HEATHER SMALL, BLONDIE, THE ANCHORESS

If you are in the market for "long playing" reissues this week then I am likely to be disappointing you.  There are indeed some by men (including Elton John, Neil Young, Ronnie James Dio, The Who and Trashcan Sinatras) but I haven't found any by women.  Occasionally this happens, and its all part of the ebb and flow of the release schedules, but I can't help thinking that we may never experience a week where there is no LP reissue by a man at all...

Anyway, there are some things that I have enjoyed listening to this week and that I would love to draw your attention to:

Heather Small - the voice of M People - has a new album coming out on 29th July which is called Colour My Life.  She has collaborated with the London Metropolitan Orchestra to put together a collection of reworkings of her top 10 hits.  Latest single from this collection - 'Excited' - came out digitally this Friday to add to the new versions of 'Proud' and the absolute nineties dance floor classic 'Moving On Up'.  

There's a new Blondie single out this week too - the demo of the straight-talking title 'I Love You Honey, Give Me A Beer', which ultimately became 'Go Through It' from their 1980 album Autoamerican.  It's the second single from the forthcoming box set Against The Odds 1974-1982, due out at the end of August.

And something I look forward to every month are the cover versions by The Anchoress on her Bandcamp.  This month, very appropriately, she has chosen 'Pennyroyal Tea' by Nirvana.  Read more and hear the song at her Bandcamp page.  These are limited releases only, and likely this one will be gone within the next 24 hours so don't delay.

In other news, I saw Pixies live at Hyde Park last weekend and as ends to the working week go, watching Pixies with a cold beer at tea time on a really sunny Friday with fifty thousand other people is one I will remember fondly for some time to come.  And yes, I know, Pixies is a band that is three-quarters men.  But my god is bassist Paz Lenchantin utterly captivating...

And that concludes the information I have to impart to you all this week!