September Program Titles Released This Week:
Clairo – Immunity CD (FADER Label)
Clairo, the moniker of 20-year-old multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer Claire Cottrill, drops her debut album, Immunity. Following-up her debut EP Diary 001, which featured the hit singles “Pretty Girl”, “Flamin’ Hot Cheetos” and “4EVER”, Immunity sees Clairo team up with co-producer Rostam (Vampire Weekend) in a stunning glimpse into an artist’s growth. Lead single “Bags” is a delicate and delightfully weird taste of the record; the gently strummed track builds to a peak augmented by warped guitars and piano. Quite different from the jangled angst of “Bags”, second single “Closer To You” finds Clairo emoting her desire through autotune and a stark, burgeoning beat. [Vinyl edition due October 4.]
The Commonheart – Pressure CD/LP (Jullian)
“This band is therapy for me to bring myself back to being a better person, and I hope people come along with me,” says powerhouse singer Clinton Clegg of The Commonheart. The testimonial begins with their sophomore album, Pressure – a potent and purposeful dose of grittily redemptive rock ‘n’ soul. The 10-song album showcases raw-nerve soul musicianship pristinely recorded. The opening track boasts soulful sandpaper-y lead vocals, swoops of cosmic slide guitar, a driving Sly Stone groove, and rousing female backup vocals. It’s an up-against-a-wall tune about making a living while raising a family, and it speaks to the album’s title. The bluesy ballad title track, replete with pleading emotive vocals, drips yearning and melancholy redemption. A spirit of a new-day optimism courses through the aptly titled “Different Man”. The song soars with stirring group backup vocals punctuated by Clinton’s vulnerable confessions. It’s a rousing and uplifting slice of R&B brimming with warm organs, clipped soul-guitar chanks, and triumphant horn melodies.
Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors – Dragons CD/LP (Magnolia Music)
Drew Holcomb’s songs have always charged his listeners’ hearts and minds while inspiring them to think, feel, dance, and love. But with his new album, Dragons, his subject material finds the singer using a finer brush and mixing more of the joys, struggles, and specific moments of his own life than ever before to help him paint his masterpieces and connect with fans on a universal level. With its modern production, careful sense of craft and collaboration, and rafter-reaching anthems carrying profound, intentional lyrics, the album represents Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors’ biggest moment yet, a powerful portrait stretched across a wide sonic canvas. The story of Dragons is the culmination of myriad events, connections, challenges, and years of hard, determined work for Holcomb, both as a bandleader and a family man. For the last decade, the Tennessee-based musician has established himself as one of Americana and Southern roots music’s freshest upstarts, building his following and critical appeal with every release, show, and venture.
Killswitch Engage – Atonement CD/LP (Metal Blade)
Killswitch Engage’s eighth album, Atonement, is the culmination of a trying and turbulent two-year period. KsE started kicking around ideas for the album as early as 2017. The band recorded the bulk of the material separately on both coasts. However, in the middle of the process, a polyp developed scar tissue in singer Jessie Leach’s throat, forcing him to undergo surgery. The intense three-month recovery ended with speech therapy, vocal therapy, and scream therapy. The band ultimately emerged with an album that is further evidence of their undeniable legacy as one of the most enduring metal bands of the last two decades and beyond. “Atonement is a solid slab of metalcore; it is beefy, it is thrashy, it has hooks, and it has all the assorted goodies we have always expected from Killswitch Engage.” – Metal Wani [Limited indie-exclusive red colored vinyl pressing also available.]
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard – Infest The Rats’ Nest CD/LP (ATO)
Infest The Rats’ Nest is the sound of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard scratching the thrash metal itch, fully and unequivocally. Ferocious and direct, “Organ Farmer” is built on drums that gallop away like a battalion of wild horses over the horizon and a triple guitar attack set to stun. It’s the type of sub-three-minute song you wish Hetfield and Co. still made. “Venusian 1” goes at it even harder, a shredding collection featuring an army of guitars. A guitarmy, if you will. This is an album dripping with disdain and disgust for a planet consuming itself in a mass act of cannibalism. “Superbug” sings of the type of lurgy that will one day destroy us all, while the utterly nihilistic “Self-Immolate” sees riff piled upon riff and Stu Mackenzie delivering a vocal display to stand alongside the likes of Tom Araya or Max Cavalera. “I’m a pretty sh*t singer but I do think of my voice as an instrument,” laughs the frontman. “You’ve got lots of tones and different sounds in there you can experiment with.” [Limited black & red colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Lillie Mae – Other Girls CD/LP (Third Man)
Lillie Mae’s new Third Man Records album Other Girls features eleven new, original songs produced by Grammy-winner Dave Cobb at Nashville’s famed RCA Studio A. The Nashville singer, songwriter, downtown scene slayer, and most-wanted fiddler signals a reclaimed confidence and bold evolution here, telling women’s stories – including her own – that build on the strength of her 2017 Jack White-produced debut. Lillie Mae led a sequestered childhood touring in a motorhome with her musician parents, constricted by religious boundaries. In her adolescence she busked from RV parks to the Rio Grande, swept through Nashville clubs, and achieved Top 40 country status in her sibling group Jypsi, but on Other Girls, a new side of herself emerges with more to say than ever before. She embraces personal triumphs on “I Came For The Band (For Show)”, breathes new perspective into “Terlingual Girl”, a song she wrote as a 19-year-old in the South-Texan desert, and professes brave truths as heard in “You’ve Got Other Girls For That”. [Limited indie-exclusive vinyl pressing also available.]
The Murder Capitol – When I Have Fears CD/LP (Human Season)
Masters of the dark/light dichotomy The Murder Capital release their debut album, When I Have Fears, which was recorded with Flood (PJ Harvey, Nick Cave &The Bad Seeds, Foals). An exercise in both darkness and light, When I Have Fears only serves to highlight the early ambition in the band’s sound. From the post-rock build and breakdowns of the two-part “Slowdance”, to the tender, bruised confessional of “On Twisted Ground” and industrial pulse of closer “Love, Love, Love”, there’s a consistent intensity throughout that marks out The Murder Capital as a band arriving fully formed on their debut album. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Ride – This Is Not A Safe Place CD/2xLP+MP3 (Wichita)
Ride return with the sixth studio album of their career and their second since reforming in 2014. As with their previous album, Weather Diaries, Erol Alkan was in the producer’s chair, and Alan Moulder (with Caesar Edmunds) took care of the mixing (making this the fourth Ride album he has worked on). Gathering influences from sources such as the Jean Michel Basquiat exhibition at the Barbican, and the post punk sound of The Fall and Sonic Youth, Ride has made an album which contains echoes of their earliest days as a band, while bringing these elements into 2019. Both musically and lyrically, this is clearly an album made by a band who love being back together and who are at the very top of their game.
Bobby Rush – Sitting On Top Of The Blues CD/LP (Deep Rush)
Sitting On Top Of The Blues is the 26th studio album (and 75th career release) by Grammy winning Blues Hall of Famer Bobby Rush. It serves as the follow-up to his first Grammy Award winning album Porcupine Meat and is another strong set of original songs that are equally funny, curious, and all around entertaining. Sitting On Top Of The Blues incorporates down home Chicago style blues, Southern soul, and even acoustic blues, reconfirming Bobby Rush as a one-of-a-kind storyteller who’s veins run deep with the blues. “I’m sitting on top of the blues. I’m a bluesman who’s sitting on the top of my game, proud of what I do and proud of who I am and thankful for people accepting me for what I am and who I am,” says the charismatic Rush. “I’m happy about what I’m doing and still enthused about what I’m doing. And I think we’ve got some good songs.”
CDs + Vinyl:
Satoshi Ashikawa – Still Way – Wave Notation 2 [Reissue/1982] CD/LP (WRWTFWW)
Initially released in 1982 as part of the Wave Notation series (which includes Hiroshi Yoshimura’s Music For Nine Postcards), Still Way is, without a doubt, a seminal Japanese environmental/ambient/minimalism album, often mentioned alongside Midori Takada’s Through The Looking Glass (1983) and Hiroshi Yoshimura’s Green (1986) as one of the genre’s most important pieces.
Atreyu – In Our Wake CD (Spinefarm)
Deluxe expanded edition of the metalcore band’s 2018 album featuring seven bonus tracks and all new artwork.
Blanck Mass – Animated Violence Mild CD/LP (Sacred Bones)
Animated Violence Mild was written throughout 2018, at Blanck Mass’ studio outside of Edinburgh. These eight tracks are the diary of a year of work steeped in honing craft, self-discovery, and grief – the latter of which reared its head at the final hurdle of producing this record and created a whole separate narrative: grief. [Limited green colored vinyl pressing also available.]
The Booth Brothers – Country Roads: Country and Inspirational Favorites CD (Springhill)
Influenced by artists such as The Statler Brothers, The Gatlins, Randy Travis, Don Williams, Hank Williams, Alabama and more, these gospel music mainstays tip their hats to some of their musical heroes, creating smooth renditions of these household favorites honoring faith and family.
Bound In Fear – The Hand Of Violence CD (Unique Leader)
Debut album from the Farnham, UK downtempo/deathcore group. Unrelentingly vicious, lyrically bleak, and musically crushing – The Hand Of Violence sees Bound In Fear establishing themselves as one of the most extreme voices in UK deathcore. [Vinyl edition due September 6.]
Johnny Burgin – Live CD (Delmark)
A raw, fresh, and original all-star set of blues, shot through with live energy. Features guest appearance by Charlie Musselwhite.
Cerebral Rot – Odious Descent Into Decay CD/LP (20 Buck Spin)
Like sewage winding its way through tunnels below the street, this music reeks with the stench of vulgarity and noxious body fumes. Embalmed in an analog toxic dump, this debut, Odious Descent Into Decay, melts the skin with radioactive brutality and gurgling bursts of punishing cruelty. It’s virulent subterranean death metal glistens with pustular fallout, with an obscure rotten air from being left too long on the morgue table-the skin peels off and the last gasp of life echoes terrifyingly within.
Chamber – Ripping/Pulling/Tearing CDEP/12” (Pure Noise)
Hailing from Nashville, Chamber is one of many new hardcore bands leading a revival of early 2000s metalcore.
Jimmy Cobb – This I Dig Of You CD (Smoke Sessions)
60 years ago, Cobb played on what wound up becoming one of the most indelible records in jazz history, Kind Of Blue. This I Dig Of You, recorded with a band of Cobb’s longtime collaborators – pianist Harold Mabern, guitarist Peter Bernstein, and bassist John Webber – pays tribute to that seminal album by proving that it’s still not yet history. The 90-year-old drummer, after all, is as vital and thoughtful as he ever was as he swings through standards and contemporary compositions.
Crass – The Feeding Of The 5000 (The Second Sitting) [Reissue/1979] CD/LP (One Little Indian)
Crass – Stations Of The Crass [Reissue/1979] CD/LP (One Little Indian)
Crass – Penis Envy [Reissue/1981] CD/LP (One Little Indian)
Crass – Yes Sir, I Will [Reissue/1983] CD/LP (One Little Indian)
Crass – Christ [Reissue/1982] 2xCD/2xLP (One Little Indian)
Crass – 10 Notes On A Summer’s Day [Reissue/1985] CDEP/12” (One Little Indian)
Remastered by Alex Gordon and Penny Rimbaud at Abbey Road Studios. Crass was the missing link between counterculture hippies and punk’s angry rhetoric. The fact they got so big with no radio play and music so uncompromising is testament not just to their communication skills, but also to their generation’s willingness to experiment. The band released a series of records that spliced art-school (in the best possible way), avant-garde collage with white-heat, punk-rock anger.
Rodney Crowell – Texas CD/LP (Rodney Crowell)
Featuring Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Ronnie Dunn, Billy F Gibbons, Randy Rogers, Vince Gill, Lee Ann Womack, Steve Earle, Ringo Starr and more, the 11 tracks on Texas represent not just a fresh batch of weathered poetry from one of Americana’s finest craftsmen, but also an iconic singer-songwriter letting loose with his friends.
Madison Cunningham – Who Are You Now CD/LP (Verve)
New release from the 22-year-old rising guitarist and songwriter, recorded by Tyler Chester (who has worked with Jackson Browne, Blake Mills and Andrew Bird).
Dillon – The Tails Of Lobsterdamus CD (Full Plate)
Atlanta-based rapper/DJ/chef, Dillon is perhaps best known for his collaborations with acclaimed beatmakers Diamond D (Black Tie Affair), Supa Dave West (Studies In Hunger), Paten Locke (Food Chain) and Batsauce (On Their Way), but that might change when Lobsterdamus washes up. The Tails Of Lobsterdamus is Dillon’s self-produced solo debut, a deep dive into the origin of his bottom-dwelling evil alter-ego, Lobby Dom. Half man, half lobster and 100% jerk, Lobsterdamus was sent to Earth (unwillingly) from his home planet of Lobtropolis on a quest to save humanity from itself. [Vinyl edition due August 30.]
Diocletian – Amongst The Flames Of A Burning God CD/LP (Profound Lore)
Diocletian, who have always reigned at the apex of the extreme, unrelenting war metal movement, have resurged with founder/guitarist Atrociter unearthing the band with a new formation and sense of purpose. The result is the New Zealand unit’s most primal, barbarous, unhinged-yet-remorselessly-calculated and violent album.
The Fat Babies – Uptown CD (Delmark)
If you enjoy listening or dancing to music from the classic jazz era (‘20s/’30s), but done with a very real and youthful spirit, this is the disc for you.
Jim Gaffigan – Quality Time CD/LP (Comedy Dynamics)
Known for his unique brand of humor which largely revolves around fatherhood and his observations on life, Emmy-winning and four-time Grammy nominated comedian, actor, writer and producer Jim Gaffigan returns with his newest stand-up comedy special, Quality Time.
HammerFall – Dominion CD/LP (Napalm)
Eleventh studio album by the power metal band. “For those who remember the resurrection that heavy metal experienced in the late 1990s in Europe, the name Hammerfall embodies the most nostalgic side of said time period, bringing a thought dead sound once purveyed by the likes of Manowar, Accept and Judas Priest with enough of a power metal edge to keep company with the Helloween-oriented contingent that was dominating the European scene.” – Sonic Perspectives
Here Lies Man – No Ground To Walk Upon CD/LP (Riding Easy)
Here Lies Man took the music world by storm in 2017 with their self-titled debut positing the intriguing hypothesis: What if Black Sabbath played Afrobeat? Since that time, they have expanded and expounded upon their sound and ideas of heavy riff rock and psych within the ancient rhythmic formula of the clave. No Ground to Walk Upon is their third album. It continues with an ongoing concept of playing a soundtrack to an imaginary movie, with each song being a scene.
The Hold Steady – Thrashing Thru The Passion CD/LP (French Kiss)
The Hold Steady’s seventh album collects five new songs alongside five of the nine singles the band has intermittently released since 2017. Thrashing Thru The Passion is a signature set of snarling electric guitars, chiming piano chords and the clever, deadpan observations of frontman Craig Finn.
Ikebe Shakedown – Kings Left Behind CD/LP/Cassette (Colemine)
Ten years ago, Ikebe Shakedown began pushing the boundaries of instrumental music. Each new track and live set has sent them deeper into combining the primal elements of ’70s soul, raw psychedelic style, and cinematic Western soundtracks with powerful grooves and soaring melodies. Their new album Kings Left Behind features the entire group collaborating to produce tracks that deliver punches right to the gut, even as dreamy guitars and lush horn melodies and string arrangements capture the imagination. [Limited pink colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Itsoktocry – Poshboy! CD/LP (Cleopatra)
New album from the rising Soundcloud rapper. [Limited green colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Ben Jagga – Hold On Pretty Woman CD (BBE)
Ben Jagga’s long-deleted sole solo release is the epitome of Tabansi/Taretone soul-funk-boogie-disco in it’s prime, and is very much a family affair. Instrumentation is a tight, stripped-down unit: bass, guitar, drums and keyboards – and the mixdown man is Martin Ikebuaku, one of the unsung geniuses of the West African boogie sound, with literally hundreds of well-regarded sessions on almost every major Nigerian label under his belt. [Vinyl edition due October 11.]
Eilen Jewell – Gypsy CD/LP (Signature Sounds)
Described as one of Americana’s most intriguing and creative voices (American Songwriter), Jewell calls Gypsy her favorite album yet: new sounds, old sounds, electric guitar-driven rockers, classic country, and tender ballads. It continues to solidify Jewell’s reputation as one of the most distinctive and potent voices in the Americana world today.
Junkie – Fast Times CD/LP (Yippee Ki Yay)
Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. Fast Times is the third full-length and vinyl debut from three-piece surf-punkers, Junkie, consisting of three high school friends, Mark Perez (guitar/vocals), Dan Garcia-Moreno (bass), and Johnathan James (drums). [Pink vinyl edition includes a hand-written letter from the band signed by each member.]
Tracy Lawrence – Made In America CD/LP (Lawrence Music Group)
Made In America is a true Tracy Lawrence record of traditional country with hints of rock and blues.
Leather Stip – Appreciation CD/LP (Cleopatra)
Covers album from the German industrial musician includes versions of songs by David Bowie, Depeche Mode, PJ Harvey, Soft Cell, The Normal and more. [Limited red colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Loscil – Equivalents CD/LP (Kranky)
Canadian composer Scott Morgan’s 12th long-player as Loscil takes it’s title from an influential series of early 20th century photographs by Alfred Stieglitz, abstracting clouds into miasmic, painterly canvases of smoke and shadowplay. It’s a deeply fitting analog for Morgan’s own musical process across the past two decades, fraying forms and tones into widescreen mirages of opaque texture and negative space.
Metropolitan Jazz Octet featuring Dee Alexander – It’s Too Hot For Words: Celebrating Billie Holiday CD (Delmark)
The Metropolitan Jazz Octet and singer extraordinaire Dee Alexander joined forces and talent for a celebration of Billie Holiday and her songbook also featuring Chicago’s own Jim Gailloreto on tenor saxophone.
Old Salt Union – Where The Dogs Don’t Bite CD/LP (Compass)
Coming from varied musical backgrounds, Old Salt Union’s collective melting pot of styles and musical vocabularies informs their fresh approach to modern string band music and has helped to carve a unique niche for this Belleville, Illinois roots outfit.
Oso Oso – Basking In The Glow CD/LP (Triple Crown)
Jade Lilitri is used to pessimism. It’s what he’s written most of his band Oso Oso’s music about. But on their new album, he’s radically committed to letting the light in, if only because Lilitri knows the darkness like the back of his hand. If 2016’s beloved The Yunahon Mixtape found Lilitri leaning more into the pessimistic side of his brain, follow-up Basking In The Glow is an experiment in its glass-half-full opposite. Here, he acknowledges that there are certainly more bad days than good, but maybe for once he could actually embrace the latter instead of just anticipating its inevitable departure.
Chris Peck – Ancient Baby 2xCD/LP (Crying Music)
13 songs about love, mystery and the health of our planet. A multiinstrumentalist, Peck performed most of the album, with some clutch guest appearances by: Miriam Speyer, Luke Westbrook, Cameron Snyder (the Deslondes), and Kim Ortman. The most frequent guest on the album was Adam Bowers, steel guitarist and backing vocalist for the Ancient Baby live unit.
Peter, Paul and Mary – At Newport 1963-65 CD (Shout Factory)
These historical recordings epitomize Peter, Paul and Mary’s music in the ’60s era of optimism, turmoil and vast change in America. Recorded at the iconic folk festival at Newport, RI, 1963 – 65, this set reveals the electrifying and optimistic spirit of an era, at the peak of America’s folk revival. [Stand-alone DVD edition also available.]
Javier Red’s Imagery Converter – Ephemeral Certainties CD (Delmark)
Javier’s music is extraordinarily demanding on the musicians because of the level of skills expected from them but also because of the deep commitment that it is required to perform it. Knowing your changes, patterns and scales is not enough to play this music in which the form is reinvented for each composition and where shifting time signatures and bi-tonal or poly-tonal passages bring the complexity of Igor Stravinsky, Bela Bartok, and the Mexican genius Silvestre Revueltas right into the 21st century jazz alchemy.
Lionel Richie – Hello From Las Vegas CD/2xLP (Capitol)
Showcasing his recent Las Vegas residency, Lionel Richie’s new live album, Live From Las Vegas presents 15 of the iconic soul/R&B singer’s greatest tracks and boasts hits from both his solo catalogue and the Commodores. [Deluxe CD edition includes three bonus tracks.]
Conrad Schnitzler – Conditions Of The Gas Giant [Reissue/1988] CD/LP (Bureau B)
The Berlin artist first released these recordings on a small American cassette label. A methane and helium tryst in sonic form – fireworks, pyrotechnics for the eyes, like the surface of Jupiter, just as Schnitzler’s tracks are pyrotechnics for the ears.
Shock Narcotic – I Have Seen The Future And It Doesn’t Work CD/LP/Cassette (Housecore)
A whirlwind of dystopian dread and existential nihilism, I Have Seen The Future And It Doesn’t Work is the debut full-length from Detroit grind ensemble Shock Narcotic. The band consists of current and former members of The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Black Dahlia Murder, Battlecross and Child Bite.
Abram Shook – The Neon Machine CD/LP (Western Vinyl)
The fourth album from Austin musician Abram Shook is a dystopian dance party, and everyone’s invited. Juxtaposed against 2017’s sepia-tinged, quietly reflective Love At Low Speed, the new record’s mix of irresistible beats and slyly humorous lyrics might seem like a 180 at first glance: a giddy, knowing soundtrack to the end of the world. The varied influences of world music and jazz that are present in all his records can still be heard though here Shook tucks them into the corners and uses them in subtler ways, giving center stage to a vintage Sequential Circuits Prophet 600, a drum sequencer, and his signature rubbery bass lines.
Shura – Forevher CD/LP+MP3 (Secretly Canadian)
How to live – and love – as a queer woman has always been integral to Shura, it’s remarkable to hear these stories twisted through such a gorgeous amalgam of influences: Joni Mitchell and Minnie Riperton, Bon Iver and Frank Ocean, Prince and Ariel Pink. Through these inspirations, Shura’s own modern, outlier perspective found a newer, more daring approach to sound and song.
Sleater-Kinney – The Center Won’t Hold CD/LP (Mom + Pop Music)
The Center Won’t Hold is Sleater-Kinney’s midnight record on the doomsday clock. After 25 years of legendary collaboration, rock ‘n’ roll giants Carrie Brownstein, Corin Tucker, and Janet Weiss rise to meet the moment by digging deeper and sounding bigger than we’ve heard them yet. Here are intimate battle cries. Here are shattered songs for the shattered survivors. [Deluxe vinyl pressing also available.]
Thee Oh Sees – Face Stabber CD (Castle Face)
Face Stabber is Soundcloud hip-hop reversed, a far flung nemesis of contemporary country and flaccid algorithmic pop-barf. No songs about money or love are floating in the ether. Just memories, echoes, foggy blurs, blip-blop goes the scope, heavy funk, dystopia-punk canons, long jams, bloated solos dribbling down your caved-in chest. Human cattle like a beef avalanche, right on your burned out face hole. For fans of fried prog burn-out, squished old-school drool, double drums, lead weight bass, wizard keys (now with poison), old-ass guitar and horrible words with daft meanings. [Vinyl edition due September 13.]
Twilight Force – Dawn Of The Dragonstar CD/2xLP (Nuclear Blast America)
Third studio album by the Swedish power metal band.
Various Artists – Hitsville: The Making Of Motown [OST] CD/2xCD (Motown)
Original soundtrack to the 2019 Showtime documentary. The Making Of Motown tells the story of the legendary Motown Records, told through new and exclusive interviews with the label’s visionary founder, Berry Gordy, and many of its superstar artists and creative figures. The soundtrack features a selection of songs from the film by Motown artists including The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Jackson 5, The Isley Brothers, Four Tops & others. [Deluxe double-CD edition also available. Vinyl edition due September 27.]
The Wedding Present – Tommy 30 CD/LP+CD (Scopitones)
George Best became The Wedding Present’s first album in 1988. But Tommy, released one year later, was made up of the early songs from the singles and radio sessions that had catapulted them from being bedsit musicians into indie darlings. Tommy 30 is a brand-new re-recording of Tommy, which follow’s up 2017’s George Best 30. [Limited edition blue colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Zero 7 – When It Falls [Reissue/2004] 2xCD/2xLP (New State Music)
Expanded CD (and double LP vinyl) reissue of the British electronica duo’s second album. Zero 7 were formed in 1997 by producers Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker. In 2001 their debut album Simple Things was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize.
ZZ Top – Goin’ 50 3xCD/5xLP (WB)
Packed with enough hits to fill a roadhouse jukebox, Goin’ 50 spans the band’s entire musical career, from its 1969 debut, and its multi-platinum zenith during the ’80s, to its most-recent releases. This retrospective includes an array from each of the 15 studio albums that guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and bassist Dusty Hill have recorded since 1970. Two bonus tracks, “Salt Lick” and “Miller’s Farm” – a single and B-side respectively – were recorded in 1969 by the original incarnation of ZZ Top.
DVDs + Blu-ray:
Peter, Paul and Mary – At Newport 1963-65 DVD (Shout Factory)
Remarkable archival footage of Peter, Paul and Mary filmed at the iconic folk festival at Newport, RI, 1963–65.
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
Above & Beyond – Flow State 2xLP (Anjuna Beats)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Above & Beyond present the yoga and mindfulness-inspired ambient album, Flow State, a 49-minute panoramic journey of ambient compositions and warm, neo-classical soundscapes that offer moments of meditative calm in these busy and often overwhelming times.
Abstract Orchestra – Madvillain Vol. 1 LP (ATA)
Back in-print on vinyl. Coming off the back of their successful album of J Dilla interpretations, this time Abstract Orchestra focuses on MF DOOM and Madlib’s collaborative work as Madvillan. Led by saxophonist Rob Mitchell, the UK group explores jazz, TV soundtracks and film scores, combined with classic big band writing and a focus on improvisation. A jazz album as much as it is a hip-hop album, 2018’s Madvillain Vol. 1 explores the reciprocal territory between the genres.
Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah – Ancestral Recall 2xLP (Ropeadope)
Released last March on CD – now available on vinyl. Ancestral Recall seeks to de-colonialize sound; to revise history by creating a sonic tapestry illuminating the harmony within rhythm and obliterating the previous context. Rather than bring rhythm into his sound, Adjuah begins with rhythm, sampling West African, Indian, and other cultural rhythms and interweaving live drumming in the studio.
Ae3 (Alan Evans Trio) – The Wild Root LP (Vintage League Music)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. 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).
BaBii – HiiDE LP (Death Waltz)
Debut album by electronic producer BABii co-produced by Adrian Sherwood (On-U-Sound system). BABii produces incredibly forward thinking electro tinged pop/R&B which features skittering beats and incredibly thick, layered synths with heavy bass with a semi industrial feel to them.
Backstreet Boys – Millennium [Reissue/1999] LP (Sony Legacy)
20th anniversary picture disc vinyl edition.
Paul Baillargeon & Dean Morgan – Viens, Mon Amour (Bande Originale Du Film) [Reissue/1970] LP (Trésor National)
Trésor National is a new Montreal-based record label dedicated to reissuing long lost gems recorded in Québec (Canada). Their inaugurational release will be a 180g vinyl-only official reissue of the 1970 cult classic soundtrack Viens, mon amour (Love in a 4 Letter World), composed by Paul Baillargeon (Star Trek TV series, JeanPierre Ferland’s Soleil, Curious Georges) and Dean Morgan.Between 1968 and 1974, Quebec was exposed to unabashed exploitation cinema. Erotic and taboo, the Bmovies took on the name of films de fesses (titty films) or maple syrup porn.
Lito Barrientos Y Su Orquesta – Very Very Well [Reissue/1965] LP (Vampi Soul)
While in Colombia in the mid-1960s, Barrientos found great success with his assimilation of styles like cumbia and porro, but also included Cuban charanga, Puerto Rican bomba and Mexican corrido in his repertoire, making for a very diverse selection of moods and flavors, a recipe that was sure to satisfy the eclectic tastes of his international audiences.
Behemoth – I Loved You At Your Darkest 2xLP (Metal Blade)
Standard black double-vinyl reissue of Bohemoth’s 2018 album.
Big Stick – LP LP+CD (Drag Racing Underground)
Big Stick slithered up from the NYC art rock underground in the mid-‘80s, worlds apart both stylistically and sonically from the noise-damage darlings of the junkie punk scene they emerged from – Pussy Galore, White Zombie or their high profile big mean daddies in Sonic Youth, Swans, or Foetus. John Gill and Yanna Trance were a live-work-kill together couple who brewed up their crazed sonic schemes in their very own secret headquarters, explaining little and revealing even less. They performed wearing elaborate masks, and all known press photos were similarly mysterious affairs, shrouding their true identities in a veil of feathers and wigs and antlers. Their latest album, LP, is the duo’s first in 15 years and includes a bonus ‘retrospective’ CD.
Belle And Sebastian – If You’re Feeling Sinister [Reissue/1996] LP (Matador)
On colored vinyl for the very first time, Belle and Sebastian have announced a new pressing their 1996 classic If You’re Feeling Sinister, a red edition of the LP limited to 1,500 copies. The release coincides with the band’s performance of the landmark album at Pitchfork Festival 2019 in Chicago this July, marking Belle And Sebastian’s first full performance of the album in North America. “The simplicity — the strummy guitars, Murdoch’s reedy and conversational tone, the gentle propulsion at work in even the quietest songs.” — Stereogum “[The band] reaches peaks of effortless pastoral grandeur.” — Rolling Stone
Frank Black – Frank Black [Reissue/1992] LP (4AD)
Frank Black – Teenager Of The Year [Reissue/1994]
Recording his debut album during the hiatus and breakup of the Pixies in late-1992, frontman Black Francis inverted his stage persona for his solo work. Coproduced with Eric Drew-Feldman (Captain Beefheart/Pere Ubu), Frank let his inner rock historian loose on Frank Black, channeling greats like Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, The Beach Boys & David Bowie in a thrilling way that felt like a natural next step on from Trompe Le Monde (the last Pixies album before they reconvened two decades later). Teenager Of The Year came out just over a year later. In as rich a songwriting vein as he was when in The Pixies, Teenager Of The Year is now widely regarded as the defining statement of his solo career.
Candlemass – Lucifer Rising [Reissue/2008] 2xLP (Back On Black)
Candlemass – Ashes To Ashes – Live [Reissue/2010] 2xLP (Back On Black)
Two vinyl reissues from the Swedish epic doom legends.
Conjunto Miramar – Cumbias Con El Miramar [Reissue/1965] LP (Vampi Soul)
Full of excellent cumbias and gaitas for dancing, Cumbias Con El Miramar is a lot more diverse than the title leads one to believe, as there are lots of other hot rhythms and arrangements on it, taken from Cuban genres like guajira, guaracha, guaguancó, charanga and son montuno. The album is a fascinating snapshot of a pivotal period in Colombian music when outside influences (such as salsa from New York) and the wildly popular phenomenon of so-called ‘raspa’ or ‘chucu-chucu’ cumbia groups from the interior (described as ‘paisa’, i.e. not from the Afro-Colombian coastal regions where cumbia began) were initiating a transition from the old sound (and generation) to the new.
Coughy – Ocean Hug LP (Joyful Noise)
White colored vinyl pressing. Coughy began as a late night recording experiment at a performing arts summer camp, formed by two musical associates Julian Fader (Ava Luna) and Andy Molholt (Laser Background & Speedy Ortiz). These guys clearly come from the world of lo-fi indie rock, and it shows.
CrimeApple x DJ Skizz3 – Wet Dirt LP (Different Worlds)
Limited brown colored vinyl pressing. Includes poster. After dropping a few projects with his frequent collaborator Buck Dudley then releasing a project with Big Ghost in 2018, New Jersey based artist CrimeApple connects with DJ Skizz to create what many herald as the hip-hop album of 2019. The project is entirely produced by DJ Skizz and features only CrimeApple as a MC. The sound of the record is gritty, at times psychedelic.
Daszu – Zone Of Swans/Lucid Actual +1/2 Dativa 2xLP (Lion Productions)
Excavation of astounding underground post-punk recorded from 1979-1983. An impediment to achieving a place in the post-punk pantheon – Daszu was based in Milwaukee, not in the UK. Except for cassette distributions in Helsinki and Dublin, and a few scattered performances, they lived, practiced and performed near home.
The Dillinger Escape Plan – Option Paralysis [Reissue/2010] LP (Season Of Mist)
At first glance, Option Paralysis (2010) seems like a highly inappropriate title to describe the constantly evolving output of The Dillinger Escape Plan. But once you’re faced with the cumulative power and vision of guitarist Ben Weinman, vocalist Greg Puciato, bassist Liam Wilson, guitarist Jeff Tuttle and drummer Billy Rymer, you’ll wonder-right after you pick yourself up off the floor – why more bands don’t achieve similar force-of-nature status. Produced by Steve Evetts, Dillinger’s music is positively abundant with possibilities.
Disentomb – The Decaying Light LP (Unique Leader)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. In their 10th year since conception, Disentomb now stands as one of the most unique and commanding bands in modern death metal. The pursuit of unrelentingly brutal death metal has lead them down a dark and twisted path and into a unique sound completely unlike their beginnings, combining lacerating energy with a bleak dissonance that embodies a focused sonic malice like no other. The band’s album The Decaying Light features 13 tracks of doomed-out brutality.
DJ Khaled – Father Of Asahd 2xLP+MP3 (Epic)
Released last May on CD – now available on double blue colored vinyl. Father of Asahd is the eleventh studio album by hip-hop producer DJ Khaled. The album features the singles “Top Off” and “No Brainer” along with collaborations with Cardi B, 21 Savage and Meek Mill.
Drudkh – Лебединий Шлях (The Swan Road) [Reissue/2005] LP (Season Of Mist)
Drudkh – Пісні Скорботи І Самітності (Songs Of Grief And Solitude) [Reissue/2006] LP (Season Of Mist)
Drudkh – A Furrow Cut Short [Reissue/2015] 2xLP (Season Of Mist)
Limited colored vinyl reissues. Drudkh are a true underground phenomenon. The group’s much sought after third album, The Swan Road (2005) continued in the spirit of Forgotten Legends (2003) and Autumn Aurora (2004) with their trademark Slavonic pagan metal sound, which embraces epic folk-influenced melodies and creates cinematic and luxuriant atmospheres charged with melancholy. Songs Of Grief And Solitude is a stark, sober album that conveys struggle and resolution against a harsh, rural landscape. A Furrow Cut Short features the grandeur of seven huge, sweeping songs that draw inspiration from the genre’s true roots.
Explosions In The Sky – How Strange, Innocence [Reissue/2000] 2xLP (Temporary Residence)
Explosions In The Sky – The Rescue [Reissue/2005] LP (Temporary Residence)
In honor of the band’s 20th anniversary, we are delighted to bring these treasured documents of Explosions In the Sky’s humble beginnings back into the world. Both have been beautifully remastered by Heba Kadry – with vinyl lacquers cut by Bob Weston – and packaged in full-color, heavyweight triple-gatefold jackets with matte varnish, and heavyweight full-color inserts. [Limited colored vinyl pressings are also available.]
Flee Lord – Gets Greater Later LP (GGBR)
Limited ivory-colored vinyl pressing. Flee Lord’s Gets Greater Later features Benny The Butcher, Conway, Ars, Fastlife, Elcamino, Little Prodigy, Manny Lord, Eto and Keisha Plum. With production by Pete Rock, DJ Muggs, VDon, Big French, Chup, Icerocks, Doza The Drum Dealer, Mr. Castle, Little Prodigy, Jr. Swiftz, Megaladon and Godblessbeatz.
Florence & The Machine – Lungs [Reissue/2009] LP (Republic)
Limited red colored vinyl pressing of the debut studio album by the English indie rock band.
Peter Frampton Band – All Blues 2xLP (UMe)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. A collection of Frampton’s favorite blues classics recorded with his longtime touring band. Features the bonus track “I Feel So Good” and an etched D-side.
GA-20 – Naggin’ On My Mind b/w Sit Down Baby (Colemine)
GA-20 is a traditional Blues band playing ‘50s & ‘60s heavy blues music comprised of Matthew Stubbs (Charlie Musselwhite band) and Pat Faherty. Their debut single “Naggin’ On My Mind” features blues legend Charlie Musselwhite and Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi All-Stars) setting the tone for a promising debut LP in 2019.
Graveland – In The Glare Of Burning Churches [Reissue/1993] LP (Forever Plagued)
Expanded vinyl reissue. In The Glare Of Burning Churches has drive, power, hate, and all the darkness one could hope for from a black metal release.
Marcia Griffiths – Sweet & Nice [Reissue/1974] LP (Be With)
A vinyl reissue of the vital debut album from Jamaica’s undisputed first lady of song. Slinking through a tight ten tracks of R&B and pop-sourced material, Sweet & Nice became an instant best seller.
David Guetta – Just A Little More Love [Reissue/2002] 2xLP (Atlantic)
Double clear vinyl LP pressing of the French DJ’s debut studio album.
Che Guevara – The Voice Of The Revolution LP (Cleopatra)
Historic recordings of the well-known revolutionary figure speaking to his native audience, to the UN General Assembly and to American journalists in an intimate gathering. Orange colored vinyl.
Hot Water Music – Caution [Reissue/2002] LP+MP3 (Epitaph)
Hot Water Music – Shake Up The Shadows LP (Epitaph)
Hot Water Music. Those three words describe more than just a band at this point, they describe a way of life. Since forming in Florida in 1994, the act has constantly reinvented themselves by combining elements of punk rock and post-hardcore over the course of eight full-lengths, countless vinyl releases and energetic live shows. With a unique blend of heartfelt punk, guttural rock, and explorative neo-hardcore, Hot Water Music shirked categorization on 2002’s Caution. And now, celebrating 25 years as a band, HWM deliver a new EP, Shake Up The Shadows, which features an etched D-side.
Jadu Heart – Melt Away LP (VLF)
Enigmatic UK alternative-pop duo Jadu Heart, who perform adorned in hand-made masks, is a best-kept-secret whose early singles and EP have acquired the sort of hardcore global following that render them one of the most intriguing new bands coming out of the UK.
Janet Jackson/Daddy Yankee – Made For Now 12” (Rhythm Nation)
Jackson’s most recent hit, recorded with Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee and released digitally last year, is now available on vinyl. Includes seven remixes.
Keith Jarrett – The Melody At Night With You [Reissue/1999] LP (ECM)
This solo recording is a fitting coda for Keith Jarrett’s more restrained, less prolific output in the 1990s. The fitful vamps and long, ruminative improvisations that made Jarrett a solo piano star in the ’70s are here either stillborn or tightly tethered to classic melodies from the likes of Gershwin and Ellington, yet there is not the slightest hint of repression.
Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Jack DeJohnette – Live At Sendai Jazz Festival, Denryoku Hall, Japan 20.10.1986 LP (Alternative Fox)
From 1983, Jarrett’s trio featured DeJohnette and former Albert Ayler collaborator Gary Peacock on bass, that version of the trio being the musicians featured on this beautiful concert staged at the Sendai Jazz Festival in 1986.
Jefferson Airplane – Surrealistic Pillow [Reissue/1967] LP (Friday Music)
Two limited 180gm colored vinyl pressings: black, white and grey swirl and pink and white. The group’s first album with vocalist Grace Slick and drummer Spencer Dryden, 1967’s Surrealistic Pillow bowed as the first psychedelic-rock breakout from the potent San Francisco scene.
Jonas Brothers – Happiness Begins LP (Republic)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Happiness Begins is the fifth studio album by the Jonas Brothers and their first studio album since 2009’s Lines, Vines and Trying Times.
Joyce – Joyce [Reissue/1968] LP (Alternative Fox)
Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist Joyce Silveira Moreno was born and raised in the middle of Copacabana, a short beach stroll from the epicenter of the bossa nova universe. Her father was a Dane that had settled in Brazil, but she was raised by her mother and step-father in a typical Portuguese-Brazilian household. Since her older brother was friendly with leading lights of the bossa nova movement such as Roberto Menescal and Eumir Deodato, she was steeped in the form at an early age and witnessed its key evolution first-hand.
Gökçen Kaynatan – Cehennem LP (Cacophonic)
Cehennem is the first-ever collection of the highly sought after and largely previously unheard EMS Synthi AKS recordings of Gökçen Kaynatan, one of Turkish pop and rock’s best kept secrets. A key figure during the birth of Turkish rock and roll, a founding father of Anatolian rock and the studio brains behind the first Turkish electronic pop records, Kaynatan’s influence runs like the lifeblood through Turkish pop and rock.
Stacey Kent – Close Your Eyes LP (Pure Pleasure)
What makes Stacey Kent so remarkable is her sound; her voice itself is an impressive instrument, in pitch and timbre coming closer to Mildred Bailey than to her acknowledged idols, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. Strong and clear, it has the invigorating tang of Vermouth.
Clydie King – Steal Your Love Away/Rushing To Meet You [Reissue/1976] 2xLP (Everland)
This is certainly one of the best produced and arranged records of the 1970s soul funk era with a whiff of a disco flavor and some of the greatest songs that were ever written in this genre. But this is also one of the least known and best hidden jewels waiting to be discovered by the legions of fans loving mid to late ‘70s soul queens such as Donna Summer, Diana Ross, Gloria Gaynor or the mighty Supremes. Rushing To Meet You was first released in 1976 and got a second release under the title Steal Our Love Away with a different cover and song order in 1977.
The Lewis Express – The Lewis Express LP (ATA)
Taking inspiration from the likes of Ramsey Lewis, Young-Holt, Eddie Cano, Ray Bryant and Cannonball Adderley, The Lewis Express present a collection of tracks that range from introspective spy film themes to burning Brazilian jazz.
Libretto & BusCrates – Eternal Ridin’ 2xLP (Liquid Beats)
No pretense, just skills. The duo of Libretto & BusCrates represent a convergence of emcee and production mastery. They are students of hip-hop and are thoroughly committed to both its preservation and progression.
Los Shain’s – El Ritmo De Los Shain’s [Reissue/1965] LP (Munster)
Talking about Los Shain’s means talking about wild sounds and uncompromising garage rock. The repertoire of the Peruvian band is full of primitive screams, dirty fast guitars, tight drums, and Farfisa organ licks, an arsenal that made them one of the leading bands of the Peruvian ’60s rock scene whose great influence spread over all Latin America.
Jason Lytle – Arthur King Presents Jason Lytle: NYLONANDJUNO LP (Dangerbird)
The next installment in the ongoing experimental album release series from Los Angeles-based music and art collective is an entirely experimental album which finds Lytle entering new territory. NYLONANDJUNO was created exclusively from one analog synthesizer and one nylon-string acoustic guitar.
Cal Massey – Blues To Coltrane [Reissue/1987] LP (Pure Pleasure)
After Coltrane’s passing, Massey frequently joined forces with saxophonist, poet, and playwright Archie Shepp; though Shepp was about ten years Massey’s junior, the two developed a bond that remained close for the rest of the older man’s life. Massey, Coltrane, and Shepp are all linked by the prolific but obscure composer and arranger Romulus Franceschini, who lent his hand to many important jazz projects, such as Coltrane’s Africa/Brass and Shepp’s Attica Blues. Massey also shared a radical political stance with Shepp and Franceschini. It is impossible to separate his work from the militant arm of the Civil Rights Movement that took shape in the 1960s and 1970s.
Misumami & First Touch – Prove Your Love + Remixes 12” (Neon Finger)
This future classic boogie disco track is available again with two new astonishing remixes that will burst into flames any dancefloor.
Scott Morgan’s Powertrane – Ann Arbor Revival Meeting [Reissue/2002] 2xLP (Grown Up Wrong!)
Living up to its title, Ann Arbor Revival Meeting is a cross-generational project from 2002 that brings to life Ann Arbor and Detroit’s rock legacy through a combination of some of it’s key protagonists. Scott Morgan, who leads the band at the core of the record, Powertrane, goes back to mid ’60s days, to The Rationals, who ruled the local teen scene alongside the likes of Bob Seger and The Last Heard. In the ’70s, he fronted the seminal Sonic’s Rendezvous Band, alongside Fred Sonic Smith of the MC5 and Scott Asheton of The Stooges.
Bibi “The Kid” Msomi – Colours Of The Rainbow LP (Jordan Valley)
Six song mini LP remastered with love for the dancefloor.
Michael Nau – No Quit b/w Rides Through The Morning 7” (Colemine/Karma Chief)
Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Michael Nau crafts reflective indie rock tinged with folk and psychedelic influences. His latest single finds him not only playing the lion’s share of the music, but also pushing the psych-folk vibes more in a soul leaning direction. Just as catchy, slightly more upbeat, and timeless as ever; Nau crafts songs that transcend time, but always have a space.
Ofege – Higher Plane Breeze [Reissue/1977] LP+MP3 (Tidal Waves Music)
Ofege was formed in the early 1970s by a bunch of teenagers at the St. Gregory’s College in Lagos Nigeria. They were largely influenced by the guitar solos of Carlos Santana, Jeff Beck & Jimmy Page while closer to home, they were influenced by the music of BLO (Berkley Jones, Laolu Akins and Mike Odumosu), Monomono (led by Joni Haastrup), The Funkees, and Ofo The Black Company. Due to their vibrant combo of sweet harmonies, hooks & fuzz, Ofege would become one of the most legendary Nigerian groups of all time, with expressive sales and national stardom. [Limited brown colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Off With Their Heads – Be Good LP+MP3 (Epitaph)
Off With Their Heads are back with their new album, Be Good. The band has been relatively quiet over the last two years, largely because frontman Ryan Young was tending to an ill family member who ultimately passed away in 2018. While all of Off With Their Heads’ previous work shares a common thread of being rooted in Young’s fatalistic view of the world, Be Good at least allows a tiny glimmer of hope to peek through. [CD edition due August 23.]
Steve Parks – Movin’ In The Right Direction [Reissue/1981] LP (Luv N Haight)
Originally released by Solid Smoke Records in 1981, Movin’ In The Right Direction is becoming a rare groove staple.
Himesh Patel – Yesterday [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] 2xLP (Capitol)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. 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.
Poison Idea – Pick Your King E.P. [Reissue/1983] 12” (Jackpot)
Not only the greatest Poison Idea record, but one of the greatest punk albums of all time! Formed in Portland, OR in 1980, Poison Idea’s debut record features 13 songs in 13 minutes. Poison Idea were one of the first hardcore bands to inspire artists across multiple genre lines. On limited edition colored vinyl with sticker and inserts.
Mack Porter – Peace On You [Reissue/1972] LP (Tidal Waves Music)
An African artist, born in Ghana (1945) during the English colonial occupation, Mack Porter moved to the Netherlands and then to Italy in the late ‘60s where he released four pop and soul-oriented singles. His only album (featuring many famous Italian guest musicians) is an acclaimed favorite when it comes to African psychedelic rock. Riddled with long folky introductions, funky strings, soulful organ breaks, soft progressive rock, fuzz guitars… combine all of this with Porters sad bluesy voice and you have a unique sounding record that gets more interesting with repeated and concentrated listening.
Resavoir – Resavoir LP (International Anthem)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. A juicy suite of elegantly-orchestrated lo-fi jazz instrumentals, recalling vintage mod soul like David Axelrod, Piero Umiliani, or Charles Stepney, but doing it like The Avalanches or MF Doom would do.
Freya Ridings – Freya Ridings LP (Good Soldier/UNI)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. 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.
Adam Sandler – 100% Fresh 2xLP (WB)
Released last March on CD – now available on vinyl. Adam Sandler takes his comical musical musings back out on the road, from comedy clubs to concert halls to one very unsuspecting subway station. This is the audio companion to his Netflix special 100% Fresh.
The Scientists – Not For Sale: Live 1978/79 LP (Grown Up Wrong!)
The Scientists’ pre-Swampland days in Perth are brilliantly encapsulated on this collection of mostly unreleased live material from ’78 and ’79. These were the days when former Victims and future Hoodoo Gurus drummer James Baker led the band alongside guitarist/singer Kim Salmon, and when their poster read “rock ‘n’ roll in the tradition of The Groovies and The Heartbreakers.” [CD edition due August 23.]
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below [Reissue/2009] LP (Vagrant)
Remastered tenth anniversary vinyl reissue of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros’ debut album. Up From Below is a unique mixture of folk, soul with flourishes of film composer Ennio Morricone’s grandeur, and was one of the most talked about album in 2009, forging a movement of neo folk rock & roll.
Sturgill Simpson – Dead Don’t Die 7” (Elektra)
Limited 7” vinyl single from the country singer/songwriter. Includes instrumental version on the B-side.
Soul Clap – Ready To Freak 12” (Soul Clap)
A disco infused tribute to New York nightlife.
Soundtrack – Echo In The Canyon LP (BMG)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Echo In The Canyon – the illuminating new documentary film directed by Andrew Slater that explores the beginnings of the Laurel Canyon music scene (1965 -1967) through the stories of those who lived it, and the artists who carry its influence to this day – is accompanied by a soundtrack celebrating the music of that era. Features new studio recordings of timeless songs by The Byrds, The Mamas & The Papas and more, as interpreted by Jakob Dylan along with artists from the film including Fiona Apple, Beck, Jade Castrinos, Cat Power, Eric Clapton, Norah Jones, Regina Spektor, Stephen Stills, and Neil Young, and more.
Soyol Erdene – Soyol Erdene [Reissue/1981] LP (Everland Psych)
Formed in 1971 as the first ever Mongolian rock band at the behest of a ministry of culture that wanted to establish Mongolia’s very own Beatles, it took about ten years for Soyol Erdene to release an album. Psyche and ‘60s garage aficionados will love the Farfisa organ sounds and occasional fuzzed out lead guitars.
Matthew Sweet – Kimi Ga Suki * Raifu [Reissue/2003) LP (Glass Modern)
Green colored vinyl reissue of Matthew Sweet’s Kimi Ga Suki * Raifu, originally released on CD in Japan in 2003 as a love letter and thank you to his Japanese fans. Recorded at home, produced, engineered, and mixed by Matthew Sweet (bass, guitars, vocals) with the classic Girlfriend (1991) era lineup of Ric Menck (drums), Greg Leisz (guitars), and the genius electric lead guitar of Television’s Richard Lloyd.
Thor – Hammer Of Justice LP (Deadline Music)
Released last April on CD – now available on limited blue colored vinyl. Killer metal riffs and thundering rhythms from the might heavy metal god.
Thrice – Beggars [Reissue/2009] LP (Vagrant)
Limited striped vinyl LP pressing including bonus 7” inch single. Thrice celebrate the 10-year anniversary of their classic seventh album with this special reissue.
- Rex – Telegram Sam b/w Baby Strange 7” (Easy Action)
Tyrannosaurus Rex – Extended Play 7” (Easy Action
Rare and unheard versions pressed on colored vinyl.
Twin Sister – Twin Sister [Reissue/1996] LP (Old Bear Reissued)
The Portland, OR Star Wars Tribute band’s cult classic 1996 album has been reissued on vinyl.
Uniform & The Body – Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back LP (Sacred Bones)
On the heels of their monolithic collaborative LP Mental Wounds Not Healing, the collaboration between industrial-noise post-everything bands Uniform & The Body returns with a second entry. Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back is an amalgam of abrasive influence that spans Swans-y dirge and purge, Whitehouse’s clenched-jaw noise, middle-period Ministry’s penchant for metallic post-industrial everything, New Order’s nose for melodic emotionality, and Juicy Jinspired beats. [Limited purple colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Uv-Tv – Happy LP (Deranged)
If one’s been keeping up with the melodic punk music of Uv-Tv, then their new album Happy will feel like a natural evolution to the stripped-down, sped-up gazey, twee sound of past releases, Go Away And Glass (2017).
Various Artists – Bedford-Stuyvesant Youth In Action (The Community Corporation) Talent Hunt Winners LP (Big Crown)
Vinyl reissue of one of Brooklyn’s most sought after soul records – an awesome piece of New York history.
Various Artists – Kalmykian Archaic And Soviet Folk LP (Ored/Sub Rosa)
Kalmyks (Oirats) are part of the Western Mongolian ethnos, living on the territory of modern Russia. Tatiana Dordzhieva and Maria Beltsykova were deported to Siberia. The two energetic and charismatic grand mammas present here traditional Kalmyks songs (songs about the deportation of Kalmyks in 1943-1944) and Soviet folklore.
Various Artists – Wim’s: Driven By Music 3xLP (Wenders Music)
A group of admiring co-conspirators threw in together to make Wim Wenders a very special 70th birthday gift, a triple-LP record full of songs that harbor a deep connection to Wim Wenders, to his life and his work. Features Portishead, Calexico, Jürgen Knieper, Crime & The City Solution, Bryan Ferry, Bonnie Prince Billy, Ry Cooder, Texas, Irmin Schmidt, New World Renaissance Band, BAP, Axel Linstädt, Get Well Soon, Lou Reed, Sibylle Baier, Mick Harvey, Die Toten Hosen, U2, Travis, Patti Smith, Thom, Monta, The Eels, Lovegrove, Pal Flata, Sqürl, Radiohead, Laurent Petitgand, Roxy Music, Can, Laurie Anderson, Nick Cave, And The Golden Choir, Pieta Brown, Lovegrove, Gemma Ray, Jun Miyake, and Wim (the band).
Versus – Ex Voto LP (Ernest Jenning)
There have been rumblings for years amongst the band’s ardent fans about Versus working on a sci-fi concept album. The band had essentially disappeared from the public eye since releasing 2010’s On The Ones And Threes, before the excellent Ex Nihilo EP materialized in May 2019, unveiling the nascent stages of this direction. Now, the apocrypha has been dispelled with the new LP, Ex Voto. It is evident immediately that the two records complement one another thematically, and were culled from the same sessions.
Videodrones – Atavistic Future LP (El Paraiso)
On their third album, the Danish duo Videodrones explore their kosmische take on synth wave further.
Rufus Wainwright – Vibrate: The Best Of [Reissue/2014] 2xLP (Geffen)
Vinyl reissue of the 2014 greatest hits album by the American-Canadian singer-songwriter. Includes tracks taken from six of Wainwright’s studio releases: Rufus Wainwright (1998), Poses (2001), Want One (2003), Want Two (2004), Release The Stars (2007) and Out Of The Game (2012), plus soundtrack contributions and one previously unreleased track (“Me And Liza”).
Thom Yorke – Anima 2xLP (XL)
Limited deluxe edition on 180gm heavyweight orange double LP with sewn orange cloth spine; also includes a 40-page book of artwork from Stanley Donwood and Tarik Barri. 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)
Cassettes:
Ikebe Shakedown – Kings Left Behind (Colemine)
Ten years ago, Ikebe Shakedown began pushing the boundaries of instrumental music. Each new track and live set has sent them deeper into combining the primal elements of ’70s soul, raw psychedelic style, and cinematic Western soundtracks with powerful grooves and soaring melodies. Their new album Kings Left Behind features the entire group collaborating to produce tracks that deliver punches right to the gut, even as dreamy guitars and lush horn melodies and string arrangements capture the imagination.
Shock Narcotic – I Have Seen The Future And It Doesn’t Work (Housecore)
A whirlwind of dystopian dread and existential nihilism, I Have Seen The Future And It Doesn’t Work is the debut full-length from Detroit grind ensemble Shock Narcotic. The band consists of current and former members of The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Black Dahlia Murder, Battlecross and Child Bite.
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