CDs + Vinyl:
Acid King – Middle Of Nowhere, Center Of Everywhere CD (Svart)
Acid King breaks their ten-year studio silence with a new, deliriously heavy new album.
Active Child – Mercy CD/LP (Vagrant)
“Los Angeles-based artist Pat Grossi (aka Active Child) is no stranger to Hype Machine. He’s been heaped with attention from music blogs since his first release in 2010, and even had Ellie Goulding cover one of his songs on her second album. For his own sophomore LP, the former Philadelphia Boys Choir member wrote primarily on harp and piano, then traveled to Brooklyn to record with producer Van Rivers (Glasser, Fever Ray, Matthew Dear) who, Pat says, ‘really pushed me vocally, more than anyone ever has before.’” – Hype Machine
Air – The Virgin Suicides [OST/Reissue/1999] 2xCD/2xCD+LP+7”+MP3 (Parlophone)
Warner and Parlophone celebrate the 15th anniversary of Sofia Coppola’s directorial debut, The Virgin Suicides, by reissuing Air’s original soundtrack for the film. Available on double-CD, vinyl, and in a limited edition super deluxe box set, the score is reissued along with Air’s early studio releases on vinyl. The box set includes the album pressed on red vinyl plus a bonus picture disc featuring a previously unreleased live performance of the score recorded at L.A.’s American Legion Hall on January 22nd, 2000 and three recordings from a KCRW performance that same month. Also in the box will be the double-CD version, a movie poster, a 16-page booklet featuring a new Air interview, a VIP badge from the L.A. show, and an exclusive red vinyl 7” featuring remixes and the song “Playground Love.” The live album will also be included as one of the discs in the double-CD set, while two additional studio outtakes will be tacked onto the end of disc one.
Alpine – Yuck CD/LP (Votiv Music)
“The sound of the Australian indie-pop band Alpine is so spare and meticulous, it’s hard to believe it emanates from a six-piece group. While there’s guitar, bass, keyboards and drums at play behind frontwomen Phoebe Baker and Lou James, Alpine builds its songs up harmonically, allowing its sound a sense of space not unlike modern R&B or the likes of jj and Lykke Li. ‘Light’ was a descriptor tagged to 2012’s A Is For Alpine, and it’s easy to be smitten by that seemingly effortless attribute.” – Boise State Public Radio
Anaal Nathrakh – The Candlelight Years 3xCD (Candlelight)
A compilation of the British industrial black metal/grindcore band’s three albums for Candlelight: In The Constellation Of The Black Widow (2009), Passion (2011) and Vanitas (2012).
Babymetal – Babymetal CD/LP (RAL)
Debut album from the Japanese j-pop/metal band. Originally released in Japan in 2014, the critically acclaimed set now sees a stateside release.
Bad Cop/Bad Cop – Not Sorry CD/LP (Fat Wreck Chords)
Aptly titled, Bad Cop/Bad Cop brazenly blasts out vibrant pop/punk. Laden with catchy hooks, three part harmonies that’d make The Beach Boys jealous and a ton of attitude, Not Sorry showcases their uncanny ability to blend aggressive instrumentation with polished vocals.
Becoming Real – Pure Apparition CD/LP (PIAS America)
Debut EP from Glasgow-based producer Becoming Real (aka Toby Ridler). After losing a nearly finished version of the LP in a disastrous hard drive crash two years ago, Ridler started again. The resulting finished, and fully backed-up, record – mastered by renowned sound engineer Rashad Becker – sees Ridler expanding upon his initial, playful, post-grime soundscapes and venturing deeper in to techno-orientated territory.
David Benoit – 2 In Love CD (Concord)
Pianist/composer/arranger David Benoit has reigned supreme as one the founding fathers of contemporary jazz. 2 In Love shows other dimensions of his artistry, influenced by Stephen Sondheim, Burt Bacharach, Dave Grusin and Leonard Bernstein. Features vocalist Jane Monheit, the cool-toned chanteuse from New York, who burst on the scene in 1998 as the first runner-up in the Thelonious Monk International Vocalist Competition.
Bright Light Bright Light – Life Is Hard: The Remixes CD (MRI Associated)
2014’s Billboard Charting Life Is Easy gets a remix treatment to tap into the more dance floor and DJ friendly side of Rod aka Bright Light Bright Light, enlisting some of his favorite remixers including the legendary Todd Terry, one of the people who initially sparked Rod’s love of dance music, Horse Meat Disco resident Severino, French remix wonder Alan Braxe, as well as Hype Machine darlings Cyclist and Brooklyn-based In The Night.
Ben Browning – Turns CD/LP (Yellow Year)
Ben Browning follows up his 2012 EP Lover Motion with his debut album Turns. The self-produced album is a collection of songs Browning wrote and recorded in between touring with Cut Copy. Browning performed and sang nearly everything on the record himself with his longtime friends Gus Franklin, Mark Wilson and Lachlan Dickie providing some additional vocals, bass and drums. The album was recorded in Melbourne and Washington DC where Browning now resides.
Ken Camden – Dream Memory CD/LP (Kranky)
Guitarist Ken Camden (Implodes) returns for his third solo album, continuing his explorations to seek out new techniques and sounds from the electric guitar. By utilizing both a steel slide and e-bow technique, Camden has moved into micro-tonal territory to bridge the textural gap between guitar and synthesizer while examining their inherent differences. Features vocals from Angel Olsen and Emily El Haj (Implodes, Angel Olsen Band).
Evan Caminiti – Meridian CD/LP+MP3 (Thrill Jockey)
Evan Caminiti’s slow but steady progression towards electronic music from sand-swept guitar drone mirrors the pace of the music he makes. It has been measured, each move well-considered and clearly intentional. Caminiti has immersed himself in electronic production on Meridian, creating organic sounds through his machines, patching sounds that recall the brassy resonance of horns and hazy choral clusters. Synthesizers hiss and crackle under layers of reverb and fog. Sounds undulate and implode in upon themselves, with bursts of noise dropping in and out to create shadows of rhythm. Caminiti’s electronic systems do not run autonomously — the sounds heard on Meridian required real-time human interaction to bring them to life, and that human touch is essential to the mysterious atmosphere he produces on this new album.
Donald Cumming – Out Calls Only CD/LP (Razor & Tie)
Debut solo album from the lead singer of The Virgins. Longtime East Village resident Cumming has been intimately involved in the music and art scenes of downtown New York since he was a teenager. After being featured on the cover of Ryan McGinley’s debut book of photos in 2002 he continued to work as a model and actor before forming The Virgins. As far as his solo album is concerned, Cumming explains: “I don’t listen to a lot of contemporary music but it seems to a trend that favors aesthetics over content. I don’t have a sound that I’m looking for as much as I just want to be as sincere as possible.”
Czarface/Inspectah Deck & 7L & Esoteric – Every Hero Needs A Villain CD/LP (Brick)
Wu-Tang founding MC Inspectah Deck and veteran duo 7L & Esoteric are back with their sophomore album, featuring MF Doom, Method Man, GZA, R.A The Rugged Man, JuJu (The Beatnuts), Large Professor and Meyhem Lauren
Daylight Dies – The Candlelight Years 3xCD (Candlelight)
Formed in 1996, Daylight Dies is a melodic death metal/ doom band from North Carolina. This collection compiles all three of their Candlelight albums (Dismantling Devotion, Lost To Devotion, and A Frail Becoming). Perfect for fans of Opeth, Katatonia, Paradise Lost, Dark Tranquility etc.
Aaron Diehl – Space, Time, Continuum CD (Mack Avenue)
Widely lauded for his 2012 Mack Avenue debut, The Bespoke Man’s Narrative, 29-year-old pianist/composer Aaron Diehl follows solidly with his latest release Space, Time, Continuum. On The Bespoke Man’s Narrative, Diehl presented original music drawing on antecedent bandleader-composers like John Lewis and Duke Ellington for strategies that facilitated individualistic performances from his unit of A-list peers. On Space, Time, Continuum, Diehl assembles a pan-generational ensemble of masters.
Dog Party – Vol. 4 CD (Asian Man)
While most of us spent our teenage years popping zits and generally just being very awkward, Sacramento sisters Lucy and Gwen Giles put their youthful energy to good use. Together, they formed Dog Party in 2007, and quickly got down to business doling out brash and roaring rock à la The Ramones and The Buzzcocks. Still in their teens, this is their fourth full-length release.
The Dream Syndicate – The Days Of Wine And Roses [Reissue/1982] CD (Omnivore)
The Dream Syndicate’s debut album, The Days Of Wine And Roses, has long been considered a cornerstone release of the early ’80s Paisley Underground scene. The original Steve Wynn/Karl Precoda/Kendra Smith/Dennis Duck line-up took seminal ’60s rock and filtered it through more modern sounds. Bonus tracks from previous editions have been replaced by rehearsal tapes that capture two songs that later turned up on Medicine Show, as well as four songs that no one has ever heard, including a nearly 10-minute Krautrock inspired jam.
Hilary Duff – Breathe In. Breathe Out. CD (RCA)
Fifth album from the pop vocalist. Includes the single “Tattoo.”
The Expanders – Hustling Culture CD/LP (Easy Star)
A powerful and original set of songs emphasizing three part harmonies, inventive guitar work, vintage keys sound, and a pounding rhythm section. “The Expanders breathe new life into a vintage reggae sound…” – Broadway World
False – Untitled CD (Gilead Media)
First full-length from the Minneapolis black metal project.
Charlie Farley – Hog Heaven CD (Average Joe’s Ent.)
A champion bass fisherman and emerging hick-hopper, Farley has come a long way from making his own mix tapes to being a staple on CMT’s Party Down South.
Rebecca Ferguson – Lady Sings The Blues CD (RCA)
The third studio album by the British singer/songwriter. Debuting at #7 in the UK Albums Chart, Lady Sings The Blues features songs made famous by the American jazz singer Billie Holiday, including “Get Happy,” “That Ole Devil Called Love,” “Summertime” and “Stormy Weather.”
Gengahr – A Dream Outside CD/LP (PIAS America)
“In March last year, Gengahr emerged from north London with breakthrough demo ‘Fill My Gums With Blood,’ a vampiric love song on which singer Felix Bushe implored, ‘Let me in/So I can drink from you.’ The quartet’s debut album sounds just as unsettling. ‘I’ve changed for the better now there’s metal in my heart,’ sings Bushe in delicate falsetto on the iridescent ‘Heroine’, like some kind of lovelorn Iron Man. ‘Lonely As A Shark’, meanwhile, has him “lonely as a shark in a dark room, counting away” over rippling guitars, and the woozy ‘She’s A Witch’ wonders ‘Maybe she’ll sink, maybe she’ll fly/I caught a witch that cries all the time.’ Throughout these 11 gently psychedelic tracks, John Victor weaves an aura of calm via unconventional but pretty guitar patterns that counterbalance Bushe’s romantic tribulations. The result is a record that cloaks Gengahr’s inherent weirdness in peaceful melodies you’ll want to wallow in for hours.” — NME
Heartless Bastards – Restless Ones CD/LP+MP3 (Partisan)
Heartless Bastards’ fifth studio recording and follow-up to 2012’s Arrow, finds singer/songwriter Erika Wennerstrom exploring as-yet-unvisited avenues of sound and sensation, her bravery and ambition readily apparent in the emotional timbre and the sheer physicality of her songs. The sessions were marked by the band’s openness to the unfamiliar, allowing previously untapped influences from The Byrds and Syd Barrett to the Faces and the Flaming Lips to take root in their own distinctive blues-powered rock & roll. “Wind Up Bird” and “Into The Light” are straightforward yet stunningly sophisticated, shot through with layered guitars, atmospheric harmonies, hints of synth, and a powerhouse rhythm section adept at both subtle swing and heavy horsepower. Wennerstrom’s spellbinding vocals are of course front and center, her one-of-a-kind voice as primal, cathartic, and indefinable as ever.
High On Fire – Luminferous CD/2xLP (eOne)
“There may be no band on the metal underground more consistently great than the long-running Bay Area power trio High On Fire. The band always comes off like a hoard of stampeding elephants, just ripping through these magnificently huge gutbuster gallops. But Luminiferous, the band’s new album, might stand as one of their best albums. Even on the moments where it lets up, as on the sludge-blues dirge ‘The Cave,’ it doesn’t really let up; it just finds another, more interesting way to stomp ass.” – Stereogum
Hudson Mohawke – Lantern CD/2xLP+MP3 (Warp)
Glaswegian super-producer Hudson Mohawke returns with a new LP, Lantern. With the rap-focused sound ever so slightly on the back burner, HudMo allows a boundless maximalism to fuel the experience. The euphoric chipmunked sample on Ryderz, the invigorating drop on ‘Very First Breath’ and the starry-eyed boldness of ‘Brand New World’ all come together for an LP that puts a brand of luminous joy at the forefront. Having pulled in headlines and credits with some of the planet’s biggest names, Lantern proves that Hudson Mohawke deserves the adoration from the other side of the mixing desk. His commitment to this fascinating and cinematically uplifting sound palette places him as one of the UK’s finest talents. This is the record that proves it. (Limited vinyl edition features a print and a bonus track.)
Hundredth – Free CD/LP (Hopeless)
The South Carolina quintet continues their melodic hardcore assault.
Imam Baildi – Imam Baildi III CD (The End)
Imam Baildi is a Greek, seven-piece band including the two brothers, a seducing female vocalist, a crowd engaging MC and three virtuosi on the bouzouki, saxophone and electric guitar. Their sound is a unique urban blend of old Greek music with new orchestration, production and remixing techniques.
iwrestledabaeronce – Hail Mary CD (Atery)
Fourth album from the weirdo/spastic metalcore outfit.
Jay-Jay Johanson – Opium CD (Le Plan)
It was in 1996 that Jay-Jay Johanson, a young man from a cold climate, fascinated by the Bristol sound they called trip-hop and Portishead in particular, first tapped delicately on our eardrums. In only a few songs he revealed a family tree that spread its roots far and wide: on one branch Chet Baker and Lee Hazelwood, on the other John Coltrane with Johnny Hartman, and in between a whole army of jazz or symphonic recordings sampled from everywhere imaginable. Almost 20 years later he has returned with an incredible album called Opium. It contains the very essence of Johanson’s music: an ease with inventing melodies, a voice that gently caresses, and the jacked up, heady rhythms that lift and carry the songs.
KEN Mode – Success CD/LP (Season Of Mist)
“Hardcore, specifically notes from Converge, Deadguy, Kiss it Goodbye, and more, used to be the major jumping off point for the Juno-award winning KEN Mode. That all goes away with their latest LP Success. In this go around, KEN Mode embrace their noise rock roots and go whole hog, even going into the studio with the mighty Steve Albini to help sharpen their point.” – Noisey/Vice
Adam Lambert – The Original High CD (WB)
The Original High is the third album by multi-platinum-selling, singer/songwriter and former American Idol contestant Adam Lambert. Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden and Los Angeles, California with Max Martin and Shellback as executive producers (Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Pink, etc.), The Original High displays a fresh sound for Lambert, and includes collaborations with Tove Lo and Brian May from Queen. Available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe adds three bonus tracks.
Amos Lee – Live At Red Rocks With The Colorado Symphony CD (ATO)
When Amos Lee rolled into Red Rocks in August 2014 he had been on tour for almost a year in support of his fifth studio album Mountains Of Sorrow, Rivers Of Song, but this concert in particular was something special. His first headlining date at the legendary venue, and backed by the Colorado Symphony with arrangements composed just for that evening.
Sam Lee & Friends – Fade In Time CD (The Nest Collective)
Nominated for the UK’s Mercury Music Prize for his debut album in 2012, Sam Lee is an outstanding singer and song collector. Lee is a 21st-century artist, collecting new versions of old songs on his iPhone and laptop, but his repertoire is full of history. He is the driving force behind the eclectic, award-winning folk club The Nest Collective, which has brought traditional music to new stages and venues, and founder of a burgeoning song collectors’ movement that inspires a new generation of performers to draw on living source singers. Impassioned and hugely ambitious in scope, The Fade In Time is a major statement from an artist and group extending the borders of their music beyond its national boundaries to encompass Bollywood beats, Polynesian textures and contemporary classical music. Vinyl version due June 30.
Left Lane Cruiser – Dirty Spliff Blues CD/LP (Alive)
The blues-driven rock & roll noise combo, now firmly headed by slide guitarist and lead vocalist Freddy J IV (aka Joe Evans), with Joe Bent on bass and skateboard (yes, he uses his skateboard as an instrument), and with Pete Dio on drums and assorted trash, delivers another primal high voltage take on the boogie and Hill Country blues.
Lenka – Bright Side CD (Skipalong)
Fourth album from the Australian pop singer. “…A collection of 10 songs that radiate optimism, and as she wraps her sweet, tuneful voice around effervescent melodies, Lenka usually sounds as though she’s singing through an irrepressible smile. She celebrates individuality on the folk-pop number ‘Unique,’ holds out hope for the future on the dance-y ‘Blue Skies’ and sees light in the shadows on the atmospheric ‘Go Deeper.’” – WSJ/Arts & Entertainment
The Lonesome Trio – The Lonesome Trio CD (Sugar Hill)
Twenty years ago Ed Helms (guitar, banjo), Jacob Tilove (mandolin) and Ian Riggs (bass) were drawn together by their love of bluegrass. Ever since that fortuitous day they have been playing music described as the peculiar mind meld of three old friends who’ve been through 20 years of life, love, loss and laughter together, working it all out through raw and honest acoustic music.
Calvin Love – Super Future CD/LP (Arts & Crafts)
“If you broke down the many forms of retro-futurism in music, Calvin Love would be the thrift store romantic. He’s a pop formalist with a taste for faded glamour and dusty twang that emanate vintage musk. Love hails from the same Edmonton scene as Sean Nicholas Savage, Alex Calder and Mac DeMarco. On his second LP he trades the dour new wave minimalism of his debut for slacker love songs that ride funky bass lines, and jaunty, shuffling rhythms that give his boyish, wearily warbled slacker melodies a little oomph. Super Future is feather-light in its charms. It’s an album about daydreaming, and yet its best cuts have the tightest concepts and the punchiest delivery (Girl, I Wanna Know, Creepin), and sometimes it feels like Love has to overcome his dreamy tendencies toward meandering banalities to get there.” – Now Toronto
Lucifer – Lucifer I CD/LP (Rise Above)
Debut album from the band formed by former vocalist of The Oath, Johanna Sadonis. A truthful and tempestuous re-imagining of classic ‘70s proto-metal and turbocharged blues.
Maribou State – Portraits CD/LP+MP3 (Counter)
With a sound as quintessentially British as the picturesque Hertfordshire village that they call home, Maribou State release their debut album. Portraits sees Chris Davids and Liam Ivory exemplify the sort of rare but precious sonic harmony that has made their name so far: equal parts emotive instrumentation and sturdy rhythms, stark soundscapes and rich textures. Featuring longtime collaborator Pedestrian (2nd Drop/Born Electric) as well as vocalists Holly Walker and Jono McCleery, the album takes on a subtle dynamism and natural warmth redolent of Gold Panda and Sohn.
mewithoutYou – Pale Horses CD (Run For Cover)
mewithoutYou’s sixth studio album hearkens boldly to the raw intensity of 2004’s Catch For Us The Foxes, while building on the rich imagery of 2006’s Brother, Sister. Epic in scope, Pale Horses is mewithoutYou at their best, breathing fresh life into the end times, gloriously terrifying and hauntingly iconic. Vinyl version due August 4.
Mika – No Place In Heaven CD (Republic)
The fourth studio album from the Lebanese-British singer/songwriter, the follow-up to 2012’s Origin Of Love.
Giorgio Moroder – Déjà vu CD (RCA)
Giorgio Moroder, the godfather of disco and electronic music trailblazer releases his first solo album in over 30 years. The music icon made his mark as an influential Italian producer, songwriter, performer and DJ. At 74 years old, Moroder still has his hands in the center of EDM culture.
Moullinex – Elsewhere CD/LP+MP3 (Disco Texas)
In Elsewhere, the second full-length album by Moullinex, you get a window into the past’s soul, funk, garage rock, Brazilian music — especially when it comes to percussion and flutes, which have an increasingly important role in its universe — these sounds come together and meet synths bursting with nostalgia for the future, all coexisting in perfect harmony and in such a way that never lets you forget for a second that the music is all coming from the same person.
Peter Murphy – Remixes From The Lion CD (Nettwerk)
A companion piece to last year’s tenth solo album of the same name. Lion was produced by Killing Joke bassist Youth, and this release includes Youth remixes of songs from the album as well as four bonus songs from the Lion recording sessions. Murphy describes the Lion material as “a mixture of stuff, almost like operas for the dispossessed. Its’ very romantic and very deep and emotional, quite symphonic in places, but then becomes, like, a rabble-rousing pirate sea shanty.”
Novalima – Planetario CD/LP (Wonderwheel)
New album from the pioneering Afro-Peruvian sound system.
The Ongoing Concept – Homemade CD (Topshelf)
The Ongoing Concept play metal music and hail from Coeur d’ Alene, ID. Aggression, chaotic instrumentation and versatile vocals are all present.
Outfit – Slowness CD/LP+MP3 (Memphis Industries)
“Following a period of separation from each other and loved ones – across cities, national borders and oceans – the band crafted a luscious array of tunes about the struggle of distance, be that in love, friendship or anything else. The result is a complex album rife with emotion and intensity, shaped by Outfit’s signature pop twang. There’s a lot to explore here, in every sense.” – The Line Of Best Fit
Part Time – Virgo’s Maze CD/2xLP+MP3 (Burger)
“Sixties psychedelia, ’70s glam and soft rock, ’80s new romanticism and shambolic indiepop — it’s all there, sometimes in the same song.” – Brooklyn Vegan
Phish – Amsterdam 8xCD (Jemp)
An all-new eight-CD Box set from Phish’s infrequent European shows. Full shows from 2/17/97, 7/1/97 and 7/2/97 at the Paradiso, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Ike Reilly – Born On Fire CD/LP (Rock Ridge)
Born On Fire is the fifth studio album from the critically acclaimed rocker and raconteur. Recorded with long time band The Assassination, the album features the soulful vocals of The Assassinettes, highlighting the R&B/soul influences on much of the album. Features Tom Morello on guitar (“Paradise Lane”).
Max Richter – Testament Of Youth [OST] CD (Milan)
Testament Of Youth is a 2014 British drama film directed by James Kent and written by Juliette Towhidi, based on the First World War memoir of the same name written by Vera Brittain. The film stars Alicia Vikander as Vera Brittain and Kit Harington as her fiancé Roland Leighton. Max Richter (Sarah’s Key, The Leftovers, Disconnect) wrote a beautiful and engaging score to the film.
Daniel Romano – Sleep Beneath The Willow [Reissue/2011] CD/LP+MP3 (You’ve Changed)
“Former Attack In Black singer and songwriter Daniel Romano continues to expand upon his passion for roots music, upping the classic country ante considerably on his gorgeous new album. There’s quite a distinction between the sound of Romano’s songs here, compared to last year’s Workin’ For The Music Man, whose folk style and attitude actually bore a closer (albeit quieter) relationship to his punk rock roots. Sleep Beneath The Willow, however, not only acknowledges heavy influences like Waylon Jennings, Lee Hazelwood, and George Jones, it downright captures their jaunty AM production approach and discordantly dark songwriting.” – Exclaim (April 2011)
Nate Ruess – Grand Romantic CD (Fueled By Ramen)
Debut solo album from the fun. frontman. Opening salvo from the second track “AhHa” is reminiscent of Ruess’ foot-stomping, Queen-inspired fun. works, but the track soon blossoms into a touching tale about breaking free, struggling with depression and finding salvation in music. Despite Ruess’ solo LP and guitarist Jack Antonoff’s Bleachers project, fun. have promised fans that the trio is not breaking up, but they are going on hiatus until they are “inspired” to reunite again.
Jill Scott – Golden Moments CD (Hidden Beach)
A sixteen-track greatest hits collection curated from her four studio albums for Hidden Beach. The newly remastered collection includes one unreleased vault track, “I Adore You” which was produced by platinum hit makers Carvin & Ivan and mixed in 2015 by the legendary Dave Pensado.
Shape Of Dispair – Monotony Fields CD/LP (Season Of Mist)
New album from the Finnish funeral doom pioneers.
The Silver Lake Chorus – The Silver Lake Chorus CD (Six Degrees)
The Silver Lake Chorus performs choral arrangements of indie music and exudes both the edgy, independent spirit of Silver Lake and the heart of community choral singing. TSLC’s self-titled album, produced by Aussie crooner Ben Lee, features rare and new tracks written exclusively for the chorus by the likes of Sia, Aimee Mann, The Bird And The Bee, Tegan And Sara, Ben Lee, The New Pornographers, Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie), John Roderick (The Long Winters), The Flaming Lips, and Justin Vernon (Bon Iver).
Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators – Live At The Roxy 09.25.14 2xCD (Eagle)
On September 25th 2014, shortly after the release of their World On Fire album, Slash with Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators took the stage at the legendary Roxy Theatre on Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. The atmospheric venue, steeped in rock history, gave fans a brilliant opportunity to experience the band up close as they delivered a set packed with more recent solo tracks, including several from the new album, and classics from Slash’s earlier career with Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver. Also available on stand-alone DVD and Blu-ray. Vinyl version due June 30.
Slum Village – Yes! CD/LP (Ne’astra Music Group)
“The long-running Detroit rap group Slum Village has been around since the late ’90s, and they’ve been through a ton of lineup changes over the years. The late production legend J Dilla was a founding member. Yes! includes a mournful and piano-laden Dilla beat on the track ‘Right Back.’ On the song, the current Slum Village members trade bars with smart-rap icons De La Soul, another group who has a long history with Dilla.” – Stereogum
Sorority Rose – Joy, Departed CD (Topshelf)
Joy, Departed shows growth in Sorority Rose’s songwriting while taking influences from Brand New, introducing more atmospheric and angular guitars while keeping true to the bands quirky, honest lyrics. Vinyl version due June 23.
Bruce Springsteen – Wild The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle [Reissue/1973] CD/LP (Sony Legacy)
Bruce Springsteen – Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ [Reissue/1973] CD/LP (Sony Legacy)
Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run [Reissue/1975] CD/LP (Sony Legacy)
Bruce Springsteen – Darkness On The Edge Of Town [Reissue/1978] CD/LP (Sony Legacy)
Bruce Springsteen – The River [Reissue/1980] 2xCD/2xLP (Sony Legacy)
Bruce Springsteen – Nebraska [Reissue/1982] CD/LP (Sony Legacy)
Bruce Springsteen – Born In The USA [Reissue/1984] CD/LP (Sony Legacy)
Digitally remastered editions now available (which follow the RSD 2015 vinyl reissues, which are also currently available).
The SteelDrivers – The Muscle Shoals Recordings CD (Rounder)
This is the fourth SteelDrivers studio album, made up of all-new material, mostly original, and recorded in Muscle Shoals at the legendary NuttHouse Recording Studio. Much of the inspiration came from Muscle Shoals, an area of exultation and experimentation, and home to the SteelDrivers’ lead vocalist, writer, and lead singer Gary Nichols, with the band joined by Nichols’ lifelong friend Jason Isbell on two songs. The group continues its rich musical progression, conjuring music drenched in soul, blues, bluegrass, R&B, country, and rock & roll.
Christopher Paul Stelling – Labor Against Waste CD/LP+MP3 (Anti/Epitaph)
Labor Against Waste features Stelling’s astonishing guitar work, a melodic fingerpicking style influenced in large part by blues legends such as Skip James and Mississippi John, masters like John Fahey, and banjo greats Dock Boggs and Roscoe Holcomb. On top of this soars Stelling’s voice, a resonant baritone that calls to mind classic troubadours from Tim Hardin to Steve Earle. Accompanied by an ensemble of stomps, claps, French horn, flugelhorn, kettledrums, string quartet, and a chorus comprised of members from the Low Anthem, in whose studio Stelling recorded the album.
James Taylor – Before This World CD/CD+DVD/LP (Concord)
Legendary singer/songwriter and five-time Grammy Award winning artist James Taylor presents his first collection of original recordings in over 13 years. Available in Regular, Deluxe and Super Deluxe editions. Deluxe adds a making-of-the-album DVD. Super Deluxe adds a 40-page hard bound book featuring photos, liner notes, and a collector’s envelope with handwritten lyrics and other memorabilia, all housed in a numbered, die cut package. “…Reminiscent of Taylor’s most enduring work from the 1970’s.” — Rolling Stone
Tempel – Moon Lit Our Path CD (Prosthetic)
After making waves with their debut album On The Steps Of The Temple, Arizona-based instrumental duo Tempel return with their sophomore album, The Moon Lit Our Path. The release consists of five colossal tracks that fuse haunting blackened post-metal melodies with progressive accents and atmospheric tinges. Vinyl version due June 30.
Third Eye Blind – Dopamine CD (Mega Collider)
“Say what you will about Third Eye Blind — that Semi-Charmed Life was overplayed; that Stephan Jenkins was too douchey in his episode of Cribs — but there’s no denying the band’s talent, particularly on their near-perfect debut album. Dopamine marks the band’s first full-length offering since 2009’s Ursa Major. A press release suggests the sound is a bit of a throwback for the band: “Employing signature guitar riffs and rock arrangements, Dopamine is vintage Third Eye Blind — a body of work whose songwriting details the personal relationships that have come and gone and the rapidly changing world we live in.” – Exclaim (January 2012)
Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band – Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band CD/2xLP+CD (Strut)
New studio album by one of Ghana’s all-time great vocalists, “The Golden Voice Of Africa,” Pat Thomas, in conjunction with the Kwashibu Area Band led by multi-instrumentalist Kwame Yeboah (Cat Stevens, Patrice) and saxophonist Ben Abarbanel-Wolff (Ebo Taylor, Poets Of Rhythm).
George Thorogood And The Delaware Destroyers – George Thorogood & The Delaware Destroyers CD (Rounder)
Archive release from the rock guitarist. The “first take” of the band’s debut album featuring Thorogood’s original trio — Thorogood on vocals, electric guitar, harmonica, Ron Smith on guitar and Jeff Simon on drums – the album features Thorogood’s first incarnation of the then George Thorogood And The Delaware Destroyers, modeled on Hound Dog Taylor’s format: two guitars and drums. The actual studio album that was later released in 1977 included bass player Bill Blough, who joined the band several months after the first raw sessions took place. The decision was made to overdub Bill onto the existing tracks for the studio release, and the chemistry was so strong, that Thorogood, Blough and Simon are still together in 2015.
Ian Tyson – Carnero Vaquero CD (Stony Plain)
Starting his career in the early ‘60s in the duo Ian & Sylvia, Tyson helped lead the folk revival and pioneered “country rock” with The Great Speckled Bird. Since the mid-‘80s Ian has been regarded as the preeminent western singer/songwriter. Now 81, he returns with his new album, Carnero Vaquero.
Various Artists [DJ Koze] – DJ Kicks CD/2xLP+CD (!K7)
DJ Koze — with his friendly and sometimes slightly melancholic take on the world — is one of the greatest auteurs of club music today, and one of the few internationally active DJs who dares to make music that has relevance beyond the dance floor. During the 70-minute journey on his DJ Kicks Kosi Kos manages to establish a uniform color even though genres alternate in a way that is rarely heard on a mix CD: the stripped down hip hop of Madlib, brutalist Berghain techno, timeless songwriting, floating indie-pop and outlier numbers that oscillate between absurdity and melancholy. Koze’s disregard for the stylistic yoke presents him with an immense challenge. Hence, almost all the tracks are more or less edited, and one is fully rhymed (Session Victim “Hyuwee”).
Various Artists [Dylan, Cash And The Nashville Cats] – A New Music City 2xCD (Sony Legacy)
Bob Dylan bucked executives at his record label and surprised his fans when he came to Nashville in 1966 to record his classic album Blonde On Blonde. Working with the city’s unmatched session musicians, Dylan produced a rock & roll masterpiece and went on to record two more albums there. Dylan’s embrace of Nashville and its musicians the Nashville Cats inspired many other artists, among them Neil Young, Joan Baez, and Leonard Cohen, to follow him to Music City. Around the same time, Johnny Cash was recruiting folk and rock musicians including Dylan to appear on his groundbreaking network television show, The Johnny Cash Show, shot at the Ryman Auditorium, home of the Grand Ole Opry. The exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame looks at the Nashville music scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a time of great cultural vitality for Music City. This 2xCD set is the companion release to this exhibit.
Various Artists – Nu Yorica!: Culture Clash In New York City – Experiments in Latin Music 1970-77 [Reissue/1995] 2xCD/2xLP/2xLP (Soul Jazz)
This is the 20th anniversary expanded edition of one of Soul Jazz Records earliest definitive releases: Nu Yorica!, a stunning and ground-breaking collection of music, bringing together Latin, soul, jazz, funk and more from the melting pot of New York City in the 1970s. Features seminal Latin artists such as Eddie Palmieri, Joe Bataan, Machito, Ocho, Grupo Folklorico, Cortijo, Ricardo Marrero, Cachao and many more. (Also available across two separate volumes on vinyl.)
Vattnet Viskar – Settler CD/LP (Century Media)
“Settler follows Vattnet Viskar’s humongous 2012 LP, Sky Swallower, but the band are going for something even bigger here. They worked with the excellent producer Sanford Parker (Yob, Leviathan) and expanded their approach: I used to consider them a post-black metal band, now I think they’re more accurately described as post-metal, period. There’s greater vastness here, greater momentum, greater weight.” – Stereogum
Walk Off The Earth – Sing It All Away CD (Columbia)
“…The group showcases a keen gift for consuming vast swaths of pop music, digesting them simultaneously, and synthesizing them into a grandiose sound that’s so broadly appealing, it seems to contain everything that’s ever made anyone turn up a radio.” — NPR
The Weather Station – All of It Was Mine [Reissue/2011] CD/LP (You’ve Changed)
“This is the second effort from Tamara Lindeman, a singer/songwriter based in Toronto, Ontario and a sometime member of the band the Bruce Peninsula. The retro cover, for once, isn’t merely hipster homage—this really could be an album cut more than 35 years ago, one that’s on par with ‘lost’ artists such as Vashti Bunyan and Karen Dalton. Lindeman, of course, is her own woman, something she demonstrates via ‘Traveler, ‘Everything I Saw,’ and ‘Yarrow And Mint.’ At 28 minutes, this may be a sliver of an album, but it’s still a damned fine sliver to have and a genuine folk album from an artist who seems capable and comfortable working in just about any musical idiom she wants.” – Pop Matters
Ryn Weaver – Fool CD/LP (Interscope)
Debut album from singer/songwriter and producer Ryn Weaver. Produced by multi-platinum producer Benny Blanco and Passion Pit creative force and frontman Michael Angelakos, Fool features breakout single “OctaHate” along with brand new music from Weaver.
W V R T H – W V R T H CD/LP (Unique Leader)
“Enter W V R T H, formerly Wrath Of Vesuvius: they show precise and methodical control over atmosphere on their new kind-of-self-titled album, W V R T H. The band uses this proficiency to evoke a bittersweet vibe that runs throughout the album, one part triumphant resolution and two parts melancholia. By imbuing this powerful emotive quality into an album that is, at its core, technical death metal, W R V T H has shown that they can create a record that is equally engaging from a technical standpoint and an emotional one. W V R T H is beautiful and emotive, without sacrificing the technicality necessary for tech-death album.” – Heavy Blog Is Heavy
Yonder Mountain String Band – Black Sheep CD (Frog Pad)
For nearly 17 years, Yonder Mountain String Band has redefined bluegrass music, expanding the traditional acoustic genre beyond its previously established boundaries by steadily pushing the envelope into the realms of rock & roll and improvisation. “What all that growth has meant for the band is a sixth studio record, Black Sheep, and a new version of their sound that indulges their steely punk roots and fuses them with die-hard Appalachian rituals. This will be the first record that has the band in classic five-piece bluegrass formation on the entire LP — guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle and bass — but, in Yonder Mountain String Band tradition, adhering to convention provides even more opportunities to shatter it just so.” – Rolling Stone
Yukon Blonde – On Blonde CD/LP (Dine Alone)
Perennial pop/indie rock wizards Yukon Blonde return with their third LP and follow up to widely acclaimed sophomore breakout album, Tiger Talk. “Canadian synth-pop band Yukon Blonde has built up a catalogue of perfectly crafted pop songs, but their new album has them expanding into a more sophisticated dance rock sound. Songs like ‘Como’ and ‘Saturday Night’ are euphoric gems of heavenly layered vocals and retro synth leads. It’s no wonder these tracks sound so huge and glossy, with Colin Stewart (Black Mountain, Dan Mangan, Sleepy Sun) producing and Tony Hoffer (M83, Beck, Foster The People Air, Depeche Mode) mixing.” — Stereogum
DVDs + Blu-ray:
Leah Gordon – Iron In The Soul: The Haiti Documentary Films Of Leah Gordon DVD (Soul Jazz)
Stunning new DVD collection of documentary films about the world of Haiti – vodou, art and culture by filmmaker and photographer Leah Gordon.
Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators – Live At The Roxy 09.25.14 DVD/Blu-ray (Eagle)
On September 25th 2014, shortly after the release of their World On Fire album, Slash with Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators took the stage at the legendary Roxy Theatre on Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. The atmospheric venue, steeped in rock history, gave fans a brilliant opportunity to experience the band up close as they delivered a set packed with more recent solo tracks, including several from the new album, and classics from Slash’s earlier career with Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver. 109 minutes.
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
Air – Premiers Symptoms [Reissue/1997] LP (Parlophone)
Air – Moon Safari [Reissue/1997] LP (Parlophone)
Air – The Virgin Suicides [OST/Reissue/1999] 2xCD/2xCD+LP+7”+MP3 (Parlophone)
Air – 10,000 Hz Legend [Reissue/2001] 2xLP (Parlophone)
Air – Talkie Walkie [Reissue/2003] LP (Parlophone)
Air – Pocket Symphony [Reissue/2006] 2xLP (Parlophone)
Warner and Parlophone celebrate the 15th anniversary of Sofia Coppola’s directorial debut, The Virgin Suicides, by reissuing Air’s original soundtrack for the film. Available on vinyl, double CD, and in a limited edition super deluxe box set, the score is reissued along with Air’s early studio releases. The box set will include the album pressed on red vinyl plus a bonus picture disc featuring a previously unreleased live performance of the score recorded at L.A.’s American Legion Hall on January 22nd, 2000 and three recordings from a KCRW performance that same month. Also in the box will be the double-CD version, a movie poster, a 16-page booklet featuring a new Air interview, a VIP badge from the L.A. show, and an exclusive red vinyl 7” featuring remixes and the song “Playground Love.” The live album will also be included as one of the discs in the double-CD set, while two additional studio outtakes will be tacked onto the end of disc one.
David Arvedon – Best Of Vol. 2 LP (Mighty Mouth Music)
Second installment of solo material from The Psychopaths bandleader. All songs recorded in the early ’70s and are now seeing the vinyl treatment for the first time. Some tracks were taken from the impossible-to-find The Most Unforgettable Tree We Ever Met 8-track tape.
Atavismo – Desintegración LP (Temple Of Torturous)
“The three members of Atavismo have pedigree when it comes to music with further adventures in sound taking place with Viaje A 800, Mind!, Buena Muerto Trio and Pussyworm. Intriguingly, the gathering of the requisite parts doesn’t seem to sound anything like any of those other bands and instead, this Spanish trio embark on something not a million miles away from mid period Pink Floyd.” – Ech(((o)))es And Dust
Basement Benders – Basement Benders 7” (Dead Broke/Drunken Sailor)
Debut four-song EP split release with Drunken Sailor Records. Chattanooga, TN band Basement Benders features members of Future Virgins, Hidden Spots, This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb, Jack Palance Band, and Black Rainbow. Four gems of punk-indie-pop.
Jac Berrocal/David Fenech/Vincent Epplay – Antigravity LP (Blackest Ever Black)
Legendary trumpeter Jac Berrocal joins two fellow travelers in the French avant-garde, David French and Vincent Epplay. A lugubrious mise-en-scène in which ice-cold outlaw jazz meets musique concrète, DIY whimsy, and dubwise studio science, all watched over by the lost souls and hungry ghosts of rock ‘n’ roll. The trio’s first album together is a richly imagined universe combining original compositions and détourned standards. Despite the chilly, sometimes austere mood of the album, it is, ultimately, a deeply human and welcoming work, with a playfulness and sly humor pervading.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Live In Paris 3xLP+DVD (Vagrant)
Released last week on CD – now available on vinyl. Recorded live on BRMC’s last World Tour at Theatre Trianon in Paris on 2/24/14. The DVD contains 23 tracks plus documentary film 33.3%.
Blanche Calloway – Without That Gal! LP (Monk)
Blanche was the sister of both famous jive bandleader Cab Calloway & the lesser-known performer Elmer Calloway, one of the best jazz vocalists of the era.
Blood Warrior – Letter Ghost LP (Immune)
The New England folk duo of Greg Jamie (O’Death) and Joey Weiss (Super Monster) uses guitars (at times purposefully detuned), harmonium, keyboards and sparse percussion to create music that is deceptively minimal.
Johnny Cash – Koncert V Praze [Reissue/1983] LP (Sony Legacy)
Johnny Cash playing his greatest hits behind the Iron Curtain in 1983. Previously released on “Soviet red” color vinyl for RSD 2015, Koncert V Praze is now available on standard black vinyl.
Cathode Ray Eyes – Eyes In The Melancholy Palm LP (Captcha)
A dark, brooding record that lurches from fuzzed out deranged pop (“Harry Houdini”) to cinematic instrumentals (“And The Burial Had Several Different Endings”) to dark gothic psych rippers.
Cheatahs – Murasaki 12”+MP3 (Wichita)
London shoegaze quartet Cheatahs are back like they never left after releasing February’s fierce Sunne EP.
Cold Cave – Full Cold Moon LP (Deathwish Inc.)
Full Cold Moon is a compilation of EP recordings originally individually released in 2013, now presented as one collection; A Little Death To Laugh, Oceans With No End, God Made The World, Black Boots, and Nausea, The Earth And Me. Notably this is also the first vinyl appearance of the song “Dandelion” as well as the entire Nausea, The Earth And Me EP (previously only available on limited CD and digital formats). This is Cold Cave at its most artistically skeletal, similar to the celebrated Cremations and Love Comes Close releases. Twelve minimal compositions driven by Eisold’s synth derived hooks, alluring vocals, and compelling character.
Corrosion Of Conformity – IX [2014] LP (Back On Black)
Released last year on CD – now available on vinyl. Be it southern groove, the championing of all things doom, or the band’s cherished punk rock roots, IX contains eleven more reasons to simply love C.O.C.
Colin Cowan & The Elastic Stars – Eye Of Winter LP (Kingfisher Bluez)
Second LP from Colin Cowan (Dada Plan, Dan Mangan, Woodpigeon) is dedicated to the season that makes us think of snow, hot cocoa, and keeping warm in front of the fireplace. This record embraces all aspects of the winter theme, and it’s a perfect fit for Cowan’s warm and moody glam-folk songwriting.
Dada Plan – The Madness Hides LP (Kingfisher Bluez)
Jazzy, dystopian, psychedelic pop.
Sally Dige – Hard To Please LP (Night School)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Consolidating two years of solo work, Hard To Please is the debut album by Canadian polymath Sally Dige. First coming to prominence in the synth-wave scene with an elusive, meta-persona in a blur of homemade costumes, Dige’s world has grown to encompass visual art, theatre and design elements.
Dikembe – Ledge 7” (Dikembe)
“A suite of new songs from Dikembe, Ledge is a self-study on feeling overwhelmed and restless. Full of their classic wandering guitars, dramatic builds, and moody crooning, these 13 minutes will certainly give you something to linger on, if only to decipher the metaphors. Not quite as Brand New-inspired as Mediumship, but definitely a far cry from their debut Chicago Bowls EP, this 7″ is a promising step moving forward for these Gainesville heroes.”—Sarah Goodwin
DJ Shadow & Sena – Grow Slow LP (BBE)
Vadim brings his trademark electro-riddim beats for Sena to do her thing, which is a dope mix of soul and Afro-Caribbean swagger—a bit of Lauryn, a bit of Erykah, all Sena. CD version due June 30.
Electric Wizard – Come My Fanatics [Reissue/1996] 2xLP (Rise Above)
Electric Wizard – Dopethrone [Reissue/2000] 2xLP (Rise Above)
HQ-180gm color vinyl reissues of these epic monsters of drug-fuelled doom metal.
English Dogs – The Thing With Two Heads [2014] LP (Back On Black)
Released last year on CD – now available on vinyl. Franticly intense, the veteran hardcore/punk band’s new album is chock full of epic riffs and killer production.
Everclear – Black Is The New Black LP (The End)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Bombastic, hard-driving, generation-spanning rock ‘n’ roll with instantly memorable, sharp-as-hell hooks propel Everclear’s new studio album. Muscular but melodic, this is the sound of a band driven and united by singular, intense purpose. At an average of three-minutes each, the songs rip forward with palpable swagger, supercharged by a mix of autobiographical exorcism and narrative storytelling, from the gut and throat of Everclear’s singer, guitarist, co-founder and songwriter Art Alexakis. Black Is The New Black is a diverse and timeless sounding collection, without ballads and without nostalgia. This is a heavy guitar record.
The Fall – The Wonderful And Frightening Escape Route To The Fall [Reissue/1984] LP (Beggar’s Banquet)
The Fall – Wonderful And Frightening World Of The Fall [Reissue/1984] LP (Beggar’s Banquet)
The Fall – This Nation’s Saving Grace [Reissue/1985] LP (Beggar’s Banquet)
The Fall – Schtick – Yarbles Revisted [1985] LP (Beggar’s Banquet)
The Wonderful And Frightening Escape Route To The Fall contains the material from the two singles and the EP, Call For Escape Route that the band released in 1984, which were also part of the extended cassette version of the original album. These were the remaining tracks recorded at the sessions. Released in 1984, The Wonderful And Frightening World Of The Fall was the band’s seventh studio album and their first for Beggars Banquet. It makes few concessions to the larger market — every potential hook seemed spiked with the band’s usual rough take-it-or-leave-it stance — though the integration of Brix Smith into the band added a melodic twist. Originally released in 1985, This Nation’s Saving Grace is one of The Fall’s most loved releases and is often hailed as one of the greatest albums of the 1980s. Drawing from the well of primal rock ‘n’ roll, the band play with muscular spontaneity and inspiration to create music that still sounds unique and challenging, especially against today’s anodyne imitations of rock and ‘guitar music.’ Available for the first time on vinyl, Schtick – Yarbles Revisited compiles the singles released around This Nation’s Saving Grace and includes five tracks from the bands’ 1985 BBC Peel sessions.
Fink – Horizontalism LP+MP3 (R’coup’d)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Following the success of last year’s Hard Believer album-which saw the trio known as Fink melding Fin Greenall’s ruggedly lush vocals with a slow-burning and steady-thumping array of string lucking (Guy Whittaker) and cymbal smashing (Tim Thornton) — they ring in 2015 with Horizontalism. Inspired by Greenall’s new home in Berlin and his resurgent interest in electronic production, his series of mixes may stand in stark contrast of the bands musical output of the past years but the listener finds themselves at the same intersection of impassioned storytelling, manifest emotion and darkly beautiful ambience.
Foreigner – 4 [Reissue/1981] LP (Atlantic)
Limited HQ-180gm audiophile vinyl LP repressing of the classic rock band’s fourth — and most popular – album.
Four Years Strong – Four Years Strong LP (Pure Noise)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Fifth full-length album from the pop/punk band. Vinyl version due June 16. According to guitarist/vocalist Dan O’Connor, the album is, “one of the rawest records we’ve ever made, it’s just us playing. No fancy computer sh*t. Made for singing along and head-banging.”
F**ked Up – Year Of The Hare 12” (Deathwish)
Year Of The Hare is the latest installment of F**ked Up’s Zodiac themed releases. Title track “Year Of The Hare” is a 21-minute epic that frantically mixes traditional instrumentation, piano/synths, flutes and sax, experimental editing/soundscapes, and guest vocals from great Isla Craig into one dizzying experience. While B-Side “California Cold” slowly builds and deconstructs over an eight-and-a-half minute stretch. Organically shifting from jangly melodic-punk anthem into a fuzzed out psychedelic jam session.
Robert Glasper – Covered (The Robert Glasper Trio Recorded Live At Capitol Studio) CD/2xLP (Blue Note)
Glasper returns to his acclaimed acoustic jazz trio for an album consisting mainly of covers, including favorites from Radiohead, Joni Mitchell, Jhene Aiko, John Legend, Kendrick Lamar, as well as several originals.
Jody Glenham – RSVP 7” (Kingfisher Bluez)
Sublime, Mazzy Star-esque dream pop.
Grateful Dead – American Beauty [Reissue/1970] LP (Rhino)
Limited HQ-180gm color vinyl reissue, mastered from the original tapes.
Grave – Into The Grave [Reissue/1991] LP (Century Media)
Vinyl reissue of the Swedish death metal band’s debut album.
Beth Hart – 37 Days [Reissue/2007] 2xLP+MP3 (Provogue)
Beth Hart – My California [Reissue/2010] LP+MP3 (Provogue)
Vinyl reissues now available. 37 Days is expanded with three live bonus tracks.
Billie Holiday – Lady In Satin [Reissue/1958] LP (Sony Legacy)
Limited vinyl LP repressing of this classic 1958 album by the jazz icon. Lady In Satin is the penultimate album completed by the singer and last released in her lifetime. The original album was produced by Irving Townsend, and engineered by Fred Plaut. The song material for Lady In Satin derived from the usual sources for Holiday in her three-decade career, that of the Great American Songbook of classic pop.
Holy Hum – Appendix A + B 7” (Kingfisher Bluez)
Ambient, meditative pieces that swell with feeling and warmth. Fragments of slowcore, noise, drone and ambient music throughout.
The Hussy – Galore LP (Southpaw)
New album from the Madison, WI psych-punk duo.
Ice Cube – Lethal Injection [Reissue/1993] LP (Frontline Catalog)
Back-to-back tracks in the middle of Lethal Injection are all the proof we need that Ice Cube is a great talent. “What Can I Do?” opens with a strings-and-wah-wah motif from an early ’70s blaxploitation film and follows with a “Superfly” tale about a high-level drug dealer. Next up is “Lil Ass Gee,” the story of a 12-year-old wanna-be gangster. Just a few years ago he was playing with G.I. Joe dolls, and now he’s playing with real guns and making real babies. On both numbers, the rapper’s rich, resonant baritone bleeds into the synth strings with a sense of fatefulness that’s chilling to hear. Ice Cube is a mesmerizing storyteller, a seductive vocalist, and a brilliantly inventive producer of aural collages.
Jaakko Eino Kalevi – Jaakko Eino Kalevi LP (Weird World)
Jaakko cuts a cool, Zen-like figure – a street-smart sage who sings in English but expresses his most intimate thoughts in Finnish. He wrote, performed, recorded and sang almost everything on the record himself with a few guest vocals by Suad Khalifa and Sonja Immonen. The album was mixed in New York by Nicolas Vernhes (The War On Drugs and Run The Jewels) and the warmth he added helped draw the songs together and underlined the unusual, head-turning quality of Jaakko’s songwriting. CD version due June 23.
Laurice – Best Of Laurice Vol. 2 LP (Mighty Mouth Music)
Similar to Nikola Tesla, Leif Erikson and Kalashnikov—trail-blazers who received either nothing or ridicule for the pioneering efforts—Welsh musician/producer Laurice went unnoticed and was forced to watch from the terraces as an entire genre’s worth of musicians made millions passing through the hole he opened in the border fence separating tuff psychedelia and camp glam rock. Known to collectors for a handful of some of the most aberrantly catchy yet lyrically un-commercial 45s of all-time (sample titles: “Flying Saucers Have Landed,” “I’m Gonna Smash Your Face In,”) Laurice’s signature style and approach anticipated both punk thrash and post-punk disco trash. And, unlike Bowie and Bolan, Laurice wasn’t just pouting and putting on make-up for the camera.
Dan Melchior – A Non Person b/w Hesitation Blues 7” (Spacecase)
Features the Melchior original, “A Non Person,” backed with his rendition of the traditional song, “Hesitation Blues.”
Metric – Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? [Reissue/2003] LP (Everloving)
Metric’s debut album, Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? launched Metric’s career and was part of a wave of Canadian indie bands such as Broken Social Scene and Arcade Fire that broke big in America.
Miami Horror – All Possible Futures LP (Dine Alone)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. All Possible Futures is the second album from the Australian electronic quartet. After relocating to Los Angeles for inspiration and influence, the band has found their own sound on their new studio album, littered with introspective songs and post-disco party jams inspired by the quirk of Talking Heads, New Order and INXS, through to the pop influence of Michael Jackson, Paul Simon and the dreamy aesthetic of Fleetwood Mac and Tame Impala.
The Mons – Untitled (In The Original, It’s Red) LP (Underground Communique)
Untitled is the freshman LP from this group of not-so-fresh Chicago punks. Grizzled veterans of bands including but not limited to Apocalypse Hoboken, Lynyrd’s Innards, The Mashers, Mexican Cheerleader and M.O.T.O. Faster and louder, drunker and angrier than ever before, ripping through 12 songs in a tidy 16 minutes.
Monster Rally – Crystal Ball [Reissue/2011] LP+MP3 (Gold Robot)
Monster Rally is the brainchild of Columbus, OH resident and Cleveland native Ted Feighan. Producing music that is sampled-based tropical pop, Monster Rally began with the goal of assembling a bunch of old records into a completely different beast. Feighan began crafting tracks from his collection of records, combining his interests in hip-hop, exotica, tropicalia, and soul. Monster Rally creates tracks that manage to maintain a surprisingly organic sound, as if they were recorded by a full band on analog tape. There is something inherently nostalgic about the sound.
Mood Of Defiance – In A Box 7” (Water Under The Bridge)
Mood Of Defiance was a punk/experimental band from the South Bay, California, formed in 1979. This 7” EP collects their early demo recordings.
The Neighbourhood – I Love You [2013] LP (Columbia)
“On their debut album I Love You, The Neighbourhood reach into the stratosphere and craft eleven moody, atmospheric rock tracks. The Los Angeles newcomers adore soaring textures and add them liberally to such tracks as ‘How,’ ‘Everybody’s Watching Me (Uh Oh)’ and ‘Let It Go’ – along with doses of mechanical drums, opaque tones and cloudy vocals from frontman Jesse Rutherford.” – Rolling Stone
North – Metanoia/Siberia [Reissue/2014/2006] LP (Prosthetic)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. During their prolific first decade, the Tucson-based gloom metal trio North released four acclaimed EPs and two well-received full-lengths in addition to playing nearly 300 shows across America with the likes of Deafheaven, Red Fang, Neurosis, Pelican and Intronaut. This release combines their 2014 EP Metanoia with a reissue of their debut album from 2006, Siberia.
Paper Dollhouse – Aeonflower LP (Night School)
An exploration of warped, dream-like atmosphere and taught, noise-ingrained electronics, Paper Dollhouse has evolved from the solo work of Astrud Steehouder into an expansive, cinematic project now involving visual artist Nina Bosnic. Recorded with a stronger focus on electronic processes and with a deeper, light-starved aesthetic, Aeonflower’s emboldened use of crushed-noise dynamics takes the London-based group’s 2011 debut A Box Painted Black frame into darker, murkier and more thrilling territory.
Passenger – jxpg 7” (Kingfisher Bluez)
New single from Vancouver’s leading voice in synth and drone, drawing from ambient, drone, acid house, and IDM influences.
Pestilence – Obsideo [2013] LP (Back On Black)
Vinyl edition of the Dutch death/thrash metal band’s 2013 album.
The Pogues – Rum, Sodomy And The Lash [Reissue/1985] LP (Rhino)
The Pogues – If I Should Fall From Grace With God [Reissue/1988] LP (Rhino)
HQ-180gm vinyl reissues of the legendary Irish band’s second and third albums, most of which have been out-of-print on the format for years.
Poor Form – Boxed In 7” (Kingfisher Bluez)
Four songs of frustrated Northwest pop punk from members of Needles//Pins and Siren Songs.
Procol Harum – Broken Barricades [Reissue/1971] LP (Let Them Eat Vinyl)
Procol Harum – Live In Concert With The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra [Reissue/1972] LP (Let Them Eat Vinyl)
Procol Harum – Grand Hotel [Reissue/1973] LP (Let Them Eat Vinyl)
Procol Harum – Exotic Birds And Fruit [Reissue/1974] LP (Let Them Eat Vinyl)
Procol Harum – Procol’s Ninth [Reissue/1975] LP (Let Them Eat Vinyl)
Procol Harum – Something Magic [Reissue/1977] LP (Let Them Eat Vinyl)
Procol Harum – The Well’s On Fire [2003] LP (Let Them Eat Vinyl)
Procol Harum – Live At The Union Chapel [2004] LP (Let Them Eat Vinyl)
A lot of albums and singles were released by Procol Harum after “A Whiter Shade Of Pale,” but the band but never enjoyed the success of that first single. Broken Barricades was the band’s fifth album, and is reissued here on vinyl alongside several other lesser-known LPs (including two latter period releases that are pressed on wax for the first time).
Public Access T.V. – Public Access EP LP (Terrible)
NYC jangle pop band and UK press darlings Public Access T.V. have singed with Terrible Records, the label co-run by Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear.
The Radio Dept. – Occupied 12” (Labrador)
New EP from the legendary Swedish dreampop/shoegaze group.
Jimmie Rodgers – Blue Yodel No. 1 LP (Monk)
The Blue Yodel songs are a series of thirteen songs written and recorded by Jimmie Rodgers during the period from 1927 to his death in May 1933. The songs were based on the 12-bar blues format and featured Rodgers’ trademark yodel refrains. The lyrics often had a risqué quality with “a macho, slightly dangerous undertone.” The original album sold more than a half million copies, a phenomenal number at the time. The term “blue yodel” is also sometimes used to differentiate the earlier Austrian yodeling from the American form of yodeling introduced by Rodgers.
Rotting Christ – Thegonia [Reissue/2007] LP (Back On Black)
Rotting Christ – Aealo [Reissue/2010] 2xLP (Back On Black)
Rotting Christ – Kata Tom Daimona Eaytoy [Reissue/2013] 2xLP (Back On Black)
Vinyl reissues of three albums by the Greek extreme metal band.
Rush – Permanent Waves [Reissue/1980] LP (Mercury)
Remastered on HQ-200gm, heavyweight vinyl at Abbey Road, all from original analogue masters, Permanent Waves is Rush’s seventh studio album. Released on January 1, 1980, and recorded at Le Studio in Quebec it was their first US album to go Top Five, peaking at #4 on the Billboard charts. The effort marked a transition from the band’s long, conceptual pieces into a more accessible, radio-friendly style on such rock airplay hits as “The Spirit Of Radio” and “Freewill,” with the album going platinum.
The Scientist – International Heroes Of Dub: Revisited LP (Zion’s Gate)
A reissue of this classic period Scientist LP recorded in the early 1980s. Scientist is a dub pioneer and living legend. He is the protégé of the great King Tubby. This release features the best songs from the International Heroes Dub album. It has been around 20 years since the original vinyl release. Also this version has two bonus songs from the great album Dub In The Roots Tradition.
Bob Seger – Night Moves [Reissue/1976] LP (Capitol)
Originally released in 1976, Night Moves was Bob Seger’s first studio album with the Silver Bullet Band. Much of the album was recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama with the incomparable Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. This breakthrough album, powerful and personal, went on to garner overwhelming critical praise, as well as the hit singles “Night Moves,” ‘Mainstreet” and “Rock And Roll Never Forgets.”
Smersh – Super Heavy Solid Waste LP (Dark Entries)
Another compilation of early (1983-1993) cassette recordings by the experimental the big-beat techno/industrial project of Mike Mangino (Pink Noise, Pop-Tarts) and Chris Shepard (Pop-Tarts). Most songs revolve around driving EBM style beats, intricate industrial noise manipulation and synth melodies.
Valaida Snow – Until The Real Thing Comes Along LP (Monk)
Valaida Snow might well be counted among the greatest entertainers of the early 20th century; her voice has enchanted the audience of America and Great Britain, 16 tracks in chronological order.
Jackie Shane – Live LP (Other People’s Music)
An outrageous rhythm & blues singer whose spectacular performances ripped up Toronto “the good” in the early to late 1960’s and largely overlooked by the music historians during an era that saw the city give birth to better known as the musical springboard of Neil Young, Joni Mitchel, Ian & Sylvia, Gordon Lightfoot, The Paupers, Steppenwolf, The Band, (and yes) Ricky James among many others. Originally a female impersonator, Jackie Shane, born and raised in Nashville Tenn., toured the “Chitlin’ Circuit” opening for performers like Etta James.
Chris Stamey – Euphoria LP+MP3 (Yep Roc)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. With Euphoria, Chris Stamey returns to the guitar-driven rock band dynamic to deliver ten stellar songs rooted in his trademark sound: Strong hooks, expansive production, solid musicianship, wonderful harmonies and unexpected twists. Where his last album, Lovesick Blues, was rooted in slower tempo acoustic chamber pop, Euphoria, hums with upbeat songs, centered on the electric guitar.
The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses [Reissue/1989] 2xLP (Modern Classics)
The Stone Roses – Turns Into Stone [Reissue/1992] 2xLP (Modern Classics)
HQ-180gm double LP reissues on color vinyl. Released in 1989, The Stone Roses was a fusion of rock music and the nascent rave scene in the group’s native Manchester. Turns Into Stone collects early singles and B-sides that didn’t appear on the band’s self-titled debut.
Tiamat – Sumerian Cry [Reissue/1990] LP (Back On Black)
Tiamat’s first album features slightly above average death metal, but this is actually a compliment considering that most bands in this genre take years to evolve past pure noise. The cryptic synthesizer of the instrumental title track soon gives way to the band’s brutal buzzsaw guitars and vocalist Hellslaughter’s (Johan Edlund’s) gruff screaming and unintelligible lyrics.
Tim The Mute – Mushy Peas 7” (Kingfisher Bluez)
Six new songs about heartache, death, and peas.
Total Negation – Zeitzeuge LP (Temple Of Torturous)
“If you are not yet familiar with Total Negation’s bizarre and fascinating brand of experimental black metal, please take this opportunity to rectify the situation.”
Meghan Trainor – Title 2xLP (Epic)
Double-LP edition now available. Meghan joined forces with Grammy-nominated producer/songwriter Kevin Kadish (Miley Cyrus, Jason Mraz) for her infectious debut single, “All About That Bass,” a playful, empowering and unapologetic pop anthem that encourages girls to ignore the Barbie doll standard of beauty and love themselves inside and out.
Tuts – Tuts 7” (Kingfisher Bluez)
Debut 7″ from this London-based indie-pop group with a Libertines influence.
Valborg – Romantik LP (Temple Of Torturous)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. “Despite some unfortunate hairstyle choices, Valborg play a pretty unique style of doom. Going for clean and bright where a lot of bands go for dark and dirty, the German trio has found a path less traveled into this oldest of metal genre.” – Decibel Magazine
Vampillia – Some Nightmares Take You Aurora Rainbow Darkness LP (Back On Black)
The Japanese metal scene is well known for its imaginative and often eccentric approach. It is rich and varied with new alternative and experimental bands appearing and collaborating often. Breaking through the crowds is Osaka-based “brutal orchestra” Vampillia.
Various Artists – The Best Of Classic Reggae Volume I LP (Sanctuary)
Various Artists – The Best Of Jamaican R&B/Blues Volume I LP (Sanctuary)
Various Artists – The Best Of Lovers Rock Volume I LP (Sanctuary)
Various Artists – The Best Of Original Dancehall Volume I LP (Sanctuary)
Various Artists – The Best Of Tighten Up Reggae Volume I LP (Sanctuary)
Second wave in a series of LPs celebrating the re-launch of Trojan Records in the US.
Various Artists – Synesthesia: The First Five Years 2xLP (Medical Records)
This double LP features a handpicked selection of tracks intended to highlight the label’s reissues on the first three sides. Featuring such standouts as Lou Champagne System, Tony Carey, Gay Cat Park, and many more, it is a very nice representative collection. The fourth side is a unique collection Medical Records’ new (contemporary) artists performing specially selected cover versions of tracks featured on our past reissues. Examples include the sultry “We R” performed by Roladex (originally by Chrisma on Hibernation ) and Click performed by Kline Coma Xero (originally by Disco Volante).
Various Artists – What It Is! Funky Soul And Rare Grooves 25×7” (Rhino)
Funk emerged in the 1960s, a scorching sound that amped up the legacy of R&B and doo-wop in spirit and sonic intensity, and became the precursor of hip-hop. What It Is! celebrates this heady, groove-heavy strain of “gut bucket funk” that remains a major force in American music. Twenty-five slabs of serious funk from the vaults of Atlantic, Atco, Warner Bros., Reprise, and Josie Records, with the original A and B sides and all original labels and sleeves. Artists include Tony Alvon & The Belairs, Baby Huey & The Baby Sitters, The TSU Toronadoes, Wilson Pickett, The Commodores, Little Richard, The Meters, Eddie Hazel, and more.
Wapassou – Wapassou [Reissue/1974] LP (Lion Productions)
With their first album, legendary French art-rock band Wapassou found a distinctive musical voice: well-developed melodies, rhythmic organ, prominent droning violin, and guitar doubling-up as a rhythm instrument. They often conjure up what it might have sounded like had John Cale and Stereolab formed a band in 1974, the year this album was originally released.
Weather Warlock – Sunset Waits For No Man LP (Rhinestone)
Weather Warlock is the new project from New Orleans organist/instrument builder Quintron. This band is based entirely around his latest monster analog weather synthesizer (also called “Weather Warlock”). In short, this instrument takes information from the Weather—sun, rain, temperature, wind, etc.—and translates those daily variables into a randomly bubbling new-agey drone.
The Wolf Council – The Wolf Council LP (Static Tension)
Released earlier this year on CD – now available on vinyl. Best described as a mixture of doom, stoner rock and metal, The Wolf Council’s self-titled debut contains songs that are both heavy and catchy simultaneously. Fans of Melvins and Kyuss should take note.
The Wonder Years – The Greatest Generation [2013] 2xLP (Hopeless)
The Greatest Generation is a realistic record. It’s three guitars turned way the f##k up. It’s a rhythm section that’s trademarked by broken cymbals and bloody bass strings, and Soupy and the band screaming their hearts out of their chests until you feel every moment of desperation and every moment of joy in the songs.
Zen Mystery Fogg – Because Of You 7” (Kingfisher Bluez)
Four new songs from this Vancouver-based garage pop five-piece.
Cassettes:
Kid Millions – Sanguine Cadaver (NNA Tapes)
New expedition through the percussion-centric world of John Colpitts (Oneida, Man Forever).
Various Artists – Sunset Silk (100% Silk)
Five years flies by in a flash, but feels like an eon. Sunset Silk reflects on the label’s half-decade dim glow in the distance of dance with new tracks and remixes by Prison Garde, Jupiter Jax, James Booth, C.L.A.W.S., Cruise Family (a vintage unreleased 11-minute recording), Strategy, Sapphire Slows, Afterhours, Roche and his brother CB Radio, as well both Bobbys: Draino and Browser. Though the rhythms come far-flung – Montreal, Malta, Vienna, beyond – the approaches feel unified, faded, fogged, and heavily felt. Woozy coastal house, MIDI new wave, cosmic techno, Oakland dark jack, ripper acid, vapor grooves – the forms fluctuate across 60 minutes of shapeshifting Silk. Body music for the arc of sinking suns.
Wei Zhongle – Nu Trance (NNA Tapes)
Latest from experimental Chicago trio explodes oppositions of globalism and hermeticism, male and female, precision and feeling. Sounding like a broadcast from the future, This Heat and ‘80s Downtown New York lay somewhere in its world mutant genetic imprint.
Leave a Reply