Marketing Program/ Banner/ Listening Station Titles Promoted This Week:
Bad Suns – Apocalypse Whenever CD/LP+MP3 (Epitaph)
Apocalypse Whenever features dreamy ’80s pastiche flanked by Stratocasters through cranked Vox amps, pulsing synths, and palpable rhythmic energy. While all the elements associated with the band’s signature sound are beautifully showcased, their fourth studio album sees Bad Suns take a more conceptual approach to their songwriting. The 13-track album was conceived as “the soundtrack to a movie that doesn’t yet exist,” setting the scene as the album’s protagonist washes up on the shores of a fictionalized L.A. after a near-death experience at the hands of the turbulent ocean. In order to fully conceptualize their story, the band did what any good director would do; assembling a mood board, filtering their neo-noir version of Los Angeles through the dreamlike haziness of author Haruki Murakami, the futuristic flair of Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Blade Runner, and the lifted cinematography of Spike Jonze’s HER.
Brent Cobb – And Now, Let’s Turn To Page… CD (Ol’ Buddy)
And Now, Let’s Turn to Page… is the fifth album overall and debut gospel album from Georgia singer-songwriter Brent Cobb. It includes eight traditional songs and hymnals Cobb grew up singing in church plus one new original song (“When It’s My Time”), incorporating multiple genres – country, Southern rock, blues, folk, soul. Produced, engineered, and mixed by six-time Grammy-winning producer Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell, John Prine, Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton) at RCA Studio A in Nashville, TN.
Buffalo Nichols – Buffalo Nichols CD/LP (Fat Possum)
[10/15/22 release promoted this week] Austin, TX-based vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Buffalo Nichols – Fat Possum’s first solo blues signing in nearly 20 years – delivers his self-titled debut album on the label. The album sees Nichols wrestling with prescient topics, such as empathy and forgiveness on the poignant, ever-building melody of “How To Love”; regret and loss on moving, violin-inflected “These Things”; and the pitfalls of lives lived too close to the edge on the smooth, dynamic “Back On Top”.
Combo Chimbita – IRÉ CD/LP+MP3 (ANTI-)
Continuing their mystical saga, Combo Chimbita roar back onto the global stage with their cathartic new album, IRÉ, channeling the fear, rage and empathy of a world in flames into an urgent spirit of musical dissidence. The album’s evocative title is forged upon double-edged meaning: on one hand embracing the divinely inspired blessings and prosperity foretold by our spiritual elders, and on the other a brazen, propulsive affirmation of revolutionary futures in the making. Afro-Caribbean transcendence, bewildering chants, booming drums and psychedelic distortion lay the rhythmic foundation for IRÉ; a testament to the ever-expanding scope of Combo Chimbita’s sonic palette and their modes of resistance in realms both spiritual and terrestrial. [Vinyl edition due February 18.]
Eels – Extreme Witchcraft CD/LP/2xLP+CD (E Works/PIAS)
Eels have had one of the most consistently acclaimed careers in music. The ever-changing project of principal singer/songwriter E (Mark Oliver Everett), Eels have released thirteen studio albums since their 1996 debut, Beautiful Freak. During the height of the pandemic lockdown in early 2021, E got an out of the blue message from Mark Romanek, director of the first Eels video, “Novocaine For the Soul”. It triggered him to reach out to John Parish, who was in between numerous projects and immediately got to work in his HonorSound studio in Bristol and began sending ideas to E. “I’d sneak out of bed at 4 in the morning to hear the latest thing John had sent and try to add my part to it and get it back to him quickly before my 4-year-old son woke up,” E says. The resulting album is Extreme Witchcraft. [A limited box set edition featuring a 45rpm master of the album on yellow color vinyl plus a copy on CD and an Extreme Witchcraft Ouija Board with custom Eels planchette and sticker sheet.]
Eric Gales – Crown CD/2xLP (Mascot Label Group)
Eric Gales is a blues firebrand. Over 30 years and 18 albums, his passion for the music and his boundless desire to keep it vital has never waned, even when his own light dimmed due to his substance struggles. Throughout it all, he continued to reinvigorate the art form with personal revelation in his lyrics and bold stylistic twists in his guitar playing and songwriting. Five years sober, creatively rejuvenated, and sagely insightful, Eric is ready for the fight of his career. Aptly, he calls his masterful new album, Crown. Here, Eric opens like never before, sharing his struggles with substance abuse, his hopes about a new era of sobriety and unbridled creativity, and his personal reflections on racism. The songs are delivered with clarity and feature Eric’s personal experiences and hope for positive change. In addition, the 16-track collection boasts his finest singing, songwriting, and his signature guitar playing that burns throughout. Produced by Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith, this is Eric at his most boldly vulnerable, uncompromisingly political, and unflinchingly confident. [Two limited-edition color vinyl pressings are available: gold and green w/ blue.]
Greensky Bluegrass – Stress Dreams CD/2xLP (Big Blue Zoo)
[1/21/22 release promoted this week] As with traditional bluegrass, Greensky Bluegrass writes about their own contemporary day-to-day happenings, emotions, and experiences in the modern world. “Greensky Bluegrass‘ new album, Stress Dreams, howls to life like something conjured from the darkest corners of the soul. After the last two years, that’s certainly a place familiar to us all, though it remains to be seen if this stretch of time is going to have contributed as much growth for everyone else as it seems to have on the band for this disc. Some of Greensky’s finest work comes from an almost tortured musical viewpoint, so it would certainly be understandable if the band delivered an entire album of mournful, raw songs that fans already connect with so perfectly. Instead, the band delivered its most lyrically cerebral, musically diverse—yet somehow united—effort to date.” – Live For Live Music
Anaïs Mitchell – Anaïs Mitchell CD (BMG)
Anaïs Mitchell returns with her first solo studio album in over a decade. “The sound is gently polished and the songs richly melodic enough to bear comparison with Taylor Swift in downhome mode (both Mitchell and Swift contributed vocals to Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner’s last album as Big Red Machine), but the whole enterprise is noticeably low-key. Around Mitchell’s acoustic guitar are delicate shimmers of tremolo-heavy guitar or electric piano; little smears of electronics so subtly placed you barely notice them first time around; the occasional sax solo courtesy of Bon Iver sideman Michael Lewis, sprawling gracefully in a way that recalls the same instrument’s use on Nick Drake’s Bryter Layter, as well as Lewis’s work on Gayngs’ small-hours soft rock-inspired album Relayted. Even the drums are gently tapped: rimshots rather than snares; brushes and soft mallets rather than drumsticks. That the musical scenery is shot in soft focus draws the listener’s attention to Mitchell’s distinctive voice…” – The Guardian [Vinyl edition – including an indie store exclusive pressing – due March 25.]
Aoife O’Donovan – Age Of Apathy CD/2xCD/LP+MP3/2xLP+MP3 (Yep Roc)
[1/21/22 release promoted this week] Produced by fellow Grammy-winner Joe Henry (Bonnie Raitt, Rhiannon Giddens) and featuring guest appearances from Allison Russell and Madison Cunningham, Age Of Apathy finds Aoife O’Donovan’s gift for poetic imagery and unconventionally alluring melody in full bloom as she confronts the sense-dulling barrage of the digital age. Amid symphonic arrangements that reveal a stunning mastery of her craft, Aoife puts forth a statement of defiance and radical love – one that reaffirms her as one of our most vital songwriters today. [A deluxe double-CD edition featuring eight of the album tracks re-recorded in the studio and performed solo acoustic is available, in addition to a bone color vinyl pressing. A limited-edition double-LP color vinyl edition featuring the eight bonus tracks on the double-CD is due February 25.]
Penny And Sparrow – Olly Olly CD/LP (I Love You)
[1/21/22 release promoted this week] Written and recorded over the past year, Penny And Sparrow’s remarkable new album, Olly Olly, is a work of liberation and revelation, a full-throated embrace of the self from a band that’s committed to leaving no stone unturned in their tireless quest for actualization. The songs here are fearless and introspective, embracing growth and change as they reckon with desire, intimacy, doubt, and regret, and the arrangements are similarly bold and thoughtful, augmenting the duo’s rich, hypnotic brand of chamber folk with electronic flourishes and R&B grooves.
Pinegrove – 11:11 CD/LP (Rough Trade)
Pinegrove’s new album 11:11 is an unqualified triumph, an album that seizes listeners with hook-filled songs imbuing feelings of warmth, urgency, and poetic beauty, even as it asks some of life’s big and difficult questions. On previous Pinegrove recordings, band member Sam Skinner usually oversees mixing duties, but this time out, noted producer and former Death Cab for Cutie member Chris Walla has assumed the role. Calling previous album Marigold’s production “crisp and contained,” Hall, who co-produced 11:11 with Sam, sought more of a “messier” feel for these new songs. The album features lush soundscapes, organs, Megan Benavente’s melodic and adventurous bass playing, Josh Marre’s signature guitar work and a special guest – Doug Hall, Evan’s father- playing piano on many tracks. The record sounds intimate, yet expansive. [A limited edition translucent red color vinyl pressing is available.]
St. Paul & The Broken Bones – Alien Coast CD/LP (ATO/Virgin)
A fever dream in sonic form, The Alien Coast is the first album St. Paul & The Broken Bones recorded in their hometown of Birmingham. Produced by Matt Ross-Spang, the bands fourth full-length is a dizzying convergence of rock ‘n’ roll, R&B, psychedelia, stoner metal, gospel and jazz-funk. At turns explosive, elegant, and thrillingly unhinged – it makes for a majestic backdrop to the group’s visceral exploration of the strangest dimensions of the human psyche. [A limited-edition indie store exclusive gold color vinyl pressing is also available.]
Steve Vai – Inviolate CD (Mascot Label Group)
Vai’s newest and 10th solo album, Inviolate, is a nine-song opus that pushes the boundaries of instrumental guitar music. For the recording, Vai invented not just a new guitar, but also a new guitar-playing technique. “An inviolate inspiration is one that comes to you completely pure,” Vai explains. “It appears almost in its completeness, and there’s a recognition of it as being right for you – perfectly right for you. There’s no excuses in it. There’s no fantasy in it. There’s just a recognition of ‘yes.’ And then you capture that in a way that’s authentic to your unique creativity. Hopefully, that’s what I’ve done with this record.” [Vinyl edition due March 18.]
Immanuel Wilkens – The 7th Hand CD/2xLP (Blue Note)
Alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins follows-up his acclaimed debut, Omega, with another striking album featuring his remarkable quartet with pianist Micah Thomas, bassist Daryl Johns, and drummer Kweku Sumbry, plus appearances by flutist Elena Pinderhughes and the Farafina Kan Percussion Ensemble. It consists of an hour-long suite comprised of seven movements that strive to bring them closer to complete vesselhood by the end, where the music would be entirely improvised and channeled collectively.
Additional Social Media Program Titles Released This Week:
Anais Mitchell – Anais Mitchell CD (BMG)
Anaïs Mitchell returns with her first solo studio album in over a decade. “The sound is gently polished and the songs richly melodic enough to bear comparison with Taylor Swift in downhome mode (both Mitchell and Swift contributed vocals to Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner’s last album as Big Red Machine), but the whole enterprise is noticeably low-key. Around Mitchell’s acoustic guitar are delicate shimmers of tremolo-heavy guitar or electric piano; little smears of electronics so subtly placed you barely notice them first time around; the occasional sax solo courtesy of Bon Iver sideman Michael Lewis, sprawling gracefully in a way that recalls the same instrument’s use on Nick Drake’s Bryter Layter, as well as Lewis’s work on Gayngs’ small-hours soft rock-inspired album Relayted. Even the drums are gently tapped: rimshots rather than snares; brushes and soft mallets rather than drumsticks. That the musical scenery is shot in soft focus draws the listener’s attention to Mitchell’s distinctive voice…” – The Guardian [Vinyl edition due March 25.]
CDs + Vinyl:
Bad Suns – Apocalypse Whenever CD/LP+MP3 (Epitaph)
Apocalypse Whenever features dreamy ’80s pastiche flanked by Stratocasters through cranked Vox amps, pulsing synths, and palpable rhythmic energy. While all the elements associated with the band’s signature sound are beautifully showcased, their fourth studio album sees Bad Suns take a more conceptual approach to their songwriting. The 13-track album was conceived as “the soundtrack to a movie that doesn’t yet exist,” setting the scene as the album’s protagonist washes up on the shores of a fictionalized L.A. after a near-death experience at the hands of the turbulent ocean. In order to fully conceptualize their story, the band did what any good director would do; assembling a mood board, filtering their neo-noir version of Los Angeles through the dreamlike haziness of author Haruki Murakami, the futuristic flair of Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Blade Runner, and the lifted cinematography of Spike Jonze’s HER.
Bill Callahan & Bonnie Prince Billy – Blind Date Party CD/LP/Cassette (Drag City)
Bill & Bonnie shared these songs with a travel-challenged world from fall 2020 through Spring 2021; now their online sensation comes home to roost on the good ol’ fashioned format in which all these songs were originally heard in the first place. A record to, from, for and dedicated to almost everyone. Hats off! Pants off too! NOW it’s a party.
Brent Cobb – And Now, Let’s Turn To Page… CD (Ol’ Buddy)
And Now, Let’s Turn to Page… is the fifth album overall and debut gospel album from Georgia singer-songwriter Brent Cobb. It includes eight traditional songs and hymnals Cobb grew up singing in church plus one new original song (“When It’s My Time”), incorporating multiple genres – country, Southern rock, blues, folk, soul. Produced, engineered, and mixed by six-time Grammy-winning producer Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell, John Prine, Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton) at RCA Studio A in Nashville, TN.
Combo Chimbita – IRÉ CD/LP+MP3 (ANTI-)
Continuing their mystical saga, Combo Chimbita roar back onto the global stage with their cathartic new album, IRÉ, channeling the fear, rage and empathy of a world in flames into an urgent spirit of musical dissidence. The album’s evocative title is forged upon double-edged meaning: on one hand embracing the divinely inspired blessings and prosperity foretold by our spiritual elders, and on the other a brazen, propulsive affirmation of revolutionary futures in the making. Afro-Caribbean transcendence, bewildering chants, booming drums and psychedelic distortion lay the rhythmic foundation for IRÉ; a testament to the ever-expanding scope of Combo Chimbita’s sonic palette and their modes of resistance in realms both spiritual and terrestrial. [Vinyl edition due February 18.]
Ryan Culwell – Run Like A Bull CD (Missing Piece)
Run Like a Bull is the third album from singer/songwriter Ryan Culwell and his first new album in over three years. His 2018 album, The Last American, was praised by the Associated Press, NPR, Wide Open Country, and Rolling Stone who said, “It took three years for this Texas-born singer/songwriter to follow up his bleak but marvelous LP Flatlands – and this 180 from that 2015 release’s spare sound was worth the wait.” [A limited-edition orange, green, and clear vinyl edition is due February 25.]
Diasonics – Origin Of Forms CD/LP (Record Kicks)
The vibrant debut album by the Moscow funk band; a mix of cinematic funk, instrumental hip-hop and soviet psychedelia.
Earthless – Night Parade Of One Hundred Demons CD/2xLP (Nuclear Blast)
There’s an ancient Japanese legend in which a horde of demons, ghosts and other terrifying ghouls descend upon the sleeping villages once a year. Known as Hyakki Yagyō, or the Night Parade Of One Hundred Demons, one version of the tale states that anyone who witnesses this otherworldly procession will die instantly-or be carried off by the creatures of the night. As a result, the villagers hide in their homes, lest they become victims of these supernatural invaders. Such is the inspiration for the latest album from Earthless. Whereas 2018’s Black Heaven featured shorter songs and vocals from guitarist Isaiah Mitchell on much of the album-an unprecedented move for the San Diego power trio- their latest is a return to the epic instrumentals Earthless made their unmistakable name on. Night Parade Of One Hundred Demons is comprised of two monster songs – the 41-minute, two-part title track and the 20-minute “Death To The Red Sun”. [A gold color vinyl featuring an etched D-side is available.]
Eels – Extreme Witchcraft CD/LP/2xLP+CD (E Works/PIAS)
Eels have had one of the most consistently acclaimed careers in music. The ever-changing project of principal singer/songwriter E (Mark Oliver Everett), Eels have released thirteen studio albums since their 1996 debut, Beautiful Freak. During the height of the pandemic lockdown in early 2021, E got an out of the blue message from Mark Romanek, director of the first Eels video, “Novocaine For the Soul”. It triggered him to reach out to John Parish, who was in between numerous projects and immediately got to work in his HonorSound studio in Bristol and began sending ideas to E. “I’d sneak out of bed at 4 in the morning to hear the latest thing John had sent and try to add my part to it and get it back to him quickly before my 4-year-old son woke up,” E says. The resulting album is Extreme Witchcraft. [A limited box set edition featuring a 45rpm master of the album on yellow color vinyl plus a copy on CD and an Extreme Witchcraft Ouija Board with custom Eels planchette and sticker sheet.]
Simone Felice – All The Bright Coins CD/LP (Chysalis)
Simone Felice has long dedicated his storied life to the arts, and perhaps his brushes with death during childhood as heard in the song “No Tomorrows” have proved an unlikely but powerful source of inspiration. All The Bright Coins is his latest, arguably greatest devotion to song and the power of the words within it. There had been no grand plans to write this new album. Simone was happy with his lot and becoming increasingly more successful as a frontline record producer and songwriter (The Lumineers, Bat For Lashes, Jade Bird, Matt Maeson featuring Lana Del Rey, and indeed, The Felice Brothers) but, he muses, sometimes the lure and pull of penning his own material becomes too strong to resist, most closely referenced in the track “Puppet” featuring Four Tet.
Eric Gales – Crown CD/2xLP (Mascot Label Group)
Eric Gales is a blues firebrand. Over 30 years and 18 albums, his passion for the music and his boundless desire to keep it vital has never waned, even when his own light dimmed due to his substance struggles. Throughout it all, he continued to reinvigorate the art form with personal revelation in his lyrics and bold stylistic twists in his guitar playing and songwriting. Five years sober, creatively rejuvenated, and sagely insightful, Eric is ready for the fight of his career. Aptly, he calls his masterful new album, Crown. Here, Eric opens like never before, sharing his struggles with substance abuse, his hopes about a new era of sobriety and unbridled creativity, and his personal reflections on racism. The songs are delivered with clarity and feature Eric’s personal experiences and hope for positive change. In addition, the 16-track collection boasts his finest singing, songwriting, and his signature guitar playing that burns throughout. Produced by Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith, this is Eric at his most boldly vulnerable, uncompromisingly political, and unflinchingly confident. [Two limited-edition color vinyl pressings are available: gold and green w/ blue.]
Hallows Eve – Death And Insanity [Reissue/1986] CD/LP (Metal Blade)
Hallows Eve – Monument [Reissue/1988] CD/LP (Metal Blade)
Formed in 1983, Hallows Eve was one of the first thrash bands in metal history, alongside heavyweights such as Metallica, Slayer (whom they supported on their Hell Awaits tour), Exodus and Anthrax. They mixed Black Sabbath, Motörhead and Iron Maiden riffs with the energy of punk-like Dead Kennedys and added a touch of Alice Cooper’s image. Their first two-track demo caused a big buzz on the tape-trading scene and secured them a spot on the legendary Metal Massacre VI compilation (besides Possessed, Nasty Savage, Hirax, Dark Angel), released by Brian Slagel. As a natural progress, they signed to his label Metal Blade Records later. 1985 saw the release of the genre defining thrash classic Tales Of Terror followed by two more signature slabs, 1986’s Death & Insanity and 1988’s Monument.
PJ Harvey – Let England Shake – Demos CD/LP+MP3 (Island)
A collection of unreleased demos of tracks written for the eighth PJ Harvey studio album Let England Shake, including demos of “The Words That Maketh Murder”, “The Glorious Land” and “The Last Living Rose”. Features brand new artwork – the cover is a drawing by Polly, and the package also includes previously unseen photos by Seamus Murphy. Mastering by Jason Mitchell at Loud Mastering, under the guidance of longtime PJ Harvey producer John Parish. [A 180gm vinyl reissue of the original album is also available this week.]
Hazemaze – Blinded By The Wicked CD/LP (Heavy Psych Sounds)
New album from the rock ‘n’ doom band. “In the year of the pandemic, we decided to finally put our efforts towards writing a new record. As the year progressed and the world got darker, so did our songwriting. For this record, we wanted to continue to follow the same dark thematic approach as our previous release, but even more sinister and complex. Blinded By The Wicked explores cults and their leaders’ malevolent intentions that corrupted the weak minded. [Several color vinyl pressings are available.]
Jethro Tull – The Zealot Gene CD/2xLP+CD/3xLP+2xCD+Blu-ray Audio (Inside Out U.S.)
Jethro Tull return with its first album of all-new music for 22 years. Evoking Biblical writings in a wholly different way from the now 51-year-old Aqualung, The Zealot Gene – in the making since 2017 – is a darker album for darker times. Ian Anderson elaborates, “While I have a spot of genuine fondness for the pomp and fairytale story-telling of the Holy Book, I still feel the need to question and draw sometimes unholy parallels from the text. The good, the bad, and the downright ugly rear their heads throughout, but are punctuated with elements of love, respect, and tenderness.” Music born of emotional necessity put together by a band with nothing to prove, The Zealot Gene is a worthy addition to a peerless catalogue. [A limited-edition red color vinyl pressing and a Deluxe box including triple-LP plus double-CD plus 5.1 Blu-ray audio artbook edition with bonus demo material and a turntable slipmat are available.]
Lady Blackbird – Black Acid Soul CD/LP (BMG)
Lady Blackbird didn’t mean to soundtrack a revolution. But last spring, that’s exactly what she did. On May 27, 2020, Los Angeles-based singer Marley Munroe released her debut single. Now, “the Grace Jones of Jazz, ” as dubbed by BBC’s Gilles Peterson, presents her debut album, Black Acid Soul. Minimal yet rich, classic yet timely, the album connects backwards to Miles Davis (his pianist, Deron Johnson, plays Steinway Baby Grand, Mellotron and Casio Synth throughout) and forwards to Pete Tong (he made the Bruise mix of “Collage” his Number Two Essential Selection tune of 2020) and, yes, Victoria Beckham – Matthew Herbert’s remix of second single “Beware The Stranger” soundtracked the designer’s Spring/Summer 2020 Fashion show.
Lady Wray – Piece Of Me 2xCD/LP (Big Crown)
The sophomore full length offering from Lady Wray is something of a homecoming for Nicole. Where her 2016 solo debut Queen Alone leaned more towards soul and R&B with tinges of hip-hop, this record changes the mixture. It’s still R&B with the textures of analog soul, but there is a heavy hip-hop influence that brings the sum of Nicole’s career together in a new sound that will define her future. Boom-bap drums and chunky bass lines are front-and-center creating a perfect head-nodding backdrop for Lady Wray to take on the good, the bad, the difficult, and the joyful on her most personal collection of songs to date. [An indie store exclusive deep emerald color vinyl pressing is available.]
Lana Lane – Neptune Blue CD (Frontiers)
Lana Lane is an accomplished rock vocalist and Neptune Blue is her first new studio album in 10 years. The lineup includes Erik Norlander on keyboards, bass & background vocals, Jeff Kollman on lead & rhythm guitars, Mark McCrite on rhythm & acoustic guitars, additional bass guitar, & backing vocals, and Greg Ellis on drums & percussion. Lana has been dubbed “The Queen of Symphonic Rock” by fans yet she remains a versatile artist able to move from jazz to prog metal with ease.
The Last Ten Seconds Of Life – The Last Ten Seconds Of Life CD (Unique Leader)
The career defining new album from Pennsylvania’s heaviest straddles nu metal, rock, death metal and downtempo genres. [A limited-edition gold w/ black splatter color vinyl pressing is due February 25.]
Tracy Lawrence – Hindsight 2020, Vol 3: Angelina CD (Laurence Music Group)
Country music icon, Tracy Lawrence, reached an incredible milestone in 2021 – the year marking his 30th anniversary making the classic country music that put him on the map. His capsule collection project, Hindsight 2020, consists of three volumes that revisit some of his greatest hits along with all-new material for fans to fall in love with. The third and final volume release, Hindsight 2020, Volume 3: Angelina.
Aaron Lewis – Frayed At Both Ends CD (Valory)
After 10 years in Nashville, two No. 1 country albums and several hundred thousand miles playing shows, Aaron Lewis recognizes the part of America that no one is speaking to – or for. Frayed At Both Ends is his measure of the wages of being a grown-up in today’s world, an American in a nation torn apart and a man seeking love and redemption in the words of his songs. [Vinyl edition due May 13.]
Lil Baby/Lil Durk – The Voice Of The Heroes CD (Quality Control)
Lil Baby and Lil Durk unleash their new album The Voice Of The Heroes, with the Atlanta and Chicago rap giants teaming up for a supercharged project that features the likes of Travis Scott, Meek Mill, Young Thug, and Rod Wave.
Lisa – Lalisa CDEP (Interscope)
Two limited versions: black box and gold box. After rising to the top of the K-Pop world with BLACKPINK, Lisa makes her solo debut with Lalisa, a powerful new single accompanied by B-side “Money”. These box editions contain the CD, an 88-page photobook, a photo card (random 1 of 4), a Polaroid (random 1 of 4), a double-sided poster, and an extra photo card. Also included in the first pressing is a rare gold photo card (random 1 of 4), and 50 random boxes will contain a rare large postcard.
Amber Mark – Three Dimensions Deep CD/2xLP (Interscope)
Creative multi-hyphenate Amber Mark releases her ethereal debut album, Three Dimensions Deep, featuring critically acclaimed singles “Foreign Things”, “Worth It”, and more.
Anaïs Mitchell – Anaïs Mitchell CD (BMG)
Anaïs Mitchell returns with her first solo studio album in over a decade. “The sound is gently polished and the songs richly melodic enough to bear comparison with Taylor Swift in downhome mode (both Mitchell and Swift contributed vocals to Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner’s last album as Big Red Machine), but the whole enterprise is noticeably low-key. Around Mitchell’s acoustic guitar are delicate shimmers of tremolo-heavy guitar or electric piano; little smears of electronics so subtly placed you barely notice them first time around; the occasional sax solo courtesy of Bon Iver sideman Michael Lewis, sprawling gracefully in a way that recalls the same instrument’s use on Nick Drake’s Bryter Layter, as well as Lewis’s work on Gayngs’ small-hours soft rock-inspired album Relayted. Even the drums are gently tapped: rimshots rather than snares; brushes and soft mallets rather than drumsticks. That the musical scenery is shot in soft focus draws the listener’s attention to Mitchell’s distinctive voice…” – The Guardian [Vinyl edition – including an indie store exclusive pressing – due March 25.]
Wade Morgan – Reckless [Deluxe Edition] CD (SME Nashville)
With a voice that is raw hurt, deep knowing and somehow innocence retained, Wade wrote or co-wrote a song cycle about the reality facing teens and 20-somethings that embraced raw desire, the reality of getting high and getting sober, the realm of crawling through the wreckage with a tough vulnerability that is as singular as the young woman from Floyd, Virginia.
Pinegrove – 11:11 CD/LP (Rough Trade)
Pinegrove’s new album 11:11 is an unqualified triumph, an album that seizes listeners with hook-filled songs imbuing feelings of warmth, urgency, and poetic beauty, even as it asks some of life’s big and difficult questions. On previous Pinegrove recordings, band member Sam Skinner usually oversees mixing duties, but this time out, noted producer and former Death Cab for Cutie member Chris Walla has assumed the role. Calling previous album Marigold’s production “crisp and contained,” Hall, who co-produced 11:11 with Sam, sought more of a “messier” feel for these new songs. The album features lush soundscapes, organs, Megan Benavente’s melodic and adventurous bass playing, Josh Marre’s signature guitar work and a special guest – Doug Hall, Evan’s father- playing piano on many tracks. The record sounds intimate, yet expansive. [A limited edition translucent red color vinyl pressing is available.]
Praying Mantis – Katharsis CD/LP (Frontiers)
Praying Mantis deliver their twelfth studio album, Katharsis, which sees the long-running British rock band steadily progressing from the sonic signatures of their last release, Gravity.
Redskins – Neither Washington Nor Moscow [Reissue/1986] 4xCD/LP (London)
Digitally remastered (single LP and expanded four-CD) edition of this political pop band’s 1986 album.
Rick Ross – Richer Than I’ve Ever Been CD (Epic)
Richer Than I Ever Been is Rick Ross’ eleventh studio album and oozes the kind of diamond-encrusted lyrical opulence that made him one of the greatest of this generation. The Grammy Award-nominated multiplatinum superstar, two-time New York Times-Bestselling author, and business magnate makes everything feel “rich,” eclipsing material wealth and hinting at a much more substantive spirit. Guest features include Wale, Future, 21 Savage and Wiz Khalifa among others. The deluxe 15 track version of the album features three additional songs: “Revelations,” “Vacheron” featuring AZ, and “Not For Nothing” featuring Anderson.Paak.
Saxon – Saxon [Reissue/1979] CD (Union Square)
Saxon – Strong Arm Of The Law [Reissue/1980] CD (Union Square)
Saxon – Wheels Of Steel [Reissue/1980] CD (Union Square)
Saxon – Denim And Leather [Reissue/1981] CD (Union Square)
Saxon – The Eagle Has Landed (Live) [Reissue/1982] CD (Union Square)
Saxon – The Power And The Glory [Reissue/1983] CD (Union Square)
Saxon – Crusader [Reissue/1984] CD (Union Square)
Saxon – Innocence Is No Excuse [Reissue/1985] CD (Union Square)
Saxon – Rock The Nations [Reissue/1986] CD (Union Square)
Saxon – Destiny [Reissue/1988] CD (Union Square)
Digitally remastered and expanded editions of the British Heavy Metal band’s early work.
Snarls – What About Flowers? CDEP (Take This To Heart)
What About Flowers?, Snarls’ Chris Walla-produced EP, pulses with the rhythm of the Pacific Northwest. It’s a release that shines in solitude and asks questions of absences: the same winning formula that’s gripped the region for decades. In the year-plus since Burst, the band
has scaled their emotional intelligence to match their growth off-mic, transforming the simmering “For You” from a tender moment into a tortured one and opener “Fixed Gear” from worry to weightlessness. “If Only”, the set’s closer, is another ghostly expression of tension and release-when the band let’s up for air, the lyrics are choked by confusion and loneliness.
St. Paul & The Broken Bones – Alien Coast CD/LP (ATO/Virgin)
A fever dream in sonic form, The Alien Coast is the first album St. Paul & The Broken Bones recorded in their hometown of Birmingham. Produced by Matt Ross-Spang, the bands fourth full-length is a dizzying convergence of rock ‘n’ roll, R&B, psychedelia, stoner metal, gospel and jazz-funk. At turns explosive, elegant, and thrillingly unhinged – it makes for a majestic backdrop to the group’s visceral exploration of the strangest dimensions of the human psyche. [A limited-edition indie store exclusive gold color vinyl pressing is also available.]
Teddy Swims – Tough Love CDEP (Warner Bros)
The EP begins with the cinematic opener “L.I.F.E”. Between sweeping atmospherics and stark piano, his voice echoes with the reminder, “That’s just life…nobody said it would be easy.” Written by songwriting powerhouses Poo Bear [Justin Bieber, Usher] and John Ryan [Maroon 5, John Legend], the track brought the best out of Teddy. Co-written with Wrabel [P!nk, Ke$ha] and Ian Kirkpatrick [Nick Jonas, Selena Gomez], acoustic guitar, twinkling keys, and gospel harmonies underline “Will It Find Me” as he delivers a towering vocal performance. “I wrote it three years ago in the bathroom of my house where the acoustics sounded descent,” he recalls. “We built this beautiful song around a shitty little bathroom voice memo.”
The Temptations – Temptations 60 CD (UMe)
An album of brand-new songs from the #1 R&B group of all time. Featuring tracks written and produced by Narada Michael Walden, young hip hop producer K. Sparks, longtime group member Ron Tyson, founding member Otis Williams, and the equally legendary Smokey Robinson, whose classic songs launched the group’s original hit streak.
Steve Vai – Inviolate CD (Mascot Label Group)
Vai’s newest and 10th solo album, Inviolate, is a nine-song opus that pushes the boundaries of instrumental guitar music. For the recording, Vai invented not just a new guitar, but also a new guitar-playing technique. “An inviolate inspiration is one that comes to you completely pure,” Vai explains. “It appears almost in its completeness, and there’s a recognition of it as being right for you – perfectly right for you. There’s no excuses in it. There’s no fantasy in it. There’s just a recognition of ‘yes.’ And then you capture that in a way that’s authentic to your unique creativity. Hopefully, that’s what I’ve done with this record.” [Vinyl edition due March 18.]
The Weeknd – Dawn FM CD (Xo)
Dawn FM is the fifth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter The Weeknd. The album is narrated by Jim Carrey, and features guest appearances from Tyler, the Creator and Lil Wayne. The production was handled by The Weeknd himself alongside Oneohtrix Point Never – who produced most of the tracks-as well as Max Martin, Oscar Holter, Calvin Harris, and Swedish House Mafia, among others. The album serves as a follow-up to The Weeknd’s fourth studio album, After Hours (2020). [Vinyl edition due April 29.]
Orlando Weeks – Hop Up CD (PIAS)
Arriving in the wake of his critically acclaimed debut solo album A Quickening, Weeks once again leans into themes of new life & parenthood, but whereas his previous work catalogued the emotions, expectations and anxieties that accompany imminent parenthood, Hop Up is an altogether more joyous and life affirming statement. Featuring inspiring contributions from Katy J Pearson, Willie J Healey and Ben Reed. [Vinyl edition due February 11.]
Immanuel Wilkens – The 7th Hand CD/2xLP (Blue Note)
Alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins follows-up his acclaimed debut, Omega, with another striking album featuring his remarkable quartet with pianist Micah Thomas, bassist Daryl Johns, and drummer Kweku Sumbry, plus appearances by flutist Elena Pinderhughes and the Farafina Kan Percussion Ensemble. It consists of an hour-long suite comprised of seven movements that strive to bring them closer to complete vesselhood by the end, where the music would be entirely improvised and channeled collectively.
Lucinda Williams – Lu’s Jukebox Vol. 6: You Are Cordially Invited….A Tribute To The Rolling Stones CD/2xLP (Highway 20)
Lu’s Jukebox is a six-volume series of mostly full-band performances recorded live at Ray Kennedy’s Room & Board Studio in Nashville, TN. Each volume features a themed set of songs by other artists curated by the multi-Grammy award winner, Lucinda Williams. The series aired as ticketed shows through Mandolin in late 2020 with a portion of ticket sales benefitting independent music venues struggling to get by through the pandemic.
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
The 5th Dimension – Greatest Hits On Earth [Reissue/1972] LP (Sony Legacy)
Vinyl reissue of the compilation consisting of R&B/soul group’s charted singles from both Soul City and Bell labels.
Leo Acosta – Acosta [Reissue/1970] LP (Mad About Records)
Leobardo Acosta Quintanar was born in Huetamo, Michoacán in 1925. He was a notable drummer, composer, arranger, and orchestrator. In 1970, he recorded a last LP for Capitol with a small combo formed with some of his closest peers.
Tori Amos – Ocean To Ocean 2xLP (Verve)
Released last fall on CD – now available on vinyl. Despite the various crises that have occurred since 2017’s Native Invader, Tori Amos has emerged with Ocean To Ocean, her most personal work in years – an album bursting with warmth and connection, with deep roots in her earliest song writing. Written during the third lockdown in Cornwall in 2021, Ocean To Ocean is a universal story of going to rock bottom and renewing yourself all over again.
Anteloper – Kudu LP (International Anthem)
Anteloper is the electric brainchild of Jaimie Branch (Fly Or Die, High Life) and Jason Nazary (Little Women, Helado Negro, Bear In Heaven). Branch and Nazary have been playing together as trumpeter and drummer for years, since meeting at the New England Conservatory of Music in 2002, but in this duo both musicians include synthesizers to push further into the spectral spaceship ether. With deep rhythmic passages, telepathic improvisations and effortless melodic negotiations, Anteloper pushes forward, swinging its horns all the while. [A limited-edition indie store exclusive blue color vinyl pressing is available.]
The Beths – Jump Rope Gazers [Reissue/2020] LP+MP3 (Carpark)
Clear vinyl pressing. Songwriter/lead vocalist Elizabeth Stokes worked on The Beths’ second LP, Jump Rope Gazers, in between these intense periods of touring. Like their earlier music, the album tackles themes of anxiety and self-doubt with effervescent power pop choruses and rousing backup vocals, zeroing in on the communality and catharsis that can come from sharing stressful situations with some of your best friends. Their most emotive and heartfelt work to date, Jump Rope Gazers stares down all the hard parts of living in communion with other people, even at a distance, while celebrating the ferocious joy that makes it all worth it.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Beat The Devil’s Tattoo [Reissue/2010] 2xLP (Vagrant)
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Specter At The Feast [Reissue/2013] 2xLP (Vagrant)
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Wrong Creatures [Reissue/2018] 2xLP (Vagrant)
BRMC’s fifth, sixth, and seventh albums are back in-print on vinyl.
Jason Boland & The Stragglers – The Light Saw Me LP (Proud Souls)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The Light Saw Me is as incisive and thought-provoking as any of Jason Boland’s previous albums and shows he truly belongs alongside the great songwriters of his time. Drawing from influences as wide as Willie Nelson’s Red Headed Stranger and Tougher Than Leather to Queensrÿche’s Operation: Mindcrime, Boland succeeded by creating a concept album that’s as ambitious as it is accessible. On the surface, The Light Saw Me traces a cowboy living in Texas in the 1890s who is abducted by aliens and ends up in Texas in the 1990s, but there’s way more to it. Packed into three distinctive interlocking parts, The Light Saw Me is layered with vivid imagery that touches on old legends (such as a spacecraft allegedly crashing in Aurora, Texas which thematically fits), conspiracies and other accounts that run contrary to reality. Referencing aliens can oftentimes be campy and corny, but Boland uses them in a fascinating fashion.
Buckcherry – Hellbound LP (Round Hill)
Ninth album from the long-running California rockers. Hellbound was produced by Marti Frederiksen (Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Jonny Lang, Sheryl Crow), who previously produced the California rockers’ fourth album, Black Butterfly, and co-wrote one of their biggest hits, “Sorry”.
Burial – Antidawn LP+MP3 (Hyperdub)
Antidawn reduces Burial’s music to just the vapors. The record explores an interzone between dislocated, patchwork songwriting and eerie, open-world game-space ambience. In the resulting no man’s land, lyrics take precedence over song, lonely phrases color the haze, a stark and fragmented structure makes time slow down. Antidawn seems to tell a story of a wintertime city, and something beckoning you to follow it into the night. The result is both comforting and disturbing, producing a quiet and uncanny glow against the cold. Sometimes, as it enters ‘a bad place’, it takes your breath away. And time just stops. [CD edition due March 4.]
Cloakroom – Dissolution Wave LP (Relapse)
Yellow color vinyl pressing. Cloakroom celebrate their tenth anniversary as a band with their new album, Dissolution Wave. The eight-track collection is a concept – a space western in which an act of theoretical physics – the dissolution wave – wipes out all of humanity’s existing art and abstract thought. In order to keep the world spinning on its axis, songsmiths must fill the ether with their compositions. [CD edition due February 4.]
Ornette Coleman – Round Trip – The Complete Ornette Coleman 6xLP (Blue Note)
Coleman shook the jazz world when he arrived at the Five Spot Café in New York City in 1959 and began his run of seminal albums on Atlantic that laid the foundation for the free jazz movement to come. After a period of disillusionment during which he withdrew from public music making, Coleman re-emerged on Blue Note in 1966 and began writing an intriguing new chapter of his legendary career. This set includes At The ‘Golden Circle’ Stockholm, Vol. 1 (1965), At The ‘Golden Circle’ Stockholm, Vol. 2 (1965), The Empty Foxhole (1966), New And Old Gospel (1967), New York Is Now! (1968), and Love Call (1968).
Comeback Kid – Heavy Steps 2xLP (Nuclear Blast)
White color vinyl pressing of Comeback Kid’s new album. The five-piece has undoubtedly over the years been able to balance a DIY ethos and dependability, with that of a humanitarian ethos, and genre defining musicianship which has broken down the boundaries of hardcore and transcended the genre onto a global stage.
Charlotte Cornfield – Highs In The Minuses LP (Double Double Whammy)
Limited-edition blue color vinyl pressing. When the world shut down in March 2020, Charlotte Cornfield was in the middle of an artist residency in the Rocky Mountains, hunkered down in a hut with a baby grand piano, sketching ideas for a follow-up album to her Polaris-Longlisted 2019 LP The Shape of Your Name. The result is Highs In The Minuses, a memoir in fragments. Here Cornfield fully embraces the role of narrator, moving from one vignette to another in a colorful collage. We see her at 21, heartbroken and lost, carrying a friend’s 3-legged cat back to her apartment in a box; then as a teenager, playing a new song for a group of friends on a trampoline. She sings of a magical first date, an ex with a mean streak, two skateboarders gliding in a lakeside parking lot.
DJ Kay Slay – Accolades 2xLP (Streetsweepers Entertainment)
Building on his already impressive resume, DJ Kay Slay returns to set the streets ablaze with his latest offering, Accolades. Featuring the next installment in the highly acclaimed posse cut series, Rolling Deep, DJ Kay Slay blesses listeners with the ultimate version, “Rolling 110 Deep”, containing over 40 minutes of pure bars from some of hip-hop royalty, including Sheek Louch, Styles P, Dave East, Crooked I, Black Thought, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah and many more.
Dokken – Breaking The Chains [Reissue/1981] LP (Friday Music)
180gm audiophile vinyl reissue [a gold color vinyl pressing is also available]. Dokken exploded out of the hotbed that was the hard rock and heavy metal scene in Los Angeles, California in the early ’80s. Originally issued on French label Carrere Records in 1981 and then remixed and remastered for proper distribution by Elektra in 1983, the band’s solid debut album Breaking The Chains features the short lived but lively line-up of Don Dokken (vocals), George Lynch (guitar), Juan Croucier (bass) and Mick Brown (drums).
Elaine Elias – Mirror Mirror LP (Candid)
Released last fall on CD – now available on vinyl. Over the course of a distinguished career spanning nearly 30 albums, multi-Grammy-winning pianist/singer/composer Eliane Elias’ distinctive musical style has emerged as one of the most unique and immediately recognizable sounds in jazz. Elias blends her Brazilian roots and alluring voice with her virtuosic instrumental jazz, classical and compositional skills, while she consistently displays her pianistic mastery and ability to integrate the many artistic roles she takes on.
Enterprise Earth – The Chosen 2xLP (MNRK)
Recently released on CD – now available on clear w/ cobalt color vinyl. Enterprise Earth, a band committed to brutal audio onslaught and proficient excellence, carves out personal meaning from the darkness. They conjure self-determination and iconoclastic independence, from within the bowels of extremity.
Escape The Fate – Dying Is Your Latest Fashion [Reissue/2006] LP+MP3 (Epitaph)
Indie store exclusive opaque red color vinyl pressing. Dying Is Your Latest Fashion is the debut studio album by Escape the Fate, originally released in September 2006. It is the only full-length album and second release with original singer and founding member Ronnie Radke, who would later be incarcerated and eventually become the frontman of his own band, Falling In Reverse, after getting kicked out of Escape The Fate. It is also the last release to feature rhythm guitarist Omar Espinosa and keyboardist / vocalist Carson Allen, as he would depart before the release of the album and was thus uncredited.
Fat Jon as Maurice Galactica – Rapture Kontrolle LP/Cassette (Young Heavy Souls)
Originally released in 2012 under the alias Maurice Galactica, Fat Jon the Ample Soul Physician’s cult-classic instrumental album Rapture Kontrolle is now getting reissued on both vinyl and cassette. The LP is a dynamic collection of 14 instrumental tracks that move like an odyssey through Fat Jon’s musical universe.
Fruit Bats – Sometimes a Cloud Is Just a Cloud: Slow Growers, Sleeper Hits and Lost Songs (2001–2021) 2xLP+MP3 (Merge)
Limited-edition pink and violet vinyl pressing. Eric D. Johnson, the creative force behind Fruit Bats, doesn’t spend a lot of time looking in the rearview mirror. But with the 20th anniversary of his first Fruit Bats release (2001’s Echolocation) on his mind, it seemed as good a time as any to take stock of his work-and he’s doing so in the form of Sometimes A Cloud Is Just A Cloud: Slow Growers, Sleeper Hits And Lost Songs (2001-2021), a two-disc collection that tracks the history of Fruit Bats from its earliest days to right now.
Dexter Gordon – Daddy Plays The Horn [Reissue/1956] LP (BMG)
Reissue of the 1956 classic featuring “Confirmation”, “Autumn In New York” and “You Can Depend On Me”. Dexter Gordon wasn’t quite THE Dexter Gordon when he made Daddy Plays The Horn, but his unique, obtuse way of playing the saxophone and hitting his rhythm section’s playing at weird, swinging angles was already fully formed for this album. Recorded in between periods of tumult and distress -he was in and out of jail with a bear of a heroin addiction – Gordon is one of the finest men to ever put play the saxophone.
Half Moon Run – Seasons Of Change * Inwards & Onwards LP (Glassnote)
Half Moon Run’s album Seasons Of Change (2020) and EP Inwards & Onwards (2021) bundled into one exclusive product. Featuring singles “Grow Into Love” and “How Come My Body”, this combined LP/EP contains the award-winning group’s most recent masterpieces.
Harry Pussy – Superstar LP (Palilalia)
“Somewhere between the first and second Harry Pussy singles, Adris and I worked up a set’s worth of 30-second ‘songs.’ I doubt we ever played the whole thing live, but we did record it over a couple of nights at Rat’s studio around the corner from our Michigan Ave apartment on Miami Beach. Our occasional bandmate, Ian Steinberg, a teenage accordionist whose mom dropped him off for the session, showed up on the second night to contribute vocals and fuzz accordion on several tracks. Of all the songs recorded, only ‘HP Superstar’ was ever released, on 1995’s What Was Music? compilation, though ‘No Hey’, ‘Youth Problem’ and ‘Prelude’ appeared in other versions elsewhere. Live renditions of some of this set are also captured on the ‘Live In Chapel Hill, 1993’ single.” – Bill Orcutt
PJ Harvey – Let England Shake [Reissue/2011] LP (Island)
180gm vinyl reissue of PJ Harvey’s eighth album. Let England Shake features the singles “The Words That Maketh Murder” and “The Glorious Land” and was the second album in the catalogue to win the UK’s Mercury Music Prize.
The Innocence Mission – Now The Day Is Over [Reissue/2004] LP (Badman)
Now The Day Is Over has become a favorite amongst innocence mission fans since its initial release in 2004. Jazz-tinged and dreamy, it’s a timeless record of standards and traditional songs that singer Karen Peris sang to her children as lullabies. This consistent seller from one of America’s longest running indie rock bands is now available on vinyl for the first time and features new artwork (created by Peris) and a new version of the song “Edelweiss” that is available only on this LP.
Jónsi – Without Remorse (Original Motion Picture Score) LP (Krunk)
An elite Navy SEAL (Michael B. Jordan) uncovers an international conspiracy while seeking justice for the murder of his pregnant wife in Without Remorse, the explosive origin story of action hero John Clark – one of the most popular characters in author Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan universe. Jónsi’s (Sigur Rós) score is 23 tracks of pure action, adrenaline and anxiety. “For one whole year Jónsi has devoted himself to finding the soul of Without Remorse,” says director Stefano Sollima. “The complexity, sophistication and elegance of his composition adds incredible depth to the story, which I recommend experiencing on vinyl. I’m sure I will.”
Davy Knowles – What Happens Next LP (Provogue)
Since he was a teen, guitarist and singer-songwriter, Davy Knowles, has shown fierce dedication and devotion to the blues. As a solo artist and a member of Back Door Slam, he conjured the rock-tinged majesty of 1960s Brit-blues; the dazzling virtuosity of 1960s Chicago electric blues; and the hypnotic, one-chord thump of North Mississippi Hill country blues. For his oeuvre and his fiery performances, legendary guitarists and respected musical instrument and accessory companies have heaped on accolades and awarded him brand partnerships.
k.d. lang – All You Can Eat [Reissue/1995] LP (Nonesuch)
Digitally remastered vinyl reissue of lang’s third solo album.
John Lodge – The Royal Affair And After LP (BFD)
Limited-edition blue color vinyl pressing of the 2021 live release from the Moody Blues member. The Royal Affair And After features new live recordings of all his Moody Blues hits, plus special tributes to all his bandmates, Graeme Edge, Justin Hayward, Mike Pinder and Ray Thomas.
Lys – Silent Woods LP (Avantgarde Music)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Lys is the mastermind of Enisum, the well-known Italian atmospheric black metal band. After focusing on his main band for over a decade, the time came for the musician from Val di Susa to temporarily focus on something different. The result isSilent Woods, Lys first solo album, a mélange of atmospheric black metal, acoustic music, nature, landscapes, mountains, rivers and forests.
Charlie Megira – The Abtomatic Miesterzinger Mambo Chic [Reissue/2000] LP (Numero)
On his 2000 debut, Da Abtomatic Meisterzinger Mambo Chic, Megira channels the optimism of post-war America, narcoleptic surf, and the Twin Peaks soundtrack into a lo-fi masterpiece all his own. Sung in both Hebrew and English, Mambo Chic moves at a deliberate pace, unconcerned by the traffic of the modern world and wrapped in a blanket of Tascam 4-track hiss. On “Tomorrow’s Gone” Megira achieves the feat of being so far back in time that he’s somehow living in the future and waiting for the rest of us to arrive. [A limited-edition red/black/yellow multicolor vinyl pressing is available.]
oso oso – Real Stories Of True People, Who Kind Of Looked Liked Monsters [Reissue/2015] LP (Counter Intuitive)
“Let’s get one thing straight – oso oso knows how to craft pop-punk records full of indie spunk, head-bobbing moments and singalong melodies. The band continued their simple formula for making music with 2015’s Real Stories of True People, Who Kind of Looked Like Monsters. They brilliantly walk the tightrope of pop and punk here, a balancing act they pull off all too well once again.”
Carly Pearce – 29: Written In Stone 2xLP (Big Machine)
Released last fall on CD – now available on limited-edition green color vinyl. Carly Pearce expands her critically acclaimed 29 into the full-blown album/song cycle 29: Written In Stone. In classic Carly style, she captures the kind of true Country that’s become the bellwether for the two-time ACM and CMA Awards winner, developing the straightforward emotions and classic sounds that have rapidly defined one of the genre’s most important voices.
Plot In You – Swan Song LP (Fearless)
The Plot In You continue to move forward on Swan Song, their fifth full-length album and second for Fearless Records. The Ohio quartet stare down years of negativity, soured friendships, disappointment, and mistakes and flush it all away in the wake of hammering distortion, towering melodies, cinematic production, and unapologetically cathartic lyrics. [A limited-edition peach color vinyl pressing is available.]
Margo Price – That’s How Rumors Get Started LP+7” (Loma Vista)
180gm silver color vinyl pressing with bonus 7” single. That’s How Rumors Get Started sees Nashville icon and 2019 Best New Artist Grammy nominee Margo Price commit her genre-bending rock ‘n’ roll show to record for the first time, stretching out her emotive twang over sky high soft-rock, burning psychedelic rock ballads, stomping road songs, and sprinkles of pop. With production from her friend and longtime collaborator Sturgill Simpson, it shows both pushing into unexpected directions.
Rise NYC – Rock ‘N’ Roll Manifesto b/w What’s Da T? 12” (World Domination)
White color vinyl pressing. Contains unreleased remixes by Genesis P-Orridge (Psychic TV/Throbbing Gristle) and David J. (Bauhaus/Love and Rockets) of two of NYC’s hidden gem groups of the early 2000s, Rise NYC and Binary Starr System.
Todd Rundgren – Todd [Reissue/1973] 2xLP (Friday Music)
Audiophile 180gm vinyl reissue. or his fifth album Todd, the legendary Todd Rundgren delivered a double album complete with 17 stellar performances. As with many of his solo albums, Rundgren wrote most of the tracks, plays most of the instruments, sings and handles productions duties.
Sea Wolf – Through A Dark Wood [Reissue/2020] LP (Dangerbird)
Everything is alright now. Alex Brown Church – the man behind the dark folk, indie rock band Sea Wolf – wants you to know that from the start. Sea Wolf’s fifth LP, Through A Dark Wood, proves it in 11 textured, sometimes-acoustic, sometimes-electronic, unabashedly honest tracks. But beforehand, everything was decidedly not okay. Church wrote and recorded an entire album after 2014’s streaming-only, stripped down album Song Spells No. 1: Cedarsmoke, but decided to scrap it. He realized those songs lacked a through-line and felt conceptually disjointed, something he attributes to a sense of denial of what had been going behind the scenes – dealing with the disintegration of a long-term relationship, reconciling with the death of an estranged parent, and trying to cope with the magnitude of current events, all while maintaining a passionately beloved, yet slow-burning creative career. So, Church mustered his courage to go back to the drawing board. Starting from scratch, he spent months in his northeast Los Angeles studio writing, singing, tracking, and producing the new set of Sea Wolf songs that comprise Through A Dark Wood. The result is a catharsis record, not merely a breakup record – one that highlights power in vulnerability and bravery in the face of fear.
Skunk In The Roses – Rabid Perfume LP (World Domination)
The debut album by Skunk In The Roses contains the hit single “Sad Sad Vampire” as performed in the new smash movie Mister Sister. Fans of Deee-Lite or Basement Jaxx should look no further. Coral color vinyl pressing.
Slade – Slade Alive! [Reissue/1972] LP (BMG)
Limited red w/ black splatter color vinyl pressing of the first live album by the British rock band.
Times Of Grace – Songs Of Loss And Separation 2xLP (Wicked Good)
Limited-edition turquoise color vinyl pressing featuring an etched D-side. Songs Of Loss And Separation, the sprawling second album from Times Of Grace is insistent in its bluesiness, bleeding distortion and emotion, weaving effortlessly between pensive, heavy, midtempo rock riffs and atmosphere. The band’s sophomore effort and first since 2011 channels a haunting romanticism and deep spiritual yearning that collide in beautiful melancholy. The vocal interplay of Adam Dutkiewicz and Jesse Leach makes for a rich, dense, and enthralling concoction, powering through various trips through dark nights of the soul and mind-expanding excursions into the wild.
Trivium – In The Court Of The Dragon LP (Roadrunner)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. “How long does a ‘return to form’ have to last until it’s just ‘form’? You all know Trivium’s story at this point: the highs of instant classic Ascendancy, the troughs of The Crusade and Vengeance Falls and the stunning redemption of 2017’s The Sin And The Sentence and last year’s What The Dead Men Say. Weirdly, despite all of this contextual weight, when approaching In The Court Of The Dragon you just never really ever felt in any doubt that Trivium 2021 would or could let you down. The band have just been so good, so reliable, in the last five years that you really shouldn’t be surprised to hear that (spoiler alert) this album is another exceptional effort.” – Metal Hammer
Uriah Heep – …Very ‘Eavy Very ‘Umble… [Reissue/1970] LP (Sanctuary)
Uriah Heep – Salisbury [Reissue/1971] LP (Sanctuary)
Limited-edition picture vinyl reissues of the UK prog rock band’s first two albums.
Vulvodynia – Praenuntius Infiniti 2xLP (Unique Leader)
Released last fall on CD – now available on vinyl. The career defining fifth album from South African slam juggernauts featuring a slew of guest performances and production from Christian Donaldson. [Three color vinyl pressings are available.]
Widespread Panic – Widespread Panic [Reissue/1991] 2xLP (Widespread Records)
Widespread Panic – Ain’t Life Grand [Reissue/1994] 2xLP (Widespread Records)
Limited-edition color vinyl pressing of the second and fourth studio albums by the Athens, GA-based band.
Charlotte Day Wilson – Alpha LP (Stone Woman Music)
Charlotte Day Wilson is a 28-year-old vocalist, producer and multi-instrumentalist hailing from Toronto, Canada. With roots ranging from R&B to folk, her soulful, singular voice and timeless sound garnered global attention with the release of her debut EP CDW (2016), along with her work with collaborators BADBADNOTGOOD, Daniel Caesar and River Tiber. [An indie store exclusive translucent pink color vinyl pressing is available.]
Wiz Khalifa – Kush & Orange Juice [Reissue/2010] LP (Rostrum)
Wiz Khalifa’s classic mixtape, Kush & Orange Juice, became a viral sensation and garnered critical acclaim when it was originally released in 2010. Now available on standard black vinyl in a gatefold jacket.
Yes – 9012Live: The Solos [Reissue/1985] LP (Friday Music)
180gm audiophile vinyl reissue. 9012Live: The Solos is the third live album by Yes. Released as a mini-LP in 1985, the album features solos from each of the five band members, plus live versions of two songs from their 1983 album 90125. Featuring the stellar line up of Jon Anderson (vocals/guitar), Chris Squire (bass/vocals), Alan White (drums/vocals), as well as the return of Tony Kaye (keyboards/vocals) and then latest member Trevor Rabin (guitar/vocals).
YoungBoy Never Broke Again – 38 Baby 2 LP (Atlantic)
YoungBoy Never Broke Again – Top 2 LP (Atlantic)
YoungBoy Never Broke Again – AI YoungBoy 2 2xLP (Atlantic)
Three previously digital-only releases from the rising rapper are now available on vinyl.
Cassettes:
Anthrax – Worship Music [Reissue/2011] (Megaforce)
2011 release from one of the four original architects of speed and thrash metal. Not only was Worship Music Anthrax’s first studio release in eight years, but the album marks the return of vocalist Joey Belladonna, whose last studio work with the band was 1990’s Persistence Of Time.
Bill Callahan & Bonnie Prince Billy – Blind Date Party (Drag City)
Bill & Bonnie shared these songs with a travel-challenged world from fall 2020 through Spring 2021; now their online sensation comes home to roost on the good ol’ fashioned format in which all these songs were originally heard in the first place. A record to, from, for and dedicated to almost everyone. Hats off! Pants off too! NOW it’s a party.
Fat Jon as Maurice Galactica – Rapture Kontrolle LP/Cassette (Young Heavy Souls)
Originally released in 2012 under the alias Maurice Galactica, Fat Jon the Ample Soul Physician’s cult-classic instrumental album Rapture Kontrolle is now getting reissued on both vinyl and cassette. The LP is a dynamic collection of 14 instrumental tracks that move like an odyssey through Fat Jon’s musical universe.
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