Dinosaur Jr. – Farm CD/2xCD2xLP+MP3 (Jagjaguwar)
Their fifth full-length with the original lineup. At times wholly ‘70s guitar-epic, at times perfect for sitting by a babbling brook with Joni and Neil, Farm encompasses Dinosaur Jr.’s signature palette, soaring and distorted guitar, unshakable hooks, and honey-rich melodies. Deluxe 2xCD version features a bonus disc containing four non-album tracks. Double LP comes in beautiful litho-wrapped gatefold jackets and includes MP3 download.
God Help The Girl – God Help The Girl CD/LP+MP3 (Matador)
After the success of Belle And Sebastian’s most recent album, The Life Pursuit, band leader/singer/songwriter Stuart Murdoch decided to pursue his dream of writing a rock musical scored for female singers. After auditioning vocalists via Internet contests, he made his choices and, with all members of Belle And Sebastian backing him up, recorded this breathtaking record. It combines the strengths of early Belle And Sebastian records in a broader musical palette, drawing equally on musicals, ‘60s girl groups, ‘80s indie, and classic pop.
The Mars Volta – Octahedron CD (WB)
Their fifth studio album. Following 2008′s The Bedlam In Goliath, The Mars Volta’s punkperverted neo-psychedelia goes acoustic on Octahedron. Says the band’s Cedric Bixler Zavala: “There’s electricity throughout it! But that’s what our band does-celebrate mutations.”
Mount Eerie – Dawn CD+Book (Buenaventura)
The music of Mount Eerie and The Microphones has always been a very personal, almost voyeuristic, view inside the mind of Phil Elverum. Dawn is an archival core sample from an intensely creative period of Elverum’s life, the winter of 2002/2003 spent in arctic Norway, a kind of “lost album” finally properly recorded on just guitar and singing. Packaged with a 144-page hardcover book and 16 color photo cards, all bound in simulated “wood” paper.
Tortoise – Beacons Of Ancestorship CD/LP+MP3 (Thrill Jockey)
Their first new record in over five years, Beacons Of Ancestorship gives nods to techno, punk, electro, lo-fi noise, cut up beats, heavily processed synths, and mournful, elegiac dirges. In fewer words, it is exactly what you’d expect from Tortoise.
A Hawk And A Hacksaw – Délivrance CD/LP (Leaf)
Recorded in Budapest during mid-2008 around the core of the Hun Hangar Ensemble (a group of extraordinarily talented Hungarian folk musicians), Délivrance proves that months of submersion in the local culture and making music the focus of daily life has seeped right through Barnes and Trost’s songwriting and playing. A vivid, intense, and confident work.
Falty DL – Love Is A Liability CD/2xLP (Planet Mu)
This New Yorker is no stranger to making music, with releases on Napalm Enema and Ramp Records, and his signature style is drawing attention from plays on Mary Anne Hobbs’ BBC Radio 1 show. Love Is A Liability is comprised of post-garage ambience, round, warm melodies, and disjointed two-step beats.
Sa-Ra Creative Partners – Nuclear Evolution: Age Of Love CD/LP (Ubiquity)
A unique blend of street wit, dirty-sex talk, tall stories, and intergalactic future sounds. The album oozes equal parts jazz, soul, pop, funk, and hip-hop. Contributors include Erykah Badu, saxophonist Gary Bartz with his quartet, and many talented, up-and-coming artists.
Bjork – Voltaic CD/CD+DVD/2xCD+2xDVD/LP+CD/2xLP+2xCD+2xDVD (Nonesuch)
Voltaic is a remarkable, multi-media document of what happened after Volta was completed — a journey of a different sort as the ever-evolving singer assembled her live band, made a collection of typically amazing videos and one-step-ahead remixes, and toured the world. She recorded the Voltaic live CD in one take at Olympic Studio in London. It’s a stunning performance, featuring cutting-edge computer technology, an old-school horn section and a female, flag-toting Icelandic choir. Deluxe version includes the Voltiac live CD plus a DVD featuring 21 songs performed on the Volta tour. Super deluxe 2xCD+2xDVD version features live recordings, remixes, videos and much more. 200 gram LP version features a bonus CD version of the album. Super deluxe vinyl set includes double-vinyl plus 2xCDs (Voltaic and a remix album) and 2xDVDs(Live and Videos).
Alexisonfire – Old Crows / Young Card CD (Vagrant)
Alexisonfire’s first album in three years. Old Crows / Young Card is filled with anger, beauty, and pop.
Amazing Baby – Rewild CD/LP+MP3 (Artist First)
Rewild is a collection of songs self-produced with limitless imagination. Their brand of catchy, intelligent indie rock/pop made waves at this year’s SXSW. HQ-180 vinyl includes an MP3 download and bonus track.
Bergraven – Till Makabert Vasen CD (Hydra Head)
On Till Makabert Vasen, Par perfected his already unique rendering of Nordic chants and vehement growls.
Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue CD/2xLP (Warp)
Focusing on location recording using cassettes, a half-broken sampler, dictaphones, and experimental ways of affecting sounds, Bibio has crafted a unequalled style that is as subtle as it is powerful.
Birds Of Avalon – Uncanny Valley CD (Volcom)
Their second full-length. Raleigh, NC’s Birds Of Avalon have toured with Raconteurs, The Flaming Lips, Ted Leo And The Pharmacists, The F**king Champs, Big Business, Oneida, Mudhoney, Valient Thorr, Destroyer, Federation X, The Hold Steady, and Drunk Horse, to name a few.
Black Meteoric Star – Black Meteoric Star CD (DFA)
The latest project by longtime DFA alumni Gavin Russom is inspired by equal parts Euro-disco, wonky early electronic body music from America’s Midwest, and a fascination with the outer reaches of global psychedelic rock.
Tom Brosseau – Posthumous Success CD (Fatcat)
His third full-length for Fatcat marks a huge stylistic shift from the spare, acoustic arrangements of his previous releases. A buoyant, well-crafted, and sprawlingly lovely album. ”Brosseau combines Buckley’s swoony delicacy with Nick Drake’s restraint, in the service of a singular songwriting voice.” — NPR
Kendel Carson – Alright Dynamite CD (Train Wreck)
Kendel Carson returns with an explosive new album. The 24 year-old singer/fiddler burst onto the scene in 2007 with the widely acclaimed Rearview Mirror Tears which hit the Top 10 on the Americana Chart.
Richard Cheese – Viva La Vodka CD (Coverage)
America’s loudest lounge singer performs swingin’ Vegas versions of rock, rap, and Top 40 hits, ”swankifying” contemporary songs into traditional pop vocal standards.
Darkest Hour – Eternal Return CD (Victory)
Epic and furious metal written by metal-heads for metal-heads.
Dead Prez & DJ Green Lantern – Pulse Of The People CD (Invasion)
Stic.man and M-1, the revolutionary duo that comprise Dead Prez, combine forces with DJ Green Lantern for Pulse Of The People.
Dear Hunter – Act III: Life And Death CD (Triple Crown)
Set in a WWI era, Act III: Life And Death documents the metamorphosis of a fictional central character as he makes the transition from innocence to impurity.
Deer Tick – Born On Flag Day CD/LP+MP3 (Partisan)
Unlike War Elephant, Born On Flag Day features the three new members of Deer Tick that principal songwriter John J. McCauley III recruited to form the current incarnation, and reflects a natural evolution from a singular vision of one songwriter to something greater.
Def Leppard – Adrenalize 2xCD (Island/Mercury)
Remastered deluxe edition includes a bonus disc with rare, live, acoustic and demo versions.
Dream Theater – Black Clouds & Silver Linings CD/3xCD/LP (Roadrunner)
Black Clouds & Silver Linings — produced by band members Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci, who also serve as the group’s main lyricists — offers a vibrant manifestation of the world-class musicianship, vivid lyrical scenarios and ambitious, multi-leveled compositions that have established Dream Theater as a uniquely compelling creative force. Special Edition version adds a second CD containing six cover songs, as well as a third CD of instrumental mixes of the entire Black Clouds & Silver Linings album.
Envy/Jesu – Split CD (Hydra Head)
Over 37 minutes of newly recorded music from two forward-looking bands who are entering a new phase. Envy’s three songs are even more diverse than previous classics, while Jesu mastermind Justin K. Broadrick wrote, recorded, mixed, and produced his two tracks at Avalanche from January – May 2008.
Foreign Born – Person To Person CD/LP (Secretly Canadian)
An album of dense pop that justifies the band’s place among top songwriting contemporaries like Cass McCombs, James Mercer, and David Bowie. African high-life guitars are countered with new wave wash; the sound of a band daring to keep its palette open to most any influence, from U2 to The Feelies.
Future Of The Left – Travels With Myself And Another… CD/LP+MP3 (4AD)
The follow-up to their acclaimed 2008 debut Curses is both melodically brutal and uncompromising in its lyrical bit. Features the single “The Hope That House Built” with its marching Queens Of The Stone Age-style riff.
Ginuwine – A Man’s Thoughts CD (Notifi LLC)
The sixth album from the R&B vocalist, produced by The Underdogs, B Cox, Timberland, The Runners, Johnta Austin, Oak and Polow Da Don. Includes guest appearances from Brandy, Missy Elliott, Bun B and Timberland.
Isaac Hayes – Hot Buttered Soul (Deluxe Edition) CD (Stax)
Remastered 40th Anniversary Edition features two bonus tracks, new photographs and expanded liner notes by Jim James (My Morning Jacket).
The Higher – It’s Only Natural CD (Epitaph)
If Justin Timberlake were a band, he’d be The Higher. With boy band good looks and unabashed pop sensibilities, The Higher have won a legion of fans with their unique take on emo, pop, and R&B colliding in a dance party explosion.
Jedi Mind Tricks – Greatest Features CD (Babygrande)
Jedi’s tattooed, gritty and enigmatic frontman Vinnie Paz has worked with a slew of the underground’s best throughout his career. Now, for the first time, all of the tracks that Vinnie Paz has recorded outside of the Jedi Mind Tricks umbrella are collected in one place for the fans’ listening pleasure. Featuring 7L & Esoteric, Guilty Simpson, Percee P, Apathy, ILL Bill, Outerspace, and many more.
Lemonheads – Varshons CD (The End)
Lemonheads’ new album feels like a cool mix tape slipped to you by a music-obsessed friend. Produced by Gibby Haynes (Butthole Surfers) and featuring guest appearances by Liv Tyler and Kate Moss, the collection is filled with strange bedfellows, from G.G. Allin and Townes Van Zandt to Wire and Leonard Cohen.
Love Is All – Last Choice CD/LP (What’s Your Rupture?)
Sweden’s Love Is All are back with the ultimate tale of late night regret. ”Last Choice,” the stand out track from their release ”A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night”, is backed with five all new recordings.
Bob Marley – B Is For Bob CD (Tuff Going)
Executively produced by Ziggy Marley, B Is for Bob is a collection of original Bob Marley songs re-imagined for kids and fans of all ages.
Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster – III CD (Ferret Music)
Surges forward with as much savage twang and fearsome melody to inspire the wrath of any just god. A barrage of crunch and stomp, a tirade of licks and rapid-fire snares. ”If Lynyrd Skynyrd had a hair up their butts and were more generally pissed off than Slayer, they’d sound a whole lot like Birmingham, AL’s Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster.” — L.A. City Beat
Eugene McGuinness – Eugene McGinness CD+MP3 (Domino)
The North American debut of this young and gifted songwriter from Liverpool highlights his acidic sense of humor on twelve utterly charming pop tracks that skip between stylistic boundaries. The album veers from unabashed, starry-eyed romance to pre-coital forked-tongue come-ons via a sound that’s cinematic yet endearingly ramshackle.
John Mellencamp – Life Death Live And Freedom CD (Hear Music)
Live performances of key songs from Mellencamp’s highly successful 2008 release Life Death Love And Freedom. These live versions are presented here just as they were performed: no overdubs or studio enhancements of any kind were added.
John Mellencamp -Life Death Love And Freedom 2xCD+DVD (Hear Music)\
Deluxe Tour Edition reissue includes the original T Bone Burnett produced CD+DVD set plus the eight-song live companion CD, Life Death Live And Freedom, recorded on his Summer 2008 tour.
David Moore – My Lover, My Stranger CD (Doghouse)
”(David Moore) reaches back beyond Nebraska to the Springsteen of Born To Run and Darkness On The Edge Of Town to the parched and pleading soul of Wilson Pickett and Sam & Dave. It helps that he bears a muscular resemblance to the Boss, and that he’s got the thematic skills to back it up.” — CMJ
Patterson Hood (Drive By Truckers) – Murdering Oscar: And Other Love… CD/LP+CD (Ruth St.)
The second solo record from the leader of the Drive By Truckers. Most of his DBT band mates join him, along with Don Chambers, Will Johnson, and Scott Danbom from Centro-matic.
Phenomenal Handclap Band – Phenomenal Handclap Band CD (Friendly Fire)
A sound that is equal parts anthemic, dancefloor-oriented and orchestral, borrowing elements from progressive rock, disco, electro, and psychedelia.
R.E.M. – Reckoning 2xCD/LP (A&M)
Remastered and expanded — includes the original album and a bonus disc of a previously unreleased concert from 1984 at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom.
Charlie Robison – Beautiful Day CD (Dualtone)
The follow-up to his 2004 Dualtone debut, Good Times. Since then, Robison got divorced from his wife Emily (Dixie Chicks), so it’s only natural to assume that this new record is his ”divorce album,” which is not altogether untrue. But Robison writes from a perspective that draws from and speaks to larger matters and issues within human existence.
Royal City – Royal City CD/LP (Asthmatic Kitty)
For a generation of Guelph music fans, Royal City was something akin to a supergroup. From his early teens, Aaron Riches was a figurehead in the city’s hardcore punk scene, fronting numerous politically charged punk bands and promoting DIY gigs. Tracing punk’s spiritual heritage back to Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, Aaron found himself drawn to the acoustic guitar and began writing softly strummed songs about streetlights, Shakespeare, dogs, and broken hearts, all sung in his creaky, distinctive voice. This previously unreleased collection tells the story of Royal City.
Serengeti & Polyphonic – Terradactyl CD (Anticon)
Serengeti and Polyphonic’s Terradactyl is about place — losing place, mostly, struggling to find it again, and succumbing to the fact that it’s cold, and surprisingly lonely, dressed in the human condition.
Mack Allen Smith – Early Years 1962-1967 CD (Fat Possum)
The songs on this collection were all cut at either Hi recording studio or at Rick Hall’s Fame recording studio in Muscle Shoals, AL, and most appeared on singles on the now collectable Vee Eight, Mariteen, Status, and Cynthia labels. Many are straight blues, a style Smith first heard as a boy blaring out of the cafes on the other side of the tracks in North Carolina.
Regina Spektor – Far CD/CD+DVD/LP (Sire)
New album spotlights Spektor’s daring piano pop, vocal acrobatics and offbeat wit. Far combines her rich soundscapes with evocative and intricately structured melodies and a remarkable gift for crafting intelligent, refreshingly honest odes to life. Special Edition package adds a DVD featuring four videos.
Sunset Rubdown – Dragonslayer CD/2xLP+MP3 (Jagjaguwar)
Sunset Rubdown was once the moniker under which Spencer Krug released lo-fi solo recordings. The project has long since evolved into a full band, and Dragonslayer is the third full-length. The musicianship is unassisted by studio magic, and the songs are left to justify for themselves their own screwy pop-rock existence.
Otis Taylor – Pentatonic Wars And Love Songs CD (Telarc)
Taylor’s new recording, Pentatonic Wars And Love Songs, throws a light on the complexities of love in all of its forms. In addition to Taylor’s trademark haunting vocals and simple but stirring guitar riffs — a combination often referred to as trance blues — the album also features guest appearances by Irish blues-rock guitarist Gary Moore and jazz/hip-hop pianist Jason Moran.
Tonic – A Casual Affair: The Best Of Tonic CD (Polydor)
Features 12 selections from Tonic’s three albums (Lemon Parade, Sugar, Head On Straight), plus three previously unreleased bonus tracks.
Various Artists – Appalachian Tradition: Original Bluegrass Classics CD (The Great American Music)
The Appalachian Tradition is an ideal primer for those just beginning to explore bluegrass. Its 18 selections are immediately accessible. The ”classics” presented here, in other words, are usually those infrequent bluegrass cuts to have gained radio recognition beyond a core bluegrass audience.
Pete Yorn – Back And Forth CD (Columbia)
Back And Fourth follows Yorn’s first three albums, which he considers a trilogy, and is his first album in three years. Yorn wrote all ten songs and recorded the album in Omaha, NE, with producer Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes, Rilo Kiley). Columbia’s co-chairman Rick Rubin helped guide the project from its earliest demo stages to final mastering.
DVDs
John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band – Live In Toronto ’69 DVD (Shout Factory)
Filmed on the eve of the release Abbey Road, this is the only performance ever caught on film of John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band.
Amanda Palmer – A Collection Of Music Videos DVD (Roadrunner)
Subtitled: A Surrealist Mini-Mystery By Michael Pope. Featuring additional videos by Alex De Campi, Chip Yamada with The Danger Ensemble. Includes exclusive interview footage.
Vinyl
Earth – Radio Live LP (Southern Lord)
Vinyl only release. Radio Live is comprised of two tracks from a live radio broadcast on KFJC (12/31/07) and two tracks from a live performance in Vienna on their 2008 European tour.
Eprhyme – Shomer Salaam b/w My Mouth Is 7” (K)
This is the latest installment of K Records’ International Pop Underground series. Moving effortlessly from Middle Eastern melodies to dance hall and deep house rhythms, “Shomer Salaam” is multicultural and polyrhythmic. On the B-side, “My Mouth Is A House Of Prayer” represents soul music in its purest form.
Al Green – Greatest Hits LP (Fat Possum)
Al Green – I’m Still In Love With You LP (Fat Possum)
Al Green – Let’s Stay Together LP (Fat Possum)
HQ-180 vinyl reissues.
Green Day – Know Your Enemy 7” (Reprise)
Ultra-limited edition 7” single features the non-album B-side “Hearts Collide.”
Gregory Isaacs – Night Nurse LP (Island)
HQ-180 vinyl pressing.
Modest Mouse – Autumn Beds 7” (Epic/Sony)
Insanely ultra-limited edition 7” single features the B-side “Whale Song.”
Of Montreal – For Our Elegant Castle 7”+MP3 (Polyvinyl)
The third single from Skeletal Lamping is backed with a remix by Depressed Buttons (Todd and Jacob of The Faint). Initial pressing is limited to 2000 copies on colored vinyl. Includes digital download code with songs and bonus video.
Pavement – Brighten The Corners: Nicene Creedence Edition 4xLP+MP3 (Matador)
Vinyl edition of the deluxe reissue of Brighten The Corners includes eight extra tracks not on the CD reissue, several of which are previously unreleased. Also includes material from the CD version: the re-mastered original twelve song album, ten non-album B-sides, ten outtakes, and fourteen live radio session tracks. Super deluxe M-Pak accordion style box set, 16-page, 12″x12″ full color booklet, MP3 coupon, and huge essay by New Yorker critic Alex Ross. The wealth of extra material testifies to the extraordinary creativity of the band in this period.
Sparks – Kimono My House LP (Hip-O)
HQ-180 vinyl reissue.
Those Darlins – Those Darlins LP+CD (Oh Wow Dang)
Those Darlins are a pop group, if they are any one thing, which doesn’t mean anybody with ears can’t hear the country and rock ‘n’ roll in their sound. After seducing live audiences nationwide supporting acts as various as Dan Auerbach, Boss Hog, Wanda Jackson, Ida Maria, Deer Tick, Those Darlins quickly became the next ”it” band at this year’s SXSW.
Various Artists – Black Rio 2: Original Samba Soul 1971-1980 LP (Strut)
Highlights some of the lesser-known gems of the ‘70s Black Rio Soul and Funk movement in Brazil. The album is compiled and annotated by leading Brazilian music DJ Cliffy, the man behind London club night Batmacumba, the longest running Brazilian club night in England.
Tom Waits – Swordfishtrombones LP (Island)
HQ-180 vinyl reissue.
Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson – Relator b/w I Don’t Know What To Do 7” (Rhino)
Ultra-limited 7” released ahead of their forthcoming collaborative album Break Up, due late-summer 2009.
Aggrolites – IV LP (Hellcat)
Neko Case – Middle Cyclone 2xLP (Anti)
Lightnin’ Hopkins – Lightnin’ Strikes LP (Vee Jay)
Wolves In The Throne Room – Black Cascade 2xLP (Southern Lord)
These titles now available on vinyl.
