July Program Titles Released This Week:
Bad Books – III CD/LP (Concord/Loma Vista)
“For their first record in seven years, Bad Books made sure it was worth the wait, and not a side project worth forgetting. Helmed by singer-songwriters Kevin Devine and Andy Hull (of Manchester Orchestra), III brings their talents together and distils them into an album that’s all of a piece while preserving each writer’s own identity. In the realm of Frightened Rabbit and Volcano Choir, Bad Books offer a sometimes exuberant, sometimes somber sound that takes simple folk songs and blows them out with dramatic piano chords, churchlike choral arrangements, spacey atmospherics and digital embellishments. For all their basis in acoustic instruments, these are songs that shimmer and echo at length — not for a coffee house, but an opera house. Devine and Hull contribute five songs each, trading back and forth, track-by-track. In spite of the album’s cohesive feel, the differences between each writer’s songs are quite drastic — Devine’s are generally upbeat and full-bodied, while Hull’s are far gloomier and barren. III is a record that fluctuates between the joyous and the melancholy over and over, making those many contrasts of dark and light all the more impactful.” — Exclaim
Philip Bailey – Love Will Find A Way CD (UMG)
On Love Will Find A Way, legendary falsetto Philip Bailey proves that the atmosphere and ideas that made Earth Wind & Fire possible – a respect for genuine musicianship, a conviction that all music matters – are alive and well in 2019. Along with trusted friends like bassist Christian McBride, the iconic jazz pianist Chick Corea and drum legend Steve Gadd, the album features several of the brightest contemporary lights in jazz, R&B, pop and more: keyboardist Robert Glasper, saxophonist Kamasi Washington, rapper, musician and producer will.i.am, trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, singer-songwriter Bilal, singer-saxophonist Casey Benjamin, guitarist Lionel Loueke, drummer Kendrick Scott and bassist Derrick Hodge, among many others. [Vinyl edition due July 12.]
Bedouine – Songs Of A Killjoy CD/LP (Spacebomb Arc)
When you listen to the love songs of L.A.-based Bedouine, you will be reminded of Karen Dalton’s world-wise voice or the breathy seduction of Minnie Riperton’s vocals, the easy cool of French ye-ye singers, and the poetry of Joan Baez. Her folk is nomadic, wandering across time and space, and on the likes of new song “Dizzy” meander into danceable jams. On first discovery you may ask whether they’re dated to 2019, or whether you’ve uncovered some forgotten classic. It makes sense that singer-songwriter Azniv Korkejian’s arrival – both musically and personally – on her second record has been influenced by her own wanderlust, displacement, and curiosity. The 12-songs on Bird Songs Of A Killjoy contain several references to birds. It’s a soundtrack to Spring blossom, to warm air on skin, to the concept of possibility.
Black Pumas – Black Pumas CD/LP (ATO)
Black Pumas is led by the creative partnership between Grammy Award-winning guitarist/producer Adrian Quesada and songwriter Eric Burton. The latter is a relative newcomer who arrived in Austin in 2015 after busking his way across the country from Los Angeles, while Quesada has a storied reputation for playing in bands like Grupo Fantasma and Brownout. After the two connected via friends in the Austin scene, they began to collaborate on a new sound that transmutes soul into something idiosyncratically modern. Reminiscent of Ghostface Killah and Motown in equal measure, this original sound ensured that Black Pumas’ weekly residency at C-Boys quickly became “the hottest party in town” (Austin-American Statesman). Produced by Quesada in his home studio and colored by Burton’s dark imagery and haunting vocals, their eponymous debut is equally as indebted to East Coast hip-hop as it is to classic funk and soul, resulting in a project that is of the moment rather than retro. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Collective Soul – Blood CD/LP (Fuzze Flex)
From their humble beginnings in Stockbridge, GA to the heights of playing to sold-out audiences all over the world, Collective Soul has cemented their place in music by creating indelible, smash-hits like “Shine”, “Breathe”, “December”, “The World I Know”, “Gel”, “Heavy”, “Precious Declaration” and more. The band’s new album Blood is the culmination of a quarter-century of assessing not only where they’ve come from, but also where they’re going. “I think Blood expresses where we’ve been on this life journey,” observes frontman Ed Roland. “And we’ve done so with songs featuring piano and strings to those with a lot of guitar riffs. Blood is an accumulation of all the different styles we’ve used over the years — but it’s still Collective Soul.” From the hard-charging skitter of “Over Me” to the optimistic declaration of “Right As Rain”, the hopeful uplift of a man “Changed”, and the tender promise of “Big Sky”, the album delivers in full from stem to stern.
Fruit Bats – Gold Past Life CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)
Fruit Bats’ Gold Past Life marks both an end and a beginning. It’s the end of an unintentional thematic trilogy of records from Eric D. Johnson that began with 2014’s EDJ (a solo record by name, but a Fruit Bats release in spirit) and hit an emotional peak with 2016’s Absolute Loser. They encompassed years of loss, displacement, and the persistent, low-level anxiety of the current political climate. They were written in the wake of friends who left these earthly confines and families that could have been. But the songs on Gold Past Life also represent new beginnings – the journeys that await after making it through troubled times. Johnson’s falsetto shines atop the bopping folk-rock of Gold Past Life. The new record features more keyboard influences and a range of guests including Greta Morgan (Springtime Carnivore, Vampire Weekend), Neal Casal (Circles Around the Sun), Trevor Beld Jimenez and Tim Ramsey (Parting Lines), Meg Duffy (Hand Habits), and more. It also sees his working relationship with producer and engineer Thom Monahan (Neko Case, Peter Bjorn & John, Devendra Banhart) hit its stride.
Hackensaw Boys – A Fireproof Of Sunshine CD/10” (Free Dirt)
On the band’s 20th anniversary, stalwart roots collective Hackensaw Boys present a fresh batch of original songs with their new EP A Fireproof House Of Sunshine. For the ever-evolving string band, the five-song collection showcases their graceful maturation and feels more timeless than timely, in no small part due to frontman David Sickmen’s deeply cultivated songwriting. Energized by the band’s new fiddler (Caleb Powers), upright bassist (Chris Stevens), and percussionist/charismo player (Beau Dodson), A Fireproof House Of Sunshine keeps Hackensaw Boys’ classic punk-fueled roots sound at the center. Yet here the group further explores within genre, from the rollicking contemporary Americana of “Late Night Kitchen” and “Pass Unloving Eyes” to the country-blues working class anthem “Factory Blues”, all while maintaining a toe-tapping pop sensibility. A Fireproof House Of Sunshine opens the curtain on a new era for Hackensaw Boys, who continually prove capable of turning universal life experiences into music that fosters togetherness, community, and understanding. [Limited blue colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Hollywood Vampires – Rise CD/2xLP (earMUSIC)
Rock & roll royalty Joe Perry, Hollywood superstar Johnny Depp and shock rock icon Alice Cooper join forces once again as the Hollywood Vampires for their explosive second album, Rise. Unlike their 2015 debut record, the album consists mainly of original material. Seconds into the opening track “I Want My Now”, it’s clear this supergroup has created something special – the chemistry between the individuals is unmistakable when they come together on stage or in the recording studio. Forget the star-studded lineup’s individual reputations, Rise is some of the purest, unapologetic and most enjoyable rock & roll of the year. [Limited glow-in-the-dark vinyl pressing also available.]
Hot Chip – A Bath Full Of Ecstasy CD/LP (Domino)
Hot Chip’s electrifying seventh album, A Bath Full Of Ecstasy, is the group’s definitive release, crystallizing the sound they’ve become celebrated for – bridging euphoria and melancholy with colorful melodies, idiosyncratic vocalizations and pounding electronic pop rhythms. Recorded in Paris and London, the nine-track collection sees the group (Owen Clarke, Al Doyle, Joe Goddard, Felix Martin and Alexis Taylor) open up to a more adventurous and collaborative songwriting process, choosing to work with outside producers for the first time: Philippe Zdar, the French maestro who’s shaped the magic of Cassius and Phoenix, and Rodaidh McDonald, the Scot who’s collaborated with The xx, David Byrne and Sampha, among others.
Mannequin Pussy – Patience CD/LP+MP3 (Epitaph)
Patience, the third full-length from Philadelphia, PA indie punk band Mannequin Pussy, is an album fascinated with the physical experience of the body, its songs tracking the movements of mouths and hands and racing hearts, skin and spit and teeth and blood. Deeply attuned to the power of their own physicality, members Colins Rey Regisford (bass, samples, vocals), Kaleen Reading (drums, percussion), Marisa Dabice (guitar, vocals), and Athanasios Paul (guitar, keys) channel complex emotion in blistering riffs, thrashing rhythms, vocals that feel as immediate and untamed as a gut reaction. But throughout the album, the band contrasts that raw vitality with intricate melodies and finely detailed arrangements, building a strange and potent tension that makes the album all the more cathartic. Patience matches Mannequin Pussy’s wild volatility with a narrative voice that’s often painfully vulnerable.
Buddy & Judy Miller – Breakdown On 20th Ave. South CD/LP+MP3 (New West)
Their first album together in nearly 10 years, Breakdown On 20th Ave. South is an album of Julie Miller songs produced by Buddy Miller. As a couple and individually, Buddy and Julie have been nominated and received multiple awards including Grammys, Americana Awards, Dove Awards among others. Julie Millers songs have been recorded by a diverse range of artists including Emmylou Harris, Lee Ann Womack, Levon Helm, Solomon Burke, and Miranda Lambert. Buddy Miller is known for his work as a guitarist, performing live and in the studio with artists such as Robert Plant, Alison Krauss, Steve Earle and Emmylou Harris. Buddy’s production credits include albums with Plant, Harris, Earle, Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin and many more. Breakdown On 20th Ave. South is a first rate showcase for Julies finely crafted lyrics. Tracks like “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” and “Everything Is Your Fault” hint at the ups and downs of love. The entire album is tied together by Buddy’s unfussy production style.
Nick Murphy/Chet Faker – Run Fast Sleep Naked CD (Downtown)
The new release from Nick Murphy, the artist formerly known as Chet Faker, Run Fast Sleep Naked is the follow-up to his 2014 debut Built On Glass which was released under the Chet Faker moniker, and 2017’s Missing Link EP. Co-produced by Dave Harrington, the vocals for the collection were captured all around the world during the last four years. For the record, Murphy found “spaces and environments that most inspired him,” ranging from his grandmother’s living room to a studio in Tokyo to a New Zealand rental home while on vacation with his family. During this period, the musician began a process of intense self-examination, using Joseph Campbell’s writings to question his role as an artist in modern society. The instrumentation for the album was later recorded at Brooklyn, New York’s Figure 8 with help from over 15 musicians and a full orchestra. [Vinyl edition due July 5.]
Willie Nelson – Ride Me Back Home CD/LP (Sony)
Willie Nelson returns with another incredible addition to his legendary catalog. Once again working with longtime producer Buddy Cannon, Ride Me Back Home sits beside 2017’s God’s Problem Child and 2018’s Last Man Standing as a trilogy of superior song craft exploring ideas of mortality with wisdom, empathy and a winking love of life. Nelson and Cannon co-wrote a handful of songs but go deep into their favorite songsmiths, great writers with great stories to tell: Sonny Throck-Morton, Guy Clark, Mac Davis, and Buzz Rabin. The result is a magical collection of tunes with emphasis on the lyric. Backed by an amazing band of Nashville gunslingers, Ride Me Back Home finds Willie Nelson making some of the most inspired work of his career.
Himesh Patel – Yesterday [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] CD (Capitol)
From Academy Award-winning director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) and Richard Curtis, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Four Weddings And A Funeral, Love Actually and Notting Hill, comes a rock-n-roll comedy about music, dreams, friendship, and the long and winding road that leads to the love of your life. Jack Malik (Himesh Patel, BBC’s Eastenders) is a struggling singer-songwriter in a tiny English seaside town whose dreams of fame are rapidly fading, despite the fierce devotion and support of his childhood best friend, Ellie (Lily James, Mamma Mia!, Here We Go Again). Then, after a freak bus accident during a mysterious global blackout, Jack wakes up to discover that The Beatles have never existed…and he finds himself with a very complicated problem, indeed. Performing songs by the greatest band in history to a world that has never heard them, and with a little help from his steel-hearted American agent, Debra (Emmy winner Kate McKinnon), Jack’s fame explodes. [Vinyl edition due August 16.]
Richard Reed Parry – Quiet River Of Dust Vol. 2: That Side Of The River CD/LP+MP3 (ANTI-)
Music of the spheres: it’s a term that refers to the universal harmony generated by celestial bodies in orbit, but it means something different to Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry. His musical spheres are floating worlds, 360° embodiments of memory, VR renditions of old family photos. These spheres not only served as metaphorical inspiration for the lyrics of his new project, Quiet River Of Dust, but appear throughout the album artwork and, most strikingly, in the films Parry made to be projected in planetarium-style domes to accompany live performances of this music. The first volume of Quiet River Of Dust was released on the autumn equinox of 2018; this second volume, out on the summer solstice of 2019, was created at the same time. Both volumes bleed into one another, by design. “It feels like a multi-sided window to me,” says Parry, “a different view into this prismatic song world.” Japanese folk myths, death poems and British folk music are tributaries flowing into a river of late-20th century avant-garde composition and traditional song craft, written and performed by a member of a Grammy-winning rock band. This is a meditative, widescreen musical experience with Beach Boy harmonies and a hypnotic pulse. Layered songs that move in a linear fashion, following a current rather than circular composition. [Limited white colored vinyl pressing also available.]
The Raconteurs – Help Us Stranger CD/LP (Third Man)
The Raconteurs – Jack White, Brendan Benson, Jack Lawrence, and Patrick Keeler – are back with their long-awaited new album, Help Us Stranger, which serves as the Grammy-winning rock band’s third studio LP and first new release in more than a decade. The 12-track collection sees the mighty combo reassembled, stronger and perhaps even more vital than ever before as they continue to push rock & roll forward into its future, bonding prodigious riffs, blues power, sinewy psychedelia, Detroit funk, and Nashville soul via Benson and White’s uncompromising songcraft and the band’s steadfast musical muscle. The pair wrote all of the songs on the record except the lone Donovan cover, “Hey Gyp (Dig The Slowness)”.
Joel Rafael – Rose Avenue CD/LP (Inside Recordings)
Rose Avenue gracefully defines California singer songwriter Joel Rafael and his contribution to the American canon. The ten-song masterpiece includes nine originals that reflect the honest accounting of a man in his 70th year. Recorded and mixed by multi-instrumentalist Marty Rifkin in his Santa Monica studio, Rose Avenue is fresh, and radiates warmth and significance. Rafael does not stray from his roots in the songs he selected for this release, or in his choice of musical accompaniment, playing acoustic guitar and harmonica. Social change has always been a topic prevalent in Rafael’s writing, and two beautiful examples found their way into the mix of Rose Avenue. The album’s first single “Strong”, written with Jason Mraz (who is also featured on the song) and Michael Natter, brings a message of solidarity. “Glory Bound”, references the shocking story of Emmett Till and his tragic murder. In the spirit of Woody Guthrie, Rafael has given the 1955 death of a fourteen-year-old boy its deserved respect and consideration. Rafael plays harmonica on both anthems. His perception reflects a lifetime’s insight into the songs he writes; as well as a full measure of gratitude for what has been, and what lies ahead.
The Rolling Stones – Bridges To Bremen 2xCD+/DVD/2xCD+Blu-ray/3xLP (Eagle Rock Entertainment)
Bridges To Bremen captures a complete show from the final leg of the Rolling Stones’ year-long tour in support of their Platinum-certified album Bridges To Babylon. Ever the innovators, The Bridges To Babylon Tour was one of firsts – the first time the band went on the road with a permanent, and now infamous, B-stage, and also the first time that fans could vote on the band’s website for a track they wanted to hear at the show – “Memory Motel” in the case of the Bremen fans, making each show on the tour unique. Opening with a stellar “Satisfaction”, Lisa Fisher then accompanies Mick Jagger on vocals for a storming version of “Gimme Shelter”, and Bridges single “Saint of Me” receives a rousing welcome. By Stones standards, Bremen was an intimate show, a 40,000 fan-strong hot ticket, for which the band enthusiastically kicked out 155 minutes of unadulterated rock ‘n’ roll. [Limited edition 180gm gold colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Emeli Sandé – Real Life CD/LP (Virgin)
Emeli Sandé’s much-anticipated third album, Real Life represents a new sound for the globally-acclaimed English artist following a period of self-discovery that resulted in a new defiant confidence. Sandé says that her vision for Real Life is to give people hope and confidence, “Especially people who have been marginalized, forgotten or kicked down by this invisible oppression that’s always there. I just want to give people this incredible superpower every time they play the album. Like a battery pack – by the end of the album they’re going to feel restored.”
All of the lyrics on the new album were written by Sandé, who worked on Real Life with such notables as Salaam Remi, James Poyser and Troy Miller, who produced every song. The album’s 11 tracks exude positivity, from the very opening track “Human,” which is followed by the acoustic guitar-led “Love To Help”. The soaring “You Are Not Alone” has the singer, flanked by a choir, marking a return to the anthemic sound that made Sandé a star.
Titus Andronicus – An Obelisk CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)
An Obelisk is the sixth album from Titus Andronicus, which finds the noted rock band under the stewardship of producer and legendary rocker Bob Mould (Hüsker Dü, Sugar). This trans-generational meeting of the minds has yielded the most immediate, intense, and unadorned Titus Andronicus record to date. Clocking in at a brisk 38 minutes and change, it is also the shortest. Recorded over six breathless days at Steve Albini’s world-renowned Electrical Audio studio in Chicago, An Obelisk presents the sound of Titus Andronicus, rock band, at its most irreducible, as monolithic as the album’s titular monument.
Two Door Cinema Club – False Alarm CD/LP (Glassnote)
Two Door Cinema Club’s highly-anticipated fourth album False Alarm finds the three piece gloriously unshackled and creatively at the peak of their game. Across it’s ten tracks, False Alarm wryly scans and satirizes the social and environmental woes of 2019 through the prism of wonderfully off-kilter pop, simultaneously borrowing from and warping elements of future pop, disco, rock, funk and soul. Recorded in sessions between London and L.A. with producer Jacknife Lee (U2, REM, The Killers), it’s an LP that takes the familiar and twists it, to startling and stimulating effect.
CDs + Vinyl:
Abyssal – A Beacon In The Dark CD/LP (Profound Lore)
Fourth album from the otherworldly, mysterious UK dark ambient death metal entity.
Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. – Wandering The Outer Space [Reissue/2017] LP (Buh)
Released on CD during the first South American tour by the Japanese masters of psychedelia, Wandering The Outer Space is released on vinyl for the first time.
Aerosmith – Aerosmith’s Greatest Hits [Reissue/1990] LP (Sony Legacy)
Vinyl reissue of the first compilation album by Aerosmith featuring songs that made the band an icon of the 1970s rock era.
Agent Side Grinder – A/X LP (Metropolis)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Sweden’s electro/new wave/postpunk act Agent Side Grinder is known for its signature majestic melodies, industrial beats and brooding electronics.
The Amazons – Future Dust CD/LP (Island)
Second studio album by British alternative rockers.
Gyedu Blay Ambolley – Ambolley [Reissue/1982] CD/LP (Mr. Bongo)
CD and vinyl reissue of an extremely hard-to-obtain LP from the Ghanaian master composer, producer and musician. Ambolley’ fuses Highlife, disco and boogie sonics perfectly.
Bang Tango – Rock And Roll Est. 1988 CD/LP (Deadline Music)
Career retrospective from the cult L.A. rockers.
Bassy Blick – 1958 CD/LP (No Format)
Imagine an African artist with the tenderly subversive touch of Bon Iver, the haunting falsetto of Skip James, the razor-like mind of Akala, and the inventiveness of Moses Sumney. You’ve just imagined Blick Bassy.
Harry Bertoia – Experimental I/Mechanical I CD/LP (Sonambient)
The recordings contained on Experimental I/Mechanical I were selected because of their relationship to Bertoia’s body of recorded work. The titles are from Bertoia’s notes which Bertoia placed in each tape box, indicating date and describing briefly. Like his sculptures, Bertoia never titled his recordings but frequently referred to specific concepts he was pursuing. These are among the earliest known examples of Bertoia using terms which would become more common in the years to come: experimental, mechanical, and long sounds.
Bob Burger – The Grind CD/LP (Western Vinyl)
Rob Burger’s talents as an arranger, composer, and keyboardist have been nurtured by more than two decades of contributions to a diverse roster of recognizable names, at the very least including John Zorn, Laurie Anderson, and Iron & Wine with whom Burger presently records and tours. His new album The Grid combines neo-classical soundscapes, ’70s kosmische, and jaunts of 20th-century exotica into a completely unique genre-quilt that synopsizes his long musical trek through multiple cities, scenes, and sounds. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Kirin J. Callinan – Return To Center CD/LP (Terrible)
New release from the Australian musician and former member of Mercy Arms and The Night Game. Return To Center is the follow-up to Callinan’s 2017 album Bravado and was recorded in the course of a couple weeks in L.A.
Glen Campbell – The Legacy 1961-2017 4xCD (Capitol)
All of your favorite Glen Campbell songs, packaged with a 60-page booklet and new liner notes.
Critical Mess – Man Made Machine Made man CD/LP (Metalville)
The band around ex-Cripper Vocalist Britta Görtz shows that they have remained faithful to the old-school death metal they grew up with and they define their straightforward goal: to conquer the stages of the world.
Jamie Cullum – Taller CD/LP (Blue Note)
Jamie Cullum is a globally-celebrated musician whose career spans 18 years, beginning with the success of his major label breakthrough Twentysomething and its follow up Catching Tales, and resulting in Brit and Grammy nominations and numerous other awards around the world.
Sarah Davachi – Pale Bloom CD/LP (W.25th)
Pale Bloom finds Sarah Davachi coming full circle. After abandoning the piano studies of her youth for a series of albums utilizing everything from pipe and reed organs to analog synthesizers, this prolific Los Angeles-based composer returns to her first instrument for a radiant work of quiet minimalism and poetic rumination.
Def Leppard – Volume Two 7xCD/10xLP (Mercury)
The second in four volumes of the band’s complete recorded output.
Diabolic – The Disconnect CD/LP (Warhorse)
A mixture of introspective storytelling and hardcore East Coast hip-hop with Diabolic’s signature, razor sharp lyrics over hard hitting, gritty boom bap beats.
Drivin N’ Cryin – Live The Love Beautiful CD/LP (Drivin N’ Cryin)
From their days as MTV-approved radio stars to their rebirth as DIY icons of the American underground, Drivin N’ Cryin spent three and a half decades building a legacy grounded in sharp songwriting, southern stomp, and loud, life affirming shows.
Ethnic Heritage Ensemble – Be Known Ancient/Future/Music CD/LP (Spiritmuse)
New spiritual jazz album by the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, led by legendary Chicago percussionist Kahil El’Zabar, an artist in a league of his own, acknowledged throughout the world as the leader in the vanguard of spiritual and afro-futuristic jazz.
Mort Garson – Mother Earth’s Plantasia [Reissue/1976] CD/LP (Sacred Bones)
If you purchased a snake plant, asparagus fern, peace lily, or what have you from Mother Earth on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles (or bought a Simmons mattress from Sears) in 1976, you also took home Plantasia, an album recorded especially for plants. Subtitled warm earth music for plants… and the people that love them, it was full of bucolic, charming, stoner-friendly, decidedly unscientific tunes enacted on the new-fangled device called the Moog. Before Brian Eno did it, Mort Garson was making discreet music. [Limited green colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Harry & The Potters – Lumos CD/LP (Charming)
Lumos is Harry and the Potters’ first full-length album since 2006’s Harry And The Potters And The Power Of Love. Using the magic of rock and roll, it chronicles the events of the seventh and final Harry Potter book where J.K. Rowling’s teen wizard and his friends are on the run from a xenophobic, authoritarian regime and must work diligently to take down a dark wizard who capitalizes on fear and emboldens supremacist wizards. Lumos is an album for this political moment.
Hatchie – Keepsake CD/LP+MP3 (Double Double Whammy)
On her debut EP Sugar & Spice, Hatchie delivered the sonic equivalent of falling deliriously in love: a sustained rush of feeling, rendered in swoony melodies and gauzy guitar tones and endlessly hypnotic layers of sound. Now, with her full-length debut Keepsake, the Australian singer/songwriter tries on countless new textures, exploring everything from industrial to new wave to dance-pop, handling each with understated elegance and pure, powerful feeling. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Holy Ghost! – Work CD/LP (West End)
Holy Ghost! is one of the few modern-day practitioners of pure, unadulterated dance music; crafting each sound from scratch with unapologetic, exacting precision in the studio before delivering hit after hit to the dance floor.
Howling Sycamore – Seven Pathways To Annihilation CD/LP (Prosthetic)
Howling Sycamore is a project started in 2017 by guitar player Davide Tiso (Ephel Duath, Gospel Of The Witches) joined by WatchTower and Dangerous Toys singer, Jason McMaster and drumming sensation, Hannes Grossmann (Alkaloid, ex-Necrophagist, Obscura). The idea behind the band is to melt together extreme metal drumming, layered down-tuned guitars and old school prog metal singing.
Injury Reserve – Injury Reserve CD/LP (Loma Vista)
Self-titled debut album from Phoenix rap trio Injury Reserve made up of producer Parker Corey and rappers Stepa J. Groggs and Ritchie With A T, and featuring guest artists Aminé, Rico Nasty, DRAM, and Freddie Gibbs. The album focuses on bridging the gap between experimental and accessible.
Park Jiha – Philos CD/LP+MP3 (Glitterbeat)
While Park Jiha’s music is often contextualized by its kinship with minimalism, ambient, and chamber jazz, her creative backbone is Korean traditional music. Jiha formally studied both its theory and practice and has mastered three of its most emblematic instruments: Piri (double reed bamboo flute), saenghwang (mouth organ), and yanggeum (hammered dulcimer).
JR JR – Invocations/Conversations CD/2xLP (Love Is EZ)
Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. New album from the band formally known as Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
Sachiko Kanenobu – Misora [Reissue/1972] CD (Light In The Attic)
Often regarded as Japan’s first female singer-songwriter Sachiko Kanenobu created an enduring legacy with Misora a timeless classic of intricate finger-picking gently soaring melodies and rustic Laurel Canyon vibes. Originally released in 1972 on URC (Underground Record Club) one of Japan’s first independent record labels the Haruomi Hosono-produced album remains one of the most beloved works to come out of Japan’s folk and rock scenes centered around Tokyo and Kansai areas in the early 1970s. [Vinyl edition due July 12.]
Lady Gaga/Bradley Cooper – A Star Is Born [OST] CD/2xLP (Interscope)
Limited box set with gold foil stamp, individually numbered, two gold vinyl LPs, CD, journal, five posters, four pieces of sheet music, 10 lithos, and two glossy 8×10 photos with an envelope.
Jim Lauderdale – From Another World CD/LP (Yep Roc)
A ten song collection of empathy, love, forgiveness and humility, an antidote to the anger and divisiveness of today’s world. McCartney-esque melodies, Dylan-esque lyrics, bluegrass, and twangy psychedelia collide on From Another World. Jim has once again opened his heart wide and delivered a beautiful record where country music still cries with the sound of pedal steel guitar and beautiful lyrics flow through aching indelible melodies.
The Lord Weird Slough Feg – New Organon CD/LP (Cruz Del Sur Music)
“For nigh on 30 years, The Lord Weird Slough Feg have served the greater good as classic metal’s gift to heavy rock. Or are they classic rock’s gift to heavy metal? Or metal’s gift to heavy? Plus Celtic influences? Whatever. The point is, across 10 full-lengths and a swath of other singles and splits, etc., the band have become one-of-a-kind practitioners of the metallic arts.” – The Obelisk
Los Straitjackets – Channel Surfing CDEP/12”+MP3 (Yep Roc)
Surf rock renditions of some of television’s greatest hits, including the theme to Game Of Thrones, The Andy Griffith Show, Ken Burns’ The Civil War, and a medley of Dancing With The Stars and Sex And The City.
Lunar Shadow – The Smokeless Fires CD (Cruz Del Sur Music)
“Lunar Shadow find themselves firmly down the road of refinement. The Smokeless Fires is, in every way, a continuation of the German heavy metal band’s work on Far From Light, with the band seeking to replicate everything that made their debut so excellent without succumbing to any of the same complaints people had. And for the most part, it absolutely works.” – Heavy Blog Is Heavy
Lvcifyre – Sacrament CDEP/12” (Dark Decent)
A 23 minute extended-play offering of cacophonous and wretched death metal savagery.
Chuck Mead – Close To Home CD/LP (Plowboy)
The neo-traditional honky tonker serves up a Memphis-spiced hardcore country platter.
Memoriam – Requiem From Mankind CD (Nuclear Blast)
New album from the old school death metal band. [Vinyl edition due June 28.]
Charnett Moffett – Bright New Day CD (Motema Music)
Inspired by the electric periods of three chief influences – Jaco Pastorius, Ornette Coleman, and Miles Davis – legendary jazz bassist Charnett Moffett’s Bright New Day represents a new chapter in his expanding legacy of jazz innovation.
The Ocean Blue – Kings And Queens/Knaves And Thieves CD/LP+MP3 (Korda)
Dream pop legends release their first new album in over six years.
Organectomy – Existential Disconnect CD (Unique Leader)
The Christchurch, NZ based slam masters return with a new album. “Thematically Existential Disconnect covers the technological self-obliteration of a man to ascend beyond mortality, and the subsequent repercussions of human consciousness elevated to a state of godliness. We believe we have stepped up our game in terms of intensity and ferocity with this new record and have drawn a lot of influence from our brutal death metal roots.” [Vinyl edition due July 19.]
Prince – Originals CD (WB)
A 15-track album featuring 14 previously unreleased recordings that illuminate the vital, behind-the-scenes role Prince played in other artists’ careers. Several of the iconic songs found on Originals were considerable hits for the artists who recorded them. Sheila E.’s “The Glamorous Life” reached #1 on the dance charts in 1984, while the enormous success of “Manic Monday” propelled the single and its accompanying album, The Bangles’ Different Light, to the #2 spot on the pop charts. [Vinyl edition due July 19.]
Quantic – Atlantic Oscillations CD/LP (Tru Thoughts)
Atlantic Oscillations marks the return of world-renowned British producer Quantic with his most cohesive and intricate album to date. Bringing together new players and concepts with a dance orientated sound that has enchanted fans and tastemakers across the world for nearly two decades, it showcases Will Quantic Holland’s artistry and rare ability to intertwine the electronic with the orchestral.
Mark Ronson – Late Night Feelings CD/2xLP+MP3 (RCA)
Fifth studio album by British producer Mark Ronson includes guest appearances by Miley Cyrus, Lykke Li, and Camila Cabello.
Mariee Soux – Grief In Exile CD/LP (Night Bloom)
Mariee Sioux is an artist transmitting medicinal qualities of music for the current times we are in. Her fingerpicking guitar has been compared to the greats of Nick Drake and Bert Jansch and her music has also been described as hallucinatory with a trance like performance.
Chris Strandring – Best Of Chris Strandring Remixed CD (Ultimate Vibe)
With the help of hipster producers Rodney Lee and Matt Cooper, Chris Standring presents eleven of his most popular songs (plus bonus mix) completely reinvented and remixed with a fresh urban club vibe, yet retaining his unique soul-jazz hypnotic flavor. [Vinyl edition due August 2.]
Superstition – The Anatomy Of Unholy Transformation CD/LP (20 Buck Spin)
Drawn from the alluvial darkness and consecrated in the materia prima of unconscious fear, Superstition has come forth as the archon of illimitable lunacy, the purveyor of spiritual violence and the demiurge of psychic malfeasance. Driving the burning sword of damnation with searing speed, maniacal riffs and bellicose leads, The Anatomy Of Unholy Transformation delivers the inceptive sounds that originally marked death metal’s ascendency as the ultimate force of destruction.
Aki Takase – Hokusai: Piano Solo CD (Intakt)
Aki Takase, the Berlin-based pianist, is one of the great personalities of modern jazz. Moments of freedom, form and humour characterize this stylistically versatile avant-gardist, the stubborn virtuoso who toys with jazz traditions. In the year of her 70th birthday, Aki Takase was honoured with The Berlin Jazz Prize. Recorded over two days at the Sendesaal Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg, the album includes some pieces captured live during the award ceremony, and some recorded in a studio setting in the same historic room.
Masayuki Jojo Takayanagi/New Direction Unit – April Is The Cruelest Month CD/LP (Blank Forms)
Masayuki Jojo Takayanagi (1932 – 1991) was a maverick Japanese guitarist, a revolutionary spirit whose oeuvre embodied the radical political movements of late ’60s Japan. Having cut his teeth as an accomplished Lennie Tristano disciple playing cool jazz in the late ’50s, Takayanagi had his mind blown by the Chicago Transit Authority’s free form guitar in 1969 and promptly turned his back on the jazz scene by which he was beloved. Takayanagi had found a new direction, an annihilation of jazz and it’ associated idolatry of hegemonic American culture. Aiming his virtuoso chops towards the stratosphere, Takayanagi dedicated himself to the art of the freakout, laying waste to tradition left and right, most notably via the all-out assault of his aptly-named New Direction For The Arts (later, New Direction Unit) and collaborations with like-minded outsider saxophonist Kaoru Abe.
Teramaze – Are We Soldiers CD/LP (Music Theories)
Melbourne Australia’s Teramaze are back with a new album, released during a recent explosion of progressive minded rock and metal bands coming from the region.
Thee Oh Sees – Grave Blockers [Reissue/2006] CD (Castleface)
Encased in a brown paper wrapping like a forgotten bit of smut from behind the beaded curtain, this unassuming disc is a time-capsule back to John Dwyer’s early SF days, janglingly fingerpicked wisps of melody and electronics baking in the all-too anemic sunshine of San Francisco’s elusive summer. Like a seashell to the ear, one can hear within it Baker Beach bike ride excursions, holding court and gently harassing passers-by on a Haight street stoop, and midnight rambles with friends from out of town, daring the sun to come up. [Vinyl edition due July 19.]
Tommy And June – Tommy And June CD/LP (Fat Wreck Chords)
The self-titled debut from the mysterious duo lacks the aggressive, overdriven power of the bands on Fat Wreck’s Mount Rushmore. Tommy And June‘s 10 tracks stick mostly to acoustic guitars, breathy vocal harmonies, and a spirit indebted to Pete Seeger as much as Pete Shelley. But this isn’t power chords on acoustic guitars, or punks unplugging for novelty’s sake.
Travis – Glastonbury 1999 CD/2xLP (Craft Recordings)
Travis – The Man Who [Reissue/1999] 2xCD//LP/LP+2xCD (Craft Recordings)
This is the first ever release of this pivotal performance by British alt-rock band Travis, timed around the 20th anniversary of the show and their breakthrough album, The Man Who (reissued this week on expanded double-CD, deluxe box set, and single-disc vinyl). [Limited blue colored vinyl pressing of Glastonbury 1999 also available.]
Various Artists – Soul Jazz Records Presents Brazil USA 70 – Brazilian Music In The USA In The 1970s CD/2xLP (Soul Jazz)
This collection brings together some of these finest works and comes complete with extensive notes that explains the path these musicians took from Brazil to the USA and shows the political and musical links between Brazil and the USA that created the conditions for this unique fusion of these two distinct cultures, North American Jazz and Brazilian music, that occurred in the 1970s.
Various Artists – Under The Influence Volume Seven: A Collection Of Rare Soul And Disco Compiled By Winston 2xCD/2xLP (Z. Records)
Z Records continues its commitment to unearthing the obscure and long forgotten soul, funk, disco, and boogie tracks from the last 40 years.
Fernando Viciconte – Traitors Table CD/LP (Fluff & Gravy)
Traitors Table is easily Viciconte’s most personal and provocative record yet, and that’s saying a lot for someone who has been recording provocative music for 25+ years.
Aaron Watson – Red Bandana CD (Big Label)
New album of foot-stomping anthems from the country music star.
Wu-Tang Clan – Disciples Of The 36 Chambers: Chapter 1 CD/2xLP (Sanctuary)
This live set, featuring all nine original Wu-Tang Clan members, contains many classic hits from the group’s albums as well as individual solo albums.
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
The B-52’s – The B-52’s [Reissue/1979] LP (WB)
The B-52’s – Wild Planet [Reissue/1980] LP (WB)
Vinyl reissues of The B52’s’ first two albums. Rooted in new wave and 1960s rock and roll, the group later covered many genres ranging from post-punk to pop rock.
Justo Bagüeste & Suso Saiz – Inducing The Pleasure Dreams 2 LP (Geometrik)
A session of sonic haze based on dialog and improvisation.
James Brown – Get On The Good Foot [Reissue/1972] 2xLP (Polydor)
Double 180gm vinyl pressing of the 1972 studio album by the funk and soul legend. Features the bonus track “I Know It’s True” which has never appeared on vinyl in the US.
Causa Sui – Summer Sessions 1 LP (El Paraiso)
Causa Sui – Summer Sessions 2 LP (El Paraiso)
Causa Sui – Summer Sessions 3 LP (El Paraiso)
Causa Sui’s three volumes of Summer Sessions are back in print, originally released in 2009. Originally the Summer Sessions were intended as a side project for the band – a chance to explore their love for other genres such as American free jazz, krautrock, 1970s soundtracks, as well as the psychedelia and detuned stoner-rock that characterized Causa Sui’s first two albums. But these three albums came to define the band, and have become modern classics of psychedelia and progressive rock since their initial release ten years ago.
Don Cherry – Complete Communion: Live In Hilversum May 9th 1966 LP (DBQP)
This is the Don Cherry Quintet caught in action in Hilversum (Holland) in 1966 and featuring the strong tenor sax voice of Gato Barbieri and the highly interactive rhythm section of Karl Berger (vibes and piano), Bo Stief (bass), and Aldo Romano (drums). A very distinctive line up which fits somewhere between two of the greatest Cherry’s studio sessions of the time, Complete Communion and Togetherness.
Chic – Chic [Reissue/1977] LP (Atlantic)
Chic – C’est Chic [Reissue/1978] LP (Atlantic)
Chic – Risqué [Reissue/1979] LP (Atlantic)
Vinyl reissues (2018 remasters) of the first three albums by the disco-era legends.
Clipping. – Face 12”/Cassette (Deathbomb Arc)
In 2012 Clipping. Released their debut EP, a three song cassette centered around an early live favorite “Face”. Deathbomb Arc now brings this long out-of-print release back, fully remasterd by Thomas Dimuzio with a slew of bonus tracks.
Alice Cooper – Alice Cooper’s Greatest Hits [Reissue/1974] LP (WB)
Vinyl reissue of the only greatest hits album by rock band Alice Cooper, and their last release as a band.
Current 93 – Invocations Of Almost LP (The Spheres)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. An hour of music that accompanied David Tibet’s 2019 exhibition at The Begovich Gallery, Fullerton, CA.
The Darts – I Like You But Not Like That LP (Alternative Tentacles)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The Darts explode onto the scene with a fiercely classic sound that invests deeply in late ’60s garage while incorporating tones of horror-punk and psych rock.
The Deadly Syndrome – The Ortolan [Reissue/2007] LP (Community Music)
First-time vinyl pressing. There’s a distinctive west coast signature in each of the Los Angeles band’s glorious tunes, reminiscent of rock forefathers such as Neil Young, Lindsey Buckingham, Peter Frampton, The Doobie Brothers, Tim and Jeff Buckley, Elliott Smith, Wilco, and The Eagles, to name a few. An upbeat pop-tinged album with larger than life percussion, jangling guitars, and heart wrenching vocals that still maintains the crucial darkness that so often taints the west coast folk and rock sound. Upbeat tales of longing, loving, suicide, and loss. “Unbridled euphoria.” – LA Times
Manu Dibango – African Voodoo [Reissue/1972] LP (Hot Casa)
A fantastic and rare album by the Afro soul maestro.
DJ Spinna – 1997 Beat Tape LP (Redefinition)
Brooklyn’s DJ Spinna continues to show the world there’s no shortage of beats from his arsenal.
Doctor Bionic – Reaching The Unknown: Chapter 2 LP (Chiefdom)
Raw-analog instrumental trip hop album, recorded with some of Cincinnati’s best funk musicians.
Lou Donaldson – Mr. Shing-A-Ling [Reissue/1967] LP (Blue Note)
Mr. Shing-A-Ling, has long been considered the best of Lou Donaldson’s funk/soul albums from the late-’60s, and includes a who’s who of great soul jazz players including Blue Mitchell, Jimmy Fats Ponder and Leo Smith.
Dos Monos – Dos City LP (Deathbomb Arc)
Tokyo based experimental hip-hop trio Dos Monos summon excitement with some truly unusual alchemy. The building blocks of their style balance the dissonance and cacophony of some very un-smooth, uncool jazz with hyperactive verse trading between their three members.
Earthen Sea – Grass And Trees LP (Kranky)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Jacob Long’s reductionist rhythmic ambient vessel, Earthen Sea, ebbs towards a more purely elemental state on his second excursion for Kranky, Grass And Trees. He describes the creative process as one of simplifying things as much as possible, designing uncluttered spaces traced in nothing but breath, field recordings, and sounds that could be played by hand but weren’t. The results feel decentralized but dynamic, low-lit evocations of ambiguous nocturnal environments-dub techno disassembled into stray pulses and spare parts.
Enigma – MCMXC a.D. [Reissue/1990] 2xLP (Polydor)
Enigma – Cross Of Changes [Reissue/1993] 2xLP (Polydor)
Enigma – Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi! [Reissue/1996] 2xLP (Polydor)
Enigma – The Screen Behind The Mirror [Reissue/1999] 2xLP (Polydor)
Enigma – Love Sensuality Devotion (The Greatest Hits) [Reissue/2001] 2xLP (Polydor)
Enigma – Voyageur [Reissue/2003] 2xLP (Polydor)
Enigma – Seven Lives Many Faces [Reissue/2008] 2xLP (Polydor)
Enigma – A Posteriori [Reissue/2009] 2xLP (Polydor)
Enigma – Fall Of A Rebel Angel [Reissue/2016] 2xLP (Polydor)
Limited colored vinyl reissues of the German musical projects eight albums and 2001 greatest hits collection.
Gila – Trench Tones 12” (Lex)
Gila is an electronic producer from Denver, Colorado. His signature, hard-edged productions should appeal to fans of Flying Lotus, Nosaj Thing, Hudson Mohawke, Jacques Greene & Lunice.
Kevin Hearn – Calm + Cents LP (Celery)
Released last week on CD – now available on vinyl. Current member of The Barenaked Ladies and former member of the Rheostatics, Kevin Hearn is a veteran of the Canadian music pantheon. Now he has returned with the release of a solo collection of alternative/experimental tracks.
His Name Is Alive – All The Mirrors In The House: Early Recordings 1979-1986 LP (Disciples
Transcendental tape loops and bedroom ambient dream states from the teenage mind of Warren Defever aka His Name Is Alive. All The Mirrors In The House is the first of three projected releases of very early works by the Detroit-based savant, prior to signing to 4AD in the late-1980s. Clear vinyl pressing.
Shafiq Husayn – The Loop LP (Nature Sounds)
Shafiq Husayn is a talented musician, producer, songwriter, and recording artist who has worked with some of the top artists in R&B, hip-hop, soul, funk, and beyond. Perhaps best known as one third of innovative Los Angeles musical collective Sa Ra Creative Partners, Husayn has produced for the likes of Erykah Badu, Andre 3000, John Legend, Kanye West, Jurassic 5, Bilal, and many more. Blending lush live instrumentation with futuristic synths and otherworldly vocals, The Loop is a genre-defying opus incorporating spaced-out funk, raw neo-soul, free jazz, hip-hop beats, and electronic elements.
Imprecation – Damnatio Ad Bestias LP (Dark Decent)
Imprecation rises again from the blasted lands of Texas with their darkest spell ever. Bludgeoning guitars, battering drums, and haunting keys create an experience that will terrify the unbelievers and convert the uninitiated.
The Innocence Mission – Befriended [Reissue/2003] LP (Badman)
Originally released on CD in 2003, Befriended received high praise from NPR, Pitchfork, and many others. Arguably their best work, it is a haunting collection of songs that feature the interplay of Don Peris’ gorgeously warm and shimmering electric guitars with Karen’s Peris’ transcendently lovely vocals and moving lyrics. Limited milky-white colored vinyl pressing.
Yuzo Iwata – Daylight Moon LP (Siltbreeze)
Daylight Moon is Yuzo Iwata’s first outing since his 1999 debut, Drowning In The Sky. While Yuzo’s been living stateside for a couple of decades, his roots, style and fluidity harken back to the Kichijoji Minor days of the late ‘70s Tokyo underground scene.
Daniel Johnson – Hi, How Are You – Yip/Jump Music [Reissue/1983] 3xLP (PIAS America)
Diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, singer-songwriter, musician and visual artist Daniel Johnston is highly regarded in the lo-fi and alternative music scenes for his cassette recordings which are notable for their pure and childlike soul. He gathered a cult following when Kurt Cobain was seen wearing a t-shirt featuring the artwork from Johnston’s 1983 album Hi, How Are You. According to Cobain Johnston’s Yip Jump Music was in his Top 50 albums of all time. Johnston’s songs have been covered by the likes of Tom Waits, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Bright Eyes, Teenage Fanclub, Beck, Wilco, Spiritualized and TV on the Radio among others. 35 years after their release, the inimitable artist’s much loved cassette recordings Hi, How Are You and Yip Jump Music are available together in a triple vinyl package for the first time.
Kashmere Stage Band – Texas Thunder Soul 1968-1974 LP+MP3 (Now Again)
After capturing audience awards festivals like SXSW and the Los Angeles Film Festival, the word is out that Kashmere was the greatest high school band – ever. Their story is tucked in between slabs of hard ‘70s funk, soul, and jazz: Conrad Johnson transformed a bunch of rough-hewn high schoolers into a band that could compete with any in the nation – professional, or otherwise. The band’s best tracks are collected here.
Kina – Troppo Lontano E Altre Storie [Reissue/1996] LP (Spittle)
13 remastered tracks produced between 1986 and 1994 by the Italian seminal hardcore punk band.
Krypts – Cadaver Circulation LP (Dark Decent)
Finland’s Krypts return to unfurl an aeonic slab of death metal upon the ears. Cadaver Circulation explores immeasurable depths with six intense offerings of misanthropic, doom-laden death metal. [CD edition due July 26.]
La Fine Equipe – 5th Season LP (Nowadays)
After their featuring on the famous track “Cheese Naan”, La Fine Equipe and Fakear team up again and offer 5th Season. An electronic track where the breaks and heavy basses of the quatuor pave the way for Fakear’s solar and stellar melodies. The producer, who’s currently working with M.I.A, then drops his famous voices samples and drown you in a tornado of a groovy vibes.
Megadeth – Peac Sells… But Who’s Buying [Reissue/1986] LP (Capitol)
A bona-fide thrash metal masterpiece, Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying? combines a punkish political awareness with a dark, threatening, typically heavy metal worldview and it remains one of the most powerful and contagious thrash records of the era.
Steve Miller Band – Sailor [Reissue/1968] LP (Capitol)
Steve Miller Band – Children Of The Future [Reissue/1968] LP (Capitol)
Steve Miller Band – Your Saving Grace [Reissue/1969] LP (Capitol)
Steve Miller Band – Brave New World [Reissue/1969] LP (Capitol)
Steve Miller Band – Number 5 [Reissue/1970] LP (Capitol)
Steve Miller Band – Rock Love [Reissue/1971] LP (Capitol)
Steve Miller Band – Recall The Beginning…A Journey From Eden [Reissue/1972] LP (Capitol)
Steve Miller Band – The Joker [Reissue/1969] LP (Capitol)
Steve Miller Band – Fly Like An Eagle [Reissue/1976] LP (Capitol)
Special limited colored vinyl reissues of The Steve Miller band’s first nine albums.
Rod Modell – Captagon 2xLP (Tresor)
Rod Modell needs no introduction; his various projects render him a master of techno. In repetition and barely noticeable change, Modell re-sculptures perceptions. His sound-design echoes cinematic ethereality, where ferric artifacts slam against percussion, rusty delays filter observation – the resulting web is a complex, radiating ambience that etches a natural ebb-and-flow.
Lee Morgan – Cornbread [Reissue/1967] LP (Blue Note)
Lee Morgan assembled an astounding crew for this epic session: Hank Mobley, Jackie McLean, Herbie Hancock, Larry Ridley and Billy Higgins on drums, and Cornbread captures Morgan and everyone involved at their absolute best.
Olivia O’Brien – Was It Even Real? LP (Island)
Released in April on CD – now available on vinyl. Debut album from the Los Angeles-based singer and songwriter named one of 100 Women Revolutionizing Pop Music by Paper Magazine.
Parliament – Chocolate City [Reissue/1975] LP (Mercury)
Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. Chocolate City is full of the uptempo funk that the band would be known for.
P!nk – Hurts 2B Human LP+MP3 (RCA)
Eighth studio album from pop superstar. The first single from the album, “Walk Me Home”, was called “a foot-stomping anthem” as well as “an optimistic departure from the content of her previous album, Beautiful Trauma”.
Connie Price & The Keystones – Lucas High LP (A Man Called Horse)
Lucas High pays homage to Doug Lucas, a forgotten jazz-funk pioneer from the 1960s and ‘70s (Mombasa, JJ Band, Plus, SuperFunkyDiscotheque) whose songs have been sampled by hip hop luminaries including Busta Rhymes and Nas.
Renaldo & The Loaf – Songs For Swinging Larvae + Songs From The Surgery [Reissue/1981] LP (Editions Mego)
A biomedical scientist and an architect form a band in the early ’70s with nothing by the way of traditional musical talent or skill but with endless enthusiasm and their own unique musical sensibility. The ensuing career and creative output of this ongoing home studio/bedroom band remains one of the most significant song based ‘outre’ catalogs ever produced in the United Kingdom. This comprehensive two LP set contains their first official LP (originally released on The Residents’ legendary Ralph Records label) along with an extra album of different versions and extra tracks which reside here for the first time on vinyl.
Rimarimba – On Dry Land [Reissue/1984] LP (RVNG Int’l)
Rimarimba – In The Woods [Reissue/1985] LP (RVNG Int’l)
For Rimarimba’s 1984 album On Dry Land, Robert Cox advances along the terrain explored on Below The Horizon. It’s an enchanting album, one which, at times, seems to comment on its own practice; a picture of everyday life in the hobbyist’s, or part-time musician’s, recording studio. On 1985’s In The Woods, Cox has made his music kit, an odd assortment of new and old technologies, lately fixated on the digital delay, and programming technologies, sing his own song at its most articulate clip. The songs seem more developed, fluent, like mini-suites in some sense.
Richard Rose – Richard Rose LP (In The Red)
Richard Rose is a brand new four-piece band fronted by Chris Shaw (Ex-Cult, GØGGS) and Orville Neeley of the OBN III’s. On this, their debut release, are four Stoogey, heavy jams that are simply face-melting and stretch out more than anything from their previous bands.
Sonny Sharrock – Ask The Ages [Reissue/1991] LP (Hive Mind)
Sonny’s classic final album swings between deep, lyrical melodicism and passages of pure fire music and features jazz legends Pharoah Sanders on tenor saxophone and Elvin Jones, member of the John Coltrane Quartet, on drums.
Snake Oil – Dying Of Sunsets LP (Snake Oil Sounds/Safety Meeting)
Dying Of Sunsets marks a drastic stylistic change for the band. Their vocally driven arrangements act as compliment and counterpoint to the fuzzy psychedelic instrumentals, continuing to draw on influences ranging from Black Sabbath to Bitches Brew.
Sunday State – Mono 12” (No Night Travel)
Recorded in mono by Jackpot! Owner/Tape OP editor Larry Crane, and featuring Mudhoney’s Steve Turner on bass, Sunday State’s debut 12” EP marries the bass-heavy angst of classic British post-punk with the heft and howl of the noisy, start/stop round kicks of American indie rock of the 1990s and aughts.
Tamino – Amir LP (Arts & Crafts)
Released last October on CD – now available on vinyl. Debut album of introspective and otherwordly tunes from the Belgian/Egyptian artist.
Jacques Thollot – Quand Le Son Devient Aigu, Jeter La Girafe À La Mer. [Reissue/1971] LP (Souffle Continu)
While he was still just a young adolescent who had perfected his drum technique under the benevolent wing of Kenny Clarke, the Club Saint-Germain liked to present Jacques Thollot as a prodigy capable of holding his own with the famous jazz musicians who came through Paris. It was there that Eric Dolphy immediately noticed him, and from René Thomas to Walt Dickerson, everyone wanted to work with him.
Total F**king Destruction – #USA4TFD LP (Give Praise)
Catchy blasts of sound falling off the edge of the world into a chaotic abyss of unique and original grind. Jazz/noise chaos that thinks fast and speaks to the slow motion apocalypse we are all now living.
Conway Twitty – 25 Number Ones 2xLP (MCA Nashville)
25 #1 hits that span the career of the legendary country singer-songwriter.
Type O Negative – Bloody Kisses [Reissue/1993] 2xLP (Rhino)
Type O Negative’s third album, Bloody Kisses, was released in 1993 to critical acclaim and became the first album for Roadrunner to reach certified Platinum status in the United States.
Various Artists – The Cher Show [Original Cast Recording] LP (WB)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The Cher Show distills six decades of stardom, two rock-star husbands, a Grammy, an Oscar, an Emmy, and enough Bob Mackie gowns to cause a sequins shortage in New York City, all in one unabashedly fabulous new musical.
Vircolac – Masque LP (Dark Decent)
After five years of roaming city streets like a pack of rabid dogs, Vircolac release their debut album. Masque celebrates a bolder edge mixing more visceral and vicious aural assaults with a foreboding and obtrusive atmosphere.
Igor Wakhevitch – Kshatrya (The Eye Of The Bird) LP (Transversales Disques)
Rare recordings by the French avant-garde electronic composer.
Jennifer Warnes – Another Time, Another Place LP (Impex)
The legendary singer-songwriter has created a beautiful, elegant new album. With glorious production and performances, and of course, impeccable vocals, Another Time, Another Place features the cream of the crop of songwriters including Eddie Vedder (“Just Breathe”), Mark Knopfler (“Why Worry”), John Legend, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks and more.
Whisker Biscuit – Kill For Beer LP (Give Praise)
Female fronted punk/hc that teases the edge of grindcore.
Cassettes:
Clipping. – Face (Deathbomb Arc)
In 2012 Clipping. Released their debut EP, a three song cassette centered around an early live favorite “Face”. Deathbomb Arc now brings this long out-of-print release back, fully remasterd by Thomas Dimuzio with a slew of bonus tracks.
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