November Program Titles Released This Week:
Basement – Beside Myself CD/LP (Fueled By Ramen)
Beside Myself is not a concept record, but themes of the album do often relate to the inability of being comfortable in one’s skin. Being concerned about the future, troubled about the past, and how difficult it can be to exist in the moment. Co-produced with Colin Brittain and mixed by Rich Costey (At The Drive In, Muse, Biffy Clyro), Beside Myself marks Basement’s Fueled By Ramen/Warner Bros debut and follows their 2016 breakthrough, Promise Everything. Beside Myself finds Basement’s introspection unfolding over a collection of deeply-rich punk-charged alternative classics led by the likes of “Disconnect”, “Be Here Now” and “Stigmata”. [Limited translucent red colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Beyond Creation – Algorythm CD/2xLP (Season Of Mist)
Beyond Creation has established themselves as one of the worldwide leaders in modern technical death metal. On their long-awaited new album Algorythm, the Montreal quartet take yet another step forward. Incredibly intricate and subtle guitar and bass work weave through a fierce percussive onslaught in a dizzying display of mastery and instrumental interplay. Beyond Creation is at the apex of modern death metal, and Algorythm is a study in the forward motion of intelligent, progressive extremity. [Indie-exclusive deluxe LP also available.]
Blues Traveler – Hurry Up & Hand Around CD/LP (BMG)
Songs that last tell stories. Real magic happens when a cranked guitar chord, wailing harmonica, saucy beat, and soulful vocal conjure up a psychedelic scene, a warm family memory, or a romance-gone-wrong (or right, for that matter). Since 1987, Grammy Award-winning multi-platinum rock mavericks Blues Traveler – John Popper [vocals, harmonica], Chan Kinchla [guitar], Tad Kinchla [bass], Ben Wilson [keyboards], and Brendan Hill [drums] – have spun such tales. Moreover, they proudly continue this tradition on their thirteenth full-length album, Hurry Up & Hang Around. “It’s our truth,” Popper explains. “When you hear this, I hope the songs matter to you. I want to get into your heart. If you enjoy what we’re doing in any way, our mission is accomplished. We’re a family. You’re a part of that.”
The Bottle Rockets – Bit Logic CD/LP (Bloodshot)
Formed nearly 30 years ago, The Bottle Rockets helped forge a now popular subgenre-small-town, middle-class, Midwest American roots rock-part right-to-the-gut poetry, part rock ‘n’ roll, all truth. Bit Logic is a different sort of album for the St. Louis natives and shows them at their most self-aware, self-challenging, and socially alert. Recorded in St. Louis at Sawhorse Studios, engineered by Mario Viele and produced by longtime studio collaborator Eric “Roscoe” Ambel (The Del-Lords, Steve Earle), The Bottle Rockets’ 13th album has them looking at their unique stylistic blend through a different lens. While one of the group’s earmarks is constructing blue-collar anthems, Bit Logic has the quartet focusing outside themselves, at how change and adaptation affects the bigger picture.
Bobby Broom – Soul Fingers CD (MRI)
On Soul Fingers, guitarist Bobby Broom embraces the rhythm & blues core of jazz with his new group, the Organi–Sation, featuring organist Ben Paterson and drummer Kobie Watkins, playing interpretations of pop melodies from The Beatles to Motown. Combining his love of jazz, pop melodies he grew up with in the 1960s and 1970s and the funky, urban soul of his youth, for his 12th album as a leader Broom passionately extends the tradition of great jazz guitarists from Kenny Burrell and Wes Montgomery to Grant Green, George Benson and Pat Martino. Produced by legendary drummer Steve Jordan.
Elvis Costello & The Imposters – Look Now CD/CD+CDEP/LP/LP+12” (Concord)
Recorded in Hollywood, New York City and Vancouver, British Columbia, Look Now is beautiful in its simplicity, reflective in its lyrical vision, surrounded by melodies and orchestrations that are nothing short of heavenly. It’s the first album Costello has made with The Imposters since the 2008 release of Momofuku and his first new album since the acclaimed 2013 Roots collaboration, Wise Up Ghost. Look Now is an outstanding 12-strong addition to his song catalogue. Most of the titles were written solely by Elvis Costello although, “Don’t Look Now” and “Photographs Can Lie” were co-written with Burt Bacharach, who makes a guest appearance, leading The Imposters from the piano for those two ballads. Lead track “Under Lime” is a spry, heavily textured pop rocker with Beatles-esque harmonies and horn arrangements, while “Unwanted Number” has a low-key, soul-inflected groove and female backing vocals. Costello initially wrote the latter song for the 1996 Allison Anders movie Grace Of My Heart but never committed it to record until now. [Deluxe double-CD and double-vinyl editions include a bonus 4-track EP.]
Dave Davies – Decade CD (Red River Entertainment)
Dave Davies is a musician who needs little introduction, as a founder member of legendary rock group The Kinks; his guitar sound, unique style and songwriting has shaped the landscape of rock and pop music across generations. Decade is a collection of unreleased songs he recorded from 1971-79. The collection can be considered to be a companion piece to 2011’s Hidden Treasures, which spotlighted songs he wrote in the ‘60s. Although his brother Ray wrote the majority of the Kinks material, Dave penned several great songs, such as “Death Of A Clown” from Something Else and the Arthur-era outtakes “Mindless Child Of Motherhood” and “This Man He Weeps Tonight”. As the press release notes, Dave’s songs “had no apparent place” in the concept albums Ray was creating, so these tracks remained “under beds, in attics, in storage” until they were discovered by Dave’s sons. Dave’s first true solo album, AFL1-3603, came out in 1980.
John Grant – Love Is Magic CD/2xLP+MP3 (Partisan)
“Each record I make is more of an amalgamation of who I truly am,” declares John Grant. “The more I do this, the more I trust in myself, and the further along I go.” Even when the Michigan-born musician released his debut solo album Queen Of Denmark in 2010, Grant laced sumptuous soft-rock ballads with an array of spacey, wistful synthesizer sounds, increasingly adding taut, fizzing sequencers, nu-synth-disco settings and icy soundscapes to the mix on 2012’s Pale Green Ghosts and 2015’s Grey Tickles, Black Pressure, the latter The Guardian described as, “variously agonizing, hilarious, uplifting and moving: another bravura display from a unique songwriting talent.” Now, with his fourth solo album, Love Is Magic, Grant has continued evolving, creating his most electronic record yet, in collaboration with Benge (Ben Edwards), solo artist, analogue synth expert/collector and a member of electronica trio Wrangler. [Deluxe colored vinyl edition features gatefold sleeve packaging, a 24-page photo booklet and a 16-page hymn booklet. CD edition due October 19.]
John Hiatt – The Eclipse Sessions CD/LP (New West)
Long celebrated as a skilled storyteller and keen observer of life’s twists and turns, Hiatt can get at the heart of a knotty emotion or a moment in time with just a sharp, incisive lyric or witty turn of phrase. The 11 tracks presented on The Eclipse Sessions, from the breezy opener “Cry To Me”, to the stark “Nothing In My Heart”, the lost-love lamentation “Aces Up Your Sleeve” to the rollicking “Poor Imitation Of God”, demonstrate that the singer-songwriter, now 66, is only getting better with age, his guitar playing more rugged and rootsy, his words wiser and more wry. There’s a grit to these songs – a craggy, perfectly-imperfect quality that colors every aspect of the performances, right down to Hiatt’s raw and expressive vocals. “They ain’t pretty, that’s for sure,” he says about the creaks and cracks that punctuate his phrases in songs like “Poor Imitation Of God” and “One Stiff Breeze.” “But I don’t mind a bit. All the catches and the glitches and the gruffness, that sounds right to me. That sounds like who I am.”
Peter Holsapple vs. Alex Chilton – The Death Of Rock CD/LP (Omnivore)
Newly discovered recordings of early solo Peter Holsapple and Like Flies On Sherbert–era Alex Chilton. The Death Of Rock is a fascinating pivot point with both artists moving past each other headed in distinctly different directions. Chilton moved toward punk/psychobilly as he began playing with Tav Falco’s Panther Burns and produced The Cramps debut, Songs The Lord Taught Us, within a few months of these recordings. Holsapple was off to New York to audition for The dB’s and enter the world of “sweet pop”. Alex’s tracks definitely line up with the chaos found on his his 1979 solo album Like Flies On Sherbert, while several of Peter’s songs found homes on The dB’s two 1981albums Stands For Decibels and Repercussion (“Bad Reputation” and “We Were Happy There”) and on the The Troggs’ 1992 album Athens Andover (“The Death Of Rock” retooled as “I’m In Control”).
Connan Mockasin – Jassbusters CD/LP (Mexican Summer)
Jassbusters is Connan Mockasin’s third album and first in five years. An unclassifiable, unconventional record that neither picks up from nor abandons the modes of 2013’s widely-embraced Caramel or its 2010 predecessor Forever Dolphin Love, Jassbusters foreshadows a five-part melodramic “absurdist” film titled Bostyn ‘n Dobsyn, created by Mockasin. Jassbusters soundtracks the unpredictable narrative of the film in eclectic, electric ways. Whether bending genres or collaborating with artists like James Blake, MGMT, and Charlotte Gainsbourg, Connan Mockasin has always maneuvered in mysterious ways. After touring with the likes of Radiohead and Neil & Liam Finn (Crowded House), the R&B surrealist continues assembling a cult around his theater, nay spectacle of life.
Parcels – Parcels CD/LP+CD (Because Music)
Parcels, the young disco-pop breakthrough band hailing from Australia, now living in Berlin, offer up their self-titled debut album. The first emerging band ever to collaborate with the legendary Daft Punk (on the “Overnight” single – summer 2017), Parcels make immaculately polished MOR pop that would sound at home in the company of Chic or ‘70s-era Fleetwood Mac. “Our first album had to be self-produced and it had to be the truest representation of us, as people, as musicians and as a group that we had ever offered before,” explains the band. “Parcels started for us as a new experimentation in image and sound but after the five of us moved across the world together, its initial ideas and boundaries quickly lost importance. We had always played in bands together but clearly this was our first real band in that it was inseparable from the experience we were living together. This was now our identity, we’re a band in the older sense of the word. This suddenly gave direction to the initial recordings for our album and gave us something to play with for the imagery surrounding it.”
Justin Courtney Pierre – In The Drink CD/LP+MP3 (Epitaph)
It’s been a couple of years since we heard from Justin Courtney Pierre. When we last left off, his celebrated rock band Motion City Soundtrack decided to take a hiatus following a victory lap in support of their sixth album, Panic Stations. This culminated with a Riot Fest performance and a sold-out, career-spanning show at The Metro in Chicago in September of 2016. In reality, what he’s been doing lately hasn’t been terribly exciting bio fodder: He’s been in Minneapolis, mowing the lawn, cultivating tomatoes, taking care of his daughter and figuring out who he is if he isn’t the guy fronting Motion City Soundtrack. “I guess the jumping off point for this album was that I wanted to see if I could just write everything myself and perform as much of it as I could,” Pierre says of the impetus for his first solo album, In The Drink. The album sees Pierre evoking his usual influences like Pavement, Superchunk, The Flaming Lips, Jawbox, Fugazi, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Nirvana, Tom Waits, The Carpenters and Eddie Money, but through his own unique perspective and sung via his instantly recognizable tenor.
Polyphia – New Levels New Devils CD/LP (Equal Vision)
No other act has managed to marry a masterful command of melody with hip-hop rhythms and dark and sinister tones in such an enticing way as genre-blending instrumental heavyweights Polyphia – and they’ve done so without the crutch of sing-along vocals. In challenging the generally accepted constant that dark and technical music has to be atonal and undanceable, the four members of Polyphia have done their part to advance the world of instrumental rock. On their new full-length, New Levels New Devils, Polyphia have taken yet another defiant leap forward. The virtuosic guitar work that has defined Polyphia is still present, but the band made a conscious effort to replace distorted guitars and epic breakdowns with a soundscape of bass-heavy trap music. [Indie exclusive colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Sister Sparrow – Gold CD/LP (Party Flower)
Known far and wide as the impossibly big voiced leader of acclaimed soul collective Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds, singer Arleigh Kincheloe has made an astonishing leap forward with Sister Sparrow’s new LP, Gold. Produced by Carter Matschullat (Chef’Special, Secret Weapons), the album sees Sister Sparrow taking the classic brass-fueled Dirty Birds sound and turning it into something altogether new: a soul-blasted contemporary pop sound both timeless yet utterly now. Recorded mere months after Kincheloe became a new mother, songs like the evocative first single, “Ghost”, and the ebullient title track highlight Sister Sparrow’s strikingly strong vocals while also showcasing her growing muscle as an individualistic, communicative songwriter. Rich with ingenuity, confidence, and deeply felt emotion, Gold represents both a career milestone and thrilling new beginning for Sister Sparrow. Though she has been making music for most of her life, Kincheloe is well aware that with Gold she has finally created something unique, universal, and altogether her own.
St. Vincent – MassEducation CD/LP (Loma Vista)
A stunning standalone work in its own right, MassEducation is in fact another dimension of St. Vincent’s universally acclaimed 2017 album Masseduction. Recorded live in the studio over two nights in August 2017 while at Electric Lady Studio mixing the original album, MassEducation lays bare the exquisite songcraft of its other half. Performed entirely by Annie Clark on vocals and Thomas Bartlett on piano, the new album renders songs like “Young Lover” and “Fear The Future” and their subjects in vivid, vulnerable new light. Clark describes the refashioned versions as “two dear friends playing songs together with the kind of secret understanding one can only get through endless nights in New York City.”
Ian Sweet – Crush Crusher CD/LP (Hardly Art)
In writing Crush Crusher, Ian Sweet’s Jilian Medford committed herself to exploring her own issues with self-image, self-respect/worth, and the responsibility she has felt to others. Album opener “Hiding” was one of the first songs she wrote for the record while living in a frigid Brooklyn apartment during a winter break amidst her grueling tour schedule. In the song, Medford reflects on an interpersonal relationship that fell apart because of an inability to feel supreme comfort in sharing all the pieces of herself with someone. Nevertheless, a hopeful demeanor shines through on “Hiding” and in her writing across the album, with lyrics that embrace life’s hurdles and make them feel a little less scary. Recorded at Rare Book Room studios with producer/engineer Gabe Wax (Deerhunter, The War on Drugs, Soccer Mommy), Crush Crusher is full of dissonant open chords and abnormal progressions, finding beauty in a level of conflict not seen on the trio’s 2016 Shapeshifter. By the end of the recording process, Ian Sweet wound up with an unconventional assortment of songs featuring disparate elements of psych-rock, trip-hop, and shoegaze that together forged a sound uniquely Medford’s own.
Yves Tumor – Safe In The Hands Of Love CD/2xLP+MP3 (Warp)
Yves Tumor presents his highly anticipated Warp Records debut Safe In The Hands Of Love. Ever the sonic chameleon, the album sees Yves peeking out of the shadows with strong vocals and amped up production, channeling energy into deeply psychedelic and emotional compositions that manage to balance rampant experimentation with an idiosyncratic pop sensibility. From noise and industrial denizens to adventurous beat heads and a much wider field of adventurous music lovers of all kinds, Yves maintains a curiously wide appeal here and offers up an amazing ride.
Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats – Wasteland CD/LP (Rise Above)
A disorientating journey through Kevin Starrs’ (aka Uncle Acid) wonkiest dreams, Wasteland glides majestically from punchy and direct psych-rock anthems like “I See Through You” and “Shockwave City” to the viscous, somnambulant ooze of the eight-minute “No Return” and the twinkly-eyed bad trip of the album’s mesmerizing title track. Yet more confirmation that Uncle Acid exist in their own musical universe, Wasteland is a powerful cautionary tale: one rooted in the alien landscapes of Starrs’ imagination, but with a very clear connection to the deranged chaos of today’s political world. As humanity cheerfully circles the plughole, dystopian visions and present-day horrors have become more-or-less interchangeable, making Wasteland’s ghoulish surrealism a lot more pertinent and disturbing in the process. [Indie-exclusive colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Valley Maker – Rhododendron CD/LP (Frenchkiss)
On Valley Maker’s second full-length album, Rhododendron, songwriter Austin Crane sings about movement – from one kind of belief to another, from place to place, through time. This new record from Crane, a Seattle-based musician and PhD student in Human Geography, reflects both the rootedness and rootlessness that shapes his songwriting on the precipice of his third decade. Like his noted inspirations Jason Molina, Bill Fay, and Gillian Welch before him, he speaks to the strange and transitory ways we mark time through our lives. Years pass and fold in his cosmic, open-hearted folk-based songs full of characters that move from place to place, traveling through time and over lines on maps, driven to encounter the mysteries of existence and glimpse shared humanity. From the streamlined indie rock of opener “A Couple Days” to the swirling psychedelia of “Be Born Today”, from the soulful horns of “Rise Up” to the ambient touches of closer “River Bend My Mind”, the album demonstrates Crane’s distilled approach, his solidly built songs blooming with tasteful arrangements and touches. Rhododendron is an album about transition, about leaving, but also arriving, a document of the journeys in-between.
Colter Wall – Songs Of The Plains CD/LP (Young Mary’s Record Co.)
After two years of relentless touring, Colter Wall wanted to make an album about home. Drawing on the stories of Saskatchewan, Canada, the young songwriter’s corner of the world takes shape throughout his second full-length album, Songs Of The Plains. Produced by Dave Cobb in Nashville’s Studio A, the project combines striking original folk songs, well-chosen outside cuts, and a couple of traditional songs that reflect his roots growing up in the small city of Swift Current. Wall captures the spaciousness of the Canadian plains by relying on minimal production and his resonant baritone, which he’s strengthened into a mighty instrument in its own right. It’s a deep and knowing voice you wouldn’t expect of a man who’s not yet 24 years old. “I went into the studio and knew exactly the story I wanted to tell,” Colter says of Songs Of The Plains. “That made it easier on a sonic level and a musical level, to be able to tell Dave that it’s a record about my home. That changes it at the roots level because it’s like having a mission statement, saying, ‘All right, let’s make a Western album.’”
Within Destruction – Deathwish CD (Unique Leader)
“Deathcore has changed over the years. Where the original purveyors of the genre have either turned their hand to more melodic pastures or are still rocking the same blueprint as before, the modern generation seems to be dragging the genre to the deepest parts of hell. Within Destruction is one such band, dead set on seemingly trying to actually injure the listener with a hearty slice of music so abusive, it’ll actually make your head hurt. The middle chunk of Deathwish really is a collection of the best examples of modern deathcore at its most extreme. ‘Downfall Of Humanity’ will level all those who listen to it with an astounding mid song breakdown, whilst the primal and frankly horrifying vocals that appear in ‘Human Defect’ all glisten behind the well balanced and extremely well produced sound. There are always tendencies for the songs to saturate when things really do get out of hand but Within Destruction do a fantastic job of balancing their thick sound, something they are utterly reliant upon.” – Distorted Sound [Vinyl edition due October 26.]
CDs + Vinyl:
Barry Abernathy & Darrell Webb – Present Appalachian Road Show CD (New Day Ent.)
Bluegrass stalwarts Barry Abernathy (Mountain Heart co-founder, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver) and Darrell Webb (Lonesome River Band, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, J.D. Crowe & The New South) join together to take their rich history and experiences on a collaborative journey that explores and celebrates the musical history of the Appalachian Mountain people with Appalachian Road Show.
Ambrose Akinmusire – Origami Harvest CD (Blue Note)
Acclaimed trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire breaks new ground with his new album Origami Harvest, a surprisingly fluid study in contrasts that pits contemporary classical wilding against deconstructed hip-hop, with bursts of left-field jazz, funk, spoken work, and soul with help from the Mivos Quartet and art-rap expatriate Kool A.D. (Das Racist), along with pianist Sam Harris, drummer Marcus Gilmore, and saxophonist Walter Smith III.
Jimmy Allen – Mercury Lane CD (Stoney Creek)
Jimmie Allen was named one of CMT’s 18 for 2018 Listen Up Artists as well as a member of Bobby Bones’ Class Of 2018. In addition, he was included in Rolling Stone’s 10 New Country Artists You Need To Know: January 2018. Allen is a native of Delaware and moved to Nashville,
Tennessee in 2007. There, he worked as a songwriter, including a song that appeared in a Super Bowl commercial.
Arc Iris – Icon Of Ego CD/LP (Ba Da Bing!)
Recording at Providence’s Columbus Theater, home to silent movies and vaudeville during the ’20s, Arc Iris has evolved into a concentrated pop-prog explosion, mixing styles with disparate elements that captivate and surprise. With heavy synthesizer work the songs carry a thick, analog electronic sound that harks back to the ’70s.
Atreyu – In Our Wake CD/LP (Spinefarm)
Atreyu follow-up 2015’s Long Live with their seventh studio album, In Our Wake which finds the California metalcore mavericks reuniting with producer John Feldmann who helmed Lead Sails And Paper Anchor (2007). [Limited edition picture disc vinyl pressing also available.]
Lindsay Beaver – Tough As Love CD (Alligator)
Lindsay Beaver is a blues-rocking, soul-singing drummer, songwriter and bandleader, originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia and now residing in Austin, Texas. A uniquely talented musical spitfire, Lindsay is a jazz-trained drummer and a classically trained vocalist, writing and performing raw R&B, blues and old-school rock ‘n’ roll songs with punk rock fervor. Tough As Love is a refreshing slap across the face of roots music.
Benighted – Dogs Always Bite Harder Than Their Master CD/LP (Season Of Mist)
Benighted one of Europe’s best modern death metal bands. The French death-dealers have delivered high-speed brutality for 20-years now.
Sarah Borges And The Broken Singles – Love’s Middle Name CD/LP (Blue Corn Music)
Sarah Borges’s unbridled joy at making music two decades into a storied career comes through loud and clear in her latest long player, aptly titled Love’s Middle Name. Her third studio record with the Broken Singles, it’s a muscular 10-song cycle that pulses with gritty, unfettered emotion.
On “House on a Hill”, Sarah pines for a blue-eyed ex and the home they once shared. But instead of being a maudlin affair, the album’s centerpiece track grabs you with raw vocals and a wring-out-your-heart chorus over a no-nonsense drumbeat and driving guitars.
David Bowie – Loving The Alien (1983-1988) 11xCD/15xLP (Rhino/Parlophone)
The fourth in a series of box sets spanning David Bowie’s career following Five Years (1969-1973), Who Can I Be Now? (1974-1976) and A New Career In A New Town (1977-1982). The set is named after the opening track from the Tonight album and includes newly remastered versions of Bowie’s most commercially successful period: Let’s Dance, Tonight, Never Let Me Down (original and a new 2018 production of the LP), Glass Spider (Live Montreal ’87), the previously unreleased Serious Moonlight live album, a collection of original remixes entitled Dance and the non-album/alternate version/B-sides and soundtrack music compilation Re:Call 4.
Daniel Brandt – Channels CD/LP+MP3 (Erased Tapes)
Co-founder of the German ensemble Brandt Brauer Frick, Daniel Brandt’s new album Channels is his biggest statement yet, with the album’s thrilling avant-garde framework interweaving chord-driven techno, orchestral flourishes, rich electronic textures and hints of dark cinematic pop.
Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians – Rocket CD (Verve Forecast)
Thirty years ago, Edie Brickell and New Bohemians exploded out of Dallas and became an international sensation with their double-platinum debut album, Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars, featuring the Top Ten hit, “What I Am”. Now, the group returns with Rocket, their first new music in a dozen years. The band’s music contains elements of rock, folk, blues, and jazz.
Eric Clapton – Happy Xmas CD/LP (Surfdog)
Eric Clapton’s first ever full-length studio holiday album mixes instantly recognizable holiday classics with lesser-known unique titles along with an original new song “For Love On Christmas Day”.
Holger Czukay – Der Osten Ist Rot [Reissue/1984] CD (Grönland)
Holger Czukay – Rome Remains Rome [Reissue/1987] CD (Grönland)
Holger Czukay – Radio Wave Surfer [Reissue/1991] CD (Grönland)
Holger Czukay – Moving Pictures [Reissue/1993] CD (Grönland)
Four of out-of-print albums from the Can co-founder – the last in Grönland’s reissue campaign. [Vinyl editions due October 26.]
Daley & Vincent – The Sounds of Christmas CD (BMG)
The country/bluegrass duo delivers its first ever Christmas studio project that includes a duet with the legendary Dolly Parton and a score of Christmas classics that include “Frosty The Snowman”, “Jingle Bells” and “Mr. Grinch”.
Deadbird – III: The Forest Within The Tree CD/LP (20 Buck Spin)
A decade has now passed since the release of Twilight Ritual, the second album from Little Rock’s Deadbird. Though much has changed in the metal world since then, the band remains steadfast in their ability to sculpt heart wrenching and gutsy songs from the deepest, darkest places within. Years of toil and scorched southern soil went into the band’s third album III: The Forest Within The Tree, resulting in 40 haunting minutes of emotive turbulence and resolute grit.
The Dodos – Certainty Waves CD/LP (Polyvinyl)
Like the duo’s breakout sophomore album Visiter, Certainty Waves finds The Dodos embracing the unlimited possibilities of a time when there were no preconceptions of what the band should sound like. Questions like whether the group needed to incorporate more than just “acoustic guitar and drums,” and just what exactly the ratio should be of acoustic vs. electric guitar suddenly took a backseat to the realization that so much emphasis was mistakenly being put on form rather than spirit.
Evanescence – Synthesis Live CD+DVD/CD+Blu-ray (Eagle Records)
On November 3, 2017 Evanescence performed their 2017 album Synthesis—a reimagining of their best-known songs with orchestra & electronics—in front of a sold-out crowd at the Grand Theater at Foxwoods Casino in CT. [Stand-alone DVD and Blu-ray editions also available.]
Morgan Evans – Things That We Drink To CD (Warner Music Nashville)
Debut US album from Australian star Morgan Evans – a brilliant collection of poignant ballads and fun up-tempo songs.
Exit Group – Adverse Habitat CD (Castle Face)
From the dank warehouse recesses that brought us Useless Eaters and Dry Erase, Castle Face introduces Exit Group-sharply futuristic post-punk with a pissed-off lean, antisocial lyrics spit over an abnormally locked-in guitar/bass/drums triangle, wound up tighter than a Swiss watch. [Vinyl edition due October 26.]
Fade – Fall In Love CD/LP (Luminelle Recordings)
Fade is multi-instrumentalist and producer Marley Ferguson, whose music is propelled by vibrant analog synthesizers and the assured delivery of her elysian voice.
Lupe Fiasco – Drogas Wave CD (1st And 15th Productions)
The sequel to Drogas Light features feature contributions from Damian Marley, Nikki Jean, Crystal Torres, Rosy Timms, Troi Irons, and others.
Foreigner With The 21st Century Symphony Orchestra & Chorus – Foreigner With The 21st Century Symphony Orchestra & Chorus 2xCD (earMUSIC)
Double-CD edition now available. This concert was recorded at KKL Luzern, Switzerland on May 20th and 21st 2017 and is the first Foreigner album recorded with orchestra and choir.
Four Fists – 6666 CD/LP (Doomtree)
Four Fists is P.O.S and Astronautalis, two of Minneapolis’ most stylistically fearless artists. Both artists inhabit the worlds of hip-hop and indie-punk in a way that the Twin Cities music community has always welcomed.
Gama Bomb – Speed Between The Lines CD/LP (AFM)
Sixth album from the Irish thrash metal band. [Three colored vinyl pressings are also available: translucent yellow, translucent red, and translucent blue.]
Vince Guaraldi – It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown [1966] CD (Craft Recordings)
One of the most desired soundtracks in the beloved collection of music from the iconic Peanuts animated TV specials, It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, is being made available for the first time ever on CD. Featuring music by Grammy-winning composer/performer Vince Guaraldi, the CD package offerings include a new introduction from the TV show’s executive producer Lee Mendelson and insightful liner notes by Derrick Bang, Peanuts historian and author of Vince Guaraldi at the Piano. [Vinyl edition TBA.]
Haley – Pleasureland CD/LP+MP3 (Memphis Industries)
New album from Canadian-born artist Haley McCallum, known professionally as Haley Bonar. Sparsely interlacing the organic and digital, Pleasureland moves through the gamut of grief,
perception, and empowerment, eliciting both the uneasiness of a world shifting unexpectedly as well as the innate capacity for goodness and beauty. Here, McCallum displays her long time mastery of simple and haunting melodies that remain with the listener long after, replacing explanation through words with a pallet of sonic exploration wrapped up into just 27 minutes. [Limited edition white colored vinyl pressing also availalable.]
Beres Hammond – Never Ending CD/LP (VP)
14 new recordings from the reggae artist in collaboration with top studio talents including Willie Lindo, Kirk Bennett, Handel Tucker, Errol ‘Flabba’ Carter, Leroy & David Heywood aka “Mafia & Fluxy,” Winston ‘Bopee’ Bowen, Dean Fraser and Robbie Lyn among others.
Hands Like Houses – Anon. CD/LP (Hopeless)
New album from the Canberra, Australia alt-rock quintet.
The Helio Sequence – Keep Your Eyes Ahead [Reissue/2018] CD/2xLP+MP3 (Sub Pop)
A full remaster of The Helio Sequence’s landmark 2008 album, plus a second album of demos, alternate versions, and outtakes from the same era. Magnet named Keep Your Eyes Ahead one of the “Top 25 Albums of 2008,” and raved it “is a shining example of how to go retro while still moving forward.” And Drowned in Sound, in its 8/10 review of the album, wrote, “And now, at last, the protracted silence is broken by the surging scream of Keep Your Eyes Ahead, an album that feels as vital as the first, gulping breath of the near drowned. What this record means to Summers and partner Benjamin Weikel is apparent in the intense force of feeling.”
Helsótt – Slaves And Gods CD/LP (M-Theory Audio)
California’s Helsótt – whose name means “fatal illness” in Old Norse – pays homage to pagan cultures and mythologies while keeping true to their American influences with a unique mix of folk metal, death metal, symphonic metal, classical and rock.
Jerry Paper – Like A Baby CD/LP (Stones Throw)
Jerry Paper is the creative persona of Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer Lucas Nathan. Nathan cites a vast pool of influences on his music, from fellow pop outliers Prefab Sprout, Todd Rundgren and Steely Dan to classic R&B, Stereolab, avant-garde Brazilian artists, and Japanese electronica. Inspired by a move from NYC back to Nathan’s hometown of L.A., Like A Baby explores existential themes tied to the endless human cycle of desire and satisfaction.
Jaakko Eino Kalevi – Out Of Touch CD/LP (Weird World)
Ranging in style from the Gerry Rafferty swagger of “China Eddie” and Motown psych of “This World” to the Aegean dub of “Conceptual Mediterranean Part 1” and continental pop of “People in the Centre of the City,” each song on Out Of Touch is characterized by that familiar Jaakko warmth and melodic flair. It feels like a natural step forward for an artist whose all-round skills have led him down some intriguing paths. Notably, he played on David Byrne’s American Utopia album, and was invited to join the line-up of Crammed Discs’ cult Belgian new-wave band Aksak Maboul for a run of shows.
Paul Kelly – Nature CD/LP (Cooking Vinyl)
Following the triumphant success of 2017’s Life Is Fine, one of Australia’s greatest and most enduring songwriters returns with a new studio album. Nature brings together poems from five literary greats – Dylan Thomas, Walt Whitman, Sylvia Plath, Gerard Manley Hopkins and Phillip Larkin – alongside poems that Kelly wrote himself and later put to music, and his own original songs that came along in the usual way, as sounds sung to chords that then turned into words.
Kinski – Accustomed To Your Face CD/LP (Kill Rock Stars)
As they near their 20th year as a band, Kinski shows no signs of slowing down. Their new record, Accustomed To Your Face, sounds as free and daring as their early forays, but with the luster of confidence that comes with two decades of playing together. Reflecting a multi-faceted approach, in the tracks “Guest Girl Vocalist” and “There Goes Hot Stamper”, Kinski seems to have harnessed the power of early punk and wed it to their own tight and head-on approach to the genre. But then there is “Kinski 101”, a celebratory nod to their quintessential style of dynamically structured instrumental pieces. Weaving it all together is the band’s consistent command of their craft. The rhythm section is dialed in and the interplay between the guitars continues to be more than the sum of their parts.
Larry And His Flask – This Remedy CD/LP (Xtra Mile)
A notoriously raucous live band, Larry And His Flask have always seemed to deliver the best of both worlds, melodic and engaging records and a maelstrom of a live performance. After a short hiatus; and judging from the material that comprises This Remedy they’re all the better for it. Once again breaking down the barriers and blurring the lines between genres to create a signature sound all their own while retaining every ounce of jubilation and sing-along power.
Les Big Bird – Iran Iraq Ikea CD/LP (Pnkslm)
Les Big Byrd is establishing themselves as one of the most excited new psych acts around the world. “It’s almost as if they took their debut, made it leaner, and then pumped it full of steroids. It’s an addictive listen which refuses to leave your ears once those songs have hit them. It may have been a long wait, but on the basis of this album they can feel free to abandon us for such a time again. This band have it all, through wonderful melodic songs, an uber-cool image, an attitude which reeks of rock and roll, and the ability to make you smile. There’s not much more you can ask for in a band. Les Big Byrd are back, and this time even bigger and better. It’s time to fall in love with this band all over again.” – ech(((o)))es and dust
Le Trio Joubran – The Long March CD/LP (Cooking Vinyl)
The Joubran brothers are expert oud players and this new album matches their fine work with synths, flutes, pianos and voices including Roger Waters.
Luicidal – Born In Venice CD/LP (Cleopatra)
New album from Louiche Mayorga, the original bass player for Venice Beach, CA thrash punk legends Suicidal Tendencies. [Limited blue colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Maple – Maple CD/LP (Butler)
Maple seasons its music with a taste of Britpop and power pop. “‘We call it fuzzpop,’ explains Sanger. He is also The Mysterons’s guitarist. You can hear a lot of fuzz. Doesn’t that make the band more shoegazer because of the combination fuzz and melody? ‘No, our music isn’t as dreamy. And we actually like to make contact with the public instead of awkwardly staring at our shoes. But we’re basically a rock ‘n’ roll band.’”
Bob Margolin – Deep Blues CD (VizzTone)
Bob Margolin is prominent in today’s blues scene. His self-titled album reveals the latest from the 2017 Blues Music Award winner for Best Male Traditional Blues Artist.
Tom Morello – The Atlas Underground CD/LP+MP3/LP+CD (Mom + Pop)
On his latest album Morello blends Marshall stack riff-rock with the digital wizardry of EDM and hip-hop. Includes collaborations with Marcus Mumford, Portugal. The Man, the Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA and GZA, Vic Mensa, K.Flay, Big Boi, Gary Clark Jr., Pretty Lights, Killer Mike and Whethan, among others. [Deluxe Box set includes the vinyl LP, CD and coffee table book.]
Mount Kimbie – DJ Kicks CD (!K7)
Mount Kimbie take the reigns of the DJ-Kicks series with a 9-track mix that includes one of their own new exclusives. The result is a succinct mix that often goes deep, with roughhewn drums and grainy atmospheres from the likes of Severed Heads, Marco Bernardi and Object Blue. It perfectly knits together stripped back rhythms, percussive tracks and more harmonic techno while seamlessly joining the dots between the old and the new. [Vinyl edition due October 26.]
Nazareth – Tattooed On My Brain CD (Frontiers)
Tattooed On My Brain” is Nazareth’s 24th full-length album and the first to feature new vocalist Carl Sentance (ex-Persian Risk). [Vinyl edition due November 2.]
The Odious Construct – Shrine Of The Obscene CD/LP (The Artisan Era)
The Odious Construct has been making waves since the independent release of their debut self-titled EP. With the combination of amazingly catchy compositions, virtuosic guitar style and atmospheric orchestrations, they launch themselves miles above the murk of their peers. Songs like “Shrine Of The Obscene” outline the perfect mixture of heavy riffage and breathtaking symphonic movements while “Descension” showcases their veracity.
Outer Heaven – Realms Of Eternal Decay CD/LP (Relapse)
Across 10 tracks and 30+ minutes of grotesque, groove-laden death metal, Outer Heaven immediately raise the bar for the new generation of extreme bands.
Graham Parker – Cloud Symbols CD/LP (100%)
The inimitable Graham Parker is back with a new album. With his Rumour packed away, Graham enlists a new gang, The Goldtops (Martin Belmont, Geraint Watkins, Simon Edwards and Roy Dodds), on this record (who, incidentally feature former Rumour member Martin Belmont). Additionally, The Rumour Brass also feature on six of the tracks.
Preacherman – Universal Philosophy: Preacherman Plays T.J. Hustlers Greatest Hits CD/LP (Luaka Bop)
Tim Jones, also known as Preacherman, recorded under Midi Man, Ironing Board Band and T.J. Hustler. He made one very rare LP (recently reissued), and two even rarer CD’s. These tracks are from the CD’s. He was a salesman for IBM in Las Vegas, where he sold Selectric Typewriters and then word processors during the day and at night he world perform in the Las Vegas lounges. He was somewhat of an engineer and adapted a Hammond B3 organ to play a moog synth with some of the organ keys, (some still played the organ), and he adapted the organ’s foot-controlled bass levers to play two Moog synth bass pedals (a failed item Moog made for a few years.) Thinking he wasn’t much of a live performer he had a wooden puppet made that he named T.J Hustler, and together with the puppet, he would engage in long philosophical soliloquies.
Travis Scott – Astroworld CD (Epic)
Astroworld is the critically acclaimed third studio effort from the Grammy-nominated rapper/producer. Named after a closed down amusement park in Houston, the sonically diverse collection matches its rollercoaster imagery (cover art by photographer David LaChapelle) with pulsating futuristic trap symphonies and wide-ranging guests like Stevie Wonder, Kid Cudi, Frank Ocean, Drake, The Weeknd, James Blake, Swae Lee, 21 Savage and Quavo. “…the project is Travis’ best, most-progressive and most-well-rounded album to date. Hip-hop’s token rager is becoming a truly unstoppable force” – XXL [Vinyl edition due November 9.]
Sick Thoughts – Sick Thoughts CD/LP (Goner)
“If you don’t know Sick Thoughts, you don’t know punk. The band is the mighty Drew Owen. Owen’s brand of aural early-20s angst, with doses of Zero Boys, Reatards, and early Crüe, mixed with the stench of the streets, has never sounded better.”
Skálmöld – Sorgir CD/2xLP (Napalm)
Sixth album from the Viking metal band.
The Skiffle Players – Skiff CD (Spiritual Pajamas)
“This is acoustic dance music at its finest. It is also refreshingly contradictory, irreverent and mystical, deeply personal and communal, and traditional and profane.” [Vinyl edition due October 26.]
Soundtrack – Fletch [OST/Reissue/1985] CD/LP (Varèse Sarabande)
Back on CD and vinyl is the long out of print soundtrack to the 1985 comedy classic which features music by ‘80s stalwarts like Stephanie Mills (the infectious “Bit By Bit”), Dan Hartman (the equally as catchy “Fletch, Get Outta Town”), The Fixx, Kim Wilde and composer Harold Faltermeyer (Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun, The Running Man).
Soundtrack – The Hate U Give CD (Def Jam)
The soundtrack’s thought-provoking tracks from Jadakiss, Travis Scott, Pusha T, Kendrick Lamar, Bobby Sessions and Logic amplify the film’s theme of police brutality and the innocent killings of Blacks in America. In an interview with Variety Executive Vice President of Def Jam Recordings, Rich Isaacson stated, “The movie is about race, about people who are victims of oppression who are just trying to live their lives. So many of our artists speak to these issues, from the beginning of Def Jam to today.” Isaacson added the importance of adding Tupac records to the soundtrack as the film’s title was derived from Pac’s THUG LIFE acronym.
Anna St. Louis – If Only There Was A River CD/LP (Woodsist)
While hints of influences like Loretta Lynn, John Fahey and Townes Van Zandt peek out of the corners of the songs, Anna St. Louis’ debut album is not a nostalgic affair.
Terrorizer – Caustic Attack CD/LP (The End)
A violently explosive album for increasingly turbulent times, Caustic Attack is the sound of a world nearing apocalypse. The songs conjure images of warplanes on bombing runs, giant tanks obliterating small villages and the endless rattle of machine guns mowing down everyone in sight. Pete Sandoval has long been known as one of the fastest players in death metal – the pioneer of blast beats – and he certainly doesn’t hold back here.
Steve Tyrell – Back To Bacharach [Reissue/2008] CD (Arts)
Deluxe 10th Anniversary edition includes bonus tracks. Tyrell’s tribute to the songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David now extends to additional collaborations with Carole Bayer-Sager, Mack David, and Bob Hilliard.
Various Artists – New West Records 20th Anniversary CD/3xLP (New West)
New West Records 20th Anniversary is comprised of three stand-alone compilations: The Road Less Traveled is a historic overview of rarities chosen by George Fontaine; Sr. Friends features tracks chosen by fans of the label; and Family highlights favorite tracks chosen by New West recording artists past and present. The LP box set includes a 40-page book (CD book is 76-pages with perfect bound spine) complete with liner notes and essays from New West contemporaries and historic and many never before seen photographs.
Kurt Vile – Bottle It In CD/2xLP+MP3 (Matador)
Travel can inspire in surprising ways: Kurt Vile discovered as much making his first record in three years, the eclectic and electrifying Bottle It In, which he recorded at various studios around the country over two very busy years, during sessions that usually punctuated the ends of long tours or family road trips. Every song, whether it’s a concise and catchy pop composition or a sprawling guitar epic, becomes a journey unto itself, taking unexpected detours, circuitous melodic avenues, or open-highway solos.
Ben Wendell – The Seasons CD (Motema Music, LLC)
Ben Wendel, perhaps best known for his bold and forward-thinking group Kneebody, has been hard at work for the last two years on a project of ambitious scope. The Seasons is Wendel’s tribute to twelve musical collaborators and friends, including such heavy-hitters as Jeff Ballard, Julian Lage, and Mark Turner. [Vinyl edition due November 2.]
Winter & Triptides – Estrela Mágica CD/LP (OAR)
Estrela Mágica is a starcrossed collaboration between Samira Winter (Winter) and Glenn Brigman (Triptides). Sighting influences from Brazil’s colorful tropicalia movement as well as the phased out sunshine psychedelia of the American 1960’s, Winter & Triptides started blending together their favorite musical colors into a brand new sonic palette. Two years and a dozen home recording sessions later, they had crafted enough material to form Estrela Mágica.
Young Jesus – The Whole Thing Is Just There CD/LP (Saddle Creek)
Young Jesus combines a palette of indie rock instrumentation with a spirit of unhindered spontaneity to construct – and deconstruct – emotionally potent and inventive sonic landscapes. Imbued with a sense of both desperation and discovery, each track unfolds like a deep sea voyage: beginning on the familiar ground of a conventional song structure before setting sail for the open waters of instrumental experimentation and plumbing the depths of the unknown in search of some conceptual treasure before heading back to port.
Young The Giant – Mirror Master CD (New Elektra)
Following 2016’s critically-acclaimed Home Of The Strange, Mirror Master promises to continue ascending into consciousness, though this time with a heavy focus on personal self-awareness.
DVDs + Blu-ray:
Evanescence – Synthesis Live DVD/Blu-ray (Eagle Records)
On November 3, 2017 Evanescence performed their 2017 album Synthesis—a reimagining of their best-known songs with orchestra & electronics—in front of a sold-out crowd at the Grand Theater at Foxwoods Casino in CT.
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
The Acacia Strain – Continent [Reissue/2008] LP (Prosthetic)
Limited vinyl reissues of the Massachusetts deathcore wrecking crew’s 2008 album. Available in two colors: orange with blue & yellow splatter and blue with orange & yellow splatter.
Action Bronson and Statik Selektah – Well Done [Reissue/2011] 2xLP (Dcide)
Limited double-clear vinyl reissue. In the style of classic producer and MC albums, Statik Selektah and Action Bronson deliver intricate rhymes and head-nodding beats on this noteworthy release.
Advance Base – Animal Companionship LP (Run For Cover)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Owen Ashworth’s albums have always been about the human condition, and his latest is no exception. That may sound strange, given that his project Advance Base’s new album is called Animal Companionship, but it’s as human as anything he’s done before. After hearing problems forced the end of his electronic pop project Casiotone For The Painfully Alone in 2010, Ashworth started making quieter music as Advance Base. Blissful drones and lush synthesizer textures envelop soft electric piano arpeggiations and spare drum programming, creating an almost hypnotic backdrop for Ashworth’s lyrical narratives.
Alborosie – Alborosie Meets Roots Radics – Dub For The Radicals LP (VP)
It was Jamaica that gave birth to reggae music and introduced it to the world. Roots, dancehall, lovers and dub all form part of the authentic reggae expression and no one embraces these styles with such reverence, joy and vibrancy as Alborosie, who’s currently one of the most in-demand names on the planet. A singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and engineer, Dub For The Radicals is his tenth album for the Greensleeves label. The choice of the Roots Radics band as his collaborators here underscores Alborosie’s commitment to preserving and expanding upon classic roots reggae.
William Basinski & Lawrence English – Selva Oscura LP+MP3 (Temporary Residence)
For over half a decade, William Basinski and Lawrence English have been in regular contact with one another. During that time their paths have crossed repeatedly in various cities; Zagreb, Los Angeles, Hobart and more, in a variety of situations. It was from these chance encounters – and the strange familiar of lives lived in transit – that their first collaboration, Selva Oscura, was seeded. Each of the extended pieces on this record maps an acoustic topography that draws on the concept of drifting into the strange familiar. The works each dwell in an ever shifting, yet fundamentally constant state of unfolding. As one sound fades away, another is revealed in its place, creating a sense of an eternal reveal. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Günther Beckers – Walkman [Reissue/1982] LP (Music From Memory)
Günther Beckers’ music has a perfect word for it: Gesamtkunstwerk. Gesamtkunstwerk is an interdisciplinary artistic work combining various disciplines – music, painting, poetry and design. Wagner conjured up this idea when trying to produce a work that could also wrap in artistic ideas derived from theatrical, poetic, and musical influences. Aesthetics would be the English word we’d create to wrap around one whole artistic ethos for a movement. Extremely personal in execution, it was Günther Beckers’ 1982 release Walkman that really put this idea into fruition.
Bent Knee – Say So [Reissue/2016] 2xLP (Cuneiform)
Bent Knee is a band without frontiers. The Boston-based group seamlessly connects the worlds of rock, pop and the avant-garde into its own self-defining statement.
Bloc Party – Silent Alarm [Reissue/2005] LP (Universal UK)
Import vinyl reissue of the debut album from the British indie rock band. Building on the arrangements in their demo songs recorded in 2004, the band members molded tracks largely through live takes during the Silent Alarm studio sessions. The compositional focus was on rhythm and the drum and bass parts, while lyricist Kele Okereke’s writing examined the feelings and hopes of young adults, including views on global politics.
Blue October – I Hope You’re Happy LP (Up Down)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. 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”.
Blur – The Best Of [Reissue/2000] 2xLP (Parlophone)
Double-vinyl repress of the 2000 best-of album from the Britpop band.
Bosse-de-Nage – Further Still LP (The Flenser)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Fifth album from the San Francisco-based post-black metal act. Further sees the band eschew the sprawling arrangements and hypnotic repetition of their previous efforts in favor of tight, propulsive song structures. It is deliberately succinct in approach while maintaining the band’s unique lyrical style set to unpredictable melodies.
James Brown – Say It Live And Loud: Live In Dallas 08.26.68 2xLP (Polydor)
James Brown’s blistering live album Say It Live And Loud: Live In Dallas 08.26.68 was recorded just as the Godfather of Soul’s bold single “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud,” was released. On the 50th anniversary of the anthem’s release, Say It Live and Loud: Live in Dallas 08.26.68 makes its vinyl debut expanded with an additional 20 minutes of previously unheard material.
John Carpenter – Halloween III: Season Of The Witch [Reissue/1982] LP (Death Waltz)
John Carpenter and Alan Howarth completely jettisoned their previous work and deliver nothing short of an electronic masterpiece for their score to Halloween III. The lead track “Chariots Of Pumpkins” is an epic 4/4 beat-driven synth-banger that has regularly been played by DJs over the last 10 years. The rest of the score features lush pads, Linn drums aplenty and veers from beautiful blissed-out ambient drones to sinister stinger-driven mood pieces. [Alan Howarth’s scores for Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers and Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers pressed on limited-edition colored vinyl are due October 19.]
Charalambides – Charalambides: Tom & Christina Carter LP (Drawing Room)
Charalambides founders Tom and Christina Carter dedicate themselves to a vision of iconoclastic music as transformative force. Touching on the outer limits of acid folk, psych rock, and improvisation, their music remains uniquely personal and consistent through apparently extreme shifts in sound and performance tactics. Aptly titled Charalambides: Tom and Christina Carter, the newest album from Charalambides furthers the duo’s deep psychic understanding of music. Laid down in two sessions with no overdubs, the album entwines their best known approaches into a raw, fragile, wordless and hypnotic whole.
Phil Collins – The Singles [Reissue/2016] 2xLP (Rhino)
Double-vinyl reissue of Collins’ 2016 career-spanning 19-track compilation.
Cracker – Kerosene Hat [Reissue/1993] LP (Music On Vinyl)
Limited 180gm audiophile vinyl LP pressing in gatefold jacket. Deluxe 25th Anniversary edition includes bonus tracks “Euro-Trash Girl”, ‘I Ride My Bike’ & ‘Kerosene Hat’ (Acoustic Version).
Crash Test Dummies – God Shuffled His Feet [Reissue/1993] LP (Imports)
Limited orange colored vinyl LP pressing of the second album by the Crash Test Dummies which features their most popular single, “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm”.
Cypress Hill – Elephants On Acid 2xLP (BMG Rights Management)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Elephants On Acid is Cypress Hill’s ninth studio album and was produced by DJ Muggs, making it the first album produced by Muggs since 2004’s Til Death To Us Part. Reuniting with B Real and Sen Dog in Los Angeles to record the album, Muggs also traveled across the world to collect the vibe and sounds that make up much of what you’ll hear from start to finish.
Celine Dion – Falling Into You [Reissue/1995] 2xLP+MP3 (Sony)
Celine Dion – These Are Special Times [Reissue/1998] 2xLP+MP3 (Sony)
Vinyl reissues of the fourth English language album and 1998 Christmas album from the Canadian singer.
Thomas Dybdahl – All These Things LP (V2 Records Benelux)
New release from the Norwegian singer/songwriter. In addition to his main band, Thomas is joined by one of the brightest new stars on the Americana/folk scene, Lera Lynn, for the duet “When I Go”.
The Earls Of Leicester – Live At The CMA Theater In The Country Music Hall Of Fame 2xLP (Rounder)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Taped over two nights at Nashville’s historic Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, this robust 23-song set features 14 new recordings and fan favorites from The Earls Of Leicester’s two previous studio albums. The all-star outfit of Jerry Douglas, Shawn Camp, Barry Bales, Johnny Warren, Charlie Cushman, and Jeff White bring the Foggy Mountain Boys to life, bearing a boundless vitality that makes songs from over a half-century ago feel irresistibly fresh. The CD features two bonus tracks, “Little Maggie” and “I Don’t Care Anymore”.
Exek – A Casual Assembly 12” (W.25th)
Exek’s new EP coalesces around a stirring theme for synthesizer, trumpet and bass, bringing together reference points to Laurie Spiegel, Jah Wobble and The Velvet Underground’s “The Gift.” Frontman Albert Wolski’s disembodied narration – at times reminiscent of Samuel Beckett or Robert Ashley – unfolds over a series of dark vignettes set in a dystopian near-future. Recommended for fans of Normil Hawaiians, Jenny Hval and Harmonia.
The Fall – I Am Kurious Oranj [Reissue/1988] LP (Beggars Banquet)
Vinyl reissue of The Fall’s eleventh studio album. Released by Beggars Banquet 30 years ago, in 1988, it contains some of their most loved songs including “Cab It Up!”, “New Big Prinz” and “Jerusalem” which takes its lyrics from a poem by William Blake. The album was written as the soundtrack to an avant-garde ballet titled I Am Curious, Orange, produced by the experimental Michael Clark Company and performed in London with The Fall playing live. Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.
Fleetwood Mac – The Dance [Reissue/1997] 2xLP (Rhino)
Fleetwood Mac – Say You Will [Reissue/2003] 2xLP (Rhino)
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of Fleetwood Mac’s landmark 1977 album Rumours, the powerhouse ’70s Fleetwood Mac lineup – Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie and John McVie – reunited for a historic national tour and this extraordinary live album recorded for an MTV special at Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, CA. Fleetwood Mac’s 2003 reunion album Say You Will served as the band’s first studio effort since 1995’s Time and currently stands as their final studio release to date. Although the majority of the classic ’70s line-up returns to the fold here including Nicks, Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, Christine McVie opted out (she does appear as a guest on a few tracks but doesn’t contribute as a songwriter).
Marvin Gaye – I Heard It Through The Grapevine [Reissue/19668] LP (Motown)
In the Groove was a quintessential ’60s Motown and Marvin Gaye classic that originally yielded the impassioned hits, “You” and “Chained”, but became immensely popular when the next-to-last track on Side One, the immortal “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”, began getting airplay. This led to “Grapevine” becoming a massive No. 1 smash and Gaye’s commercial breakthrough, the biggest hit single ever for Motown at the time (so much so that the label even reissued the album under the song’s title which is represented here). The 1968 LP is rounded out by excellent covers of “Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever” and “There Goes My Baby”.
Goblin – Profondo Rosso (Colonna Sonora Originale Del Film) [Reissue/1975] 2xLP (Death Waltz)
Limited double colored vinyl LP pressing. Next to Suspiria, Profondo Rosso has to be the jewel in the Goblin crown. Recorded in 1975, the score finds the band at the height of their creativity and features the incredible lineup of Simonetti, Morante, Pignatelli and Martino. Bass and drums are so tight on this record and provide the foundations for the entire score. Jazz, prog and rock signatures all fight for center stage yet always manage to be precise, clear and perfectly executed.
Guerrer@ – Aggressive Healing Music 12” (Akashik)
Guerrer@ represents the revolution that must occur (and keep occurring) within oneself, so that it may also occur outside oneself. Of looking backwards and forwards, simultaneously and always. Of accounting for present and potential material makeup. Of accounting for the contemporary abhorrent and luminous actions of the flesh. a pledge towards infinitely malleating-and, thus, the necessary deliberate reconfiguration of-identity. #the necessary deliberateness of movement and becoming. #the possibility of convalescence. #insomanywords: faith, hope, affliction and anger, daggered at oppression, wherever it may be found.
Hangman’s Chair – Banlieue Triste 2xLP (Spinefarm)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Melodic, doomy metal from Paris.
The Hang-Ten Hangmen – This Is Boss! LP+MP3 (Dionysus)
The Hang-Ten Hangmen are a high energy guitar instrumental rock ‘n’ roll band from Vancouver BC.
Il Guardiano Del Faro – Oasis [Reissue/1978] LP (Time Capsule)
Born 1940 in Milan, Federico Monti Arduini was a child prodigy who studied piano and was already performing at concerts from the age of eight. He composed pop songs for other artists which sold millions of copies, but his own solo success came after he encountered synthesizers in the early ’70s. Viewed as a precursor of New Age sound art, Arduini was one of the first producers in Italy to use the Moog synthesizer and a meeting with Bob Moog in New York only added to this obsession. He was also an early adopter of the tradition among electronic producers to use a moniker to disguise his identity. Il Guardiano Del Faro (translated as the guardian of lighthouse) is a nod to the small Italian fishing town Porto Santo Stefano, where Arduini created his studio in the mid-’70s. He produced a number of albums from this seaside idyll of electronic instruments and tape recorders, but Oasis stands out from the pack.
Insane Clown Posse – Ringmaster [Reissue/1994] 2xLP (Psychopathic)
Insane Clown Posse’s gold-certified second Joker’s card from the first deck, 1994’s The Ringmaster, available on vinyl for the very first time.
Jedi Mind Tricks Presents: Army Of The Pharaohs – The Torture Papers [Reissue/2006] 2xLP (Fat Beats)
Limited colored vinyl reissue of the highly-revered 2006 full-length debut from the underground supergroup Army of the Pharaohs (comprised of Jedi Mind Tricks, 7L & Esoteric, Outerspace, Apathy, Celph Titled, Reef the Lost Cauze and more) spearheaded by Jedi Mind Tricks’ frontman Vinnie Paz. T
Jeff The Brotherhood – Magick Songs 2xLP (Dine Alone)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Magick Songs marks a departure from Jeff The Brotherhood’s previous sound. Elements of ‘80s Japanese experimental music meld with Indonesian Gamelan forms, clever improvisation and abundant hand percussion, and synthesizer. Later, it’s dreamy and ethereal, evoking psychedelic rock and ‘90s indie styles.
Kansas – Kansas [Reissue/1974] LP (Friday Music)
Limited 180gm colored vinyl LP pressing housed in a gatefold sleeve. The first of seven
consecutive releases to be certified gold or platinum, the band’s signature progressive/boogie rock mix is ushered in with original singles “Can I Tell You” and “Lonely Wind” and the J.J. Cale cover “Bringing It Back”.
Amythyst Kiah And Her Chest Of Glass – Amythyst Kiah And Her Chest Of Glass LP (Soul Step)
A professed Southern Gothic songster based in Johnson City, TN, Amythyst Kiah’s commanding stage presence is only matched by her raw and powerful vocals – a deeply moving, hypnotic sound that stirs echoes of a distant and restless past. Accoutered interchangeably with banjo, acoustic guitar, or a full band (Her Chest of Glass), Amythyst’s toolbox is augmented by her scholarship of African-American roots music.
Kingston Factory – The East Coast Sessions: From Buenos Aires To USA LP (Liquidator Music)
In the fine tradition of the great Jamaican labels and studios, there is a producer and a trademark sound behind this LP. The producer is Esteban Descalzo, born and raised in Argentina, and the studio is Kingston Factory. This Buenos Aires recording facility has served, in the past few years, some of the most renowned local Jamaican-bound talents as well as an impressive string of international luminaries, from Derrick Harriott, Pat Kelly, and Freddy Notes, to Joe Mansano, The Silvertones, Val Douglas, and even British star Hollie Cook.
The Kinks – Give The People What They Want [Reissue/1981] LP (Friday Music)
The Kinks – State Of Confusion [Reissue/1983] LP (Friday Music)
Limited audiophile 180gm colored vinyl reissues. With 1983’s vital State Of Confusion and its hit single “Come Dancing” (their biggest since “Tired Of Waiting For You”) The Kinks reached the climax of their second wave of success.
Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears – The Difference Between Me & You LP (Black Joe Lewis)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Sonically inspired by the hill country blues of Junior Kimbrough, cowpunk style of The Gun Club, and the southern soul of Stax, The Difference Between Me & You charts new territory with a heavy stream of lyrical consciousness. Mining his first decade of experience on the road, the record is influenced by a deep repertoire of sounds: the heavy grooves of Albert King, punked-up blues of R.L. Burnside, the storytelling of Bobby “Blue” Bland, and the soulfully layered horns of the Stones, are all omnipresent throughout.
Luna – Lunafied 2xLP (Run Out Groove)
This brand-new Run Out Groove collection includes all of Luna’s rare and out of print Elektra-era cover songs – many unreleased on vinyl – on one full length release. Sourced from the original masters with lacquers cut at Sam Phillips Recording Studio, this double-LP set is pressed on 180gm colored vinyl housed in a numbered gatefold tip-on Stoughton jacket.
Marijuana Deathsquads – Tuff Guy Electronics 12” (Pioneer Works Press)
Marijuana Deathsquads’ Tuff Guy Electronics is the first new music that the Minneapolis centered collective has released since 2013. It simultaneously sounds like a heavily digitized ride on the motorik highway and a droll stroll through the apocalypse, the kind of music only people with conceptual talent to burn (and an inherent desire to touch that flame) choose to envision. It’s a pop-avant-garde paean to the space between an abstract higher power and the creative open road — full of primal groove and techno subtlety, but beholden to neither.
Cécile McLorin Salvant – The Window 2xLP (Mack Avenue)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. New release from the Grammy winning jazz vocalist, an album of duets with pianist Sullivan Fortner. Includes songs by Richard Rodgers & Stephen Sondheim, Stevie Wonder, French cabaret gems & early R’n’B classics plus original compositions.
Mercyful Fate – Melissa [Reissue/1983] LP (Metal Blade)
Mercyful Fate – Don’t Break The Oath [Reissue/1984] LP (Metal Blade)
Mercyful Fate – The Beginning [Reissue/1987] LP (Metal Blade)
Limited edition picture disc vinyl reissues.
Milo Greene – Adult Contemporary LP (Nettwerk)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The genre of “adult contemporary” is characterized by its exceptional euphony. In skill, it effortlessly mingles sounds. In intent, it envelops itself in harmonies. In spirit, it has the beguiling ability to disarm listeners. That’s why L.A.’s Milo Greene, the always-evolving indie-pop band, chose the genre as its muse and namesake for their third album.
Moonbeau – Moonbeau LP (Soul Step)
Moonbeau is one of Cincinnati’s most talked about new artists. The group delivers crooning melodies and swooning harmonies with dynamic distinction. Layered synths and rhythmic guitar textures are remnants of their love for new wave.
Morphine – Yes [Reissue/1995] 2xLP (Run Out Groove)
Deluxe expanded double-LP edition including a second disc of previously unreleased outtakes, live tracks and rare B-sides, several making their debut on vinyl.
Cory Morrow – Whiskey And Pride LP (Write On)
Cory Morrow is beautifully and uncomfortably transparent. From the beer soaked, cocaine laden days of his early career, to today’s soberer and spiritual leg of the journey, one thing about Morrow has never changed – as goes Cory’s life, goes Cory’s songs – and that’s never been more evident than on his newest studio release, Whiskey And Pride. The record is an aggressive blend of early Morrow sound with a current day perspective. Vintage feel from an evolving heart and mind.
Maria Muldaur – Don’t You Feel My Leg: The Naughty Bawdy Blues of Blue Lu Barker LP (Last Music Company)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Flirtatious new album from the veteran vocalist, paying tribute to 1930s singer Blue Lu Barker.
Marissa Nadler – For My Crimes LP (Sacred Bones)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The eighth album from Marissa Nadler, For My Crimes, is the sound of guilt giving way to truth. The songs stare down the dark realization that love may not be enough to keep two people together through distance and differing needs. By asking these difficult questions about her relationships, Nadler has found a stronger sense of self and a sharper voice as both a songwriter and a vocalist, culminating in her most evocative entry in an already impressive discography. With the exception of a single saxophonist, every player on the album is a woman of notable pedigree and distinct style, many of whom have played with Nadler over the years. In addition to cameos by Angel Olsen and Kristin Kontrol, Sharon Van Etten sings backup on “I Can’t Listen to Gene Clark Anymore” and “Lover Release Me”. Mary Lattimore joins on harp for “Are You Really Gonna Move to the South”, while the great experimental multi-instrumentalist Janel Leppin plays strings throughout the record. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Ofege – Try And Love [Reissue/1973] LP (Tidal Waves Music)
Assorted colored vinyl reissues (three pressings: black, brown & clear). Ofege succeeded in creating a debut album drenched with fuzzy guitars, plaintive/wailing vocals and a backbeat as influenced by James Brown as it is by Fela Kuti. It’s a unique, raw and beautiful take on the psychedelic sound. The ingenuity allied with the inexperience of its members makes this album a real treasure.
Orange Goblin – The Big Black [Reissue/2000] 2xLP (Rise Above Limited)
Orange Goblin – Coup De Grace [Reissue/2002] 2xLP (Rise Above Limited)
Orange Goblin – Thieving From The House Of God [Reissue/2003] LP (Rise Above Limited)
Limited colored vinyl reissues. “In a world gone mad, there are few certainties to cling to. But one thing remains forever unwavering and true: Orange f**king Goblin. Diehard exponents of the noble art of heavy metal since 1995, the London-based quartet have spent the last two decades steadily but surely establishing themselves as one of the UK’s most loved and respected bands.”
Brian Owens – Soul Of Cash LP (Soul Step)
This album reimagines Cash songs in new and soulful way. Co-produced by former Jack White drummer Daru Jones Official and featuring the skills of Robert Randolph & the Family Band, this album will show you where soul and country meet.
Petite Noir – La Maison Noir / The Black House 12” (Roya)
“La Maison Noir / The Black House is the new mini-album from South Africa’s Petite Noir. Diverse yet instant, six tracks are imbued with a spirit that leave an indelible memory.” – Boomkat
Cécile McLorin Salvant – The Window LP (Mack Avenue)
Released last week on CD – now available on vinyl. New release from the Grammy winning jazz vocalist, an album of duets with pianist Sullivan Fortner. Includes songs by Richard Rodgers & Stephen Sondheim, Stevie Wonder, French cabaret gems & early R’n’B classics plus original compositions.
Side On – Magic [Reissue/1982] 12” (Be With)
A certified UK boogie bomb, originally released in 1982. Side On was a one-off UK soul dream team, consisting of Peter Maas, Everton McCalla and Rick Clarke.
The Smoking Flowers – Let’s Die Together LP (Bandaloop Music)
Released in June on CD – now available on vinyl. The Smoking Flowers is a rock duo from Nashville, TN composed of husband and wife Scott and Kim Collins. Their style incorporates stylings from roots, alt-country, punk, and folk. Their sound has been described by Alt Country Magazine as, “less traditional than your classic country-folk duo by bringing a punk-attitude and energy to their highly infectious songs. A marriage of song and voice that is uniquely their own.”
Sore Points – Sore Points LP (Deranged)
“The fastest band on six legs.” This an accurate description of Vancouver’s Sore Points, whose rhythm section was phoenixed from the ashes of Nervous Talk after they decided that the drummer for local post punk act, Spectres, would look good playing guitar. They didn’t care in the slightest that he had barely started playing six strings, because mastering Ramones-esque guitar playing quickly was simple with people of like-minded prowess. It helped that he fit the bill – all members stand over six feet tall. “Twelve songs in twenty minutes is not some exceptional feat for modern punk. But when the songs ring with the same hooks and aggression that made Dangerhouse the best label in America, well then – it’s worth paying attention.”
Spesh – Famous World LP+MP3 (Killroom)
Limited blue colored vinyl pressing. Over the course of ten songs, Spesh spiral through a jangly, multi-hued sonic multiverse that recalls the esotericism of late Morrissey, the Psychedelic Furs’ cheeky wacko-pop, and Blur at their most stoned.
The SteelDrivers – Reckless [Reissue/2010] LP (Rounder)
Available for the first time on vinyl, the SteelDrivers’ Grammy-nominated sophomore record, Reckless, picks up where their eponymous 2008 debut left off. Originally released in 2010, it’s the Nashville group’s last album with singer/songwriter Chris Stapleton at the helm, who left the band later that same year to pursue his solo career. Reckless contains a riveting batch of songs by the ace songwriting team of Stapleton and Mike Henderson – songs where bad things keep happening to good people. Moonshiners, runaway slaves, and ghosts of Mississippi are just some of the characters you will encounter on this steel-driven journey from the Blue Ridge to the Delta.
Joe Strummer – 001 4xLP+7”+Cassette (Ignition)
Super Deluxe box set featuring four 180gm LPs, two CDs, a bonus 7”, a cassette and a 64-page book. Punk pioneer, singer, songwriter, recording artist, activist, musical and political inspiration for a generation and mighty diamond Joe Strummer was the most charismatic and passionate frontman to emerge from the punk explosion of the late ’70s. After Joe’s untimely death in December 2002 it was discovered that he had been an archivist of his own work, having barns full of writings and tapes stored in his back garden. Joe Strummer 001 is the first compilation to span Strummer’s career outside of his recordings with The Clash, collecting fan favorites from his recordings with the 101ers and The Mescaleros, his solo albums, soundtrack work plus an album of unreleased songs.
Sundays & Cybele – On The Grass LP (Guruguru Brain)
Sunday’s & Cybele (Cybele no Nichiyobi) is a four-piece psychedelic band formed in Hokkaido, Japan in 2004. Tsubouchi is the main guy who writes all the music derived from 60’s/70’s Japanese psych rock. On The Grass is Sundays & Cybele’s fourth full length record. Rather than a retread of the ’60s psych vibe or ethnic tones of their last LP Chaos & Systems, Tsubouchi’s signature melancholic sounds are now realized in layers of synthesizer and drone. The result finds them leaning towards progressive rock and marks the end of neo-psychedelia.
System Of A Down – System Of A Down [Reissue/1998] LP (Sony Legacy)
System Of A Down – Toxicity [Reissue/2001] LP (Sony Legacy)
System Of A Down – Steal This Album! [Reissue/2002] 2xLP (Sony Legacy)
System Of A Down – Mezmerize [Reissue/2005] LP (Sony Legacy)
System Of A Down – Hypnotize [Reissue/2005] LP (Sony Legacy)
The intensity of metal, the social commentary of rap and a plethora of influences – ranging from the band’s Armenian heritage to jazz to Middle Eastern melodies to the nightly news – has made System Of A Down an international powerhouse. The members’ shared and diverse musical and personal experiences created such an explosive musical mine field of such volatile, incendiary ferocity that Rick Rubin elected to sign and produce the group as the first new act on American Recordings under a pact with Columbia Records. The Los Angeles, CA outfit delivers a thrilling mix of thrash metal, sharp lyrics and unusual melodies on their platinum certified eponymous 1998 debut. Their 2001 follow-up Toxicity features 15 ominous hard rock tracks with harsh beats and complex, roaring guitars, which fully embrace the band’s unrivaled diversity.
Tentenko – Tentenko LP (Toothpaste)
Eponymous debut album from synth pop solo artist Tentenko. The former member of the
notorious Japanese punk Idol group BiS has featured on dozens of collaborative and solo releases in her homeland but this is her first international release.
Linval Thompson – Look How Me Sexy [Reissue/1982] LP (Greensleeves)
One of the first reggae singers of his era to move into self-production, Linval Thompson was known initially as a roots and culture artist, recording for various producers including Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee before initiating his own studio sessions in 1978. In 1979, he mentored Henry ‘Junjo’ Lawes as a producer, who in turn would become one of the most successful producers of the early 1980s, eclipsing Thompson in terms of output. This 1982 LP features nine Linval Thompson productions while the hit title track, produced by Lawes, features one of the top reggae riddims of its time.
Thou – Inconsolable LP (Community)
A collaborative companion EP to 2018’s full-length Magus comprised of eight Thou compositions expressing the band’s ongoing confrontation with the grotesquerie and power of modern civilization with a unique focus on melodic vocal and string performances by the band and guests. Inconsolable stands apart from any other Thou release as the first they would call “acoustic” for a radical instrumental stride away from the heavy, electric instrumentation that’s seen them relegated to such genres as sludge, doom, stoner metal, post-metal, grunge, and post-hardcore but, despite this, establishes its potency in acoustic guitar, violin, and other strings and melodious lead vocals by a clutch of guest performers.
Valee & Chase The Monkey – VTM 12” (Omerta, Inc.)
Fast rising Chicago rapper Valee & St Louis producer, Chase the Money dropped their collaborative tape VTM, in May 2017. On a low-key level it was one of the best tapes of the year. Clocking in at just over 25 minS, the tape feels deliberately understated, and that’s its greatest strength. Valee’s laid back style fits perfectly over Chase’s dark dystopian beats, resulting in an “elegant trap” sound! Since the release of VTM, Valee has gone on to sign with G.O.O.D Music dropping his debut EP last year, executively produced by Kanye West; and Chase the Money is building a rep as one of the best new producers in the game working with – Z Money, Lil Wop, Lil Yachty, Chance the Rapper, BlockBoy JB and more.
Various Artists – Diggin’ In The Carts – A Collection Of Pioneering Japanese Video Game Music
2xLP (Hyperdub)
A collection of rare and pioneering Japanese video game music. This release builds on the critically acclaimed Red Bull Music Academy documentary series of the same name that has chronicled the history and global influence of this exciting early strain of electronic music. Researched and curated by Diggin’ In The Carts writer/co-director Nick Dwyer and Hyperdub label head Kode9, the 34-track, double-LP set plunges deep into the rare archives of the chip era of Japanese video game music. The release features artwork by renowned Japanese anime artist and Studio °4C founder Koji Morimoto.
Laura Veirs – Year Of Meteors [Reissue/2005] LP+MP3 (Raven Marching Band)
Laura Veirs – Saltbreakers [Reissue/2007] LP+MP3 (Raven Marching Band)
Limited colored vinyl reissues now available. With organic imagery and a sense of open-eyed, open-hearted wonder, Laura Veirs’ songs seem to hover between the sea and the stars taking inspiration from each. On 2005’s Year Of Meteors, familiar surroundings come into sharper focus as the lyrical themes of the sky and outer space now seem mysterious, magical and new. Laura Veirs’ lyrical allusions to the natural world are disarmingly dreamlike yet scientifically precise. Using synergistic elements of contemporary folk, Americana, alternative rock and laptop style electronics, she creates an amalgam that remains her own.2007’s Saltbreakers is by turns haunting, playful, tender, and fierce, embracing everything from machine-driven beats to angelic gospel choirs to fuzzed-out guitars.
The Wild! – Wild At Heart LP (E1)
“Shooting guns, setting fires and shaking shacks with half-stacks make for the type of nights that separate the men from the boys and The Wild! from the other 99% of what some people are calling rock ’n’ roll these days.”
You And Me At Six – VI LP (Underdog)
One of the UK’s biggest guitar bands return with their sixth studio album aptly titled, VI.
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