CDs + Vinyl:
7 Year Bitch – Live At Moe CD/LP (Moe)
Live archive release from the indie rockers. Features the bands classic lineup with original members Selene Vigil-Wilk, Elizabeth Davis-Simpson, Valerie Agnew, and Roisin Dunne. In the early ‘90s, Seattle rock band 7 Year Bitch burst onto the scene with their raw songwriting and raucous live performances. After releasing their third (and final) studio album in 1996, the band was undeniably at their peak and electrified with their intense stage shows.
All Them Witches – Lightning At The Door [Reissue/2013] CD/LP+MP3 (New West)
Lightning At The Door is an eight-song, kick you in the teeth, swirling mixture of blues, psych, boogie and jam rock. Originally released in 2013, this reissue features two bonus tracks from the original recording sessions. “A brooding feel pervades, and some of Lightning At The Door‘s most effective moments are in its quieter, ambient reaches, beginning with the walk-into-water intro to opener ‘Funeral For A Great Drunken Bird,’ volume swells of guitar feedback shifting smoothly into warm, natural-sounding fuzz given melodic breadth by [Fender Rhodes specialist] Allan Van Cleave‘s keys.” —The Obelisk
Biscuit – Biscuit CD/LP (La Castanya)
Biscuit bid farewell to their first golden era with their rawest, rocking-est offering to date. This is (not) the end! Just the beginning of their third decade of unrelenting electric guitar-from-the-gut assault a la The Jam.
Blaze Ya Dead Homie – The Casket Factory CD/LP+MP3 (Majik Ninja)
New album the Michigan-based rapper features Twiztid, The R.O.C., Lex the Hex Master, Prozak, ABK, Kung Fu Vampire, DJ Swamp and Boondox.
Bloodiest – Bloodiest CD/LP+MP3 (Replapse)
“In a city saturated with innovative heavy music, Chicago’s Bloodiest offers an eclectic sonic palette that bears the stamp of its hometown on its sleeve while forging new musical terrain. The group formed in the late 2000s as an assembly of friends and scene veterans (including current and former members of Yakuza, 90 Day Men, Atombombpocketknife, and Follows) and by the release of its 2011 debut, Descent, had become a staple of the local music community and beyond for its unwieldy combination of underground rock, avant-garde, classical, neofolk, drone, and metal.” – Noisey (Music By Vice)
Brothers Osborne – Pawn Shop CD/LP (EMI Nashville)
Brothers Osborne’s rural blue-collar upbringing infiltrates the music they make as a twang-and-crunch duo that blends equal parts country and rock. “Brothers Osborne don’t take a sledgehammer to mainstream country on their full-length debut, Pawn Shop — they just do it better. The lyrical thoughtfulness, the character of the production, and the sheer quality of the playing are all exemplary, setting the bar for the genre in 2016. Take opener ‘Dirt Rich,’ a stomping ode to the modesty of down-home living that borrows some of the chorus melody from Zac Brown Band’s ‘Homegrown,’ and could’ve very easily come off like a lesser riff on that 2015 smash.” – SPIN
Johnny Cash – With His Hot And Blue Guitar [Reissue/1957] CD (ORG Music)
Released in 1957, With His Hot And Blue Guitar was not only Johnny Cash’s debut album, but also the first LP ever issued on Sam Phillips’ Sun Record Company. The album features the hit singles: “I Walk The Line,” “Cry! Cry! Cry!,” “So Doggone Lonesome,” and “Folsom Prison Blues.”
Casualties Of Cool – Casualties Of Cool [Reissue/2014] CD+DVD (Inside Out U.S.)
For Devin Townsend, Casualties Of Cool is more than just the latest release of a prolific career — it’s an escape from over 20 years of relentless productivity, and of the pre-conceptions of him. Via his band Casualties Of Cool, he revisited the rootsy country and North American folk music of his youth. The album was originally a PledgeMusic project — this version includes a bonus album of David Townsend Project demos and a DVD with exclusive Casualties Of Cool content that was not available to the Pledge fans.
Jonny Cohen’s Love Machine – Quiet Reminder CD (Quiet Reminder)
Singer and songwriter Jonny Cohen founded The Love Machine in 1987 after moving into a Silver Spring, Maryland house he shared with DC rock legend Root Boy Slim. The house was the site of frequent basement jam sessions with Unrest, Butch Willis & The Rocks, and other local bands. Those sessions inspired Jonny to form his own band. After hearing a tape of the song “I’m Not An Anorexic,” Teen Beat released their debut album in 1989. This is the band’s first album in 19 years. Jonny Cohen evokes the outsider music of Daniel Johnston, Jad Fair, and The Shaggs.
Daughter – Not To Disappear CD/LP (Glassnote/4AD)
Nearly three years after the release of their debut album If You Leave, Daughter — the London-based trio of Elena Tonra, Igor Haefeli and Remi Aguilella – return with a new album. “The slow, improbable rise of gorgeous slowcore-folk trio Daughter brings me great pleasure. Elena Tonra is a masterful lyricist and vocalist, but it’s not just her that makes Daughter such a well-balanced, elegant act. Guitarist Igor Haefeli and drummer Remi Aguilella expertly and carefully construct the kind of wounded, dark pop prisms that let Tonra’s voice, and the stories of pain it tells, take front and center.” – Stereogum
Europe – War Of Kings [Special Edition] CD+DVD+Blu-ray (UDR)
Europe – War Of Kings [Special Edition] 2xCD+DVD+Blu-ray (UDR)
Europe – War Of Kings [Special Edition] 2xCD+Blu-ray (UDR)
Deluxe edition of the classic hair metal band’s latest album – available in three expanded flavors, each featuring their Live At Wacken Open Air 2015 set.
Julia Brown – An Abundance Of Strawberries CD/LP (Joy Void)
Largely eschewing traditional band arrangements, five-piece band Julia Brown worked heavily with samples – drum machines, breaks, and bird calls in lieu of traditional percussion, 808s in place of basslines – before layering arrangements of strings, pianos, horns, and omnichord on top alongside lush harmonies and oft-affected vocals. The result is a meticulous record that is both celebratory and melancholy, as it nods toward a lineage of pop and indie-pop artists from Ellie Greenwich to Heavenly and more experimental acts like Fog, Cotton Candy Collective, Spiritualized and Duster.
Garrett Klahn – Garrett Klahn CD/LP+CD (Rise)
First proper solo album from the former Texas Is The Reason frontman. “Garrett Klahn has been making music for two-plus decades, singing and playing guitar in a variety of amped-up rock bands (most notably Texas Is The Reason, but also Solea, the New Rising Sons and more). Yet 2016 is his first foray into the world of being an honest-to-god solo artist. On his self-titled debut LP, Garrett Klahn slows down the tempo and dials down the volume to focus on mood and ambience. That doesn’t mean it’s a folk record, though.” – Substream Magazine
Dylan LeBlanc – Cautionary Tale CD/LP (Single Lock)
“Singer/songwriter Dylan LeBlanc comes through with an absolutely beautiful album here. It’s teeters between folk and blues very well which creates a nice dynamic in the lyricism and instrumentation. Add in LeBlanc’s soothing vocals and you have yourself one hell of an album.” – Genius
Lusts – Illuminations CD/LP (1965 Records/PIAS America)
“Driven by records much older than they, Lusts are more than happy to show off what’s informed this debut. The DNA of The Psychedelic Furs, Echo and Bunnymen, pre-Kick era INXS and New Order run heavily through this album (there’s even a track called ‘Temptation,’ which is just as ear-wormy as Barney and co’s track of the same name). In the wrong hands this kind of influence devotion can, of course, be a derivative and futile exercise. Luckily, Illuminations is a solid collection of mid-‘80s college rock, jangle, shoegaze and pop which, despite being recorded in their bedroom, contains some of the biggest choruses this side of Florence And The Machine.” – The Line Of Best Fit
Lycus – Chasm CD/LP+MP3 (Relapse/Ozium)
Oakland, CA quartet Lycus return with Chasms, an intensely powerful and emotive masterpiece of funereal doom metal.
Magic Sword – Volume 1 CD/2xLP+MP3 (Tender Loving Empire)
“The two-person production crew plays epic sci-fi electro-pop that sounds something like John Carpenter producing the next Justice album, and indeed, it’s pretty rad.” – Willamette Week
Bill O’Connell And The Latin All-Stars – Heart Beat CD (Savant)
The latest offering by Latin Jazz great Bill O’Connell makes for his fourth release for the Savant label. Always one to seek out new ways to express his music vision, the pianist has throughout his career embraced a broad stylistic swath of jazz, Latin and Brazilian idioms while experimenting with an equally diverse orchestral formats, from a duo to unconventional trio settings and ensembles of various sizes. Here Bill is joined by his acclaimed group The Latin Jazz All-Stars, featuring Conrad Herwig, Steve Slagle and Cuban percussion great Roman Diaz.
Opprobrium – Serpent Temptation [Reissue/1988] CD/LP+MP3 (Relapse)
Deluxe reissue of Opprobrium’s (formerly known as Incubus) highly influential 1988 death/thrash masterwork. Now remastered with four bonus tracks.
Panic! At The Disco – Death Of A Bachelor CD (Decaydance)
Produced by Jake Sinclair (Taylor Swift, Fall Out Boy), Death Of A Bachelor marks the first release from Panic! At the Disco in nearly two years, following 2013’s acclaimed Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die! The album’s title track, “Death Of A Bachelor,” has been described as, “It’s like some Beyoncé beats with some Sinatra vocals. It’s really crazy… [Sinatra’s] music has been a major player in the soundtrack of my life. So it’s only right that I return the favor and/or pay it forward.”
Jeremy Pelt – #Jiveculture CD (HighNote)
Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt is a firebrand jazz artist in the tradition of Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard. On his new album, #Jiveculture, he is joined by ‘Greatest Living Bassist’ Ron Carter, Danny Grissett and Billy Drummond.
Alan Price – Savaloy Dip: Words & Music By Alan Price CD (Ominovore)
The follow-up to Price’s ever-popular soundtrack to 1973’s O Lucky Man!, Savaloy Dip emerged instead as one of the great lost albums of the 1970s, as Reprise canceled the release on the very eve of its release — by which time the eight-track cartridge pressings (which necessarily took longer to produce) had not simply been manufactured, they had also been distributed. A hasty recall program brought most of the errant tapes back for destruction, but a handful did remain on the loose, to bedevil collectors ever more — all the more so since the lost songs (since made available on bootleg) merited a lot more attention than they were ever permitted. However, one shouldn’t complain — stung by the rejection, Price returned to the studio and, retaining just one track from the abandoned project, created his most successful album in its stead, then titled it for that survivor, 1974’s Between Today And Yesterday.
Randy Rogers Band – Nothing Shines Like Neon CD/LP (Tommy Jackson)
Seventh album from the Texas country group.
Running – Wake Up Applauding CD/LP (Castle Face)
Delivered loudly, dripping in unintelligible menace with the occasional flash of dark humor, Running’s bathtub mixture of dope-sick guitars claws at your purse, ramming into an unhealthy sense of propulsion and repetition that seems chemical, unreal. This is villains-plotting-evil kinda punk, mutants in the sewers emerging and wreaking havoc… Mothra shorting out high-voltage power lines and melting, screaming, onto a fleeing populace.
Ryuichi Sakamoto & Alva Noto – The Revenant [OST] CD (Milan)
Vinyl due February 26. “In Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s new film The Revenant, Leonardo DiCaprio plays frontiersman Hugh Glass as he, his son, and his hunting team raid Native American land in 1832. After DiCaprio is unexpectedly mauled by a bear, the crew buries him, murders his son, and abandons their bodies, continuing the journey unaware that DiCaprio escaped the grave to seek revenge. Calling The Revenant ‘intense’ doesn’t begin to do it justice; among other things, it’s a meditation on the unholy perseverance of the human soul. Yet its soundtrack—co-created by Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, German electronic musician Alva Noto, and multi-instrumentalist Bryce Dessner of The National—wisely opts to complement that savagery rather than illustrate it.” – Pitchfork
The Shrine – Rare Breed CD/LP (Century Media)
Produced by Dave Jerden (the venerated knobsman behind such classics as Alice In Chains’ Dirt, Jane’s Addition’s Nothing’s Shocking, Social Distortion’s self-titled, The Offspring’s Ixnay On The Hombre and Eno/Byrne’s My Life In The Bush of Ghosts) and recorded through the very amp that Greg Ginn recorded Black Flag’s Damaged on, Rare Breed exists in a space that once was was bleeding with razor sharp lines separating punks, metal heads and hippies, where a violent clash in the parking lot of the Cuckoo’s nest was inevitable.
Soundtrack – Rubble Kings: The Album CD (Mass Appeal)
Rubble Kings tells the story of how a few extraordinary, forgotten people did the impossible, during the gang era of NYC and how their actions impacted the city and the world over by planting the seeds to what would become hip-hop culture. The soundtrack was produced by long time Run The Jewels collaborator, Little Shalimar, and features contributions by Run The Jewels, Killer Mike & Bun B, Mr Muthaf*kin Exquire, Ka, Roxiny and others. Vinyl edition due February 5.
Tattered Syntax – Alone Gone CD (Oxen)
Harsh noise cut ups by William Hutson of Anthracite, Rale, and Clipping. Nine tracks, fifty minutes, the complete works.
There Is No Mountain – Luna CD (Owsla)
Combining elements of psychedelic pop, Americana, ancient melodies and world music, TINM members Matt Harmon and Kali Giaritta pieced these songs together while touring the US constantly for a couple years. Aside from ten original songs, the collection also presents a very stark, heavy cover of Dirk Powell’s bluegrass tune “Waterbound” and a psyched-out arrangement of the oldest-known fully notated song in the world (taken from a 2000-year-old tombstone in modern-day Turkey).
Varg – Das Ende aller Lügen CD (Napalm)
New album from the German pagan metal band.
Witchcraft – Nucleus CD/LP (Nuclear Blast)
Nucleus is a new album from the Swedish classic/doom rock masters. “Along the run of these size-shifting songs, the band shows its chops in the realms of heavy rock, traditional doom, psychedelic (more Jefferson Airplane than The Fifth Dimension), hard rock, blues, light touches of folk rock, and little splashes of pop to the melodies and hookier riffs. The bluesier sections meshed with the hard rock or doom lead to a vaguely Danzig-like atmosphere, though generally more upbeat and optimistic in attitude; also, the sprawling long-form tracks churning through the various styles in intriguing combinations really justify the length of the longer tracks. As a tribute to/near-worship of the heavier side of oldies rock, it’s much more effective and authentic-seeming than the latest stuff from, say, Kadavar or The Sword.” – Metal Blas
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
Aborted – Termination Redux 12” (Century Media)
New EP from the Belgian death metallers. Contains three new tracks and a re-recording of Engineering The Dead (2001) opener “The Holocaust Incarnate.”
The Ataris/Useless ID – Let It Burn [Reissue/2000] 12” (Kung Fu)
Punk rock band The Ataris hooked up with their Israeli tour buds, Useless ID for some serious Kung Fu-styled spank and created Let It Burn. Extremely limited non-metallic gold colored vinyl reissue.
The B-52s – Live In London 2013 LP (Let Them Eat Vinyl)
Exclusive live recording of The B-52s at London’s IndigO2 in August 2013. Features founding members Kate Pierson, Fred Schneider and Cindy Wilson performing their hits, including: “Rock Lobster,” “Private Idaho,” “Dance This Mess Around,” “Love Shack” and “Roam.”
The Band Perry – The Band Perry [2010] LP (Big Machine)
Self-titled debut album by the country music group – first time on vinyl. The Band Perry’s “modern throwback” style combines classic country with an eclectic infusion of rock and soul. As songwriters and musicians, their sound is rounded out by perfect three-part harmonies.
Johnny Cash – Original Sun Sound Of Johnny Cash [Reissue/1964] LP (Sundazed)
Original Sun Sound Of Johnny Cash gathers a dozen of his Sun recordings, including fan favorites “Country Boy” and “Big River,” and Lead Belly’s “Goodnight Irene.”
Tommy Castro & The Painkillers – Method To My Madness LP (Alligator)
Released last October on CD – now available on vinyl. From the opening one-two punch of everyman anthems “Common Ground” and “Shine A Light” to the full-tilt energy of the title track to the searing, deep soul ballad “Died And Gone To Heaven,” Tommy and the band are firing on all cylinders. From the bayou rock of “Got A Lot” and the atmospheric, autobiographical “Ride” to the reinvented version of the Clarence Carter hit “I’m Qualified” and the emotional cover of B.B. King’s “Bad Luck,” Tommy Castro & The Painkillers continue to break new ground while simultaneously having an incredible amount of fun.
The Church – Starfish [Reissue/1988] LP (Plain)
Translucent green vinyl repress. “Signing to Arista might have seemed an unusual move to start with, getting produced by L.A. studio types like Waddy Wachtel even more so. But for The Church the rewards were great — if sometimes too clean around the corners in comparison to the song-for-song masterpiece Heyday, Starfish set up the band’s well-deserved breakthrough in the States. The reason was ‘Under The Milky Way,’ still one of the most haunting and elegant songs ever to make the Top 40.” — AllMusic
Cold Fronts – Forever, Whatever LP+MP3 (Sire/London)
Released last October on CD – now available on vinyl. Chiming guitars mix with cruising bass lines, drums punch, and leader Craig Almquist’s vocals clip along joyfully, often hitting falsetto high notes before soaring into power choruses. His lyrics toe the line of mystery, with cryptic references to relationships of unknown size and shape. White vinyl pressing.
Comets On Fire – Comets On Fire [Reissue/2001] LP (Silver Current)
The first full-length release by psycho-psych freaks Comets Of Fire delivers dark and damaged acid rock served in a crude and blown-out speedball of Blue Cheer, High Rise, James Williamson and a shit-faced-drunk Roxy-era Eno. Methamphetamine and Schnapps-drenched lullabies take it straight into the sonic shitstorm, shifting from 4/4 power rock to imploding free form. Echoplex-treated tales tell of drug-crazed space travelers, grave-robbers in love and cosmic cannibals.
Elizabeth Cotten – Vol. 2: Shake Sugaree [Reissue/1965] LP (Folkways)
Originally released in 1965, Elizabeth Cotton’s second album Vol. 2: Shake Sugaree is another gem featuring her idiosyncratic, self-taught upside-down left-handed guitar playing, plus banjo. The song “Shake Sugaree” is a folk classic featuring her great granddaughter Brenda Evans on vocals. This is an absolutely essential collection from an American folk legend.
Danzig – Skeletons LP (Nuclear Blast)
Recently released on CD — now available on vinyl. New album from the metal/punk band fronted by vocalist Glenn Danzig, best known for his work with the Misfits and Samhain. Skeletons is an album of cover versions with Danzig’s unique take on songs originally performed by artists ranging from Elvis Presley to Black Sabbath. “My attitude with covers is, make it your own or else leave it alone.” — Glenn Danzig
Dark Blue – Vicious Romance 7” (12XU)
After three releases in 2014, Philadelphia’s Dark Blue return with two songs about blue collar depression in a changing Philadelphian landscape for their debut 7” on Austin’s 12XU.
Defect Defect – My Life Is Like Death 7” (Dirt Cult)
Defect Defect has been a longtime favorite at Dirt Cult. In case you’re not acquainted, the band hails from Portland, OR and plays pissed off, catchy, no-frills hardcore, and this is their final release. Featuring ex and current members of The Observers, Clorox Girls, The Stops, Autistic Youth, The Minds, Steel Chains, etc.
Giovanni Di Domenico/Jim O’Rourke/Tatsuhisa Yamamoto – Delivery Health LP (Silent Water)
Giovanni Di Domenico/Jim O’Rourke/Tatsuhisa Yamamoto – Duos With Guitars LP (Silent Water)
Delivery Health is a highly idiosyncratic album, recorded in Tokyo at GOK Sound and mixed at Steamroom, blends early ’70s ECM drum sonics with long, unfolding travelogues, the transparency of the mix, electronic drones, and a most organic rock sound. Duos With Guitars is comprised of two side-long improvisations recorded between 2011 and 2013 at various locations in Brussels and Tokyo.
Earth, Wind & Fire – I Am [Reissue/1979] LP (Friday Music)
Limited HQ-180gm blue colored audiophile vinyl LP pressing in a gatefold sleeve.
Enemy Anemone/Cougar Vox – Split EP 7” (Emotional Response)
Enemy Anemone is Jen Turrell’s new project, (Boyracer, Rabbit In Red). Vocally inspired by ‘70s femme post punkers Girls At Our Best, Jen squeezes three slabs of melodic pop wonderment onto one side of this split. The flip contains Australia’s Cougar Vox, and they jump for the jugular with Slits-esque inspired shamble and ramble.
The Everly Brothers – The Songs Of 2xLP (Sundazed)
A collection of 36 selections, recorded as publishing demos during The Everly Brothers’ tenure at Cadence Records. At the peak of their abilities both as performers and writers — most tracks feature only The Everly’s voices and guitars. Hear familiar songs like “Maybe Tomorrow” and “When Will I Be Loved” near their genesis, along with many other strong works in the sweet romantic style in which the brothers specialized.
Florida Georgia Line – Anything Goes [2014] (Republic)
Anything Goes is the 2014 follow-up to the country music duo’s debut Here’s To The Good Times, and is now available for the first time on vinyl.
Funkadelic – Free Your Mind… And Your Ass Will Follow [Reissue/1970] LP (4 Men With Beards)
Funkadelic – Let’s Take It To The Stage [Reissue/1975] LP (4 Men With Beards)
Free Your Mind… And Your Ass Will follow, Funkadelic’s second LP, is a straight up masterpiece from the stoniest, strangest funk and R&B group of all-time. Let’s Take It To The Stage was the work of a group that had turned a corner, a combination of all the disparate aspects of Funkadelic’s music up to that point: the extended jams, abrasive guitars, smooth ballads, direct vocals, psychedelic ingredients, sexual lyrics and dirty funk into the most short and to-the-point songs they’d ever recorded. Reissued on clear and gold vinyl (respectively).
The Get Up Kids – Four Minute Mile [Reissue/1997] LP (Doghouse)
Limited white vinyl with royal blue splatter colored vinyl repress of the debut album by the Kansas City, Missouri EMO/punk band.
Honey Radar – Giraffe 7” (Chunklet)
For a band known for punctuating the landscape with countless small run singles, Honey Radar doesn’t disappoint on the Giraffe EP. Recorded by HR mastermind Jason Henn in Philadephia, this single serves as probably one of their easier to find releases.
Ice Cube – War & Peace Vol. 1 (The War Disc) [Reissue/1998] 2xLP (UMe)
Ice Cube – War & Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc) [Reissue/1998] 2xLP (UMe)
Ice Cube’s fifth and sixth albums were released as a two-part affair; the first featuring intense street-oriented jams and rap-metal fusions, and the second featuring guest appearances by Dr. Dre and MC Ren. Part of UMe’s ongoing Respect The Classics vinyl reissue campaign.
Linton & Stewart/The Aislers Set – Searching For A Stranger On The Shore b/w Big Ocean 7”+MP3 (Emotional Response)
AV Linton (The Aislers Set) commands huge respect within the indie-pop and queer-core community for a remarkable string of melody driven contributions to the ‘90s alt underground scene, as a member of Henry’s Dress and The Aisler Set. The A-Side is a new song from Linton and Boyracer drummer/noise-nik Stewart Anderson, with all the hooks and melodious trademarks that will leave Linton/Anderson fans foaming at the mouth. The flip is an original, “Big Ocean” from The Aislers Set, and the download includes an extra The Aislers Set track, “Pigeons.”
Yo-Yo Ma and Bach – Unaccompanied Cello Suites 3xLP (Sony Masterworks)
Yo-Yo Ma performing the Bach Unaccompanied Cello Suites in it’s entirety — nearly three hours — in London at The Proms concert.
Misfits – I Don’t Care/Zombie Girl 12” (Misfits Records)
Recently released on CD — now available on vinyl. The first official studio material from yet a new Misfits lineup, centered around founding member Jerry Only.
Justin Moore – Outlaws Like Me [2011] LP (Valory)
Second studio album by the country music artist – available for the first time on vinyl.
The Piano Guys – The Piano Guys [2012] LP (Razor & Tie)
First time on vinyl. Hailing from Utah, The Piano Guys became an Internet sensation by way of their immensely successful series of strikingly original self-made music videos. Their debut album features more of the imaginative mash-up arrangements that The Piano Guys are already famous for, including sources ranging from Michael Jackson to Mozart, The Bourne Identity to David Guetta. It also includes an original song and innovative takes on hits by One Direction, Adele and Christina Perri.
Rolling Stones – From The Vault: Live In Leeds 1982 3xLP+DVD (Eagle Vision)
Now available on vinyl. Latest installment in the From The Vault series of previously unreleased Rolling Stones live shows. This set is taken from performance at Roundhay Park in Leeds, England on July 25th 1982. This show was the last concert on their 1982 European Tour in support of 1981’s Tattoo You album which would be their last live tour for seven years. Includes a copy of the DVD.
Rush – Feedback [Reissue/2004] LP (Mercury)
Rush – Snakes & Arrows [Reissue/2007] 2xLP (Mercury)
Latest installments in Rush’s 40th anniversary HQ-200gm vinyl reissue campaign.
Sam Smith – In The Lonely Hour: Drowning Shadows Edition 2xLP (Capitol)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Expanded double-disc edition of the British singer/songwriter’s 2014 album includes a bonus disc that contains nine tracks additional tracks, including collaborations with A$AP Rocky, Mary J. Blige, John Legend, and Disclosure.
Sonny Smith – Sees All Knows All LP (Empty Cellar)
Sonny Smith (Sonny & The Sunsets) has written a monologue, an hour long story, called Sees All Knows All. A tale of love, sex, drugs, spaceships, romance, hallucinations, bitter tears and champagne. Guests include Kelley Stoltz, Shayde Sartin, Rusty Miller, James Finch, German Carracosca, and Jordi Llobet. The result is a Joe Frank meets Michael Hurley meets R. Crumb production: a dry, witty, autobiographical look at the meaning(s) of life from an underdog with deep nostalgia for America’s lost folk culture and a strong sense kinship with the marginalized.
Soundtrack – Beat Street [Reissue/1984] LP (Friday Music)
The classic 1984 major motion picture Beat Street centered around the New York City hip-hop culture of the early 1980s while the film’s integral soundtrack was produced by Harry Belafonte and helped not only jumpstart the rap, breakdance and freestyle movements but the careers of many of it’s pioneering artists like Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Melle Mel and Arthur Baker as well.
Spacin’ – Total Freedom LP (Richie)
Long-overdue long-form platter from Philadelphia’s Spacin’, the low-key torchbearers of both John Sinclair’s bold program and the fuzzy truth that less is often more (much more) as demonstrated by Lou’s time with Morrison, Tucker & Cale. On Total Freedom, guitarist & vocalist Jason Killinger blazes the path, lead guitarist Paul Sukeena and bassist Sean Hamilton vamp on economical electric chugs while drummer Eva Killinger reprises in her role as thee undisputed master of basement motorik.
UK Subs – Occupied [Reissue/1996] LP (Let Them Eat Vinyl)
Classic Subs reissued on colored vinyl.
Sundays & Cybele – Heaven LP (Beyond Beyond Is Beyond)
Describing music of great power and great expanse as “cinematic” can be fitting, if perhaps overused. When it comes to the music of Tokyo’s Sundays & Cybele—a Japanese band speaking the universal language of explosive, kaleidoscopic sound, for a result easily translated as both heavy and heavenly—it’s incredibly appropriate. Sundays & Cybele seem always to be reaching for peak experience, demonstrated herein by lead guitar breaks that seems to merge the differences between Ash Ra Tempel and The Dead Boys into a single, illuminating whole where Orange amps threaten to explode in a transcendent array of colors.
Wall – Wall 7” (Wharf Cat)
A certain self-awareness of the very question is at the heart of the Wall apparatus and listening along as they discover themselves throughout this EP is invigorating and scary. Tone and rhythm whirl together, like an emergency exit door choreographed to swing flawlessly in time to its damned and chaotic Pavlovian alarm bell. From the first rigid and cautious seconds of their EP, Wall unleash an uncanny self-awareness that methodically slips pages ripped from demented no wave legacies through a shredder of their own design.
Mike Watt – Ball-Hog Or Tugboat? [Reissue/1995] 2xLP (ORG Music)
Ball-Hog Or Tugboat? is the debut solo album from bass legend Mike Watt (Minutemen, fIREHOSE, Stooges, etc.). Watt recruited an all-star group of musicians to participate in the recording, including Henry Rollins, members of Sonic Youth, Frank Black, Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl (their first appearance on a record since Cobain’s death), Red Hot Chili Peppers’s Flea, Nels Cline, Mike D and Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys, Eddie Vedder, J Mascis, and many others.
Willamette – Diminished Composition LP (Scissor Tail)
Willamette is the project of two brothers Davin & Kevin Chong joined with Joseph Yonker. Diminished Composition marks the third effort from the group. Their first LP Echo Park can be considered one of the most gorgeous ambient albums ever recorded easily in tow with albums by Harold Budd, Eno, and William Basinski.
Cassettes:
Haunter – Haunter Demo (διαδήλωση) (Young Cubs)
Haunter hail from San Antonio and διαδήλωση find them unleashing three apocalyptic tracks on their first cassette release. Three tracks of blackend metal madness (full-length due later this year).
No Men – Needed (Young Cubs)
No Men describe themselves as “Hot punk clit rock. Sensual goth. Heavy malevolence. Fresh band on the move.”
Ulaan Khol – Salt (Soft Abuse)
Seven years after the first Ulaan Khol release arrived, Steven R. Smith continues to utilize the platform to fuse the confluence of New Zealand free noise, Australian post-punk and art-rock, and Japanese underground psych (a la PSF Records) with his own palette. Smith presents his own personal strain of psychedelic guitar exploration, alternating between blistering, hypnotic and meditative, with his scorching guitar firmly at the center. Salt is the latest chapter. Features cover of Leon Russell’s “Delta Lady.”
Unsustainable Social Condition with Ted Byrnes – Unsustainable Social Condition with Ted Byrnes (Oxen)
Two new tracks of fractured, scraping slides into blunt, violent vocals implicating fluid scenes of graphic horror. Matt Purse of Fenian and Of The Skull delivers harsh electronic noise and vocals, while special guest Ted Cyrnes (Airway, LAFMS) brings the junk metal and all things percussion to this jarring, peak noise massacre.
West Nile – West Nile (Young Cubs)
“London, Ontario’s West Nile has been on a huge roll this year with single after single of top-notch production, proving again and again to be the pinnacle of catchiness. We love that each subsequent release goes in a completely different direction in style from the last. The funky disco of ‘Whaaat I Can Gett’ was a perfect introduction to the project, then there was sonic journey semi-ballad of ‘#1FNDR,’ released last month, and now ‘Lotta PPL,’ which is a straight-up electro-pop BANGER, with an awesome synth-solo and killer chorus hook. It sounds retro and futuristic at the same time. All these songs on one album would be a wonderful thing. No word on anything like that forthcoming, but we can hope and dream. For now, we have these singles (and hopefully more to come) … hitting repeat is a necessity.”—Silent Shout
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