Shellac, the noisy rock trio fronted by Steve Albini, will put out a double-vinyl collection of previously unreleased recordings they made for BBC Radio’s Peel Sessions. The album, The End of Radio, will come out on June 14th and will include a single CD of the album.
The first LP contains four songs the band cut in July 1994 on BBC Maida Vale Studio 3’s 24-trakck console, the same year they put out their debut, At Action Park. That record’s “Crow” was among the recordings they recorded that day, and they also did three songs that would later appear on 1998’s Terraform and 2007’s Excellent Italian Greyhound: “Canada,” “Disgrace” and “Spoke.” They mixed them to stereo that day.
They recorded the second disc in 2004 for a “live From Maida Vale” session in front of an audience in Studio 4; it aired that December. The record contains several songs that would later appear on Excellent Italian Greyhound, including the song “The End of Radio.”
Although the band has no upcoming shows booked, the End of Radio announcement came with a note that it will “continue to play shows or tour at the same sporadic and relaxed pace as always.” It added that people should assume that album releases and touring are unrelated. “There will be more new material in the future,” the band added.
Earlier this year, Albini spoke with Rolling Stone about his recent gold-bracelet win at the World Series of Poker. He said at the time that the band was working on new material “at a glacial pace.” As of January, the group had about half a dozen or so songs it intended to record for a new record. Its last album, Dude Incredible, came out in 2014.
The End of Radio Track List
1994 Peel Session
1. “Spoke”
2. “Canada”
3. “Crow”
4. “Disgrace”
2004 Peel Session
1. “Ghosts”
2. “The End of Radio”
3. “Canada”
4. “Paco”
5. “Steady as She Goes”
6. “Billiard Player Song”
7. “Dog and Pony Show”
8. “Il Porno Star”