Graham Coxon's (Blur) Announces Third Drop In Reissue Of Complete Solo Catalogue

Trangressive Records today announces the third drop in a comprehensive reissue of Graham Coxon’s complete solo catalogue, (spanning 9 studio albums and 3 original soundtracks), with the vinyl release of three additional studio albums - Love Travels At Illegal Speeds (2006), The Spinning Top (2009) and AE (2012); plus the first-time digital release of acoustic live album Live At The ICA Acoustic (2004), all available on 4th December.

The three albums will be available on CD, black vinyl and limited edition coloured vinyl, exclusive to independent record shops and Graham’s store, as follows: Love Travels At Illegal Speeds on CD, double black vinyl and double purple vinyl; The Spinning Top on CD, double black vinyl and double black marble vinyl; and AE on CD, black vinyl and red and blue splatter vinyl.

The announcement of the digital release of Live At the ICA Acoustic is accompanied by the release of a live video from the acoustic track 'Baby, You're out of My Mind (Live At The ICA Acoustic'), previously only available on DVD. Watch HERE.

Ahead of his upcoming sold-out career-spanning show at O2 Forum Kentish Town, Graham will play an additional run of UK dates with shows in Edinburgh, Manchester, Bristol and Brighton in the run up to London on Saturday 28th November. These special headline shows will mark Coxon’s first full live band performances in over 10 years. Tickets and information HERE.

Full list of dates:

• 22 November - EDINBURGH - Liquid Rooms
• 23 November - MANCHESTER - New Century Hall
• 25 November - BRISTOL- Electric Bristol
• 26 November - BRIGHTON - Concorde 2
• 28 November - LONDON - O2 Forum Kentish Town - SOLD OUT!

Following the Top 20 success of 2004’s Happiness In Magazines, Graham reunited with producer Stephen Street for Love Travels At Illegal Speeds. Originally released in March 2006, Graham’s sixth solo album delivered another volley of punk rock riffs and power pop choruses, with the likes of ‘I Can’t Look At Your Skin’ and ‘Gimme Some Love’ boasting some searing, ’70s rock style guitar solos.

“I thought Love Travels At Illegal Speeds was better than Happiness In Magazines in a lot of ways,” says Graham. “Sonically, it was getting a bit more sophisticated. I was playing these simple guitar solos. I thought, Why not? In indie land, it’s always like: Nah, you don’t do guitar solos! So it became a lot more traditional, sort of a late ’70s thing.”

After the spiky punk riffs and power pop melodies of Happiness in Magazines and Love Travels At Illegal Speeds, Graham took a very different path for his seventh solo album, 2009’s The Spinning Top, mastering the complex fingerpicking styles of folk guitarists Bert Jansch and Davy Graham. Featuring contributions from Robyn Hitchcock, Martin Carthy, and late Pentangle double bassist Danny Thompson, The Spinning Top is one of the most ambitious and rich records of Graham’s career, presenting a rich tapestry of moods and styles within its bucolic atmosphere and nimble playing, with enchanting highlight ‘In The Morning’ embracing the scales and allure of traditional Indian music.

“It was like going to the bloody gym for six months,” recalls Graham with a laugh. “These songs started appearing while I was sat at the table with a pot of tea, and my love for things like Davy Graham, Bert Jansch and John Martyn started bubbling up.” Adding, “I liked the idea of it being more contemplative rather than just in-your-face, three-minute guitar songs.”

Originally released in 2012, Graham Coxon’s eighth solo album AE was inspired by the wave of nu rave and post-punk-inspired groups then prevalent in the UK music scene. On tracks such as ‘City Hall’ and ‘Meet And Drink And Pollinate’, Coxon drew a line from the present back to late ’70s/early ’80s pioneers like Magazine, Wire and Cabaret Voltaire.

“My band had played a gig at the sadly no more Leeds Cockpit, and there was this club night afterwards,” remembers Graham. “Everything they were playing sounded amazing. It was all new stuff, and the kids looked so cool. It made a really big impression on me, and AE was sort of based on what I thought I was hearing that night. It didn’t give a fuck – it was just riffs in your face and was very mischievous.”

With his back catalogue long sold out and in high demand on physical formats, the release of Castle Park in June kicked off the comprehensive reissue of Coxon’s expansive solo catalogue and came alongside the re-release of The Sky is Too High and The Golden D, available now. Further drops to come include the studio albums Love Travels at Illegal Speeds (2006), The Spinning Top (2009), AE (2012); as well as the two Original Songs and Score album soundtracks for The End of The F***ing World 1 (2018) and The End of The F***ing World 2 (2019); plus Superstate (2021), the original soundtrack released to accompany the graphic novel of the same name.

TRACKLISTINGS:

Love Travels At Illegal Speeds

1. Standing On My Own Again

2. I Can't Look At Your Skin

3. Don't Let Your Man Know

4. Just A State Of Mind

5. You & I

6. Gimme Some Love

7. I Don't Wanna Go Out

8. Don't Believe Anything I Say

9. Tell It Like It Is

10. Flights To The Sea (Lovely Rain)

11. What's He Got?

12. You Always Let Me Down

13. See A Better Day

The Spinning Top

1. Look Into the Light

2. This House

3. In the Morning

4. If You Want Me

5. Perfect Love

6. Brave the Storm

7. Dead Bees

8. Sorrow's Army

9. Caspian Sea

10. Home

11.Humble Man

12. Feel Alright

13. Far from Everything

14. Tripping Over

15. November

AE

1. Advice

2. City Hall

3. What'll It Take

4. Meet and Drink and Pollinate

5. The Truth

6. Seven Naked Valleys

7. Running for Your Life

8. Bah Singer

9. Knife in the Cast

10. Ooh, Yeh Yeh

Live At The ICA Acoustic

1. Been Smoking Too Long

2. Latte

3. Live Line

4. Baby, You’re out of My Mind

5. All Over Me

6. My Little Girl

7. Here I Go

About Castle Park:

Produced by Ben Hillier (blur - Think Tank), Castle Park was recorded in 2011 as part of the AE (2012) sessions. Originally intended as a follow up to AE, the release was postponed due to blur activity in 2012, before Coxon moved on to other projects. Castle Park is a collection of 10 songs that lean into the artist’s classic mod sound, with lead single ‘Billy Says’ - a longtime feature of Coxon’s live set - already familiar to fans and now finally available for the first time. Listen to Castle Park HERE.