After a relentlessly prolific and steadily diversifying 2025, it’s perhaps not surprising that Precious Recordings is one of the first independent labels out of the release gates at the dawning of 2026. With respectively refreshing twists, the below pair of near-back-to-back vinyl and digital outings confirm that the core business of digging up the BBC’s buried treasure chests – with consent – remains undiminished.
Combining the enterprise’s knack for channelling scholarly knowledge of Scottish underground music scenes of the last five decades, for having an ear for genuine archival curiosities and for plugging market-gaps in available recordings, is a LP-length anthology of The Twinsets’ triptych of vintage John Peel sessions.
Capturing a body of work greater in size and scope than a rare self-released two-track 1984 cassette single and the small handful of songs that have popped-up on compilations over the years, Peel Sessions 82-83 has the feel of a charmingly off-centre but impressively diverse debut album, encapsulating a venture never seemingly burdened by conformist artistic expectations or commercial pressures.
Forged around a nucleus of the unconventional singing-songwriting and covers-adoring duo of sisters Gaye and Rachel Bell — around which a variety of drummers, bassists and guitarists (including additional songwriter Rory Hall and co-writing father Norman Bell), keyboardist Alan Rankine (The Associates) and others revolved over a few short years of activity in the early 1980s — the low-fuss but high-craft pick and mix pleasures from several line-ups of The Twinsets are abundant across the fourteen gathered pieces.Thus, there are poppier Caledonian takes on Raincoats-style art-punk (“Johnny Come Home”, “I’ll Remember You” and “Heartbeat”); flashforwards to the most harmony-hued purveyors of C86 jangle (“Zippos” and “Talk”); galloping rockabilly (“Out Of Nowhere”); ‘60s girl-group shimmying (“Too Too Much”, “Crush” and “Girl On Her Own”); tangential nods to The B-52s (“Glittering New Day”); and distant echoes of early-Kinks stompers (“Meant To Be”).
For the reinterpreted material, the nimble imagination runs freely too. This manifests with a delightfully minimalist Slits-meets-barbershop-quartet makeover of “Stranded In The Jungle” discovered via the New York Dolls’ own adaptation; a low-slung sparse swoon through the Elvis-embedded milestone that is “Suspicious Minds”; and a pared-back rubbery remoulding of The Shangri-Las-popularised “Sophisticated Boom Boom”. Aided by the near-total-absence of any faddy period production trappings, this re-distillation of The Twinsets’ slender yet eclectic canon is an unbridled historical revelation and joy.
Bringing things bang up to date in contrast — as much as modern pressing plant timetables for non-major label clients will allow that is — comes Jetstream Pony’s recorded live-on-air appearance for 6Music, in the shape of the Riley & Coe Session 09.04.25 EP.
Aided on this nicely documented visit to the BBC’s Salford studios by guitarist Mark Matthews (The Dentists, Treasures Of Mexico) as well as Lee Grimshaw (Spin Out Nuggets label boss) on melodica and percussion, the extended configuration of members revisit three choice cuts from last year’s well-received Bowerbirds And Blue Things long-player and bring us the definitive version of a composition originally only put out in demo form on the flipside of the first Jetstream Pony 7” single from 2017.
Through the former tranche we’re treated to a trio of rewarding reworkings that are faithful in spirit to their formal incarnations but subtly more textured and uplifting in their delivery. Hence, ““Bubble Nothingness”” soars through its Buffalo Tom-goes-shoegaze chugging; “Only If You Want To” glides along like a lost David Gedge alliance with Lush; and the Electr-O-Pura-era Yo La Tengo flavours of “Bonanza 2 Tango Sierra” are deliciously more pronounced. The biggest ear-opener of this extended-player is though arguably the rebooted “Had Enough”, which trades in its erstwhile clattering rawness for something with altogether greater elevation, synced closer to the lusher propulsive sonic make-up of the aforementioned Bowerbirds And Blue Things.As an ensemble that would also benefit from a double-LP round-up of their bountiful B-sides and other rarities, this four-part suite satisfyingly captures Jetstream Pony taking another opportunity to both honour and push the boundaries of their sound world outside regular full-length record offerings.
-Adrian-
