，并由此组建了Spiritualized。乐队在92年发行了首张专辑《Lazer Guided Melodies》，取得了相当不错的成绩，接着在95年发行了《Pure Chase》，同样大获好评，而97年的那张《Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space》则被认为是他们最具代表性的专辑，并在当年获得了巨大的成功，紧接着乐队借势又在98年发行了现场版的双张CD《Live At The Royal Albert Hall October 10 1997》，庞大的演出阵容，包括了从管弦乐团到福音合唱团，也使得这次演出异常完美。
Spiritualized的音乐总是带着浓厚的布鲁斯和福音的味道，从60年代以来，很少有英国乐队给人这样的感觉了。“净化”的音乐有一点儿奇怪，他们有足够的能力做出旋律优美的调子，但却往往要用失真的吉他音墙去破坏它，仿佛噪音有一种魔力似的，而主唱的唱腔也总是保持着冰冷的感觉。“ 净化”不喜欢平铺直叙的田园风情，他们更喜欢鳞比栉次的音乐宫殿。
2001年，“净化”推出了第四张录音室专辑《让它没落》(Let It Come Down)，此时“净化”已真正变成以杰森·皮尔斯一人为核心的乐队，包括杰森前女友凯特·雷德利等成员都已纷纷离开。但专辑依旧延续以往的华丽阵容，参与的乐手多达上百人。2003年的新专辑《惊异的优雅》(Amazing Grace)是在几星期内录好的。更多粗糙原始的音效代替了华丽管弦，新专辑的歌曲在结构上更为传统，这和前几张专辑的太空迷幻倾向有着非常大的不同。封面上那赤裸的手臂似乎预示着杰森在追求更“净化”的音乐。专辑中请来了埃文·帕克(Evan Parker)、哈恩·本尼克(Han Bennink)等自由爵士乐巨匠担任乐手。在访谈中杰森对能和这些音乐家合作表示非常兴奋。谈到新专辑的变化，他说道：“其实并没有刻意经营或追求什么，事物的发展往往受很多因素的影响，但我想最主要的一点在于我们总是尝试做一些不同的东西，而不考虑它是不是有正确答案。”谈到杂志的评价，杰森颇为不屑：“在任何一个时期，英国的音乐媒体都会找出六、七张唱片并吹嘘它们是‘划时代的’，媒体就是靠这个运作。我的成就感在于唱片获得了和它的价值相符的回报，以及它完全为我个人的音乐抱负服务。我其实并不需要很多人跟我说这是张伟大的唱片，并从这种赞扬中得到满足，从别人那里得到赞扬是件极容易的事，以至于很少人会对你说：‘坚持下去，你所做的并不如计划中的那样好。’这就和皇帝的新装一样，不是吗？我并不以杂志的赞誉获得满足感，我1995年的唱片《纯粹状态》几乎没有得到任何回应，《NME》给它打了5分，满分是10分。不幸的是《NME》是英国大多数年轻人音乐口味的仲裁者。我可不认为《纯粹状态》在任何一个方面比《女士们先生们我们正在太空里漂浮》差，我更没有兴趣为了讨好媒体去做一张唱片。摇滚乐最让我热爱的一点就在于它的表达，你可以在歌词中述说一些老掉牙和俗世的事物，但当你把这些事物和音乐结合起来，它们就立刻变得富于幻想性，就像令人惊艳具有魔力的诗歌一样。例如你可以说‘我不能停止爱你’或其他类似的话，这些话本身其实是没什么特色的，但和音乐结合在一起，它们就具有了魔力。”
不像“石玫瑰”那样优美，也不是“收音机头”那般沉溺。在顶级的英国乐队中，“净化”是如此与众不同的一个，它是一种缓慢而持久的药物，用来医治灵魂和心灵。

This album is meant to be listened to on headphones.
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