CDs:
Backtrack – Lost In Life CD/LP (Bridge 9)
For their second LP, Lost In Life, Backtrack has created a fist pumping, ground stomping hardcore record that holds true to their New York hardcore roots.
Lee Bannon – Alternate/Endings CD/2xLP (Ninja Tune)
Bannon has moved away from hip-hop, and into drum n’ bass and jungle. Inspired by both his youth in Sacramento — where d’n’b was huge — and the backdrop of 2013’s jungle renaissance, via albums by Machinedrum and Congo Natty, Bannon too, has reinvigorated the form. This is drum n’ bass in its most contemporary permutation — a furnace-hot future-blast of immersive atmospherics, deep bass and funk-ridden drums.
Blackie And The Rodeo Kings – South CD (File Under Music)
South represents a fresh creative step for Blackie And The Rodeo Kings, while embodying the qualities of rootsy musical uplift and quirky lyrical depth that have long distinguished the ensembles varied output. The albums largely acoustic yet reliably punchy arrangements showcase the three songwriters multiple strengths, while their organically energetic performances maintain the vibrant chemistry that has kept Blackie a consistently vital and distinctive musical force.
Black Knights – Medieval Chamber CD/LP (Record Collection)
New album from the Wu-Tang related hip-hop group produced by former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante. Medieval Chamber is the first full-length album that Frusciante has produced outside of his own solo material. The Black Knights consist of Crisis Tha Sharpshooter and Rugged Monk.
Blank Realm – Grassed Inn CD/LP (Fire)
Blank Realm veer towards songs in the manner of late period Big Star, Zombies, or the Bunnymen, all refracted through a grimy lens.
Dave Brubeck – The Dave Brubeck Quartet In Europe CD (American Jazz Classics)
Recorded live in Copenhagen, this album contains Brubeck’s only known version of Frank Loesser’s “Wonderful Copenhagen,” as well as the only performance of his own composition “My One Bad Habit Is Falling in Love.”
Harold Budd – Avalon Sutra/As Long As I Can Hold My Breath [Reissue/2004] 2xCD (Darla)
Remastered reissue of Budd’s 2004 double-album, which was originally released on David Sylvian’s SamadhiSound label.
Mary Chapin Carpenter – Songs From The Movie CD (Zoe)
Collaborating with composer/arranger and producer Vince Mendoza and working once again with co-producer Matt Rollings, Songs From The Movie harkens back to Carpenter’s love of classic film and symphonic music. Citing as inspiration such seminal film composers as Elmer Bernstein and Thomas Newman, and contemporary symphonic composers like Tobias Picker and Morten Lauridsen, she had long imagined this project but it wasn’t until she had the chance to work with Mendoza that it came to fruition.
Rosanne Cash – The River & The Thread CD/LP (Blue Note)
Created with her longtime collaborator John Leventhal, The River & The Thread richly evokes the Southern landscape and examines the indelible impressions it has made on our own collective culture and on Cash herself. An amazing feat of musical storytelling, the album is sweeping in its breadth, capturing a unique, multi-generational cast of characters. While Cash and Leventhal found inspiration in the many musical styles associated with the South — swampy delta blues, gospel, Appalachian folk, country and rock, to name a few — this is a completely contemporary collection. Available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe adds three bonus tracks and features expanded packaging.
Cherry Glazerr – Haxel Princess CD/LP (Burger)
Haxel Princess is the High school teenybopper rockers debut album — pure pop gems about cats, dogs, birds, bees, grilled cheese.
John Coltrane – The Complete Mainstream 1958 Sessions CD (American Jazz Classics)
Three complete LPs featuring John Coltrane in a small group format on sessions that featured trumpet and flugelhorn player Wilbur Harden as a leader. The albums, which appear here in their entirety along with of the all existing alternate takes from the dates, were Mainstream 1958, Tanganyika Strut, and Jazz Way Out. These outstanding tracks were among Coltrane’s last recordings as a sideman.
Crazy Horse – Scratchy: The Complete Reprise Recordings 2xCD (Wounded Bird)
Excellent two-CD release from the band best known as Neil Young’s backup group. They issued a number of fine albums in their own right. This two CD set contains their complete body of work for Reprise Records. Crazy Horse reached # 84 on the Billboard charts when originally issued in 1971. Their follow-up album, Loose, hit the Billboard charts in 1972. This CD also features tracks from the Crazy Horse sessions and a rare single from Valiant Records circa 1962.
The Crystal Method – The Crystal Method CD/LP (Tiny e)
Fifth full-length release (and the first in five years) from the veteran Las Vegas-originated electronica duo. Features guest appearances from Leann Rimes and Nick Thayer.
Miles Davis – Plays For Lovers [Reissue/1966] CD (American Jazz Classics)
Plays For Lovers is a compilation of Davis’ ballad interpretations in a quartet format taken from a variety of his mid-‘50s Prestige albums. This reissue is expanded with further splendid ballad interpretations by Miles.
Deep Purple – Live In Stuttgart 1993 2xCD (Cherry Red)
Deep Purple – NEC 1993: Live In Birmingham 2xCD (Cherry Red)
Many consider the vintage “Mk2” Deep Purple line-up of Ritchie Blackmore on guitar, lead screamer Ian Gillan, bassist Roger Glover on bass, the late, great Jon Lord on keyboards and the drumming of Ian Paice, to be the near definitive version of this classic British rock institution. It was this line-up that got back together — for a third and last time — to tour and record for their 25th anniversary in 1993. Of these two live volumes, the NEC 1993 concert is Ritchie Blackmore’s last gig with the band on British soil.
Devour The Day – Time & Pressure CD (Fat Lady Music)
Blending a sound that balances power guitars with modern leaning programming, Devour The Day stormed onto the Active Radio chart with their debut single “Good Man’” — currently a Top 10 chart position with sustained airplay over the last 25 weeks of climbing the chart — and they have delivered a powerhouse of a debut record.
Dave Edmunds – Again CD (Cherry Red)
A personal collection of rarely heard recordings of new and self-penned tracks.
Tinsley Ellis – Midnight Blue CD (Landslide)
All-new set of original blues rock from guitar master.
The Fall – Live CD (Cherry Red)
The Fall – The Remainderer CDEP (Cherry Red)
Live is collated from various gigs over the past three years. The Remainderer features six new songs, acting as a bridging point between last year’s Re-Mit and a forthcoming new LP.
FM359 – Truth Love Liberty CD/LP (Pirate Press)
FM359 is fronted by Street Dogs‘ vocalist Mike McColgan. Joining him in this project are fellow founding member of Dropkick Murphys Rick Barton (also of Continental fame), and fellow Street Dog Johnny Rioux. The resulting collaboration has been billed as “Americana, classic rock, country, and tinges of punk rock wrapped up in an uplifting folk, or even gospel backdrop; just without all the hand clapping…”
Stéphane Grappelli – Django [Reissue/1962] CD (American Jazz Classics)
Reissue of Stéphane Grappelli’s complete 1962 album that features the exceptional jazz violinist in a quartet format with the backing of guitar, bass and drums.
Grant Green – First Recordings CD (American Jazz Classics)
A collection of Green’s first recording ever. Here he played in the company of Jimmy Forrest, Elvin Jones, Harold Mabern and Gene Ramsey.
Grant Hart – Good News For Modern Man [Reissue1999] CD/LP (Con D’or Records)
CD and vinyl reissue of the 1999 solo album from ex-Husker Du drummer/songwriter.
Hiss Golden Messenger – Bad Debt CD/LP (Paradise Of Bachelors)
“Bad Debt is a collection of lo-fi tape recordings M.C. Taylor captured during at his North Carolina mountain home during a frigid fall and winter four years ago. And while the setting demands comparisons to Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago, these recordings are a lot rawer and more basic, and Taylor’s songs are distinctly Appalachian, steeped in biblical imagery and sung with a slightly scratchy twang.” – Stereogum
Buddy Guy & Junior Wells – Play The Blues [Reissue/1970] 2xCD (Friday Music)
Just off tour with The Rolling Stones, blues legends Buddy Guy and Junior Wells teamed with Eric Clapton for this 1970 album collaboration that includes a guest appearance by Dr. John. This remastered reissue includes a second disc of 13 bonus tracks plus new liner notes by Johnny Winter.
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – Give The People What They Want CD/LP (Daptone)
Give The People What They Want is certainly an appropriate title for Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings’ upcoming release. After more than a decade of nearly constant touring, recording, and as one of the most formidable and consequential live acts performing today, they know what their audience wants from them. They know, because its what they want, too. This, shall we say, je ne sais quoi — that makes everyone from Prince to Beck to John Legend to Michael Bublé to countless fans return again and again to the Dap sound — is found both on stage and in the recording booth. After two years of touring behind 2010’s lauded I Learned The Hard Way, the band reconvened in Bushwick’s Daptone House Of Soul Studios and Daptone West in Riverside, CA, to begin work on their fifth album.
Kauan – Pirut CD (Blood Music)
Effortlessly blending shimmering post-rock, reminiscent of Godspeed! You Black Emperor, with the funeral dirges of Evoken, Russia’s Kauan has received a huge amount of praise in the European underground. Often compared to Agalloch and Alcest, Kauan has spent several years creating a take on the genre all their own. Often atmospheric, Pirut finds the band based in viola, choirs, and slow piano melodies with an overall funeral doom base.
Mark Lanegan – Has God Seen My Shadow? An Anthology 1989-2011 2xCD/3xLP (Light In The Attic)
As one of America’s great modern day vocalists and songwriters, Mark Lanegan has much in common with the timeless work of such legends as Fred Neil, Tim Hardin and Karen Dalton. Collecting Lanegan’s solo material for Sub Pop, Beggars and more plus 12 unreleased tracks, this is the archive treatment Mark has long deserved. The 32 tracks shine a light on Mark’s rare talent, and span the singer’s entire career, from 1990’s debut album The Winding Sheet to a treasure trove of recent unreleased gems and feature such guests as PJ Harvey, Josh Home and J Masks. His is a sound of grizzled vocals and dark melody, its lyrics chiseled out of late night thoughts and dark humor.
Lanterns On The Lake – Until The Colour Runs CD/LP (Bella Union)
The music Lanterns On The Lake has that epic widescreen and symphonic feel of the best progressive inclinations while keeping the relationship with the listener distinctly personal. Since the release of their critically acclaimed 2011 debut, the Newcastle band has lost members and found themselves — and friends and family– struggling financially in a bleak economic climate. But the adversity has made their sumptuously textured new album Until The Colours Run what singer and lyricist Hazel Wilde calls “a personal journey through modern life – hope, despair, love and desperate times.”
Jackie Lomax – Against All Odds CD (Angel Air)
Recorded shortly before his death, Against All Odds is a fitting finale from this former member of The Undertakers and first ever solo artist signed to The Beatles’ Apple Records.
Lone Justice – This Is Lone Justice: The Vaught Tapes, 1983 CD/LP (Omnivore)
It can be difficult to capture the live power of band on a studio recording. Thankfully, Lone Justice (Maria McKee, Ryan Hedgecock, Marvin Etzioni, and Don Heffington) went into Suite 16 Studios in December of 1983 and laid down much of the set list they were packing Los Angeles area clubs with. Recorded direct to two-track tape by engineer David Vaught and with no overdubs, those twelve tracks can finally be heard in their entirety as This Is Lone Justice: The Vaught Tapes, 1983. As Billboard’s Chris Morris writes in his liner notes, the release “offers the best representation of the band in its infancy hot, full of p*ss and vinegar, and ready to take on the world.”
Ray Majors – The 7% Solution CD (Angel Air)
An impressive new album from this legendary member of Mott, Box Of Frogs, and The Yardbirds.
James Vincent McMorrow – Post Tropical CD/LP (Vagrant)
Written, produced, and performed entirely by McMorrow, Post Tropical was recorded on a pecan farm half a mile from the Mexican border located between El Paso and ruthless bustle of Juárez. Built up slowly and spontaneously from hundreds of non-linear sound files and lyric pages, the result is ten stunning, meticulously crafted original songs. Its broadened horizons may come as a surprise to everyone but McMorrow himself, who has harbored a lifelong love of hip-hop and atmospheric R&B. “I wanted to give this record the feel and movement of the R&B records that I love.” he says.
Mindless Self Indulgence – F##k Machine CD (Metropolis)
Mindless Self Indulgence (MSI) is an inflammatory band mixing punk rock and driving electronic music together to create an unrestrained sound. Since 1997, this band has been storming the industrial and punk scenes sweeping many hardcore fans in its wake with its music and albums such as the cult classic Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy.
Modern Jazz Quartet – Plays For Lovers CD (American Jazz Classics)
Featuring a selection of MJQ’s recordings of love-related ballads and medium tempo standards from the early years of the group, the complete original album The Modern Jazz Quartet Plays For Lovers has been expanded for this reissue with six additional tracks with the same concept from their Atlantic years.
Neck Deep – Wishful Thinking CD/LP (Hopeless)
“Much of Wishful Thinking sits comfortably in the neighborhood of The Story So Far, Handguns, and the first two Wonder Years records, with a healthy mix of anger, angst, and perseverance set to pop punk riffs that are equal parts Drive-Thru and Bridge Nine.” – Underthegunreview.net
Painted Palms – Forever CD/LP (Polyvinyl)
For their debut full-length, Forever, this San Francisco duo pair classic pop structures with modern electronic production to create instantly memorable melodies that show no sign of their virtual patchwork beginnings.
Railroad Earth – Last Of The Outlaws CD (Black Bear)
Vinyl version due February 11. “In the center of Railroad Earth’s seventh album, Last Of The Outlaws, the band unleashes a beast. The 21-minute, multi-part, string-band symphony “All That’s Dead May Live Again/Face with a Hole” may become Railroad Earth’s identifying recording—the moment where they laugh in the faces of the critics who’ve lazily dubbed them the ‘folk-pop-Celtic-bluegrass-roots-and-rock act from Jersey.’ The piece finds this sextet beautifully, seamlessly weaving through distinct movements and melodies that cover the gamut of styles and emotions—like The Decemberists’ The Hazards Of Love, but more focused. They’re bravely staring down a storm in the whipping third movement before a blissful, meditative, piano-led calm takes over in the fourth, and an uplifting chant marches through the fifth and sixth.” – Relix.com
Soug Sahm – Genuine Texas Groover: Complete Atlantic Recordings 2xCD (Wounded Bird)
Doug Sahm originally hit the music scene as the leader of the Sir Douglas Quintet. He has also issued a number of memorable solo albums. Two of those albums are contained in this set: Doug Sahm And Band and Texas Tornado. This package also features a slew of rare non-album tracks.
Self – Subliminal Plastic Motives [Reissue/1995] CD/LP (Fat Possum)
Self’s debut album is an impressive home-brewed amalgamation of crunchy post-grunge guitars, unusual samples, and cotton candy pop vocals. Imagine Nirvana’s chord progressions overlaid with Jellyfish-type vocal harmonies, all processed through Beck’s idiosyncratic, sample-based production aesthetic.
Bruce Springsteen – High Hopes CD/2xLP+CD (Columbia)
High Hopes finds Bruce Springsteen in a number of different musical settings, and includes the E Street Band members in various large and small combinations as well as guitarist Tom Morello on eight tracks. Besides Morello, the album also includes appearances on several songs by Clarence Clemons, who passed away in 2011, and Danny Federici, who passed away in 2008, on what Springsteen calls “some of our best unreleased material from the past decade.” The album was recorded in New Jersey, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Australia and New York City and marks Springsteen’s 18th studio album.
Sonny Stitt – Rearin’ Back + Tribute To Duke Ellington [Reissue/1960-1962] CD (American Jazz Classics)
Two LPs on one CD, this release presents Sonny Stitt’s complete original 1962 album Rearin’ Back, one of only two collaborations between the saxophonist and pianist Ronnie Mathews. As a bonus, another complete album that was recorded in 1960 and dedicated exclusively to the songbook of Duke Ellington appears here on CD for the first time ever.
Suicidal Angels – Divide And Conquer CD (Noiseart)
You can compare the typical Suicidal Angels sound to that of genre veterans such as Kreator, but their input into the current thrash revival is bursting with insane riff ideas, a massive and modern production and a unique and energetic live presence.
Supersuckers – Get The Hell CD (Acetate)
The “Greatest Rock & Roll Band in the World” return with their ninth studio album — a blistering return to their punk rock roots. Featuring 12 new soon-to-be Supersuckers classics, Get The Hell is a sonic assault of big riffs, catchy hooks and raw, balls-to-the-wall rock & roll. Vinyl version due February 25.
Sweet – Hits CD (Angel Air)
Sweet is a UK national treasure that has taken the pop and rock world by storm over the past four decades. The sole remaining thread to the past is Andy Scott whose high standards and determination to maintain the bands legacy have shone through. Back in the studio in 2013 Andy set about producing and recording the best ever Sweet hits package. Hits is quite simply 13 of the greatest Sweet tracks ever recorded.
Switchfoot – Fading West CD (Atlantic)
“In the eighteen years of being a band, now with nine studio albums, two live albums, a motion picture released, and even a Grammy win, Switchfoot has never stopped being the clan of down-to-earth Christian surfer dudes who knew how to take success and not let it break them. After the success of Hello Hurricane, Switchfoot slipped over into the realm of experimentation, releasing the ever-so dark and honest Vice Verses, garnering moderate success, but leaving the band at a crossroads of where to go next. In an effort to collectively refresh the adrenaline of the band, they sojourned across the globe and created Fading West, the record accompanying a surf/rock/tour documentary, which is their ninth album to date, and the youngest and most energetic one in their catalog.” – Sputnikmusik.com
Tangerine Dream – Thief: Original Soundtrack [Reissue/1981] CD (Perseverance)
The most complete edition of the soundtrack to Michael Mann’s directorial debut.
Tiny Tim – God Bless Tiny Tim CD (Cherry Red)
Born of that brief, inspired moment in time when the freaks almost took over, April 1968’s God Bless Tiny Tim is an otherworldly mission statement from the misunderstood pop culture icon who almost singlehandedly invented “other.” Rare mono mix, first time on CD anywhere.
Dinah Washington – The Best Of Dinah Washington CD (American Jazz Classics)
Dinah Washington was both the queen of the black jukebox and the consummate musician’s musician. She was comfortable in virtually any musical context, but something special always happened when she surrounded herself with top-notch jazz musicians and let them wail.
White Fang – Steady Truckin’ For Summer CD (Metal Postcard)
White Fang are the boisterously beating heart of Portlands DIY punk scene … As a band, all hallmarks of sophistication are pushed straight through a closed window White Fang are mostly about gleeful destruction and infectious cacophony.” – Pitchfork
Lucinda Williams – Lucinda Williams [Reissue/1988] 2xCD/LP (Lucinda Williams)
Out of print for ten years, Lucinda Williams’ self-titled third album (her second album of original songs) is now available as a 25th Anniversary Special Edition reissue. This package includes the remastered album along with a bonus disc containing an unreleased 1989 concert recorded in Eindhoven, Netherlands, never before seen photos, and two new sets of liner notes.
You Blew It! – Keep Doing What You’re Doing CD (Top Shelf)
“Adapting to life. It’s tough, sometimes. You Blew It! love to expound on the fun stories of strength and survival using a harrowing ‘90s emo tapestry and they’re one of the reasons that there isn’t or ever was an emo-revival. Emo never died. Keep Doing What You’re Doing is aptly titled because not only does it accomplish its mission as the band’s most complete, polished and near-flawless work to date, but it leads into fateful banter that’s likable and battering to fans of the genre at the same time.” – Dyingscene.com
DVD + Blu-ray:
BB King & The Guitar Legends – In Performance DVD (IMV Blueline)
79 minutes.
Recorded live in 1991 this television broadcast features BB King with special guests: Dave Edmunds, Steve Cropper, Albert Collins, Robert Cray and many more.
Various Artists – Rebels Without A Pause: The Induction Celebration Of Public Enemy DVD (Eastlink)
On the eve of Public Enemy’s Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction, hip-hop legends, friends and extended family paid tribute to P.E. at a pre-party at the Los Angeles House of Blues. Centric TV captured the hype, which included performances from legends Whodini, Kool Moe Dee, The Treacherous Three & JJ Fad. 90 minutes.
Vinyl:
Discordance Axis – Original Sound Version 1992-1995 2xLP+7” (Hydra Head)
Semi-discography of infamous killer grindcore trio from Hoboken, New Jersey.
Gap Dream – Shine Your Light LP+MP3 (Burger)
Released late last year on CD – now available on vinyl. Synth/psych/glam epicness from Gabe Fulvimar and produced by Bobby Harlow (King Tuff, The Go, Conspiracy Of Owls).
Hammock – Oblivion Hymns 2xLP+MP3 (Hammock Music)
Released late last year on CD – now available on vinyl. Sixth album by Nashville based ambient duo Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson. “Our new record is our most orchestrated record to date. Big, big strings, horns, children’s choir and a guest vocal from Timothy Showalter of Strand of Oaks. It’s epic and a soul crusher. An ambitious undertaking for us.”
Sondre Lerche & Kato Adland – Sleepwalker [OST] LP (Mona)
Sondre Lerche and Kato Adland wrote and perform the soundtrack to the film, The Sleepwalker, which was co-written and directed by Lerche’s wife, Mona Fastvold. The soundtrack is beautiful and at times haunting. It is mostly instrumental, but five of the sixteen tracks contain vocals, including “You Sure Look Swell” (vocals by Sondre Lerche) and “Lord I Want to Be a Christian” (vocals by Sylvie Lewis). HQ-180gm.
Loop – A Guilded Eternity [Reissue/1990] 2xLP+7” (Reactor)
A Gilded Eternity is the third and final album from Loop, it originally came out in January 1990, and was recently reissued as part of the Loop Remasters on 2xCD in 2009. The seven tracks on the album (plus the two tracks on the bonus 7”) are from a band at the absolute peak of their power; there was far more to Loop than bludgeoning riffs and cranking up the gain control. Here was a band that also traded in textures, pace and a no less intoxicated alternative to the saucer-eyed ravers who were ‘avin’ it large to the bands that had always had a dance element to their music.
Moodymann – Moodymann LP (KDJ)
New album from the Detroit house veteran Moodymann (a.k.a. Kenny Dixon Jr.) and follow-up to last year’s ABCD mini-album.
Peaking Lights – 936 [Reissue/2011] LP (Two Flowers)
Limited edition repress on HQ-180gm vinyl with exclusive poster. On 936, Peaking Lights merge elements of dub, psych, minimal house, disco and krautrock with a distinct pop sensibility.
Lou Reed, John Cale & Nico – Le Bataclan 1972 2xLP (Keyhole)
To the surprise and delight of their growing fan base, in early 1972 rumors began to circulate that Lou Reed, John Cale, and Nico would be performing together again. In fact they only played one show, at the small Bataclan club in Paris on January 29th, 1972. Thankfully, a soundboard recording was made, preserving the superb concert for posterity. HQ-180gm in gatefold sleeve.
Slick Rick – The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick [Reissue/1988] 2xLP (Def Jam)
To mark the 25th anniversary of it’s release, The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick is being re-released on vinyl, after being out of print for some time.
The Three O’Clock – Aquarius Andromeda LP+MP3 (Burger)
New album of unreleased demos and rarities from the ‘80s band. File: Paisley Underground/pop/psych/Children of Nuggets.
Various Artists – Calypsoul 70: Caribbean Soul & Calypso Crossover 1969-1979 LP (Strut)
First time available on vinyl. Strut turns its magnifying glass onto the Caribbean for Calypsoul 70, a celebration of the magnificent array of crossover calypso, reggae, Latin, Afro and soul styles that emerged, often from small studio and label stables, during the ‘70s.
Leave a Reply