September Program Titles Released This Week:
Black Tusk – TCBT CD/LP (Season Of Mist)
Black Tusk come storming back with their earth-shaking new album TCBT. This is the band’s most articulate sonic vision yet and delivers signature levels of Black Tusk aggression with their most developed songwriting to date. “Closed Eye”, “Burn The Stars”, “Agali” and “Scalped” are hands-down some of their finest tracks among a full album of killers. TCBT is a full-throated war cry and indispensable addition to their storied catalog. “For long-running Savannah sludge-riffers Black Tusk, the acronym ‘TCBT’ is not a new one. Despite the fact that 2018 marks the first time that TCBT has been used as an LP title, the term (and its associated tattoo) has been part of the band’s lexicon for as far back as memory serves — adorning their road cases as well as their bodies. (TCBT stands for “Taking Care of Black Tusk,” for the uninitiated.) Album track ‘Burn The Stars’ is a thrashy, mean-as-hell riffer punctuated by the alternating vocals of Andrew Fidler and James May. It’s a little less of a party vibe from previous outings, and a lot more serious and furious than we’ve become accustomed to, but that doesn’t mean the Savannah crew doesn’t pull it off and with style.” – Revolver
Blue October – I Hope You’re Happy CD (Up Down)
Blue October, the San Marcos, TX-based band known for shimmering rock songs and haunting lyrics, returns with their ninth studio album, I Hope You’re Happy which follows-up 2016’s acclaimed Home. The first Blue October release produced solely by frontman Justin Furstenfeld, the affecting 12-track collection features eleven beautifully crafted and performed songs that showcase the band at its creative peak and is introduced by the infectious and upbeat love letter to a former love, “I Hope You’re Happy”. [Vinyl edition due October 12.]
Death Cab For Cutie – Thank You For Today CD/LP/Cassette (Atlantic)
Thank You For Today is the sound of Death Cab For Cutie both expanding and refining; a band 20 years into its evolution, still uncovering new curves in its signatures, new sonic corners to explore. The Seattle band’s ninth studio album, recorded in L.A. with producer Rich Costey in late 2017 and early 2018, stands alongside classic albums like their 1998 debut Something About Airplanes and 2003’s masterful Transatlanticism as a definitive collection – 10 tracks that are by turns beautiful and dynamic and darkly anthemic and bittersweet. On songs such as the kinetic “Gold Rush”, “Northern Lights” and “You Moved Away” Ben Gibbard ruminates on the flux going on in his hometown and weaves a thread throughout the album about how interconnected geography is with memory, and how hard it can be to hold onto places, and to people, too.
The New Respects – Before The Sun Goes Down CD/LP (Credential)
Falling into a genre of their own, The New Respects mesh rock & roll, soul, and pop music with overlays of acoustic tones. Comprised of twins Zandy and Lexi Fitzgerald, brother Darius and their cousin Jasmine Mullen, the Nashville-based group is a true family affair, evidencing the undeniable soul and musical legacy that flows through the roots of their family tree. Debut full-length effort, Before The Sun Goes Down, follows-up their auspicious 2017 EP Here Comes Trouble and is introduced by the strutting lead single “Freedom”, produced by Theron Feemster (Demi Lovato, Ellie Goulding, Eminem, Sia).
Cullen Omori – The Diet CD/LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)
Cullen Omori’s path to his second album The Diet wasn’t an easy one. After the release of his first album, New Misery, he had to deal with busted vans, crashed cars, mangled relationships, and other trials that can leave one feeling like the world is playing a cosmic joke. From the guitar that drops out of the sky on the opening track “Four Years” all the way through the fade-out of kaleidoscopic closer “A Real You”, The Diet is a powerful modern indie-rock album that is buoyed by warped, analog pedals/transistors and tailor-made guitar tones. Omori’s winsome vocals crisscross ‘70s art rock and classic songwriting all within the span of 40 minutes. The album represents a new chapter for the former Smith Westerns member, one in which he stretches out his songwriting chops and uses his life experience to craft loose-limbed, hook-filled songs that combine pop appeal with finely sutured lyrics.
Buck Owens – Country Singer’s Prayer CD (Omnivore)
By late 1975, Buck’s unequaled success at Capitol Records was finally winding down. His singles were no longer topping the charts, and after the death of Don Rich the year before, Buck was starting to lose the fire that drove him through an unprecedented run of groundbreaking hits in the ’60s and early ’70s. His contract was due to expire at the end of the year, and he and the Buckaroos readied one final album for them in November. Buck’s last single for Capitol, “Country Singer’s Prayer”, did not make a typical Owens showing on the charts—so a decision was made to shelf the album, and assign the selection number to The Best Of Buck Owens, Vol. 6, which included two singles originally intended for the album that never was: “The Battle Of New Orleans” and what would have been its title track. Omnivore Recordings, in conjunction with the Buck Owens Estate, is proud to present Country Singer’s Prayer—Buck Owens’ final Capitol album, which has remained unissued to this day. Mastered from the original tapes, and presented in what was the intended sequence, also included are the B-sides to Buck’s departing two singles.
Trevor Powers – Mulberry Violence CD/LP (Baby Halo)
Trevor Powers is a musician, producer, and composer based in Boise, ID. He began recording music in 2011, releasing a trilogy of albums under the moniker Youth Lagoon before announcing the end of the project in 2015. While taking crash courses in classical theory, jazz, and ancient modes throughout the time that followed, Powers started making music experiments inspired by the visual works of artists such as Francis Bacon, Sister Gertrude Morgan, and Harry Clarke. Lining his walls in crude print-outs of pictures, he found graphic saturation helped inform the social and spiritual themes of his music. For two years, Powers crafted his own library of sounds, grotesque and bewitching, to serve as the backbone to the poetry he had been writing while traveling between Europe, Asia, and the United States. Embracing a combination of noise, beauty, and mercurial avant-pop atmospheres, he began molding these experiments into songs highlighting the intersection of unity and chaos, nightmares, and the invisible forces at war within the human self. Retreating to Tornillo, TX, Powers brought his songs and a handful of contributors to Sonic Ranch, a residential studio complex in the middle of a 2,300-acre orchard, to record Mulberry Violence – the debut album under his birth name, Mulberry Violence. [Limited white colored vinyl pressing also available.]
CDs + Vinyl:
Animal Collective – Tangerine Reef CD/2xLP (Domino)
“Over the last few years, Animal Collective has been collaborating with a Miami-based multimedia company called Coral Morphologic. Founded by marine biologist Colin Foord and musician Jared McKay, Coral Morphologic seeks to bring awareness to the peril of the ocean’s reefs through preservation and art projects. Foord delivered a spoken word intro to ‘Coral Lords’ off Avey Tare’s 2017 album Eucalyptus. More recently, AnCo and CoMo teamed on a new collection of songs called Tangerine Reef. Premiered live during the New York edition of David Lynch’s Festival of Disruption back in May, the music is now released as a double album.” – Consequence of Sound
Annisok – Arms CD/LP (Sharptone/Arising Empire)
“The German five-piece is setting new standards for heavy and melodic rock/metal music.”
Belmont – Belmont CD/LP (Mutant League)
Forecast by Rock Sound Magazine as “quite possibly the next great pop-punk band,” Chicago five-piece Belmont is poised to rise to the occasion with their new self-titled full-length debut on Mutant League Records. Following the recent local trail blazed by groups like Knuckle Puck and Real Friends and their acclaimed Between You & Me EP, Belmont features compelling songs that echo the sentiments of youth.
Benni – The Return CD/LP (Goner)
Benny Divine’s impressive musical CV includes quantities such as The Gary Wrong Group, Wizzard Sleeve and Nashville’s prolific purveyor’s of Foghat-pop, Natural Child, but it was just a short year ago that Goner gave wide release to the Bênní debut album, I & II, which launched the new sub-genre we now know as “Hi-NRG New Age.” Whereas I & II was, as its title explicitly implicates, the combination of two previously-released cassettes, The Return is a nine-track song-cycle composed for the full-length format. Imagine this album as an alternative historical narrative: not as a source of soundtrack afterthought, but rather the initial spark of inspiration for an entire ’70s sub-genre of gritty crime and science fiction films. Additionally, the fuzzy electro-pop chops are just as impressive as the spacey burps and gurgles that made his debut so gripping.
Bury Tomorrow – Black Flame CD/LP (Sony)
New album from the British metalcore band. [Limited gold colored pressing also available.]
Carnation – Chapel Of Abhorrence CD/LP (Season Of Mist)
The Belgian death metal titans explode out of the underground with a blood-soaked slab of ripping, old-school, pulverizing death metal.
Circles Around The Sun – Let It Wander 2xCD/2xLP (Rhino)
Circles Around The Sun explore new horizons on the band’s new double album, Let It Wander, the first new music from the quartet since their acclaimed 2015 debut, Interludes For The Dead. Originally, the band – guitarist Neal Casal, keyboardist Adam MacDougall (his bandmate in the Chris Robinson Brotherhood), bassist Dan Horne and drummer Mark Levy – were only supposed to record some Grateful Dead-influenced instrumentals to be played during the set breaks at the Dead’s “Fare Thee Well” concerts. But the response was so positive, and they were having so much fun making music together, that they all agreed to keep it going. Features a surprising cameo by Chuck D. on album highlight “One For Chuck”.
Defeated Sanity – Chapters Of Repugnance [Reissue/2010] CD/LP (Willowtip)
Expanded reissue of the German death metal band’s third album with three bonus tracks.
Neil Diamond – Hot August Night III 2xCD/2xCD+DVD/2xCD+Blu-ray (Neil Diamond)
Hot August Night Ill chronicles Neil Diamond’s triumphant return to the legendary Greek Theatre in Los Angeles in August 2012. 33 songs including 31 greatest hits.
Dizzy – Baby Teeth CD/LP (Royal Mountain)
Oshawa, Ontario band Dizzy’s free and fluid debut record Baby Teeth finds them penning story-songs that are reflective of coming of age in suburbia. Think layered, honeyed vocals, lilting guitar licks, soft electronic beats and a collection of ten tracks that will echo in your ears all summer.
Doro – Forever Warriors CD (Nuclear Blast)
Doro – Forever United CD (Nuclear Blast)
“Ever a persistent force in the metal world, Doro has been metal’s queen for over three decades. A title that she has more than lived up to with quality releases over the years, even if there is still a strong reverence for the Warlock era. This time six years have passed since her last studio album, but Doro has returned with a vengeance. Forever Warriors Forever United is her first double-album, and it lives up to the expectations set in front of it. With two different albums, it’s worth looking at them individually as well. Forever Warriors is the heavier of the two discs. Forever United, feels a bit more melodic and emotional.” – Dead Rhetoric
ESG – Come Away With ESG [Reissue/1983] CD (Fire)
Reissue of the classic 1983 genre-busting debut album by the Bronx sisters ESG. So the story goes Anthony H. hooked up with Ed Bahaman and the band’s landmark first effort, Come Away With ESG was born. In the intervening years, it’s been sampled to death. Those in the know have hailed ESG as innovators who helped fashion hip-hop and house music and rewrote post punk, yet somehow remain something of a secret. [Vinyl edition due September 7.]
Exocrine – Molten Giant CD/LP (Unique Leader)
Molten Giant, which pays homage to Kaiju movies and is a concept album about a nuclear war between a gigantic lava monster and the surviving human beings, features phenomenal production, blistering guitar playing, ominous synth heavy atmospherics and massive unbridled brutality.
Charlie Farley – Winning With The Losers CD (Average Joe’s Ent.)
New album from the country-rapper.
Föllakzoid & J. Spaceman – London Sessions CD/LP (Sacred Bones)
It should come as no surprise to fans of the Chilean trio Föllakzoid that upon meeting the legendary Jason Pierce aka J. Spaceman (Spacemen 3, Spiritualized), they discovered they were kindred spirits. Föllakzoid and Spaceman’s projects share a restless drive to explore the outer limits of music, as well as an uncanny ability to lock into a groove until it infiltrates the deepest recesses of the listener’s psyche. When Föllakzoid met Spaceman backstage at a Wooden Shjips gig at London’s Electric Ballroom several years ago, they instantly became friends.
For London Sessions, the Chileans and Spaceman joined forces for new live renditions of “Electric” and “Earth,” two highlights from Föllakzoid’s III.
Ariana Grande – Sweetener CD (Republic)
Fourth album from the Grammy-nominated superstar that has emerged as one of the most magnetic and massively successful performers in pop music today. Sweetener features single “No Tears Left To Cry”, as well as “The Light Is Coming” (featuring Nicki Minaj) and “God Is A Woman”. Other guests include Pharrell Williams and Missy Elliott.
Great Lake Swimmers – The Waves, The Wake CD/LP (Nettwerk)
Abandoning the acoustic guitar, The Waves, The Wake sees the Toronto indie folk group branching out to include new sounds such as harp, lute, pipe organ, woodwinds, congas and marimbas, alongside the more familiar flecks and chimes of the banjo, piano, and 12-string electric guitar. The stunning acoustics of the historic, 145-year-old Bishop Cronyn Memorial Church in London, Ontario lend the atmospheric touch to the album, under the guidance of co-producer Chris Stringer (Union Sound).
Harry Hosono And The Yellow Magic Band – Paraiso [Reissue/1978] CD/LP (Light In The Attic)
Haruomi Hosono – Omni Sight Seeing [Reissue/1979] CD/LP (Light In The Attic)
Haruomi Hosono – Philharmony [Reissue/1982] CD/LP (Light In The Attic)
The unbelievably prolific Haruomi Hosono is one of the major architects of modern Japanese pop music. With his encyclopedic knowledge of music and boundless curiosity for new sounds, Hosono is the auteur of his own idiosyncratic musical world, putting his unmistakable stamp on hundreds of recordings as an artist, session player, songwriter and producer.
Innumerable Forms – Punishment In Flesh CD/LP (Profound Lore)
Debut album by this death metal project from Justin DeTore (Sumerlands, Magic Circle, Mind Eraser) features members of Power Trip, Iron Lung, Mammoth Grinder, The Rival Mob, and Genodice Pact.
Jeremy & Harlequins – Remember This CD/LP (Yep Roc)
Infused with the classic sounds and ineffable cool of classic ’50s and ’60s rock & roll, Jeremy & the Harlequins are a five-piece band hailing from New York City. Remember This is the band’s third studio album.
David Jones – David Jones [Reissue/1965] CD (Friday Music)
CD reissue of David Jones’ (The Monkees) first album on Colpix Records.
Mariachi Reyna de Los Ángeles – Mariachi Reyna de Los Ángeles CD (Smithsonian Folkways)
Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles profoundly changed the course of women in mariachi history. Since their founding in 1994, the internationally renowned, GRAMMY-nominated, all-female ensemble has had enormous impact as a groundbreaker and role model for women in music. This recording displays the group at its best, playing fresh arrangements of gems from the mariachi legacy to create a sound of their own.
Mattson 2 – Play A Love Supreme CD/LP (Spiritual Pajamas)
John Coltrane’s 1965 magnum opus A Love Supreme is one of the most revered and influential recordings in the history of jazz, widely regarded as the iconic saxophonist’s masterpiece. It might seem audacious at the very least to undertake a new recording of such a foundational album, but twin brothers Jared and Jonathan Mattson are nothing if not sonic risk-takers. With A Love Supreme, the duo reimagines Coltrane’s avant-garde epic through a 21st-century lens, creating a new interpretation that remains faithful to the questing spirit of the original while pushing the music into bold new territory-which itself is fully in keeping with the composer’s forward-looking vision. The album translates the Coltrane Quartet’s acoustic jazz explorations into a modern language swathed in a haze of analog synths, ecstatic guitars, transcendent grooves and enveloping atmospherics.
Mitski – Be The Cowboy CD/LP (Dead Oceans)
“Mitski makes music that codifies our desires to be seen and our distresses about being alive. After years of growing a nearly religious fanbase with albums like Retired From Sad, New Career In Business and the indefatigable Bury Me At Makeout Creek, she become an indie rock household name with her 2016 album Puberty 2. Her latest, Be The Cowboy, is self-described as her saddest ever, but it is also very much about maintaining command of one’s own world. As with Mitski’s previous LP Puberty 2 – one of FACT’s favorite albums of 2016 – themes of love, identity, heartbreak and vulnerability abound on the new album. But where Puberty 2 cranked up the distortion on her grunge-rock guitar, Be The Cowboy comes wrapped in a glossier sheen from long-time producer Patrick Hyland – and it’s often at odds with the album’s underlying sense of isolation.” – The Fader [Limited Deluxe coke bottle green colored vinyl pressing also available.]
The Moldy Peaches – The Moldy Peaches [Reissue/2001] CD/LP+7” (Rough Trade)
The Moldy Peaches were established in the mid- ‘90s by Adam Green and Kimya Dawson, after meeting in upstate New York. The duo helped spawn the “anti-folk” music genre movement, bringing a more quirky, lo-fi punk element into the indie music scene. After releasing their own music for a few years, they collected their best material for a proper album, and in 2001 shared The Moldy Peaches via Rough Trade Records. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Roy Montgomery – Suffuse CD/LP (Grapefruit)
New album by the celebrated New Zealand guitarist (Pin Group, Dadamah, Dissolve) who in the past 40 years has released records on Flying Nun, Kranky, Drunken Fish and VHF. Includes vocal contributions from Haley Fohr (Circuit Des Yeux), Julianna Barwick, Liz Harris (Grouper), Katie Von Schleicher, Purple Pilgrims (Clementine and Valentine Adams) and She Keeps Bees (Jessica Larrabee).
Alan Munson – One Man’s Journey: 1972-1979 CD/LP (Modern Harmonic)
One Man’s Journey is a compilation based on Alan Munson’s real-life happenings, a blend of singer-songwriter music and his experiences, accompanied by beautiful guitar and voice. It would be unfair to place Munson’s music in a single genre; it’s a fusion of mellow psychedelic folk rock with the amazing atmosphere of the times. Originally released as private pressings, his recorded songs have a very intimate feel. Wonderful harmonies and meaningful lyrics will get deep under your skin, and the stripped-down production gives these songs an even more intense personal ambiance. At times you can even hear British influences coming through his music, think of Nick Drake and the like. [Limited blue colored vinyl pressing also available.]
The Myrrors – Borderlands CD/LP (Beyond Beyond Is Beyond)
If you see The Myrrors as the dust-caked disciples of a specific strain of desert-drone mysticism, there’s little on Borderlands, their fourth full-length LP released in as many years, to dissuade you from that vision. Instead, there’s only confirmation – an intoxicating combination of outlook and output that clarifies and crystallizes the band’s many sonic strengths throughout the album’s fantastically unfolding forty-plus minutes.
Papa M – A Broke Moon Rises CD/LP/Cassette (Drag City)
Following his phoenix-like rise from the ashes in late 2016, Papa M strikes back with just four acoustic guitars and a bit of drums. Naturally, it’s completely spellbinding and hypnotizing and engrossing and also kind of pretty, but yeah, a little frightening too. The five songs of A Broke Moon Rises find David focusing his technique in unknown directions, to find out what he can do with them. As the quietly funereal march of the opening track resonates with a spare drum beat, we are completely transfixed into the open spaces around the guitars.
Pere Ubu – Cloudland [Reissue/1989] CD/LP (Fire)
Pere Ubu – Worlds In Collision [Reissue/1991] CD/LP (Fire)
Pere Ubu make a music that is a disorienting mix of midwestern groove rock, “found” sound, analog synthesizers, falling-apart song structures and careening vocals. It is a mix that has mesmerized critics, musicians and fans for decades. The band’s seventh and eighth albums are back in print on CD and vinyl courtesy of Fire Records.
Primitive Man/Unearthly Trance – Split CD/LP (Relapse)
One year after each releasing two of 2017’s heaviest albums, Denver, CO’s Primitive Man and New York City’s Unearthly Trance unite for an exercise in complete and total suffering. Across seven apocalyptic tracks, both bands unleash uncomfortable, vile realms of blackened doom and dissonant, harsh noise.
Rebel Wizard – Voluptuous Worship of Rapture and Response CD/LP (Prosthetic)
Prolific, mysterious, chaotic and subtly profound, metal warlock B. Nekrasov returns with another brew of fuzzed out black metal and classic NWOBHM. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Adam Remnant – Sourwood CD/LP (Anyway)
Adam Remnant came up over the last decade fronting the folk-rock band Southeast Engine. As Southeast Engine wound down, Remnant began plotting his way forward as a solo artist. He assembled a little studio in his basement and earnestly began writing and recording the songs that comprise the 2016 EP, When I Was A Boy, as well as this new full-length, Sourwood. Remnant’s signature baritone voice and literary songwriting act as the focal point in the productions spanning between folk, rock, and indie sounds mined from a Midwest basement.
Ross From Friends – Family Portrait CD/LP+MP3 (Brainfeeder)
Having recently made his inaugural outing on Brainfeeder with Aphelion EP, British producer Ross From Friends aka Felix Clary Weatherall returns with his debut album on Flying Lotus’ label. Family Portrait is characterized by a perpetual desire to experiment and Felix’s obsessive attention to detail, somehow marrying an intricately layered production style with warm, heavily saturated sonics that elevate, rather than stifle, his melodious funk.
STRFKR – Being No one, Going Nowhere: Remixes CD/2xLP+MP3 (Polyvinyl)
Re-imagining of STRFKR’s fourth album, Being No One, Going Nowhere featuring remixes from Kauf, Blake Parsons, Ghosts Of Venice, Lindstrom & Prins Thomas, Chrome Sparks, Xiu Xiu, Filterkat, Geographer, Juan Maclean, PIXELATED and Peaking Lights Disco. [Colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Styles-P – G-Host CD (The Phantom Entertainment)
After dropping his Nickel Bag EP in March, Styles P releases his next album, G-Host. The 18-track album includes two exclusive bonus tracks “I Got Issues” and “Sky High” and features guest appearances by Dyce Payne, Whispers, Kody, Nino Man, Boog Jones and more.
Cole Swindell – All Of It CD (Warner Music Nashville)
The third album from the rising country music superstar.
Thee Oh Sees – Smote Reverser CD/2xLP (Castle Face)
Crack the coffers, Oh Sees have spawned another frothy album of head-destroying psych-epics to grok and rock out to.
Them Are Us Too – Amends CD/LP (Dais)
Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. Posthumous release. Kennedy (the surviving member of the band after the passing of Cash Askew in the Oakland fire) teamed up with Cash’s stepfather and friends and finished their remaining songs and some new ones – resulting in a gorgeous album and a proper sendoff to the band and Cash.
Trappist – Ancient Brewing Tactics CD/2xLP (Relapse)
Los Angeles, craft beer connoisseurs Trappist brew forth their highly-anticipated, debut full-length Ancient Brewing Tactics. Formed in 2014 and consisting of scene legends Chris Dodge (Spazz, Infest, Despise You), Phil Vera (Crom, Despise You, -(16)-) and Ryan Harkins (co-owner of popular heavy metal-themed burger joint Grill ‘Em All, Killed In Action), Trappist have one clear mission, to annihilate the listener with a storm of d-beat, crust punk, power-violence, and hardcore all in the name of beer.
Various Artists – Teen Expo: The Cleopatra Label CD/LP (Numero)
From a basement in New Jersey, Tommy Falcone remade himself into a DIY Phil Spector. From 1962 to 1970, he founded and ran Cleopatra Records, discovered and mentored young Garden State talent, wrote songs and produced wild studio effects, and quit his day job to promote it all himself. Trained as an accordionist, Falcone had a whirlwind imagination and an omnivorous approach to genre, expressed through acts like the Centuries, the Tabbys, Johnny Silvio, the Inmates, Bernadette Carroll, the Hallmarks, Vickie & the Van Dykes, the Shandillons, Eugene Viscione, the Shoestring, and more. Cleopatra became a time-capsule of every 1960s pop style imaginable—garage rock, psychedelia, surf, girl groups, soul, novelties, exotica, even a crooner—a kaleidoscope of sound in search of the ever-elusive hit record.
Weathered – Stranger Here CD/LP (Facedown)
On Stranger Here, Weathered reveals perfectly counterbalanced subtleties of shoegaze with ample alt rock allure. The Minnesota four-piece reveal the mission statement behind the title of the album: “Our natural desire to run away from God and do things that are spiritually detrimental to us can make us feel like strangers around the people we’re supposed to be closest to.”
WHY? – Alopecia [Reissue/2008] CD/LP+MP3/LP+7”+MP3 (Joyful Noise)
“I’ll go unknown by torpedo or Crohn’s / Only those evil live to see their own likeness in stone.” It’s the kind of couplet you’d carve into a wall whilst savoring the irony at hand, but when Yoni Wolf spit the line 10 years ago he was blissfully, broodily unaware that he and his band WHY? were creating a career-defining album – one so fan-adored that it would go out-of-print, and so influential that the art-pop heroine Lorde herself would lovingly steal the very lyric quoted above. When it dropped in 2008, Alopecia not only marked WHY?’s evolution from a sonically collaged mostly solo project to a live-recorded powerhouse band of badass multi-instrumentalists. It also minted a genre of one: wryly written, poignantly posed, simultaneously swaggering and heart-rending song-rap that jangles like folk, bursts like psych-rock, and sways like chamber pop. The album’s 2018 reissue cheekily etches that aural likeness into our musical history. [Limited deluxe colored vinyl pressing with bonus 7” also available.]
Connor Youngblood – Cheyanne CD/LP+MP3 (Counter)
Following the praise around his The Generation Of Lift EP and a number of critically acclaimed singles, Nashville-based multi-instrumentalist Conner Youngblood releases his long-awaited debut album Cheyenne. Comprised of 13 tracks, it’s the culmination of two years of extensively seeing the world, resulting in a record that involves travel and nature, but also the grounding aspects of the people Youngblood has encountered along the way. While his sound is definitively his own, his debut takes cues from an array of artists including multi-instrumentalists Sufjan Stevens and Elliott Smith as well as the beautiful melodics of singer-songwriter Moses Sumney and Justin Vernon.
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
6ix9ine – Day69: Graduation LP (Ten Thousand Project)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Following quickly on the heels of colorful rapper Daniel Hernandez aka Tekashi aka 6ix9ine’s (pronounced “six nine”) successful debut mixtape Day69, Day69: Graduation Day consists of the mixtape’s original eleven tracks including the hit singles “Gummo”, “Billy”, “Keke” and Kooda”, plus the highly anticipated track “Gotti” which finds Tekashi switching up his sound from his signature scream-rap style to a more melodic and auto-tuned flow. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Bad Religion – New America [Reissue/2000] LP+MP3 (Epitaph)
Vinyl reissue of the influential West Coast punk band’s eleventh album.
Tyler Bates – Deadpool 2: Original Motion Picture Score LP (Sony)
Limited 180gm picture disc vinyl LP pressing.
The Beach Boys – The Beach Boys With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra 2xLP (Capitol)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The Beach Boys’ original vocal performances are paired with new symphonic arrangements, recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios. Brian Wilson says, “I always knew the vocal arrangements I did back in the 1960s would lend themselves perfectly for a symphony and there is no better one in the world than the Royal Philharmonic. I am both proud and humbled by what they have created using our songs and I hope everyone falls in love with it like I have.”
Joseph Bishara – More Music From The Further Original Soundtrack LP (Void Recordings)
A collection of 27 unreleased and developmental score pieces from the first three Insidious films
composed by Joseph Bishara. It includes raw takes and pre-scores, unreleased sequences, and pieces written for and around this dark astral realm
Bosq – Love And Resistance LP (Ubiquity)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Bosq’s aptly titled third full-length effort Love And Resistance is a collection of songs that reflect a producer’s continuing emergence by diving deeper into his influences. The strains of Afro and Latin flavors are interwoven and still heavily permeate but the underlying groove and rhythms have taken on a more modern, jazz-funk and disco-soul vibe with nods to Bobby Caldwell, Roy Ayers, the Mizell brothers and Nile Rodgers’ Chic.
Kev Brown – Homework LP+7” (Redefinition)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Hailing from Palmer Park in Landover, Maryland specifically, after a 13-year hiatus, the producer/MC has finally prepared the sophomore sequel to 2005’s influential cult classic, I Do What I Do. Though Brown is known as one of hip-hop’s elite producers from heavyweights like Diamond D, Pete Rock, Busta Rhymes, Peter Rosenberg, 9th Wonder and Jazzy Jeff, he is a man of many hats. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Cannibal Corpse – Gallery Of Suicide [Reissue/1998] LP (Metal Blade)
Cannibal Corpse – Bloodthirst [Reissue/1999] LP (Metal Blade)
Limited red colored vinyl reissues of the death metal band’s sixth and seventh albums.
Johnny Cash – Greatest Hits Volume 1 [Reissue/1967] LP (Friday Music)
Limited edition 180gm translucent gold audiophile vinyl LP pressing.
Julee Cruise – The Voice Of Love [Reissue/1993] 2xLP (Sacred Bones)
Julee Cruise – Three Demos [Reissue/1993] 12” (Sacred Bones)
Twenty-five years after its initial release, Julee Cruise’s sophomore album The Voice of Love is being issued for the first time on vinyl. It would mark the final full-length collaboration between Cruise, David Lynch, and Angelo Badalamenti. [Limited colored vinyl pressings are also available. CD edition due September 7.]
Damu The Fudgemunk and Flex Matthews – Dreams & Vibrations 2xLP (Redefinition)
The duo has assembled an ode to their love of hip-hop after a longtime friendship of over 15 years. Complete with all the essential elements of quality rap music, their true school approach features lively lyrical performances, in your face scratching, booming beats and a few extra surprises to garnish their 14-track offering.
Echo Beds – Buried Language LP (The Flenser)
The experimental industrial duo’s second full length following a number of sold-out DIY releases. For fans of Street Sects, Youth Code, and Drab Majesty.
Ella Fitzgerald – Ella At Zardi’s 2xLP (Verve)
Recorded on February 2, 1956 at Zardi’s Jazzland in Hollywood, Ella At Zardi’s features the entirety of the evening’s two-set, 21-song performance, which captures an inspired Fitzgerald, backed by a stellar trio comprised of pianist Don Abney, bassist Vernon Alley & drummer Frank Capp, singing & swinging in front of an animated, adoring crowd, just days before she’d go on to record the album that would catapult her to stardom.
Funkadelic – Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On [Reissue/1974] LP (4 Men With Beards)
Limited gold colored vinyl pressing of Funkadelic’s sixth album.
Girlschool – Hit & Run [Reissue/1981] LP (Dissonance)
Expanded vinyl reissue of the second studio album by the British heavy metal band, Girlschool, originally released in 1981 on Bronze Records.
Iceberg Slim – Reflections [Reissue/1976] LP (Modern Harmonic)
Robert “Iceberg Slim” Beck was a mess of contradictions whose works have transformed African American literature and culture. There would have been no blaxploitation or hip-hop the way that we know them today without Pimp: The Story of My Life. To a wide range of readers Iceberg Slim is the definitive voice of black urban life and to his critics he is a misogynist who wrote trashy paperbacks that promote violence against vulnerable young women; both outlooks have a degree of truth to them. In 1976 Beck recorded Reflections, in which he recites four street poems accompanied by Red Holloway’s jazz quartet. Beck’s deep voice is full of velvety menace and combined with Holloway’s mellow riffs, the album has all the ambiance of a haze filled lounge.
Nick Ingman – Big Beat [Reissue/1973] LP (Modern Harmonic)
First-time reissue. A paragon of crate digger gold for lovers of library music, thick grooves, and Discogs flippers, Nick Ingman’s percussion- laden Big Beat stays true to its name, with beats of mammoth stature and unusual orchestration. A soundtrack in search of a film, the tracks herein add funky grooves to post-big band soundscapes, with the spotlight fixed on the big, bold drums throughout the album.
Jitwam – Purple 12” (The Jazz Diaries)
After opening for Roy Ayers, a packed out Euro tour and features on Moodymann’s DJ-Kicks mix, Jitwam comes thru with a funky dose of luscious bass and hand-clapping soul.
Judas Priest – Defenders Of The Faith [Reissue/1984] LP+MP3 (Sony Legacy)
Judas Priest – Priest… Live! [Reissue/1987] LP+MP3 (Sony Legacy)
Judas Priest – Ram It Down [Reissue/1988] LP+MP3 (Sony Legacy)
180gm vinyl reissues of the British heavy metal band’s ninth, eleventh and twelfth albums.
Keep Flying – Walkabout / Follow Your Nightmares LP (Smartpunk)
Hailing from the northeast region of the US, Keep Flying blends musical stylings borrowed from a few different genres and eras. Crossing a mix of late ‘90s skate punk with the aggression of early ‘00s pop-punk, the band stretches a spectrum of tastes that is sure to appeal to multiple audiences. One of Smart Punk Records’ favorite bands to watch live, the label jumped at the opportunity to bring their two EPs, Walkabout (2017) and Follow Your Nightmares (2016), to vinyl for the first time in one 10-track collection.
King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard – Polygondwanaland LP (Fuzz Club)
Limited 180gm milky white colored vinyl LP pressing.
Mark Kozelek – Mark Kozelek LP (Caldo Verde)
Released last May on CD – now available on vinyl. The first of two albums Kozelek has planned for 2018, Mark Kozelek is comprised of 11 songs that were recorded in hotel rooms around San Francisco, including the previously released “This Is My Town” and “My Love For You”.
Bob Larder/Doseone – Gang Beasts [OST] LP (iam8bit)
The soundtrack to Gang Beasts is a whomping, synthy, neon laser fantasy thrill/chill ride. Musically, it wobbles just like the gelatinous fighters in-game – vacillating between bass heavy, dance party bounty and electric rock riffs. When married with 4-player frenzy, it’s motivating and energetic – a perfect compliment to the on-screen action. Blasting this record outside of gameplay, however, is an entirely new sensation designed to take full advantage of your living room speaker set up. You’ll feel beat-drenched thumps in your chest, yet at the same time, be awash in a soothing trance of relaxation.
The Litter – Action Woman EP 12” (Purple Pyramid)
The Litter – Wretch LP (Purple Pyramid)
Action Woman includes four previously unreleased version of psych-garage rock classics from The Litter 1967-1968. Wretch is a ‘lost’ archival album comprised of 12 previously unreleased 1970 recordings. The Litter’s late ’60s output, including the all-time classic “Action Woman”, has been hailed as some of the finest psych garage rock to come out of the States.
Walter Lure & The Waldos – Wacka Lacka Boom Bop A Loom Bam Boo LP (Cleopatra)
The first album in 24 years from legendary Heartbreakers guitarist/vocalist Walter Lure. Limited red colored vinyl pressing.
Open Mike Eagle – Rappers Will Die Of Natural Causes LP (Auto Reverse)
Limited black and blue colored vinyl reissue of the long unavailable second album by highly acclaimed rapper Open Mike Eagle featuring several tracks that are amongst the most popular in his live set. From dark themes like morality and race relations, Mike managed to draw out some of his most imaginative and witty work. And with features like Rhymesayers Entertainment’s P.O.S. and art rap godfather MC Paul Barman, Rappers Will Die Of Natural Causes was the release that put Open Mike Eagle into the national rap conversation.
Protoje – A Matter Of Time LP (Kartel)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Produced by longtime collaborator Winta James, Protoje’s fourth full-length studio album maintains the essence of Jamaican roots music while channeling a wide array of styles from dancehall, dub, hip-hop, and rock into one cohesive body of work. Includes a guest appearance by Chronixx.
Ra Ra Riot – The Rhumb Line [Reissue/2008] 2xLP (Barsuk)
Tenth anniversary gatefold double vinyl reissue including a second LP of eleven additional live and demo tracks, nine of which are previously unreleased; the set is bound in a linen-like cover with gold-foil stamping. Rolling Stone hailed The Rhumb Line as “a blissful chamber-pop breakthrough” in their 4-star, top 40 albums of the year review.
Tony Reed – The Lost Chronicles Of Heavy Rock – Volume 1 LP (Listenable)
Tony Reed is Mos Generator’s mastermind and main songwriter. Mos Generator has delivered some of the finest heavy rock since 2002 and have also just released their brand new studio album Shadowlands. As an extremely prolific songwriter, Reed has written hundreds of songs for all his past projects including Mos Generator, and in various music genres from stoner rock, hard rock, doom metal, progressive rock and even hardcore punk as well. Over a period of four years, he has recorded a series of cover songs from the ‘70s era – ten of which are collected here. Includes tracks originally by Boomerang, Fanny Adams, Highway Robbery, Wishbone Ash, Atomic Rooster, Rush, Necromandus, Pentagram, Bloodrock, and King Crimson.
Siouxsie & The Banshees – Join Hands [Reissue/1979] LP (Geffen)
Siouxsie & The Banshees – Juju [Reissue/1979] LP (Geffen)
Siouxsie & The Banshees – Tinderbox [Reissue/1986] LP (Geffen)
Siouxsie & The Banshees – Through The Looking Glass [Reissue/1987] LP (Geffen)
180gm vinyl reissues of the British goth/new wave/rock band’s second, fourth, seventh, and eighth albums.
Soundtrack – Sunset Society LP (Cleopatra)
Limited edition red vinyl pressing of the soundtrack to the vampire thriller starring Motörhead’s Lemmy. Includes tracks by Lemmy, The 69 Eyes’ vocalist Jyrki 69, Ratt’s Stephen Pearcy, Thor and more plus a special original track by Die Krupps’ Jürgen Engler and Hawkwind’s Simon
House.
Soundtrack – Uncle Drew LP (RCA)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Features tracks by G-Eazy, Yo Gotti, YBN Nahmir, A$AP Rocky, Gucci Mane, 21 Savage, London On Da Track, Khalid, A$AP Ferg, Tone Stith, 2 Chainz, GoldLink, Logic, French Montana, Remy Ma, Wiz Khalifa, Leikeli47, Grace and others.
Teenage Fanclub – Bandwagonesque [Reissue/1991] LP+7” (Sony UK)
Teenage Fanclub – Thirteen [Reissue/1993] LP+7 (Sony UK)
Teenage Fanclub – Grand Prix [Reissue/1995] LP+7” (Sony UK)
Teenage Fanclub – Songs From Northern Britain [Reissue/1997] LP+7” (Sony UK)
Teenage Fanclub – Howdy! [Reissue/2000] LP+7” (Sony UK)
Limited import 180gm vinyl LP reissues, each title remastered from the original tapes at Abbey Road Studios, London under the guidance of the band, and packaged in a faithful re-production of the original vinyl artwork. The band has selected rarities to include on a 7″ with each album.
This Heat – Repeat/Metal [Reissue/1993] LP (Modern Classics)
This Heat – Made Available [Reissue/1996] LP (Modern Classics)
This Heat – Live 80/81 [Reissue/2006] LP (Modern Classics)
Formed in 1976 in Brixton, a multicultural, and – at the time – down-at-heel part of south London, This Heat were born into a music scene in rapid flux, first thanks to the punk explosion and then via new wave and it’s myriad offshoots into pop, rock and art-rock. But while many sought to apply punk attitude to chart-friendly sounds, This Heat were concocting some of the most experimental ideas ever committed to tape, taking influence from musique concrète, krautrock, the burgeoning industrial scene and even the dub reggae blasting out in their home borough. Following Modern Classics Recordings’ 2016 reissue campaign to mark the band’s 40th anniversary, Repeat/Metal, Made Available and Live 80/81 round out the story.
Traps PS – New Chants LP (Innovative Leisure)
Traps PS is a band that breaks less is more all the way down to less is everything. Like the Minutemen, the songs are short because they don’t need to be long. And like the Minutemen, sixty seconds of Traps PS hits harder and resonates longer than five-ten-twenty sloppy minutes from somebody else. Or like Gang Of Four, who got it from James Brown, who is a fundamental Traps PS inspiration. Traps PS cares about discipline, rhythm and clarity. Says drummer Miles Wintner: “We don’t waste time.”
Various Artists – Birth/Work/Death: Work Money And Status In Country Music 1950-1970 LP (Iron Mountain Analog)
Limited colored vinyl LP pressing in gatefold jacket. Full dynamic range 2018 remasters direct from the first-generation analogue master tapes. 18 timeless tales of clanging hammers and pounding shovels – from wry, dry working-stiff diatribes to bare-chested exclamations – Birth/Work/Death maps the human work experience from anger to joy, poverty to riches. From the muck-crusted mines to late-night jukeboxes – backwoods outsiders and Nashville icons alike waxed odes to the entwined necessities of work and money, status and competition, survival and servitude. Harrowing laments of dank deaths underground, fevered hymns to Mammon, snide ripostes to debt-bondage and exuberant celebrations of family and sustenance. Most originally waxed on private press labels and distributed in tiny amounts, these town criers and tavern-bound troubadours sing of golden highways, slothful byways, factory-floor drudgery and fallow, heartbreaking fields. [CD edition due October 19.]
Various Artists – Hillbillies In Hell: Country Music’s Tormented Testament (1952-1974) Volume 777 LP (Iron Mountain Analog)
A subterranean collection of deathly Nephilim, swampy graves, teenaged suicidal ideation, tormented Gospel tales, grisly mountain murders, craven lustmords, Apocalyptic visions and problematic parenting. Often originally waxed on microscopic labels and distributed in minuscule amounts, these troubled and sometimes forgotten troubadours sing of lustful homicides, masonic assassinations and Satan’s perpetual slaves.
Madisen Ward and The Mama Bear – The Radio Winners LP (Glassnote)
Madisen Ward and The Mama Bear is a mother and son soulful folk-rock band duo sound is anchored by twin guitars and two big, booming voices. The Radio Winners is their second album.
Wild Pink – Yolk In The Fur LP+MP3 (Tiny Engines)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. On their new album, Yolk In The Fur, Wild Pink again take themselves and their listeners to a place of sonic placidity. Songwriter John Ross and his bandmates trade what sparing crunch they did use on their debut album Wild Pink for lush, balmy synths that lift their sound upwards and out, rather than forward and down. Any traces of slowcore and grunge are gone here, replaced by the angelic airiness of Cocteau Twins and Red House Painters, but with the modern crispness of Lake or Japanese Breakfast. Sporadic splashes of electronic drums and emphasized basslines add fascinating new dimensions to their already-diverse palette, but no instrument or tone ever feels shoehorned in.
Cassettes:
Death Cab For Cutie – Thank You For Today (Atlantic)
Thank You For Today is the sound of Death Cab For Cutie both expanding and refining; a band 20 years into its evolution, still uncovering new curves in its signatures, new sonic corners to explore.
Papa M – A Broke Moon Rises (Drag City)
Following his phoenix-like rise from the ashes in late 2016, Papa M strikes back with just four acoustic guitars and a bit of drums. Naturally, it’s completely spellbinding and hypnotizing and engrossing and also kind of pretty, but yeah, a little frightening too. The five songs of A Broke Moon Rises find David focusing his technique in unknown directions, to find out what he can do with them. As the quietly funereal march of the opening track resonates with a spare drum beat, we are completely transfixed into the open spaces around the guitars.
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