''The End of Radio'' is a 2019 album by

Shellac Shellac () is a resin secreted by the female lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes and dissolved in alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and ...

. The album contains two previously unreleased recordings made for the BBC Radio One's

John Peel Show John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

in 1994 and 2004.

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal en ...

has spoken about his admiration for John Peel, stating that "he listened religiously to every single record he received in the mail, devoting hours of every day to the task".

Recordings

1994 Peel session

The 1994 session was recorded in July 1994 in the BBC Maida Vale Studio to 24 track tape and then mixed to stereo. The tracks are: # "Spoke" # "Canada" # "Crow" # "Disgrace" All of the tracks were unavailable on other recordings at the time. A studio version of "Crow" was released later the same year on the album ''

At Action Park ''At Action Park'' is the first full-length record by Shellac, released in 1994. Packaging The release came in a folded and hand-pressed sleeve which is referred as ''uni-pak style album jacket''. The inner sleeve shows artwork with four microph ...

'', but the other three songs would not appear in studio versions until subsequent albums were released many years later.

2004 Peel session

The eight tracks on the 2004 session were recorded live in front of a studio audience at BBC Maida Vale and broadcast simultaneously. The session was undertaken a few weeks after John Peel had died and the performance was dedicated to his memory. The songs are: # "Ghosts" # "The End of Radio" # "Canada" # "Paco" # "Steady As She Goes" # "Billiard Player Song" # "Dog and Pony Show" # "Il Porno Star" As with the 1994 session, the 2004 recordings included some songs that were unavailable on official releases at the time. "The End of Radio", "Steady As She Goes" and "Paco" were later recorded for the album ''

Excellent Italian Greyhound ''Excellent Italian Greyhound'' is Shellac's fourth album, released on June 5, 2007. The album's title is a reference to drummer Todd Trainer's Italian Greyhound, Uffizi, who appears on the album's cover. The album was recorded at Electrical A ...

'' (2007).

Critical reception

Based on 4 reviews, the album received a

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

score of 83/100, indicating " iversal acclaim".

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

wrote that ''The End of Radio'' "captures, in great fidelity, the acerbic personality and power of Steve Albini's trio". ''Spectrum Culture'' gave the album 3.75/5 and described it as "an invaluable document of a band unwilling to be tamed, not even by itself".

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

stated that "the clarity of the remastering on The End of Radio makes this a must for fans of Shellac. It would be nice if we could get another live set from this trio that was recorded less than 15 years ago, yet as an artifact of the Live Shellac Experience and a sincere tribute to fallen comrades, this is as good as you could hope for". '' The Attic'' picked the album as one of their favorites of the year, while ''

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quiet ...

'' ranked it at #31 on the list of their "100 favourite reissues, soundtracks, mixes live albums, compilations and miscellany" of 2019.

Track listing

# "Spoke" – 2:03 # "Canada" – 2:28 # "Crow" – 4:46 # "Disgrace" – 3:39 # "Ghosts" – 4:23 # "The End of Radio" – 9:21 # "Canada" – 2:50 # "Paco" – 6:13 # "Steady as She Goes" – 5:06 # "Billiard Player Song" – 9:10 # "Dog and Pony Show" – 4:27 # "Il Porno Star" – 7:36

Credits

Adapted from liner notes: *

– guitar, vocals *

Bob Weston Bob Weston (born 1965) is an American musician, producer, recording engineer, and record mastering engineer. Critic Jason AnkenyAnkeny, Jason. " Bob Weston: Overview from Allmusic.com declares that "Weston's name and fingerprints are all over th ...

– bass, vocals, mastering, photography *

Todd Trainer Todd Trainer is the drummer for the band Shellac. He also performs as a solo artist under the name Brick Layer Cake. He previously played drums for the bands Breaking Circus and Rifle Sport, and he played drums with Scout Niblett in 2005. Pers ...

– drums *

Corey Rusk Necros was an early American hardcore punk band from Maumee, Ohio, although they are usually identified with the Detroit music scene. They were the first band to record for Touch and Go Records. History Necros was formed in mid-1975 by then- ...

– executive producer *David Babbitt – design *Jamie Beeden – photography *Ed Waring – photography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:End of Radio 2019 live albums Shellac (band) live albums Peel Sessions recordings Touch and Go Records live albums