Reid all about it

Jim Reid, one half of legendary fuzz-rock duo The Jesus and Mary Chain, is a very busy man.
His new solo single, Dead End Kids, is imminent, whilst his other side project, Freeheat, have just released their debut album, Back On The Water.
The single will also feature Dead End Kids (Demo Version) along with a cover of Bob Dylan's If You've Gotta Go, which has been getting rave reviews from his recent live gigs.
If you're quick about it, you can also get an exclusive recording of Jim covering The Beatles' And Your Bird Can Sing by grabbing the July issue of Mojo, which features an excellent CD of various artists recreating Revolver for the 40th anniversary of its release. It's well worth a listen - Jim turns the song into a spooked-out, stripped-down, twangy country ballad. Awesome.


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Everything Must Go

While perusing the Selfridges' summer sale, I spotted James Dean Bradfield, the diminutive frontman of Manic Street Preachers, enjoying some lunch in the mozzarella salad bar - how rock and roll is that? Maybe he'd been lured in by the 'Everything Must Go' signs outside - groan!
On a more serious note, James is about to release his first solo album - The Great Western. Recorded in Hoxton and in Stir Studios in Cardiff, (where the band famously made their dark masterpiece, The Holy Bible), it's apparently a ' heroic pop-rock memoir statement that combines the sweeping flourishes of Everything Must Go; the airtight punk of The Holy Bible and Generation Terrorists' wide-eyed lust for life'.
If the new single's anything to go by, then the album should be well worth checking out - That's No Way To Tell A Lie is an epic pop song with a Motown feel and an irresistible melody. Not to be outdone, fellow Manic Nicky Wire has also recorded a solo record - I Killed The Zeitgeist - which is set to be released in September.
Expect plenty of songs about housework, rugby and afternoon naps. If that's not enough for you, then the Manics are also working on a brand new studio album due for release next year. Wire has described it as 'Appetite For Destruction 2!" Watch this space.

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