Fischer-Z: new single "Strings"; on tour in Austria in 2027

New Wave band Fischer-Z will release a new album, X-Ray Serenade, on September 4. Lead single Strings has all their signature bits: an instantly hummable melody and lyrics that dig deep. John Watts explains:

Strings is a pop song about consequence. It’s about wrestling with the trials and tribulations of living. In an era when facts and truth are no longer in fashion, especially in the political arena, the fact that “Life has strings” is particularly relevant! Whatever you do, comes back to you!’

The video featuring aerial performer Ruby LeStrange was filmed at St Paul's in Bristol, where he was once was a choir boy.

Strings is released via Cherry Red.

Phish: Las Vegas run webcasts

All nine Phish shows at the Sphere in Las Vegas - April 16–18, April 23–25, April 30–May 2 - will be offered as pay-per-view webcasts (4K or HD).

» livephish.com

The Fierce & The Dead: free download of "News From The Invisible World"

English prog experimentalists The Fierce & The Dead are busy recording their fifth studio album, Regional Theatre, which will be released in October. After years of being an underground insrumental band, they brought in vocals for News From The Invisible World in 2023. The press was all over it, and for all the right reasons. For a limited time that album is now available as a free download: "Switching from metal to prog, surf, and avant-garde. Ambitious and grandiose stuff delivered impeccably."

Robert Plant: "Saving Grace: All That Glitters… with Suzi Dian" for Record Store Day

Four new studio recordings by Robert Plant with his band Saving Grace and singer and multi-instrumentalist Suzi Dian will be released for Record Store Day (April 18). 3500 copies of Saving Grace: All That Glitters… with Suzi Dian are pressed for a worldwide release.

Phenomenal Cat: Dreamland (Supermarket is a Warhol Painting)

When English power-pop band Phenomenal Cat released their sprawling and frankly pretty damn great double album Pop Wasteland in 2017 they soon found out that they sort of had painted themselves into a career. Where to go next after such a well-executed concept album? There were some plans to have a single out in 2021 and then the pandemic put a stop to pretty much anything. Fast forward to 2026 and they are back with Dreamland (Supermarket is a Warhol Painting), again a set of connected songs, albeit a very concise one this time.

Featuring an eclectic cast of characters, who are accompanied by an equally diverse backing as their stories are told with a mix of understanding and wit. Once again the influence of the greatest English band from the 60s, The Kinks, when they entered their imperial period with The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, the sextet makes a case for Joe Average. The most obvious reference to Ray Davies' witticism is 21st Century Englishman, an update and follow-up for "20th Century Man from Muswell Hillbillies Steve's Things (with the riff of Gloria thrown in), is about a guy who likes to fill his house with all kinds of tools he will probably never use.