New Releases: October 6th, 2009

CDs:

Air – Love 2 CD (Astralwerks)
Air have enjoyed many career-defining moments and accolades, and have written, produced and collaborated on a breathtaking array of music projects. Love 2 is a re-affirmation of the band’s staying power and their ability to stay relevant and viable within an industry of fleeting trends and uncertainty.

Aliens – Luna CD (Birdman)
Comprised of ex-Beta Band personnel and armed with a bottomless bag of psychedelically inclined rock and acid-dipped electronics, this Scottish band’s music is inspired by Sergio Leone and Serge Gainsbourg, Brian Eno and Brian Wilson, Larry David and Ol’ Dirty Bastard

Ancestors – Of Sound Mind CD/2xLP (Tee Pee)
Ancestors weave an unorthodox mixture of sonic textures, down-tempo riffs, well-crafted melodies, and full-throttle assaults. With Of Sound Mind they have channeled the freedom of progressive stalwarts King Crimson, the craft and insight of Pink Floyd, and the depth and brooding of Neurosis.

Arch Enemy – The Root Of All Evil CD (Century Media)
Latest album from the Swedish extreme metal masters. The Root Of All Evil is a special release featuring a selection of completely re-recorded songs from their first three albums, Black Earth, Stigmata and Burning Bridges.

Asylum Street Spankers – God’s Favorite Band CD (Yellow Dog)
Austin’s iconic postmodern jug band takes a wide left turn with the world’s first agnostic gospel album. Mixing raucous old traditionals with wryly humanistic originals, the all-acoustic roots mob pays homage to one of America’s seminal musical styles while staking out a theology of healthy skepticism leavened with tolerance.

Backstreet Boys – This Is Us CD (Jive)
Seventh studio album. On This Is Us, the Backstreet Boys collaborated with a powerhouse suite of producers and songwriters, including T-Pain, Max Martin, RedOne, Soulshock and Karlin, Jim Jonsin and many others.

Baka Beyond – Beyond The Forest CD (White Swan)
The singing technique known as Yelli is still employed by Pygmy women to enchant animals in the rainforests of Africa. This is singing for survival, developed by the Baka people of Cameroon through thousands of years of communicating in song with their forest world. Recorded on location at the Baka’s Music House in the forest, modern arrangements of these ancient songs unravel the interlocking vocal lines, replacing them with bass and guitar and revealing the roots of reggae.

Lou Barlow – Goodnight Unknown CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)
Borrowing the live-band energy of Dinosaur Jr. and the stylistic reach of Sebadoh, Barlow has composed a set of immediate, melodic pop songs he describes as, “a cross between my later work with Folk Implosion and my earlier work with Sebadoh.”

Black Devil Disco – The Strange World Of Bernard Fevre CD/LP (Lo Recordings)
Features all new mixes of the original tracks from the 1975 album, along with previously unheard compositions.

Black Heart Procession – Six CD (Temporary Residence)
More than just a return to numerical album titles, Six is The Black Heart Procession’s first album to be written and recorded simultaneously with a new Three Mile Pilot album. As both bands now coexist for the first time ever, coconspirators Pall Jenkins and Tobias Nathaniel have steered The Black Heart Procession into a darker, more adventurous direction.

Black Hollies – Softly Towards The Light CD/LP (Ernest Jennings)
With their new record, the New Jersey quartet continue the progression of a band from live powerhouse to expert song-crafters, blending a seductive combination of soul, British blues, and a dose of garage rock.

Black Uruhu – Love Crisis/Black Sounds Of Freedom 2xCD (Greensleeves)
Double-disc reissue of 1971’s Love Crisis and 1981’s Black Sounds Of Freedom.

Blank & Jones – Relax Edition 4 2xCD (AFM)
Take a vacation to Ibiza’s beaches in your headphones with Relax Edition 4.

Karl Blau – Zebra CD (K)
On his third solo album, Karl Blau overtly mirrors African musical influences with hints of blues and soul. Zebra explores the frontiers of folklore, adding one instrument at a time (drum, guitar, bell, keys, saxophone, flute, piano) in an organic process of response to this confluence of sounds.

BlessTheFall – Witness CD (Fearless)
The band’s second album is an epic aural assault, combining their trademark stabbing riffs and soaring melody with fresh energy.

Boston Spaceships – Zero To 99 CD/LP (GBV Inc.)
Boston Spaceships’ Zero To 99 is quintessential Pollard, a record that holds its own alongside widely acknowledged classics like Guided By Voices’ Bee Thousand, Alien Lanes, and Under The Bushes Under The Stars.

Boys Noize – Power CD (Last Gang)
New album from the dance-pop phenomenon.

Joe Budden – Escape Route CD (Amalgam Digital)
Escape Route is filled with dark and powerful backdrops and incredible lyrics the MC is known for.

Built To Spill – There Is No Enemy CD/2xLP+CD (WB)
“Three and a half years in the making, the efforts of writing and recording There Is No Enemy led Built to Spill founder Doug Martsch to wonder whether this would be the last album he ever makes. As his wife, I watched him work, pouring hour after hour, day after day into writing. Song lyrics were labored over then thrown in the trash, guitar parts revised again (and again). A musician and artist like Doug edits far more than he keeps.” Free lithograph with purchase (while supplies last)!

Califone – All My Friends Are Funeral Singers CD/2xLP (Dead Oceans)
The long-awaited follow-up to 2006′s Roots And Crowns, is a dense collage of sounds, expertly formed into fully realized pop songs.

Brandi Carlile – Give Up The Ghost CD (Columbia)
For the Give Up The Ghost, Brandi worked with Elton John (on “Caroline”), producer Rick Rubin, multi-instrumentalist Benmont Tench (Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers), drummer Chad Smith and Amy Ray (The Indigo Girls).

Rosanne Cash – The List CD (Angel)
The List features Rosanne’s contemporary interpretations of songs from a list of essential country songs passed on to her by her legendary father. Featuring duet partners Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Rufus Wainwright, and Jeff Tweedy.

Exene Cervenka – Somewhere Gone CD (Bloodshot)
Exene’s first solo album since 1991 is a sometimes dreamy but always intimate, circuitous passage through folk and country; subdued, but no less edgy. Somewhere Gone is a sometimes sparse, sometimes exuberant blend of folk, deep country and wide-open spaces.

Cesium_137 – Identity CD (Metropolis)
From the opening notes of “Embers,” Identity proves to be harder, darker, and more driving than any of C137′s previous works, while still delivering the melodies that have become their signature sound.

Vic Chesnutt – Skitter On Take-Off CD (Vapor)
Skitter On Take-Off allows Vic Chesnutt to create his most dramatic album yet; recording devastating songs live with no overdubs. The album allowed the singer/songwriter the chance to collaborate with an important influence. “I’m honored to work with Jonathan Richman. Over the years he’s taken me under his wing and mentored me in a very meaningful way, truly shaping me into the songwriter and performer I am today.”

Christian Death – Ashes CD (Season Of Mist)
Remaster of the goth/rock icons’ third album — includes a previously unreleased studio track featuring the late Rozz Williams.

Christmas Island – Blackout Summer CD/LP (In The Red)
Hailing from sunny San Diego, California, Christmas Island plays music that on the surface is happy and poppy. Citing Tronics, Urinals, Television Personalities, The Clean, Versatile Newts, and The Fall as influences, Christmas Island is Beach Boys-style, sunny Southern Californian pop by way of the late-’70s/early-’80s UK DIY scene.

Cinematics – Love And Terror CD (Orchard/TVT)
Love And Terror is dark and brooding yet full of sharp hooks and vocal melodies that would make Ian McCulloch proud.

Terri Clark – The Long Way Home CD (TLC)
Terri Clark has emerged as a singular voice on the country music landscape. The Long Way Home captures the tides of adult lives, great passions, and the struggles that have marked her life.

The Clientele – Bonfires On The Health CD/LP (Merge)
Bonfires on the Heath is a return to The Clientele’s roots. Back in London, they’ve drawn on older traditions of English folk, which exist here side by side with the band’s more familiar bossa and pop elements. Instantly identifiable, The Clientele sound like no one else, although they are cited as an influence by bands as diverse as Spoon and the Fleet Foxes.

Joe Cocker – Live At Woodstock CD (A&M)
Cocker’s Woodstock performance — features two previously unreleased tracks.

John Coltrane – Side Steps 5xCD (Prestige)
John Coltrane’s legendary Prestige recordings as a sideman to a host of jazz luminaries including Gene Ammons, Tadd Dameron, Red Garland, and Sonny Rollins. This 5-disc box set features 24-bit remastering from the original analog master tapes, a 72-page book with rare photographs, discography, and sessionography, insightful essays by noted music historian Ashley Kahn, interview transcript with Prestige founder Bob Weinstock, and fully reproduced original album cover artwork and notes.

Betty Davis – Nasty Gal CD (Light In The Attic)
Digitally remastered digipak edition of the funk/soul diva’s third album, originally released in 1975. Ahead of its time, Nasty Gal shows Betty digging deeper into her musical and cultural expression than ever before and delivers from every angle.

Betty Davis – Is It Love Or Desire CD (Light In The Attic)
Recorded in 1976 with Davis’ skintight band Funk House, the ten-song Is It Love Or Desire contains some of the most powerful and personal music of the artist’s career, with such titles as “It’s So Good,” “Whorey Angel” and “Crashin’ From Passion.”

Dead Man’s Bones – Dead Man’s Bones CD (Anti)
Some of their songs reflect the music they listened to a little bit of doo-wop, and artists such as the Shangri-Las, The Shags, Company Flow, Sam Cooke, James Brown, Bobby Vinton, Joy Division, The Andrew Sisters and Daniel Johnston, to name a few. In addition, the artistic aesthetic of old Universal horror films, vaudeville music-hall numbers, and silent-screen melodramas infest the music.

Danny Diablo – International Hardcore Superstar CD (Hellcat)
Danny Diablo (aka Lord Ezec) grew up in the Jackson Heights section of Queens, NY. Diablo mixes the intensity and rage he absorbed from his early days of listening to hardcore bands like Gorilla Biscuits and Raw Deal with the street beats of hip-hop.

Ariana Delawari – Lion Of Panjshir CD (David Lynch Music)
More than just the debut album from a gifted young storyteller, Ariana Delawari’s Lion Of Panjshir is a psychedelic folk journey. Recorded in both Kabul and Los Angeles, Delawari’s guitar, piano and vocal melodies are soaked in classical Afghan rhythms and echoes of Laurel Canyon rock & roll.

DJ Spooky – Secret Song CD (Thirsty Ear)
New album features cross-cultural collaborations with Thurston Moore, Vijay Iyer, Zimbabwe Legit, Rob Swift, The Coup, The Jungle Brothers, Mike Ladd, Sussan Deyhim, and Abdul Smooth.

Mike Doughty – Sad Man Happy Man CD (ATO)
Mike Doughty has given into the pressure to record an acoustic album again. That said, Sad Man Happy Man isn’t entirely acoustic — Doughty’s experimentation with drum machines and Ableton Live software adds a larger dynamic to his acoustic efforts along with cello player Andrew Scrap Livingston. Includes a bonus limited-edition Live EP — free with purchase (while supplies last)!

Drudkh – Forgotten Legends CD (Season Of Mist)
Originally released in 2003, long out-of-print, Forgotten Legends is reissued in a gorgeous deluxe digipak with all new and extended artwork.

Duran Duran – Rio [Collector's Edition] 2xCD (Capitol)
Now expanded into a limited edition double-disc set — features demos, B-sides and rarities and 52-page booklet.

The Dutchess & The Duke – Sunset/Sunrise CD/LP (Hardly Art)
Sophomore album is a slump-dodging opus that takes the dark, raw beauty of their debut and scales it up to distinctly luminescent heights, thanks to a graceful synthesis of painfully earned creative maturity and thoughtful production under producer Greg Ashley’s adroitly tuned ears.

Elliott Brood – Mountain Meadows CD (Six Shooter)
Mountain Meadows is the second album from the Canadian alternative country trio. Following The album has been described as “hardcore country,” conjuring up images of Hayseed Dixie and their obsession with Motorhead.

Tinsley Ellis – Speak No Evil CD (Alligator)
Speak No Evil features Tinsley’s most groove-laden guitar work — a milestone album from an iconic Southern blues-rocker.

Ethernet – 144 Pulsations Of Light CD (Kranky)
Tim Gray sculpts textural washes of sound to create immersive, constantly shifting aural psychedelic environments. Hazy, gaseous atmospheres that are alternately arid and humid float above, in and around the muffled pulses used as rhythms.

Evangelista – Prince Of Truth CD/LP (Constellation)
With Prince Of Truth, Carla Bozulich has shaped her Evangelista group into something more intense, more committed, more complex and more sonically and compositionally obsessive than ever. Conventional song structure is mostly absent — the pieces are built from an extremely diverse set of sound sources, taking shape through layers of accumulation and juxtaposition.

Everclear – In A Different Light CD (429)
Everclear return with a collection of newly interpreted recordings of some of their greatest hits. The brainchild of front man Art Alexakis, the album also includes two new Alexakis-penned songs, “Here Comes The Darkness” and “At the End Of the Day.”

Fall Of Troy – In The Unlikely Event CD (Equal Vision)
By combining elements of rock, punk and metal, the trio haven’t just reinvented their own sound, but have raised the bar for progressive music in general.

Fat Joe – Jealous One’s Still Envy (J.O.S.E. 2) CD (EMI)
Features a supporting cast of A-level producers and guest artists including Lil Wayne, Akon and Ron Browz.

Orenda Fink – Ask The Night CD (Saddle Creek)
Ask The Night defy moves between old-time waltz, country, folk and haunting bluegrass; instrumentation includes acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo, accordion, upright bass and pump organ.

Lita Ford – Wicked Wonderland CD (JLRG)
New album following a 14-year hiatus.

Glorytellers – Atone CD (Southern)
Since 2006, Geoff Farina’s Glorytellers have combined Karate’s indie-rock urgency with the Secret Stars’ soft-spoken intimacy to evoke the best qualities of both bands. Atone, Glorytellers’ second release, is a collection of nine unclassifiable gems that gently unfold with ease and dignity.

Godflesh – Pure/Cold/World/Slaves 3xCD (Earache)
Three long out-of-print, early ‘90s releases from the Godflesh catalog remastered and combined in a budget priced set.

Gogol Bordello – Live From Axis Mundi CD+DVD (Side One Dummy)
CD features the bands BBC Sessions, an unreleased studio track and three live tracks from Irving Plaza. The DVD portion is the band’s epic live performance from Irving Plaza in NYC, and an hour of bonus features including other live footage, videos, and more.

Vince Guaraldi – The Definitive Vince Guaraldi 2xCD (Fantasy)
Double-disc collection of the famed pianist, who, despite gold records and global acclaim as a renowned jazz artist, will always be best known for his cheerful, uplifting work with Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang.

Harmonia & Eno ’76 – Tracks And Traces CD (Gronland)
Remastered reissue of the legendary 1976 recordings with three previously unreleased songs from the original recording session.

Headlights – Wildlife CD/LP+MP3 (Polyvinyl)
After expanding to a fou-piece, Headlights creates a fuller and more dynamic sound on their third album Wildlife.

Horse The Band – Desperate Living CD (Vagrant)
Their fourth album and first for Vagrant — features guest contributions by Xiu Xiu’s Jamie Stewart.

Michael Hurley – Ida Con Snock CD/LP (Gnomonsong)
Michael Hurley is one of the last remaining ramblin’ American folk troubadours. Hobo-ing around the country, making music since the days Bob Dylan first set foot in New York City’s Gaslight club.

Hush Arbors – Yankee Reality CD (Ecstatic Peace)
Combining the pensive songwriting of John Phillips circa Wolfking, the plaintive honesty of Neil Young, and the fishtank-gazing cacophony of Six Organs Of Admittance, Wood writes classic-sounding songs that sound readymade for AM radio, circa 1968. Produced by J Mascis.

Immortal – All Shall Fail CD (Nuclear Blast)
Immortal’s first studio album in seven years.

Th’ Inbred – Legacy Of Fertility CD (Alternative Tentacles)
Collection containing the complete discography of the 1980s American Hardcore band. Political punk influenced by The Dead Kennedys, Minutemen, Crass and Black Flag. 35 tracks.

Inhale/Exhale – Bury Me Alive CD (Solid State
While Bury Me Alive is not a complete reinvention, every aspect of their music has been elevated to a more extreme level. The technicality is still there, but has been mastered and stepped up several notches.

Jamie T – Kings & Queens CD (Astralwerks)
Kings & Queens is bolder, more mature and broader in its influences than those found on the Mercury Prize-winning Panic Prevention, with Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, M.I.A. and the Beastie Boys all seeping into the sonics of the record.

Keith Jarrett – Paris/London: Testament 3xCD (ECM)
Improvised, solo music from the great American pianist, recorded at two concerts that took place at the end of last year.

The Jesus Lizard – Goat CD/LP+MP3 (Touch & Go)
The Jesus Lizard – Head CD/LP+MP3 (Touch & Go)
The Jesus Lizard – Liar CD/LP+MP3 (Touch & Go)
The Jesus Lizard – Down CD/LP+MP3 (Touch & Go)
Remastered by Steve Albini and Bob Weston. CDs have been repackaged in deluxe digipaks with 14” x 20” double-sided color folders including never before seen photos and extensive liner notes by the band. HQ-120 vinyl editions have also been packaged in deluxe gatefold album jackets with 12” x 24” double-sided color inserts. All editions feature bonus tracks.

Daniel Johnston – Is And Always Was CD (High Wire Music)
Is And Always Was is a decided step away from the lo-fi homemade recordings for which Johnston is famous. On the album, Daniel allied with the musician and producer Jason Falkner, who is known for his own stellar solo career as well as his work with Beck, Air, and Paul McCartney.

Jim Jones And Webstar – Jim Jones And Webstar CD (Koch)
Rapper Jim Jones’ first duo collaboration with Harlem producer/DJ/rapper, Webstar. The album is packed with fun for all ages and is a departure from Jones” more gangsta leaning sound.

Toby Keith – American Ride CD (Show Dog)
New album from the country superstar features guest appearances from the Hogliners plus jazz greats Dave Koz, Marcus Miller and Arthur Thompson on “Cryin’ For Me (Wayman’s Song).”

King Tubby & The Dynamites – Sound System International CD/LP (Pressure Sounds)
Sound System International features ten thrilling King Tubby deconstructions of The Dynamites rhythms produced by Clancy Eccles. Anyone interested in Tubby’s early mixing style need look no further as he takes on these straight forward reggae songs and turns them upside down and inside out, taking them on to somewhere completely different. CD includes five bonus tracks. Totally re-mastered with superb graphics, stunning photographs, and extensive sleeve notes.

Kraftwerk – Autobahn CD (WB)
Kraftwerk – Man Machine CD (WB)
Kraftwerk – Radioactivity CD (WB)
Kraftwerk – Tour De France CD (WB)
Kraftwerk – Trans Europe Express CD (WB)
Honed to perfection in the band’s Kling Klang studio, each of these magnificent masterwerks has been digitally remastered and packaged in a deluxe slipcase housing booklets of restored, newly expanded artwork, including many previously unseen images.

Lake – Let’s Build A Roof CD (K)
Eli Moore and Ashley Eriksson’s radiating songwriting chemistry serves as the foundation for Lake. Let’s Build A Roof is like a travelogue of the places they went, the stories they encountered on the way, and the memories that were unearthed from those experiences, be they good or bad. Their retro-jingly pop aesthetic is applied to thicker instrumentation and tempo shifts that fracture into kaleidoscopic sounds and harmonies.

Lucero – 1372 Overton Park CD/LP (Universal/Republic)
Lucero’s sixth studio album and major label debut, 1372 Overton Park is produced by Ted Hutt (The Gaslight Anthem) and featuring horn arrangements by legendary Memphis session player Jim Spake (Al Green, John Hiatt, Solomon Burke, Cat Power), the record marks a decided turn toward the Memphis soul sound that has long informed the band’s records from afar.

Mayday Parade – Anywhere But Here CD (Atlantic)
The second studio album by American emo/rock band.

Mesh – Only Better CDEP (Metropolis)
Limited edition single features three mixes of “Only Better” and two bonus tracks.

Eugene Mirman – God Is A Twelve-Year-Old Boy With Asperger’s CD (Sub Pop)
Brooklyn resident, comedian and really great guy (and Russian immigrant) Eugene Mirman has, among a great many other things, released two previous albums: The Absurd Nightclub Comedy Of Eugene Mirman and the 2006 follow-up En Garde, Society!. Now, three years later, The Mirm (that’s what the crew on the Flight Of The Conchords tour called him) is releasing the possibly offensive, but most likely charming God Is A Twelve-Year-Old Boy With Asperger’s.

Mission Of Burma – Sound The Speed Of Light CD/LP+MP3 (Matador)
Mission Of Burma’s fourth album is a departure from the pinned-needles roar of 2006′s The Obliterati. Far more spacious and dynamic, it blasts off with the anthemic, catchy ”1, 2, 3, Partyy!” — a classic Burma rocker on a level with ”This Is Not A Photograph” or ”Certain Fate.” Other tracks, such as ”Feed,””Forget Yourself,” and ”Slow Faucet,” are slow, hypnotic builders. ”Good Cheer” is a burst of almost uncontainable joy that literally explodes from the speakers. [8.0] — Pitchfork

Morphine – At Your Service 2xCD (Ryko)
This 34 song, two-disc collection contains previously unreleased studio tracks, alternate takes, and live performances.

Steve Morse – Prime Cuts 2 CD (Magna Carta)
Currently a member of Deep Purple, Steve Morse’s instrumental abilities know no boundaries in terms of genre or technique. He is a master of any style from hard rock to fusion to acoustic to bluegrass or flamenco. Prime Cuts 2 displays his vast musical arsenal.

The Mountain Goats – Life Of The World To Come CD/2xLP (4AD)
The Mountain Goats have been making records since that mythical time when the term ”tape-only label” didn’t require any elaborate explanation, but have been recording and touring in their current incarnation since 2007. Highly anticipated new album.

Maria Muldaur – Garden Of Joy CD (Stony Plain)
“America’s first lady of roots music,” returns to her original roots via jug band music. Special guests include John Sebastian, David Grisman, Taj Mahal, Dan Hicks, Fritz Richmond Kit Stovepipe.

Music Go Music – Expressions CD/LP+MP3 (Secretly Canadian)
”They begin with a bright-eyed Scandinavian sashay and end with a ten-minute Mediterranean disco romp featuring programmed drums, making detours along the way into rainy day ballads and guitar infernos. The cumulative effect plays like the greatest hits of dance saviors that never existed. And indeed, they probably should only be performed from inside an aquadome at the bottom of the Caspian Sea, or at least during a summer-long residency in Ibiza.” — The Fader

Meshell Ndegeocello – Devil’s Halo CD/LP (Downtown)
Devil’s Halo harkens back to the way records used to be made: no click, live band energy, and phenomenal musicianship. Influenced by a breadth of sounds, from The Human League to Wu Tang to Yes, Devil’s Halo displays Meshell’s own diversity of formidable gifts.

Willie Nelson – Souvenirs 2xCD (Fuel 2000)
30-track, double-disc collection of early hits and rarities.

Noah And The Whale – The First Days Of Spring CD/CD+DVD (Cherry Tree)
Sophomore album from the British folk/pop outfit. The First Days Of Spring is released to coincide with their film of the same name.

Paradise Lost – Faith Divides Us Death Unites CD (Century Media)
New album from the British gothic metal band. Recorded with famed producer Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios, Sweden has resulted in a natural, warm and organic production. The band has also enlisted Swedish drum legend Adrian Erlandsson (Cradle Of Filth, At the Gates) to its ranks.

Jemina Pearl – Break It Up CD (Ecstatic Peace)
Jemina’s name is most likely one you know from her days with the critically acclaimed and adored Be Your Own Pet. This past year saw Jemina acclimating herself to the NYC scene, writing songs and more recently teaming up with producer John Agnello.

Joe Perry – Have Guitar Will Travel CD (Roman)
Fifth solo album from the Aerosmith guitarist.

Richard Pinhas – Rhizosphere/Live, Paris 1 CD (Cuneiform)
Richard Pinhas is recognized as one of France’s major experimental musicians. He is a key figure in the international development of electronic rock music. His band Heldon fused electronics and rock to create a pioneering, aggressive music that was a precursor to the industrial music and techno to come. Rhizosphere, originally released in 1977, was Pinhas’ first solo album.

A Place To Bury Strangers – Exploding Head CD/LP (Mute)
Exploding Head dishes out Jesus & Mary Chain Psycho Candy-era alt rock with the lyrical sensibility of ‘80s Cure in heaping portions. They’ve mastered this formula brilliantly, but add several grams of their own opiate glaze to the mix — a blissed-out soundtrack to a dirty yet divine scene.

Port O’Brien – Threadbare CD (TBD)
”Port O’Brien crafts beautiful, melodic tunes that utilize string instruments to their fullest. And the group is not afraid to rock out.” — Billboard

Powerman 5000 – Somewhere On The Other Side Of Nowhere CD (Mighty Loud)
New album from the futuristic metalists.

Rascal Flatts – Greatest Hits Volume 1 2xCD (Lyric Street)
Limited, specially packaged double-disc edition of the country act’s 2009 hits collection contains a bonus disc featuring four live tracks, a bonus interview and a poster.

Raveonettes – In And Out Of Control CD/LP (Vice)
In And Out Of Control is a strange mix of modern and old, dark and happy. It s about rape, violence, lost love, suicide, not caring about what other people think of you and most importantly being mad and angelic. Includes a bonus two track CD-single featuring the non-album tracks “The Chosen One” and “Planes Do Crash” — free with purchase (while supplies last)!

The Revelations (Featuring Tre Williams) – Bleeding Edge CD (Traffic)
“Raw, funky deep soul from Brooklyn based Tre Williams and The Revelations — with a sound rooted in the classic southern sounds of Hi Records and others, but feels fresh and current — not so much in the throwback vein of others in the soul and funk underground — but a timelessly gritty sound.” — Dusty Groove Includes a six-track live DVD — free with purchase (while supplies last)!

Emily Rodgers – Bright Day CD (Misra)
Debut full length by the Pittsburgh singer (here performing with a full band). Gorgeous, penetrating music — for fans of This Mortal Coil, Marissa Nadler and Paula Frazer/Tarnation.

Shafiq – En’ A-Free-Ka CD/LP (Plug Research)
Shafiq Husayn came up around the Zulu Nation in the 80’s and paid his dues producing for Ice-T during his heyday, from there he has grown as a producer, songwriter and arranger. As a founding member of Sa-Ra Creative Partners, Shafiq has been responsible for some of the most innovative music in the past ten years.

Wadada Leo Smith – Spiritual Dimensions 2xCD (Cuneiform)
Spiritual Dimensions features two of Wadada’s all-star groups. On Disc One there is Wadada Leo Smith’s Golden Quintet. Disc Two marks the recorded debut of Wadada Leo Smith’s Organic.

Sparklehorse & Fennesz – In The Fishtank 15 CDEP/12” (Fishtank)
Songs and soundscapes of rare beauty with stunning atmospherics, where abstract sounds and well-crafted traditional song-structure meet and where acoustic instruments and electronics create outstanding ambience.

Steel Panther – Feel The Steel CD/LP (Universal)
Debut album from L.A.’s mid profile hair-metal revivalists. Includes a bonus enhanced album sampler featuring two music videos and Steel Panther: Behind The Music — free with purchase (while supplies last)!

The Steep Canyon Rangers – Deep In The Shade CD (Rebel)
While firmly rooted in the bluegrass tradition, The Steep Canyon Rangers’ ability to draw in elements of hard core honky-tonk, classic country and the blues.

Sufjan Stevens/Osso – Run Rabbit Run CD/2xLP (Asthmatic Kitty)
In 2001, Sufjan Stevens followed up his debut album, A Sun Came, with Enjoy Your Rabbit, a series of fourteen instrumentals programmatically inspired by the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. Much later, in 2006, Bryce Dessner (The National, Dark Was The Night, Clogs) suggested that Sufjan re-arrange the entirety of Enjoy Your Rabbit for Osso, a string quartet that had previously contributed strings to Sufjan’s Illinois and My Brightest Diamond’s Bring Me The Workhorse.

Strike Anywhere – Iron Front CD/LP (Bridge Nine)
Thirteen songs of fast and melodic punk rock.

Supercluster – Waves CD (Cloud)
Supercluster is an Athens super-group featuring members of Pylon, The Olivia Tremor Control, Circulatory System, Deerhunter and more. Their music has been described as ”Appalachian Wave” because of the combination of an eclectic mix of elements — three female vocalists, upbeat rhythms, violin, cello, mandolin, clarinets, acoustic guitar, keyboard, and angular electric guitar.

Terror Danjah – Gremlinz (Instrumentals 2003-2009) CD/LP (Planet Mu)
2009 collection from the British grime/hip-hopper. Terror Danjah isn’t a household name yet. He’s not as wellknown as Wiley or Dizzee Rascal, but he’s considered by the Grime cognoscenti to be the best Grime producer ever, and this new collection of instrumentals, remixes, and tracks for others shows off his singular genius to the rest of the world.

Tiesto – Kaleidoscope CD (Ultra)
Internationally recognized as one of the world’s premier DJs and producers, Tiesto’s career highlights to date are many, but recent exploits include a GRAMMY nod for his last artist album, ‘Elements of Life’ and headlining both Coachella and Bonnaroo Festivals. After a run of four top-selling electronic artist albums, Tiesto presents ”Kaleidoscope”, an artist album in the truest sense: collaborations with a variety of music talents from the worlds of dance, pop and rock: Jonsi Birgisson from Sigur R”s, Kele Okereke from Bloc Party, Nelly Furtado, and Calvin Harris!

Tokio Hotel – Humanoid CD/2xCD (Interscope)
Already an established international sensation, German-born international rock idols hunkered down for months with longtime producer David Jost with the goal of releasing 13 science fiction-inspired, timeless tracks. Deluxe double-disc edition features four non-album bonus tracks.

Various Artists (Toddla T) – Fabric.Live 47 CD (Fabric)
Toddla bounces through styles in the blink of an eye, from the bashy dancehall re-lick of Duffy’s “Stepping Stone” to the brief blaze of firing drum & bass from Clipz to his Fish Go Deep/Geeneus/DJ Zinc medley to slices of funk through to some exclusive slabs of dubstep, then onto grime and two-step.

Kurt Vile – Childish Prodigy CD/LP+MP3 (Matador)
Philadelphia singer-songwriter Kurt Vile’s second album is a rich tapestry of rock and folk sounds, occasionally lo-fi, occasionally lustrous, hitting touchstones from Tom Petty to Street Legal-era Dylan to Spacemen 3 to Skip Spence.

Visceral Bleeding – Remnants Revived CD (Willowtip)
A no-nonsense, brutal technical death metal band hailing from Malmo, Sweden. Includes bonus tracks, four videos, a studio clip and three live performances.

BeBe & CeCe Winans – Still CD (B&C)
New album from the Grammy Award-winning Gospel duo.

Ying Yang Twins – Ying Yang Forever 2xCD (BCD Music Group)
New album from the Atlanta-based crunk rap duo.

DVDs:

Anvil – The Story Of Anvil DVD (VH1 Classic)
Similarities to This Is Spinal Tap notwithstanding, this acclaimed, heartfelt documentary tells the remarkable true story of the would-be heavy metal gods Anvil. Influencing an entire generation of hard rock bands despite never achieving success themselves, singer guitarist Steve Lips Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner let the cameras capture their last ditch stab at the fame they’ve sought since they were 14. Features appearances by Lars Ulrich, Slash, Scott Ian, Lemmy, and more.

Joe Bonamassa – Live From The Royal Albert Hall 2xDVD (Premier Artists)
Special features include “Woke Up Dreaming” (extra performance from the Royal Albert Hall concert) plus “The Bus Interview,” where Joe talks about the concert songs and demonstrates his guitar technique and influences.

Vinyl:

David Bazan – Curse Your Branches LP (Barsuk)
Recently released on CD — now available on vinyl. New solo album from the Pedro The Lion frontman.

Einstellung – Wings Of Desire 2xLP (Capsule)
2008 album — now available on limited edition (1500) HQ-180 vinyl. Power, beauty, noise, melody, hypnosis, simplicity. From the deepest depths of the industrial heartlands of Middle England comes a small ray of light.

Harvey Milk – Live At Supersonic July 12, 2008 LP (Capsule)
Recorded at Supersonic 2008, this was Harvey Milk’s first ever UK performance. Limited edition (500) on clear vinyl.

Th’ Inbred – Legacy Of Fertility 1: A Family Affair LP (Alternative Tentacles)
Th’ Inbred – Legacy Of Fertility 2: Kissin’ Cousins LP (Alternative Tentacles)
Digitally remastered, color-vinyl pressings with bonus tracks.

Madonna – Celebration [Single Mixes] 2×12″ (WB)
Limited double-12” vinyl pressing of this single featuring seven mixes of “Celebration.”

Willie Nelson – Shotgun Willie LP (Atlantic)
Originally released in 1973, and widely considered one of Nelson’s finest albums. With stellar players including Waylon Jennings and Doug Sahm, features the signature songs ”Whiskey River,” ”Slow Down Old World,” ”Sad Songs And Waltzes,” and the Leon Russell-penned ”A Song For You.”

New Order – Brotherhood LP (Rhino)
New Order – Low-Life LP (Rhino)
New Order – Movement LP (Rhino)
New Order – Power, Corruption & Lies LP (Rhino)
New Order – Technique LP (Rhino)
HQ-180 vinyl reissues now available.

No Age – Losing Feeling 12” (Sub Pop)
New four-song, vinyl-only 12” EP.

Skatelites – Stretching Out Volume Two LP (Roir)
In 1983 the original Skatalites returned to Jamaica to perform at Sunsplash. Personal conflicts were set aside as the legends of ska stretched out at this joyous concert. With no limits on solos or improvisational experiments, these rehearsals and performances were captured for history with all the spontaneity, fire, electricity, and good fellowship of the unique moment.

Three Mile Pilot – Planets b/w Grey Clouds 7″ (Temporary Residence)
In anticipation of the long (long… long) overdue new album coming in 2010, the mighty Three Mile Pilot have recorded two new songs for this limited edition 7” single.

Jason Urick – Husbands LP+MP3 (Thrill Jockey)
Those familiar with his work in WZT Hearts will find this solo release in-line with the more ambient pieces that the band produced. Ghosted, fragmented melodies, distorted tones and so forth. LP comes in a silk-screened jacket and includes mp3 download coupon. Limited edition (500).

John Vanderslice – Too Much Time b/w Moon Rocks 7″ (Dead Oceans)
Limited edition 7” single features the exclusive B-side ”Moon Rocks.”

Big Pink – A Brief History Of Love LP (4AD)
Black Dahlia Murder – Deflorate LP (Metal Blade)
Blitzen Trapper – Black River Killer 12″ (Sub Pop)
Dappled Cities – Zounds LP (Dangerbird)
The Gossip – Music For Men LP (Columbia)
L’ Acephale – Malefesance 2xLP (Aurora Borealis)
Langhorne Slim – Be Set Free LP (Kemado)
La Roux – La Roux LP (Kemado)
Phish – Joy LP (ATO)
Shudder To Think – Live From Home 2xLP (Team Love)
Recently released on CD — these titles are now available on vinyl.

Tagged as: built to spill, New Releases