Speaking on Strummer and the posted performance, Vedder stated, “I just think that what Joe did with the Mescaleros and those records, those songs and those words, it was a very communal sound, I think when you have a communal sound, the listener feels like they can be part of that community. I can only imagine that he facilitated thousands and thousands of connections.”

Joe Strummer first rose to fame as the co-founder, singer and guitarist of The Clash, the group was formed in the late 70s and soon became a beacon within the era’s rising punk movement. Soon after their formation, The Clash created a key part of music and cultural history, the band’s third studio album London Calling was released in 1979. The album’s lead single “London Calling” soon became a staple of the genre and would go on to define an era and generation.

After Strummer disbanded the band in 1986 he embarked on the next chapter of his career, the talented artist then began his work in film soundtracks and began to release solo material. One of Strummer’s first forays into film music was in 1986 within the film Sid and Nancy, the film charted the chaotic relationship between Nancy Spungen and Sid Vicious from fellow UK punk outfit The Sex Pistols. During the ’90s, Strummer formed his own personal supergroup, The Mescaleros would go onto release three studio albums including “Long Shaddow’s” partner album Streetcore.

The album was released on 21st October 2003 via Hellcat, an independent record label based in California’s Los Angeles. The album was posthumously released after the tragic passing of Strummer in December 2002 and was received with great applause. At its time of release, Mojo magazine stated that “Streetcore is an amalgam of all that made Joe Strummer, the musician and the man, so great.”

JOE STRUMMER 002: THE MESCALEROS YEARS is available September 16th, 2022. Pre-order the 7LP and 4CD boxset NOW at https://t.co/b8vpOhAaev

Including the remastered Mescaleros albums plus demos, outtakes, rarities, previously unreleased songs & items from the Strummer archive. pic.twitter.com/qTrUFwzr3T

— JoeStrummer (@JoeStrummer) July 27, 2022

Last month it was announced that a new box set would be released, Joe Strummer: 002: The Mescaleros Years is set to drop on 16th September 2022. The collection will feature songs by Strummer and The Mescaleros, the box set will mark the first-ever release of an anthology take from group’s entire discography.

Strummer’s widow Lucinda Tait was the executive producer of the upcoming collection and has given the following statement, “There’s so much great music that Joe left us in his archive. To focus on Joe’s work with The Mescaleros was the natural second step on ‘002’ because those songs he made with them just seemed to resonate so strongly and reinvigorated his connection with his audience at a level he hadn’t experienced since his days with The Clash.”

Click here to pre-order Joe Strummer: 002: The Mescaleros Years.

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Whitford provides the following statement speaking on the group’s initial ten years whilst expressing his excitement for the release, “For me, 2001-2011 feels like a special time period for Cut Copy. It charts the move from me first signing to a record label as a naive young kid who made music in my bedroom to a fully fledged band that forged its own musical fingerprint, created some globally loved albums and toured the world. Within Cut Copy’s evolution, the arc of these first ten years felt like a special musical journey. For Tim, Mitchell, Ben and I, every tour was a new discovery and every record was a new development, each with its own very unique visual and musical identity. Sadly those early albums are long out of print (only available second hand at astronomical prices).

Whitford continues to discuss the box-set, “So for this reason we decided it was time to create a vinyl box set covering the first ten years of Cut Copy.  I designed the artwork for the box as well as putting together a zine booklet that goes along with it, with old photos, setlists, notes and other memorabilia from the early days. We also compiled a bonus disc containing rare early releases ‘I Thought of Numbers’ and ‘1981.’ Hopefully the box is a special treat for our longtime fans and also new ones wanting to discover this era of our music for the first time.”

A press release for the box set provides the following statement, “The box set also documents Cut Copy’s fearless experimentation that has blurred the line between a rock group and dance music since their inception and their explorations with dub, Afrobeat, 70s Southern California harmonies, and more. Along with early EPs, 1981 and I Thought of Numbers (previously unavailable on vinyl), Bright Like Neon Love, In Ghost Colors, and the GRAMMY-nominated Zonoscope are all included. ”

In celebration of the upcoming release, the Australian indie-electronic outfit have also released a re-discovered documentary, the footage was found whilst preparing Collected Works 2001-2011. During the process of searching through their archive, the group stumbled across the film, shot in 2004 the documentary bears witness to the making of their debut album Bright Like Neon Love. The newly discovered footage was filmed in Sydney and Melbourne and features the group conducting various activities, they can be seen rehearsing, performing at Sydney’s Club 77 and DJ’ing at Kings Cross club Moulin Rouge at an after-party.

In support of the group’s upcoming release, the quartet is set to hit the road this Spring for their 2022 tour. The band kick off the twenty-five-date tour on 23rd April 2022 with a performance in Colorado, after sixteen US shows Cut Copy begin their Ireland and UK dates. On 24th October 2022, the group perform in Dublin and complete three more shows in Leeds and London. The group then start the European leg of their tour and perform in Paris on 30th October 2022, the tour concludes with a performance in Portugal on 4th November 2022.

Cut Copy UK and Ireland tour dates

24/10/2022 – Ireland at Whelan’s – Dublin
25/10 – Brudenell Social Club – Leeds
26/10 – Fabric (Cut/Copy Presents) – London
27/10 – Fabric (Cut/Copy Presents) – London

Click here to purchase tickets.

Click here to pre-order Collected Works 2001-2011

Click here to watch the documentary.

Photo Credit:  Tamar Levine

The first single entitled “Shadow Man (Unplugged & Somewhat Slightly Electric Mix” was recorded in 2000 and is a bare-bones mix of a re-recording which Bowie made in 1970. Acclaimed producer Mark Plati has provided the following description concerning the track, “While we were recording the basic tracks Earl Slick suggested that he and I overdub acoustic guitars on all the songs. He said this was Keith Richards’ trick: sometimes these guitars would be a featured part of the track, and at other times they’d be more subliminal. Later, while mixing, David heard one of the songs broken down to just vocals and acoustic guitars; this gave him the idea that we ought to do some stripped-down mixes like that and that maybe one day they’d be useful.”

The second recording of “Shadow Man” to be released is a studio demo version; the early recording was made during the end of 1970. Bowie’s official website confirms that the track was “not recorded during the Ziggy Stardust album sessions as often stated, and is exclusive to this single”

The original recording of “Shadow Man” took place within the end months of 1970. The single was then revisited by Bowie in the Autumn of 1971, another re-working of the track occurred thirty years later. The song would then be included within the singer’s ‘lost’ album Toy, the legendary album which until recently was mainly left unreleased. “Shadow Man” was finally made available to fans in 2002 on the album Heathen and again on the 2014 compilation album Nothing has Changed.

Bowie’s official site provides the following description concerning the making of Toy, “TOY was recorded following David’s triumphant Glastonbury 2000 performance. Bowie entered the studio with his band, Mark Plati, Sterling Campbell, Gail Ann Dorsey, Earl Slick, Mike Garson, Holly Palmer and Emm Gryner, to record new interpretations of songs he’d first recorded from 1964-1971. David planned to record the album ‘old school’ with the band playing live, choose the best takes and then release it as soon as humanly possible in a remarkably prescient manner. “

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The recently released box set of Toy boasts a tracklist of 13 unplugged recordings from the ‘lost’ album. The special edition also includes previously unseen photographs snapped by Frank Ockenfels, alternative mixes and un-released B-Sides. Music fans will be treated to re-visited versions of the singer’s early material including “You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving”, “Silly Boy Blue” and Bowie’s debut single “Liza Jane”

The box set has been made available in 3CD or 6×10” Vinyl configurations. The energy and spirit accumulated during the album’s process also extend to the box set’s packaging. The sleeve artwork has been designed by the “Starman” singer and depicts Bowie as a baby with his adult facial features.

Click here to purchase Toy (Toy: Box).