{"title":"Michael Head and the Red Elastic Band","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"adios-senor-pussycat","title":"Adios Senor Pussycat","description":"\u003cp\u003eRecorded under the name of Michael Head \u0026amp; The Red Elastic Band, \u003ci\u003eAdiós Señor Pussycat\u003c\/i\u003e was released on Violette Records on Friday 20th October 2017.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBeautiful and evocative and recorded in his home-town of Liverpool between March 2016 and June 2017, the album is the culmination of four years of hard work. Equal to his finest moments, \u003ci\u003eAdios Senor Pussycat\u003c\/i\u003e will undoubtedly only further cement his reputation as one of this generations greatest songwriters. Since a self-imposed hiatus in 2008, Michael Head has been working with a fluid concept of an ever-rotating band format to provide a flexible platform for the range of his new live and recorded works. Under the guise of Michael Head and The Red Elastic Band in 2013, they released their sought-after debut EP, \u003ci\u003eArtorius Revisited\u003c\/i\u003e, and followed this with a double A sided 7”, \u003ci\u003eVelvets In The Dark \/ Koala Bears\u003c\/i\u003e in 2015. A soulful and poetic genius, fate, bad luck and circumstance and often conspired to deny him his rightful dues. Loved and lauded by fellow artists and critics alike, he started out in the early 1980s with The Pale Fountains, with whom he recorded a brace of acclaimed albums, \u003ci\u003ePacific Street \u003c\/i\u003e(1984) and \u003ci\u003e…From Across The Kitchen Table \u003c\/i\u003e(1985). He subsequently formed Shack with his brother John and went on to record five albums over almost twenty years including the much loved and acclaimed \u003ci\u003eWaterpistol \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eHMS Fable\u003c\/i\u003e in 1999 which saw the band briefly flirt with chart success and hailed from the cover of the NME as “our greatest songwriter” He also released, what is often regarded as his classic album, \u003ci\u003eThe Magical World Of The Strands\u003c\/i\u003e under the name of Michael Head and The Strands in 1997, and with Shack currently on hiatus he has been performing under the Red Elastic Band guise for the past few years.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Violette Records","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50380142739787,"sku":"1015639","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50380143100235,"sku":"1015640","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/1b2bb187-0cd1-4684-a498-1ee1f4cfa308_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726209092"},{"product_id":"loophole","title":"Loophole","description":"\u003cp\u003eAlbums of the Year 2024 - Number 71\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe cult songwriter’s follow up to critically acclaimed album \u003cem\u003eDear Scott\u003c\/em\u003e (one of our Albums of the Year in 2022) is an elegant, personal, and evocative collection of songs, produced once again by \u003cstrong\u003eBill Ryder-Jones\u003c\/strong\u003e at the former Coral lead-guitarist’s Yawn Studios. It is with genuine delight that we witness a continued streak of glorious musicianship from the Liverpudlian. As he extends his rich back catalogue with \u003cem\u003eLoophole\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eHead\u003c\/em\u003e only reaffirms the strikingly characterful charm that’s kept us all coming back for more than 40 years. - Emily, Rough Trade Office | Albums of the Year So Far 2024\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e62 years of music, loves, losses, long summer days, and longer, darker nights are vividly recalled by ‘our greatest living songwriter’, \u003cstrong\u003eMichael Head\u003c\/strong\u003e and The Red Elastic Band as he plays out flickering scenes from his life on new album, \u003cem\u003eLoophole\u003c\/em\u003e, released on Modern Sky. 12 evocative and autobiographical songs to be accompanied by the written word as \u003cstrong\u003eMichael Head\u003c\/strong\u003e prepares his memoirs for release with an autobiography with Nine Eight Books.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Modern Sky","offers":[{"title":"Light Blue LP | Rough Trade Exclusive","offer_id":50416960635211,"sku":"2177737","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Light Blue LP","offer_id":50416960405835,"sku":"2177736","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50416959914315,"sku":"2177735","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Pink LP","offer_id":50416960897355,"sku":"2199414","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50416959488331,"sku":"2177734","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Front-Cover-MH_bd2a3106_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726713185"},{"product_id":"velvets-in-the-dark-koala-bears-2","title":"Velvets In The Dark \/ Koala Bears","description":"\u003cp\u003eA very rare jewel in the Michael Head canon of work. A two-song project recorded in 2014, pressed in\nFrance and packaged in a hand-made sleeve.\nThis is a unique and original artefact, not a re-press. With no band name on the sleeve, this was a\npersonal project exquisitely packaged.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe songs are pure and quintessential Michael Head. Velvets In The Dark was written in the wake of\nthe death of Lou Reed and centres around being on the outside of those things most important in your\nlife. Koala Bears is a remarkable song with a structure like no other featuring two young fugitives,\nfixated and so in love who when caught have their code word for “we say nothing”.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Violette Records","offers":[{"title":"7\"","offer_id":50467419783499,"sku":"2004052","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/VIO0077_a29309fe_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727337827"},{"product_id":"dear-scott","title":"Dear Scott","description":"\u003cp\u003eFinding that luck, love and letting things roll works out for him just fine, Michael Head leads his Red Elastic Band into a fresh chapter with optimism and some of the best music of his career, with his new, Bill Ryder-Jones-produced album, \u003ci\u003eDear Scott\u003c\/i\u003e via Modern Sky UK. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRevered by heavyweight songwriting peers and discovered by new generations of discerning listeners, all enraptured by the fruits of Head’s winding, 40-year career, the Liverpool singer-songwriter enters a new age of creativity and collaboration with \u003ci\u003eDear Scott\u003c\/i\u003e. Promising to be a shimmering jewel cast by the minds and hearts of Merseyside’s finest musicians, the 12-track album is dusted with both Ryder-Jones’ artistry and the heavyweight musicianship of The Red Elastic Band, which Head found had ‘stepped up’ following almost a year apart, forcing him to dig deeper himself. Of slipping back into writing and recording in 2021, Head continues: “After being apart for a while, I went for a walk on the beach with the band and it was beautiful, literally and personally. Rehearsals followed and it clicked into place, with one thing leading to the next. It’s very much the ethos we’re working by, keeping things simple, but keeping the momentum. I’d met Bill a few times and he’s a lovely guy. Once we knew he was interested in producing the album we didn’t need to think about it again, it just progressed and became a completely natural thing.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eDear Scott \u003c\/i\u003erefers to novelist, F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose debt-ridden, down-and-out years captured the imagination of Head, specifically a postcard Fitzgerald addressed to himself upon checking in at Hollywood’s infamous Golden Age retreat, The Garden Of Allah Hotel. Head explains: “A decade after being the king of the jazz age, Fitzgerald arrived unfashionable and sober, ready to conquer Hollywood. His agent with a sense of humour booked him into The Garden Of Allah, where writers, movie stars and even Stravinsky sometimes lived. He famously picked up a postcard on checking in and addressed it to himself.” The postcard read: Dear Scott, How are you? Have been meaning to come and see you. I have living at the Garden Of Allah. Yours Scott Fitzgerald Head states that the formation of The Red Elastic Band in 2008 began with ‘whoever was available at the time’, primarily as a vehicle for live performance, producing one, previous album in 2017’s Adiós Señor Pussycat. The band has since developed into a cohesive, mutually-supportive and permanent line-up, with Phil Murphy on drums, Tom Powell on bass, Danny Murphy on guitars and Nathaniel Cummins on guitars and backing vocals being the musicians taking on the world in 2022 alongside Head.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Modern Sky","offers":[{"title":"Blue | LP","offer_id":50467425124683,"sku":"1165208","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Red | LP","offer_id":50467423748427,"sku":"1143095","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50467421356363,"sku":"1143094","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50467426304331,"sku":"1143093","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/fcafed81-7338-407a-b141-81df9578afa0_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727337959"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/collections\/michael-head-and-the-red-elastic-band.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}