March Program Titles Released This Week:
Green Day – Father Of All… CD/LP (Reprise)
Five-time Grammy Award-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Green Day unleash their soul-inflected new single “Father Of All…”, – complete with a falsetto turn from frontman Billie Joe Armstrong – which is the lead track of their new thirteenth studio album of the same name. It’s the band’s first album of new music since 2016’s Revolution Radio. Citing Kendrick Lamar and old-school Motown as influences, Armstrong revealed to Billboard that, “It’s very high energy – 10 songs in 26 minutes. I like to feel some sense of joy, living through the chaos of [this] era.” [Limited indie store exclusive colored vinyl pressing also available.]
The Homesick – The Big Exercise CD/LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)
The Big Exercise, the second album by Dutch band The Homesick, finds the group keenly second-guessing their core chemistry as a live unit, imbuing their angular post-punk workouts with baroque elements such as piano, acoustic guitar, percussion, and even clarinet. “It’s the opposite of trying to translate recorded music to the stage,” guitarist Elias Elgersma comments. “We were already playing these songs live for quite some time, so for this album, we wanted to unlock the potential of these songs further in the studio.” Opening track “What’s In Store” was in part inspired by bassist Jaap Van der Velde’s unprompted deep dive into the world of national anthems, making his own attempt to conjure a similarly timeless melody. The song seamlessly bleeds into the chivalrous prance of “Children’s Day” and the fragmented “Pawing”, righteously encouraging Erik Woudwijk’s nimble, cerebral drumming to become the band’s driving force. The headstrong wanderlust of The Big Exercise is fitting, given The Homesick’s exodus as a small-town Dutch band ready to trot the world.
The Lone Bellow – Half Moon Light CD/LP (Dualtone)
Half Moon Light is an artistic triumph worked toward for years, earned not by individual posturing, but by collective determination and natural growth. With earthy three-part harmonies and songwriting as provocative as it is honest, The Lone Bellow creates sparks that make a stranger’s life matter or bring our sense of childlike wonder roaring back. On Half Moon Light, the trio mix light and dark to muster a complex ode to memory, a call for hope, and an exercise in empathy. Anchored in the acoustic storytelling that first so endeared the band to fans and critics, Half Moon Light also takes more chances, experimenting with textures and instrumental fillips to create a full-bodied music experience. The 15-track album touches on personal topics like family, loss, overcoming struggle, and letting things go. The band expertly traverses several moods throughout, going from gentle, soothing lows to enormous, sweeping highs, and their musicianship shines through in every track.
John Moreland – LP5 CD/LP (Old Omens)
Over the last half a dozen years or so, John Moreland’s honesty has stunned us – and stung. He addressed pain we didn’t even realize we had into his songs, and we sang along. And we felt better. But there has always been far more to Moreland than sad songs. Today, his earthbound poetry remains potent, but in addition to his world-weary candor, Moreland’s music smolders with gentle wisdom, flashes of wit and joy, and compassion. And once again, as we listen, we feel better. A masterful display of songwriting by one of today’s best young practitioners of the art form, LP5’s experimentations with instrumentation and sounds capture an artist whose confidence has grown, all without abandoning the hardy roots rock bed and the lyrics – first approach Moreland’s work demands. There is no grand or alarming stylistic departure here – just different textures and background layers that add muscly new dimensions to Moreland’s heretofore instrumentally sparse recordings. [Limited indie store exclusive colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Nada Surf – Never Not Together CD/LP+MP3 (Barsuk)
Never Not Together sees Nada Surf continuing to pursue their humanistic vision of the world through hooky, catchy rock songs with sharply drawn, yet tenderly felt, lyrics. Recorded earlier this year at the legendary Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire, Wales, the wide-ranging collection revels in the group’s ability to evoke and reflect grand and intricately wrought emotions, whether through sweeping guitar solos or hushed-whisper vocals. Songs like the spectacular “Looking For You” and the shimmering mid-tempo “Just Wait” are empathetic, warm, and powerfully urgent, marked by songwriter Matthew Caws’ ongoing lyrical quest for 21st century love and connection. “We’re all together, and that’s just the way it is, and the way it always will be,” says Caws. “That’s the sacred truth of it.”
Chris & Rich Robinson – Brothers Of A Feather: Live At The Roxy CD/2xLP (Silver Arrow)
In April 2006 during a break in The Black Crowes’ touring schedule, Chris and Rich Robinson performed a string of their first-ever full-length acoustic duo dates – in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Austin. Billed as Brothers Of A Feather: An Acoustic Evening with Chris & Rich Robinson of The Black Crowes, the 12 concerts – all of which sold out in minutes – earned critical acclaim and were highlighted by three shows at The Roxy in Los Angeles, CA. At these acoustic shows, Chris and Rich reached deep into their repertoire of Black Crowes favorites and also performed new songs (the previously unreleased “Magic Rooster Blues”, “Cold Boy Smile”) plus material from their respective solo catalogs (Chris’ “Someday Past The Sunset”; Rich’s “Forgiven Song” and “Leave It Alone”) and various covers. These full-length acoustic shows gave Chris and Rich the opportunity, as singers and songwriters, to lend a new intimacy to their body of material as well as the cover songs that are an integral part of Black Crowes live performances.
Spanish Love Songs – Brave Faces Everyone CD/LP (Pure Noise)
Steeped in the same detail-rich storytelling of Bruce Springsteen, The Menzingers and Manchester Orchestra and filtered through the band’s sweat-soaked punk fervor, the songs on Spanish Love Songs’ third album, ‘represent the situations Dylan Slocum and his bandmates – guitarist Kyle McAulay, bassist Trevor Dietrich, drummer Ruben Duarte and keyboardist Meredith Van Woert – experienced during 30-some weeks of rigorous touring during the Schmaltz album cycle. These are character stories set in small-town America and anxious urban jungles alike, unfurling heartbreaking tales of addiction, depression, debt and death juxtaposed alongside looming societal bogeys like mass shootings, the opioid epidemic and climate change. They’re all at once personal vignettes and universal truths of life in the 2010s, the lines blurred between Slocum’s own experiences and those of his friends and acquaintances. [Limited indie store exclusive colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Christopher Paul Stelling – Best Of Luck CD/LP (ANTI-)
Impassioned singer and virtuosic guitar player Christopher Paul Stelling returns with his fifth album, Best Of Luck, produced by Ben Harper. Harper says he instantly recognized a kindred spirit in Stelling’s virtuosic finger picking and soulful delivery. “It was like finding a John Fahey or Leo Kottke that was a really great singer,” he explains. Throughout Best Of Luck, discontent and self-doubt are transformed into messages of resilience and hope. It is a supremely accessible and finely crafted record that deftly merges genres. Harper, who has previously produced records by Mavis Staples, Rickie Lee Jones, The Blind Boys Of Alabama and others, recruited an all-star rhythm section with Jimmy Paxson (Stevie Nicks, Dixie Chicks) on drums and upright bass player Mike Valerio (Randy Newman, L.A. Philharmonic) to lend a versatility and finesse. “I really believe Best Of Luck is the intersection where folk and soul meet,” Harper said. [Limited indie store exclusive colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Stone Temple Pilots – Perdida CD/LP (Rhino)
Stone Temple Pilots embark upon a new sonic adventure with Perdida, the band’s first-ever acoustic album. It features 10 deeply personal songs that weave introspective lyrics together with unexpected instruments to take listeners on an emotional and musical journey through letting go and starting over. The album features guitarist Dean DeLeo, bassist Robert DeLeo, drummer Eric Kretz and vocalist Jeff Gutt, who joined STP in 2017. Dean says the album’s title (Spanish for “loss”) foreshadows its somber mood. Perdida is as much a musical journey as it is an emotional one thanks the touches of flute, alto saxophone, vintage keyboards, guitarrón and Marxophone featured throughout. “I’ve always loved how different instruments can accentuate a song in unexpected ways,” Robert adds. “Working with other musicians on this album was such a joy because it gave us a rare opportunity to hear our songs through someone else’s ears.”
CDs + Vinyl:
Antibalas – Fu Chronicles CD/LP+MP3 (Daptone)
Over the years, different members of Antibalas have traded production and composition duties from album to album. On the new record – Fu Chronicles – Amayo leads us through a thrilling sonic journey of kung fu meets Afrobeat, weaving together the strands of Edo and Yoruba cultural memory from Nigeria with his training and study in Chinese martial arts. Recorded in the summer of 2018, over seventeen musicians and singers crammed into the storied Daptone House of Soul in Bushwick, Brooklyn to record the massive body of work.
Ásgeir – Sátt CD/LP (One Little Indian)
Ásgeir – Bury The Moon CD/LP (One Little Indian)
New release from the Icelandic artist. Bury The Moon was prompted by a stay in a remote Icelandic summerhouse, just Ásgeir, his equipment, and a broken heart. Returning with a series of acoustic sketches, he set about turning these into sparse, atmospheric songs with the aid of some key lyrical collaborators – including his father, a noted poet.
Blancmange – Nil By Mouth 2 CD (Blanc Check Recordings)
The second Blancmange instrumental album; 14 electronic tracks written and recorded by Neil Arthur. Slow-mo synths, dark swirls of sound, and a characteristic flair for melody can be found with every subtle change of mood and style.
The Cadillac Three – Country Fuzz CD/2xLP (Big Machine)
Powerhouse Nashville country-rock trio The Cadillac Three kick off 2020 with their fourth full-length studio album. Country Fuzz adds to the catalogue of hard-rocking releases by the Cadillac Three which began with their self-titled debut of 2012.
Isobel Campbell – There Is No Other CD/LP (Cooking Vinyl)
“After many twists and turns, trials and tribulations, I am back on boogie street,” says onetime Belle & Sebastian member Isobel Campbell regarding her first solo album in over 13 years.
Cheerleader – Almost Forever CD/LP (Bright Antenna)
Almost Forever almost never came to be, but Cheerleader’s sophomore album – arriving five years after the Philadelphia band’s 2015 debut The Sunshine Of Your Youth – finds a group reinvented and rejuvenated. The band introduced their new material the summer of 2019 with first single “Bang, Bang”, which The Line of Best Fit called “hypnotic” and “one of the most impressive indie rock compositions of the year.”
The Coffin Daggers – Eleki Album CD/LP (Cleopatra)
New album from modern surf rock icons.
Darling West – We’ll Never Know Unless We Try CD/LP (Jansen Plateproduksjon)
Darling are at the forefront of “Nordicana”, Norwegian folk/Americana group Darling West release their fourth album.
Delain – Apocalypse & Chill CD/2xLP (Dark Decent/Napalm)
New album from the Dutch chart-topping rock outfit. Violent riffs, synth heavy soundscapes and fully orchestrated compositions.
Earth, Wind & Fire – Illumination [Reissue/2005] CD/2xLP (Sanctuary)
Digitally remastered edition includes two bonus instrumentals. 2005’s Grammy-nominated album by R&B and funk legends Earth, Wind & Fire – out of print since its original release – features collaborations with Destiny’s Child’s Kelly Rowland, Outkast’s Big Boi, will. i. am and Kenny G.
Kat Edmonson – Dreamers Do CD/2xLP (MRI Associated)
Dreamers Do explores the common human struggles around daring to dream, including a range of emotional and psychological consequences. The music all takes place over the course of one, sleepless night. The album begins with a promising invitation to settle in for the night and dream. Joy and magic are revealed before an eventual left turn is taken, and a wild night ensues. A question gets raised in Kat’s vulnerable original, “Too Late To Dream”: “Are the messages we receive as children about following our dreams relevant through adult life?”
Envy – The Fallen Crimson CD/2xLP (Temporary Residence)
The first new studio album in five years from the iconic and influential Japanese post-hardcore band.
Fat Tony & Taydex – Wake Up CD/LP+MP3 (Carpark)
Nigerian-American rapper and entertainer Fat Tony’s fifth studio album, Wake Up – a collaboration with producer Taydex – is saturated in the candid confidence that has carried him through his tenure in underground hip-hop. Wake Up is an anthemic return to form after 2018’s 10,000 Hours. Inspired by quietly groundbreaking rap records like De La Soul’s Buhloone Mindstate and Ghostface Killah’s Supreme Clientele, Wake Up shows Fat Tony widening the scope of his storytelling while maintaining his light-hearted and self-reflective demeanor.
Brian Ferry – Live At The Royal Albert Hall 1974 CD/LP (BMG)
Live archive release from the former Roxy Music frontman. This 1974 concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall saw the setlist built from Ferry’s first two solo albums, 1973’s These Foolish Things and Another Time.
Flatfoot 56 – Toil [Reissue/2012] CD (Ollie Mob Worldwide)
Flatfoot 56’s 2012 album has been reissued. Some have suggested that Toil would be less raucous than previous albums, but the band’s well-noted hardcore-tinged sound is still present. [Vinyl edition due February 14.]
God Dethroned – Illuminati CD (Metal Blade)
“The immutable power of the Netherlands’ greatest blackened death metal band rings true on their new album, God Dethroned.”
Gorevaent – Fate CD (Comatose Music)
Gorevent are the kings of Japanese brutal slam death, ruling over their scene with a succession of battering releases since they seized power with their crushing debut, Abnormal Exaggeration, in 2008.
Joel Grind – Echoes In A Crystal Tomb LP+MP3 (Death Waltz)
A mix of deeply meditative electronic ambience, dreamy Tangerine Dream textures and arpeggiated pulsating synth bangers.
The Growlers – Natural Affair CD/LP (Beach Goth)
Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. Natural Affair, the new release from the Los Angeles-based garage/indie rock band The Growlers, features lyrics centered around social commentary, rhymes, and ruminations on the pleasures and perils of modern love.
Jon Hassell/Farafina – Flash Of The Spirit [Reissue/1988] CD/2xLP+CD (Glitterbeat)
Propulsive Burkinese rhythms meet revelatory, ambient soundscapes, co-produced with the legendary studio team of Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois. Composer and trumpeter Jon Hassell is an elusive, iconic musical figure best known as the pioneer and propagandist of Fourth World music, mixing technology with the tradition and spirituality of nonwestern cultures to create what he termed the “coffee-colored classical music of the future.”
Pablo Held – Ascent CD (Edition)
Ascent is a collaboration between his long-running trio (with bassist, Robert Landfermann and drummer, Jonas Burgwinkel) and the great Brazilian guitarist Nelson Veras. Regarded as one of the most talented and adventurous pianists and improvisors in Europe, Pablo Held is building a formidable reputation, not only as a pianist of outstanding ability but also for his considerable musicality, energy and risk-taking.
Linda Hill – Lullaby For Linda [Reissue/1981] LP (Pure Pleasure)
Linda Hill recorded this LP for Nimbus West in 1981 with fellow Arkestra members, including flautist Adele Sebastian. And it’s Sebastian’s vocal duet with Hill on the spiritual jazz epic “Leland’s Song” that opens this stunning LP. Hill’s ensemble also included the serious horn player Sabir Matteen, as well as bassist Roberto Miranda and drummer Everett Brown Jr., who would all go on to record LPs for Nimbus.
HMLTD – West Of Eden CD/LP (Lucky Number)
The expansive, labyrinthine debut album by London based five-piece HMLTD is a daring collection of songs created to incite conversation about proposed new visions of masculinity, the decadence of western capitalism and the violence of insecurity and repression. Across West Of Eden’s 15 tracks, their artistic vision is realized in full technicolor, with all shades of their sonic palette used to create an album that is equal parts lush and abrasive. [Limited red colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Innocence Mission – See You Tomorrow CD/LP (Therese)
Beloved Pennsylvania band The Innocence Mission, led by Karen and Don Peris, return with an exquisite and touching new album.
Daniel Johnston – Fun [Reissue/1994] LP (ORG Music)
Daniel Johnston’s major label debut Fun was originally released in 1994 on Atlantic Records while he was housed in a mental institution. Featuring some of Daniel’s finest songwriting and boasting the most accessible sound of his eccentric and deep catalog, producer Paul Leary (Butthole Surfers) eloquently preserves the singer/songwriter’s earnest appeal and wraps it in sympathetic musical support.
Khruangbin & Leon Bridges – Texas Sun EP CDEP/12” (Dead Oceans)
Driving anywhere in Texas can cost you half a day, easy. For example, it’ll take you over four hours just to get from R&B singer Leon Bridges’ hometown of Fort Worth down to Houston, where the psychedelic wanderers in Khruangbin hail from. On Texas Sun, these two members of the state’s musical vanguard meet up somewhere in the middle of that scene, in the mythical nexus of Texas’ past, present, and future – a dreamy badlands where genres blur as seamlessly as the terrain.
Mark Kozelek with Ben Boye and Jim White – 2 CD (Caldo Verde)
2 is, of course, a sequel to 2017’s Mark Kozelek With Ben Boye And Jim White, which saw him teaming up with Chicago multi-instrumentalist Boye and Dirty Three drummer White. Recorded and mixed in San Francisco, Buffalo, New Orleans, February through August 2019.
Krosis – A Memoir Of Free Will CD (Unique Leader)
Sophomore album from the modern, progressive, death-groove juggernaut.
La Roux – Supervision CD/LP (Supercolour)
Grammy-winning and Brit and Mercury-Prize-nominated artist La Roux returns with her first new material in five years. From the cover to the contents, this is unequivocally the album Elly always wanted to make – a claim that with some artists might ring alarm bells, but in this instance simply means that Supervision sounds precisely, unmistakably, gloriously like La Roux.
Loathe – I Let It In And It Took Everything CD/2xLP (Sharptone)
Loathe has been making waves in the British underground heavy music scene since their inception in 2014. Their intense, visceral multi-media live show extravaganza has marked them out as a band who have ambitions far beyond that of their peers and now, with the release of their second full length album, I Let It In And It Took Everything, those ambitions are beginning to be fully realized.
Richard Marx – Limitless CD (BMG)
With a nearly three-decade long career and numerous #1 hits to his name, Richard Marx shows no signs of stopping. Limitless is his first album in five years.
Christian McBride – The Movement Revisited: A Music Portrait Of Four Icons CD (Mack Avenue)
Marshaling his ever-sharpening skills as a composer, arranger, conductor, musician and lyricist, McBride has created a historically and culturally illuminating five-part suite for an 18-piece big band, chorus and narrators that places the motivating forces as well as the goals of the Civil Rights Movement within a powerfully relevant artistic context; a culminating documentation of a richly inspired piece – lauding four key figures of the Civil Rights Movement: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Rosa Parks and Muhammad Ali.
Oh Wonder – No One Else Can Wear Your Crown CD (Republic)
Oh Wonder is one of the UK’s best-kept secrets. Written and self-produced in the group’s own home studio before being co-mixed with Cenzo Townshend (Bat For Lashes, Christine & The Queens, Jungle), No One Else Can Wear Your Crown explores a host of different emotions and experiences – some forged on the road on their last world tour, others from taking a break and reflecting on all that they’ve accomplished as a band so far. [Deluxe CD edition includes five bonus acoustic tracks. Vinyl edition due February 21.]
Onyx – Lost Treasures CD/LP (X-ray/Cleopatra)
A collection of rare and unreleased tracks from the hip-hop legends.
Pet Shop Boys – Monkey Business CDEP/12” (X2)
New single by the British electro-pop duo taken from their recent album Hotspot.
Charles Pillow Large Ensemble – Chamber Jazz CD (Summit)
Chamber Jazz is the result of an interest in combining the warmer sonorities of alto flute, English horn, French horn, tuba and strings with a rhythm section and soloist to complete a large ensemble picture. The concept fuses elements of music from French composers, most notably, Ravel and Debussy with jazz.
William Prince – Reliever CD/LP (Glassnote)
Canadian folk and country singer/songwriter William Prince returns with his second album.
Carl Saunders – Carl Saunders, Jazz Trumpet CD (Summit)
Carl Saunders is widely recognized as one of the greatest jazz trumpet players in the world. Here, with an acclaimed supporting trio of musicians ((Josh Nelson (piano), Chuck Berghofe (bass), Joe LaBarbera (drums)), he presents a set of originals and standards.
Say Hi – Diamonds & Donuts CD/LP (Euphobia)
Diamonds & Donuts is the direct result of thirteen groundbreaking psychological experiments that were commissioned over the course of 13 months, for the sole purpose of generating complex philosophies about human nature that could be translated into musical compositions. In the end, both the diamond and the donut were the two objects found to be most motivational for coaxing honest responses from the psychological focus-group participants. After designing and conducting each study, Seattle songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Say Hi (a.k.a. Eric Elbogen) would retreat to his home studio to manipulate the raw data into what would become a crunchy, full-length synth-pop record.
Gil Scott-Heron – I’m New Here (10th Anniversary Expanded Edition) CD/2xLP (XL)
Gil Scott-Heron – We’re New Again – A Reimagining by Makaya McCraven CD/LP (XL)
In February 2010, the late, legendary musician, poet and author Gil Scott-Heron released his thirteenth, and last, studio album. First conceptualized in 2005, and ultimately produced by XL Recordings head Richard Russell during New York recording sessions that commenced in January 2008, I’m New Here was Scott-Heron’s first album in thirteen years and found him sounding as vital, boundary-pushing and insightful as ever before. This expanded edition features two unreleased tracks – a cover of Richie Havens’ “Handsome Johnny” and a previously unheard Scott-Heron song “King Henry IV” – as well as a selection of other recordings from the original album sessions. We’re New Again is a unique reinterpretation of the album by acclaimed jazz musician Makaya McCraven.
Aubrie Sellers – Far From Home CD (Aurbrie Sellers Music)
For anybody who’s ever felt as if they didn’t quite fit in, Aubrie Sellers’ masterful second album, Far From Home, the follow-up to her sensational debut, New City Blues, is essential listening. Sonically, it’s a sweeping, epic vision made manifest in crushing, amp-busting guitar rock – Sellers once dubbed this sound “garage country” – and delicate yet shattering widescreen ballads that form compelling frameworks for her angelic voice to take flight. [Vinyl edition due February 21.]
Omar Souleyman – Shlon CD/LP (Mad Decent)
On Shlon (Arabic for “how”, or literally “which color”), Omar Souleyman presents six new techno-meets-dabke songs of poetic romance. All lyrics and poetry were written on the spot during the album’s recording session by longtime collaborator Moussa Al Mardood – from a woman’s lips as sweet as Hillah’s dates on Layle to watching an intriguing woman from afar, whose kiss would be worth 10 million other kisses on Shlon.
Spoon – Telephono/Soft Effects CD (Matador)
Out of print for nearly five years, Telephono and Soft Effects have been remastered in one specially priced deluxe package with an added video and beautifully restored artwork. With amped-up acoustic guitars, jumpy song structures, and a punk attitude, Telephono (1996) was the shot across the bow from Austin’s fledgling rock heroes. The follow-up, Soft Effects (1997), features five of Spoon’s strongest songs and marks a leap forward in the band’s repertoire, signaling the great things to come on subsequent Spoon albums.
Colin Stetson – Color Out Of Space [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] CD/LP (Milan)
Saxaphonist Colin Stetson’s soundtrack to the horror film directed by Richard Stanley. Color Out Of Space stars Nicolas Cage, Joely Richardson, Madeleine Arthur, Q’orianka Kilcher and Tommy Chong.
Supersuckers – Play That Rock ‘N’ Roll CD (Acetate)
Raw, immediate and often hilarious, Play That Rock ‘N’ Roll is the album a band makes after slugging it out on the road for thirty years (barring a one-year hiatus while Eddie battled throat cancer). No frills, no guest stars and no collaborations, the album earns the listener’s ear – The Supersuckers have lived this shit and you can feel it. [Vinyl edition due March 13.]
Svart Crown – Wolves Among The Ashes CD (Century Media)
New album from the French extreme metallers. [Vinyl edition due February 14.]
The SteelDrivers – Bad For You CD/LP (Big Machine)
The fifth album from Nashville’s hard-edged bluegrass band The Steeldrivers arrives after a period of triumph and adaptation. The band’s 2015 release, The Muscle Shoals Recordings, won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album.
Sylosis – Cycle Of Suffering CD/LP (Nuclear Blast)
New album from the masters of enlightened, neck-wrecking turbo-thrash.
that dog. – Old CD/LP (UMe)
Released last year on vinyl – now available on CD. Old LP is the fourth album from the L.A.-based alt-rock band and their first studio release in 22 years. that dog. formed in 1991 and dissolved in 1997, reunited in 2011. The band originally consisted of Anna Waronker on lead vocals and guitar, Rachel Haden on bass guitar and vocals, her sister Petra Haden on violin and vocals, and Tony Maxwell on drums. Petra has since left the band. Their punk power pop songs were full of hooks and many layered vocal harmonies and was initially signed to 4AD’s boutique label Guernica before inking a US deal with DGC.
Various Artists [Rainer Trueby] – Rainer Trueby Presents Soulgliding CD/2xLP (BBE)
Former member of A Forest Mighty Black and founder of Trüby Trio, Rainer Trueby presents his new compilation, Soulgliding. tarting life as a group on Facebook, Soulgliding is a phrase coined by Trueby to describe the more languid, smoother side of 2-step, boogie, modern soul and even jazz. This silky collection spans several decades and sums up what Soulgliding is all about: evocative airy music that feels like a dream-flight across a friendly sky.
Various Artists – Birds Of Prey: The Album CD (Atlantic)
Birds of Prey: The Album features 15 brand new, exclusive tracks curated by the producers of the multi-platinum Suicide Squad soundtrack. The star-studded companion to the film starring Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn features new singles and iconic anthems from a diverse array of global artists including Megan Thee Stallion, Normani, Halsey, Doja Cat, Summer Walker, Saweetie, Lauren Jauregui and more powerhouse women.
Various Artists – Great Tragedy: Winter Dance Party 1959 No. 2 CD (Bear Family)
The second part of the Winter Dance Party tour, in commemoration of the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper on February 3rd, 1959.
Ben Williams – I Am A Man CD/2xLP (Rainbow Blonde)
When it comes to black music, Washington, D.C. produces its share of game-changers. That long list includes Duke Ellington, Chuck Brown, Marvin Gaye, Shirley Horn, Roberta Flack, Bad Brains, Meshell Ndegeocello, Wale, and Oddisee. You can add Ben Williams to that venerated roster. For more than a decade, Williams has steadily become one of the most acclaimed and versatile bassists in modern jazz.
Various Artists – King Tubby’s Prophecies Of Dub CD (Pressure Sounds)
King Tubby’s Prophecies Of Dub almost looks like an album that was designed to confuse collectors and dub enthusiasts. Firstly, the record carries nearly the same title as a slightly earlier release, also produced by Vivian Jackson aka Yabby You. Secondly, King Tubby is named in the title, but the rear sleeve states that the album had ‘Pat Kelly at the control’. This is more understandable, as the record was mixed at Tubby’s studio and carries its signature sound. [Vinyl edition due February 14.]
Steven Wilson – Get All You Deserve [Reissue/2012] CD (Kscope)
CD reissue of the second live album by progressive rock musician, recorded at a sold-out show in
Mexico City, Mexico during his Grace For Drowning tour.
Ye Banished Privateers – Hostis Humani Generis CD (Napalm)
On their immersive fourth album, the Swedish pirate metal band turn back time to the 18th century with a wealth of shanties, drinking anthems and folk tunes.
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
Acid Mothers Temple & Melting Paraiso U.F.O. – Minstrel In The Galaxy [Reissue/2004] LP+MP3 (Riot Season)
In 2004, Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. released the CD-only album Minstrel In The Galaxy. The decision to make it CD-only at the time was down to the epic title track being almost 42-minutes in length. Fast forward 15 years and new technologies and Riot Season present the first-ever vinyl release of this classic album, with a new edited especially for vinyl mix by main man Makoto Kawabata.
Ausecuma Beats – Ausecuma Beats 12” (Music In Exile)
Ausecuma Beats features nine musicians from around the world, recorded in Melbourne, Australia in the winter of 2019. The band currently features members from Mali, Senegal, Gambia, Cuba, Guinea and Australia. The band was formed to celebrate diversity in music, to remember their histories while coming to understand life in a new country.
Avenged Sevenfold – Diamonds In The Rough LP (WB)
Vinyl pressing of the 2008 compilation of non-album tracks by the metal band.
Gary Bias – East 101 [Reissue/1981] LP (Pure Pleasure)
A beautiful, dreamlike expression of spiritual jazz recorded at a time when the idiom was completely out of vogue, Gary Bias’ East 101 remains little known even by cult-classic standards, but it’s free-flowing approach demands attention from listeners who believe this kind of LP ceased to exist somewhere around the late 1970s.
Jane Bunnett And Maqueque – On Firm Ground / Tierra Firme LP (Linus Entertainment)
Jane Bunnett & Maqueque are a force of nature. What started out five years ago as a project to record and mentor young brilliant Cuban female musicians, has become one of the top groups on the North American jazz scene.
City Of The Sun – City Of The Sun Chapter I & II LP (Paragon)
The experiential music of City of the Sun is the sound you didn’t know you were missing. New York City’s powerhouse trio flip the perception of instrumental music, attracting a whole new generation to the genre. Formed in 2011, City of the Sun features guitarists John Pita, Avi Snow, and percussionist Zach Para. The band’s sound has an array of influences including indie rock, American folk, flamenco, and blues; it’s been called worldly, cinematic, a mix between Rodrigo y Gabriela and Explosions in the Sky. For the first time, City Of The Sun’s latest two EPs Chapters I and II are released on vinyl – featuring the tracks Someday, La Luz, and more.
Cloak – To Venomous Depths [Reissue/2017] 2xLP (Season Of Mist)
Limited edition silver colored vinyl reissue. On 2017’s To Venomous Depths, Cloak draws from metal’s most impactful sub genres; the quartet distill their collective influences into an enthralling full-album experience that honors the spirit of the early classics while standing firmly in the now.
Coil – Swanyard 2xLP (Infinite Fog)
Nearly 150 minutes of unreleased Coil recordings from 1993 to 1996 gathered from studio archives. Second pressing on limited white colored vinyl.
Alice Cooper – The Last Temptation [Reissue/1994] LP (Friday Music)
Limited 180gm blue vinyl pressing of the thirteenth solo studio album by Alice Couper, who by now could not takedown the legacy of godfather; Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. No worries, all we win.
Crayon Fields – All The Pleasures Of The World [Reissue/2009] LP (Chapter Music)
Melbourne, Australia minor key pop magicians Crayon Fields released their second album, All The Pleasures Of The World, in 2009. Just over a decade later they revisit this era-defining album with a deluxe vinyl reissue, including new liner notes and a raft of bonus tracks.\
Datura4 – Demon Blues [Reissue/2015] LP (Alive)
Fronted by Aussie legend Dom Mariani, who came to prominence on the music scene in the 1980s with legendary garage rock combo The Stems, and later went on to form revered power pop outfits DM3 and The Someloves, Datura4 is Mariani’s return to his blues and heads-down, full-tilt boogie roots. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available. New album West Coast Highway Cosmic due April 17.]
Desmond Dekker – Rude Boy Ska LP (Burning Sounds)
Red colored vinyl pressing. The final studio session before Desmond’s death in 2006.
De La Soul – The Grind Date [Reissue/2004] LP (Sanctuary)
Vinyl reissue of the seventh album from the hip-hop pioneers, originally released in 2004. Includes guest spots by Ghostface Killah, Flava Flav and MF Doom. This new reissue also features four previously unreleased instrumental bonus tracks.
Renaldo Domino – No Laggin’ And Draggin’ 7” (Colemine)
The return of an underground soul legend.
Donovan – Best Of 1965-1969 Live LP (London Calling)
Donovan made numerous consecutive trips into BBC’s Paris Theatre Studios, presented here are his best performed tracks between 1965-1969. Pressed on orange colored 180gm vinyl.
The Doobie Brothers – Southbound [Reissue/2014] LP (Friday Music)
Some of country music’s biggest stars joined The Doobie Brothers with Michael McDonald for all-new recordings of the band’s classic hits on 2014’s Southbound. Blake Shelton, Brad Paisley, Casey James, Charlie Worsham, Chris Young, Jerrod Niemann, Johnnyswim’s Amanda Sudano Ramirez, Love and Theft, Sara Evans, Toby Keith, Tyler Farr, and the Zac Brown Band make up the roster of artists choosing their favorite Doobie songs to record with the band.
Dråpsnatt – I Denna Skog [Reissue/2009] LP (Nordvis)
Nine tracks of melodic blackened metal. [CD reissue due February 21.]
Dust – The Fall Of All Things LP (Supreme Chaos)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. With The Fall Of All Things, the doom veterans Dust from Bielefeld hit us with their fourth album and tear everything down without any compromises. Their ultra-heavy mixture of doom, metal, sludge and rock with lots of corners and edges wafts out of the speakers in the form of five overlong songs. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Eyedea & Abilities – By The Throat [Reissue/2009] LP (Rhymesayers)
After numerous successes across nearly every notable MC/DJ battle of the late 90’s and early ‘00’s, followed by their poignant debut, First Born (2001), and the innovative follow-up, E&A (2004), Eyedea & Abilities expanded upon their reputation for multi-dimensional lyricism and production, establishing the duo as a progressive and integral part of the underground hip-hop sound. In 2009, they re-emerged with rap-punk vocals, gutted guitar riffs, and synthesized drum beats on By The Throat, their final studio release before Eyedea’s death in 2010.
Aoife Nessa Frances – Land Of No Junction LP (Ba Da Bing!)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. “A liminal space-a dark vast landscape to visit in dreams… A place of waiting where I could sit with uncertainty and accept it. Rejecting the distinct and welcoming the uncertain and the unknown.” Land Of No Junction is shot through with this sense of mystery-an ambiguity and disorientation that illuminates songs with smokey luminescence. Yet, through the haze, everything comes down to what, where and who one is. With Land Of No Junction, she has built a universe full of intimacy and depth, with lyrics written through a process of free thought writing. It lends the record fluidity, each song in dialogue with the next not only through language, but the way each musical choice complements or threads into another.
Hamerkop – Remote LP (Drag City)
Hamerkop is a pair of Baltimore-based sound nerds: Annabel Alpers, the composer, singer and instrumentalist formerly of New Zealand’s Bachelorette, and Adam Cooke, a Baltimorean drummer/audio engineer with credits that include Beach House, Wye Oak and Future Islands. Together, they have created a song-cycle that contrasts the often-mundane (yet often satisfying) everyday world with that of the idealized, longed-for fantasy, to find the spaces in between these things, the place where we all feel good about our existence.
Kid Dynamite – Shorter, Faster, Louder [Reissue/2000] LP (Jade Tree)
If they had named their record something else, we’d probably be sitting here right now telling you how Kid Dynamite’s second and final album is a lot like their first – only Shorter, Faster, Louder. Originally issued on Jade Tree in 2000, it’s a gloriously no-frills hardcore album so straightforward, precise, and skillfully executed, it probably had to be their last. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Left Lane Cruiser – Rock Them Back To Hell! [Reissue/2013] LP (Alive)
Headed by singer/guitarist Freddy J IV, Left Lane Cruiser is a bona fide blues rock band from the American mid-west. Far from pretending to be rambling hobos for the sake of a manufactured image, Left Lane Cruiser has been genuinely living the blues for nearly two decades, bringing its freestyle jams to crowds all over the world. 2013’s Rock Them Back To Hell! sees the band expanding their sonic palette by adding bass, harmonica, organ, and trash percussion to the mix. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Legendary Shack Shakers – Live From Sun Studio LP (Chicken Ranch)
The Legendary Shack Shakers perform a live session at renowned Sun Studios in Memphis, TN.
Lil Tecca – We Love You Tecca LP (Republic)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Debut mixtape by the rapper with a sole guest appearance from Juice Wrld. [Limited orange colored vinyl pressing also available.]
The Matchup – Straight To The Core LP (Propagande)
New release from the Canadian acoustic punk rock outfit.
Monophonics – Chances 7” (Colemine)
First single from Monophonics new album, It’s Only Us, due March 13.
The Nerves – One Way Ticket [Reissue/2008] LP (Alive)
Formed in 1975 by guitarist Jack Lee, bassist Peter Case, and drummer Paul Collins, the Nerves are one of the most influential garage/punk pop outfits to come out of the mid-70’s L.A. scene.
N2K2 – Nirvana 2002: Recordings 89-91 [Reissue/2009] LP (Relapse)
Before there was a Swedish death metal scene – let alone a signature sound – Nirvana 2002 was helping to create both. Recordings 89-91, a collection of rare demos and rehearsals, is not just a nostalgic time capsule from the past, but a glimpse at what the future would hold.
Orthodox – Let It Take Its Course LP (Unbeaten Records)
When you think of metal music, one of the last places that would come to mind would probably be the country-infested Nashville, TN. Orthodox would like to make you think twice about that. Forming in Music City in late 2012, this now metal-driven Straight Edge band has seen many changes but has landed on a power filled lineup with the intent to hurt your neck. Though the band has been touring since 2013, their debut LP didn’t come out until 2017. The quartet now returns with their second LP. [CD edition due February 21.]
Bobby Patterson – It’s Just A Matter Of Time [Reissue/1972] LP (Real Gone Music)
If this 1972 record for the Paula label was the sum total of Dallas, Texas soul man Bobby Patterson’s career output, then he’d still be reckoned a cult figure among R&B fans. his is a stone soul masterpiece, full of grit and groove, with a breathtaking stylistic breadth stretching from funky soul to romantic soul balladry to James Brown-style workouts to socially conscious, wah wah-drenched commentary and all points in between. Limited purple colored vinyl pressing.
Rotting Christ – Rituals [Reissue/2016] 2xLP (Season Of Mist)
Limited green colored vinyl reissue of the black metal band’s 2016 album.
Joe Russo – phér•bŏney LP (The Royal Potato Family)
Drummer Joe Russo delivers a new album of solo material. The sonically avant-garde jazz fusion record plays with a litany of ethereal, ambient tones and genre-bending sensibilities – a welcome change of pace for the revered musician most frequently heard these days playing music from the Grateful Dead‘s rock and roll repertoire with Joe Russo’s Almost Dead.
Alexandra Savior – The Archer LP (30th Century Records)
Limited 180gm colored vinyl LP pressing. Oregon native Alexandra Savior first gained industry attention in 2012 when she posted a cover of Angus Stone’s “Big Jet Plane” on YouTube. The playful, haunting performance landed her a legion of influential fans-she ended up songwriting with Linda Perry, who compared her to Fiona Apple – and put her on the road toward releasing her debut album, 2017’s Belladonna Of Sadness, which was written in tandem with the Arctic Monkey’s Alex Turner and produced by Simian Mobile Disco’s James Ford. On her sophomore album The Archer, Savior shoulders the responsibility for the lion’s share of her output herself, writing her own songs, creating the artwork for her album’s cover, and even filming her own videos, The Archer was created with an indispensable set of collaborators who helped harness her vision.
Shopping – All Or Nothing LP (Fat Cat)
With their new album All or Nothing Shopping take a big leap into a vibrant and punchy production style that is closer to pop than anything they’ve ever done. [CD edition due February 14.]
Sinkane – Getting’ Weird: Alive At Spacebomb Studios LP (Spacebomb)
Stepping into Spacebomb’s Richmond studio and working with their team of instrumentalists and producers is a license to get a little weird. Sinkane’s Ahmed Gallab takes full advantage of the opportunity on the latest in the Alive At Spacebomb Studios series – the fourth in the series, following albums by Natalie Prass, Sleepwalkers, and the duo of Fruit Bats & Vetiver.
A Skylit Drive – Rise [Reissue/2013] LP (Tragic Hero)
A Skylit Drive’s hit 2013 metalcore album Rise has been pressed on 12″ vinyl for the first time ever complete with the exclusive bonus track “Just Stay” from their acoustic re-imagined version of the record, Rise: Ascension (2104).
The Springfields – Singles 1986-1991 LP+MP3 (Slumberland)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. When it comes to indie-pop, few names are as respected as Ric Menck and Paul Chastain. Through years of collaboration in groups such as Velvet Crush, Bag O’ Shells, Choo Choo Train and The Big Maybe they just about *were* the entire US indiepop scene, but it’s as The Springfields that they made perhaps their best, most beloved records. Taking their cues from influences like The Byrds and The Hollies they created a sound that was as jangly and melodic as their inspirations, but marked by a unique songwriting voice, excellent tunes, and sterling arrangements.
Rod Stewart – You’re In My Heart: Rod Stewart With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra 2xLP (Rhino)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. You’re In My Heart: Rod Stewart With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra pairs classic vocal tracks from his most popular songs with new arrangements performed by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. [Limited pink colored vinyl pressing also available.]
The Stooges – Til The End Of The Night LP (Revenge)
These tracks, known as the Detroit Rehearsal Tapes, constitute a new insight of the wild energy of the legendary quintet.
Syko Friend – Fontanelle LP (Post Present Medium)
Syko Friend is the ongoing solo work of Los Angeles based musician and writer, Sophie Weil. Clear and direct vocals continue to be gentle among the expansive dirge of the guitar, reminiscent at times of the noise laden Body/Head or avant garde approach of Les Rallizes, with equal parts lost folk secret Sibylle Baier.
Sonora Casino – Trompeteros [Reissue/1970] LP (Vampisol)
Vinyl reissue of a highly sought-after album not only by Latin music collectors but also by those who seek the most exotic and experimental psychedelic sounds around.
Ben Tankard – All Keyed Up EP 12” (Time Capsule)
This collection of ground-breaking instrumentals captures a moment of musical alchemy. Stylistic edges become blurred with by-turns into jazz, gospel, soul, funk and dance. A new genre – gospel jazz – was created in their wake.
Leon Thomas – Spirits Known And Unknown [Reissue/1969] LP (Pure Pleasure)
Leon Thomas’ debut solo recording after his tenure with Pharoah Sanders is a fine one. Teaming with a cast of musicians that includes bassist Cecil McBee, flutist James Spaulding, Roy Haynes, Lonnie Liston Smith, Richard Davis, and Sanders (listed here as ‘Little Rock’), etc. Thomas’ patented yodel is in fine shape here, displayed alongside his singular lyric style and scat singing trademark.
Twiztid x Jimmy Urine – Hungry Like The Wolf 7” (Majik Ninja)
Twiztid and Mindless Self Indulgence frontman, Jimmy Urine connect to recreate the 1982 Duran Duran hit.
Unreqvited – Mosaic II CD/LP (Prophecy)
Depressive and uplifting; a journey of massive peaks and bottomless caves. Unreqvited’s take on post black metal is one that paints a canvas of musical diversity, with elements of expansive post-rock, tortured dsbm vocals, shimmering blackgaze melodies and grandiose orchestral segments. [Limited purple colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Various Artists [Waxist] – Message In Our Music Volume II: Selected By Waxist LP (Sol Discos)
Focusing once again on the modern-soul genre, Message In Our Music Volume II: Selected By Waxist brings back to light eight extremely rare songs from the mid- ‘70s to the mid- ‘80s, all officially licensed. From the heavy synth gospel boogie of Sharnell Morton’s “You Are My Shining Star”, to the magnificent Network & Co private disco “Spirit Of The Boogie”, most of these songs are highly difficult to find on their original format.
Various Artists – Daptone Rhythm Showcase 1 LP (Daptone)
Sink your teeth into this baker’s dozen of tantalizing, previously unreleased songs by Antibalas (Iyami Aje), Menahan Street Band (Dancers’ Mood), Innov Gnawa (El Bouhala – from their debut full-length Lila), as well as other deep cuts and diasporic dialogues from across space and time.
Various Artists – The Irishman [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] 2xLP (Masterworks)
Original soundtrack to the Netflix motion picture.
Boris Vian – Jazz A Saint-Germain-Des-Pres LP (Diggers Factory)
A birthday edition to celebrate the centenary of Boris Vian. Even though Boris Vian has performed many times on the radio, he left few marks of his musical live performances in Saint-Germain-des-Prés cabarets. This LP allows it’s audience to listen, not only to some of his famous caustic songs but also and especially to Boris Vian as a jazz musician, leading figure of the mythical Taboo.
The Walker Roaders – The Walker Roaders 12” (Beverly Martel)
Pogues accordionist James Fearnley teams up with members of Celtic-punk brethren Flogging Molly and the Dropkick Murphys to form The Walker Roaders.
Oliver Patrice Weder – OPW LP (Sa Recordings)
OPW is the debut album and bespoke sample library from musician and composer Oliver Patrice Weder. Weder’s unique musicality has been heavily inspired and shaped by living and travelling through different places and cultures including Brazil, Africa and the USA, as well as his experiences making a home in various European countries.
Yorkston/Thorne/Khan – Navarasa: Nine Emotions LP+MP3 (Domino)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Yorkston/Thorne/Khan – a trio of James Yorkston (guitar/nyckelharpa/vocals), Jon Thorne (double-bass/vocals) and Suhail Yusuf Khan (sarangi/vocals) – deliver their new album Navarasa: Nine Emotions. At the heart of YTK’s transporting new album is the Indian subcontinent’s navarasa; the nine (nava) emotions or sentiments (rasa) of the arts. This central unifying underpinning is a centuries-old organizing principle and directly connects an emotion to each song on the album
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