August Program Titles Released This Week:
The Flaming Lips – King’s Mouth: Music And Songs CD/LP (WB)
The Flaming Lips’ fifteenth album King’s Mouth follows the band’s 2017 release, Oczy Mlody and sees the iconoclastic outfit once again tread uncharted territory. These 12 new originals are threaded together by cinematic narration courtesy of The Clash’s Mick Jones. Additionally, the music parallels front man Wayne Coyne’s immersive art installation of the same name. A true handcrafted marvel, it consists of a giant metallic head that welcomes spectators inside. Once inside of the foam month, an LED lightshow begins in tandem with music from the album. Now, the record doubles as the sonic companion to the exhibit and allows fans to experience the aural side at any time. Further expanding this multi-faceted world and detailing a fascinating creation myth, the accompanying literary tome, King’s Mouth: Immerse Heap Trip Fantasy Experience tells the story of the King’s Mouth through words and visuals by Coyne, adds yet another dimension to the project, which ranks among the band’s most ambitious thus far.
Gov’t Mule – Bring On The Music – Live At The Capitol Theatre 2xCD/2xCD+2xDVD/Blu-ray (Mascot Label Group)
No two Gov’t Mule shows are alike, as the band draws on the more than 300 songs in their repertoire (and often a host of special guests) to create a unique experience each time. Bring On The Music – Live at The Capitol Theatre was recorded at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY, on April 27th and 28th, 2018. The title is taken from Gov’t Mule’s song of the same name that touches upon the passing of time and appreciating life’s journey, is a nod to the band’s treasured relationship with their fans. The Capitol Theatre has been the backdrop of many unforgettable shows for the band and is one of Gov’t Mule’s favorite venues to play. Live At The Capitol Theatre is available in a variety of configurations: a 2xCD+2xDVD deluxe package (the CD and DVD feature entirely different track lists and includes bonus videos of “Soulshine” and “Traveling Tune”), two separate double-vinyl packages, digital, Blu-ray and a 2xCD package (featuring audio from the film). [Limited transparent purple (Vol.1) and blue (Vol.2) colored vinyl pressing are also available.]
Grizfolk – The Rarest Of Birds CD (Nettwerk)
Based in Los Angeles and Nashville with roots in Sweden, alternative-rockers Grizfolk’s new album Rarest Of Birds is an ode to Southern California classic rock with a 2019 spin. Dynamic, upbeat, and dreamy the band says, “Listening to Rarest Of Birds should feel a bit like looking through a kaleidoscope of fleeting moments…a glimpse into our yearning for truth and answers within and without. Written in some of the darkest times, it was a vehicle out of addiction and depression. It was a one-way ticket out of a personal hell, purchased by the heart and paid for with love, light, and dedication.” “Spoonful” channels a retro sound to deliver a dark tale of yearning for someone out of reach, while “Heavy Crown” melds a danceable bass line with jangly pianos to create an upbeat track that is sneakily about the tough subject of fighting for what’s right in today’s complicated world. [Vinyl edition due August 2.]
Hamell On Trial – Choochtown [Reissue/1999] CD/LP (New West)
Even cult heroes have anniversaries to celebrate. New York folk-punk iconoclast Ed Hamell —mark the 20th anniversary of his Choochtown album with a remastered reissue bolstered with 11 previously unreleased bonus tracks. “20 Years! Wonderful to know that Choochtown still holds up, continues to roam the streets at midnight, spray painting slogans of rebellion on corporate store fronts … For those of you that champion the disenfranchised, the square pegs in the round holes, those gazing from the shores of sanity and witnessing the tides of hatred and fascism slithering closer to the sands, Bobby, Chooch, Nancy and all the gang down in Choochtown that refuse to be blown to the dusts of oblivion want to buy you a drink. They welcome you…” [Limited pink colored vinyl pressing also available.]
HUNNY – Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. CD (ANTI-)
Produced by Grammy Award-winner Carlos de la Garza (Cherry Glazerr, Culture Abuse, Paramore), Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. came to life in November 2018 during the Woolsey Fire and Camp Fire that devastated 96,949 acres of land in Southern California. At one point, while members Jason Yarger (vocals), Jake Goldstein (guitar), and Joey Anderson (drums) were inside Kevin Grimmett’s (bass, keyboards) home demoing and writing, firefighters were in the backyard stopping the wildfire from encroaching onto the property. “They blocked off all the streets and we had to sneak into my place through this apartment structure,” Grimmet recalls. “Thankfully my house is still standing, and the hills are a bright green.” Inspired by their love for ‘80s new wave and ‘90s pop, Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. is an endless back-and-forth between heavy-hearted lyrics and bright-and-shiny melodies, lovesick confession, and addictively dancey rhythms. With the album centered on a narrative Yarger sums up as “I love you and I want to die,” HUNNY wrote most of the songs on acoustic guitar, deliberately channeling a raw vulnerability into every line.
Ada Lea – What We Say In Private CD/LP (Saddle Creek)
Montreal, Quebec-based musician Ada Lea is also a painter and visual artist, and traces of her many creative abilities run throughout her debut album What We Say In Private, a beautifully colorful collection of profound pop songs. To her, music and visual art are different vessels for communicating similar ideas. Ada Lea’s appreciation of female artists – including the writer Sylvia Plath, visual artists Frida Kahlo and Eva Hesse, and musicians Karen Dalton and Nina Simone – provides inspiration and guidance, informing her use of multiple art forms as tools for self-expression. Whether it’s creating music or art, “It’s a world that I can build around me and sit inside,” she says. Through all her work, Ada Lea explores the concept of womanhood as it feels and looks to her, as well as love and how it transforms over time. She doesn’t shy away from exploring uncomfortable and painful emotions, either.
Mike Love – 12 Sides Of Summer CD (BMG)
Grammy winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame winner, Mike Love grew up under the Southern California sun where he soaked up a life of music, sports, and family traditions. Beginning his singing and songwriting career as a teenager, Mike and his cousin Brian Wilson frequently sang at family get-togethers and holiday gatherings. Mike’s early influences, including his attendance at a culturally and socially diverse high school, served as inspiration to some of The Beach Boys most iconic songs. Throughout Mike’s career, he has co-authored more than a dozen Top 10 singles, cementing The Beach Boys legacy alongside The Beatles and Michael Jackson, as the only artist to have produced twelve top ten singles within five years. Mike continues to write and record music 57 years after his legendary career began.
Freya Ridings – Freya Ridings CD (Good Soldier/UNI)
Freya Ridings, the immensely talented singer, guitarist, and pianist from London has been making waves since the release of her debut single “Blackout” in 2017. Fellow breakout single “Lost Without You” cemented Freya’s place amongst the most highly regarded young artists in the world. Contending with being incredibly shy and feeling isolated at school, Freya found her extraordinary, vibrato-rich, pin-drop voice when she was in just Year 7 at school when she was invited to perform at an open-mic night and whether it is live, sitting at the piano, or strumming her guitar, Freya has distilled a short lifetime of uncertainty, and transformed it into songs of alchemical incandescence, magicked into greatness by one of the most powerful voices in a generation. Freya Ridings is her debut full-length. [Vinyl edition due August 16.]
Sebaton – The Great War CD/2xLP (Nuclear Blast)
“One can scarcely utter a word concerning European power metal outside of its most rigorously schooled core audience without Sabaton entering the conversation, and not without good reason. While they’ve never been the fastest, the most technical, or even the most over-the-top adherents to the style in this post-Helloween climate, they have carved a very unique niche for themselves that has continually set the apart from the pack despite a growing array of imitators.” – Sonic Perspectives [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Julia Shapiro – Perfect Version CD/LP (Hardly Art)
When Julia Shapiro flew home from a cancelled Chastity Belt tour in April 2018, everything in her life felt out of control. Dealing with health issues, freshly out of a relationship, and in the middle of an existential crisis, she realized halfway through a tour supporting her band’s third album I Used To Spend So Much Time Alone that she was going through too much to continue. “I was really struggling; I was really depressed. I felt like I couldn’t sing or be a person,” Shapiro recalls. “At that point I couldn’t even imagine playing a show again, I was so over it.” Returning home to a newly empty Seattle one-bedroom apartment, Shapiro had wanted for a long time to learn how to record and mix her own music, and out of the uncertainty of the future of her music career and her health, she began to record the songs that would become Perfect Version. What she created in the space of ten songs is an intimate and beautifully self-aware examination of feeling lost in the life you’ve created for yourself. It’s an album of shimmering guitars and layered vocals that feels vast in the emotional depth it conveys and masterful in the way each song is intentionally crafted and recorded.
Sleepwalkers – Ages CD/LP (Spacebomb)
Each track on Sleepwalkers’ Ages feels like the title song to some lost Hollywood production of the late ‘70s to late ‘80s, those formative movies that shaped young imaginations, touchstones of humor, struggle, romance and adventure. Through 14 electrifying tracks, Sleepwalkers absorb the methodology of American pop production and the iconographies of American rock performance with tremendous depth and feeling. Ages is a bona fide party record that is able to convey a mood of bittersweet elation through a series of well-aimed emotional arcs. The follow-up to their ‘60s fanstastic, cult-favorite debut, Greenwood Shade (2014), it feels equally effortless, backed by the band’s facility with the structures and language of pop music.
CDs + Vinyl:
Ae3 (Alan Evans Trio) – The Wild Root CD (Vintage League Music)
Founded by Soulive member, writer and drummer of over 15 years Alan Evans, the Ae3 (AKA Alan Evans Trio), is a power funk/soul organ trio consisting of Alan Evans, Danny Mayer (Eric Krasno Band) and Kris Yunker (Jen Durkin and the Business). [Vinyl edition due August 2.]
Airto – Samba de Flora [Reissue/1989] CD/LP+MP3 (Soul Jazz)
The impact of Airto Moreira in both the world of American jazz and in Brazilian music is unparalleled. At the start of the 1970s Airto was invited to join Miles Davis groundbreaking electric group, which with albums such as the seminal Bitches Brew helping Davis regain his title from John Coltrane as the most important jazz artist of all time.
Felicia Atkinson – Flower & Vessel CD/2xLP (Shelter Press)
French poet and ASMR auteur Félicia Atkinson has frequently fixated on the elusive interwoven relationship between microcosms and macrocosms – how even the quietest creative act ripples outward, a whisper with no fixed meaning. The Flower And The Vessel pursues this notion in a more literal fashion, as it was crafted while pregnant on tour. She describes it as a record not about being pregnant, but a record made with pregnancy. Flower & Vessel’s 11 songs span whispering textures, opaque moods, and surreal spoken word, leading the listener through a mirrored hall of beguiling mirages. Atkinson cites a trio of French classical compositions from her childhood as formative influences: Ravel’s L’enfant Et Les Sortilèges, Debussy’s La Mer, and Satie’s Gymnopédies. There’s certainly a shade of classicism woven within these tracks; melancholic piano motifs repeat then retreat into a radiant frost of shivering frequencies; processed voices recite cut-up poems and interviews over delay-refracted Rhodes and Wurlitzer; iPad gamelan patterns flutter from meditative to melancholic and back again, offset by pointillist patches of delicate software synesthesia.
Cornell Campbell – I Man A The Stall-A-Watt CD/LP (VP)
13 tracks highlighting the singer’s prominence in the golden era of reggae from the early ‘70s to early ‘80s.
Crown The Empire – Sudden Sky CD/LP (Rise)
New album from the Texas Metalcore outfit.
Brian Eno – Apollo: Atmospheres And Soundtracks [Reissue/1983] CD/2xCD/2xLP (Capitol)
Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks was written, produced and performed by Brian Eno together with his brother Roger and Daniel Lanois. The music was originally recorded in 1983 for a landmark feature-length documentary, For All Mankind, directed by American journalist, film director and screenwriter, Al Reinert. In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, this remastered, extended edition of the album adds 11 new instrumental compositions reimagining the soundtrack to For All Mankind. [Single CD reissues also available.]
Generationals – Reader As Detective CD/LP+MP3 (Polyvinyl)
From their inception, Generationals have existed at the convergence of classic style and contemporary technique. Students of an analog school actualized in a digital medium, Grant Widmer and Ted Joyner have always felt most comfortable reveling in this juxtaposition. Grounded in a catalog of infectious pop hooks that feel both familiar and radically new all at once, Generationals mastered their distinct voice as a means to widen the path before them. Reader As Detective, their new full-length album, weds vintage pop canon and modern pop production in a way this duo has proven incomparably adept. [Limited edition colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Steve Goodman – Affordable Art [Reissue/1983] CD (Omnivore)
Steve Goodman – Artistic Hair [Reissue/1983] CD (Omnivore)
Despite his success as a beloved singer and songwriter, Steve Goodman was an unassuming sort of guy. His songs shared simple truths while relating songs about everyday individuals who were content to celebrate the essence of life and living.
Good Riddance – Thoughts And Prayers CD/LP (Fat Wreck Chords)
For more than 25 years, Good Riddance has written tuneful punk anthems that take on injustice in all forms, from social to political to personal. That spirit drove classic albums like For God And Country, A Comprehensive Guide To Moderne Rebellion, and Ballads From The Revolution, and it carries through to the new Thoughts and Prayers, Good Riddance’s second album since reforming in 2012.
Goon – Heaven Is Humming CD/LP (PTKF)
It’s not just ten or eleven hard-hitting rock songs. It’s… weird. Heaven Is Humming is indeed weird in its fearless abandon, but it’s also comforting and familiar at the same time, taking the sounds of foundational groups like Pixies and Boards Of Canada and contextualizing them through a modern lens, placing Goon alongside contemporaries like Forth Wanderers, METZ, Young Jesus, and Dilly Dally.
Grupo Pilon – Leite Quente Funaná De Cabo Verde CD/LP (Ostinato)
Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. Grupo Pilon combined searing estilo Krioulu drumming and the hybrid ColaZouk style with blissful synth work and rugged guitar licks, creating a stripped-down, addictive sound that masterfully straddled two worlds, a seductive electro-Funaná carnival born from the first few sips of hot milk.
Keith Haring – Soul Jazz Records Presents: The World Of Keith Haring 2xCD/3xLP+MP3/3xLP+7”+MP3 (Soul Jazz)
The art of Keith Haring is today one of the most recognizable of any visual artists of his generation, defining 1980s New York during an intense period when downtown artists and musicians collaborated like never-before. Haring’s musical inspiration took in the punk/dance downtown sounds of clubs like The Mudd Club, underground disco at Larry Levans Paradise Garage, as well the early days of hip-hop and electro. The music here includes the work of many of Haring’s close friends, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Yoko Ono, Larry Levan, John Sex and George Condo (The Girls), as well as healthy dose of rare disco, early electro and New York punk/dance tracks. [Deluxe vinyl edition adds a bonus 7”.]
Haunt – Mosaic Vision CD/LP (Shadow Kingdom)
Simply put, Haunt is the new face of traditional heavy metal and hard rock. Their blend of turn-of-the-’80s heavy metal with touches of ’70s hard rock explodes with electricity and excitement.
Ider – Emotional Education CD/LP (Glassnote)
To understand the symbiosis that exists between Ider, you need only learn how the London duo’s debut album got its name. “It came from a song that I had written,” says Megan Markwick, referring to the raw electro-pop anthem “Saddest Generation”, a beautiful examination of millennial malaise.
JOANovARC – JOANovARC CD/LP (Renaissance)
Legendary producer Gil Norton (Pixies) has dubbed JOANovARC as “the new queens of rock.”
Kokoko! – Fongola CD/LP (PIAS America)
On the streets of Kinshasa, Africa’s third largest capital city, a radical new scene is thriving amongst the political instability. Fongola is the highly anticipated debut album from Congolese collective Kokoko!. They’re best known for creating a contemporary aesthetic all their own by rewiring and upcycling materials such as metal, cans, engine parts and plastic containers into vital and resonant dance music. Kokoko!’s distorted fast rhythms and spontaneous lo-fi electric sounds provide the chaotic soundtrack for the cities harsh yet abundantly creative realities.
Lingua Ignota – Caligula CD/2xLP (Profound Lore)
Vast in scope and multivalent in its influences, with delivery nothing short of demonic, this is an outsider’s opera; magnificent, hideous, and raw.
Live – Throwing Copper [Reissue/1994] CD (Geffen)
Digitally remastered and expanded edition featuring three previously unreleased tracks.
L7 – Fast & Frightening 2xCD (Easy Action)
L7 – Detroit LP (Easy Action)
Double-CD collection of rarities, cover versions, tracks only found on compilations or one -off split 7” singles, a rare radio session, plus a live gig in Detroit [which is also available separately on vinyl].
Oceans Of The Moon – Oceans Of The Moon CD/LP (Castleface)
Picture a bucket of molten metal with gobs of scalp sizzling and sinking away-dance music for the infected.
Jessie Palter – Paper Trail CD (Artistry Music)
Ten tracks of aggressive, piano-pounding pop/rock in the soulful vein of Carole King, Sarah McLachlan and Sara Bareilles.
Quiet Temple – Quiet Temple CD/LP (Wichita)
An amorphous musical collective put together by Rich Machin and Duke Garwood, with a rolling cast of players assembled from the likes of Soulsavers, Spiritualized, Stereolab and Julian Cope. Recorded live over the course of a week, there was no splicing of takes, as that would have defeated the concept. The result is a potent and nuanced record that beguiles as much as it charms.
Patrice Rushen – Remind Me: Classic Elektra Recordings 1978-1984 CD (Strut)
The first definitive retrospective of an icon of ‘70s and ‘80s soul, jazz and disco, covering her peerless six-year career with Elektra/Asylum. [Vinyl edition due July 26.]
Sanguine Eagle – Shores Of Avarice CD/LP (Profound Lore)
This band is black metal in its purest essence: trendless, unyielding, and played with absolute conviction. The compositions are marked as much by resolute and stoic patience as by staggering violence, never pandering to the weak-minded and eschewing any shred of the puerile amusement rife in a genre so pilfered by dilettantes.
Kit Sebastian – Mantra Moderne CD/LP (Mr. Bongo)
Mantra Moderne is a stunning, contemporary masterpiece that fuses Anatolian Psychedelia, Brazilian Tropicalia, ‘60s European pop and American jazz. A must for fans of Khruangbin, Portishead, Arthur Verocai, Goat, Caetano Veloso, Tom Zé, Os Mutantes, Cortex and co.
Shakespeare’s Sister – Singles Party (1988-2009] CD/2xCD (London)
A comprehensive singles collection containing two brand new tracks plus rarities, unheard tracks, and remixes. [Deluxe edition version compiles 32 tracks over two CDs and is packaged in a digibook.]
Scott Stapp – Space Between The Shadows CD/LP (Napalm)
New solo album from the Creed frontman. Space Between The Shadows documents a five-year journey to find meaning – and redemption – in a world where shadows lurk and the space between is a gauntlet towards the light.
Sum 41 – Order In Decline CD/LP (Hopeless)
The Grammy nominated rock band returns with their seventh studio album. Written, produced, mixed, and engineered by frontman Deryck Whibley, Order In Decline is a burst of uninhibited feeling, a page out of his journal, a window into his soul that reflects on extremely personal and vulnerable events.
James Taylor – The Warner Bros. Albums 1970-1976 6xCD/6xLP (WB)
Includes: Sweet Baby James (1970), Mud Slide Slim And The Blue Horizon (1971), One Man Dog (1972), Walking Man (1974), Gorilla (1975), and In the Pocket (1976).
The Tea Set – Back In Time For Tea CD/LP (Cleopatra)
The definitive singles collection from UK underground post-punk heroes. Includes all of the band’s recordings originally released on 7” from 1978-1981.
Thank You Scientist – Terraformer CD/LP (Evil Ink)
Thank You Scientist is an eclectic, vibrant and well-hydrated progressive rock band from New Jersey.
Tomb Mold – Planetary Clairvoyance CD/LP (20 Buck Spin)
Recklessly devouring the world into a vortex of alternate dimensional planes with Manor Of Infinite Forms, Tomb Mold has crashed through boundaries with the impact of an ocean-sized asteroid. Somewhere between outer space, inner space and the unseen dark matter in between all space, they’ve devised an alchemical formula both crushingly oppressive and rapidly expanding outward in every direction. [Limited edition blue colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Tuxedo – Tuxedo III CD/LP (Funk On Sight)
Tuxedo, Los Angeles-based recording artist Mayer Hawthorne and Seattle-based producer Jake One, has been steadily making a name for themselves over the past five years, standing at the forefront of a new wave of gangster boogie – one that owes as much to G-funk as P-funk. This is the territory of pre- and post-hydraulic low riders: a mélange of Cali boom-bap, analog synth bass and elegant disco that resonates truth and authenticity in an era where so many are faking the funk.
Thom Yorke – Anima CD/LP (XL)
Thom Yorke’s new solo album Anima was produced by Nigel Godrich. The album features 9 tracks, with an extra track exclusively on vinyl. “The third solo album from Thom Yorke is the first one that feels complete without his band behind him. It floats through the uneasy space between societal turmoil and internal monologue.” – Pitchfork (Best New Music)
Your Old Droog – Transportation CD (Nature Sounds)
Acclaimed Ukrainian-American rapper Your Old Droog recently made waves with the unexpected release of It Wasn’t Even Close, an album that drew widespread attention and endless praise after dropping in April with no advance warning. Fresh off this success, your old pal is returning less than two months later with Transportation. [Vinyl edition due August 2.]
Zucchero – Oro Incenso & Birra [Reissue/1989] 3xCD+LP+DVD (Wrasse)
Digitally remastered and expanded edition. Among the greatest interpreters of the Italian blues, Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari is one of the leading Italian artists worldwide. His music has spread across national borders thanks to numerous collaborations with international artists; Bryan Adams, Bono, Jeff Beck, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, Miles Davis, Peter Gabriel, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Mark Knopfler, Iggy Pop and Sting.
DVDs + Blu-ray:
Gov’t Mule – Bring On The Music – Live At The Capitol Theatre Blu-ray (Mascot Label Group)
No two Gov’t Mule shows are alike, as the band draws on the more than 300 songs in their repertoire (and often a host of special guests) to create a unique experience each time. Bring On The Music – Live at The Capitol Theatre was recorded at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY, on April 27th and 28th, 2018. The title is taken from Gov’t Mule’s song of the same name that touches upon the passing of time and appreciating life’s journey, is a nod to the band’s treasured relationship with their fans. The Capitol Theatre has been the backdrop of many unforgettable shows for the band and is one of Gov’t Mule’s favorite venues to play.
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
Acid Carousel – Another Everything, Acts 1 & 2 LP (Dreamy Life)
A two-act psychedelic rock opera.
Apollo Theo – Night Cruise LP (For The Love Of It)
After their success of their single “Smile” which was the theme song of the movie High Society and placed on different commercials, this neo-funk duo release its first debut album with a lot of ‘80s boogie and funk tunes.
Omar Apollo – Friends 12” (Omar Apollo)
New EP from the Hobart, Indian-based singer-songwriter. “Indie pop shaded with R&B and left-field soul-funk that would fit comfortably on a Spotify Discover playlist, if not actual pop charts.” – Remezcla
Chick Corea – The Spanish Heart Band – Antidote 2xLP (Concord)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. New release from the jazz legend. The Spanish Heart Band – Antidote is a musical cure for a turbulent time, bringing together artists from diverse cultures to make harmonious music together. In addition to this stellar new ensemble, the recording features guest appearances by the acclaimed Panamanian vocalist Rubén Blades and gifted singers Gayle Moran Corea and Maria Bianca.
Generationals – Con-Law [Reissue/2009] LP+MP3 (Polyvinyl)
New Orleans natives Ted Joyner and Grant Widmer struck up a friendship in high school and formed Generationals in 2008. Though their retro vibe bears the influence of Phil Spector’s mid-century pop, Generationals’ sound is wide-ranging and diverse, incorporating elements of Britpop, dance and electronic music. Above all, with each release the band continues zeroing in on their strong suit: superior pop songwriting. [Limited edition colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Gorillaz – The Fall LP (WB)
Vinyl reissue of the fourth studio album by the British virtual band.
Halshug – Drøm LP (Southern Lord)
On Drøm, Copenhagen, Denmark-based trio Halshug expands their sound from the dirge-driven d-beat of their earlier albums Sort Sind (2016) and Blodets Bånd (2015), and explores the dynamics of longer songs, more audible lyrics, and altered tempos, which result in different shades of industrial, dark-wave, and post-punk.
Matt Heckler – After The Flood LP+MP3 (Anti-Corp)
Matt Heckler is the fiddle player you want to believe still exists. Veering from Appalachia to Romania, Ireland to the Catskills, his music is definitively unsafe and entirely his own. Mixing Appalachian Folk song structures with Punk ethos, After The Flood is a gritty, emotional call to better times, when music was pure and driven by heart rather than marketing tactics.
Hoodoo Gurus – Mach Schau [Reissue/2004] LP (Big Time Phonograph)
Hoodoo Gurus – Blue Cave [Reissue/1996] 2xLP (Big Time Phonograph)
Vinyl reissues of the Australian rock band’s eighth and ninth albums.
The Jackson 5 – Skywriter [Reissue/1973] LP (LMLR)
Bronze colored vinyl reissue of the sixth studio album by The Jackson 5.
Kool Keith – Keith LP (Mellow Music)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. It’s been more than forty years since Kool Herc starting throwing parties in the South Bronx, and so you could forgive the casual fan for thinking that nearly every permutation of hip-hop has already been explored. But Keith, the new album from the iconic rapper Kool Keith and the master producer Psycho Les argues just the opposite: that what’s absurdly funny can also be sinister and strange, that the form can still be broken in new and radical ways.
L.A. Guns – Riot On Sunset: The Best Of LP (Deadline Music)
Limited edition red vinyl best-of from one of SoCal’s pre-eminent glam rock bands.
L’Indecis – Second Wind LP (Chillhop Music)
A refreshing, innovative and unique approach to the constantly expanding beat-making landscape.
L7 – Detroit LP (Easy Action)
Limited green colored vinyl LP pressing. Capturing the group at a pivotal point in their development – in this case a gig coinciding with the initial release of the six-track Smell The Magic EP by Sub Pop – L7’s performance in Detroit at Clutch Cargo in September 1990 preserves the raw, kinetic energy of the era.
Kjersti Long – Stronger Than You Think I Am LP (Broadway)
Following in the footsteps of Ann Wilson, Pat Benatar, and Janis Joplin is rock prodigy Kjersti Long. Stronger Than You Think I Am is her debut album.
Mayhem – Wolf’s Lair Abyss [Reissue/1997] LP (Soulseller)
The Norwegian black metal outfit’s 1997 has been reissued on vinyl. Features the Ancient Skin/Necrolust EP as bonus tracks.
MF Doom and Damu The Fudgemunk – Coco Mango Sliced And Diced 7” (Redefinition)
Everything about this record screams high quality hip-hop. Orange colored vinyl.
Keb’ Mo’ – Oklahoma LP (Concord)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Fresh off the Grammy-Award winning album TajMo, his collaboration with Taj Mahal, prolific blues musician Keb’ Mo’ returns his first solo record in five years. Sonically timeless but lyrically relevant, Oklahoma solidifies Keb’ as a modern master of American roots music, a reputation he has held and expanded on throughout his 25+ year career.
Nivhek – After Its Own Death / Walking In A Spiral Towards The House LP (W.25th)
Opaque assemblages of Mellotron, guitar, field recordings, tapes and broken FX pedals by Pacific Northwest musician Liz Harris (Grouper), created during and after two contrasting residencies in the Azores, Portugal and Murmansk, Russia and combined with pieces made at home in Astoria, Oregon. The collection’s unique dual design functions as a forked path, existing independently of one another but with roots intertwined.
Organectomy – Existential Disconnect LP (Unique Leader)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. 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.”
Persian Rugs – Turkish Delight [Reissue/2003] 2xLP (Big Time Phonograph)
The debut album from the Persian Rugs, formed from members of Aussie favorites Hoodoo Gurus, was a side-project recorded under pseudonym, showing the group taking the Guru’s garage psych concept one step further. Originally released on CD only in 2003, Turkish Delight is released in extra expanded form, adding eleven additional studio tracks to the original release for the double-LP set. This remastered reissue is pressed on pink colored vinyl.
Iggy Popp/James Williamson – Kill City [Reissue/1977] LP (Alive)
Kill City is Iggy Pop and James Williamson’s often overlooked, yet ultimately essential album, originally recorded in 1975 and later released by Bomp! In ’77.
Prince – Originals 2xLP/2xLP+CD (WB)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. 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. [Deluxe purple vinyl pressing also available.]
Radio Moscow – Magical Dirt [Reissue/2014] LP (Alive)
2014’s Magical Dirt is Radio Moscow’s fourth studio album. The band’s fountainhead Parker Griggs, along with partners-in-crime Anthony Meier (bass) and Paul Marrone (drums), cultivated yet another blues-rock masterpiece here that crossbreeds late ’60s psych-rock and face-melting guitar histrionics with the foundation-crumbling rhythms from early ’70s hard-rock, and even includes a couple of harrowing tracks built from the bedrock of rural Delta blues.
Mick Ronson – Just Like This LP (Easy Action)
Just Like This was recorded in November and December 1976 at Bearsville Sound Studio shortly after Mick Ronson, David Bowie’s right-hand man in the Spiders From Mars, finished touring with Bob Dylan as his guitarist on the Rolling Thunder Revue. It was supposed to be Ronson’s third solo album after Slaughter On 10th Avenue (1974) and Play Don’t Worry (1975), but due to low sales RCA refused to release the record and it wasn’t issued until six years after Ronson’s death in 1999.
Sound Of Contact – Dimensionaut [Reissue/2013] 2xLP (Inside Out U.S.)
Double 180gm vinyl reissue of the debut album by the British-based band. [Blue colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Soundtrack – New Jack City [Reissue/1991] LP (WB)
Vinyl reissue of the original soundtrack to New Jack City features eleven original songs by some of the biggest names in R&B and hip-hop, including Johnny Gill, Keith Sweat, Essence and 2 Live Crew.
The Take – The Take LP (Demons Run Amok)
NYHC drummer Will Shepler (formerly of Agnostic Front, Madball) and Sick Of It All bassist Craig Setari (also formerly Agnostic Front) had an idea for a hardcore power trio. Will called longtime friend, guitarist/vocalist Scott Roberts (formerly of Biohazard, The Spudmonsters, Bloodclot!, Cro-Mags) who had just left Biohazard only weeks before. It was perfect timing for Scott as he wanted to move on and create something new from the ground up with complete creative freedom and passion. Soon after, Scott and Will began working on what would become The Take’s self-titled debut record.
Thee Oh Sees – Grave Blockers [Reissue/2006] LP (Castleface)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. 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.
Tsunami Bomb – The Definitive Act [Reissue/2004] LP (Kung Fu)
The first-ever vinyl pressing of the final album from North California pop punk outfit. White colored vinyl.
Various Artists – Woodstock – Music From The Original Soundtrack And More [Reissue/1970] LP (Rhino)
Various Artists – Woodstock Two [Reissue/1971] LP (Rhino)
Rhino recently announced a robust slate of boxed sets focusing around the 50th Anniversary of Woodstock, including Woodstock – Back To The Garden: The Definitive 50th Anniversary Archive, an unprecedented 38xCD collection featuring a near complete chronological reconstruction of every artist performance at the festival. To continue the celebration of that generation-defining moment in popular music history, Rhino is also launching the Summer of ’69 – Peace, Love and Music campaign with a series of vinyl releases. The Summer of ’69 series opens in July 2019 with colored vinyl versions of the two classic Woodstock collections everyone knows and loves – Woodstock: Music From The Original Soundtrack And More and Woodstock Two.
Wreck & Reference – Absolute Still Life LP (The Flenser)
Fourth full-length album by the experimental duo. Absolute Still Life marks a radical departure from the band’s heavy and noise rock origins and finds them driving toward a more electronic and abstract dimension.
Cassettes:
SarahBethe Nelson – Weird Glow (Burger)
Recently released on CD and vinyl – now available on cassette. With her breathy voice and knack for catchy but artful melodies, SarahBethe Nelson sounded like a precocious indie pop newcomer with the release of her 2015 album, Fast Moving Clouds. The truth is Nelson wasa seasoned veteran of the California music scene when her solo debut finally expanded her reputation outside her hometown.
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