Social Media Program Titles Released This Week:
Erasure – The Neon CD/LP (Mute)
English synth/pop duo Erasure (featuring Andy Bell and Vince Clarke) deliver their eighteenth studio album. The Neon is a place that lives in the imagination that we – you and me – put in the real world. It could be a night club, a shop, a city, a cafe, a country, a bedroom, a restaurant, any place at all. The album offers warmth and a brilliant brightness in our strange, silent times. It connects us to our pasts and our futures as it glistens with hope. It creates beautiful places where our imaginations can roam, bringing us together, twinkling and beaming. The Neon puts you and me in the real world again, now and forever, lit up and alive. [Limited orange colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Sun On Shade – Sun On Shade CD/LP (ATO)
Sun On Shade is a new recording project from Heath Fogg of Alabama Shakes featuring songs sung by Sam Doores (Deslondes, Hurray For The Riff Raff), Shonna Tucker (Drive-By Truckers), and Lloyd Buchanan (Alabama Shakes, Brittany Howard). Also joining Heath on the album are Alabama Shakes bandmates Ben Tanner, Zac Cockrell and Steve Johnson, plus a few other friends. “I like things to be a little blue, but with a beat. There’s still optimism but it can bring a tear to you as well,” says Fogg who balances sadness, sunshine and hard-won wisdom throughout.
September Listening Station/Marketing Program Titles Released This Week:
Bully – Sugaregg CD/LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)
Sugaregg roars from the speakers and jumpstarts both heart and mind. Like My Bloody Valentine after three double espressos, opener “Add It On” zooms heavenward within seconds, epitomizing band leader Alicia Bognanno’s newfound clarity of purpose, while the bass-driven melodies and propulsive beats of “Where To Start” and “Let You” are the musical equivalents of the sun piercing through a perpetually cloudy sky. A very old saying goes that no one saves us but ourselves. Recognizing and breaking free from the patterns impeding our forward progress can be transformative. Indeed, the third Bully album may not ever have come to fruition had Bognanno not navigated every kind of upheaval imaginable and completely overhauled her working process along the way. The artist admits that finding the proper treatment for bipolar 2 disorder radically altered her mindset, freeing her from a cycle of paranoia and insecurity about her work.
John Denver – Country Roads: Live In England 1986 DVD (Eagle Rock Entertainment)
This concert was filmed at the NEC in Birmingham in 1986 and sees John Denver in top form delivering his finest songs with all his characteristic charm and good humor. Among the many highlights are “Annie’s Song”, “Rocky Mountain High”, “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and many others.
The Front Bottoms – In Sickness & In Flames CD/LP (Fueled By Ramen)
Celebrating life and purging angst, In Sickness & In Flames finds The Front Bottoms pushing forward with positive and creative energy. Featuring the celebrated singles “Camouflage”(which The Fader called “a celebration of sorts for a band perennially on the fringes of a major breakthrough”) and “Everyone Blooms” (which UPROXX placed the latter in their ‘Best New Indie Music’ round-up). The twelve-song collection was produced by Mike Sapone and follows the band’s acclaimed 2017 LP Going Grey. “Earlier this year, we made a new album and decided to name it In Sickness & In Flames,” the band explains. “When we were writing the album and settling on the title, it meant something completely different to us. We could have never imagined where the world would be just six months later. In true TFB style this album has developed into something of its own that we no longer control the narrative of.” [Limited indie store exclusive vinyl pressing also available.]
Girl Friday – Androgynous Mary CD/LP (Hardly Art)
Burning deep in Girl Friday’s music is an unquenchable will to survive. The L.A.-based band doesn’t blunt the impact of the themes they work through in their ferocious, knotty rock songs, but they do not let the more harrowing aspects of being alive and young in the 21st century daunt them, either. Taking full advantage of the dystopian shades of post-punk and noise rock palettes on their arresting debut LP, Androgynous Mary, Girl Friday nevertheless suffuse their music with abundant optimism. The world is a hellscape, but the four of them are in it together. With bold, dramatic guitar lines and tightly wound vocal harmonies, Girl Friday – guitarist Vera Ellen, bassist Libby Hsieh, guitarist Sierra Scott, drummer Virginia Pettis – negotiate the stress and alienation that comes with being sidelined from normative society on Androgynous Mary.
The Lemon Twigs – Songs For The General Public CD/LP+MP3 (4AD)
The D’Addario brothers return with their third Lemon Twigs album, Songs For The General Public – written, recorded and produced by the D’Addarios at their home studio in Long Island, Sonora Studios in Los Angeles and Electric Lady in New York City. The prodigiously-talented sibling duo first emerged as The Lemon Twigs in 2016 with their debut LP Do Hollywood, whose show stopping melodies mined from every era of rock quickly earned fans in Elton John, Questlove, and Jack Antonoff. Go To School, the ambitious 15-track coming-of-age opus, followed in 2018 and solidified the band’s reputation for building grand walls of sound around an audacious concept.
The Mavericks – En Español CD/2xLP (Mono Mundo Recordings)
Mavericks change the game once again with the release of their first-ever Latin format album En Español. Produced by the band’s longtime creative partner Niko Bolas (Neil Young, Prince, Sheryl Crow) and Mavericks lead singer and principal songwriter Raul Malo, En Español features a compelling mix of standards and Spanish-language originals in signature Mavericks style. Includes special contributions from longtime collaborators, Grammy-winning keyboardist and arranger Alberto Salas and Tejano accordion legend Flaco Jiménez. [Limited indie store exclusive vinyl pressing also available.]
Old 97’s – Twelfth CD/LP (ATO)
27 years in, Old 97’s still features its original lineup – Rhett Miller, guitarist Ken Bethea, bassist Murry Hammond, and drummer Philip Peeples – and Twelfth is a testament to the band’s staying power. The album’s cover image of former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach is both an homage to Miller’s childhood hero and a recognition that, in making their livings as musicians, the 97’s themselves have achieved their lifelong dreams. Loose and raw, the record is an ecstatic celebration of survival, a resounding ode to endurance and resilience from a veteran group that refuses to rest on their considerable laurels. While the resulting album boasts all the hallmarks of a classic Old 97’s record (sex and booze, laughter and tears, poetry and blasphemy), it also showcases a newfound perspective in its writing and craftsmanship, a maturity and appreciation that can only come with age and experience. Perhaps the band is growing up; maybe they’re just getting started. Either way, Old 97’s have never been happier to be alive. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Troye Sivan – In A Dream CDEP (Capitol)
Sivan recorded five of the concept EP’s six songs with producer Oscar Görres (The Weeknd, MARINA, Tove Lo) between Stockholm and Los Angeles, just prior to the pandemic lockdown. “This small collection…explores an emotional rollercoaster period in my life when the feelings and thoughts were most shockingly fresh,” Sivan says. “Revisiting these songs and moments is tough, but I’m proud of this music and excited to have it out in the world.” Featuring leadoff hit “Take Yourself Home” plus new single “Easy”, an infectious plea to set a relationship back on course. The New York Times hailed “Take Yourself Home” as an “understatedly lush quasi-soul thumper.” Paper said, “It’s perhaps the first great song to come out of our collective apocalyptic state of mind during the COVID-19 outbreak.” [Includes art cards, a sticker and a foldout poster booklet. Vinyl edition due October 9.]
The Waterboys – Good Luck, Seeker CD/LP (Cooking Vinyl)
The Waterboys, one of the most creative, loved and literate bands of the last four decades, return with their fourteenth studio album, Good Luck, Seeker, ushered in by the seven-minute mash-up manifesto “My Wanderings In The Weary Land”. Comprising dramatic spoken-word over wild, relentless genre-busting music, “My Wanderings In The Weary Land” might just be the greatest rock ‘n’ roll record ever made – and one that is darkly appropriate for our weird, wired times. Is it psychedelic soul? Is it trance? Is it punk? Whatever it is, it’s the first taste of the surefire Good Luck, Seeker. [Deluxe CD edition also available.]
CDs + Vinyl:
Ages – Uncrown CD/LP (Black Lodge)
With outstanding melodies, atmospheres and performances, Ages’ second album, Uncrown, embraces the legacy from the ‘90s.
Alex The Astronaut – The Theory Of Absolutely Nothing CD/LP (Nettwerk)
Alex The Astronaut (aka Australian singer/songwriter Alex Lynn) has always had a supernatural knack for capturing human experience in song. With her heart-swelling, folk-inflected pop, music’s bright-eyed anthropologist uses sprawling narratives and rich vignettes to unravel the joys and struggles of everyday life. Brought to life with bright melodies, plucked guitar and Alex’s unmistakable vocals, her debut album, The Theory Of Absolutely Nothing is the work of a storyteller attuned to the world around her. It explores friendship, love, loss, pain and change, weaving a constellation of stories about the personal reckonings that come with growing up.
Anthrax – Persistence Of Time [Reissue/1990] 2xCD+DVD/4xLP (Megaforce)
This 30th anniversary deluxe reissue features a remastered version of the original album plus several previously unreleased rarities. [The CD edition includes a 40-minute guerilla-style DVD was shot when Anthrax was on tour with Iron Maiden in 1991 and features live footage of Benante taking over the drums for Iron Maiden’s Nick McBrain, as well as backstage and dressing room footage with members of both bands.]
The Aquabats – Kooky Spooky In Stereo CD/LP (Gloopy)
The Aquabats energetic and eclectic sixth studio album (and first in nine years) features all of the variety, quirk and fist-pumping rock you can handle.
Atramentus – Stygian CD/LP (20 Buck Spin)
While adorned in the language of extreme funeral doom and dark ambient soundscape, Atramentus owe debt to epic doom metal in sound and aesthetic and black metal’s anguished ferocity. Each of the three epic songs contained on Stygian differ widely to reflect the changing of autumn to perpetual winter. [Limited milky clear with royal blue/sea blue highlighter yellow splatter colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Mickey Avalon – Speak Of The Devil 2xCD (Regime Music Group)
New release from the Hollywood, CA rapper.
Mandy Barnett – A Nashville Songbook CD (BMG)
Mandy Barnett has been called “a song’s best friend” and she demonstrates why with the on A Nashville Songbook, a multi-genre, multi-generational celebration of songs that made Nashville famous. Here she performs songs originally recorded by artists as diverse as Roy Orbison, Patsy Cline, Elvis, Tammy Wynette, Hank Williams, The Everly Brothers, Brenda Lee, Johnny Cash, and more – including Meghan Trainor. [Vinyl edition due August 28.]
Martin Barre – Away With Words [Reissue/2013] CD/LP (Purple Pyramid)
Deluxe reissue of the 2013 album from the legendary Jethro Tull guitarist featuring all new artwork. [Limited blue colored vinyl pressing also available. CD and vinyl reissues of 1993’s A Summer Band due September 11.]
John Beasley – Monk’estra Plays John Beasley CD (Mack Avenue)
Over the course of two albums, bandleader/composer/arranger John Beasley has reimagined Thelonious Monk’s iconic compositions through his inventive, versatile Monk’estra – a big band able to deftly navigate the legend’s eccentricities from a variety of perspectives, from boisterous swing to raucous funk to Afro-Cuban explosiveness. Monk’estra, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 each garnered a pair of Grammy Award nominations, alongside widespread critical acclaim. Beasley veers off in new directions on his stunning third album in the series, Monk’estra Plays John Beasley. As the title implies, this time out the band shifts focus to its fearless leader’s own estimable compositions and piano playing, alongside a quartet of Monk classics and a tune apiece by Duke Ellington and Charlie Parker.
Blackbear – Everything Means Nothing CD (Alamo)
Multi-platinum selling singer, songwriter and producer Blackbear drops the new album Everything Means Nothing, a fine blend of smooth R&B/hip-hop and pumping dance-pop with features from Lauv and Trevor Daniels, as well as a Marshmello produced track. The 29-year-old artist, who recently became a father, introduces the collection with the propulsive cuts “Queen Of Broken Hearts”, “Hot Girl Bummer” and “Me & Ur Ghost”. In his unflinching honesty about his own demons and depression, Blackbear creates a powerful sense of solidarity – ultimately moving forward with his longtime mission of “inspiring everyone to be more unapologetic about who they are.” [Vinyl edition due September 11.]
Blues Pills – Holy Moly! CD/LP (Nuclear Blast)
Raw rock ‘n’ blues with a pinch of soul. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Bright Eyes – Down In The Weeds, Where The World Once Was CD/2xLP (Dead Oceans)
As a title, as a thesis, Down In The Weeds, Where The World Once Was functions on a global, apocalyptic level of anxiety that looms throughout the record. But on a personal level, it speaks to rooting around in the dirt of one’s memories, trying to find the preciousness that’s overgrown and unrecognizable. For Conor Oberst, coming back to Bright Eyes was a bit of that. A symbol of simpler times, vaguely nostalgic. And even though it wasn’t actually possible to go back to the way things were, even though there wasn’t an easy happy ending, there was a new reality left to work with. The band’s first album since 2011’s The People’s Key, Down In The Weeds, Where The World Once Was is enormous, caught in the profound in-between of grief and clarity – one arm wrestling it’s demons, the other gripping the hand of love, in spite of it.
Brimstone Coven – Woes Of A Mortal Earth CD/LP (Ripple Music)
Echoing with the eerie reverberations of heavyweights like Sabbath and Pentagram mixed with the classic rock of Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, Brimstone Coven has created their own contemporary vintage vibe. Hailing from eastern Ohio, the band released two albums on Metal Blade during the first half of the 2010s before revamping their lineup in 2017. Following several tours and the self-released What Was And What Shall Be, the band joined forces with Ripple Music to create their darkest sounding album to date. Despite the foreboding aesthetic of Woes Of A Mortal Earth, the future for Brimstone Coven has never looked so bright.
Ruth Brown – Juke Box Pearls: Mama He Treats Your Daughter Men CD (Bear Family)
This compilation of 31 songs impressively shows the extremely interesting career of Ruth Brown. Starting in the early 1950s, when she sang her way to the top of the R&B charts with her unique voice, which already had a high recognition value at that time, and thus created a solid financial basis for her label Atlantic Records, through the time in the mid- 1950s, when she easily made the transition from her rather jazzy style of rhythm and blues to rock ‘n’ roll and teenage ballads and to early soul sounds, gospel and twist in the early ’60s.
Bully – Sugaregg CD/LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)
Sugaregg roars from the speakers and jumpstarts both heart and mind. Like My Bloody Valentine after three double espressos, opener “Add It On” zooms heavenward within seconds, epitomizing band leader Alicia Bognanno’s newfound clarity of purpose, while the bass-driven melodies and propulsive beats of “Where To Start” and “Let You” are the musical equivalents of the sun piercing through a perpetually cloudy sky. A very old saying goes that no one saves us but ourselves. Recognizing and breaking free from the patterns impeding our forward progress can be transformative. Indeed, the third Bully album may not ever have come to fruition had Bognanno not navigated every kind of upheaval imaginable and completely overhauled her working process along the way. The artist admits that finding the proper treatment for bipolar 2 disorder radically altered her mindset, freeing her from a cycle of paranoia and insecurity about her work.
Cut Copy – Freeze, Melt CD/LP (Cutters)
Freeze, Melt is the sixth album from the Grammy-nominated Australian electronic/synth-pop band. Lead single “Love Is All We Share” earned praise from Rolling Stone (“meditative and immersive”), Stereogum (“hypnotic”) and Consequence Of Sound (“a fitting mood for the current state of the world”) among numerous other outlets.
Cytotoxin – Nuclearth CD (Unique Leader)
Chernobyl death metal. [Vinyl edition due October 23.]
The Dead Milkmen – (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thing b/w A Complicated Faith CDEP/7” (The Giving Groove)
The Dead Milkmen are fighting the good fight and releasing their cover of Heaven 17’s “(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang” in anticipation of the 2020 GOP convention on a limited-edition, hand-numbered, red 7” vinyl (and CD) single. Included as the B-side is the brand new original song “A Complicated Faith.”
The Dears – Lovers Rock CD/LP (Dangerbird)
Montréal stalwarts The Dears (Murray Lightburn and Natalia Yanchak) return with their eighth album. On Lovers Rock, Lightburn (vocals, guitar, “other”) and Yanchak (vocals, piano) are joined by longtime drummer Jeff “Looch” Luciani, who’s been in the fold since 2011’s Degeneration Street, and two holdovers from Lightburn’s solo record, Steve Raegele (guitar) and Rémi-Jean LeBlanc (bass). There’s also a string section, a cameo from fellow Montrealer Sam Roberts (who was also on No Cities Left), and saxophone from both Canadian Alex Francoeur and the E Street Band’s Jake Clemons (on the rattling “Stille Lost”).
Dre Island – Now I Rise CD (Dubshot)
For his debut album, Now I Rise, Dre Island drew on some heavy-hitting names with which to collaborate. In addition to himself, the producing credits include Anju Blacks, Winta James, and Teetimus. Guests on the album include the A-list in young reggae talent including; Popcaan, Chronixx, Jesse Royal, and more.
Ronnie Earl and The Broadcasters – Just For Today [Reissue/2013] CD (Stony Plain Music)
Just f=For Today is an almost all-instrumental release by one of the most acclaimed guitarists of our time. With the Broadcasters, his band of over 25 years, Ronnie’s 2013 ‘live’ release shows him to be one of the most soulful blues/soul/jazz guitarists on the scene. [New album, Rise Up, due September 11.]
Eno / Cale – Wrong Way Up [Reissue/1990] CD/LP+MP3 (All Saints)
Eno / Wobble – Spinner [Reissue/1995] CD/LP+MP3 (All Saints)
Digitally remastered and expanded editions. “Brian Eno and John Cale’s 1990 collaboration [Wrong Way Up] is an album of contention, contrasts, cycles, and pop songs so layered and euphoric it ranks among the best albums either artist has ever made” (Pitchfork). Eno’s 1995 collaboration with Public Image Limited bassist Jah Wobble, Spinner combines icy ambience with a kind of psycho-geographical funk.
Erasure – The Neon CD/LP (Mute)
English synth/pop duo Erasure (featuring Andy Bell and Vince Clarke) deliver their eighteenth studio album. The Neon is a place that lives in the imagination that we – you and me – put in the real world. It could be a night club, a shop, a city, a cafe, a country, a bedroom, a restaurant, any place at all. The album offers warmth and a brilliant brightness in our strange, silent times. It connects us to our pasts and our futures as it glistens with hope. It creates beautiful places where our imaginations can roam, bringing us together, twinkling and beaming. The Neon puts you and me in the real world again, now and forever, lit up and alive. [Limited orange colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Expander – Neuropunk Boostergang CD/LP (Profound Lore)
Originating from Austin, TX, Expander has subverted traditional band trajectories to receive global recognition of their unique brand of futuristic metal-punk since forming in 2014. With their second full-length album, Neuropunk Boostergang, the group aggressively channels the anxieties foisted on the audience from oppressive systems, using every weapon at their disposal: pummeling rhythms, transcendent melodies and wild vocal deliveries that keep listeners on guard for whatever might come crawling from the wastes next.
Felons Club – Welcome To The Club CD (Battle Axe)
For fans of outlaw country, punk rock and hip-hop.
The Front Bottoms – In Sickness & In Flames CD/LP (Fueled By Ramen)
Celebrating life and purging angst, In Sickness & In Flames finds The Front Bottoms pushing forward with positive and creative energy. Featuring the celebrated singles “Camouflage”(which The Fader called “a celebration of sorts for a band perennially on the fringes of a major breakthrough”) and “Everyone Blooms” (which UPROXX placed the latter in their ‘Best New Indie Music’ round-up). The twelve-song collection was produced by Mike Sapone and follows the band’s acclaimed 2017 LP Going Grey. “Earlier this year, we made a new album and decided to name it In Sickness & In Flames,” the band explains. “When we were writing the album and settling on the title, it meant something completely different to us. We could have never imagined where the world would be just six months later. In true TFB style this album has developed into something of its own that we no longer control the narrative of.” [Limited indie store exclusive vinyl pressing also available.]
Future – High Off Life CD/2xLP (Epic)
The eighth studio album by the American rapper was executive produced by DJ Esco and features guest appearances by DaBaby, Drake, Lil Uzi Vert, Travis Scott, and Young Thug, among others.
Nubya Garcia – Source CD/2xLP (Concord)
Award-winning saxophonist/composer Nubya Garcia presents her much anticipated debut album, Source on the iconic Concord Jazz imprint. Self-produced in collaboration with celebrated producer Kwes (Bobby Womack, Solange), it’s a collection of sonic mantras, a deeply personal blend of identity, family history, grief; reconnecting with herself, her roots, her community. An erudite blend of broken beat, soul, dub-step Afro-diasporic sounds – all whilst never losing her deep jazz foundation.
Bebel Gilberto – Agora CD/LP (PIAS America)
World renowned and multi-Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Bebel Gilberto has been enchanting fans and critics worldwide since her solo debut release in 1986. She catapulted onto the global music scene in 1996 when she featured on the celebrated compilation Red Hot + Rio. She followed up with her breakout album, Tanto Tempo, positioning herself as one of the top-selling Brazilian artists since the 1960’s. She continued with a streak of critically-acclaimed albums on which she refined her sound and showcased her strengths as a composer. Her new album, Agora, which translates to “now”, chronicles the moment in time in Bebel’s life after a period of great change. It was produced by Thomas Bartlett (Sufjan Stevans, St. Vincent, Father John Misty, David Byrne, Martha Wainwright).
Girl Friday – Androgynous Mary CD/LP (Hardly Art)
Burning deep in Girl Friday’s music is an unquenchable will to survive. The L.A.-based band doesn’t blunt the impact of the themes they work through in their ferocious, knotty rock songs, but they do not let the more harrowing aspects of being alive and young in the 21st century daunt them, either. Taking full advantage of the dystopian shades of post-punk and noise rock palettes on their arresting debut LP, Androgynous Mary, Girl Friday nevertheless suffuse their music with abundant optimism. The world is a hellscape, but the four of them are in it together. With bold, dramatic guitar lines and tightly wound vocal harmonies, Girl Friday – guitarist Vera Ellen, bassist Libby Hsieh, guitarist Sierra Scott, drummer Virginia Pettis – negotiate the stress and alienation that comes with being sidelined from normative society on Androgynous Mary.
Robert Gordon – Rockabilly For Life CD/LP (Cleopatra)
One of the original rockabilly revivalists, the legendary Robert Gordon, celebrates the roots of rockabilly and early rock accompanied by a host of guests including Stooges’ James Williamson, longtime Gordon collaborator Chris Spedding, country music icon Steve Wariner, Letterman bandleader Paul Shaffer, blues giant Joe Louis Walker, Blondie’s Clem Burke, The Go-Go’s Kathy Valentine, and others. [Two colored vinyl pressings – blue and pink – are also available.]
- Gowdy – Therapy With Colour CD/LP+MP3 (Constellation)
Combining experimental electronics with elements of musique concrete, rhythmic grooves, and heady sonic atmospheres, Therapy With Colour is a brilliantly adventurous new offering from the forefront of Montréal’s avant-garde electronic scene.
Grateful Dead – Road Trips Vol. 3 No. 1: Oakland 12-28-1979 2xCD (Real Gone Music)
A superior live set which again demonstrates the astonishing degree to which keyboardist Brent Mydland had integrated himself into the band by the end of 1979.
Guided By Voices – Mirrored Aztec CD/LP (GBV Inc.)
When we last heard from Guided By Voices, they had released an astonishing four albums in just over 12 months. Each has a distinctive creative identity: Zeppelin Over China is a meat-and-potatoes double album, Warp And Woof is a return to the band’s low-fidelity roots and under-two-minute earworms, Sweating The Plague is a slice of moody stadium rock, and Surrender Your Poppy Field is an unpredictable grab-bag of all of the above. After venturing through the tangled brambles of Plague And Poppy Field, here is a sunny summer reprieve; a relentless barrage of hooks, Mirrored Aztec is the latest stop on this runaway train. Like its immediate predecessors, Mirrored Aztec is both its own entity and unmistakably GBV. It’s also their most immediately welcoming and inviting offering in years; there’s nothing a fan of The Who, Big Star, or Wire, wouldn’t love here. [Vinyl reissue of their 1995 album Alien Lanes also available this week.]
Maya Hawke – Blush CD/LP (Mom + Pop Music)
Singer/songwriter/actress Maya Hawke (Stranger Things, Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, Ladyworld) returns with the deeply personal full-length album Blush, a continued collaboration with Grammy award winning songwriter/producer Jesse Harris, who wrote the music for the album while Maya contributed the lyrics. On creating the record, Hawke says, “This album happened accidentally…Jesse and I started working together accidentally…we kept writing, kept collecting songs because it brought joy into both of our lives. Collecting them into an album and releasing it comes from a crazy, if not pathological desire to share that joy with others. From my point of view, Blush is a collection of secret messages, hidden communications with the people in my life.”
(Hed) P.E. – Class Of 2020 CD (Suburban Noise)
(Hed) P.E. is a pioneer of the G-Punk sound, a fusion of punk-rock, metal, hip-hop & reggae. A return to their trademark sound, Class Of 2020 strips it down to raw essentials; a nod to old-school punk-rock guitar and aggressive, unfiltered vocals.
Incantation – Sect Of Vile Divinities CD/LP (Relapse)
Death metal pioneers Incantation return with their highly anticipated new album, Sect Of Vile Divinities. For over 30 years Incantation has consistently remained one of the underground’s most influential and respected artists in the genre. True to form, Sect Of Vile Divinities sees the legendary band adhering to the ways of the old school, unleashing twisted, mangled, and utterly disgusting death metal once again. A pitch-black mix of unrelenting death metal and imposing funeral doom, each track is a dirge dedicated to different ancient evils across various cultures.
Inter Arma – Sky Burial [Reissue/2016] LP (Relapse)
Inter Arma – Paradise Gallows [Reissue/2016] LP (Relapse)
Inter Arma is a sludge/black/death metal band from Richmond, Virginia.
Siv Jakobsen – A Temporary Soothing CD/LP (U Ok)
The Norwegian indie-folk singer-songwriter Siv Jakobsen’s follow up to the critically acclaimed The Nordic Mellow (2017), A Temporary Soothing explores feelings of fear, anxiety, change and the struggle between being healthy and being and productive.
Jefferson Starship – Mother Of The Sun CD (Secret Knock)
Today’s Jefferson Starship is alive with the adventurous musical spirit that propelled the legendary band through the ’70s, ’80s, and beyond, as they release Mother Of The Sun, their first new music since 2008. Songs include “It’s About Time” and “Don’t Be Sad Anymore”, which were co-written with original Jefferson Starship/Jefferson Airplane members Grace Slick and Marty Balin, respectively. Original member Pete Sears also returns to play bass on three tracks. [Special deluxe packaging edition also available.]
Jerry Joseph – The Beautiful Madness CD (Jerry Joseph)
Jerry Joseph’s The Beautiful Madness was produced by Patterson Hood and features Drive-By Truckers as his backing band. The album contains 10 tracks which explore the territory Joseph understands best, the darker side of the human condition, calling attention to the toll politics take on humanity, the under-explored dynamics in relationships, and the truths about ourselves we’d rather not see. These songs include some of his most masterful yet and are all written with his trademark intelligence and courage, delivered with his powerful, raw passion. [Vinyl edition due September 11.]
Junius – Vol. 1 CD/2xLP (Pelagic)
The art rock band’s 2004 EP Forcing Out The Silence and 2006 EP Blood Is Bright are both reissued under the newly titled Vol. 1. [Tenth anniversary vinyl reissue of The Martyrdom Of A Catastrophist also available this week.]
The Killers – Imploding The Mirage CD (Island)
The Killers return with their highly anticipated sixth studio album. Following-up 2017’s Wonderful, Wonderful, Imploding The Mirage features a brilliant array of collaborators including, Lindsey Buckingham, k.d. lang, Weyes Blood, Adam Granduciel (War On Drugs), Blake Mills, and Lucius. The Killers describe Imploding The Mirage as “the light after the dark; the overcoming of sadness and moving into celebration. It’s a record about eternal love, perseverance through hard times, and the strength gained from friendships and familial bonds whilst weathering a storm.” [Vinyl edition TBD.]
Kill The Lights – The Sinner CD (Fearless)
Uniting original Bullet For My Valentine co-founder Michael “Moose” Thomas (drums) with Throw The Fight frontman James Clark (vocals), Jordan Whelan of Still Remains (guitar), and Travis Montgomery of Threat Signal (guitar), Kill The Lights creates heavy music independent of eras, trends, and borders.
David Kimbrough Jr. – Say You Don’t Love Me: The Last Recordings of David Kimbrough Jr. CD/LP (Dolceola Recordings)
David Kimbrough Jr., son of the legendary Junior Kimbrough and passed away on July 4th, 2019, was absolutely one of the most talented blues musicians in his age who inherited and developed the musical tradition of his father, Cotton Patch Soul Blues. Say You Don’t Love Me: The Last Recordings Of David Kimbrough Jr. is literally his last field recording works with Dolceola Recordings, a music label focusing on documenting American traditional music in analog field recording with a portable reel-to-reel Ampex 601 and a ribbon microphone RCA 77DX. Recorded at his house in Holly Springs Mississippi, October 2017, the album includes some of Junior Kimbrough’s master pieces such as “Meet Me In The City”, “Done Got Old” and “Lord Have Mercy On Me”, David Kimbrough Jr.’s own compositions, and a previously unpublished song written by Junior Kimbrough, Say You Don’t Love Me.
KMFDM – In Dub CD (Metropolis)
A reinterpretation of KMFDM classics into a blistering display of chilled out grooves and spaced out atmospheres.
Simone Kopmajer – My Wonderland CD/LP (Lucky Mojo)
Simone’s sensual voice accompanied by the leader of the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra jazz saxophonist Terry Myers, pianist Paul Urbanek, guitarist Martin Spitzer, bassist Karl Sayer and drummer Reinhardt Winkler makes My Wonderland a must-have for all Latin/bossa nova fans.
Kraftwerk – Soest Live CD/LP (Inner Space)
This early live performance, recorded in Soest, Germany in 1970 and broadcast on WDR-TV, displays pioneering techno pop band in superb form.
L.A. Witch – Play With Fire CD/LP (Cleopatra)
Play With Fire is a bold new journey that retains L.A. Witch’s siren-song mystique, nostalgic spirit, and contemporary cool. [Limited translucent yellow colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Michael Landau – Liquid Quartet Live CD/2xLP (Players Club)
Michael Landau’s brand new offering was recorded live at the world-famous Baked Potato Jazz Club in Los Angeles in November of 2019 with his Liquid Quartet line-up of drummer Abe Laboriel Jr (Paul McCartney), bassist Jimmy Johnson (Alan Holdsworth) and on guitar and vocals, David Frazee (Burning Water). The intimacy oozes throughout the record, from the soft chitter-chatter, to the whoops, cheers, and “yeah” delights of the crowd. It’s almost as if you are transported to one of the tightly packed tables in the front of the stage, soft lighting above your head watching the quartet perform in front of the back wall that’s adorned with gig posters. [Limited edition colored vinyl pressing also available.]
The Lemon Twigs – Songs For The General Public CD/LP+MP3 (4AD)
The D’Addario brothers return with their third Lemon Twigs album, Songs For The General Public – written, recorded and produced by the D’Addarios at their home studio in Long Island, Sonora Studios in Los Angeles and Electric Lady in New York City. The prodigiously-talented sibling duo first emerged as The Lemon Twigs in 2016 with their debut LP Do Hollywood, whose show stopping melodies mined from every era of rock quickly earned fans in Elton John, Questlove, and Jack Antonoff. Go To School, the ambitious 15-track coming-of-age opus, followed in 2018 and solidified the band’s reputation for building grand walls of sound around an audacious concept.
Les Bells – Mourning Jewelry CD/LP (Kranky)
The sophomore offering by Julie Carpenter’s textural orchestral entity Less Bells takes its title from a storied strain of decorative objects worn in remembrance of lost loved ones: Mourning Jewelry. The album shares a similar mood of devotional pageantry, stirring ornamental laments born from a need to create beauty out of grief. Utilizing an amalgam of strings, synthesizers, and choirs, the pieces ascend and descend in grand, glimmering arcs, ebbing from passages of baroque complexity to expanses of haunting emptiness.
Lowrider – Ode To Io [Reissue/2000] CD/LP (Blues Funeral)
Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. The ultimate edition of the debut album from the progenitors of Swedish desert-rock, fully remastered with bonus tracks. In the wake of defunct Palm Springs originators Kyuss, musicians worldwide coalesced to craft their own visions for the desert rock sound. Standing foremost among them was Lowrider, whose debut, Ode To Io, became the blueprint countless others would follow.
Roger Joseph Manning Jr. – Land Of Pure Imagination [Reissue/2005] CD (Label Logic)
Roger Joseph Manning Jr. – Catnip Dynamite [Reissue/2008] CD (Label Logic)
Roger Joseph Manning Jr. – Glamping [Reissue/2018] CD (Label Logic)
Roger Joseph Manning Jr. Is best-known as a founding member of ’90s power pop band, Jellyfish, whose cult-like following has kept their music alive after all these years. Fans had their thirst quenched in 2020, when he and two bandmates reunited as trio, The Lickerish Quartet. The highly sought-after keyboardist has also performed and recorded with the likes of Beck, Cheap Trick, Adele, Lana Del Rey, Danny Wilkerson and more.
Markus Floats – Third Album CD/LP+MP3 (Constellation)
Third Album is the Constellation debut from Montréal-based multi-disciplinary artist and musician/composer Markus Lake, who’s been releasing audio works under the Markus Floats moniker over the past decade. Using primarily in-the-box midi instruments, along with a smattering of samples and field recordings, Third Album is through-composed and atypically but unfailingly expressive – like ruminative action paintings in sound.
Matmos – The Consuming Flame: Open Exercises In Group Form 3xCD (Thrill Jockey)
The duo of M.C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel composed their triple-CD album The Consuming Flame: Open Exercises In Group Form with 99 different musicians, who were asked to contribute by playing anything that they wanted so long as the tempo of any rhythmic material was set at 99 beats per minute. Features musical assistance by Oneohtrix Point Never, Yo La Tengo, Matthew Herbert, and Marisa Anderson.
The Mavericks – En Español CD/2xLP (Mono Mundo Recordings)
Mavericks change the game once again with the release of their first-ever Latin format album En Español. Produced by the band’s longtime creative partner Niko Bolas (Neil Young, Prince, Sheryl Crow) and Mavericks lead singer and principal songwriter Raul Malo, En Español features a compelling mix of standards and Spanish-language originals in signature Mavericks style. Includes special contributions from longtime collaborators, Grammy-winning keyboardist and arranger Alberto Salas and Tejano accordion legend Flaco Jiménez. [Limited indie store exclusive vinyl pressing also available.]
Dent May – Late Checkout CD/LP+MP3 (Carpark)
Bearing the torch of classic American songwriters that have inspired him like Harry Nilsson, Carole King and Randy Newman, May has gingerly cultivated his iPhone note scribbles and subconscious melodies into songs that could stand the test of time. Leaving the comfort of home-recording, May set out to elevate the production quality on Late Checkout while maintaining some intimacy through sparse arrangements. After writing and performing parts for a bulk of the instruments on the album, May filled out his orchestrations by inviting string players, a horn section, background vocalists, and a pair of auxiliary drummers to contribute. [Limited edition blue colored vinyl pressing also available.]
H.C. McEntire – Eno Axis CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)
“Early rise, start the fire, till the rows, pass the tithes.” So starts H.C. McEntire’s sophomore release, Eno Axis. It’s a set of directions delivered with assurance and authority, reaching the listener without pretension almost as a sermon or spell. McEntire has always had one foot planted in the traditional country gospel roots of her upbringing while boldly wrestling with its complications, creating an Americana sound of her own.
Tim McGraw – Here On Earth CD/2xLP (Big Machine)
McGraw describes Here On Earth as “a tapestry of life. For me, an album tells a story, and I’ve always tried to do that with all my records. And the way that I developed musically, and the way I learned to listen to music, was through albums…So I like the process of an album, and I like what an album does, and how an album allows you to settle into an artist and listen to their story…Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to be outside in the summertime playing music. Everyone is there, sharing the moment, having fun and letting loose. To be here on Earth in this moment, together, sharing our love for music and getting through all that life is throwing us – that’s what it’s all about.”
John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch – Original Soundtrack From The Netflix Special CD/LP (Drag City)
Emmy Award Winning Comedian John Mulaney aimed to recapture the magic of a bygone television era when children sang songs about their feelings with celebrity guests on funky outdoor sets, with John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch, released on Netflix last holiday season. The Sack Lunch Bunch is a group of children ages 8-13, joined by celebrity guests like David Byrne, Tony Award Winner Andre de Shields, Natasha Lyonne, Annaleigh Ashford, Richard Kind, and Jake Gyllenhaal from the movie Zodiac. The result is a collage of Broadway caliber showstoppers, comedy sketches for all ages, meditations on life from children and adults, and a paper mache volcano. It’s funny, musical, joyous, anxious, and surprisingly profound.
Naked Giants – Shadow CD/LP (New West)
Frantic punk-scenes of information overload are contrasted by patient drones of introspection; fun, ear-worm musings of life as a young rock band are juxtaposed with the heavier responsibility of having a voice and not quite knowing what to say. The amalgam of information in the songs is complemented with a blend of sonic perspectives; the band threw in all its influences, from the usual suspects of punk rock and new wave to spaced-out ‘80s balladry, fuzzy garage-metal and psychedelic desert folk (with synths and tape loops added to taste). [Limited clear vinyl pressing also available.]
No Joy – Motherhood CD/LP (Joyful Noise)
For No Joy’s first full length in five years, frontperson and principal songwriter Jasamine White-Gluz took what she learned from synthesis, reincorporated guitars, and produced an album that is not a departure from No Joy’s early shoegaze, but a stylistically omnivorous expansion that ekes into trip-hop, trance and nu-metal. [Limited neon violet colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Old 97’s – Twelfth CD/LP (ATO)
27 years in, Old 97’s still features its original lineup – Rhett Miller, guitarist Ken Bethea, bassist Murry Hammond, and drummer Philip Peeples – and Twelfth is a testament to the band’s staying power. The album’s cover image of former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach is both an homage to Miller’s childhood hero and a recognition that, in making their livings as musicians, the 97’s themselves have achieved their lifelong dreams. Loose and raw, the record is an ecstatic celebration of survival, a resounding ode to endurance and resilience from a veteran group that refuses to rest on their considerable laurels. While the resulting album boasts all the hallmarks of a classic Old 97’s record (sex and booze, laughter and tears, poetry and blasphemy), it also showcases a newfound perspective in its writing and craftsmanship, a maturity and appreciation that can only come with age and experience. Perhaps the band is growing up; maybe they’re just getting started. Either way, Old 97’s have never been happier to be alive. [Limited silver colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Point North – Brand New Vision CD/LP (Hopeless)
Taking inspiration from everything from hip-hop to pop and punk to metal, Point North delivers a unique take on alternative rock with their concept album, Brand New Vision. [Limited purple and pink swirl colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Chuck Prophet – The Land That Time Forgot CD/LP (Yep Roc)
Prophet is a rock and roll star in a country that has forgotten that it needs rock and roll stars. America turns its popular musicians into celebrities (as if that’s what we need more of). Meanwhile, the true grit, write it like you live it and live it ’til it kills you musical artist exists in obscurity, kicking ass and taking names in small clubs every night while sweating blood over making records. Thankfully, we live in the same timeline as Chuck Prophet. Written mostly with longtime co-conspirator Kurt Lipschutz, The Land That Time Forgot finds the musician stepping out of his comfort zone (“two guitars, bass, and drums”). There’s a kind of folkish inevitability to it, lots of acoustic instruments, on top of the each other and side by side. But as much as folk music is the soil all music grows from, it never hurts to have a boiler room. So, there’s always a rhythm section shuffling under your feet here.
Psychlona – Venus Skytrip CD (Ripple Music)
A British take on desert rock.
Max Richter – Waltz With Bashir (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Reissue/2008] CD (Deutsche Grammophon)
Max Richter’s original soundtrack score for Ari Folman’s Waltz With Bashir (2008) is as provocative and powerfully intense as the searing images of a film that confronted audiences with lasting lessons in recent history and the psychology of trauma. The music moved millions worldwide and contributed to Richter’s stellar rise on the contemporary scene. Following the film’s premiere at Cannes in 2008, critics hailed the importance of Richter’s unforgettable score and also recognized its success as a standalone album, something rarely achieved by a movie soundtrack. PBS described Richter’s Waltz With Bashir soundtrack as “haunting and melodious … evocative of perhaps what war might sound like in memories.” [Vinyl edition due September 25.]
Jeff Rosenstock – No Dream CD/LP+MP3 (Polyvinyl)
The fourth full-length from Jeff Rosenstock comes at a time of unparalleled chaos and confusion, division and despair, the depths of which would have been impossible to predict when much of it was being written over the course of the last few years. And yet the record feels prescient, unexpectedly and uniquely suited for this moment. After building a devoted cult following with the acerbic ska-punk of the Arrogant Sons Of Bitches, the DIY heroics of Bomb The Music Industry!, and three increasingly celebrated solo albums, No Dream arrives with an entirely new set of expectations in an entirely new era. [Limited sea foam colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Troye Sivan – In A Dream CDEP (Capitol)
Sivan recorded five of the concept EP’s six songs with producer Oscar Görres (The Weeknd, MARINA, Tove Lo) between Stockholm and Los Angeles, just prior to the pandemic lockdown. “This small collection…explores an emotional rollercoaster period in my life when the feelings and thoughts were most shockingly fresh,” Sivan says. “Revisiting these songs and moments is tough, but I’m proud of this music and excited to have it out in the world.” Featuring leadoff hit “Take Yourself Home” plus new single “Easy”, an infectious plea to set a relationship back on course. The New York Times hailed “Take Yourself Home” as an “understatedly lush quasi-soul thumper.” Paper said, “It’s perhaps the first great song to come out of our collective apocalyptic state of mind during the COVID-19 outbreak.” [Includes art cards, a sticker and a foldout poster booklet. Vinyl edition due October 9.]
Sneaks – Happy Birthday CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)
Continuing the collaborative relationships from 2019’s Highway Hypnosis with mixing engineer Carlos Hernandez and legendary producer Jacknife Lee, Sneaks’ Eva Moolchan felt free to turn up the energy and explore more elaborate melodies than ever before. With astrological assertions alongside poetry filtered through a riot grrl spirit and set to thumping bass lines and infectious beats, Moolchan asks all of the questions but invites the listener to divine their own answers. Put on your headphones and let Sneaks lead you on an unforgettable journey of self-discovery that will keep you humming for days.
Soft Machine – Live At The Baked Potato CD (Dyad)
In 2018 Soft Machine released their first studio album under the original name in 37 years called Hidden Details. In support of this widely acclaimed and heralded album, John Etheridge (electric guitar), Roy Babbington (bass guitar), John Marshall (drums) and Theo Travis (saxophones, flute, Fender Rhodes piano) toured the world during 2018 and 2019. A live album from this extensive tour recorded at the Baked Potato, Los Angeles, on February 1, 2019 is now available.
Stick in The Wheel – Hold Fast CD/LP (From Here)
Stick In The Wheel (singer Nicola Kearey, and guitarist/producer Ian Carter), blend the traditional with their own innovative and unique sound. Their debut From Here (2015) and second album Follow Them True (2018) received much critical acclaim; with the Guardian describing their music as ‘razor-sharp, direct and fantastic’. Their third album Hold Fast is the creation of a band who are politically motivated, unapologetically raw, experimental and genuine. It’s a made-under-pressure, no-punches-pulled unique and vivid collection of protest music in its true sense, and in times like these it makes Stick In The Wheel one of Britain’s most essential bands
Sun On Shade – Sun On Shade CD/LP (ATO)
Sun On Shade is a new recording project from Heath Fogg of Alabama Shakes featuring songs sung by Sam Doores (Deslondes, Hurray For The Riff Raff), Shonna Tucker (Drive-By Truckers), and Lloyd Buchanan (Alabama Shakes, Brittany Howard). Also joining Heath on the album are Alabama Shakes bandmates Ben Tanner, Zac Cockrell and Steve Johnson, plus a few other friends. “I like things to be a little blue, but with a beat. There’s still optimism but it can bring a tear to you as well,” says Fogg who balances sadness, sunshine and hard-won wisdom throughout.
Josh Turner – Country State Of Mind CD (MCA Nashville)
Multi-platinum-selling country music star Josh Turner invites fans to join him in scaling what the charismatic performer likes to call his “Mount Rushmore of Country Music” on his new studio album Country State Of Mind. The 12-song collection finds Turner in an enlightened “country state of mind” as he pays homage to a cross-section of classic country music icons, including five legends who have long held a firm place in his musical journey: Randy Travis, John Anderson, Johnny Cash, Vern Gosdin, and Hank Williams. [Vinyl edition due September 18.]
Unleash The Archers – Abyss CD (Napalm)
Abyss succeeds in showcasing the mind-blowing technical craftsmanship of the young Canadian melodic power metal quartet with the perfect mix of highly complex, catchy bangers and moody, synth-infused power ballads. Pairing traditional heavy sounds in the vein of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest with fast-paced power metal, the album is once again accented by frontwoman Brittney Slayes’ raw four octave mezzo-soprano. [Vinyl edition due August 28.]
Various Artists – The Buddy Holly Story (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Reissue/1978] CD/LP (Varèse Sarabande)
This deluxe edition CD and vinyl reissue of the The Buddy Holly Story: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack features 11 tracks that were not included on the original release, including previously omitted performances such as “Tennessee Waltz” by Gary Busey as Buddy Holly, “Chantilly Lace” by Gailard Sartain as The Big Bopper and “You Send Me” by Paul Mooney as Sam Cooke. One of the most revered musicians in rock and roll history, The Buddy Holly Story is his definitive legacy film, earning three Oscar nominations, including “Best Actor” for Gary Busey. The reissue also includes rare Buddy Holly pictures donated by his estate and the Buddy Holly Educational Foundation.
Various Artists – We Will Rock You: A Tribute To Queen CD (Varèse Sarabande)
An all-star collection of rockers – including members of Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland band, Journey, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, Judas Priest, Whitesnake, Big Brother & The Holding Company, Straitjacket Smile, and more – pay tribute to Queen.
Vicious Rumors – Celebration Decay CD/2xLP (Steamhammer)
New album from the Veteran San Francisco Bay Area metallers.
Vita and the Wolf – Anna Ohio CD/LP (Tender Loving Empire)
Growing up in middle-class suburban Pennsylvania, Jen Pague looked around at the routine of family life and rejected it in full. The suburban isolation, the lack of culture, and the white picket fences: “I didn’t want to be part of it in any capacity,” Pague says. “Even from a very young age. I wasn’t going to do what my parents did.” So she started a band. Three years ago, she watched with amazement as Vita and the Woolf’s achievements started to stack up: fawning press and radio attention in their native Philadelphia, support tours with Rasputina and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, a successfully Kick-started debut full-length (2017’s Tunnels) and flattering press. She returns with her newest album, Anna Ohio.
The Waterboys – Good Luck, Seeker CD/2xCD/LP (Cooking Vinyl)
The Waterboys, one of the most creative, loved and literate bands of the last four decades, return with their fourteenth studio album, Good Luck, Seeker, ushered in by the seven-minute mash-up manifesto “My Wanderings In The Weary Land”. Comprising dramatic spoken-word over wild, relentless genre-busting music, “My Wanderings In The Weary Land” might just be the greatest rock ‘n’ roll record ever made – and one that is darkly appropriate for our weird, wired times. Is it psychedelic soul? Is it trance? Is it punk? Whatever it is, it’s the first taste of the surefire Good Luck, Seeker. [Deluxe CD edition adds a bonus CD of alternate and instrumental versions.]
Johnny Winter – Texas ’63 – ’68 2xCD (Sunset Blvd)
Johnny has always been one of the most respected singers and guitar players in rock and the clear link between British blues-rock and American Southern rock. Throughout the ’70s and ’80s, Johnny was the unofficial torch-bearer for the blues, championing and aiding the careers of his idols like Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker.
DVDs + Blu-ray:
John Denver – Country Roads: Live In England 1986 DVD (Eagle Rock Entertainment)
This concert was filmed at the NEC in Birmingham in 1986 and sees John Denver in top form delivering his finest songs with all his characteristic charm and good humor. Among the many highlights are “Annie’s Song”, “Rocky Mountain High”, “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and many others.
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
070 Shake – Modus Vivendi 2xLP (G.O.O.D. Music)
The title of 070 Shake’s debut album, Modus Vivendi, is a Latin phrase used to reference a way of life in which two opposing parties can coexist peacefully. Art has always been Shake’s way of life, whether writing poetry as an outlet for depression or crafting playful rhymes about her teammates on bus rides to high school basketball games. All the way back to her childhood, this individualistic charm has always led the New Jersey-raised talent to stand out. Traditional schooling just wasn’t for Shake. Rather, she stuck out from peers with a natural knack for poetry and a profound love for basketball, even being deemed “Shake” for her crossover dribble. As she grew older, Shake became known for her rebellious nature, constantly causing trouble at school with countless pranks and a disinterest toward academics. It was during these years, however, that Shake began to hone her artistic identity. From writing poems to falling in love with the cadences and storytelling of artists such as Alicia Keys and Kanye West, she quickly found a desire to start making music.
Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids – Shaman! 2xLP (Strut)
Influential jazz collective Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids return with an epic new opus, Shaman!, featuring a fresh line-up including original 1970s Pyramids member Dr. Margaux Simmons on flute, Bobby Cobb on guitar, long-term associate Sandra Poindexter on violin, Ruben Ramos on bass, Gioele Pagliaccia on drums and Jack Yglesias on percussion. [CD edition due August 28.]
Bassnectar – Into The Sun [Reissue/2015] 2xLP (ATO)
Double red and white colored vinyl pressing of Bassnectar’s ninth studio album.
Be Well – The Weight And The Cost LP (Equal Vision)
Be Well is fronted by prolific record producer Brian McTernan (Turnstile, Thrice, Hot Water Music), and includes guitarists Mike Schleibaum (Darkest Hour) and Peter Tsouras (Fairweather), bassist Aaron Dalbec (Bane), and drummer Shane Johnson (Fairweather). The band’s music is emotionally gripping, with an expertly executed blend of melodic hardcore and notes of ‘90s post-hardcore influence. The lyrics are deeply personal, and the vocals harken back to early DC bands like Rites Of Spring and Embrace.
Alison Brown – Fair Weather [Reissue/2000] LP (Compass)
Alison Brown’s 2000 classic album celebrates its 20th anniversary with a limited release vinyl. Joined by special guests including Tim O’Brien, Claire Lynch, Vince Gill, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, David Grier, and featuring the Grammy Award-winning track Leaving Cottondale, with Béla Fleck, Fair Weather heralded Alison Brown’s return to her bluegrass roots with stunning results. Over the course of the album’s 12 tracks, Brown plows through hard-charging breakdowns, minor-keyed newgrass, solo-banjo lullabies, and everything in between.
Charles Bukowski – Reads His Poetry LP (Real Gone Music)
Limited vomit colored vinyl pressing. “This is Charles Bukowski. Do I look good? Well, let me just sit here and drink beer.” Thus begins the September 14, 1972 poetry reading from which this 1980 release on John Fahey’s Takoma label is drawn. This is quintessential Bukowski, from the rude ‘n’ crude drawing that adorns the front cover to the belches that punctuate the poems.
Cattle Decapitation – Monolith Of Humanity [Reissue/2012] LP (Metal Blade)
Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction [Reissue/2015] LP (Metal Blade)
Vinyl reissues of the death metal band’s sixth and seventh studio albums.
Loren Connors – Beautiful Dreamer LP (Family Vineyard)
Beautiful Dreamer is a two-part suite dedicated to Steve Dalachinsky – an original among New Yorkers and every- one else; an indefatigable supporter of the avant garde; an ingenious poet; and a close friend to legendary guitarist Loren Connors. Connors recorded these two solo guitar pieces shortly before Dalachinsky’s passing in September 2019. Afterward, Connors returned to the music, and for the first time, used post-production to transform his real- time improvisations into an ethereal soundwork. The music is unmistakably Connors – a rich, ghostly tone birthed from the blues – yet a new direction where slow- ness reveals a spectrum of shifting notes like a small choir, from rumbling baritones to vibrating sopranos.
Elysia Crampton – Orcorara 2010 LP (Pan)
Orcorara 2010 follows intergenerational trauma, fugitives of Christian violence in a twilight called Puruma, returning to Mama Cocha, the sea that theorists call Nowhere. Dedicated to the life of Paul Sousa, who while incarcerated, worked years as an inmate firefighter across the Sierra Nevada of California. Also dedicated to the work of Sage LaPena and Dr. Gretel Mendizabal Nolte. “The sound of screens imploding.” All proceeds go to the American Indian Movement West / AIM SoCal chapters.
Death – Scream Bloody Gore [Reissue/1987] LP (Relapse)
Death – Leprosy [Reissue/1988] LP (Relapse)
Death – Spiritual Healing [Reissue/1990] LP (Relapse)
Death – Human [Reissue/1991] LP (Relapse)
Death – Individual Thought Patterns [Reissue/1993] LP (Relapse)
Death – Sound Of Perseverance [Reissue/1998] LP (Relapse)
Vinyl reissues of the pioneering death metal band’s first, second, third, fourth, fifth and seventh albums.
Dirty Projectors – Super João 12”+MP3 (Domino)
Super João is dedicated to João Gilberto, the Brazilian guitarist and singer who innovated Brazilian music in the late ’50s in part by transposing Afro-Caribbean drum patterns to the right (fingerpicking) hand of the guitar. Super João is about beautiful and surprising chord progressions, long-form melodies, and nylon string acoustic guitar.
Floating Di Morel – Summer Has Become Cold LP (Play Loud! Productions)
Floating Di Morel is a band from Berlin (Germany). The band was founded in 1994 by Sabine Blödorn (ex-Young Scamps) and Kai Drewitz (ex-P.L.O.). Other temporary band members have been Martin Osti, Thorsten Neu, and Ulf Goretzki.
Freeez & John Rocca – Southern Freeez / Variations On A Theeem 2xLP (Beggars Banquet)
Double colored vinyl pressing in gatefold jacket. Beggars Arkive reissues the classic Freeez album Southern Freeez along with new works by John Rocca. Freeez were a legendary group from London, known as one of the UK’s main jazz-funk bands of the early 1980s Brit funk scene. Led by John Rocca, Freeez consisted of various musicians, originally with Rocca and others including Andy Stennett (keyboards), Peter Maas (bass guitar) and Paul Morgan. Their debut album Southern Freeez was originally released in 1981.
Gajek – Vitamin D 2xLP (Throttle)
From an East German perspective Gajek´s Vitamin D inscribes itself into the progressive myth of Krautrock by shifting the focus to a different side of German history marked by the material traces of the Cold War. This is music that knows about the coexistence of modernism and its ruins, music about the fact that both can be there at the same time: space programs and the damp smell of unheated houses. Here, Gajek finds the sonic resources for an alternative futurism of private cybernetics and pirated airwaves, creating radical and joyful sounds that claim the possibility of something new.
Goldmund – Corduroy Road LP (Unseen Music)
Boston- based multi-instrumentalist Keith Kenniff is a busy man. He has appeared as Helios on a number of acclaimed releases, including Deaf Center’s Neon City EP, and released a debut album Unomia. As Goldmund, Kenniff has disregarded the electronic elements of his music almost entirely in favor of just a piano, a microphone and occasionally a guitar. Corduroy Road is 13 tracks of pure recording, the sound of the piano being opened and the feet on the pedals, the sound of fingers pressing lovingly onto the keys. This is a record of rare and unusual beauty, so shocking and yet unpretentious in its simplicity.
The Grateful Dead – Workingman’s Dead [Reissue/1970] LP (Grateful Dead)
Limited silver and white colored vinyl pressing of the Grateful Dead’s fourth studio album.
Vince Guaraldi – Peanuts Portraits [Reissue/2010] LP (Craft Recordings)
Featuring the vivid musical cues that Guaraldi wrote for the cast of the Peanuts characters, Peanuts Portraits adds new dimensions to beloved regulars like Charlie Brown, Peppermint Patty, Schroeder and Sally. In addition to nine songs performed by Guaraldi, the album also includes two classic Peanuts tunes recorded by pianist George Winston. Eight of the selections (including Winston renditions of “Linus And Lucy” and “Masked Marvel”), make their vinyl debut here.
Guided By Voices – Alien Lanes [Reissue/1995] LP+MP3 (Matador)
Limited 25th anniversary multicolored vinyl pressing – the first in Matador’s Revisionist History 2020 series.
PJ Harvey – Rid Of Me [Reissue/1993] LP (Island)
PJ Harvey – 4-Track Demos [Reissue/1993] LP (Island)
Vinyl reissues of PJ Harvey’s first major label album (her second overall) and the accompanying album of demos – both released in the same year (1993). Rid Of Me features the singles “50ft Queenie” and “Man-Size”.
Helios – Unomia LP+MP3 (Unseen Music)
First time vinyl issue of the debut album by Helios, Unomia, originally released in 2004. Keith Kenniff’s debut album under his Helios moniker. Originally only released on CD in 2004 via Miami based Merck Records, this album of hazy ambient electronica is now presented as a vinyl edition for the first time.
Junius – The Martyrdom Of A Catastrophist [Reissue/2009] 2xLP (Pelagic)
Junius released The Martyrdom Of A Catastrophist in the fall 2009 to universal critical acclaim. “A perfect hybrid of Neurosis and the Smiths, striking a stunning balance of brutality and beauty. Spellbinding and heartbreaking, gripping from the first note to the last,” Rolling Stone raved.
Damien Jurado – What’s New, Tomboy? LP (Mama Bird)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. New release from the Seattle-based indie-folk veteran. What’s New, Tomboy? finds Jurado stepping back into a more fleshed out sound with his voice and the rhythm section at the fore.
Katalepsy – Terra Mortuus Est 2xLP (Unique Leader)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. New release from the Russian death metal band. Limited amber and black marble colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Suzanne Langille and Neel Murgai – Come When The Raven Calls LP (Family Vineyard)
Langille fuses the rawness of American spiritual blues with Murgai’s trance-like percussion and multi-note vocal overtones. The duo are unmatched in their timeless approach to song, a structure they summon from a tinder of melody or thundering charge of the Persian daf. A lyricist as well as vocalist, Langille is devoted to the spoken word. She pulls the listener into a world of ecstatic sorrow and rage that leaves them transformed as a witness to survival. These nine songs are testimonies to death, sorrow and loss.
Le Ren – Morning & Melancholia 12”+MP3 (Secretly Canadian)
Le Ren’s close-to-the-bone, heartbreak folk songs seem, at first, to tap into a shared musical memory. A melody swirls forward and you’re just sure it’s known to the back of your mind; was it in from a movie you saw, some classic mid- ‘60s set piece? Maybe it’s something you heard as a kid, in the backseat of your mom’s Cutlass, or the shotgun seat of your own. But before you can zero in through the fog, your heart is torn apart by her voice – rich, direct and mellifluous – steering you through these slowburn tunes about real-life loss. Limited white colored vinyl pressing.
The Lowest Pair – The Perfect Plan LP (Delicata)
Kendl Winter and Palmer T. Lee are two kindred spirits who first met on the banks of the Mississippi while touring the Midwest festival circuit. After each releasing solo albums via Conor Oberst’s Team Love Records in 2018, Winter and Lee began working on The Lowest Pair’s 10-song set, The Perfect Plan. As a songwriting team, the duo tends to see artistic sparks all around them – in poems, people, ideas, experiences – and throughout the process of writing these new songs, they felt the need to push their creative limits.
Lucius – Wildewoman [Reissue/2013] LP (Mom + Pop)
Wildewoman is the second studio album by Brooklyn indie pop band Lucius. It was originally released in 2013 to mostly positive reviews, drawing numerous comparisons to the girl groups of the 1960s.
The Obsessed – Live At Big Dipper LP (Blues Funeral)
Led by Wino, the godfather of American doom metal, The Obsessed is one of the important bands in the history and evolution of the style. For the band’s 40th anniversary they present an authorized live bootleg of Wino’s favorite show the original lineup ever played.
Pavement – Sensitive Euro Man b/w Brink Of The Clouds/Candylad 7” (Matador)
Limited 7” picture disc released in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Wowee Zowee. Arrives in a transparent PVC sleeve.
Primal Fear – New Religion [Reissue/2007] 2xLP (Nuclear Blast)
Primal Fear – 16.6 Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead [Reissue/2009] 2xLP (Nuclear Blast)
Primal Fear – Live In The USA [Reissue/2010] 2xLP (Nuclear Blast)
Primal Fear – Unbreakable [Reissue/2012] 2xLP (Nuclear Blast)
Limited colored vinyl releases of the seventh, eighth, and ninth studio albums – plus the 2010 live collection – by the German metal band.
Pulsallama – Pulsallama LP (Modern Harmonic)
Limited silver vinyl LP pressing. This seven woman post-punk percussion ensemble creates infectious melodies, driving rhythms, and a pulsating beat that will have you dancing like no one is looking. Known for their bombastic ritualistic shows at Studio 57 on NYC’s Lower East Side featuring jungle style rhythms, dueling basses, and an all-out assault of percussion perfection, Pulsallama captures that live energy in what’s oddly a 1983 live French radio broadcast from a studio in NYC.
The Scary Jokes – Burn Pygmalion!!! A Better Guide To Romance LP (Oglio)
Blending 8-bit aesthetics with soul-baring queer bedroom indie, New Jersey-based synthpop project The Scary Jokes is the brainchild of singer-songwriter Liz Lehman. Their signature style of gentle, upbeat psychedelia contrasted with pointed, introspective lyrics earned considerable buzz. Pressed on fiery red galaxy colored vinyl.
Septic Flesh – Infernus Sinfonica MMXIX 3xLP+DVD (Season Of Mist)
Live release from the Greek death metal band recorded in Mexico in 2019 with accompaniment by the Toluca Philharmonica Orchestra.
Sepultura – Quadra 2xLP (Nuclear Blast)
Released earlier this year on CD – now available on vinyl. New album from the Brazilian thrash metal icons.
Sarah Siskind – Modern Appalachia LP (Sarah Siskind)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. New release from the critically acclaimed North Carolina-based singer/songwriter – her first full-length album in nine years.
Horace Tapscott Quintet – The Giant Is Awakened [Reissue/1969] LP (Real Gone Music)
Neon green colored vinyl. The title of Horace Tapscott’s debut release is apt, if not self-referential, for indeed a giant of West Coast jazz had awakened with this, the pianist/composer/bandleader’s 1969 album. Tapscott went on to form two groups crucial to the flowering of modern jazz in the Los Angeles area, the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra (or P.A.P.A.; the name is an homage to Tapscott’s predecessor and peer, Sun Ra), which eventually became part of a larger umbrella organization, Union Of God’s Musicians and Artists Ascension (UGMAA).
Thank You I’m Sorry – I’m Glad We’re Friends LP (Run For Cover)
Nerves are one hell of a tool. Short bursts of anxiety and fear often lead to songwriting that doubles down on winking through catharsis. It’s in the spaces between sudden inspiration and deliberate wit where Minneapolis’ Thank You, I’m Sorry resides. Limited olive in gold colored vinyl pressing.
Tom Tom Club – Tom Tom Club [Reissue/1981] LP (Real Gone Music)
Limited red and yellow colored vinyl pressing. The Talking Heads spawned a number of worthy side projects and spinoffs, but none were as funky, danceable, and flat-out fun as Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth’s Tom Tom Club.
Tuning – Defining The Purpose LP (Indecision)
Emotionally charged, explosive, and deeply introspective, Bay Area’s Tuning release its sophomore LP.
X – Alphabetland LP (Fat Possum)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Alphabetland is the eighth studio album by legendary American punk rock band. It is their first studio release in 27 years and the first with their original line-up in the past 35 years.
Valkyrie – Shadows LP (Relapse)
Propelled by the stunning guitar heroics of brothers Pete and Jake Adams, Virginia’s Valkyrie return with their third full-length, Shadows. Jam packed with harmonized leads, rich solos and melodic, blues-based riffs, Valkyrie sound like the perfect blend of American style doom rock bands like Pentagram or Spirit Caravan and classic hard rock like Thin Lizzy, Wishbone Ash, and Deep Purple.
The Vandals – Fear Of A Punk Planet [Reissue/1991] LP (Kung Fu)
Limited green vinyl colored vinyl pressing of the classic 1991 album from the Orange County pop-punk heroes.
Willow – Willow LP (Roc Nation)
Limited purple colored vinyl pressing. Born from two stars, Willow Smith launched her aspiring music career with the international 2010 smash “Whip My Hair” garnering acclaim from critics, fans and millions of views for its energetic video. A decade later Willow returns with an eponymous third studio album which follows-up Ardipithecus (2015) and The 1st (2017). The 8-track experimental pop/alternative R&B affair was produced entirely by Willow and Tyler Cole and touches on themes of female empowerment, relationships, and generational issues.
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