New Releases: September 21st 2009

Monsters Of Folk – Monsters Of Folk CD (Artist First)
Monsters Of Folk is a collaboration of Conor Oberst, Jim James, M. Ward and Mike Mogis (one of the most sought after producers working today). Say no more.

Pearl Jam – Backspacer CD/2xLP (Sony)
This came out last Sunday but we wanted to remind you that Pearl Jam supports indie record shops and we’ve got a special fan club package for the album that’s different from the one at Target. Featuring the lead single ”The Fixer”, the indie-store exclusive version of the CD is packaged in a fancy bound digipak. Also available on deluxe double vinyl.

Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – Between My Head And The Sky CD/2xLP (Chimera Music)
At 76 years young, Yoko continues to kick ass. Between My Head And The Sky is resplendent with a gorgeous, mind-melting blend of styles and sharpening themes while plunging into the always-mysterious future. The band includes Keigo ”Cornelius” Oyamada, Sean Lennon, Yuka Honda (of Cibo Matto) as well as NYC improvisers Erik Friedlander, Shahzad Ismaily, Michael Leonhart, Daniel Carter and Indigo Street.

Islands – Vapours CD (Anti)
Nick Diamonds’ polymorphous pop band is back with their third studio album, Vapours. The 2006 debut, Return To The Sea, found eccentric and mellifluous pop tunes performed with a cast of characters from Montreal’s thriving music scene (including members of Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade), helmed by Nick Diamonds and Jamie Thompson.

Times New Viking – Born Again Revisited CD (Matador)
Known for shrouding their three-cornered pop constructions in clouds of tape hiss and buzzing noise, Times New Viking have taken inspirations from sources as diverse as British art-school DIY of the late 1970s, Guided By Voices, Pavement and the Beatles.

Múm – Sing Along To Songs You Don’t Know CD (Euphono)
Two years (almost to the day) after their previous release, Iceland’s eccentric pop maestros Múm have returned with their fifth studio album. Sing Along To Songs You Don’t Know recalls sand running through fingers or ripples on a lake; it’s an ode to the light in its different shapes, from a fading bulb to the blinding sun. Alternately sunny and melancholy, the album flows like the tides: now ebullient, now brooding, cacophony resolving into tight melody.

Sea Wolf – White Water, White Bloom CD/LP (Dangerbird)
White Water, White Bloom is the second full length Sea Wolf album, following 2007′s critically acclaimed Leaves In The River featuring “You’re A Wolf.”

David Gray – Draw The Line CD/2xCD (Downtown)
Draw The Line is the rich, warm, organic sound of David Gray reborn and starts a new chapter in the storytelling for which he is known. Ripe with melancholic beauty, key tracks on the album include the glorious sublimely layered “Fugitive,” the album’s lead single, the pensive “Draw The Line” and the emotive composition “Nemesis.” Also features two duets with Jolie Holland and Annie Lennox. Deluxe double disc edition includes a bonus nine track live CD and is packaged in a hard cover digipak sleeve. Includes a bonus 7″ featuring the single “Fugitive” b/w the non-album B-side “Jitterbug” free with purchase (while supplies last)!

Guy Clark – Somedays The Song Writes You CD (Dualtone)
When Guy Clark discusses the art and craft of songwriting, people listen. He has, after all, been writing songs of uncommon quality for nearly four decades — songs like ”L.A. Freeway,” ”Desperados Waiting For A Train,” ”The Randall Knife,” and ”Texas, 1947.” Somedays The Song Writes You is the thirteenth recording by this songwriting legend.

Vic Chesnutt – At The Cut CD (Constellation)
At The Cut picks up where 2007′s North Star Deserter left off, with the explosive opening tune “Coward” displaying all the epic soaring thrust this band is capable of. Vic debuted this song as part of Jem Cohen’s ‘film hallucination’ Empires Of Tin when it was performed live with the touring band at the 2007 Vienna Film Festival.

Richard Hawley – Trueloves Gutter CD (Mute)
The sixth solo album from this Sheffield, England singer-songwriter and former Pulp sideman features made-up-sounding instruments including a megabass waterphone and a crystal baschet. The album’s lush production provides a haunting backdrop to Hawley’s unique voice and allows plenty of space for beautiful guitar solos.

Rain Machine – Rain Machine CD (Anti)
Rain Machine is a startling new musical venture from Kyp Malone, known to many as guitarist-singer for soulful art rockers TV On The Radio. For Rain Machine, Malone takes the roots influences that have always bubbled beneath the surface in TVOR — blues, gospel, even African music — and brings them to the fore.

The Twilight Sad – Forget The Night Ahead CD (Fatcat)
The Twilight Sad’s much-anticipated follow-up to 2007′s Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters is a dark and tumultuous listen. Produced by guitarist Andy McFarlane with Paul Savage (of Delgados) at Glasgow’s famed Chem 19 studios, Forget The Night Ahead retains the guitar-washed drama of their previous effort, with an added complexity both sonic and thematic.

Owen – New Leaves CD (Polyvinyl)
Fifth solo album from Mike Kinsella (American Football, Joan Of Arc, Cap’n Jazz) produced and mixed by Brian Deck (Iron and Wine).

The Hidden Cameras – Origin: Orphan CD/LP (Arts & Crafts)
The Hidden Cameras never fail to capture the imagination. Orchestrated by leader Joel Gibb, their live spectacles are unconventional to say the least — everything from blindfolded band members and string players to go-go dancers shimmying alongside gospel choirs. The Hidden Cameras’ latest work, Origin: Orphan, is equally ingenious as the four previous albums.

Castanets – Texas Rose, The Thaw And The Beasts CD/LP (Asthmatic Kitty)
With Texas Rose, The Thaw, And The Beasts Castanets’ Raymond Raposa keeps one foot in the rustic country, folk, and blues of past records while taking it-everything-to the next level. Straddling the line between ”out” and accessible, the Rafter Roberts-produced album is a full-band affair, a bent noise-country terrain of dissolving interludes and spaced-out electronic pop tracks up against songs that wouldn’t be out of place on a Merle or Willie record.

Early Day Miners – The Treatment CD (Secretly Canadian)
What happens when a band of resolute perfectionists make their most accessible and upbeat rock album — a departure so startling, you almost want to call it ”their pop album”? When Early Day Miners loosen up, it’s almost a different band. The complex layers and atmospherics are still intact, augmented by insistent bass lines and straightforward melodies.

Volcano Choir – Unmap CD/LP+MP3 (Jagjaguwar)
Volcano Choir is an assembly of Wisconsinites Jon Mueller, Chris Rosenau, Jim Schoenecker, Daniel Spack, Justin Vernon, and Thomas Wincek. You might find these old friends also frequenting records and stages under different monikers, Collections Of Colonies of Bees and Bon Iver. The collaboration predates the meteoric rise of Justin Vernon’s Bon Iver project, with original songwriting dating back to the summer of 2005.

The Big Pink – A Brief History Of Love CD/LP (4AD)
There’s something ultimate about London’s The Big Pink. It’s as though they’ve compressed everything that’s great about post-war music into their sound. They’re as accessible as a pop group, with almost folksy, warm melodies, the spiritual quality of soul and gospel, the rhythmic propulsion of rave, the white noise of punk, the glitchy textures of electronica, and the heavy drones of your favourite New York rock bands past and present. Recent 8.2 rating via Pitchfork.

Noisettes – Wild Young Hearts CD (Mercury)
Sophomore album from the British trio. Wild Young Hearts is a set of sleek pop songs steeped in soul, dizzy on disco and harking back to the days of blues and jazz greats.

Mae – (M)orning CD+DVD (Tooth & Nail)
M)orning is the first of three in a trilogy of releases: (M)orning, (A)fternoon, and (E)vening. Includes a bonus DVD featuring never before seen tour and behind-the-scenes footage, music videos, a documentary about the band’s year long charity effort, and more.

Amy Millan – Masters Of The Burial CDNe (Arts & Crafts)
Sophomore solo album from the Canadian singer/songwriter and frontwoman for indie rockers Stars. Masters Of The Burial is a wistful yet warm collection of songs and includes interpretations of Death Cab For Cutie’s “I Will Follow You Into The Dark” and “Old Perfume” by Sarah Harmer.

Lisa Germano – Magic Neighbor CD/LP+CD (Young God)
“I think this is one of her best albums yet. The depth of feeling in her words and singing on this album is truly remarkable, and she never fails to tug at my heart. Somehow it’s sad, wistful, and hopeful, all at once. It’s very private, solitary music. It’s deeply engaging, and when I listen to it I often stop what I’m doing and drift off with it into its world. Time and troubles disappear for a short while. For some reason, her music reminds me of early Disney songs–fuzzy and dreamy.” –Michael Gira / Young God

Brand New – Daisy CD (DGC/Interscope)
New record features a collection of songs produced by longtime friend Mike Sapone and mixed by Dave Sardy (Rage Against The Machine, Cold War Kids, Slayer). Includes a bonus two-song CD featuring the tracks “At The Bottom” (Radio Edit) and “Jesus” (Live In The Studio) free with purchase (while supplies last).

Pastels / Tenniscoats – Two Sunsets CD (Domino)
The Pastels are from Glasgow and Tenniscoats from Tokyo. They have different sounds, but something in common too. The collaboration that eventually became Two Sunsets arose from a suggestion by Tenniscoats that some studio time be booked while they were in Glasgow, just to see what happens, and maybe to try to find out what it is that they have in common. It’s melodic, optimistic and brilliant.

Mika – Boy Who Knew Too Much CD (Casablanca)
Mika’s sophomore album straddles a line between childish naivete and world-worn sophistication; Mika likens this transformations as the shift from childhood and his debut’s innocence to something more akin to adolescence.

Why? – Eskimo Snow CD/LP (Anitcon)
A year and a half after releasing the acclaimed Alopecia, Why? returns with their fourth album. The two records are perfect foils: while last year’s release delivered intricate rhymes, live loops, slurred hooks, and acerbic wit, Eskimo Snow offers a sung, sobering take on mortality that unfurls in lush waves of Americana and pop-infused psych-folk.

LCD Soundsystem – 45:33 Remixes CD (DFA)
45:33 is lovingly and respectfully reinterpreted by some of dance music’s most innovative players, including Brookyn’s Runaway, Norway’s Prins Thomas, Berlin’s techno technician Riley Reinhold, Detroit’s Theo Parish, Paris’ celebrated Pilooski and many others.

Le Loup – Family CD (Hardly Art)
On Family, Le Loup took an elemental approach to recording, capturing the organic sounds of their instruments before treating them with various effects. Certain melodic themes were added to multiple songs, linking the album together with their recurring motifs. The result is an album of experimental rock songs and campfire sing-alongs, set amidst swirling textures and murky production.

Hornet Leg – Ribbon Of Fear CD/LP (K)
Hornet Leg has had many manifestations as both a bedroom and live project for Chris Sutton (of C.O.C.O. and Dub Narcotic Sound System). In the past, Hornet Leg has been a solo acoustic guitar project, an electro-dance undertaking, a crushing two-person art noise assault, a melancholy pop outfit and a personal four-track recording enterprise. With Ribbon Of Fear, Hornet Leg is solidified as a three-man punk-blues powerhouse.

Girls – Album CD/LP+MP3 (True Panther Sounds)
Built on the powerful songwriting of Christopher Owens and the ethereal production of Chet ”JR” White, Album is the perfect San Francisco summer record, evoking a narcotic, sunny afternoon in Dolores Park, yet promising the eventual hangover of summer’s departure. It is self-described as ”honest, loose, ethereal, obnoxious and perfect,” and is a sincere tribute to the majesty of great pop music and the healing power of rock & roll.

Slaraffenland – We’re On Your Side CD/LP (Hometapes)
”A charming mixture of the jovial and the hypnotic” read the NY Times after seeing Slaraffenland at SXSW 2008. We’re On Your Side merges stage and studio — bringing their virtuosic musicianship (brass, woodwinds, percussion augment guitars and drums), compositional experimentalism (think Sonic Youth + This Heat) and the proven energy of their live show into absolute and addictive focus.

Five Finger Death Punch – War Is The Answer CD (Prospect Park)
New album from the L.A.-based heavy metal heads. War Is The Answer was co-produced by Kevin Churko (Ozzy Osbourne) and mixed by Randy Staub (Metallica, Stone Sour). Contains the first single “Hard To See.” Deluxe edition includes bonus tracks plus and a DVD featuring tour footage, a live video shot during the band’s performance at this year’s Download event and more.

Vertical Horizon – Burning The Days CD (Outfall)
Burning The Days features guest appearances from Rush drummer Neil Peart and pop singer/songwriter Richard Marx.

One Eskimo – One Eskimo CD (Artist First)
Brainchild of singer/songwriter Kristian Leontiou, London-based One Eskimo arrives with an impressive breadth of imagination. Produced by Rollo Armstrong (Faithless, Dido).

Billy Talent – Billy Talent III CD (Roadrunner)
Their third album shows off impressive guitar work and highly evolved lyrics from their early days. “Tears Into Wine” is a catchy hit-you-in-the-gut anthem that makes for a departure from the rest of the album, which is basically the same (granted, awesome) song repeated ten times.

Mark Stuart And The Bastard Sons – Bend In The Road CD (Dualtone)
New album from Mark Stuart, the voice and vision of acclaimed alt-country group Bastard Sons Of Johnny Cash.

Joshua James – Build Me This CD (Intelligent Noise)
Second full-length album from Joshua James exhibits a more electrified side of Joshua and his band, in addition to some of the more sparse, moody, acoustic numbers reminiscent of his first album The Sun Is Always Brighter.

Dan Fogelberg – Love In Time CD (Full Moon)
Fogelberg’s last record, completed shortly before his death on December 16, 2007. In 2003, while compiling material for a CD of live recordings, Dan Fogelberg came across some rough demos he had recorded earlier in his career. He felt inspired to finish them and worked on the songs until May of 2004 when he was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. During his battle, he recorded three new songs, including a love song for his wife, “Sometimes A Song,” that was released as a download on Valentine’s Day 2008 to benefit the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

Harry Connick Jr. – Your Songs CD (Sony)
On his new album Harry Connick, Jr. teamed up with legendary producer Clive Davis. Davis’s concept was to put together a program of classic songs that were both as familiar and as contemporary as possible. Both by accident and design, the selections are skewed towards signature songs from iconic performers.

Rufus Wainwright – Milwaukee At Last CD/CD+DVD (Decca)
Recorded live at Milwaukee’s Pabst Theater. Deluxe edition of his new live release includes the a DVD featuring encores and bonus material. Also available as a separately sold DVD.

They Might Be Giants – Here Comes Science CD+DVD (Walt Disney)
This CD+DVD set creates a new creative way for kids to learn. Here Comes Science follows up TMBG’s successful past two children’s albums Here Come The ABCs and Here Come The 123s. With songs like “Electric Car,” “Photosynthesis” and “Solid Liquid Gas” (among others) kids will learn about science while having fun. The album features 19 songs and 19 entertaining videos.

Reissues…

Beastie Boys – Hello Nasty 2xCD/2xLP (Capitol)
Digitally remastered. The CD includes a bonus disc of B-sides and rarities including seven never before released tracks. Also available on HQ-180 gatefold double vinyl.

Ween – Paintin’ The Town Brown 2xCD (Rounder)
Ween – Pod CD (Rounder)
Ween – Pure Guava CD (Rounder)
Classic Ween, remastered and reissued.

Elvis Costello – Spike CD (Rhino)
Spike featured the first appearance of songs written by Costello and Paul McCartney, including the single ”Veronica,” which became his biggest American hit.

Elvis Costello – Extreme Honey: The Very Best Of The Warner Bros. Years CD (Rhino)
From the impossibly catchy ”Veronica” to the dark and sober ”So Like Candy,” this collection compiles Costello’s mature songwriting and stellar recordings from his Warner Bros era.

Gary Numan – Pleasure Principle 2xCD (Beggars Banquet)
30th Anniversary Edition. The Pleasure Principle was the point where the singer became a huge international solo star, even reaching the Top 10 in the United States with “Cars.” The album pioneered electronic pop music on a new scale — it was a much bigger success worldwide than Kraftwerk’s releases or anything from the influential but still relatively “culty” Bowie/Eno Berlin trilogy.

King Crimson – Red CD+DVD (Discipline)
Digipak format with newly designed booklet interior featuring new sleeve notes by Robert Fripp and King Crimson biographer Sid Smith. Double-disc package includes original disc with extra tracks as well as a DVD of surround mixes by Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) approved by Robert Fripp, and extra tracks.

James Blackshaw – O True Believers CD (Important)
Reissue of Blackshaw’s 2007 release. “…An absolute beauty: an out-of-nowhere set of solo thought scored for open-tuned 12-string guitar, harmonium, radio, bells, ride cymbal and floor tom.” — Volcanic Tongue

Compilations, Best Of’s & Sundry Collections…

John Fahey – Twilight On Prince Georges Avenue: Essential Recordings CD (Rounder)
John Fahey’s steel-string acoustic guitar playing laid the foundation of an entire school of folk-based instrumental guitarists, from Leo Kottke to Peter Lang and Will Ackerman. Yet, there’s no mistaking the mesmerizing feeling and sound of the original. While his repertoire was rooted in blues and folk forms, Fahey tapped influences and especially tonal palettes from around the world. Here are the best of the solo guitar pieces he recorded for Rounder’s subsidiary label Varrick.

Ralph Stanley And The Clinch Mountain Boys Featuring Charlie Sizemore – Can’t You Hear The Mountains Calling CD (Rounder)
Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys have long since progressed from founding father status to gold standard of lonesome-sounding, mountain-rooted bluegrass music. Even with that achievement and recognition, however, this record, newly-remixed, remastered, and resequenced, comes like a mysterious bolt out of the long-ago blue.

Jonathan Richman – Vampire Girl: Essential Recordings CD (Rounder)
With his deceptively simple approach, Jonathan Richman finds profound truths in these delicately detailed observations of life, each delivered in a spirit that gets to the heart of pure rock and roll. Here are many of the best of his recordings for Rounder Records, selected for this release by Jonathan himself.

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – White Lunar 2xCD (Mute)
Double-disc collection of soundtrack recordings. White Lunar is a selection of pieces taken from some of the motion pictures and documentaries for which Cave and Ellis have composed and recorded music.

Vinyl….
Feelies – Crazy Rhythms LP+MP3 (Bar/None)
Feelies – Good Earth LP+MP3 (Bar/None)
Recently released on CD — now available on vinyl. Features bonus material via MP3 download.

Mudhoney – Superfuzz Bigmuff LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)
Reissued on HQ-180 vinyl with MP3 download.

DVDs…
High Times Greatest Hits On DVD – DVD (High Times)
Over two hours of choice nuggets featuring Snoop Dogg, Tommy Chong, Dave Chappelle and other stoned celebrities.

Tagged as: New Rele, New Releases