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Joe Algeri - vocals/guitar

With the release of Everything Under The Sun Joe Algeri detours off the rock n‘ roll freeway and takes the old dirt track back home. The 13 songs are delicately delivered with a homespun folky-ness... simple, sparse, melancholic and crooning.

So why does Joe temporarily shut down the generator on Jack & the Beanstalk’s familiar power-pop? Well this is the type of trip back to the country that Joe has been taking ever since he started playing music. This disc represents a collection of highlights from his early solo releases, available for the first time ever on CD, together with 10 new recordings.

After the spilt of his former band the Stonemasons in 1994, Joe pleasantly surprised everyone with his first solo release "10,000 Sunny Days". Only available locally on cassette, we can now hear for the first time ever a clear re-mastering of ‘After The Rain’ and a new, live-in-the-studio version of a long time favourite, ‘Apricot Girl’.

After his first European trip in 1995, Joe then produced a 18 song cassette called "The Summerhouse Bootlegs which featured many demos for what was to become the new Jack & the Beanstalk album plus some more acoustic gems like ‘Your Song’ and ‘Far’ which are both represented here

In 1997, Joe recorded 10 new tunes, live and solo for the somewhat darker "The Loneliest Man Alive" cassette. ‘Lee Hazlewood’ has been re-recorded here with a strings arrangement, however the listener is still no closer to finding out what the song is actually about.

Following Jack & the Beanstalk’s European tour in 1998, Joe grabbed an acoustic guitar and hung around to play more solo concerts. He also recorded a number of live demos in a French studio, the haunting ‘Unreal’ is featured here. Later that summer he headed to the US and a chance meeting with Adam Schmitt resulted in ‘Yeah...No’ written and recorded during the same warm day at Adam’s house in Illinois.

Back down under, Joe reminisces his northern adventures with new tracks, ‘Endless Summer’ and ‘Lonely With A Smile’. The highlight however, is the Beanstalk’s easy going beat to the serene ‘Awkward’ and ‘The Airport Song’.

So this is Everything Under The Sun, over 4 years in the making, in 5 different countries. Now it’s time to relax, listen and bring it all back home. Enjoy your weekend in the countryside too.

Mal Hope,

Spinning Top Records