March Program Titles Released This Week:
Citizen Cope – Heroin And Helicopters CD/LP (Rainwater Recordings)
Comprised of eleven new, original songs all written and produced by Citizen Cope, Heroin And Helicopters serves as his first album in seven years and marks a return to a grassroots approach to musicianship, one that’s colored by hard work, hustle and heart, irrespective of the obstacles he’s encountered throughout 25 years as a career artist. Cope came up with the title after an encounter with Carlos Santana: “stay away from the two H’s – heroin and helicopters,” Santana told him. The LP tackles Cope’s personal struggles with religion, political manipulation, hollowness in the entertainment world, and spiritual enlightenment, as he contends with his own role in those societal institutions. It opens with “Duck Confit”, a poetic spoken word piece backed by 808 kicks and an ominous organ. “The River” is a slow-burning reflection on tyrannical systems that betray and oppress. Quiet stand-out “On My Love” is a stark, heart-wrenching tribute to Cope’s daughter Lula, and an attempt on Cope’s part to pass his life’s lessons on to her.
Criminal Hygiene – Run It Again CD/LP (Dangerbird)
Formed in 2011, Criminal Hygiene is a Los Angeles-based quartet comprised of founding member Michael Fiore (vocals, guitars, keys), Michael Hiller (vocals, bass, guitars) and Sean “Birdman” Erickson (drums, percussion) and bassist Cameron Ward. Their second album, Run It Again is a 10-song set that shines a fresh light on a raw sort of garage rock, full of melody, smart lyrics and hooks for days. When it comes to influences, the band cites everything from Johnny Thunders to The New York Dolls, The Clash and Wire. Television and Richard Hell. Minneapolis stuff like The Replacements, Hüsker Dü, The Suicide Commandos and The Suburbs. Big Star. Guided By Voices. Fleetwood Mac. Fugazi. The Pixies. Nirvana. Pavement. The Shins. Wilco. Marshall Crenshaw. Tommy Keene. Not to mention the classic rock they all heard via their parents.
Delicate Steve – Till I Burn Up CD/LP (ANTI-)
Some of the first people to recognize Delicate Steve’s (aka Steve Marion) unique musical talents were renowned artists such as David Byrne, Dirty Projectors, tUnE-yArDs, Mac DeMarco, Dr. Dog, and elder statesmen like Lee Ranaldo and Built to Spill. Steve is likely the only guitarist who has cut records with Sondre Lerche and Death Grip’s Zach Hill, been handpicked to open a sold out North American tour for Tame Impala and then provided guitar for a Paul Simon record. Now the acclaimed guitarist is back with his fifth solo studio album, Till I Burn Up. “On the (mostly) instrumental albums he’s released as Delicate Steve, Marion’s guitar playing is always in the spotlight, but never hogging it – rather, his luminous leads form the emotional undercurrent around which everything else flows. What makes Marion a guitar hero isn’t just his technical wizardry, but his music’s mission to help you through dark times.” – Pitchfork
Frankie and The Witch Fingers – ZAM CD/2xLP (Greenway)
Frankie and The Witch Fingers’ fifth LP, ZAM, bleeds beyond borders and boundaries. Its opening preternatural sounds bubble up out of the primordial soup, spilling into our world, invading the inner recesses of the listener’s mind. Like a two-headed snake wrapped around the skull, the album pendulates between winding instrumentals and dancey riffs that pop like supernovas out of the black void. Just when a song goes one way, it propels another through long stretches of a cosmic inferno. Bringing glimmers of krautrock and funk, its eleven tracks unleash a versatile and tenacious weight, slithering between the sexy, the aggressive, the vivacious, and the disorienting – until the living invasion is felt – ZAM, a supernatural entity summoned by four madmen obsessed with tearing open a gateway to dark space. After being pulled apart atom-by-atom, the listener is reconfigured on the other side, born unto starry wasteland. [Limited indie store exclusive vinyl edition also available.]
Hand Habits – Placeholder CD/LP (Saddle Creek)
Meg Duffy grew up in a small town in Upstate New York and cut her teeth as a session guitarist and touring member of Kevin Morby’s band. The Hand Habits project emerged after Meg moved to Los Angeles; it started as a private songwriting outlet but soon evolved into a fully-fledged band with Meg at the helm. Hand Habits’ debut album, Wildly Idle was entirely self-produced and recorded in Meg’s home during spare moments when they weren’t touring. Wildly Idle is a lush, homespun collection of folk songs that found Meg in an exploratory state as an artist moving out on their own for the first time. Two years later, Hand Habits has returned with their sophomore album, Placeholder. To make this album, Meg chose to work in a studio and bring in collaborators, entrusting them with what had previously been a very personal creative process. Over the course of 12 tracks, Meg emerges with new confidence as both a bandleader and singer. This album is as tender and immediate as anything Meg’s ever written, but it’s also intensely focused and refined, the work of a meticulous musician ready to share their singular vision with the world.
Hozier – Wasteland, Baby! CD/2xLP+MP3 (Columbia)
Wasteland, Baby! is the sophomore album from Grammy-nominated Irish singer-songwriter Hozier. The 14-track collection is released on the heels of his September 2018 EP, Nina Cried Power whose title track is also included on Wasteland, Baby! and features vocals from Mavis Staples and instrumentation by Booker T. Jones. The track was highlighted as one of President Barack Obama’s favorite songs of 2018. “I think musically it’s a logical step forward from previous records” Hozier told NPR. “The influences are all still there—the influence I had growing up—blues music and soul music, etc. Thematically, not that it was intentional, but it’s informed quite a bit by the political climate of the last 12 months, 18 months. I hope it’s taken with a bit of a pinch of salt. There is a kind of wry smile to the work, but it takes place with a great shadow hanging over, I suppose the end of the world kind of hanging over the album a little bit. But that is enjoyed in the best way possible. It’s a hard one to describe. There’s even optimism in that, and a lot of the work is very hopeful and very warm, but it still takes place in a very desperate place.”
Yves Jarvis – The Same But Different Means CD/LP (ANTI-)
Yves Jarvis is a recasting of Montreal-based musician Jean-Sebastian Audet. Audet previously created under the name Un Blonde. Each aspect of Audet’s work is immensely personal, and Yves Jarvis reflects this literally. Yves is Audet’s middle name, while Jarvis is his mother’s last name. His music is idiosyncratic neither by design or by chance; it just is. It mutates and shifts, as he does, through cycles and phases. Yves Jarvis new record, The Same But By Different Means, is a new cycle. With it, Audet continues to create music that is at once warm, haunting, and unfamiliar while remaining singularly inviting and kind – a mélange that reflects both comfort and its counterpart. Un Blonde’s 2017 LP Good Will Come To You was celebrated universally for those things that make Audet’s work compelling: careful folk noir, tender R&B flourishes, pillowy vocal beds that somehow seem to neither begin nor end, and a punkish ambivalence towards saccharine melodics that traditionally dominate the previous three structures.
Little Simz – Grey Area CD/LP (AGE101/AWAL)
Simbi Ajikawo, crowned Little Simz, let’s her work do the talking – and her prolific releases and boundary-breaking achievements clearly tell a story of a pioneering hip-hop artist who leads the way on her own terms. Giving lauded, energetic performances, critically acclaimed albums, sold-out headline shows around the world, and international tours with the likes of Gorillaz, Anderson.Paak and Ab-Soul, this visionary 24-year-old woman from North London is living out her childhood dreams to heights of excellence – and inspiring her generation to do the same. “While her last album, Stillness In Wonderland, brave and huge in scope, was certainly incomparable to anything else at the time, it’s also possible that she just needed some bigger tunes. On Grey Area, those are in abundance. It swings. It grooves. It’s not bogged down by a self-consciously poetic concept. And it feels like a record rather than a showcase, anchored by the production work of Simz’s childhood friend Inflo. He is the Timbaland to her Missy and gives her songs the glue they needed. There are big, chunky breaks, fat funk dollops, the crackle of US soul, touches of cosmic jazz and cinematic strings – also reminiscent of Adrian Younge’s work with Ghostface Killah. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Mansionair – Shadowboxer CD/2xLP (Liberation/Glassnote)
Sydney-based, genre-bending trio Mansionair release their debut album, the long-awaited Shadowboxer. It was written and self-produced over a three-year period – in living rooms, studios, a garage in inner-city Sydney, and finally a cabin in the Californian mountains – in between the band’s travels and touring. It’s the culmination of a journey that started with a viral hit single – “Hold Me Down” – and led to high profile collaborations, a Grammy-nomination, ARIA and Billboard charting singles and several major support tours (CHVRCHES, Florence & The Machine, London Grammar and Bob Moses). But it’s also an album reflective of everything the band were going through personally and creatively – from mental health to sickness, relationship breakdowns to the ordinary coming-of-age struggles of youth.
Masked Intruder – III CD/LP (Pure Noise)
Masked Intruder, the ski-mask clad, pop-punk felons from Madison, WI have escaped from prison for the release of the new album III, their third full-length. For the new effort, the band – Intruder Blue, Intruder Green, Intruder Red and Intruder Yellow – recruited lead producer/engineer Roger Lima (Less Than Jake) as well as co-producer Mike Kennerty (The All-American Rejects). Whether it comes to stealing hearts or wallets, Masked Intruder have upped their game on III in every way and it seems as if even Officer Bradford can’t hold them back, although we’re sure he’ll try. Speaking about the follow up to 2016’s EP Love And Other Crimes, vocalist/guitarist Invader Blue said: “Our songs aren’t just about the feelings and situations that they describe but they’re supposed to hopefully help other people think about and reflect about their own situations.” Includes the rippin’ lead single “No Case”. [Limited indie store exclusive vinyl edition also available.]
Royal Trux – White Stuff CD/LP (Fat Possum)
Royal Trux’s first album of new songs since 2000’s Pound For Pound not only maintains the magic chemistry between Jennifer Herrema (vocal, Moog, guitar, melodica) and Neil Hagerty (vocal, guitar) but expands upon it greatly with their natural ability to give us something unexpected, necessary, and truly unique. Their own formidable and informed imaginations…the same two creative minds that brought us (to name a few) Twin Infinitives, Cats And Dogs and Accelerator, are present in the unadulterated, exhilarating energy that has the album listed on most highly anticipated albums of 2019 lists. Royal Trux find innovation in their Bitches Brew aesthetic which now defines the standard mash-up approach so commonly ascertained and claimed by the majority of musicians that whether cognizant or not have followed in Trux’s very large footsteps: “everything in the pot whether you like it or not,” deriving from world music, punk rock, jazz, metal, electronic, southern, teeny-bop and all the rest. In the tradition of the blues, through appropriation and re-evaluation, Royal Trux changed the way we think of music. Their return is nothing short of glorious. [Limited indie store exclusive vinyl edition also available.]
Teen – Good Fruit CD/LP+MP3 (Carpark)
If Teen’s 2016 album Love Yes was a bursting, harmony-infused synthpop thesis on embracing love, then its follow-up, the even more joyous and melodic Good Fruit, is its opposite, a look at what happens after love fades. The Lieberson sisters – Teeny, Lizzie, and Katherine – have, with their fourth album, crafted a dynamic, hook-stuffed take on the oft-trodden breakup album; as on prior releases, there are frequent meditations on death, capitalism, and womanhood. While recording Good Fruit, the sisters employed a self-described “reductive approach,” strove to create space within their songs, and, for their first time, self-produced the album (save a few co-productions from Francis, who also played on some songs). These techniques explode the glistening, sprinting glamour of “Only Water”, a deceptively upbeat number about death and the loss of a loved one. They inform Good Fruit’s handful of ballads too, including “Pretend”, which rings with a vast, unsettling static fuzz even as Lizzie beautifully recounts the disappointment of realizing a partner wasn’t all she’d built them up to be.
Twin Temple – Twin Temple (Bring You Their Signature Sound… Satanic Doo-Wop) CD/LP/Cassette (Rise Above)
Everybody knows that the Devil has all the best tunes. From Robert Johnson selling his soul at the crossroads to the blood-soaked black metal of Norway, Satan has long loomed large over the music world, striking fear into the hearts of the sanctimonious. But nothing that has gone before will prepare you for the arrival of Twin Temple: Los Angeles’ one and only purveyors of Satanic doo-wop. Devout Satanists and meticulous preservers of rock ‘n’ roll’s ancient, timeless spirit, this black-clad and effortlessly stylish duo has created a sound that blends their Satanic ideology with the irresistible sass and melody of classic ‘50s and ‘60s rock ‘n’ roll. The result is Twin Temple (Bring You Their Signature Sound…Satanic Doo-Wop), a debut album that not only serves to salute the Dark One, but also delivers some of the catchiest and coolest music to emerge from any genre in years. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Nick Waterhouse – Nick Waterhouse CD (Innovative Leisure)
Nick Waterhouse’s eponymous fourth album was recorded at the finest working studio in Los Angeles, Electro Vox Recorders, and co-produced by Paul Butler (The Bees, Michael Kiwanuka, Devendra Banhart), the master of all things warm, rich and wooly. Nick’s songs here are personal, but personal in the way that “Please Mr. Postman”, “What’s Going On” and “Cathy’s Clown” are – intimate, direct, yet still malleable enough for listeners to suffuse their own life stories into the mix. The album is thick with talented players, including Andres Rentaria, Paula Henderson and the staggering, howling saxophone of Mando Dorame. All of the new Waterhouse songs sound big. Brawny and muscular. The lyrics are suspicious, outraged and, at times, very vulnerable (muscle is just flesh, after all). Waterhouse uses an economy of words to deliver complex, coded messages. He offers up equal parts criticism of the time we live in and innate human flaws. [Vinyl edition due March 8.]
Reese Wynans and Friends – Sweet Release CD (J&R Adventures)
Over the last five decades, you might have found Reese Wynans cutting his teeth with the early nucleus of the Allman Brothers Band. Taking the stage with Boz Scaggs. Saving the ‘80s blues scene with Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Double Trouble. Bringing the blues to the people with Joe Bonamassa. Adding his thumbprint on piano and B3 to the work of Larry Carlton, Delbert McClinton, Los Lonely Boys – and hundreds more. During a celebrated career that recently saw him inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, the one omission on Wynans’ résumé was that this fabled keys man had never released a solo record – until now. Sweet Release is the album we always knew Wynans had up his sleeve: a glorious collision of stellar musicianship, classic material given fresh mojo and a glittering roll-call of star guests – including Keb’ Mo’, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Warren Haynes and Joe Bonamassa himself on production – that confirms the deep respect Wynans commands on the scene. [Vinyl edition TBA.]
CDs + Vinyl:
Apocalyptica – Plays Metallica By Four Cellos – A Live Performance CD+DVD/2xLP+DVD (Odyssey Music)
20 years ago, Apocalyptica’s career-defining album Plays Metallica By Four Cellos was released. In celebration of the anniversary, the band performed the album on a world tour. A Live Performance collects highlight from these shows.
Blu & Oh No – A Long Red Hot Los Angeles Summer Night CD/LP (Nature Sounds)
The work of acclaimed L.A. rapper Blu is a hip-hop time capsule perfectly embodying the vibrant culture of the City of Angels. With no signs of slowing down, the talented artist continues to supply listeners with vivid lyrical imagery over exceptional production. The latest addition to his catalog is A Long Red Hot Los Angeles Summer Night, a new album entirely produced by Oh No. The son of singer Otis Jackson and younger brother of beat god Madlib, Oh No has been among the most consistently relevant artists on the independent hip-hop scene since the release of his influential debut album 15 years ago.
The Blue Nile – A Walk Across The Rooftops [Reissue/1984] 2xCD (Confetti)
The Blue Nile – Hats [Reissue/1989] 2xCD (Confetti)
The Blue Nile – Peace At Last [Reissue/1996] 2xCD (Confetti)
The Scottish band The Blue Nile has enjoyed a mystique contrived by its inaccessibility and the infrequency of its recordings, but it has also made a series of critically acclaimed discs. Their first three albums have been remastered and expanded with a disc of bonus material.
Bonobo – Fabric Presents Bonobo CD/2xLP (Fabric)
Ushering in an exciting new era for the label, nightclub, and mix series, Bonobo opens the Fabric Presents series. His highly textural aesthetic translates into an ethos that looks to introduce a more open musical palette for the label. His mix features Roach from his rare pop-up alias Barakas and employs multi-instrumental arrangements in this 74 minutes of house, techno, electronica, and breakbeat.
James Booker – At Onkel Pö’s Carnegie Hall, Hamburg 1976 Vol. 1 CD/2xLP (Jazzline)
Live concert from one of the greatest blues musicians who died too early.
The Cactus Blossoms – Easy Way CD/LP+MP3 (Walkie Talkie Recs)
The Cactus Blossoms – Minneapolis-based blood harmony brother duo Page Burkum and Jack Torrey – return with the new album Easy Way, a self-produced collection of ten new originals. Featuring special contributions from Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys) and renowned saxophonist Michael Lewis (Bon Iver, Andrew Bird), Easy Way expands on the creative turns of phrase, gorgeous harmonies, and ageless sound.
Tommy Castro and The Painkillers – Killin’ It – Live CD/LP (Alligator)
A soul-satisfying romp with blustery blues, gritty R&B and hard-charging roadhouse rock, the set list includes fan favorites from throughout Tommy’s career.
Dennis Coffey – Live At Baker’s CD (Omnivore)
Unissued 1996 live recording from the legendary guitarist.
Darkwater – Human CD/LP (Ulterium)
New album from the melodic metal/progressive metal band.
Joey DeFrancesco – In The Key Of The Universe CD (Mack Avenue)
On his adventurous new album, In The Key Of The Universe, the master organist turns his musical attentions to his spiritual side, tapping into a strain of metaphysical jazz that’s fueled sonic searchers for more than half a century. [Vinyl edition due April 5.]
Della Mae – The Butcher Shoppe EP CDEP (Rounder)
Comprised of cover songs and three brand new original compositions, The Butcher Shoppe EP highlights the band’s genre-bending virtuosity: from traditional bluegrass standards to classic southern rock. This EP also serves as Della Mae’s welcome back from hiatus, and features a number of guest performers including legendary banjo player Alison Brown, rising star/guitarist Molly Tuttle, and original bandmate/guitarist Avril Smith.
Demon Hunter – War CD (Solid State)
Demon Hunter – Peace CD (Solid State)
A pair of new albums from the Christian metal band. [Vinyl editions due March 29.]
Devil Master – Satan Spits On Children Of Light CD/LP (Relapse)
Philadelphia’s Devil Master stake their claim as one of the most venomous, twisted entities in the underground with their hellish debut. Satan Spits On Children Of Light rattles the very gates of hell with a vile dose of black metal-infused punk mayhem.
Dr. Dundiff – The Distance CD/LP (Cold Busted)
New album from the prolific Louisville hip-hop/neo-soul producer. The Distance is deliciously jazzy and deliriously loose with crisp beats, smooth vibes, and amazing vocalists and emcees, including Claire Reneé, James Lindsey, K Raydio, Pink Siifu, and Shania Robinson.
Dream Theater – Distance Over Time 2xCD+2xLP+7”+DVD+Blu-ray (Century Media)
Super deluxe edition in 12”x12” box includes the double vinyl LP pressing, a 7” vinyl single, two CDs, the 5.1 mix on DVD and Blu-ray. Dream Theater return to their roots combining heavy progressive music with epic melodies on their 14th album, Distance Over Time.
Emapea – Zoning Out Volume 2 CD/LP (Cold Busted)
With his acclaimed debut album Seeds, Roots & Fruits, and an inclusion on Mark Farina’s Mushroom Jazz 8, Polish beat-master Emapea has been a producer to watch. These are no-nonsense beat compositions, perfect for thinking, for grooving, for dreaming, for zoning out.
Willie Farmer – The Man From The Hill CD/LP (Big Legal Mess)
Willie Farmer is living proof that Mississippi continues to produce deep blues. The 62-year-old guitarist is neither a soul modernist nor revivalist, but simply a small-town auto mechanic who’s never shaken his love for old school legends like Muddy, Wolf and Lightnin’. The Man From The Hill marks the first time that he’s spent serious time in the studio.
Robert Forster – Inferno CD/LP (Tapete)
Inferno is the former Go-Betweens singer-songwriter and guitarist first solo album since 2015 and is only his second album over the last eleven years.
Gloryful – Cult Of Sedna CD/LP (Massacre Germany)
On their new and 4th album, Gloryful up the ante with an even heavier sound free from the absurd shenanigans of today’s power metal scene.
John Hartford – Backroads, Rivers & Memories: The Rare & Unreleased John Hartford CD (Real Gone Music)
Licensed directly from the John Hartford estate, Backroads, Rivers & Memories: The Rare & Unreleased John Hartford features three live radio cuts from 1964, and 16 beautifully rendered 1965-1969 songwriter demos, including five Hartford newly-uncovered originals never heard before. Fan favorites include “This Eve of Parting” (from the recent indie hit film Lady Bird), the iconic “Gentle on My Mind”, and a brief recording of the first rehearsal of the bluegrass classic “Steam Powered Aereo Plain”.
Infinite Spirit Music – Live Without Fear [Reissue/1980] CD/2xLP+MP3 (Jazzman)
Live Without Fear is a beautiful album of humble purity and peaceful spiritual jazz vibes that lives up to the hype.
In Flames – I, The Mask CD (Eleven Seven Music)
At this point, In Flames are less of a band than they are a musical institution in the heavy music world. Since helping create Sweden’s legendary “Gothenburg Sound” three decades ago to their current status as melodic metal monoliths, the act has constantly eschewed trends in order to forge their own musical path. This is ever evident on their thirteenth full-length I, The Mask, which sees them reuniting with multi Grammy-nominated producer Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, Motörhead, The Used). [Vinyl edition due March 15.]
Japanese House – Good At Falling CD/2xLP (Dirty Hit)
Good At Falling is the debut album from singer/songwriter Amber Bain aka The Japanese House. It neatly connects to her initial laptop demos which made their way online. Finished in studios across Wisconsin, Brussels and Oxford by Bain, BJ Burton and George Daniel, the end result is more direct. “arriving four years after her debut EP Pools To Bathe In – Bain is stripped of all enigma for one of her most beautifully evocative and bravely honest bodies of music to date.” – Gigwise [Limited white colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Durand Jones & The Indications – American Love Call CD/LP (Dead Oceans)
Durand Jones & the Indications aren’t looking backwards. Helmed by foil vocalists in Durand Jones and drummer Aaron Frazer, the Indications conjure the dynamism of Jackie Wilson, Curtis Mayfield, and The Impressions. Even with an aesthetic steeped in the golden, strings-infused dreaminess of early ’70s soul, The Indications’ sophomore LP, American Love Call, is planted firmly in the present, with the urgency of this moment in time.
Ahmed Ag Kaedy – Akaline Kidal CD/LP (Sahel Sounds)
In exile from his city in Northern Mali, singer/songwriter Ahmed Ag Kaedy returns to the origins of Tuareg folk with sessions of stripped down solo acoustic guitar. Mellow pentatonic notes dance over plaintive vocals, intimate and close mic’d, endearing in their simplicity. Drifting from melancholic ballads and pleas for peace, Akaline Kidal is a politically charged and poignant recording for a community ripped apart by division and civil war.
Salif Keïta – Un Autre Blanc CD (Naïve)
For more than 50 years the Malian singer/songwriter Salif Keïta has become the cornerstone of Afro-pop music. He is devoted to the cause of Albinos in Africa. The title Un Autre Blanc or Another White is a reference to the trials and tribulations Mr. Keïta has faced through his albinism – a condition thought to be a sign of bad luck or misfortune by his Mandinka culture. The album includes guest contributions by Angélique Kidjo, MHD, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Yemi Alade.
Victor Krummenacher – Blue Pacific CD/LP (Veritas)
Blue Pacific marks Krummenache’s ninth solo effort away from his two co-founding bands – the pioneering indie-rock group Camper Van Beethoven and the art-rock collective, Monks Of Doom.
L.A. Witch – Octubre CD/LP (Suicide Squeeze)
Octubre may be a record about unhealthy infatuations and debilitating love, but it’s also an inadvertent statement on the past and permanence. Originally offered to the world as a surprise digital release, it might suggest a kind of ephemera, but the underlying motive is to reinvent and bring a new life to these seminal songs from the band’s early years. Reimagined and reshaped, these songs not only represent the band’s beginnings but also serve as a teaser for the band’s future output.
LÉON – LÉON CD (BMG Rights Management)
With effortless style equally reverent of dreamy sixties Laurel Canyon and modern day Europe, Swedish songstress LÉON projects the kind of understated confidence a non-chatty Quentin Tarantino character might have. [Vinyl edition due March 29.]
Gordon Lightfoot – The Complete Singles 1970-1980 2xCD (Real Gone Music)
Gordon Lightfoot is a genre unto himself. Neither pop nor folk nor country nor rock, his music is unvarnished, direct, a statement from one heart to another (as Lightfoot has stated, “I like to keep things simple. I don’t like to make them complicated”). And this uncompromising stance has not only made him a legend (particularly in his native Canada, where he is a full-fledged icon), but also, somewhat paradoxically, brought him huge commercial success (which, ironically, has in turn caused some to discount his prodigious songwriting talent). This double-CD set provides an ideal, in-depth overview of the artist’s “classic” period, peppered with one memorable tune after another.
Little Simz – Grey Area CD/LP (Age 101)
Simbi Ajikawo, crowned Little Simz, let’s her work do the talking – and her prolific releases and boundary-breaking achievements clearly tell a story of a pioneering hip-hop artist who leads the way on her own terms. Giving lauded, energetic performances, critically acclaimed albums, sold-out headline shows around the world, and international tours with the likes of Gorillaz, Anderson.Paak and Ab-Soul, this visionary 24-year-old woman from North London is living out her childhood dreams to heights of excellence – and inspiring her generation to do the same.
Living Hour – Softer Faces CD/LP (Kanine)
Everything about Winnipeg’s Living Hour has been expanding since their humble basement beginnings. What started with dreamy love songs inspired by the cinematic sky of their hometown has transformed into even more sprawling and expansive expressions on their latest effort, Softer Faces. The quintet is led by the smoky, ethereal lead vocals of Sam Sarty, who starting singing in choirs at a young age, and includes three voices, guitar, trombone, brushed percussion and boundless effects. Living Hour creates their own sonically diverse and unique vibe that will appeal to fans of Grizzly Bear, Beach House and Slowdive. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Lonesome Shack – Desert Dreams CD/LP (Alive)
With a sound that is raw, expressive, and strange, Lonesome Shack’s music is part hill country blues, part urban folk rock, and owes as much to Alan Wilson’s Canned Heat as it does to Junior Kimbrough. The trio is led by Ben Todd, a finger picking guitarist who has spent time living in a shack in the NM desert where he learned how to play old blues and banjo tunes from vintage recordings. Desert Dreams sounds like rock city meets backwoods boogie, desert blues meets jungle grooves.
Marillion – Live In Glasgow [Reissue/1993] CD (earMUSIC)
Marillion – Brave Live [Reissue/2013] 2xCD (earMUSIC)
Live In Glasgow was recorded on various dates at Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom and St. Georges Hall in 1989. Brave Live was recorded at the Marillion Weekend at Center Parcs, Port Zélande, The Netherlands on March 9th, 2013.
Branford Marsalis Quartet – The Secret Between The Shadow And The Soul CD/LP (Masterworks)
The Secret Between The Shadow And The Soul finds the celebrated ensemble at a new peak, addressing a kaleidoscope of moods with inspiration and group commitment. The quartet that saxophonist Branford Marsalis has led for the past three decades has always been a model of daring, no-apologies artistry, of ever-widening musical horizons and deepening collective identity. With like-minded support from pianist Joey Calderazzo, bassist Eric Revis and drummer Justin Faulkner, the band has long been a model of how to sustain and enlarge a musical outlook that is both historically and stylistically inclusive.
Makaya McCraven – Where We Come From CHICAGOxLONDON Mixtape CD/LP (International Anthem Recording Co.)
Over the course of 3 days in London, drummer/producer Makaya McCraven connected with first time collaborators (Theon Cross, Nubya Garcia, Joe Armon-Jones, Soweto Kinch, Ashley Henry, Daniel Casimir and Kamaal Williams) and did two improvised performances as part of a two-night showcase called CHICAGOxLONDON at legendary UK Jazz hub Total Refreshment Centre (TRC). The following Sunday afternoon five producers (LeFtO, Ben LaMar Gay, Quiet Dawn, Earl Jeffers & Don Leisure of the Darkhouse Family) were invited to TRC to participate in an event called Fresh Roasted: Live Beat-Making & Battle, where they did live remixes of the recordings from Makaya & company’s CHICAGOxLONDON performances.
Metal Inquisitor – Panopticon CD/LP (Massacre Germany)
“If you like guitar driven classic heavy metal, you will enjoy Panopticon.” — Dangerdog
Mark Morton – Anesthetic CD/LP (Spinefarm)
New album from the prolific Lamb Of God guitarist. Guest vocalists include Chester Bennington, Randy Blythe, Jacoby Shaddix, Myles Kennedy, Alissa White-Gluz, Mark Lanegan, Chuck Billy, Jake Oni, Josh Todd, Mark Morales and Naeemah Maddox. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Nebula – Charged [Reissue/2001] CD/LP (Heavy Psych Sounds)
Nebula – Demos & Outtakes 98-02 CD/LP (Heavy Psych Sounds)
Nebula are the full-blown embodiment of heavy psych-rock; high-energy electric blues, lead-footed psychedelic warriors, rock and roll road dogs and the best damned live band to come down the pike in a long, long time. Demos & Outtakes 98-02 includes five previously unreleased tracks alongside rare demos as well as covers of songs by Leaf Hound, The Creation, and a unique live version of Black Flag’s “Nervous Breakdown”. [Limited edition colored vinyl pressings also available.]
Nightwish – Once [Reissue/2004] CD/2xLP (Nuclear Blast)
Nightwish – Dark Passion Play [Reissue/2007] CD/2xLP (Nuclear Blast)
Nightwish – Made In Hong Kong (And In Various Other Places [Reissue/2009] CD/2xLP (Nuclear Blast)
CD and vinyl reissues of the fifth and sixth studio album by the Finnish symphonic metal band, along with their 2009 live compilation album, Made In Hong Kong (And In Various Other Places).
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers – The Best of Everything: The Definitive Career-Spanning Hits Collection 1976-2016 2xCD/4xLP (Geffen)
This collection of personal favorites and important milestones is the first anthology to span Petty’s entire career, from the first album to Mudcrutch 2. The album contains 38 tracks including the hits “Free Fallin’, American Girl, “You Don’t Know How It Feels”, You Wreck Me: and many more. The album also includes two unreleased tracks, “The Best of Everything (Alternate Version)” and the previously unreleased and unheard “For Real”.
Richard Pinhas – L’Ethique [Reissue/1982] CD (Bureau B)
Following the vaguely poppy shapes of his 1980 album East West, Pinhas’ fifth album L’Ethique saw the ex-Heldon guitarist and synth wizard return to bigger and bolder band-like methods. After its release he disappeared from the limelight for nearly a decade, returning in the 1990s.
Pissgrave – Posthumous Humiliation CD/LP (Profound Lore)
One of the rawest, most depraved, immoral, and violent bands in present-day death metal follow up their 2015 Suicidal Euphoria debut with their sophomore album Posthumous Humiliation, an album even more dark, surreal, violent, and perverted than its infamous predecessor.
Steve Poltz – Shine On CD/LP (Red House)
A true musical iconoclast, Steve Poltz has done it all. Born in Nova Scotia but associated with his years in San Diego, California, Poltz has co-written an iconic, multiplatinum single (“You Were Meant For Me” with then girlfriend Jewel), signed to a major label (he chafed under the restrictions) and created a career as a songwriter, humorist and collaborator with a fervid following.
Pond – Tasmania CD/LP (Interscope)
New album from Australian psychedelic-rock adventurers. Tasmania is a dejected meditation on planetary discord, machismo, shame, blame and responsibility, love, blood and empire, wrapped in luxurious, funky prog-pop.
Pottymouth – SNAFU CD/LP (Get Better)
It’s hard to imagine that anything in today’s tilt-a-whirl society could ever be considered a situation normal, but needless to say-most everything is all f**ked up, no matter how you slice it. It’s all decidedly fouled, so the secret is in how you embrace the chaos. For Potty Mouth, the L.A.-based pop rock trio, the term SNAFU-Situation Normal All F**ked Up-has become a rallying cry, one that inspires them to forge on no matter the odds and to trust themselves in the process.
Quaker City Night Hawks – QCNH CD/LP (Lightning Rod)
10 new songs from the Texas band rooted in vintage R&B grooves, Stax-worthy funk, and guitar-fueled psychedelia. [Limited gold colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Queensrÿche – The Verdict CD/LP (Century Media)
The Verdict features 10 brand new songs expanding upon 2015’s Condition Human. The album offers the finest heavy metal with a dark progressive edge and stellar melodies. Produced, mixed, and mastered by Zeuss (Rob Zombie, Iced Earth, Hatebreed). Includes the tracks Blood of the Levant, Man the Machine, Inside Out, Dark Reverie, Bent, Inner Unrest and more. [Limited red colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Donna Regina – Transient CD/LP+MP3 (Karaoke Kalk)
As Donna Regina, Regina and Günther Janssen have been a fixture in the German indie pop and electronic scene ever since their first release in 1990.
Ryuichi Sakamoto – BTTB [Reissue/1998] CD/LP (Milan)
Originally released in 1998, BTTB (an acronym for Back To The Basics) was a major commercial hit for Ryuichi Sakamoto. The album is comprised entirely of original solo piano pieces, both delicate and frantic, with deep impressionist-inspired roots. Currently a rare and hard-to-find album outside of Japan, BTTB has being reissued in celebration of its 20th anniversary.
Nick Schnebelen – Crazy All By Myself CD (VizzTone)
A hard-hitting studio album produced by Grammy and Blues Music Award winner Tony Braunagel (Taj Mahal, Robert Cray) and featuring members of Taj Mahal’s Phantom Blues Band.
J.D. Simo – Off At 11 CD (Crows Feet)
The Chicago-born, Nashville-based recording artist channels classic sounds from acid rock, traditional blues, folk, soul, to free form jazz, reinvigorating them into a kaleidoscope of sound for a new generation of music lovers.
Sisters Of Suffocation – Humans Are Broken CD (Napalm)
Eindhoven based death metal squad Sisters Of Suffocation bring you the best of two worlds: the raw and primal force of old school death metal and the sophisticated technicality and epic-melodic infusions of modern death metal.
Skinny Lister – The Story Is… CD/LP (Xtra Mile)
Always a band unafraid of testing the limits, UK rock band Skinny Lister return with their fourth album. A loosely-based concept album, The Story Is… anthologizes a series of personal vignettes inspired by a chaotic few years for the band and binds them into 14 tracks of unmistakably Skinny-sounding rock ’n’ roll. [Limited green colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Smif N’ Wessun – The All CD/LP (Duck Down Music)
Smif N Wessun, the duo of Tek & Steele, return with their seventh studio album, The All entirely produced by 9th Wonder & The Soul Council. Known for their hardcore lyrical content, The PNC Boyz represent their Brooklyn roots going bar-for-bar offering deep jewels of knowledge and wisdom. The album features guest appearances from Raekwon, Rick Ross, Musiq Soulchild, Rapsody, GQ, Heather Victoria and more.
Snapped Ankles – Stunning Luxury CD/LP (Leaf)
“The East London band, who sometimes use logs as instruments on stage, have been the subject of much serious debate: Noisey have implied the band may be making a serious artistic statement about wanting nature to reclaim the stage in an increasingly artificial world. Or, they could have done it for a laugh – it’s probably a bit of both. Whichever way, Snapped Ankles, ultimately, have become one of the most hyped alternative bands. Thanks to formidable live show, they truly owned 2018.” – Gigwise
Spelling – Mazy Fly CD/LP (Sacred Bones)
Released last week on vinyl – now available on CD. The second full-length by Bay Area artist Spelling explores the tension between the thrill of exploring the unknown and the terror of imminent destruction. The album traverses the spaces between languid, honey-soaked vocals and distant angelic whispers, from thumping 808 club beats to crunching tape loops, and from silky, smooth R&B to whirling organ sonatas. [Limited blue colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Thighpaulsandra – Practical Electronics With Thighpaulsandra CD/LP (Editions Mego)
As audacious as the sleeve it comes housed in, the UK’s most eccentric audio malefactor returns with his eighth studio album. Unique in the Thighpaulsandra oeuvre, this one eschews the usual group-based recordings, consisting of electronics and vocals only. Hovering between haunted narratives and extended instrumental sequences, Practical Electronics is an eccentric excursion into playful pop and fearless electronic experimentation.
Thornbridge – Theatrical Masterpiece CD/LP (Massacre Germany)
Theatrical Masterpice is a power metal album that thematically deals with torture and suppression in the Middle Ages during the times of witch-hunts and the inquisition.
Tomato/Tomato – Canary In A Coal Mine CD/LP (Denim On Denim)
New album from the New Brunswick- based roots rock/folk outfit.
Ricardo Villalobos – Mandela Move EP 12” (Deset)
Berlin mainstay Ricardo Villalobos delivers the Mandela Move EP, a four-track EP of freshly stripped-back dancefloor movers saturated in brilliantly clever, unorthodox, and masterful sound design.
Vök – In The Dark CD/LP (Nettwerk)
In The Dark is the second studio album from Icelandic electronic dream-pop band.
Tom Walker – What A Time To Be Alive CD/LP+MP3 (Epic)
New release from the breakout British singer-songwriter. Includes the single “Angels” as well as the smash hit “Leave A Light On”.
Weezer – Weezer (The Black Album) CD (Crush Music)
Weezer (The Black Album) was produced by TV On The Radio’s Dave Sitek, with whom the band worked for the first time. The album’s songs were entirely written on piano by frontman Rivers Cuomo for the first time in Weezer history, creating some of the most satisfyingly awesome songs in the entire hits-filled Weezer catalog. With band members switching up instruments in the studio, and choruses filtered through Sitek’s own encyclopedic musical references of everything from Gorillaz to Can to Pink Floyd, Weezer (The Black Album) is the bold next step in the winning streak of acclaimed albums they’ve released since 2014.
While She Sleeps – So What? CD/2xLP (Spinefarm)
While She Sleeps have made a career out of confounding expectations, through their dizzying blend of crushing metal, guttural hardcore and arena-worthy hooks. Clattering riffs, bruising breakdowns, snarling lyrics and big-ass singalongs. [Limited black and yellow colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Dee White – Southern Gentleman CD/LP (Easy Eye Sound/Warner Music Nashville)
Twenty-year old Alabama native and country music newcomer, Dee White releases his debut album, Southern Gentleman via Dan Auerbach’s label, Easy Eye Sound. Making classic-minded country music for the modern world, NPR says White “is up to something very different than most others in the swelling ranks of young artists with vintage country tastes” and says the album has a “finesse and a distinctly introspective angle on masculinity, and he applies those qualities in such an exhilarating way that his music is likely to sneak up on listeners and make a lasting impact.” Southern Gentleman features performances by Alison Krauss, Ashley McBryde, and Dan Auerbach, who co-produced the album alongside David “Fergie” Ferguson.
Carvin Winans – In The Softest Way CD (The Dance Factory)
The Winans are gospel royalty and any fruit from the family tree is worth your time and attention. However, Carvin Winans’ new album, In The Softest Way, is an especially enjoyable adult R&B release filled with silky smooth grooves a la Maxwell and Eric Benét.
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
21 Savage – I Am > I Was 2xLP+MP3 (Epic)
Released last December on CD – now available on vinyl. The rapper’s second album features vocals by J. Cole, Childish Gambino, Schoolboy Q, Post Malone, Offset, Lil Baby, Gunna, and Travis Scott, among others.
The Alkaholiks – Likwidation [Reissue/1997] LP (Hhv.de)
Limited edition colored vinyl reisssu of Tha Alkaholiks third album which includes guest appearances and productions by Madlib & Lootpack, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, King Tee, Keith Murray, Easy Mo Bee, Nas, LL Cool J and more.
Blockhead – Uncle Tony’s Coloring Book [Reissue/2007] 2xLP (Young Heavy Souls)
Limited red and blue colored vinyl pressing of the hip-hop producer’s third album.
Myke Bogan – Joe Fontana LP (EYRST)
Second full-length album from the ephemeral North-Western rapper.
BUS – Never Decide LP (Riding Easy)
From the opening notes of Never Decide, the new album by Athens, Greece quartet Bus The Unknown Secretary (aka BUS), one knows it’s going to be a wild funhouse ride. It doesn’t sound like just four people; it sounds like a mob of wild-eyed lunatics on the expressway to your skull. [CD version due March 15.]
Carnal Forge – Gun To Mouth Salvation LP (ViciSolum)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. New album from the hard-hitting Swedish thrash metal band. [Limited orange colored pressing also available.]
Valerie Carter – The Lost Tapes LP (Hayabusa Landings)
Valerie Carter was an American singer-songwriter who had a successful career as a solo artist and ‘in-demand’ guest artist. Beginning her career at singing in coffeehouses as a teenager, she eventually became one-third of a country-folk band Howdy Moon. The Lost Tapes is a collection of songs found after Valerie passed.
Jon Collin – Water And Rock Music Volume II LP (Feeding Tube)
The second volume of Water And Rock Music by British guitarist Jon Collin is another solid gambol in the outdoors. For much of this it sounds almost as though Mr. Collin is wearing a pair of hip waders and is up to his ass in a stream, casting for notes the way Hemingway casted for trout. His string bending recalls Loren Connors at points, but he has a manual approach to filigree Loren has never displayed.
Ry Cooder – Paris, Texas – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [Reissue/1985] LP (Real Gone Music)
Limited white colored vinyl LP pressing. Seldom has any artist captured that ineffable high, lonesome sound quite as beautifully as Ry Cooder did on his landmark soundtrack to Wim Wenders’ 1984 film Paris, Texas. Not quite blues, not quite bluegrass, not quite ambient, Cooder’s haunting, evocative score mirrors the existential journey of Harry Dean Stanton’s Travis Henderson as he wanders through the empty Texas prairie landscape in pursuit of his irretrievable past.
Elvis Costello & The Imposters – Look Now 8×7” (Concord)
Released last summer, Look Now is now available as a limited box containing eight colored 7” vinyl singles. 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.
Elizabeth Cotten – Folksongs And Instrumentals With Guitar [Reissue/1958] LP (Smithsonian Folkways)
Elizabeth Cotten’s 1958 debut album on Folkways is best known for containing the earliest recording of her classic “Freight Train”. The breadth of her repertoire and her endearing style have captivated generations of guitarists and fans of traditional American music. Cotten’s self-taught, upside-down, left-handed playing style on the guitar and banjo made her a true original.
Damu The Fudgemunk & Raw Poetic – Instrumentals From The Reflecting Sea LP (Redefinition)
Instrumental component of Damu The Fudgemunk and Raw Poetic’s 2017 album The Reflecting Sea. Experience a pioneering journey complements of hip-hop’s most progressive minds. Duo-tone sea blue colored vinyl pressing.
Rudy de Anda – The Mirror LP (Colemine)
There is a tidal wave of cross-cultural expression washing inland out of Long Beach and Rudy de Anda is at the forefront of this genre-bending, sonic re-definition of the musical melting pot. Young and soft spoken, his is cutting and bringing a fresh sound to the west coast indie scene.
John Diva and The Rockets Of Love – Mama Said Rock Is Dead LP (Steamhammer)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. A flashy band in the style of the ’80s, John Diva and The Rockets Of Love carry the torch once held by Van Halen, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, Scorpions, Guns N’ Roses and Mötley Crüe.
Fredfades & Jawn Rice – Jacuzzi Boys LP (Mutual Intentions)
New project from the two producers Fredfades and Jawn Rice. Hailing from Oslo and Lillehammer, the two have been collaborating on music for over ten years in different shapes and forms. Jacuzzi Boys is deeply rooted in traditional house and electronic music, but with their super jazzy signature touches. “Guaranteed to be one of the hottest deep house records of 2019.”
Future Punx – The World Is A Mess 12” (Modern Sky)
Brooklyn’s Future Punx are back with a new EP. “While the band began as a bit more lighthearted, shiny and bright, the current state of things has seeped in this time. One thing that hasn’t changed is their sonic modus operandi: very catchy synthpop, indebted to ’80s groups like Devo, Missing Persons and Wall of Voodoo.” – Brooklyn Vegan
Gnash – We LP+MP3 (Atlantic)
Gnash is a singer, songwriter, rapper, DJ and record producer. He released his debut EP, U, in March 2015 on SoundCloud and followed up with the Me EP in December 2015. His third EP, Us, was released in March 2017. Limited beige colored vinyl pressing.
Gun – Gun [Reissue/1968] LP (Real Gone Music)
Armed with a collection of talent and a dazzling stylistic breadth that ranged from psychedelic to hard rock to mod to Procol Harum-esque prog, it’s little wonder that Gun has seen multiple reissues, but it’s been about 30 years since it’s been available on vinyl. This limited edition “red devil” vinyl pressing presents the original artwork intact. A classic of ’60s British rock.
Havoc x The Alchemist – The Silent Partner [Reissue/2016] 2xLP (Babygrande)
The Silent Partner is a magnificently organic album that brings together one-half of Mobb Deep with their favorite producer for a modern day hip-hop classic. Includes the Alchemist-produced instrumental version of the album.
Barbara Howard – On The Rise [Reissue/1969] LP (Colemine)
Barbara Howard’s On The Rise is more than just another rare soul LP. It’s a love story. It’s a dream. It was an attempt to break through. And although Barbara certainly never became a star, one song did become a staple in rare soul and funk DJ sets, keeping interest in Barbara Howard just under the surface. [Limited pink colored vinyl pressing also available. CD version due March 22.]
Graeme James – The Long Way Home LP (Nettwerk)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Rooted in folk’s rich storytelling and musical traditions, New Zealand singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Graeme James furthers the lineage with an imaginative textural approach in which he carefully crafts multi-instrumental soundscapes. His dynamically layered compositions feature him playing violin, electric violin, guitar, bass, baritone ukulele, mandolin, harmonica, percussion, and beatboxing.
Joan Jett And The Blackhearts – Bad Reputation (Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack) LP (Sony Legacy)
Released last September on CD – now available on limited 180gm vinyl. This career-spanning soundtrack premieres a new Joan Jett & The Blackhearts track, “Fresh Start”, alongside definitive live and studio performances by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts as well as tracks featuring The Runaways, Bikini Kill, members of The Sex Pistols, and more. The album also includes “Androgynous”, an unreleased track performed by Miley Cyrus, Laura Jane Grace, and Joan Jett.
K.A.A.N. – Subtle Meditation LP (Redefinition)
On his third album, the seasoned rapper explores subjects far and wide, including America’s social climate, striving for success, colonialism, dealing with failure, depression, anxiety, creative passion and self-destruction to name a few. [Limited pink colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Chaka Khan – Hello Happiness LP (Island)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Hello Happiness, Chaka Khan’s twelfth studio album, is her first new material since 2007’s Funk This. Khan stated that she did not stop making music following the release of Funk This, but simply stopped releasing material, and also needed time to recover following the death of Prince in 2016, which she has since said made her rethink herself and admit herself into rehab for her addiction to prescription drugs.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Cyboogie b/w Acarine 7” (ATO)
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard return with their first new music since 2017. “Cyboogie” is a step in a new direction for Gizz with five of the seven members playing synth on the track and not a guitar in sight. It’s an incredibly fun, upbeat disco boogie track reminiscent of Stevie Wonder, Devo, Trans era Neil Young and everything that is good.
KRS-One – Return Of The Boom Bap [Reissue/1993] LP (Fat Beats)
Limited gold colored vinyl pressing. Stripping away the intricate production of the final Boogie Down Productions album, Sex And Violence, Return Of The Boom Bap saw the already iconoclastic rapper return to the bare bones, gritty territory of his landmark masterpiece Criminal Minded. KRS-One’s delivery, too, burned with a reinvigorated fury, spitting out his rhymes with pummeling cadences and world-wise intelligence.
Lali Puna – Being Water LP+MP3 (Morr Music)
With Being Water Lali Puna refine their distinctive take on pop and electronics.
A.J. Lambert – Careful You LP (Alpha Pup)
A.J. Lambert (granddaughter of Frank Sinatra, daughter of Nancy Sinatra) delivers 10 unique interpretations of handpicked songs from modern artists like Spoon, TV On The Radio, and John Cale, as well as deep cuts from her grandfather Frank Sinatra.
Bobby Long – Sultans CD/LP (Compass)
US-based British singer-songwriter Bobby Long explores his love of The Beatles on his new album, Sultans.
Merzbow – Venerology [Reissue/1994] LP (Relapse)
The undisputed king of Japanese noise Merzbow returns, as the landmark 1994 album Venereology celebrates 25 tinnitus-inducing years with its inaugural vinyl pressing. Remastered by James Plotkin (Isis, Electric Wizard, Full Of Hell) and featuring reworked art, this is the most extreme recording of harsh electronic sickness you will ever own. Includes 20 minutes of unreleased bonus material.
Metronomy – Nights Out [Reissue/2008] 2xLP (Because Music)
Tenth Anniversary expanded vinyl edition of the British electronic group’s breakthrough album. Includes a set of unreleased demos, rarities and B-sides.
Roy Montgomery & Jessica Moss – Last Year’s Man b/w Vermeer 10” (Okraina)
“Roy Montgomery channels Leonard Cohen via a Suzuki Omnichord, then paints a glorious instrumental panorama with A Silver Mt. Zion violinist Jessica Moss on two intoxicating 12-minute songs.” – Boomkat
Mux Mool – Skulltaste [Reissue/2010] 2xLP (Young Heavy Souls)
“I think beat-making is really the study of every kind of music,” says Brian Lindgren, the artist known as Mux Mool. “Anyone who makes beats should be experimenting in other genres.” On Skulltaste, Lindgren’s full-length debut on Ghostly International, the producer was determined to explore every corner of his beat-steeped psyche, and the resulting document is a masterpiece of eclectic cohesion: chunky instrumental hip-hop sits next to new-wave anthems and dubby dancefloor bangers, which abut skittery slices of D’n’B and made-up video-game soundtracks.
Gary Numan – I, Assassin [Reissue/1982] LP (Beggars Banquet)
Originally released in 1982, I, Assassin is Gary Numan’s sixth studio album and fourth under his own name. Combining fretless bass with heavy rock drumming, Numan further refined his dark, sparse, funky-electro style, mixing it with impenetrable, slurred vocals.
Robert Pollard – Eat 15 – (Dislodge) The Immortal Orangemen 7”+Book (GBV Inc.)
Since 1986 Robert Pollard has been the most prolific songwriter and musician on the planet. This is not news. Since 2003 he has also been producing an incredible amount of visual art which comes as a surprise to many. His unique collage pieces have been featured in multiple galleries around the country including having his own art shows in New York City. Eat, his series of 14 art books, have been fan favorites. Now, for the first time, Robert Pollard is including music with Eat and for the first time, Rockathon is offering Eat for sale in stores. This full color book contains a pocket which holds the six song 7” one-sided EP (Dislodge) The Immortal Orangemen and is poly-bagged. These songs are exclusive to Eat and were recorded for the project.
Poptartpete – 8 Cavities LP (Paxico)
Philladelphia’s Jamal Smith, aka Poptartpete, is somewhat of living legend of the modern age. Remarkably talented in both skateboarding and making beats, Smith creates in the most effortless ways, which reflects the true breadth of his talent. J Dilla-esque chillin’ blunt music.
Sean Price & Small Professor – 86 Witness LP (Duck Down Music)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. 86 Witness features Rock of Heltah Skeltah, scratches by DJ Revolution, Guilty Simpson, Your Old Droog, Reef the Lost Cauze & more. The CD also features a bonus Sean Price EP; a re-issue of his project, Land Of The Crooks, entirely produced by M-Phazes.
Pungent Stench – Been Caught Buttering [Reissue/1991] LP (Back On Black)
Vinyl reissue of the Austrian death metal band’s second album, expanded with two bonus tracks.
Pye Corner Audio – Hollow Earth LP (Ghost Box)
Hollow Earth is the new album from Pye Corner Audio aka Martin Jenkins. It’s conceived as a sequel to 2016’s Stasis. Where Stasis played with notions of outward cosmic exploration and the idea of suspended animation and sleep, Hollow Earth takes subterranean exploration and submerged psychologies as its theme. It draws on Berlin school synth improvisations, New Age reveries and the ghosts of ‘90s house euphoria to summon up images of vast, awe inspiring spaces and claustrophobic chambers.
Rema-Rema – Fond Reflections LP+MP3 (4AD)
Cult band Rema-Rema featured former members of The Models and Siouxsie and The Banshees, and their much-loved Wheel In The Roses EP (1980) was among the first records to be released on 4AD. Their only contribution to the label’s storied history, they split-up before its release, going on to form or join bands as diverse as Renegade Soundwave, The Wolfgang Press, Mass, and Adam and the Ants. The debut album that never was, Fond Reflections, comes almost 40 years after their debut EP and has been culled from the band’s rich archive of reel-to-reel and cassette recordings, with member Gary Asquith and mixing engineer Takatsuna Mukai painstakingly working on them to make the album as cohesive as possible.
Pete Rock – Soul Survivor [Reissue/1998] 2xLP (Nature Sounds)
Among the first ever hip-hop “producer albums”, Pete Rock’s 1998 classic Soul Survivor shined a much-deserved light on one of hip-hop’s greatest ever music-makers. While Pete’s smooth-as-butter instrumentals take center stage, the album also features a who’s who of late ‘90s hip-hop royalty – artists like Method Man, Big Pun, Common, Black Thought, Kurupt, Raekwon, Noreaga, Ghostface Killah, Prodigy, Large Professor, and many more.
Rick Ross – Mastermind [Reissue/2014] 2xLP (Def Jam)
Vinyl reissue of the sixth album from the hip-hop superstar which features guest appearances from Jay Z, Meek Mill, and Lil Wayne.
Rudimental – Toast To Our Differences 2xLP (Atlantic)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Toast To Our Differences is the third studio album by English drum and bass band Rudimental.
The Runaways – The Best Of The Runaways [Reissue/1982] LP (Sony Legacy)
From the all-female rock band The Runaways comes an updated vinyl compilation featuring 13 of the band’s top hits. Best Of The Runaways includes remastered audio and the career defining single Cherry Bomb, the song that took singer Joan Jett’s career to the next level.
Simiah & The Phantom Ensemble – Connections LP (KingUnderground)
A collection of jazz inspired, hip hop instrumentals with MPC drums and live instrumentation.
The Silver Machine – Standing On The Bare Ground LP (Alternative Tentacles)
The epoch of The Silver Machine began in 2012, from mystic visions seen by its female founders in Savannah, GA. The name of this cult of performers, and their mytho-futurist-intergalactic-shamanic doctrine, sound and aesthetic, are derived from the infamous psychedelic-space rock band Hawkwind. The Silver Machine travels sideways through time, along Hawkwind’s electric lines, calling forth ancient truths long forgotten, discovering new Zodiac signs.
Smoke DZA x Pete Rock – Don’t Smoke Rock [Reissue/2016] 2xLP (Babygrande)
Red colored vinyl reissue. With an illustrious career spanning three decades, producer Pete Rock can freely decide who he wants to work with. Having already produced for the likes of Jay Z, Kanye West, Nas, Common, Cypress Hill, Method Man, Redman, and Jim Jones, just to name a few, Pete Rock has undoubtedly solidified himself as a contender for ‘the greatest producer of all-time.’ When Harlem’s rising star Smoke DZA landed on Pete’s radar, he knew DZA had something special that could not be ignored.
Star Band De Dakar – Psicodelia Afro-Cubana De Senegal LP (Ostinato)
2019 marks the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, when the Cuban way won hearts, minds, and ears across Africa. This album is the soundtrack to a time when Cuban music was the future for 1970s Senegal. Changüí, Guajira, Salsa, and Son mingle with cosmic Mbalax guitars, Sabar rhythms, Afro-Latin horns, and Spanish vocals spiced with a Senegalese twang.
Susto – Susto LP (Missing Piece)
On the heels of their recently released new album Ever Since I Lost My Mind, a vinyl reissue of Charleston, South Carolina-based alt-rock band’s debut album is now available.
TEK. LUN – Allow It! LP (HW&W Recordings)
Born and raised in Baltimore, 24-year-old beat-maker TEK. LUN is a silent killer. His early beat tapes and extensive instrumental catalogue helped build a cult following worldwide. In addition to touring internationally as a DJ and headlining festivals in Europe and Asia, his production credits include names like Lupe Fiasco, GoldLink and Aminé.
Fred Thomas/Anna Burch – Parkways b/w St. Adalbert [Split] 7” (Polyvinyl)
“Anna Burch and Fred Thomas have a lot in common. They’re both disarmingly witty and intuitive songwriters, both Michiganders, both intent on toying with indie-pop and bending it to their will.” – The Fader
Tom Tom Club – Tom Tom Club [Reissue/1981] LP (Real Gone Music)
Limited white colored vinyl edition. The Talking Heads spawned a number of worthy side projects and spinoffs – David Byrne & Brian Eno’s My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts, Jerry Harrison’s The Red And The Black – but none were as funky, danceable, and flat-out fun as Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth’s Tom Tom Club.
Twisted Pine – Dreams LP (Signature Sounds)
Released last June on CD – now available on vinyl. “Heralded as an unconventional Americana string quartet based in Boston, the four versatile members of Twisted Pine have emerged from underneath the covers to reveal their love for the Beatles, Scissor Sisters, the Cranberries and, yes, disco-era Blondie. The result is a charming, refreshing take on oldies but goodies by the figurative twisted sisters and brothers who all lend their voices to this band that includes lead vocalists Kathleen Parks (fiddle) and Rachel Sumner (guitar), mandolinist Dan Bui and bassist Chris Sartori.” – Pop Matters
Westkust – Westkust LP (Run For Cover)
The Gothenburg quintet continue creating infectious and layered shoegaze that made their 2015 album Last Forever and their noisy debut EP Junk so remarkable.
Lucinda Williams – Happy Woman Blues [Reissue/1980] LP (Smithsonian Folkways)
Lucinda Williams, whose musical style defies easy categorization, recorded her first album of original songs in 1980, supported by a six-member band. Her songs are a mix of traditional and alternative country, folk, and blues that reflect her Louisiana roots.
Mary Lou Williams – Mary Lou Williams [Reissue/1964] LP (Smithsonian Folkways)
Composer, arranger, and pianist Mary Lou Williams’ musical career reflected the history of American jazz from the late 1920s through the 1970s. Described by Duke Ellington as being beyond category, Williams was conversant in jazz styles ranging from stride through swing and be-bop to the avant-garde, yet her music was always rooted in spirituals and the blues. This self-produced recording, originally recorded in 1962 and 1963, contains a mix of standards and originals including four compositions reflecting her devout interest in religious music.
Tapper Zuki – Black Man [Reissue/1978] LP (Kingston Sounds)
A vinyl reissue of Tapper Zukie’s Black Man, originally released in 1978 as a Jamaican-only release on Tapper’s Stars imprint. Long deleted, it has become a classic in Mr. Zukie’s vast canon of musical biscuits. A great collection of Tapper tunes such as his biblical cut “My God Is Real”, “Revolution”, the title track, and some work overs of some of his fellow Jamaican artists like “Poor Man Problem”, a work over of Johnny Clarke’s “Blood Dunza” and “Leggo Violence”.
Cassettes:
Mathematik – Real/is-him (Urbnet)
Hip-hop pioneer Mathematik is meticulous with his craft. His work knows no shortcuts and the proof is in his finely managed sound. His roster of collaborators and cohorts reads like a Canadian hip-hop ‘who’s who’ commemorative. Highlights include producer K-Cut, Sic Sense, Citizen Kane, Saukrates, and Dream Warriors. [CD and vinyl editions due March 15.]
Twin Temple – Twin Temple (Bring You Their Signature Sound… Satanic Doo-Wop) (Rise Above)
Everybody knows that the Devil has all the best tunes. From Robert Johnson selling his soul at the crossroads to the blood-soaked black metal of Norway, Satan has long loomed large over the music world, striking fear into the hearts of the sanctimonious. But nothing that has gone before will prepare you for the arrival of Twin Temple: Los Angeles’ one and only purveyors of Satanic doo-wop.
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