Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker [Reissue/2000] 2xCD+DVD/4xLP+DVD (Pax Americana)
Deluxe reissue of Ryan Adams’ first solo album, expanded with unreleased outtakes, pre-album demos, exclusive photos, and a DVD of a solo acoustic club show from 2000.
Alaric – End Of Mirrors CD/LP (Neurot)
New full-length album from Oakland dark punk band Alaric, whose members have done time in Noothgrush, Enemies, Cross Stitched Eyes, Dead and Gone, UK Subs.
Aloha – Little Windows Cut Right Through CD/LP+MP3 (Polyvinyl)
“We hadn’t heard anything from Aloha in half a decade, but they’re back with their first album since 2010’s Home Acres … [reviving] their constantly evolving blend of indie-rock, jazz, and pop on Little Windows Cut Right Through. Our first preview is opening track ‘Signal Drift,’ a song as textured and melancholy as we’ve come to expect yet unlike anything in Aloha’s oeuvre. A contagious dance-rock pulse surges beneath Tony Cavallario’s Bono-reminiscent vocals, and there’s real beauty in the way the pitch-shifted melody squeals its way through the incessant shimmer.” — Stereogum
John Angaiak – I’m Lost In The City [Reissue/1971] CD/LP (Future Days Recordings)
I’m Lost In The City is the sole vinyl LP offering from Yup’ik singer-songwriter, John Angaiak. Born in Nightmute, Alaska, in 1941, Angaiak began playing guitar at a young age, quickly learning the basics before serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. Upon his return, Angaiak enrolled in the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, where he became active in the preservation of his native language as part of the school’s Eskimo Language Workshop. Inspired by the program’s work and a friendship with music student Stephen Halbern, Angaiak recorded I’m Lost In The City, a project that helped to document and promote the previously oral Yup’ik language into a written one through a series of songs.
Anohni – Hopelessness CD/LP+MP3 (Secretly Canadian)
Hopelessness is the debut solo album from Anohni (aka Antony, the lead singer of Antony and The Johnsons), and was coproduced by Oneohtrix Point Never and Hudson Mohawke. It is a dance record with soulful vocals and lyrics addressing surveillance, drone warfare, and ecocide. A radical departure from the singer’s symphonic collaborations, the album seeks to disrupt assumptions about popular music through the collision of electronic sound and highly politicized lyrics. In a Q&A with fans (via Pitchfork), Antony discussed the inspiration for album single “4 Degrees,” saying: “I have grown tired of grieving for humanity, and I also thought I was not being entirely honest by pretending that I am not a part of the problem. ‘4 Degrees’ is kind of a brutal attempt to hold myself accountable, not just valorize my intentions but also reflect on the true impact of my behaviors.”
Jaye Bartell – Light Enough CD/LP (Sinderlyn)
Jaye Bartell began his creative life as a poet. The Massachusetts native moved to Asheville, NC, in the early aughts to pursue his writing full time, and while there he started playing a few shows around town. After stints in the Pacific Northwest, Buffalo, and Asheville again, he found himself in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, with a small back catalog of gentle, lyrically driven folk songs backed by little accompaniment save for manipulated field recordings.
Juliana Barwick – Will CD/LP (Dead Oceans)
Julianna Barwick’s revelatory third full-length, Will, is a surprising left turn for the Brooklyn experimental artist. Conceived and self-produced over the past year in a variety of locations, the electric Will departs from the weighty lightness of 2013’s Nepenthe. If Nepenthe conjured images of gentle fog rolling over desolate mountains, then Will is a late afternoon thunderstorm, a cathartic collision of sharp and soft textures that sounds ominous and restorative all at once. Guest contributors include Thomas Arsenault, aka Mas Ysa, Dutch cellist Maarten Vos, and percussionist Jamie Ingalls (Chairlift, Tanlines). “True to form, [album single] ‘Nebula’ incorporates spiraling synthesizers and more loops of the Louisiana native’s vocals than there are layers in a doberge cake.” — SPIN
Beverly – The Blue Swell CD/LP (Kanine)
Since the summer of 2014 and the release of Careers, which Stereogum dubbed an “exceptional shoegaze-pop debut album,” the main driving force behind Beverly has been Drew Citron. While Beverly began as a recording project between two friends, The Blue Swell represents a fresh start for the band. On the album, Citron’s main collaborator is longtime tour mate and noise pop producer Scott Rosenthal (The Beets, Crystal Stilts), with Kip Berman (The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart) lending co-writing talents to Victoria. While you’ll still find reverb, catchy hooks and a track or two like Bulldozer or South Collins that could perhaps fit into Careers, the new album takes a less aggressive and more melodic turn. The Blue Swell is, in some respects, bolder, more playful yet more grounded.
Andy Black – Shadow Side CD (Republic)
New solo album from the Black Veil Brides frontman – produced by John Feldmann (Panic! At The Disco, The Used, Good Charlotte, Hilary Duff).
Carla Bley/Andy Sheppard/Steve Swallow – Andando el Tiempo CD (ECM)
New music of wide emotional compass by the NEA Jazz Master.
Joanna Brouke – Hearing Music 2xCD/2xLP (Numero)
She was a composer who wrote scores with geometric shapes, a poet who became a pioneer of early electronic music. Joanna Brouk’s little-known body of work exists at the nexus between ambient, new age, drone, and classical minimalism – stark in its simplicity, lush in its expanse. Studying under Robert Ashley and Terry Riley at the fabled Mills College Center For Contemporary Music before graduating into the margins of the ‘70s bay area new music scene, Ms. Brouk blazed her own trail well outside of the musical establishment to create uncompromising electronic and acoustic work of sleek beauty and primal power.
John Carpenter – Dark Star [OST/Reissue/1974] CD/LP+7” (We Release Whatever The F**k We Want)
Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. Comprehensive reissue of John Carpenter’s first feature film soundtrack.
Mary Chapin Carpenter – The Things We Are Made Of CD/LP (Lambent Light)
On her new album, The Things We Are Made Of, Mary Chapin Carpenter returns to her Americana roots with acoustic-driven tracks, having teamed up with Grammy-winning producer Dave Cobb, noted for his work with Chris Stapleton and Jason Isbell. Of the album’s first single, Rolling Stone praises, “‘Something Tamed Something Wild,’ finds the songwriter at her most thoughtful and also at times sweetly whimsical, perfectly capturing the buoyant spirit of her early successes and also serving as a reminder that she remains one of the most grounded, sentient songwriters of her generation.”
The Cars – Moving In Stereo: The Best Of The Cars CD/2xLP (Elektra)
New best-of collection features the band’s big hits along with a rare, single mix for
I’m Not The One,” as well as a live version of “Everything You Say,” and a new mix by producer Philippe Zdar of “Sad Song,” a track from the band’s last album, 2011’s Move Like This.
Chris Cohen – As If Apart CD/LP (Captured Tracks)
As If Apart, the sequel to Chris Cohen’s 2012 soft psych garden of unearthly alter-pop earworms and studio-sonic delights Overgrown Path, follows on its predecessor with another bittersweet ensemble of dreamy, complex songs. Pushing the idiosyncrasies of Cohen’s melodic and rhythmic approach into even more fractured, shifting spaces, As if Apart unsettles lazy pop conventions, upending jaded heads and hearts with an expansive, moody psychedelia.
Thomas Cohen – Bloom Forever CD/LP (Stolen Recordings)
“Thomas Cohen was previously frontman of the band S.C.U.M. who released one exquisite album Again Into Eyes in 2011. Just 21-years-old when they split, Cohen’s life soon presented him with a different set of subjects to draw from. While his band may have broken up, his marriage and the birth of his two sons gave his subsequent songwriting a newfound focus and clarity. Inspired by the works of singer-songwriters such as Townes Van Zandt, Judee Sill, Van Morrison and Jim Sullivan, Bloom Forever is a chronologically ordered document of the songs Cohen wrote between 2012 and 2015. Of course, tragedy is also present on the record. Cohen’s wife, Peaches Geldoff died at their Surrey home aged 25, leaving him to raise their two small boys. Rather than turn his back on the record in grief, Cohen eventually decided to continue work on the album. Relocating to Iceland to write and record the rest of Bloom Forever and finding some kind of peace through the process.” – Live And Die In Music
Chris Connelly & Michael Begg – New Town Nocturnes CD (Jnana)
New release from the Scottish singer/songwriter best known for his work with Revolting Cocks. Chris says this about this album: “New Town Nocturnes is a collection of strange, fractured, impressionistic versions of memories from a time in my life both real and imagined, coming to me like almost inaudible radio waves from my past, the sound of people I loved walking carefully through my heart and sometimes staying there. I am not sure if these are poems or songs with no singing — there is certainly no symmetry to these words but there is a strange geography that takes in my beloved Edinburgh and reaches out from the New Town to Causewayside, the Union Canal and beyond the city to the Pentland Hills and to Bavelaw. These are the places I was, and these are the things I think I remember. These words were brought to life and turned into the sculptures they are by my friend Michael Begg, who read them and then created these sonic landscapes, textures, rooms and streets for me to be in.”
Theo Croker – Escape Velocity CD (Sony Masterworks)
Trumpeter/composer Theo Croker is the grandson of New Orleans trumpet legend Doc Cheatham, and graduated from Oberlin College Conservatory where he studied with jazz legends like Gary Bartz, Robin Eubanks, Billy Hart, Wendell Logan, Marcus Belgrave and Dan Wall. After college, Croker moved to Shanghai, China where he broadened his concept of jazz to encompass other surprisingly complimentary genres such as salsa, fusion/rock, R&B, hip-hop and blues. Escape Velocity doesn’t attempt to fit any one specific musical category, but draws upon the core principles of jazz, merging styles and ideas into a unique sound.
Claire Cronin – Came Down To A Storm CD (Ba Da Bing!)
Came Down To A Storm is a collaboration between Cronin and Deerhoof guitarist John Dieterich, who met by chance at a Los Angeles show and began writing songs together long-distance. After sending recordings and ideas back and forth over email for a year, Cronin joined Dieterich at his house in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to record the album. The spare, melancholy style of Cronin’s previous self-released work is evident here, but the music created with Dieterich takes Came Down A Storm beyond the folk genre. Cronin’s voice recalls Karen Dalton or Jason Molina in its sincerity and ache—plaintive and burnished with a kind of dark gold throughout. The instruments build around her singing: breaking to crescendos, driving emotional currents, or providing lively counterpoint to the lyric’s funereal themes. Vinyl version due May 20.
Jack DeJohnette/Ravi Coltrane/Matthew Garrison – In Movement CD (ECM)
There is a lot of history concentrated in Jack DeJohnette’s adventurous new trio. Fifty years ago, as a guest with John Coltrane’s group, Jack DeJohnette played with the fathers of Ravi Coltrane and Matthew Garrison, and the program of In Movement opens with Coltrane’s harrowing and still pertinent elegy “Alabama.” Other covers include the classic “Blue In Green” by Miles Davis and Bill Evans (Jack is one of the few musicians to have played in the bands of both men) and “Serpentine Fire,” from the songbook of Earth, Wind And Fire (a tribute to Maurice White, who also collaborated with Jack in the early years).
Dieterich & Barnes – The Coral Casino CD/LP (L.M. Dupli-cation)
Improvisational collaboration between Deerhoof and A Hawk And A Hacksaw members. Expansive, unafraid of complexity yet wide-eyed with elation, their sound embodies risk that genuinely rewards. While flirtations with danger and darkness occasionally appear, in the end everything becomes a laughing pile on the floor. An optimistic homage to a possible future, The Coral Casino is both childish and sophisticated, seemingly tossed off yet at the same time exhibiting a depth that reveals itself on each subsequent listen; an exploration of friendship and the pure joy of ecstatic communication.
JD Eicher – The Middle Distance CD (Rock Ridge Music)
JD Eicher’s soaring and graceful pop-rock songcraft has garnered the group favorable comparisons to Coldplay, Keane, The Script, The Killers, and Death Cab For Cutie.
A Giant Dog – Pile CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)
Forging their friendships in the crucible of their Houston, TX, high school, Sabrina Ellis (vocals), Andrew Cashen (vocals, guitar), and Orville Neeley (drums) first got their start covering AC/DC, The Ramones, Joan Jett, and the finer points of the Back To The Future soundtrack at school dances under the name Youth In Asia. Reuniting in Austin in 2008, they enlisted their pals Andy Bauer (guitar) and Graham Low (bass) and christened the act A Giant Dog. AGD is raucous ear candy culled from the hook-driven melodies of Slade, the glammy swagger of Marc Bolan, the morbid fantasy of Killer-era Alice Cooper, and the unpredictable wit of Sparks. Sabrina and Andrew’s lyrics, equal parts brutally honest, clever, and debased, have a knack for taking their idiosyncratic depravities and making them feel universal. These songs are by, for, and about the losers, freaks, and outcasts. The lonely. The terminally horny. Boozehounds and party animals. Pile deals with divorce, getting older, dying, frustration, and futility, ultimately transcending those earthly headaches through the power of rock ‘n’ roll.
Goo Goo Dolls – Boxes CD (WB)
11th album from the veteran alt-rock band, now comprised mainly of singer/guitarist John Rzeznik and bassist Robby Takac. One of the most successful rock groups of the ’90s, the Goo Goo Dolls have been nominated for four Grammy Awards and are receivers of four ASCAP Pop Awards. [Vinyl edition due June 10.]
Grave Miasma – Endless Pilgrimage CDEP (Profound Lore)
Prog-infused death metal from England. For fans of early Morbid Angel, early Sepultura (first two releases only), Possessed, Portal, Immolation.
Hawkwind – The Machine Stops CD/LP+12” (Cherry Red)
Hawkwind’s new studio album is based on E.M. Forester’s sci-fi classic The Machine Stops.
Hit The Lights – Just To Get Through To You [EP] CD/LP (Pure Noise)
New acoustic EP from the Ohio pop-punk band.
Holy White Hounds – Sparkle Sparkle CD/LP (Razor & Tie)
The Des Moines alt-rock band’s debut album conjures The Strokes, Beck, Nirvana, Queens of The Stone Age and The Pixies. [Limited turquoise and white vinyl swirl-colored vinyl LP pressing also available.]
Homeboy Sandman – Kindness For Weakness CD/LP+MP3 (Stones Throw)
Underground, veteran, NY emcee Homeboy Sandman hits us with his first full length project since the top-notch Hallways back in 2014. The album’s title comes from Sandman’s internal insight saying “mistaking kindness for weakness is a weakness I need to have more kindness for.” One of Sandman’s most poignantly lyrical releases to date, the album centers on the MCs discomfort in his comfort zone and addresses themes such as his personal insecurities, rapper stereotypes and morality. Guests include yU, Aesop Rock, Until The Ribbon Breaks and “funk gawd,” Steve Arrington, amongst others.
Honey – Love Is Hard CD/LP (Wharf Cat)
Honey’s 2016 release brings to mind the Cleveland highs of The Mirrors, Friction, Death Of Samantha and onward. Something about the Brooklyn trio is reminiscent of a Lake Erie fish fry, with a rhythm section bearing down on the twinned howls that makes it possible to catch whiffs of The Dead Boys at their sharpest.
Jean Michel Jarre – Electronica 1: The Time Machine CD/2xLP (Sin)
Jean Michel Jarre – Electronica 2: The Heart Of Noise CD/2xLP (Sin)
Jarre recorded each volume of his (technically) 18th studio album Electronica with more than 30 collaborators, showing the true extent of his range, his reach and his influence in the wider music world. Tapping new artists like Gesaffelstein and Little Boots alongside electronic music veterans such as Massive Attack and Moby, and fellow pioneers Tangerine Dream, John Carpenter or even The Who’s Pete Townshend, Electronica tells Jarre’s own personal history of electronic music.
Kacy & Clayton – Strange Country CD/LP+MP3 (New West)
Strange Country is the new full-length album from the young and gifted cousin-duo Kacy & Clayton. The ten-song collection was recorded over seven freezing Canadian winter days at Ghetto Box Studios, a historic community hall turned studio. The product of a lifetime of deep kinship, the record showcases the purity and astounding beauty of Kacy Anderson’s voice, one that has been notably compared to Fairport Convention’s Sandy Denny. Only Clayton Linthicum’s intricate guitar work, expert time changes and vocal harmonies could forge the foundation for Kacy’s voice to soar even higher — the result being an enormously satisfying and organic album. Drawing a wide swath of inspirations ranging from the Greenwich Village folk scene to the ancestral music of Southern Appalachia and the British Isles, the cousins fashion songs steeped in those traditions, simultaneously paying homage and building on those sounds.
Kaytranda – 99.9 % CD (XL)
Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and raised in the city of Montreal, 23-year-old Canadian artist Kaytranada is widely regarded as one of the most important new producers in the musical landscape today. Since the age of fourteen, when he first began to DJ and when his brother introduced him to music production software, his output has been relentless. He’s produced for artists such as Mobb Deep, Kali Uchis, Freddie Gibbs, The Internet, & Talib Kweli and remixed the likes of Disclosure, Pharrell, Missy Elliot, Janet Jackson, and others. Last year he was tapped by the legendary Rick Rubin who has acted as a mentor, eventually signing him to a publishing relationship. 99.9% will be Kaytranada’s first debut album on XL Recordings. [Vinyl edition due June 17.]
Klaus Johann Grobe – Spagat der Liebe CD/LP (Trouble In Mind)
The sinister, late-night grooves present on their debut have been tempered a bit, in favor of somewhat sunnier dispositions, calling to mind an ecstatic party somewhere in sunny Ibiza.
Cyndi Lauper – Detour CD/LP+MP3 (Sire/Rhino)
Lauper’s 11th studio album finds the singer/songwriter putting her signature spin on a dozen country classics from the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s, and features guest appearances from Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, and Willie Nelson. She recorded Detour in Nashville alongside a band comprised of the city’s top session players. Following on from her Grammy-nominated 2010 blues covers album, Memphis Blues, Lauper’s new country album was inspired by memories of “watching TV with my nana when I was five,” and seeing Patsy Cline on a variety show. “I didn’t think she was a country artist, I just thought she was a beautiful singer and she made me think about being a singer. It was all just pop music back then. There was no separation.”
Henry ‘Junjo’ Lawes – Heavyweight Dub Champion [1980] 2xCD/2xLP (Greensleeves)
Henry ‘Junjo’ Lawes – The Evil Curse Of The Vampires [1981] 2xCD/2xLP (Greensleeves)
Legendary Jamaican reggae/dancehall producer Henry ‘Junjo’ Lawes is rebranding classic Scientist albums under his own name with the blessing of veteran UK label Greensleeves. Each are twinned with a second disc of the original vocal versions and a selection of DJ cuts.
Smiley Lewis – Collection 1947-61 2xCD (Acrobat)
Smiley Lewis was one of the unluckiest artists to emerge during the R&B era of the early ’50s and the formative years of rock ‘n’ roll, overshadowed as he was by another R&B star from New Orleans, Fats Domino, which meant he played second fiddle to Domino throughout his career, and even saw some of his biggest hits and best-known songs, such as “I Hear You Knocking,” “One Night” and “Shame Shame Shame,” covered by other mainstream pop artists. He was signed to Imperial, the same label as Domino, and had the same producer, Dave Bartholomew, which exacerbated his slightly secondary status, and his chart profile was relatively modest, but over the years he consistently recorded some fine blues and R&B material in the distinctive New Orleans style and was considerably more influential than his roster of hits would indicate.
Andrew Liles – Miscellany – Lussuoso (Electronics: 1990 To 2015) 3xCD (Jnana)
A three-hour anthology of 52 previously unreleased electronica and ambient soundscapes from the last 25 years — a mature blend of brand new material, updated and adapted pieces, and raw, untouched and unadulterated tracks from yesteryear. “The majority of the tracks were made in the early ’90s in London, an era when I was listening to a lot of music from the emerging ‘ambient’ and electronica scenes. At that point I had a part-time job, I worked on the till. Through various means of ‘creative accounting’ the job afforded me to buy at least one new record every lunch break. I worked near Wardour Street and went shopping every day. I bought everything that came out on Warp, Rephlex, R&S, Apollo and an assortment of other labels. These records in part influenced what I was creating at the time.” — Andrew Liles.
Little Scream – Cult Following CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)
When Laurel Sprengelmeyer began performing as Little Scream in 2008, she played her first shows in Montreal using only a battered Stratotone guitar, a cigarette amp, and a mic on the floor so her feet could serve as percussion. “That’s why I always wore high heels. They made the best stomping sounds.” She would wail and coo, imitating the sounds of missing instruments that ended up as siren calls on her 2011 debut The Golden Record, which Pitchfork called “a perfectly mixed bag of graceful folk, coiled pop, and expansive art rock,” and NPR dubbed “absolutely captivating.” If that album was Little Scream’s searching, enchanting first step into the world, then Cult Following is the badass landmark cementing her place there. Little Scream says she began conceiving of Cult Following while visiting a friend in a small intentional community in northern Brazil that was on the verge of becoming a cult. That experience laid the groundwork for this lush, expansive, retro-leaning gem that straddles intimate fragility with bombastic dancefloor-ready songs. Listening to it is like reading an epic novella—part fairy tale, part ecstasy, and part human folly.
LUH – Spiritual Songs For Lovers To Sing CD/2xLP (Mute)
LUH (which stands for Lost Under Heaven) is Ellery Roberts and Ebony Hoorn. Over the past two years, they have been releasing music, art, photography, film and manifestos into the world. Ellery’s name might be familiar as the frontman of Wu Lyf, whose raw and primal voice helped create a sound that shaped a new model for the untamed fury of youth. Spiritual Songs For Lovers To Sing was produced on the remote island of Osea by The Haxan Cloak (known for his own genre-bending experimental compositions and work on Björk’s Vulnicura album). “[Album track] ‘I&I’ is an ultra-expansive work of euphoric pop. Ellery’s vocals are strained from start to finish, backed by choral chants and the kind of emotive piano line you’d associate with an Ibiza dance number.” – DIY Mag
Matthew And The Atlas – Temple CD/LP (Communion)
Temple is the debut album from UK alt-folk singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Matthew Hegarty. “A comparison with Bon Iver may not be the best correlation for Matthew And The Atlas’ music, but they certainly work within the wheelhouse of artists such as Sufjan Stevens and his ilk. Their music is classic folk pushed into bolder synth laden territory. There is catharsis, drama and melancholy utilized throughout Temple as they return to their exciting seminal beginnings. The beautiful, unsettling and intoxicating album is inspired by the imagery of the Scottish Highlands, and also Hegarty’s new parenthood status and how it changed his outlook on life. Many of the songs contain lingering dark clouds that originated and still loom from occurrences in his past. Throughout the release there are full bodied laments and universal truths woven into the lyrics.” – XS Noise
James McCartney – The Blackberry Train CD (Maybenot)
The new album from the British singer/songwriter James McCartney (son of Paul and Linda), The Blackberry Train, is both diverse and cohesive. For the album’s production, McCartney sought out the distinct audio stylings of Steve Albini, whose sonic imprint is easily heard on this edgy and eclectic album. “I like the music to have elements of the avant-garde, psychedelic, and be just a little against the grain,” James reveals. “But in the end, it’s about having as much emotion as possible for me, musically and lyrically. It’s all about the music being cathartic, heartfelt and true.” The Blackberry Train opens invigoratingly with the jangling rocker, “Too Hard” and closes with the stately and aptly named folk song, “Peace And Stillness.” Between these bookends, highlights include the rough-edged and urgently melodic “Unicorn,” the anthemic “Peyote Coyote,” and the soulful ballad “Prayer.” One very personal song is the winsome and reflective “Waterfall,” which was inspired by James’ memories of his mother.
Melt Yourself Down – Last Evenings On Earth CD/LP+CD (Leaf)
Last Evenings On Earth is the apocalyptic second album by Melt Yourself Down, evangelical hawkers of DNA-rearranging post-punk exotica. Snatch your passport and let this hydra-headed serpent take you for a dizzying, continent-hopping voyage around a globe spinning ever more rapidly off its axis.
Pat Metheny – The Unity Sessions 2xCD (Nonesuch)
Cuong Vu/Pat Metheny – Cuong Vu Trio Meets Pat Metheny CD (Nonesuch)
The Unity Sessions is taken from a filmed performance with Pat Metheny Unity Group that was recently released on DVD; the set comprises 13 songs by Metheny, one he co-wrote with Ornette Coleman, and one well known standard by Ray Noble. Cuong Vu Trio Meets Pat Metheny comprises five tunes written by longtime Pat Metheny Group trumpeter Cuong Vu, plus one by Metheny and one by Andrew D’Angelo.
Moreland & Arbuckle – Promised Land Or Bust CD/LP+MP3 (Alligator)
Guitarist Aaron Moreland—co-founder of the groundbreaking Kansas-based trio Moreland & Arbuckle—describes their music as “gritty blues and roots rock from the heartland.” Moreland, along with harmonicist/vocalist Dustin Arbuckle and drummer Kendall Newby, electrify raw Delta and Mississippi Hill Country blues, folk, and traditional country with unrelenting punk rock energy washed in hard-hitting Southern soul.
MUNA – Loudspeaker CDEP (RCA)
“MUNA makes the kind of music that makes you want to say f**k work and run outside and do skips down the street and then try a backflip and even if you fall it doesn’t matter because the music makes you feel great and somehow launches you into the air and you start flying because goddamn everything about the sound feels like you’re floating.” – Noisey/Vice
Okkultokrati – Snakereigns/Night Jerks [Reissue/2012/2014] CD/LP/LP (Southern Lord)
Okkultokrati tear apart the rock ‘n’ roll guidebook and mash it in to vicious combat music for fans of punk, d-beat, black metal and generally anyone with a penchant for unsavory anthems delivered with inimitable attitude. While they complete their new album (which Greg Anderson calls “f**ked up in all the right places … super original and I can say that I’ve definitely never heard anything like this. Visions of Bauhaus and Dark Throne listening to Joy Division albums by torchlight in the dark forests of Oslo…”), Southern Lord has reissued the band’s previous two albums on one CD (and separate vinyl editions) for the uninitiated. New album due Autumn 2016.
Polar – No Cure No Savior CD/LP (Prosthetic)
New album from the UK punk-infused, post-hardcore outfit.
Gregory Porter – Take Me To The Alley CD (Blue Note)
An artist whose music is at once timeless yet utterly of its time, Gregory Porter solidifies his standing as one of his generation’s most soulful jazz singer/songwriters with Take Me To The Alley, the follow-up to his Grammy-winning 2013 album Liquid Spirit. Reinforcing their well-honed rapport is the return of Porter’s core accompanying musicians – pianist and music director Chip Crawford, bassist Aaron James, drummer Emanuel Harrold, alto saxophonist Yosuke Sato, and tenor saxophonist Tivon Pennicott. Singer Alicia Olatuja, trumpeter Keyon Harrold, and organist Ondrej Pivec also make appearances throughout. Album single “Holding On” finds Porter presenting his decidedly different version of the Disclosure single that he was the featured vocalist on and co-wrote for their album Caracal. [Vinyl edition due May 27.]
Mike Posner – At Night, Alone CD (Island)
Sophomore album from the multi-platinum singer, songwriter and producer, who’s previously had a hand in “Sugar” by Maroon 5, and “Boyfriend” by Justin Bieber, as well as co-writing songs for Pharrell, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Wiz Khalifa, Nelly, TI, Snoop Dogg, Avicii, Nick Jonas, and more. [Vinyl version due July 1.]
Psychic Temple – III CD/LP (Asthmatic Kitty)
Psychic Temple’s III completes the transition from avant-jazz solo project to a working band constructed around timeless songs that draw upon the rich history of classic American soul, blues, and folk. Equally immersed in the sound of California’s canyons and the swamps of the deep South, Psychic Temple’s cult leader/guitarist Chris Schlarb steps out of the shadows and up to the microphone for the first time with astonishing results.
The Rides – Pierced Arrow CD/LP (429)
Second album by the supergroup comprised of Stephen Stills, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Barry Goldberg.
Rittz – Top Of The Line CD (Strange Music)
New album from the Georgia-based rapper — released on Tech N9ne’s Strange Music label.
Rooney – Washed Away CD (Beachwood Park Music)
“No matter how old you are, you will always recognize the name ‘Robert Schwartzman,’ whether it’s as the guy who played Michael in The Princess Diaries (and who played the piano while eating M&Ms no less) or as the frontman of the indie rock band Rooney when they performed on The O.C. But if you were a fangirl like me, Schwartzman was pretty much the only artist you listened to throughout high school. Rooney is the band I grew up with, essentially; I can still picture the classic California bear and their logo on the poster behind Seth Cohen’s bed. I even made a scrapbook with my best friend to bring to their concert (totally not creepy), and have held onto the concert T-shirt the band signed ever since—I was that girl. When I recently found out that the band was back after a six-year hiatus, it was pretty hard to contain my excitement. Of course, with such a long break comes some changes: Schwartzman’s completely taken over the creation of Rooney’s music and their songwriting. You can hear the change on ‘My Heart Beats 4 U,’ the first single off of Rooney’s new album, Washed Away—it’s the perfect mash-up of exactly what you would expect from the band, with hints of their new vibe.” — Marissa Smith/Nylon
Seratones – Get Gone CD/LP (Fat Possum)
Serving up a combination of Southern musicality and garage rock ferocity, Shreveport, Louisiana natives Seratones have released their debut album, Get Gone. Led by powerhouse frontwoman A.J. Haynes, whose thunderous vocals recall the grit of Janis Joplin and gospel of Mavis Staples, Seratones make a strong case with Get Gone to be your new favorite alt-rock band of 2016.
Recorded at Dial Back Sound studios in Mississippi, the album is all live takes, a portrait of Seratones in their element. “Don’t Need It,” which opens with a muscular swing and tight guitar lines, builds into a monster finish with a nasty corkscrew of a guitar line. “Sun,” a brawny thrasher, courses with huge, raw voltage riffs. “Chandelier,” a mid-tempo burner and vocal workout by Haynes, goes from croon to a crescendo that would shake any crystals hanging from the rafters. As a whole, Get Gone is unexpected and unbowed, a head-snapping showcase of the twin pillars of Southern music: restlessness and resourcefulness.
Spookyland – Beauty Already Beautiful CD (PIAS America)
“The first thing you’ll notice about the sound of Spookyland is likely to be the unusual vocals of Marcus Gordon: an accent from Australia via some alien region. He fully inhabits the world of his voice and songwriting though: Beauty Already Beautiful is a bold and dramatic debut album and no mistake” – Norman Records. [Vinyl version due May 20.]
Cole Swindell – You Should Be Here CD (WB)
Sophomore album from the country sensation. Named a Top New Country Artist by Billboard, Swindell was awarded CMA’s Triple Play Award in 2015 for having (at least) three # 1 songs in twelve months (songs he co-wrote for Thomas Rhett, Luke Bryan, and Florida Georgia Line).
Synthetic ID – Impulses CD/LP (Castle Face)
New release from the San Francisco-based post-punk band. “Hermetically sealed punk broadcast from a bunker. This guitar is untying a knot of wires; vocals like watching a fight where two men exchange tit-for-tat face blows. Surgical drums; bass grown under glass. The occasional synthesizer like you didn’t know you were thirsty till water crossed your lips. Wound tight, lock-jawed; no rust on these gears. Chilly production crystallizes these post-apocalyptic poems from San Francisco.” — John Dwyer/Thee Oh Sees
Tender Defender – Tender Defender CD/LP (Dead Broke)
“When former members of Latterman announced they were playing in a new band together called Tender Defender, one song was enough to remind everyone who the un-f**k-with-able masters of anthemic punk are (it’s them). After a long wait for something we all previously didn’t even know existed, Tender Defender are here with a five-song mini-LP, and well, let’s just get right to it so we can start memorizing these perfectly crafted shout-along hooks.”—Noisey/Vice
The Trammps – The Legendary Zing Album [Reissue/1975] CD (Fever Dream)
CD reissue (with bonus tracks) of the first full album cut by The Trammps – and a landmark bit of Philly club sounds. The group had already been grooving the burgeoning east coast disco scene for years, which is why the album’s called The Legendary Zing Album (the group’s version of “Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart” was a big early hit, and supposedly led people to ask for a “Zing” album.) The whole thing’s got a massive Harris-Baker-Young sound – with that sweet groove that the trio were pioneering in Philly, a mixture of small combo grooving with strings added in at just the right points.
Tuxedomoon & Cult With No Name – Blue Velvet Revisited CD/LP (Crammed Discs)
Crammed Discs are happy to present a new volume in their revived Made To Measure composers’ series: the original soundtrack written and recorded in 2015 by Tuxedomoon and Cult With No Name for the Blue Velvet Revisited documentary, based on footage shot by Peter Braatz in 1985 on the set of Blue Velvet, at the invitation of David Lynch. The soundtrack for this new take on an old masterpiece is equally as significant. Uniting the talents of acclaimed UK electronic balladeers Cult With No Name with legendary post-punk chamber music pioneers Tuxedomoon, the music for Blue Velvet Revisited is every bit as noirishly evocative as the billing would suggest. Fusing elements of contemporary classical (“Lumberton”) to jazz (“So F**king Suave”) to ambient electronica (“Do It For Van Gogh”) to krautrock (“Jeffrey Nothing”), but never fully surrendering to any, Tuxedomoon and Cult With No Name have produced a suite that is as unique as it is representative of both artists. In addition, the album sees a contribution from electronic music Godfather John Foxx, the eerie ambience of “Lincoln Street” providing a perfect axis around which Tuxedomoon and Cult With No Name can weave their magic.
Keith Urban – Ripcord CD (Capitol Nashville)
Ninth album from the country superstar. [Vinyl version due July 1.]
The Virginmarys – Divides CD/2xLP+MP3 (Wind-Up)
Highly charged with political vitriol, The Virginmarys channel their dissolution with government, societies, modern culture into their power packed songs. They’re here to start a dialogue their lyrics are meant to both inspire and provoke. More than just being political, the band looks at the world around them and makes a comment to their listeners it’s about being engaged, involved in the world, and caring about what they see. And what do they see? Control and divides with governments, wars, people. The Virginmarys have evolved as a band since their debut King Of Conflict, both musically and personally. Having expanded their sonic influences and worked with legendary producer Gil Norton (Echo And The Bunnymen, Pixies, Catherine Wheel, Foo Fighters, etc.), the band shows new depth in their songwriting and lyrics. Their new album, Divides, is an adventurous (and loud) affair, taking the listener on lyrical and sonic ebbs and flows of anger, frustration, happiness, self-acceptance, and love. It has exposed and vulnerable elements too, all packaged into a unique twist of rock, punk, alternative, and even blues. The Virginmarys sum up their music, and themselves, perfectly as drummer Danny puts it, “it kind of sounds like rock, but not as you know it.” [Limited green color vinyl pressing is also available.]
White Lung – Paradise CD/LP+MP3 (Domino)
After the critically acclaimed release Deep Fantasy (2014), White Lung return with their fourth album Paradise. Vocalist Mish Barber-Way, guitarist Kenneth William and drummer Anne-Marie Vassiliou, reconnected in Los Angeles to work with engineer and producer Lars Stalfors (HEALTH, Cold War Kids, Alice Glass). “I wanted it to sound new. I wanted a record that sounded like it was made in 2016,” says William of his mindset. Bringing all the energy, unique guitar work and lyrical prowess Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, NME have praised them for in the past few years, White Lung curated their songs with a new pop sensibility. “There’s this stupid attitude that only punks have where it’s uncool to become a better song writer,” says Barber-Way, “In no other musical genre are your fans going to drop you when you start progressing. That would be like parents being disappointed in their child for graduating from kindergarten to the first grade. Paradise is the best song writing we have ever done, and I expect the next record to be the same. I have no interest in staying in kindergarten.”
Yoni & Geti – Testarossa CD/LP (Joyful Noise)
Testarossa is an eclectic collaboration between indie rock prodigy Yoni Wolf, and multidimensional hip-hop artist Serengeti. The songs weave together creating an often dark, sometimes humorous tale of love, and life peppered with human conflict. The versatility of both Yoni & Geti creates an unconventional album that is rooted in both hip-hop, and indie rock.
DVDs + Blu-ray:
Melody Gardot – Live At The Olympia Paris DVD/Blu-ray (Eagle Vision)
Philadelphia native Melody Gardot’s music is unable to be defined by genre, ranging from soulful, sultry, sassy, rich, and emotive. Her performance on Live At The Olympia Paris is both intimate and emotional, as captured at the legendary venue in the French capital (originally created in the Belle Époque era), and her band is at the top of their form. Playing both guitar and piano, Gardot focuses primarily on songs from her most recent album Currency Of Man and 2009’s My One And Only Thrill, with a couple of surprise tracks thrown in for good measure.
Alan Jackson – Keepin’ It Country DVD/Blu-ray (Eagle Vision)
Join Alan Jackson at a capacity crowd at the famed Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver, CO for his 25th Anniversary.
Janis Joplin – Little Girl Blue DVD/Blu-ray (FilmRise)
Chan Marshall (Cat Power) narrates this documentary on Janis Joplin’s evolution into a star from letters that Joplin wrote over the years to her friends, family, and collaborators. The new Janis Joplin documentary helmed by Oscar-nominated director Amy Berg.
Michael Schenker’s Temple Of Rock – On A Mission: Live In Madrid DVD/Blu-ray (Inakustik)
A sold-out theatre saw convincing evidence of just how powerful and exciting a concert from Michael Schenker’s Temple Of Rock is.
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
10,000 Maniacs – In My Tribe [Reissue/1987] LP (Elektra)
10,000 Maniacs – Our Time In Eden [Reissue/1992] LP (Elektra)
HQ-180gm black vinyl reissues now available.
Aiden – Nightmare Anatomy [2005] LP+MP3 (Victory)
First vinyl edition of Aiden’s sophomore album.
Aksak Maboul – Onze Danses Pour Combattre La Migraine [Reissue/1977] LP (Crammed Disc)
In the spring of 1977, two young Belgian musicians who call themselves Aksak Maboul (aka Marc Hollander & Vincent Kenis) set out to record an album, Onze Danses Pour Combattre la Migraine, in which they playfully fused and deconstructed all kinds of genres to create their own musical world. Three years later, Hollander founded the Crammed label. Many ingredients came in and out of the Aksak blender: fake jazz, electronics, imaginary African & Balkan music, minimalism… there were even pre-techno aspects such in as Saure Gurke and its characteristic keyboard stab pattern which will mysteriously find its way into many classic Detroit techno tracks some ten years later.
All Out War – Condemned To Suffer [Reissue/2003] LP+MP3 (Victory)
All Out War – Into The Killing Fields [Reissue/2010] LP+MP3 (Victory)
All Out War are one of Victory’s heaviest bands. Along with Hatebreed, Strife and Blood For Blood, All Out War paved the way for the current wave of metal-core outfits such as Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying and Shadows Fall.
Almost 21 – Almost 21 7” (Gummopunx)
This band from Fullerton is pre-D.I. and this three-song EP contains songs recorded in 1983 at Garage Studio. Great early L.A. punk — think D.I./Adolescents/T.S.O.L. etc., from folks that went on to be in those bands.
Annex – Silencio 7” (Occult Whispers)
South Texas dark punks Annex drop two new catchy, dreary, guitar-driven dance tracks.
Beastmaker – Luses Naturae LP (Rise Above)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Beastmaker hails from the unlikely locale of Fresno, CA. Sweating profusely in a parched no man’s land about 3 ½ half-hours northeast of Los Angeles, the city isn’t exactly a cultural mecca—and yet it’s the birthplace of Hollywood outsiders and weirdos like Sid Haig, Slim Pickens and director Sam Peckinpah. Still, it suffers from an unsurprising dearth of musicians interested in heavy rock. Bleak and burly overtones of Sabbath and Witchfinder General ring through Lusus Naturae like echoes from a haunted past. Slow-rolling bruisers “Eyes Are Watching,” “Arachne” and “It” set the tone of doom and despair with nods to heavy ’70s classics, cult horror flicks and the inimitable work of one Mr. Glenn Anzalone. “When it comes to genre, I think of us as a much slower version of the Misfits or Danzig, but I’ve come to love the word ‘doom’ whether or not it really relates to us,” vocalist/guitarist Trevor Church offers. “It just feels like home.”
Bonny Billy – More Reverie [2001] LP+MP3 (Temporary Residence)
In the year 2000 — shortly after releasing what would become his most iconic album, I See A Darkness — Will Oldham aka Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy retreated to his family’s farmhouse with the majority of the I See A Darkness lineup in tow to record a half dozen covers of some of his favorite songs. The track listing is, as expected, inspired and eclectic: John Phillips, PJ Harvey, Bill Withers, The Renderers, John Holt, and Tim McGraw. This first-time vinyl edition expanded rare live versions of the album’s tracks.
Broadside – Old Bones LP+MP3 (Victory)
Released last year on CD – the debut album from the Virginia pop-punk quintet is now available on vinyl.
Peter Brötzmann/Fred Hopkins/Peter Rashied Ali – Songlines [Reissue/1994] 2xLP (Trost)
Recently reissued on CD – now available on vinyl. Peter Brötzmann: tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, tárogató; Fred Hopkins: double bass; Rashied Ali: drums. Recorded by Holger Scheuermann and Jost Gebers, October 30 and 31, 1991, in Berlin.
The Cave Singers – Banshee LP+MP3 (Jagjaguwar)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Banshee brings The Cave Singers back to their original three-piece lineup and also their approach to songwriting: an exchange of Derek Fudesco sending lead vocalist Pete Quirk a riff and Pete responding with vocal ideas. From there, the songs come together. Driving guitars, foot-tapping percussion, and Quirk’s powerful vocals make an intricate quilt that blankets the audience in comfort, aggressively communicating a gentle reminder: we are soft bodies trying to survive with one another.
Cheap Trick – Bang, Zoom, Crazy… Hello LP (Big Machine)
Recently released on CD – now available on HQ-180gm vinyl. Now into their fourth decade of recording, Bang, Zoom, Crazy…Hello marks Cheap Trick s 17th studio album and was produced by Grammy winner Julian Raymond. Pulsating riffs intertwine with the anthemic chorus in this first taste of new music in over five years from the iconic four-piece from Rockford, IL. “Power pop greats Cheap Trick made headlines a few years back for fighting against unsafe stage conditions, but now they’re back in the news for making more music. Bang, Zoom, Crazy… Hello is prefaced by a new single titled ‘No Direction Home,’ which delivers a heaping helping of the guitar riffs and catchy choruses that the band have built their career on.” – Exclaim
Clientele – Strange Geometry [Reissue/2005] LP+MP3 (Merge)
Originally released in 2005, Strange Geometry features twelve dreamy folk-pop songs with shimmering psych guitars and string arrangements by Louis Philippe. This reissue includes a download of the entire record plus six previously unreleased bonus tracks.
Cluster – 1971-1981 9xLP (Bureau B)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Collected reissues of all eight albums released by legendary electronic duo between 1971 and 1981, including their two collaborations with Brian Eno. Also includes a previously unreleased album of two live recordings from 1972 and 1977.
COLOURS – Ivory LP+MP3 (Victory)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The groundwork for electro-R&B duo COLOURS was laid when vocalist Kyle Tamo relocated from Connecticut to Florida to focus on his music. He was introduced to drummer Morgan Alley through mutual connections in the Florida music scene, and the two went on to settle in Sarasota to embark on creating a new sound that was a musical departure from any of their previous rock projects. “A huge sound with dark tones and pulsating electronics serving as the foundation for smooth R&B vocals reminiscent of Abel Tesfaye’s (the Weeknd)” — Alternative Press. “Fusing the sort of dark, electronic undertones of ††† Crosses, with post-modern, Weeknd-tinged R&B, COLOURS have created a lush sound that’s as dangerous as it is seductive.” — Diffuser.FM
Loren Connors – The Departing Of A Dream Volume V 10” (Family Vineyard)
After ten years, legendary avant guitarist Loren Connors returns to his much acclaimed and beloved The Departing Of A Dream series. Initially based loosely as tribute to Miles Davis’ masterwork “He Loved Him Madly,” Connors delves further into the inspiration to explore melody as a slow-moving spectrum of shades projected against a fragile, often decaying ambiance. Volume Five continues the theme, as Connors coaxes complex blues mutations and wide swathes of distant vibrating tones — not unlike the expressionistic cry of Miles’ horn.
Crash Kills Four – A Raincoat And Shoes And Pornographic Blues LP (Gummopunx)
This album consists of 15 unreleased tracks written in the 1980s heyday of Orange County punk rock by former members of The Adolescents, D.I., The Crowd, Rule 62, Almost 21, and Doggy Style, but only put to tape recently.
Dälek – Asphalt For Eden LP (Profound Lore)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The first new album since 2009’s Gutter Tactics marks the return of the cult hip-hop/noise originators after a long hiatus.
Michael Daves – Violence And Orchids LP+MP3 (Nonesuch)
The vinyl edition of Michael Daves’ recent album, Orchids And Violence, comprises two versions each of five traditional bluegrass tunes: acoustic takes performed with a band of roots-music innovators—bassist Mike Bub, violinist Brittany Haas, mandolinist Sarah Jarosz, and Punch Brothers banjoist Noam Pikelny—paired with electric rock renditions of the same songs played mostly played by Daves, with his wife Jessi Carter playing bass. It’s “a roots-music master class, a brilliant example of old modes reinhabited with flair,” says the New York Times. “To his credit, it can be hard to pick which version of a tune is best.” The LP includes a download of the complete Orchids And Violence album.
Dead To Fall – Everything I Touch Turns To Pieces LP (Victory)
First time vinyl edition of the Chicago-based metalcore band’s debut album.
Departure Lounge – Jetlag Dreams [2001] LP+MP3 (Bella Union)
RSD UK 2016 release – now available in the US. Sometime around the turn of this century, Simon Raymonde conceived and curated the Series Seven experiment on Bella Union. He commissioned seven artists to each create an album comprising seven instrumental pieces, to be written and recorded, from conception to completion, in seven days. Departure Lounge rose to the challenge and Jetlag Dreams came very naturally into being under these terms, against the backdrop of emotional and geographical upheavals in the lives of its creators.
Destroyer – My Mystery LP+MP3 (Merge)
“We recorded a song called ‘My Mystery’ a year and a half ago. Kind of a light number, vaguely danceable. Wistful, looking back not unfondly on time spent and dull misadventures had within the dead-as-a-doornail music industry. And the feeling of where it leaves you, like a rat in the middle of the ocean, though not as harsh as that; as if rats could swim an ocean’s length. Anyway, the song was not in keeping with the shadow spirit of Poison Season, and so it got shelved. Then one day DJjohnedwardcollins@gmail.com called me up and said, ‘You got any sh*t for me?’
Dinner – Psychic Lovers LP (Captured Tracks)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Dinner is Danish producer and singer Anders Rhedin. Musically, the album exists in its own space between the 80’s, 90’s and the present. The songs are pop songs held together by somewhat idiosyncratic arrangements. Opener “Cool As Ice” sounds like the soundtrack to David Lynch directing Miami Vice with overdriven synthetic strings and an equally eerie and funky slap bass that slowly grow into a pop structure.
DJ Screw – 3 ‘N The Morning [Reissue/1996] LP (SoSouth)
Limited 20th Anniversary picture disc vinyl pressing of Texas innovator DJ Screw’s second album.
Down – NOLA [Reissue/1995] 2xLP (Rhino)
Down – Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow [Reissue/2002] 2xLP (Rhino)
HQ-180gm vinyl reissues of Down’s first two albums.
The Duke St Workshop and Laurence R. Harvey – Tales Of H.P. Lovecraft LP (Static Caravan)
Tales Of H.P. Lovecraft is a collaboration between Lancashire synth wizards The Duke St Workshop and highly regarded horror actor Laurence R. Harvey. The album contains two stories (From Beyond, 1920) and The Hound, 1922) by the king of cosmic horror, H. P. Lovecraft.
Steve Earle – Guitar Town [Reissue/1986] LP (Geffen)
Steve Earle & The Dukes – Exit 0 [Reissue/1987] LP (Geffen)
Steve Earle – Copperhead Road [Reissue/1988] LP (Geffen)
Steve Earle & The Dukes – The Hard Way [Reissue/1990] LP (Geffen)
HQ-180gm vinyl reissues of Steve Earle’s first four albums.
Earth, Wind & Fire – Gratitude [Reissue/1975] 2xLP (Friday Music)
Limited edition HQ-180gm translucent blue color vinyl LP pressing housed in a gatefold sleeve. Originally recorded during Earth, Wind & Fire’s 1974-1975 American tour, Gratitude captures the excitement Earth, Wind & Fire generated on stage at their creative peak.
Faust – 71 Minutes 2xLP (ReR)
Faust was one of the most important of all the European groups of the 70’s. Compiled from ‘lost’ and unreleased material, this set includes Munich & Elsewhere (1986) as well as most of the unreleased Faust Party 3 LP. Intense, eccentric, hypnotic.
David First – Same Animal, Different Cages Vol. 1: Études For Acoustic Guitar LP (Fabrica)
Fabrica Records announces the first volume in the Same Animal, Different Cages series by American composer and improviser David First. On Études For Acoustic Guitar, First twists and bends notes from his steel-string acoustic guitar, an instrument traditionally associated with American folk, country and blues music. And in fact, those genres are central to First’s explorations here, constituting portions of a palette that also encompasses jazz and Indian classical music. First has been described as “a bizarre cross between Hendrix and La Monte Young” in the Village Voice.
Ezra Furman – The Year Of No Returning [Reissue/2012] LP+MP3 (Bar/None)
Ezra Furman is a young singer-songwriter with a punky spirit who is not afraid to cram a lot of words in among the hooks and jabs.
Geryon – Wound & The Bow LP (Profound Lore)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. New York avant-garde technical prog/death metal two piece Geryon is comprised of one half of Krallice: Nicholas McMaster and Lev Weinstein. Employing simply bass guitar, drums and vocals, the pair conjures complex layers of meticulously crafted tones, maintaining a volatile equilibrium of dissonance and melody.
Helado Negro – Island Universe Story LP+MP3 (Asthmatic Kitty)
Island Universe Story is a limited edition clear, tinsel vinyl compilation of previously released cassette releases. There are many collaborators on the release, including Laetitia Sader (Stereolab), Mikael Jorgensen (Wilco), and many more.
Henry Cow – Leg End [Reissue/1973] LP (ReR)
Formed in 1968 by two Cambridge students, Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson, Henry Cow’s original influences included the likes of Soft Machine and Frank Zappa. However, in their undying quest to push the boundaries of conventional music, members soon took out their machetes and began hacking a new trail into an unmapped wilderness of sound. The band was thereby also staunchly anti-commercial, never compromising their sound to please anyone but themselves, and it is precisely because of this that they have gone on to influence so many musicians on the outer fringes of rock & roll on both sides of the Atlantic, particularly the NY experimental music scene. Their debut album, The Legend Of Henry Cow, is now back in print on HQ-180gm vinyl under the alternate title Leg End.
Michael Jackson – Off The Wall [Reissue/1979] LP (Epic)
Michael Jackson – Thriller [Reissue/1982] LP (Epic)
Michael Jackson – Bad [Reissue/1987] LP (Epic)
Limited vinyl reissues – all in gatefold jackets.
Quincey Jones – The Dude [Reissue/1981] LP (A&M)
Limited vinyl reissue of the 1981 studio album by musician and producer Quincy Jones. The Dude featured the debut of vocalist James Ingram on the singles “Just Once” and “One Hundred Ways,” which reached #17 and #14, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100. It also contained “Razzamatazz,” which reached #11 in the UK Singles Chart, one of his few hits there. He won the Grammy award for best R&B vocal performance for his work on the album.
Sheila Jordan – Portrait Of Shiela [Reissue/1963] LP (Blue Note)
Portrait Of Sheila is the debut album by jazz vocalist Sheila Jordan. Part of Blue Note’s ongoing 75th anniversary vinyl reissue campaign.
Diana Krall – Stepping Out [1993] LP (Justin Time)
Stepping Out launched the career of one of our generation’s greatest Jazz artists. “Diana Krall’s 1993 debut shows that she had the goods right from the get-go. Krall sings with honesty, subtlety, and persuasion while playing the piano with head-shaking authority, both as accompanist — she offers amazing asides in between vocal phrases — and as an absolutely A-one improviser.” — Zan Stewart
Lunapark – Gefangene Vögel [Reissue/1982] LP (Dark Entries)
Utilizing a simple set up of guitar, bass, drums, drum-computer, Korg MS-10 and Korg MS-20, Lunapark’s influences included The Beatles, Colloseum, Roxy Music, Frank Zappa as well as Sex Pistols, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Blondie and The Cure. In the vein of Sad Lovers and Giants, and Schleimer K, they blend post-punk and new wave music with electronic influences. All songs are sung in German with monotone vocals and epitomized the urban Zeitgeist of the Cold War. Gefangene Vögel (“Prisoner Birds”) is their debut album.
Jimbo Mathus – Band Of Storms LP (Big Legal Mess)
The late, great producer, raconteur, pianist, session man, artist and sage Jim Dickinson once called Jimbo Mathus “the singing voice of Huck Finn.” Outside the South, Jimbo is likely best known as the ringleader of the hyper-ragtime outfit Squirrel Nut Zippers, or as the catalyst for Buddy Guy’s breakthrough Sweet Tea in 2001. In his native Mississippi, and throughout the South, Mathus is recognized as the prolific songwriter of born-in-the-bone Southern music, the torchbearer for Deep South mythology and culture. Think Delta highways, bowling-pin Budweisers and “innerplanetary honky-tonk” for the masses.
Mind Meld – The Viper 7” (Permanent)
Hailing from the vast sprawl of Los Angeles, Mind Meld’s melodic brand of heavy garage-psych is catchier and more fully-realized than 99.9% of their peers and their hooks will grab you like a paddle cactus quill and bury themselves deep under your skin, but there will be no pain.
Blue Mitchell – The Thing To Do [Reissue/1964] LP (Blue Note)
On The Thing To Do, Blue is joined by Junior Cook (tenor saxophone), Chick Corea (piano), Gene Taylor (bass) and Al Foster (drums). Part of Blue Note’s ongoing 75th anniversary vinyl reissue campaign.
Nate Dogg – G-Funk Classics, Vol. 1 & 2 [Reissue/1998] 2xLP (Thump)
G-Funk Classics, Vol. 1 & 2 is the debut album by Nate Dogg. The album was originally to be released in 1996 but the album was shelved due to legal problems at Death Row Records, and he wasn’t able to release it until the summer of 1998.
Of Montreal – Chinese Rocks b/w Either Way I Lose 7”+MP3 (Polyvinyl)
Two cover songs that inspired Aureate Gloom: “Chinese Rocks” by Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers “Either Way I Lose” by Nina Simone.
Okkultokrati – Snakereigns [Reissue/2012] LP (Southern Lord)
Okkultokrati – Night Jerks [Reissue/2014] LP (Southern Lord)
Okkultokrati tear apart the rock ‘n’ roll guidebook and mash it in to vicious combat music for fans of punk, d-beat, black metal and generally anyone with a penchant for unsavory anthems delivered with inimitable attitude. While they complete their new album (which Greg Anderson calls “f**ked up in all the right places … super original and I can say that I’ve definitely never heard anything like this. Visions of Bauhaus and Dark Throne listening to Joy Division albums by torchlight in the dark forests of Oslo…”), Southern Lord has reissued the band’s previous two albums for the uninitiated. New album due Autumn 2016.
Big John Patton – Let ‘Em Roll [Reissue/1965] LP (Blue Note)
Big John Patton was one of the most in-demand hard bop and soul jazz organists during the golden era of the Hammond B-3 organs between 1963 and 1970. He was a major figure in the development of the funk and blues-rooted jazz style known as soul jazz and is considered a roots player who inspired the acid jazz movement. Part of Blue Note’s ongoing 75th anniversary vinyl reissue campaign.
PINS – Trouble 10”+MP3 (Bella Union)
RSD UK 2016 release – now available in the US. Manchester dream punk quartet PINS unleashed an excellent record in last year’s Wild Nights. They expertly craft a moody, floating, fantasy-like aesthetic anchored by cutting lyrics and plenty of badass attitude. The Trouble 10” features two new tracks and a remix.
Robert Pollard – Of Course You Are LP (Fire America)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Solo album number 24 by the tireless Guided By Voices auteur. Meticulously constructed, Of Course You Are is overstuffed with hooky tunes, riffs aplenty and skewed/skewering lyrics. All of the instruments on the album were played by Ricked Wicky’s Nick Mitchell, who also recorded/produced the record, and Mitchell’s evident musicianship lifts the material to another sonic level without over-polishing. The instrumental palette has been broadened – discreet flourishes of strings, horns, piano (etc.) occasionally bring to mind baroque rock classics by the likes of Love and Cardinal. Which is not to say this is chamber pop.
Primal Scream – Mantra For A State Of Mind 12” (First International)
RSD UK 2016 release – now available in the US. One-off single featuring a cover of “Mantra For A State Of Mind” and a new instrumental track “Gravitational Waves.”
Ike Quebec – Blue & Sentimental [Reissue/1962] LP (Blue Note)
Ike Quebec was an accomplished dancer and pianist, he switched to tenor sax as his primary instrument in his early twenties, and quickly earned a reputation as a promising player. Part of Blue Note’s ongoing 75th anniversary vinyl reissue campaign.
Sam Rivers – Fuchsia Swing Song [Reissue/1965] LP (Blue Note)
Fuchsia Swing Song is the debut album by American saxophonist Sam Rivers recorded in 1964. On this album, Rivers is joined by Jaki Byard on piano, Ron Carter on bass and Tony Williams on drums. Rivers performed on soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, harmonica and piano. Active in jazz since the early 1950s, he earned wider attention during the mid- 1960s spread of free jazz. Part of Blue Note’s ongoing 75th anniversary vinyl reissue campaign.
Ry X – Dawn LP (Loma Vista)
Debut album from release from Australian singer/songwriter Ry Cuming aka Ry X (of The Acid and Howling). “Both ‘Only’ and ‘Deliverance’ showcase Ry’s boundless ability to create thought-provoking atmospheric music, engulfed with distinctively ethereal yet powerful vocal lines. ‘Only’ is filled with soft guitars and drifting vocals that harbor intense emotion, while ‘Deliverance’ starts with a bare piano melody and grows into something completely different” – KCRW. [CD version due May 20.]
Frank Sinatra – Sinatra-Basie: An Historic Musical First [Reissue/1962] LP (Reprise)
Frank Sinatra – Sinatra At The Sands [Reissue/1966] 2xLP (Reprise)
HQ-180gm vinyl reissues now available. As the title indicates, Sinatra-Basie: An Historic Musical First is the first recording that Sinatra made with the Count Basie Orchestra. Sinatra At The Sands is a live album album, also recorded with Count Basie and his orchestra, conducted and arranged by Quincy Jones, recorded live at the Copa Room of the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
Skold – The Undoing LP (Metropolis)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Skold is the solo project of Tim Sköld (born Thim Sköld), a Swedish multi-instrumentalist who, in addition to producing solo work, has also collaborated with multiple musical groups including Shotgun Messiah, KMFDM, Marilyn Manson and Motionless In White where he acted as producer/songwriter/guitarist/bassist.
The Sleeping – Questions And Answers [2006] LP+MP3 (Victory)
The Sleeping was born of the same Long Island scene that brought us Taking Back Sunday, Brand New, Straylight Run, and many others.
Soundtrack – Backbeat: Songs From The Original Motion Picture [Reissue/1994] LP (UMe)
The Backbeat soundtrack was produced by Don Was, and won the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music.
Soundtrack – Mississippi Grind Complete Collection LP (Phineas Atwood)
“The film bubbles and bursts with blues, rock, and soul from the likes of cats like John Lee Hooker, Memphis Minnie, Memphis Slim, Big Bill Broonzy, Paul ‘Wine’ Jones, and more. It’s a good’un.” — Consequence Of Sound
Soundtrack – The Return Of The Living Dead [Reissue/1985] LP (Real Gone Music)
Limited edition translucent green vinyl LP pressing. Features tracks by The Cramps, 45 Grave, The Flesh Eaters, The Damned, Roky Erickson, The Jet Black Berries, T.S.O.L. and SSQ.
Soundtrack – Scarface [Reissue/1983] LP (Geffen)
Soundtrack to the cult classic film, which was composed by Italian record producer Giorgio Moroder.
Susan – Never Enough LP (Volar)
The debut album by Los Angeles trio Susan, Never Enough, covers themes of personal independence and emotional confusion. Layered vocal harmonies, reverb-washed pop hooks, and a touch of apathy convey hesitation and personal conviction while making the point that even though they don’t know where they are going, they are sure they will figure it out. Even if they have to rip it up and start all over again.
Taylor Swift – Taylor Swift [Reissue/2006] 2xLP (Big Machine)
Taylor Swift – Fearless (Platinum Edition) [Reissue/2008] 2xLP (Big Machine)
Taylor Swift’s first two albums are finally available on vinyl!
TOPS – Tender Opposites [Reissue/2012] LP (Arbutus)
TOPS is a four-piece band from Montreal, equal parts girls and guys, delivering a raw punk take on AM studio pop.
Various Artists – Household Shocks [Reissue/1980] LP (Dark Entries)
Dark Entries is proud to present this vinyl reissue of Household Shocks, a 16-track compilation of UK DIY/synth/new wave/post-punk originally released in 1980. The album showcases nine bands from the thriving post-punk scene in Scunthorpe and the North of England. Operating on a shoestring budget, co-producers Chris Leaning and Paul Singleton (both of One Gang Logic), released Household Shocks on Stark Products, a label they founded in 1979. At almost 50 minutes of music, the album took four weeks to produce at the Studio Playground in Lincoln. It was supported heavily by the late Radio 1 DJ John Peel.
Visitors – Poet’s End LP (Telephone Explosion)
A compilation of singles tracks from Edinburgh post-punks Visitors. Poet’s End offers all three highly-collected 7” singles plus four additional unreleased tracks from the same recording sessions.
Rufus Wainwright – Rufus Wainwright [1998] 2xLP (Geffen)
Rufus Wainwright – Poses [2001] 2xLP (Geffen)
Rufus Wainwright’s first two albums are now available as double-vinyl editions in gatefold packaging.
Witchfynde – Give ‘Em Hell [Reissue/1980] 2xLP (Back On Black)
Give ‘Em Hell is the debut album by the British heavy metal band Witchfynde. The album was released in 1980 during the New Wave of British Heavy Metal heyday and proved the band pioneers of the genre.
ZYX – Trust No Woman [Reissue/1981] LP (Dark Entries)
Vinyl reissue of the debut album from ZYX. Building on the early work of Gary Numan and the original Human League, ZYX designed their short, immediate songs around a barrage of analogue synths, rock-solid electro beats and controlled, low-key vocals. Trust No Woman is an exceptional showcase of electro-pop, cold and mechanical robotic rhythms under a claustrophobic atmosphere. Songs are sung in English with a heavy German accent and lyrics resemble obscure, existentialist dialogues.
Leave a Reply