CDs + Vinyl:
Bernard Allison – Let It Go CD (Ruf)
Let It Go was recorded at Bessie Blue Studio, Stantonville, Tennessee, with legendary music producer Jim Gaines. Recalls Bernard, “we made the decision to not flood the CD with keyboards or horns, to go back to the true basic rhythm section sound – and to show more mature songwriting.”
Fritz Ambro$e – Doe Quarterz CD/Cassette (All City)
Fitz Ambro$e is a Tokyo based producer originally from Cape Breton Island in remote eastern Canada. With a slew of self-released cult classic albums and mix CDs he steps up with a 14-track mini LP rooted in Fitz’s love of ’80s soul and funk mixed with ’90s hip-hop and R&B. Stripped down intricate hip-hop beats heavily layered with vocals, obscure samples and unpredictable drum progressions, Doe Quarterz sees Fitz come with a uniquely modern sound respectful to its roots – melodic head nodding grooves busting with his original flavor.
AWOLNATION – Here Come The Runts CD/LP (Red Bull)
AWOLNATION’s third undertaking sees Aaron Bruno once again at the helm producing, writing and recording. “With this record I really wanted to make a rock ‘n’ roll/pop album.” says Bruno. “And I say ‘pop’ how I grew up listening to it, in the sense of Dire Straits or Born In The U.S.A. or The Cars or Tom Petty.”
Bardo Pond – Volume 8 CD/LP+MP3 (Fire)
Volume 8 is the brand-new album from the neo-space rock stoner drone outfit. It’s a euphoric transcendental journey to a mountain top nirvana, a psychedelic tapestry that slowly unwinds as they travel onwards into the inner mind. A 40-minute opus delivered from a hail of reverb soulfully caressed by a ceremonial flute, that makes way for a shroud of Weld–era Neil Young fog. Bardo Pond is your rather ruffled tour guide to this far off place, this distant sense of wonderment at the crossroads with bewilderment.
Bat Fangs – Bat Fangs CD/LP+MP3 (Don Giovanni)
Slick and sick visions channeled from the midnight mirror world. Acid-soaked hard-rock to thrill the living and raise dead. Rooted in the pop-metal of time beyond memory, the tunes are dark and spiritually corrupted, but also boldly anthemic. They deliver thunder and feedback, wild energy and melodic uplift. Music meant to lay waste to the airwaves and unfold the collective cranium.
The BellRays – Punk Funk Rock Soul Vol. 2 CD/LP (U&Media)
Punk. Funk. Rock. Soul. The main ingredients in a potent witch’s brew that the Bellrays have been mixing for a long time now.
Anna Burch – Quit The Curse CD/LP+MP3 (Polyvinyl)
The deceptively complex pop of Quit The Curse marks the debut of this Detroit singer/songwriter. The nine tracks come on sugary and upbeat, but their darker lyrical themes and serpentine song structures are tucked neatly into what seem at first just like uncommonly catchy tunes. Burch’s crystal clear vocal harmonies and gracefully crafted songs feel so warm and friendly that it’s easy to miss the lyrics about destructive relationships, daddy issues and substance abuse that cling like spiderwebs to the hooky melodies. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Pearl Charles – Sleepless Dreamer CD/LP (Kanine)
Pearl Charles has been playing music since she was 5 years old. At 18, she formed the country duo The Driftwood Singers with Christian Lee Hutson, singing and playing guitar and autoharp. At 22, she joined garage rock band The Blank Tapes on drums. After two fun-filled years immersed in the rock and roll lifestyle, she decided it was time to pursue her own songwriting, and began developing the songs that formed her eponymous debut 2015 EP. Her music career has been a chronological progression from old time music to ‘60s garage and psychedelia, ‘70s country rock and now ‘80s soft rock. Drawn to poppy hooks and catchy choruses, Charles draws on what she loves about each era while developing her unique style as a solo artist on her first full-length Sleepless Dreamer. The title-track single finds Charles refining the breezy, country-tinged pop which she demonstrated a knack for on her EP.
Chase Atlantic – Chase Atlantic CD (WB)
Chase Atlantic is an alternative pop trio from Australia. Their music is heavily influenced by rock and R&B.
Stef Chura – Messes CD/LP+MP3/Cassette (Saddle Creek)
Stef Chura’s debut studio album is born of her years of experience playing around the Michigan underground, setting up DIY shows in the area, and moving around the state. Chura calls her music “emotional collage,” eschewing start-to-finish storylines in favor of writing intuitively about feelings, drawing from experiences and references related to a certain sentiment. “Right when it starts to feel like home/It’s time to go,” she sings on opening cut, “Slow Motion,” a twisty, dim-lit guitar pop song where she curls and stretches every word.
Kyle Craft – Full Circle Nightmare CD/LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)
Ever since his debut album Dolls Of Highland was released in 2016, Kyle Craft has been a critic’s dream. Based in Portland, Oregon he serves up all the observational, storytelling talent with none of the attitude that so often comes with male singer-songwriter territory. His second album, Full Circle Nightmare, is entirely autobiographical. Sonically, thematically, lyrically, it’s a huge leap forward from his 2016 release. The title Full Circle Nightmare refers to a moment where Craft saw his life for what it is and told himself to be satisfied. He described his debut record as: “like walking down this long hall of bizarre characters and surreal experiences, moving through the spider web of love and loss.” This album is when you get to the end of that hallway, turn around and see all the stuff you’ve been through, then walk through the door, close it and start a new chapter in an even crazier hallway. A straight-up rollicking rock ‘n’ roll album, it traverses all the different nuances of the genre; from the bluegrass twang of “Exile Rag,” to the gothic style of “Gold Calf Moan,” it’s a timeless piece that could exist in any of the past five decades.
DePaul – Damage Already Done CD (Twenty Two Music)
Depaul (Whomadethebeat) as 1/3 founding member of successfully acclaimed rap group 337 mafia, of Lake Charles, LA embarks the industry with his debut album.
Forrest Fang – Scenes From A Ghost Train CD (Projekt)
Fang is an ambient progressive musician who emerged from the DIY-“cassette culture” ’80s scene with a highly idiosyncratic style influenced by the traditional musics of non-Western cultures, including Javanese gamelan and the folk music of his Chinese ancestors. The rich electronic textures of his music are often complimented by Western and non-Western stringed instruments, winds and percussion.
Field Music – Open Here CD/LP+MP3/Cassette (Memphis Industries)
The two years since Commontime have been strange and turbulent. If you thought the world made some kind of sense, you may have questioned yourself a few times in the past two years. And that questioning, that erosion of faith – in people, in institutions, in shared experience – runs through every song on the new Field Music album. But there’s no gloom here. For Peter and David Brewis, playing together in their small riverside studio has been a joyful exorcism. Open Here is the last in a run of five albums made at the studio, an unprepossessing unit on a light industrial estate in Sunderland. Whilst the brothers weren’t quite tracking while the wrecking balls came, the eviction notice received in early 2017 gave the brothers a sense of urgency to complete the recording.
Genocide Pact – Order Of Torment CD/LP (Relapse)
Hailing from the lawless dominion that is our nation’s capital, Genocide Pact unleash their raging sophomore full-length. der of Torment features eight tracks of pulverizing, relentless death metal that harkens to the greats while pushing the genre to chaotic new realms of possibility.
Grateful Dead – Road Trips No. 3: Denver ’73 3xCD (Real Gone Music)
Denver was always one of the Dead’s favorite stops. This three-CD set offers the complete November 21, 1973 show along with some choice excerpts from the night before.
Groovie Ghoulies – World Contact Day [Reissue/1996] CD/LP (Green Door Recordings)
1996’s World Contact Day, the third full-length from seminal California punk band Groovie Ghoulies, marked the group’s first appearance on legendary Berkeley label Lookout Records (Green Day, Operation Ivy). Kind of like the Banana Splits crossed with the Ramones, the Ghoulies blast out anthem after anthem here including “Ghoulies Are Go!” and “Island Of Pogo Pogo.” Available for the first time on vinyl in decades, the haunted house of pop-punk has been remastered and repackaged with killer new artwork from Tom Neely.
Hookworms – Microshift CD/LP (Domino)
Microshift is a record that largely pulls back the dense fog of guitars and Modern Lovers-esque blasts of organ that have become Hookworms’ hallmark, replaced instead by a plethora of electronics and synthesizers.
The James Hunter Six – Whatever It Takes CD/LP+MP3 (Daptone)
There is a common theme on Hunter’s sixth album. Whatever It Takes is not a record about infidelity, shallow seductions, fleeting backdoor trysts, or any of the other common clichés of R&B. These are poetic testaments to truer love. Loyalty, devotion, humility, and the inevitable regret of those who take love for granted.
Jóhann Jóhannsson – The Mercy CD/2xLP (Deutsche Grammophon)
From Academy Award-winning director James Marsh (The Theory of Everything, Man of Wire) comes The Mercy, a tale of yachtsman Donald Crowhurst (Colin Firth)’s disastrous attempt to win the 1968 Golden Globe Race that results in his outrageous account of traveling the world alone by sea. The soundtrack for The Mercy features music by veteran Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson.
Julian Lage – Modern Lore CD/LP (Mack Avenue)
Modern Lore finds Julian Lage playfully flipping the script he followed on his acclaimed 2016 album, Arclight. That album – produced, like Modern Lore, by Lage’s friend and collaborator, the singer-songwriter Jesse Harris – was his first trio set on electric guitar and found Lage inspired by the sounds and the attitude of the freewheeling, pre-bebop jazz era, when, as he puts it, “country music and jazz and swing were in this weird wild-west period.” This time he incorporates the sensibility, if not the outright sound, of early rock and roll, a similarly hybrid form driven by rhythm, personality and a passion for the electric guitar.
Robert Logan – Sculptor In Galaxy CD (Projekt)
After six solo electronic/ambient albums and his 2016 collaborations with Steve Roach (Biosonic and Second Nature) Robert Logan’s 2018 album blends surprising electronic and acoustic sources, terraforming bright, melodic molten sound with an enraptured experience of the natural world.
Loyals – Loyals CD (Tooth & Nail)
Synth-driven alternative pop band from Nashville, TN.
Mast – Thelonious Sphere Monk CD (World Galaxy/Alpha)
A cosmic journey reinterpreting the great Thelonious Monk Song Book in celebration of his 100th birthday.
McCafferty/Heart Attack Man – McCafferty/Heart Attack Man (Split EP) CDEP/12” (Take This To Heart/Triple Crown)
Ohio bands McCafferty and Heart Attack Man team up for a new split EP.
Byron Metcalf, Dashmesh Khalsa, Steve Roach – Dream Tracker CD (Projekt)
The essential ingredients of ancient and contemporary shamanic trance states are fully activated in this highly potent release from 2010. Metcalf’s living, breathing trance grooves percussion, Khalsa’s didgeridoo and Roach’s sound worlds are unified in a single purpose: to open the door out of the ordinary world, initiating the listener into an empowered journey of infinite possibilities for spiritual rebirth. The end result is full-blown alchemy, covering a wide range of ecstatic dreamtime flow: rhythm, breath and expansion.
Mike and The Moonpies – Steak Night At The Prairie Rose CD (Mike and The Moonpies)
New release from the old-soul honky-tonkers.
Charles Mingus – Live At Montreux 1975 CD (Eagle Rock Entertainment)
This concert, recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival on July 20,1975, primarily features considerably extended versions of tracks from the pair of albums Changes One and Changes Two that were released in 1974 together with workouts on a couple of old standards “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” and “Take The ‘A’ Train.”
Montgomery Gentry – Here’s To You CD (Average Joe’s Entertainment)
The eighth and final album from the country music duo was completed shortly before the death of Troy Gentry in September of 2017.
Loren Nerell/Mark Seelig – Tree Of Life [Reissue/2014] CD (Projekt)
CD reissue of this album from gamelan master Loren Nerell and German based shamanic healer Mark Seelig.
New York Dolls – Butterflyin’ CD/LP (Easy Action)
A remastered and restored rare New York Dolls live recording featuring the lineup that recorded their two seminal early albums plus a further five tracks from a US broadcast a few months later. The line-up at this time comprised vocalist David Johansen, guitarist Johnny Thunders, bassist Arthur Kane, guitarist/pianist Sylvain Sylvain, and drummer Jerry Nolan; the latter two had replaced Rick Rivets and Billy Murcia, respectively, in 1972.
John Oates – Arkansas CD/LP (PS)
Oates teamed up with an amazing group of accomplished and rising stars in the Americana music world to bring his new album, Arkansas, to life. The project originally began as a tribute to Oates’ idol, Mississippi John Hurt. It evolved organically, during a series of Nashville recording sessions, into a unique, retrospective collection drawing from a wide range of Oates’ musical influences. Asked about the style and sound of Arkansas, he says, ”it’s like Dixieland dipped in bluegrass and salted with Delta blues.”
Orgone – Undercover Mixtape CD/2xLP (Colemine)
Orgone takes on 13 funk and soul classics. Otis Redding, Funkadelic, The Meters, Aretha Franklin, Betty Wright, and Booker T are just a few of the artists Orgone cover on this mixtape collection with some help from friends as well. [Green colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Steve Reich – Pulse/Quartet CD (Nonesuch)
Pulse (2015) is performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) – an artist collective committed to transforming the way music is created and experienced – and Quartet (2013) is played by the Colin Currie Group, an ensemble led by percussionist Colin Currie that specializes in the music of Steve Reich; these are also the ensembles that gave the world premiere performances of the respective works. [Vinyl edition due March 30th.]
Rhye – Blood CD/LP (Loma Vista)
Blood is the much-anticipated sophomore album from romantic soul-pop group Rhye following 2013’s acclaimed Woman. Themed around the aftermath of love, Blood alluringly pairs the band’s sultry, subtle, funky brand of soul music with the warm, powerful, and totally unique vocals and lyrics of frontman Mike Milosh. “We’ve spent the last few years on the road translating the Woman album from a bedroom project into a full live experience. With Blood, it’s been the opposite process; the music and sounds were really born out of the live environment and are built for performance,” commented Milosh. “It takes a lot of courage to be vulnerable in front of an audience night after night. I use the same courage on every song on this record.”
Buddy Rich – The Lost Tapes CD/LP (Lightyear)
The Lost Tapes is an historic preservation and restoration project. The producers recovered the masters from a fire in 1990 and went about restoring the original surround sound track of the last concert Buddy Rich recorded before he passed away in 1987. This release follows the Emmy Award-winning Channel One Suite and both concerts were recorded the same night.
Rivals – Damned Soul CD/LP (Smart Punk)
Rivals is a dark pop-rock band from Los Angeles, CA.
Roxy Music – Roxy Music [Reissue/1972] 2xCD/3xCD+DVD (Virgin)
Roxy Music release an expanded edition of their ground-breaking debut album to mark its 45th anniversary. The double-CD package features rare and previously unavailable material never-heard-before outside of Roxy’s inner circle, including tracks taken from the band’s John Peel Radio Session (1972) and their BBC “In Concert” performance from Paris Theatre (1972). [The Super Deluxe Edition adds a 1971 demo tape and ‘In-Session’ performances. DVD includes an unreleased Bataclan Paris performance (1972), UK TV performances and a 5.1 album mix. The package also includes a 136-page hard-cover book including unseen photographers and memorabilia. Vinyl edition due March 16.]
saib. – Sailing CD/LP (Cold Busted)
The Casablanca-based producer has steered his sound into warmer waters. Mixing tempered hip-hop beats with jazzy vibes and a lounge sensibility, saib. touches on a style that’s both chill and opulent
Akira Sakata & Chikamorachi with Masahiko Satoh – Proton Pump CD/LP (Family Vineyard)
Proton Pump is a milestone achievement in the winding career of alto saxophonist, gibberish shrieker and jazz legend Akira Sakata. It’s a lightning-fast, real-time cut-up of melody and bare-knuckle action that swings between the avant garde and hardcore be-bop. Sakata is backed by his famed rhythm crew Chikamorachi – drummer Chris Corsano and acoustic bassist Darin Gray – and joined by composer and pianist Masahiko Satoh.
Saxon – Thunderbolt CD/LP/Cassette/CD+LP+Cassette (Militia Guard Music)
Since the 1970s Saxon has consistently showcased an ability to take rock ‘n’ roll and give it an electrifying edge, cementing their status as pioneers of the British heavy metal wave along the way. Following the critically acclaimed release of Battering Ram in 2015, the heavy metal giants return with their latest studio effort, Thunderbolt. “This is album 22 and it’s a storming smashing thundering collection of tracks we’ve been crafting with producer, Andy Sneap…Stand clear and fasten your seat belts!”, says frontman Biff Byford. In other words, you can expect Thunderbolt to be fast and furious, dark and brooding with monumental riffing and screamed vocals galore. The new collection comes adorned with stunning original artwork by long time Saxon collaborator Paul Raymond Gregory (well known for producing epic Tolkien-inspired fantasy artworks for the likes of Dio, Molly Hatchet, Motörhead and Blind Guardian). [Limited 180gm colored vinyl pressing also available. Multi-format box set includes the colored vinyl edition.]
Screeching Weasel – Wiggle [Reissue/1992] CD/LP (Monona)
The improved sound quality brings this beloved punk classic to where it belongs after 25 years. Screeching Weasel has been a love ‘em or hate ‘em band since their formation in 1986. One of the front runners of the punk movement that found them crafting a world away from the mainstream with Green Day, Operation Ivy, Rancid and Jawbreaker, they have created an impeccable catalog that went on to inspire Blink-182 and Fall Out Boy.
Simple Minds – Walk Between Worlds CD/LP+MP3 (BMG)
Walk Between Worlds is Simple Minds’ first album of new material since 2014’s Big Music. With its eight tracks rocketing past in 42 minutes, it’s a relatively concise affair. It’s also an album of two distinct sides, very much the old-school album format that singer Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill grew up with as music fans. Side One tracks such as “Summer” and “The Signal And The Noise” revisit the glassy guitars and new wave dance grooves of the post-punk era and the second half explores more cinematic sounds, with the title track and “Barrowland Star” both featuring dramatic orchestrations recorded at Abbey Road. The album is bookended by two songs about faith, “Magic” and “Sense Of Discovery.” The first is a reflection on the desire and hunger of youth – the faith in their own abilities that Simple Minds possessed during their formative years. “Sense Of Discovery,” which features a melodic refrain that alludes to 1985’s “Alive And Kicking,” is centered on the voice of an older narrator passing on wisdom and advice to a younger individual. [Deluxe edition features three bonus tracks.]
Soundtrack – Lady Bird: Soundtrack From The Motion Picture CD (Legacy Recordings)
With her directorial debut Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig revealed herself to be a bold new cinematic voice, excavating both the humor and pathos in the turbulent bond between a mother and her teenage daughter. Gerwig disclosed that she’d written personal letters to artists she had in mind for the film – including Dave Matthews and Alanis Morissette – to expressly ask for their blessing to use their songs. “The soundtrack,” wrote Billboard’s Tatiana Tenreyro, “plays a big role in showing protagonist Lady Bird’s turbulent adolescent years. The film is set in 2002, and Gerwig wanted it to feel as authentic as possible with a soundtrack that transports viewers to the era.” Starring Saoirse Ronan in the title role and Laurie Metcalf as her mother, Lady Bird won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture, while Ronan took home the award for Best Actress. [Vinyl edition due March 16.]
Story Untold – Waves CD (Hopeless)
Hailing back to the day of bands like Good Charlotte and Yellowcard, Waves boasts polished pop punk and unapologetically catchy choruses.
Damo Suzuki & Jelly Planet – Damo Suzuki & Jelly Planet CD/2xLP (Purple Pyramid)
The new album from legendary Can vocalist Damo Suzuki finds him performing a fully improvised set with German experimentalists Jelly Planet.
Justin Timberlake – Man Of The Woods CD/2xLP+MP3 (Sony)
Ten-time Grammy winner Justin Timberlake returns on RCA Records with his highly anticipated fourth studio effort and follow-up to 2013 double album The 20/20 Experience. Man Of The Woods marks Timberlake’s most ambitious release to date, both sonically and lyrically. Combining the sounds of traditional American rock with the modern influences of collaborators The Neptunes, Timbaland, Chris Stapleton, and Alicia Keys, this new material explores storytelling inspired by his son, his wife, and his personal journey from Memphis to where he is today. Lead single “Filthy” is a blockbuster futurist R&B cut co-written and co-produced by Timberlake, Timbaland, and Danja with additional writing credits from James Fauntleroy and Larrance Dopson.
Letitia VanSant – Gut It To The Studs CD (Letitia VanSant)
In a time when embracing the heart and soul of humanity is at a critical moment, Baltimore’s Americana songstress Letitia Vansant releases a poignant collection of songs.
Various Artists – The #1 Sound From The Vaults Vol. 1 CD (Studio One)
This RSD 2017 vinyl release is now available on CD. An 18 track bonanza of rare sides featuring both the label’s top hit makers as well as some of its more obscure artists.
Various Artists – Finally Together – The Ru-Jac Records Story Volume Three: 1966-1967 CD (Omnivore)
Various Artists – Changes – The Ru-Jac Records Story, Volume Four: 1967-1980 CD (Omnivore)
The Baltimore soul/R&B label Ru-Jac Records was founded in 1963 by local promoter Rufus Mitchell and investor partner Jack Bennett (their names forming the Ru-Jac name). The label primarily released regional soul/R&B singles from 1963 until the mid-1970s, when Mitchell stepped away to focus on another business venture. All four volumes of The Ru-Jac Records Story (the first two were released last month) collects for the very first time the audio history of the label. Each volume is produced by the Grammy-winning producer Cheryl Pawelski and Kevin Coombe, East Coast soul historian. Coombe provides liner notes detailing the rise and eventual closure of the label, and its close ties to the segregated beaches and performance spaces of the region. Rare photos and ephemera will be included in each volume to help illustrate and trace the history of the label. Utilizing original tapes, extremely collectible 45s, and acetates, all four volumes underwent extensive restoration and mastering by Grammy-winning engineer, Michael Graves.
W.A.S.P. – Re-Idolized (Soundtrack To The Crimson Idol) 2xCD+DVD+Blu-ray/2xLP (Napalm)
In 1992 W.A.S.P. released “The Crimson Idol”. It’s the story of Jonathan Aaron Steele, an abused child looking for love. The band celebrates the 25th anniversary of this (their fifth album,) with a re-recorded version of the LP along with a 50-minute film of the album’s story.
John Williams – Conductor 20xCD (Sony Masterworks)
A new 20-CD box set that features all of his definitive recordings for Sony Classical including The Star Wars Trilogy, The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration, Yo-Yo Ma Plays The Music Of John Williams, American Journey, Summon The Heroes and more, plus a 40-page perfect-bound book.
Ron Wood & Ronnie Lane – Mahoney’s Last Stant [OST/Reissue/1976] CD (Real Gone Music)
What do two Faces do when their lead singer (bon vivant Rod Stewart) doesn’t show up for the Ooh La La recording sessions? They work on a soundtrack for an obscure film by actor and friend Alexis Kanner (most famous for his guest roles on the late- ‘60s TV series The Prisoner), and draft the uppermost rank of British rock royalty to play on it.
The Wood Brothers – One Drop Of Truth CD/LP (Honey Jar)
The Wood Brothers’ sixth outing dives headfirst into a deep wellspring of sounds, styles and influences. Whereas their previous outings have often followed a conceptual and sonic through-line, here the long-standing Nashville-based trio treat each song as if it were its own short film. =
Frank Zappa – Zappa/Mothers: The Roxy Performances 7xCD (Zappa)
This 7-disc box contains all four public shows performed on December 9th and 10th,1973, remixed in 2016 and presented in their entirety for the first time. Also included is the soundcheck from December 8th and bonus content that features rehearsal nuggets and unreleased tracks along with highlights from the recording session at Bolic Studios that took place in conjunction with the filming dates.
DVDs + Blu-ray:
Bee Gees – All For One: Live In Australia 1989 DVD/Blu-ray (Eagle Vision)
Recorded live in Melbourne, Australia at The National Tennis Centre in November 1989, this release captures the third stop on The Bee Gee’s One for All World Tour celebrating their eighteenth studio album, One.
Steve Hackett – Wuthering Nights: Live In Birmingham DVD+2xCD (Inside Out)
New live release commemorating 2017’s Genesis Revisited with Classic Hackett tour and celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Wind And Wuthering. Includes solo highlights and Genesis masterpieces like “Dance On A Volcano,” “One For The Wine,” “Inside And Out” and many more. Extras include Dolby 5.1 surround sound, behind the scenes footage and promo videos.
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
The Alchemist – Paris L.A. Bruxelles Instrumentals LP (ALC)
“Last year I linked up with Redbull France. They brought me out to Paris for a week, paid for my records, and let me craft beats in their studio (I ended up moving the equipment to my hotel room due to smoking restrictions). The idea was to use strictly French samples, then hook me up with a bunch of dope new young artists from France and Brussels to make songs out of the beats. The final piece to the project was a sold-out show in France where I presented each artist and they performed both the songs we did and their own hit songs. The project came out dope, I linked up with some really talented artists, and ended up making more than enough joints. This is the instrumental version of the project. Enjoy.” – Alchemist
Behemoth – The Apostasy [Reissue/2007] LP (Peaceville)
Vinyl reissue of the eighth album from the Polish extreme metal band.
Big Head Todd and The Monsters – New World Arisin’ LP (Big)
Released last November on CD – now available on vinyl. The 11th album from Colorado rock band.
Big K.R.I.T. – 4eva Is A Mighty Long Time 2xLP (BMG Rights Management)
Released last October on CD – now available on vinyl. New album from the Mississippi rapper.
Birthday Boy & Trish – Magic b/w Chance To Go Far 7” (Bastard Jazz)
Two talents from up North – Toronto’s freewheeling producer/DJ Birthday Boy and Canadian songstress Trish (plus songwriter and backup vocalist Joe Law) – link up for a lesson in positive vibrations and soulful, R&B-infused future grooves. “Magic” toys with a mellow bassline and warm guitar loop from Tom Misch while “Chance To Go Far” is a Kaytra-esque hip-hop number with big drums and hook that will stay with you all day.
Black Market Brass – War Room b/w Into The Thick 7” (Colemine)
Hailing from Minneapolis, MN, Black Market Brass is a 10-piece group performing their own brand of originally composed afrobeat/afrofunk music, as well as completing authentic renditions of the classic 1970s West African sound. Taking their cues from the godfathers, the band draws on complex polyrhythmic percussion, driving bass lines, dizzying guitar interplay, rolling keyboards, and room-commanding brass.
Buy My Drugs – Hyperdope b/w Fwma Ft. Yasiin Bey 7” (Elevation Nation)
An Afro-Brazilian percussive mien hybridized with the aggressive, federally-sanctioned genre: loom-bap. The bass-drunk 909s, programmed to stomp mud-holes throughout the full-length’s soundscape, drive the manic transitions between maximal bliss and minimal dystopia.
Calibro 35 – Superstudio b/w Gomma 7” (Record Kicks)
The first single from their upcoming album Decade (which is due February 9). “SuperStudio” is the main theme for a movie that doesn’t exist, starring Clint Eastwood and Pam Grier saving Earth from the invasion of deadly robots from another planet. On the flip is the bonus track “Gamma” – an irresistible funk groovy shaker.
The Church – Man Woman Life Death Infinity LP (Unorthodox)
Limited 180gm white vinyl LP pressing of the 2017 album from the veteran Australian alt-rock band. Man Woman Life Death Infinity is the 26th album by The Church, and their second with
the rejuvenated line-up Steve Kilbey, Peter Koppes, Tim Powles and Ian Haug.
Computa Games – Rock Creek (Revenge) b/w Apache 3000 7” (Superjock)
Computa Games returns with a pair of B-Boy bangers.
Country Joe & The Fish – The Wave Of Electrical Sound 4xLP+DVD (Craft Recordings)
Country Joe and The Fish – I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die [Reissue/1967] LP (Craft Recordings)
The Wave Of Electrical Sound celebrates the band’s prolific year, with an audio/visual cornucopia of music, film and ephemera. This deluxe box set contains both mono and stereo versions of Electric Music For The Mind And Body (1967) and I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die (1967) on 180gm vinyl. Includes a DVD of How We Stopped The War, a 30-minute documentary, filming the band on their way to an anti-Vietnam War rally.
Damu The Fudgemunk and Y Society – Travel At Your Own Pace Instrumental Versions LP (Redefinition)
Limited edition vinyl picture disc pressing. Long awaited instrumental versions of Travel At Your Own Pace by y Society AKA Insight & Damu. Produced entirely by the Damu The Fudgemunk. Travel at Your Own Pace (TAYOP) the album was first released in October 2007. With this instrumental version, Insight and Damu put the message in the music.
Del The Funky Homosapien & Tame One – Parallel Uni-Verses [Reissue/2009] LP (Parallel Thought Ltd.)
Purple/white smoke colored vinyl reissue of the 2009 joint effort between Hieroglyphics founder Del The Funky Homosapien and original Artifacts emcee Tame One.
Dr. John, The Night Tripper – The Sun, Moon & Herbs [Reissue/1971] LP (8th Records)
180gm vinyl reissue of a dark and swampy collection anchored by the hypnotic “Familiar Reality” and featuring colorful guest appearances by Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger and The Memphis Horns.
DJ Smash/DJ Evo – Your Pants Are Hot b/w Mandingo Boogie 7” (Adventures In Paradise)
The second release from Adventures In Paradise in Vancouver features the legendary DJ Smash. Smash is a true OG, hailing from NY and now residing in San Francisco. He’s been DJing since ‘85, and when he’s not behind the turntables, you can find him working as a studio musician, as well as producing original material and remixing. On the flip DJ Evo makes his production debut. Leapfrogging from his eclectic DJ sets and diving headfirst into production and provides a slice of modern boogie strictly for the dancefloor.
Drive By Tuckers – What It Means Live At Newport Folk Festival b/w The Perilous Night 7” (ATO)
A new limited edition double-A side single featuring “What It Means” recorded live at the 2017 Newport Folk Festival.
Dr. Dundiff – Muneybeats LP (Jakarta)
Muneybeats is Dr. Dundiff revisiting his roots in an all instrumental experience. “Put the most attractive beats on top. The ones that make you pull the car over and go, ‘Wow, I need this be a right now.’ Those are the Muneybeats.
Bob Dylan – The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan [Reissue/1963] 2xLP (Mobile Fidelity)
Numbered limited edition (3000 copies) 180gm mono 45rpm pressing.
French Vanilla – French Vanilla LP (Danger Collective)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. French Vanilla is a feminist art-punk band based in Los Angeles. hey regulate the dance floor with socially sensitive lyrics, vocal freneticism, punchy basslines, and catchy sax.
Logan Gabriel – Spaceplan 2LP (Black Screen)
180gm colored vinyl pressing of Gabriel’s electronic/ambient soundtrack to the PC and mobile game.
Ghost – Snapshot 12” (Spectrum)
Debut EP from this Parisian-bred and Los Angeles-based producer. “Stay Awhile” is ’80s power: squared-off suits, huge drums, and funky electro bass with amphitheater diva-soul vocals from Joanna Rose and a dynamic keyboard lead from XL Middleton that could fit any night club scene from Miami Vice. “Number One Fly High” is drum machine-forward promo funk, stuck somewhere in between levels or perhaps part of an uplifting montage that serves only to represent joy and excitement. “Ça Ç’est Paris”, an homage to Ghost’s native city, is essentially the performance piece of an obscure bit of French Cinema, on the brink of everything current, urban and hip, however still capsulated in 1985.
Eric Johnson – Ah Via Musicom [Reissue/1990] LP (Friday Music)
Eric Johnson leapt to the forefront of contemporary music over 25 years ago as “an extraordinary guitar player accessible to ordinary music fans” (Memphis Commercial Appeal), with his landmark third album Ah Via Musicom. 180gm audiophile pressing.
Trevor Jones Randy Edelman – The Last Of The Mohicans [OST/1992] LP (Real Gone Music)
Limited sepia-toned colored vinyl reissue. Expanded with the closing credit song “I Will Find You” by Clannad.
The Kinks – Misfits [Reissue/1978] LP (Friday Music)
1978’s Misfits showcases the band’s newly stripped-down rock & roll direction and includes the tender, oddball hit Ray Davies wrote for his brother, “Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy,” and the bouncing pop gem “In A Foreign Land.” Limited 180gm colored vinyl pressing.
Latyrx – Latyrx: The Album [Reissue/1997] LP (Real People)
Released as a limited 20th Anniversary vinyl edition for RSD 2017, a standard vinyl reissue is now available. Latyrx: The Album features lyricists Lyrics Born and Lateef The Truthspeaker, with production from DJ Shadow, Chief Xcel.
L7 – Wireless LP (Easy Action)
A raw nine-track live performance, recorded in Brisbane in October 1992 for Triple J’s Live At The Wireless event series.
Machine Head – Catharsis 2xLP (Nuclear Blast)
Released last week on CD – now available on vinyl. If heavy music stands for anything, it’s freedom. Formed in Oakland, California in 1991, Machine Head have forged a formidable reputation and huge global fan base by never surrendering their artistic liberty or compromising their belief in the power of heaviness.
Marmozets – Knowing What You Know LP (Roadrunner)
Released last week on CD – now available on vinyl. “Spaces between heartbeats quickly shrink. Adrenaline rushes into the system. Body parts move involuntarily. This is the effect of hearing British post-hardcore young guns Marmozets. The band packed heat with their 2014 debut The Weird And Wonderful Marmozets, filling it with shredding guitars, massive hooks, and frontwoman Becca McIntyre’s distinctive howl. Four years later, no time is wasted getting to the hook, opening with Becca roaring ‘One, two, three, play!’ before the first beat on album opener and first single ‘Play.’ There’s less of the scream that punctuated every line of their first big hit ‘Why Do You Hate Me?’ Instead, her voice has become more powerful and dynamic; her ferocity still intact. She stretches notes to their limits on the gut-punching chorus of ‘Habits,’ and spits each syllable in ‘Major System Error’ with the same force and deadliness of a machine gun, exploding when she shrieks, ‘Can you keep it together?’ Knowing What You Know Now is a massive improvement on Marmozets’ excellent debut, showing massive growth in their wild and wonderful world.” – Hysteria
Efrim Manuel Menuck – Pissing Stars LP (Constellation)
Efrim Manuel Menuck returns with his second album, the brilliantly intense follow-up to his 2011 solo debut, Plays “High Gospel”, and the first new material with Menuck as central songwriter and vocalist since 2014’s acclaimed F**k Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything from his chamber-punk-rock band Thee Silver Mt. Zion. The legendary Montréal-based musician has much-deserved cult status among fans of political punk, post-rock and avant-noise songcraft alike. Menuck celebrates 25 years of unflinching and uncompromising sonic output with Pissing Stars, wherein he launches acerbic darts, impassioned salvos and fragile flowers into gusts of noise-battered song built around pulsing maximalist electronics and drone, shot through with alternately plaintive, chilling, often processed vocals.
Mestizo Beat – Featherbed Lane b/w Handcuffed To The Shovel 7” (Colemine)
Mestizo Beat is a Los Angeles-based band blending the styles of Afrobeat, Afro-Cuban, funk, and R&B.
The Meters – Cabbage Alley [Reissue/1972] LP (8th Records)
The Meters’ 1972 release was the incomparable quartet’s first for Warner Bros./Reprise, and boasts a somewhat smoother, but no less funky, sound than its predecessors. Indeed, it’s one of the band’s most highly-regarded releases, capturing the musicians’ remarkable rhythmic chemistry on such originals as “Stay Away, “You’ve Got to Change (You’ve Got to Reform)” and the aptly titled “Gettin’ Funkier All the Time,” as well as a seductive reworking of Neil Young’s “Birds.”
Mild High Club x King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Rolling Stoned 7” (Stones Throw)
Both bands perform a composition written by Alexander Britton.
Joni Mitchell – The Second Fret LP (Troubador)
Early versions of classic Joni Mitchell tracks sourced from the mid-‘60s just prior to her signing with Reprise Records. Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.
Mountain – The Best Of Mountain [Reissue/1973] LP (8th Records)
Mountain is one of those rare bands that can be credited with forging a style and sound that would for ever change the face of rock music. The innovative combination of Leslie West’s unique tone and feel, Felix Pappalardi’s studio production skills, Corky Laing’s powerful double bass drumming and Steve Knight’s keyboard textures, produced some of the best and most memorable rock tunes of all time including “Mississippi Queen,” “Nantucket Sleighride,” “Theme From an Imaginary Western,” “For Yasgur’s Farm” and “Never In My Life.” Drawing from the band’s first three landmark studio records with all of the aforementioned classics in tow, The Best Of Mountain is the definitive collection of tracks from the bluesy hard-rock trailblazers.
Willie Nelson – Greatest Hits (& Some That Will Be) [Reissue/1981] 2xLP (Friday Music)
Limited edition colored vinyl reissue.
Carlos Niño & Friends – Going Home LP (Leaving)
Revered producer/musician Carlos Niño engages the fifth album in his ongoing & Friends series with Going Home, a definitive six-song odyssey in tribute to “passing from the earthly realm” featuring Deantoni Parks, Dexter Story, Jamael Dean, Josh Johnson, Miguel Atwood- Ferguson, SK Kakraba, and new age legend Iasos. Carlos Gabriel Niño is an internationally-celebrated producer, arranger, composer, musician, radio host, DJ, music consultant, writer, poet, and event organizer, based in his hometown of Woodland Hills, California.
Orkesta Mendoza – Cumbia Volcadora b/w Caramelos 7” (Boogieburg Recordings)
Focused, fierce and beautifully executed by a superbly drilled set of musicians, “Cumbia Volcadora” and “Caramelos” fully match Orkesta Mendoza’s explosive live performances. Mexican electronic pioneer Camilo Lara (aka Mexican Institute of Sound who has been remixed by Ad Rock of Beastie Boys and Tricky and has collaborated with Gogol Bordello, Sly and Robbie, Toots and The Maytals, N.A.S.A., Kool AD, Stereo MC’s, and MC Lyte), Salvador Duran (who has lent his voice to Calexico and Iron And Wine), Quetzal Guerrero (of Osunlade’s Yoruba Records), and Ceci Bastida join forces with Tucson’s Orkesta Mendoza (lead by Calexico’s Sergio Mendoza) on Boogieburg’s fourth vinyl release housed in a hand-stamped antique green “old style” sleeve.
Orgone – Big Day b/w Hound Dogs 7” (Colemine)
Orgone is back with another dose of heavy funk from the West Coast.
Shuggie Otis – Inspiration Information [Reissue/1974] LP (8th Records)
Shuggie was just 21 when his third and final album, Inspiration Information, was issued at the end of 1974. Widely regarded as a masterpiece, songs from the long out-of-print LP have been sampled on the likes of OutKast’s “Ms. Jackson,” Beyonce’s “Gift From Virgo” and Digable Planets’ “For Corners.” Guardian ranks the album alongside such late-’60s/early-’70s breakthroughs by black artists as Love’s Forever Changes, the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Axis Bold As Love, Sly & the Family Stone’s There’s A Riot Going On, and Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions.
Eddie Palmieri – Sabiduría 2xLP (Ropeadope)
Eddie Palmieri’s influence on the world of modern music is often celebrated, but just as often underestimated. As he completes his 80th year with us, his energy and commitment seem to be increasing, as if to fully emphasize the power of not just the music but also the cross-cultural importance of the process. Sabiduría is the Spanish word for ‘wisdom’, and the message is clear from the outset that wisdom is the exalted value that should guide us all. His intent with Sabiduría, as it has been with all his recordings, is to create art that will be analyzed and understood well beyond his time.
Iggy Pop – Apollo 10” (Easy Action)
Two classic Lust For Life tunes recorded live at the Manchester Apollo on September 25, 1977.
Bernard “Pretty” Purdie – Soul Drums [Reissue/1968] 2xLP (Nature Sounds)
Bernard Purdie is one of the most well-known drummers of all time, and probably the most recorded in history. From his early days as a session player, Purdie rose to become Aretha Franklin’s musical director, did overdubs for The Beatles, and recorded with the likes of Steely Dan, Cat Stevens, Joe Cocker, Hall & Oats, Quincy Jones, Roberta Flack, and James Brown, to name a few. In 1967 he entered a studio with several friends to cut his first solo album, “Soul Drums”. The album was critically acclaimed upon its initial release, only to reach mythical proportions once being rediscovered by DJs and hip-hop producers years later, when it became one of the most sought-after drum LPs among vinyl collectors.
Roxy – Body Heat b/w Midnight Lover 12” (Rollersoul)
Modern boogie funk with a classic sound inspired by the synthesizer funk of 1983 with a dance floor focus.
Savoy Brown – Witchy Feelin’ LP (Ruf)
Released last August on CD – now available on vinyl. Latest release from the veteran blues outfit.
Einar Selvik – Snake Pit Poetry 10” (By Norse Music)
A two-track EP containing an acoustic version as well as the complete studio version of his much requested piece “Snake Pit Poetry”, written for History Channel´s Vikings and Ragnar Lothbrok’s fatal encounter with a Northumbrian Snake pit. The song features the extraordinary talent of Icelandic singer Hilda Örvarsdottir. Etched B-side.
Judee Sill – Live In London: The BBC Recordings 1972-1973 [Reissue/2007] LP (Troubadour)
A collection of live recordings from the BBC archives.
Tiny Moving Parts – Swell LP (Triple Crown)
Released last week on CD and cassette – now available on vinyl. Following 2016’s acclaimed Celebrate, the delightfully chipper trio from Benson, Minnesota bring you their brand-new record Swell. The collection finds Tiny Moving Parts building on its predecessor and throwing into the melting pot, their impressively complex instrumentation, infectious melodies and killer hooks to create a tight, mathy melodic punk combination that’s hard to resist. Guaranteed to bring a smile to your face and a spring to your step.
Tokimonsta – Creature Dreams [Reissue/2011] 12” (Young Art)
Tokimonsta – Lune Rouge LP (Young Art)
Originally released on Brainfeeder in 2011, Tokimonsta’s own Young Art Records is proud to reissue Creature Dreams on blue colored vinyl. As Tokimonsta, California producer Jennifer Lee’s charted a fascinating career over the past seven years, and Lune Rouge is her exhilarating next step. Her third proper long-player is both a logical progression of her sound and a surprising left turn from an artist that rarely ceases to surprise. A smoky, patient, and altogether lovely collection, Lune Rouge mixes modern sensibilities with old-school sounds to make for a heady brew of moonlit music.
- Rex – Chateau De Herouville LP (Easy Action)
This rare studio session release collects four tracks recorded by the classic T. Rex line-up of Marc Bolan, Steve Currie, Bill Legend and Mickey Finn at the Chateau De Herouville for Broadcast on French Television prior to the completion of The Slider (1972). Limited colored vinyl pressing.
Various Artists – Palenque Records Afrocolombia Remix Vol. 2 LP (Galletas Caliente)
inviting more talented producers from worldwide “Global Bass” scene to revisit all time Afro-Colombian classic musical pieces. Palenque Records’ original artists, such as Son Palenque, Batata y Su Rumba Palenquera, Colombiafrica The Mystic Orchestra.., living testimonies of how much Africa has influenced traditional music in Colombia, have developed a remarkable culture, collaborating with african musicians such as Diblo Dibala, Bopol Mansiamina,
Various Artists – Synthesize the Soul: Astro-Atlantic Hypnotica From The Cape Verde Islands 1973-1988 2xLP (Ostinato)
Through 18 diverse tracks this compilation reveals how immigration from the Cape Verde Islands to Europe and the United States gave us an alternate history of the electronic music that dominated hearts and minds across the world in the late 1990s.
Wau y Los Arrrghs – El Mananero 7” (Slovenly)
Two action packed punk blasts from 2017 – repressed on vinyl with new artwork.
Yung Lean – Stranger LP (Kobalt)
Released last November on CD – now available on vinyl. Swedish rapper Yung Lean shot to fame after a series of YouTube clips recorded with friends went viral, but since then he’s pursued his own devoutly independent path. Recently appearing on Frank Ocean’s Blonde, the Stockholm songwriter is perfectly poised to reach fresh heights.
Cassettes:
Fritz Ambro$e – Doe Quarterz (All City)
Fitz Ambro$e is a Tokyo based producer originally from Cape Breton Island in remote eastern Canada. With a slew of self-released cult classic albums and mix CDs he steps up with a 14-track mini LP rooted in Fitz’s love of ’80s soul and funk mixed with ’90s hip-hop and R&B. Stripped down intricate hip-hop beats heavily layered with vocals, obscure samples and unpredictable drum progressions, Doe Quarterz sees Fitz come with a uniquely modern sound respectful to its roots – melodic head nodding grooves busting with his original flavor.
Stef Chura – Messes (Saddle Creek)
Stef Chura’s debut studio album is born of her years of experience playing around the Michigan underground, setting up DIY shows in the area, and moving around the state.
Field Music – Open Here (Memphis Industries)
The last in a run of five albums made at the studio, an unprepossessing unit on a light industrial estate in Sunderland. Whilst the brothers weren’t quite tracking while the wrecking balls came, the eviction notice received in early 2017 gave the brothers a sense of urgency to complete the recording.
Leolyxxx – Plastic Inners II (Origin Peoples)
Continuing an impassioned survey of Nigerian Boogie music kicked off earlier this year, the Swedish record collector/illustrator Leolyxxx extends his exploration of the African nation’s sonic riches.
Linafornia – YUNG (Dome Of Doom)
YUNG is intimate and personal, a journey through her own taste and a worthy continuation of the work done by predecessors like Madlib and Erykah Badu, who have both strongly influenced her. [Vinyl edition due coming soon.]
Myka 9 + Factor – Famous Future Time Travel (Urbnet)
Whether Myka 9 is snarling, scatting or singing into the mic, he is always delivering hot and clever lyrics in his signature jazz-influenced style.
Saxon – Thunderbolt (Militia Guard Music)
“This is album 22 and it’s a storming smashing thundering collection of tracks.”
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