AIMS Marketing Program/ Featured Titles Promoted This Week:
George Benson – Live At Montreux 1986 2xCD+DVD (Mercury Studios)
A frequent visitor to Montreux, George Benson has selected this show from 1986 as the first he would like released. Taken from the height of his commercial success, the concert includes classics and hits throughout the set, such as “Lady Love Me (One More Time)”, “Love Ballad”, “In Your Eyes”, “Love X Love”, “20/20”, “On Broadway”, “Turn Your Love Around”, “Never Give Up On A Good Thing”, and more.
Sam Burton – Dear Departed CD/LP (Partisan)
Dear Departed, the second album from Sam Burton, arose from a time of rebirth. In the last few years, Burton basically started over. He temporarily abandoned the life he’d built in Los Angeles and spent time with friends and family friends in rural Utah and California. After all that time wandering, couch-surfing, and writing, Burton emerged with more than enough material for his sophomore outing. He joined up with producer Jonathan Wilson to craft a more intricate, layered sound that recalled the lived-in yet immediate singer-songwriter albums of the ’60s and ’70s. Together they achieved a sound that didn’t descend into retro pastiche, but rather became an evocative echo, a dream of the past. In scope, Dear Departed finds Burton using a far bigger canvas than on his debut, giving the emotions therein a new sense of urgency and intensity. But the album still has an intimacy to it, like Burton and his backing musicians are crammed onto the corner stage of a smoke-filled bar in a long-lost time.
John Coltrane – Evenings At The Village Gate: John Coltrane With Eric Dolphy CD/2xLP (Impulse!)
In August of 1961, the John Coltrane Quintet played an engagement at the legendary Village Gate in Greenwich Village, New York. 80 minutes of never-before-heard music from this group was recently discovered at the New York Public Library. The recordings were made by engineer Rich Alderson as part of a test of the Village Gate’s then-new sound system. The tapes seemed to have been lost, were found, but then disappeared again into Library’s vast sound archives. Coltrane played his month-long Village Gate residency with a quintet featuring a revolving cast of musicians. The new album comprises unheard music and provides a glimpse into the powerful but sadly all-too-short musical partnership between Coltrane and Eric Dolphy, who died three years later. This is the only recording of their vaunted Village Gate performances.
glaive – i care so much that i don’t care at all CD/LP (IGA)
Produced with previous collaborators Jeff Hazin and Ralph Castelli, alt-pop prodigy glaive’s debut album – i care so much that i don’t care at all – finds him turning inward, reflecting with blunt honesty about growing up and outgrowing his North Carolina hometown. Glaive recorded the 13-track collection in a windowless garage in L.A. with a dog and no air conditioning. Featuring the singles “as if” and “i’m nothing that’s all i am.” His three EPs to date have received widespread critical acclaim, landing him at the top of best-of lists from The New York Times, The Fader and more. [A limited-edition coke bottle clear green color vinyl pressing is available.]
Lukas Nelson + Promise Of The Real – Sticks And Stones CD/LP (6ace)
Self-produced by Lukas Nelson + Promise Of The Real, Sticks And Stones was written solely by the Grammy Award-winning artist with the hope of bringing people together at the forefront of his mind, bringing upbeat energy and a sense of fun. Sticks and Stones captures the band’s musical power and fits perfectly alongside the canon of the electric live performances they’re known for. These twelve songs are both spirited and heartfelt, as Nelson explores the universal human experiences of love, heartbreak, celebration, longing, and self-reflection through his singular and thoughtful perspective. [A limited-edition clear w/ white & blue color vinyl pressing is available.]
Pressing Strings – …And I For You CD/LP (Evil Teen)
…And I For You is the new album from the acclaimed Annapolis, Maryland-based trio Pressing Strings, whose influences range from folk, blues, rock, funk, soul, and reggae. Album single “Carousel” is an older catalog selection the band revamped for the new album as it highlights their strengths of groove and blues inspired songs. The electrifying new rock track follows the release of the band’s infectious single “Your Love”, currently impacting Triple A and Americana radio. …And I For You, the seventh full-length album from Pressing Strings, is available via Warren Haynes’ Evil Teen Records.
Snõõper – Super Snõõper CD/LP (Third Man)
Snõõper is a fast, highly synchronized, and immersive band that was formed in Nashville during the start of the pandemic by musician Connor Cummins and visual/ video artist Blair Tramel. The full band made its live debut in September 2021 and has been on the go ever since. They won crowds over at Gonerfest 18 and 19, SXSW, Mosswood Meltdown and Music Frozen Dancing. They have toured across the US, in addition to supporting dates with Amyl and the Sniffers, Lil Ugly Mane, Cobra Man, Pissed Jeans, Uranium Club and Snail Mail. Snõõper integrates many different artistic mediums (music, video art, puppetry, assemblages, etc.) into their live shows to create a unique experience for viewers. [A limited-edition translucent green color vinyl pressing is available.]
Tigerclub – The Perfume Of Decay LP (Loosegroove Inc)
Tigercub return with their highly anticipated new album The Perfume Of Decay via Loosegroove Records (the label co-founded by Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard). With The Perfume of Decay — Tigercub’ third record of nocturnal, hard-hitting rock — frontman Jamie Hall draws the curtains shut and embraces a moody, melancholic sound that’s every bit as cinematic as Hollywood itself. It’s an album about counterpoint and opposites, stacked with songs that contrast overdriven guitars with whispered vocals, tight grooves with shoegazing swells of noise, sonic experimentation with sharp songwriting.
Colter Wall – Little Songs CD/LP (RCA)
On Little Songs, fans of Colter Wall will find the same hardscrabble voice they’ve loved over the years connecting the contemporary world to the values, hardships, and celebrations of rural life. From the titular track he sings, “You might not see a soul for days on them high and lonesome plains. You got to fill the big empty with little songs.” The ten-song LP features eight originals inspired by – and written in – Wall’s home of Battle Creek, Saskatchewan, along with the Hoyt Axton cut “Evangelina” and a cover of Ian Tyson’s “The Coyote & The Cowboy.” Recorded with his longtime touring band, Little Songs is an upbeat, sometimes somber glimpse into the rural work and social life of the Canadian West, and, more so than with previous albums, opens emotional turns as mature and heartening as the resonant baritone voice writing them. [A limited-edition blue color vinyl pressing is available.]
Additional Social Media Program Titles:
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CDs + Vinyl:
5 Seconds Of Summer – The Feeling Of Falling Upwards – Live From The Royal Albert Hall CD/LP (BMG)
A live recording of 5 Seconds Of Summer’s 2022 one-of-a-kind performance at the world-famous Royal Albert Hall in London, a venue the band busked outside of when they moved to the UK to write for their very first album 10 years ago. The performance included reimagined versions of songs from their 11-year catalog and brand-new songs from their critically acclaimed fifth studio album 5SOS5, accompanied by a 12-piece string orchestra and a 12-member gospel choir. [A deluxe CD version is available.]
Aerosmith – Aerosmith [Reissue/1973] CD/LP (Capitol)
Aerosmith – Get Your Wings [Reissue/1974] CD (Capitol)
Aerosmith – Toys In The Attic [Reissue/1975] CD (Capitol)
Aerosmith – Rocks [Reissue/1976] CD (Capitol)
Aerosmith – Night In The Ruts [Reissue/1979] CD (Capitol)
Aerosmith – A Rock In A Hard Place [Reissue/1982] CD (Capitol)
Aerosmith – Nine Lives [Reissue/1997] CD (Capitol)
Aerosmith – Honkin’ On Bobo [Reissue/2004] CD (Capitol)
Aerosmith – Music From Another Dimension [Reissue/2012] CD (Capitol)
Remastered reissues now available. Another round is due next month.
Being Dead – When Horses Would Run CD/LP/Cassette (Bayonet)
Garage-y psychedelic outsider pop band Being Dead should be considered in the same category as rainbows and finding $60 in the pocket of a winter coat: incontrovertibly lovable.
George Benson – Live At Montreux 1986 2xCD+DVD (Mercury Studios)
A frequent visitor to Montreux, George Benson has selected this show from 1986 as the first he would like released. Taken from the height of his commercial success, the concert includes classics and hits throughout the set, such as “Lady Love Me (One More Time)”, “Love Ballad”, “In Your Eyes”, “Love X Love”, “20/20”, “On Broadway”, “Turn Your Love Around”, “Never Give Up On A Good Thing”, and more.
Duane Betts – Wild & Precious Life CD/2xLP (The Royal Potato Family)
Wild & Precious Life offers up a timeless version of American music – a mix of blues, rock, folk, and country that could’ve blanketed the FM radio airwaves during any number of decades. It’s a modern album inspired by some of the best parts of the past, full of sharply crafted songs written in a state of deep reflection and Duane’s journey toward sobriety. [Multiple vinyl colorways are available.]
Michael Bolton – Spark Of Light CD/2xCD/LP (Androver Music)
Spark Of Light is the first album of original music co-written by Michael Bolton in almost 15 years. Michael worked with contemporary writers, producers, artists and DJs including Walk The Moon frontman Nicholas Petricca, Zac Barnett (American Authors), Justin Jesso (songwriter and featured singer on “Stargazing” with Kygo), producer Tushar Apte (Demi Lovato, ZAYN, Nicki Minaj, Adam Levine, Noah Cyrus) and many more. [A deluxe double-CD version featuring bonus tracks is available.]
Bongzilla – Dab City CD (Heavy Psych Sounds)
“Dab City is an ode to the purest form of THC and our beloved hometown of Madison, Wisconsin, which is known as Mad City. The record is our second as a three-piece and continues our journey into ultra stoned sludgey psychedelia.” [Several color vinyl variants are available.]
Sam Burton – Dear Departed CD/LP (Partisan)
Dear Departed, the second album from Sam Burton, arose from a time of rebirth. In the last few years, Burton basically started over. He temporarily abandoned the life he’d built in Los Angeles and spent time with friends and family friends in rural Utah and California. After all that time wandering, couch-surfing, and writing, Burton emerged with more than enough material for his sophomore outing. He joined up with producer Jonathan Wilson to craft a more intricate, layered sound that recalled the lived-in yet immediate singer-songwriter albums of the ’60s and ’70s. Together they achieved a sound that didn’t descend into retro pastiche, but rather became an evocative echo, a dream of the past. In scope, Dear Departed finds Burton using a far bigger canvas than on his debut, giving the emotions therein a new sense of urgency and intensity. But the album still has an intimacy to it, like Burton and his backing musicians are crammed onto the corner stage of a smoke-filled bar in a long-lost time.
Cavalera – Morbid Visions CD/LP/Cassette (Nuclear Blast)
Cavalera – Bestial Devastation CDEP/12” (Nuclear Blast)
Max and Iggor Cavalera, formerly of Sepultura, perform the classic Sepultura albums Morbid Visions and EP Bestial Devastation. [Limited-edition red w/ black & white splatter and orange swirl (respectively) vinyl pressings are available.]
Ceramic Dog – Connection CD/LP (Knockwurst)
Connection is the fifth full length album from trio Ceramic Dog. Marc Ribot, Shahzad Ismaily, and Ches Smith have created a work that doesn’t resolve the tension between their punk/new music/free jazz points of departure and the pop ambitions they’ve always buried beneath the surface… so much as push to the breaking point. Tracks such as “That’s Entertainment” devours/deconstructs the Hollywood standard’s psychotic cliches, while “Ecstasy” – whose Boogaloo inflected groove recalls Ribot’s earlier work with the Cubanos Postizos, run up against post-apocalyptic landscapes and minimalist polytonal disco.
Chamber – A Love To Kill For CD/LP (Pure Noise)
Second album from the Nashville-based metalcore band. [An indie store exclusive blue w/ white & black color vinyl pressing is available.]
Cher – It’s A Man’s World (Deluxe Edition) CD/4xLP (WB)
Cher’s timeless 1995 album, It’s A Man’s World, featured the singles “Walking In Memphis”, “One By One”, “Not Enough Love In the World”, “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” and “Paradise Is Here”. This deluxe double-CD set contains the original 14-track UK album – newly remastered from the best available sources – plus a full disc of rare remixes, available together for the first time. The limited-edition vinyl box set contains the original 14-track UK album – it’s first-ever pressing on vinyl, newly remastered from the best available sources – and rare remixes, also available on vinyl for the first time. Includes four LPs on red, blue, green & yellow vinyl plus an exclusive, numbered lithograph.
Clark – Sus Dog CD/2xLP (Throttle)
Clark recruits none other than Thom Yorke as exec producer for his first album centered on his own singing. It combines his trademark searing synth melodies and beats with vocal hooks. Thom says “the way he approached it all wasn’t the usual singer songwriter guff thank god; it mirrored the way he approached all his composition and recording, but this time it had a human face. His face.” Chris says, “I kept on thinking what it would sound like if The Beach Boys took MDMA and made a rave record.”
Claud – Supermodels CD/LP/Cassette (Dead Oceans)
No matter your age or station, Supermodels is the sort of record you can hear yourself in. Claud’s engrossing and poignant second album is a confident diary of the mercury of life and love in one’s early 20s, whether it’s the self-doubt that creeps through its tunes or the place of compromise they try to find. It’s an exacting map of the emotional and logistical vicissitudes they’d encountered in their early 20s. Fissures in romances and friendships, pressures of recording careers, the casualties of growing up: Each of these 13 songs is another articulated diary entry, threaded together with scant regard for genre and with the roller-coaster of feeling that gives each tune such specific gravity. [A limited-edition ‘cloud’ color vinyl pressing is available.]
John Coltrane – Evenings At The Village Gate: John Coltrane With Eric Dolphy CD/2xLP (Impulse!)
In August of 1961, the John Coltrane Quintet played an engagement at the legendary Village Gate in Greenwich Village, New York. 80 minutes of never-before-heard music from this group was recently discovered at the New York Public Library. The recordings were made by engineer Rich Alderson as part of a test of the Village Gate’s then-new sound system. The tapes seemed to have been lost, were found, but then disappeared again into Library’s vast sound archives. Coltrane played his month-long Village Gate residency with a quintet featuring a revolving cast of musicians. The new album comprises unheard music and provides a glimpse into the powerful but sadly all-too-short musical partnership between Coltrane and Eric Dolphy, who died three years later. This is the only recording of their vaunted Village Gate performances.
Conway The Machine – Pain Provided Profit CD/LP (Near Mint)
Demond Price, known professionally as Conway The Machine, is an American rapper. Alongside his paternal half-brother Westside Gunn and cousin Benny the Butcher, Conway was a member of Griselda Records. [Two vinyl colorways are available: brown and translucent w/ pink, blue & brown.]
Marshall Crenshaw – Marshall Crenshaw [Reissue/1982] CD/LP+12” (Yep Roc)
Marshall Crenshaw’s self-titled album has been called one of the greatest albums of the 1980s by Rolling Stone, Spin, MOJO, Paste and others. It includes his breakthrough hit, “Someday, Someway”, and many other classic pop rock songs. Remastered by Greg Calibi, this 40th anniversary remastered reissue includes the original album + 7 bonus tracks, 5 previously unreleased.
Devil’s Trade – Vidékek Vannak Idebenn CD/LP (Season Of Mist)
It is of no surprise liminal space is a key element in the next phase of The Devil’s Trade’s fourth album, Vidékek Vannak Idebenn (a title that loosely translates to ‘There Are Landscapes Within’). While still true to his solo artist roots, delivering gut-wrenching melodies of darkness and beauty on his own, Dávid Makó (the man behind the moniker) needed an expansion to his universe. With the addition of long-time friend and former bandmate Gáspár Binder on drums and a live keyboard player, he finally took the much-needed step forward and Vidékek Vannak Idebenn portrays the next sonic phase of The Devil’s Trade.
Dietus – Irreversible CD/LP (Candlelight)
Formed in 2004 in York (UK), Deitus create sonic terror through the medium of black metal with no limits and no compromises. They have received high praise for bringing an unpredictable and dangerous element back into the live setting and have played alongside such esteemed bands as Mayhem, Shining, Hellhammer, Rotting Christ and at various festivals across the globe. [A limited-edition ‘ocean green’ color vinyl pressing is available.]
Edge Of Paradise – Hologram CD (Frontiers)
Hologram builds upon where Edge Of Paradise’s two previous releases, The Unknown and Universe left off, seeing their sound take a huge leap in songwriting prowess and defining their sonic combination of symphonic and industrial metal tinged with electro-metal influences. Gigantic hooks paired with monolithic riffs in a spacious sea of melodies will immediately entice listeners and whisk them away on the band’s sonic, and lyrical, journey.
End Reign – The Way Of All Flesh Is Decay CD/LP (Relapse)
Baltimore’s End Reign make their Relapse Records debut with their explosive album, The Way Of All Flesh Is Decay. Masterminded by underground music fixture Domenic Romeo (Integrity/Pulling Teeth/A389 Recordings) and featuring an all-star cast of musicians and contributors, End Reign fuses apocalyptic hardcore with vicious metal in a deadly collision of the classic and the modern.
Evile – The Unknown CD/LP (Napalm)
Since their formation in 2004, British thrash masters Evile have been turning heads and taking names, delivering pure thrash offerings blended with an uncompromising death metal assault. On The Unknown, Evile prove that they are more than just a thrash band, churning out slower tempos with a heavier approach. In addition, melodic vocals meet serious, in-depth lyrical topics – ranging from depression, overcoming loss, and recurring nightmares, self-esteem, and image, to more personal themes like living with dementia, struggling through the music industry and even the concerns of becoming a new parent.
glaive – i care so much that i don’t care at all CD/LP (IGA)
Produced with previous collaborators Jeff Hazin and Ralph Castelli, alt-pop prodigy glaive’s debut album – i care so much that i don’t care at all – finds him turning inward, reflecting with blunt honesty about growing up and outgrowing his North Carolina hometown. Glaive recorded the 13-track collection in a windowless garage in L.A. with a dog and no air conditioning. Featuring the singles “as if” and “i’m nothing that’s all i am.” His three EPs to date have received widespread critical acclaim, landing him at the top of best-of lists from The New York Times, The Fader and more. [A limited-edition coke bottle clear green color vinyl pressing is available.]
The Guess Who – Plein D’amour CD (Deko Music)
New release from the veteran Canadian band. The Guess Who is a legendary Canadian band who enjoyed chart topping hits in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s with an impressive catalogue of songs including “American Woman”, “These Eyes”, and “No Time”. During its career, the band has released 11 studio albums, all of which charted in Canada and the United States. [Vinyl version due August 25.]
Hellwitch – Annihilation Intercention CD (Listenable)
Formed in 1984, old school Florida thrash/death metal legends Hellwitch return with a new album. [Vinyl version due August 25.]
Houston – Relaunch III CD (Frontiers)
Houston releases the third album in their Relaunch series, the aptly titled Relaunch III. Basic concept behind the Relaunch albums is to shine a light on obscure, unknown AOR gems from the band’s personal music collections. Houston, an AOR band themselves, are true AOR connoisseurs and want to pay their respects to these legendary songs.
Sass Jordan – Live In New York Niney-Four CD (Deko Music)
Jordan’s album, Racine, was released in 1992 and recorded in Los Angeles. Racine is Jordan’s highest-selling album, with global sales estimated at 450,000 copies, and yielded the Canadian hit singles “Make You A Believer”, “I Want To Believe”, “You Don’t Have To Remind Me” and “Goin’ Back Again”. “Make You A Believer” and “I Want to Believe” were ranked on Billboard magazine’s Mainstream Rock chart. In 1992, Jordan recorded the duet “Trust In Me” with Joe Cocker for the motion picture The Bodyguard, after star Kevin Costner heard Jordan on his car radio.
Kool & The Gang – People Just Wanna Have Fun CD/2xLP (BFD)
New release from the iconic R&B, funk, and soul group. With six decades of hits, the internationally celebrated group continues to tour the world. The band is led by founding members Robert “Kool” Bell (bassist) and George “Funky” Brown (keyboardist, drummer & producer of this album). Continuing to release music that makes the good times better and the bad times more bearable, this collection will be the band’s 34th studio album, featuring some of the last studio work by founding horn players, Kool’s brother Ronald “Khalis” Bell and Dennis “D.T.” Thomas, who passed in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Lead vocals on the album also include Sha Sha Jones, Shawn McQuiller, Lavell Evans, Dominique Karan, Rick Marcel, and Walt Anderson, plus rappers Ami Miller & Ole’. [A limited-edition color vinyl pressing is available.]
Damian Lewis – Mission Creep CD/LP (Decca)
Damien Lewis’ debut album Mission Creep is a thoughtful collection of rootsy rock and jazz-tinged songs that reveals a deep love of music, and a deep need to communicate. With music being Lewis’ first love, spending much of his years busking and performing music before his success in acting (and following a string of sold-out shows), Mission Creep has been years in the making and is a welcome return to the world of music.
Mahalia – IRL CD/LP (Atlantic)
British R&B singer/songwriter Mahalia drops the new album IRL which includes the singles “Terms And Conditions”, “Cheat”, and “In My Bag” and boasts features from the likes of Stormzy, JoJo, Joyce Wrice and Kojey Radical. Aptly titled IRL, Mahalia is particularly incessant on doubling down on vulnerability, internal reflection, and a desire to feel, in the realms of love specifically as demonstrated on her last project. Standing as one of British R&B’s most successful contemporary faces, Mahalia continues to grow and establish herself in both her tact as an artist, but in building more robust ruminations sonically.
Brian May + Friends – Star Fleet Project + Beyond (40th Anniversary) CD/LP+2xCD+7” (UMe)
Brian May + Friends – Star Fleet Project [Reissue/1983] LP (UMe)
Star Fleet Project (originally released in 1983) + Beyond features the single version of the title track alongside full-length album versions of “Let Me Out” and “Blues Breaker”. Included is an interview with Cynthia Fox and a Rockline interview with Bob Coburn. A live version of “Let Me Out” from the Palace Theatre in L.A. along with “We Will Rock You” and a reworking of the same song’s adored fast rendition. Finally, the CD closes with the full LP version of “Star Fleet.” [The deluxe edition box set includes a second CD (Star Fleet Sessions) features 23 tracks newly mixed from the original analog tapes. Also included is Star Fleet Project on 180gm transparent red LP and a 7″ black vinyl single with exclusive B-side. A badge and booklet with extensive liner notes complete the boxset.]
Blake Mills – Jelly Road CD/2xLP (Verve Forecast)
Blake Mills returns with his first solo record since 2020’s Mutable Set. Co-produced by Blake and experimental artist Chris Weisman, this release highlights Mills’ impeccable songwriting and unique voice on guitar as well as many other instruments. Key musicians on this release include Wendy Melvoin, Sam Gendel, Meg Duffy (Hand Habits) and a co-write with Cass McCombs.
The Nick Moss Band – Get Your Back Into It CD/LP (Alligator)
Get Your Back Into It features 14 original songs inspired by the electrifying blues sounds of 1940s through 1960s, and performed with taste, sly humor and pure joy. From locomotive shuffles to deep, slow blues, Moss shines with a Willie Dixon-like ability to write and sing the blues’ truth. [A limited-edition red color vinyl pressing is available.]
Lukas Nelson + Promise Of The Real – Sticks And Stones CD/LP (6ace)
Self-produced by Lukas Nelson + Promise Of The Real, Sticks And Stones was written solely by the Grammy Award-winning artist with the hope of bringing people together at the forefront of his mind, bringing upbeat energy and a sense of fun. Sticks and Stones captures the band’s musical power and fits perfectly alongside the canon of the electric live performances they’re known for. These twelve songs are both spirited and heartfelt, as Nelson explores the universal human experiences of love, heartbreak, celebration, longing, and self-reflection through his singular and thoughtful perspective. [A limited-edition clear w/ white & blue color vinyl pressing is available.]
Night Beats – Rajan CD/LP (Suicide Squeeze)
As Night Beats, Texas-born, L.A.-based artist Danny Lee Blackwell creates music like one might assemble a puzzle. The Western psychedelic auteur builds his work from one moment, an initial spark that must fit a certain criterion: it must give him goosebumps. If that sensation arrives, Blackwell will pursue the idea relentlessly until he has a new song; if not, he moves onto the next moment, constantly looking for the perfect molecule of a song. On his new Night Beats album, Rajan, the songwriter is at his strongest, creating works that shine with captivating melodies and hypnotic rhythms, but are underscored by subtle choices of craftsmanship that can only be achieved after countless hours in the studio. [A limited-edition ‘red clay’ color vinyl pressing is available.]
Rita Ora – You & I CD/LP (BMG)
Following on from her 2018 album Phoenix, Rita Ora returns with her 2023 album You & I which features the singles “You Only Love Me” and “Praising You”. With a co-writing credit on every track, You & I is Rita’s most diaristic project yet and pays homage to her own eclectic tastes. At its core, You & I is a high-spirited record about what it feels like to fall in love and enter a new stage of life. [A deluxe CD ‘zine’ version is available.]
Palehound – Eye On The Bat CD/LP+MP3 (Polyvinyl)
With their latest album, Eye On The Bat, Palehound has unleashed a sonic tour de force that cements their status as one of the most exciting and forward-thinking artists in indie rock. Recorded with Sam Owens (Big Thief, Cass McCombs) at Flying Cloud Recordings in the Catskill Mountains, the album is a breathtaking showcase of artistic growth and evolution, with primary songwriter El Kempner (as well as multi-instrumentalist Larz Brogan) delivering a stunning batch of new songs that brim with energy, vulnerability, and raw emotion. [A translucent orange color vinyl pressing is available.]
Pressing Strings – …And I For You CD/LP (Evil Teen)
…And I For You is the new album from the acclaimed Annapolis, Maryland-based trio Pressing Strings, whose influences range from folk, blues, rock, funk, soul, and reggae. Album single “Carousel” is an older catalog selection the band revamped for the new album as it highlights their strengths of groove and blues inspired songs. The electrifying new rock track follows the release of the band’s infectious single “Your Love”, currently impacting Triple A and Americana radio. …And I For You, the seventh full-length album from Pressing Strings, is available via Warren Haynes’ Evil Teen Records.
Pvris – Evergreen CD/LP (Hopeless)
Having felt caged in the machine of modern-day society, Pvris sought to fight back the only way they knew how, through innovative interpretation of the rock resurgence in music today and flipping it on its head.
Genya Raven – Urban Desire [Reissue/1978] CD/LP (BFD)
Genya Raven – …And I Meant It [Reissue/1979] CD/LP (BFD)
Digitally remastered CD and vinyl reissues of two albums from the veteran singer-songwriter. [Color vinyl pressings are available: red and pink, respectively.]
Robledo – Broken Soul CD (Frontiers)
Second solo album from the Chilean melodic metal singer (Sinner’s Blood, Demons Down), who is joined by his Sinner’s Blood bandmate Nasson (Chaos Magic) on guitar, drummer Jacopo Martignoni, and producer/bassist/keyboardist Alessandro Del Vecchio, who also produced his debut album. RIYL: Masterplan, Firewind, Jorn Lande, etc.
Rotting Christ – The Apocryphal Spells 2xCD/3xLP (Season Of Mist)
Legendary Greek metal institution Rotting Christ unveils The Apocryphal Spells. This collection pulls together 21 rare singles, B-sides, bonus tracks, alternate versions and covers from the past three decades of their storied career. It’s a must-have compilation that memorializes the awesome body of work of these Hellenic black metal trailblazers.
Scream Maker – Land Of Fire CD (Frontiers)
Fourth album from the Polish heavy metallers.
Ravi Shankar – Shankar Family & Friends [Reissue/1973] CD/LP (BMG)
Shankar Family & Friends is an album by Indian musician Ravi Shankar, originally recorded primarily in Los Angeles during the spring of 1973, but not released until late 1974. It was produced by Shankar’s friend George Harrison and is one of the first releases on the ex-Beatle’s Dark Horse label.
Shinyribs – Transit Damage CD/LP (Blue Élan)
Just who is Shinyribs? It’s a sprawling nine, sometimes 10-piece cast, but ultimately it is the funky brainchild of Kevin Russell, who grew up in Beaumont, TX and Shreveport, LA, the cradle of the swamp pop and bayou R&B sounds that drip off his fingers like honey and hot sauce. Think Gulf Coast meets Muscle Shoals with strong pop-song structures.
Lauren Spencer Smith – Mirror CD/LP (Republic)
Multiplatinum singer-songwriter Lauren Spencer Smith releases her debut album; 15 deeply moving, personal songs which tell a story filled with autobiographical ups and downs. It’s an album that promises depth, range, and narrative [A limited-edition clear vinyl pressing is available.]
Snõõper – Super Snõõper CD/LP (Third Man)
Snõõper is a fast, highly synchronized, and immersive band that was formed in Nashville during the start of the pandemic by musician Connor Cummins and visual/ video artist Blair Tramel. The full band made its live debut in September 2021 and has been on the go ever since. They won crowds over at Gonerfest 18 and 19, SXSW, Mosswood Meltdown and Music Frozen Dancing. They have toured across the US, in addition to supporting dates with Amyl and the Sniffers, Lil Ugly Mane, Cobra Man, Pissed Jeans, Uranium Club and Snail Mail. Snõõper integrates many different artistic mediums (music, video art, puppetry, assemblages, etc.) into their live shows to create a unique experience for viewers. [A limited-edition translucent green color vinyl pressing is available.]
Tailgunner – Guns For Hire CD (Fireflash)
UK’s shooting stars Tailgunner unleash their debut album Guns For Hire, taking no prisoners with their brand of fast and glorious heavy metal.
Various Artists – Klar!80: Ein Kassetten-Label aus Dusseldorf 1980-82 CD/LP (Bureau B)
This compilation represents an initial – and long overdue – foray into the years 1980-82, when Klar!80 was a cassette label, paired with a shop of the same name in Düsseldorf. Founded by Rainer Rabowski, Klar!80 released 18 cassettes of varying length and a box set containing three 12″ vinyl EPs which fetch handsome prices among collectors nowadays.
Vendetta – Black As Coal CD/LP (Massacre)
Vendetta’s musical style is rooted in thrash and speed metal.
Voyager – Fearless In Love CD/LP (Season Of Mist)
The intrepid Aussies Voyager drop their most epic electro progressive power pop metal to date with their brand-new album Fearless In Love. An exhilarating mix of ‘80s synthpop meets modern progressive metal, the album features their most infectious and anthemic work yet. Featuring the Eurovision favorite “Dreamer” as well as many other catchy songs, Fearless In Love is next-level prog metal mastery that shatters all archetypes and expectations.
Colter Wall – Little Songs CD/LP (RCA)
On Little Songs, fans of Colter Wall will find the same hardscrabble voice they’ve loved over the years connecting the contemporary world to the values, hardships, and celebrations of rural life. From the titular track he sings, “You might not see a soul for days on them high and lonesome plains. You got to fill the big empty with little songs.” The ten-song LP features eight originals inspired by – and written in – Wall’s home of Battle Creek, Saskatchewan, along with the Hoyt Axton cut “Evangelina” and a cover of Ian Tyson’s “The Coyote & The Cowboy.” Recorded with his longtime touring band, Little Songs is an upbeat, sometimes somber glimpse into the rural work and social life of the Canadian West, and, more so than with previous albums, opens emotional turns as mature and heartening as the resonant baritone voice writing them. [A limited-edition blue color vinyl pressing is available.]
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
Athiest – Piece Of Time [Reissue/1988] LP (Nuclear Blast)
Athiest – Unquestionable Presence [Reissue/1991] LP (Nuclear Blast)
Splatter color vinyl reissues of the Florida technical death metal band’s first two albums.
Albert Ayler – Something Different!!!!!! [Reissue/1963] LP (Survival Research)
Unorthodox saxophonist Albert Ayler straddled different jazz streams during his brief career. After playing with Stanley Turrentine and Harold Budd in the late 1950s, a move to Sweden brought him into the limelight, fronting his own trio.
The Banishment – Machine And Bone LP (Frontiers)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The Banishment is a collaboration between guitarist George Lynch (Lynch Mob, ex-Dokken) and programmer and multi-instrumentalist Joe Haze that started in 2011, and since 2020, has also included L.A. based artist/vocalist Devix Szell. Richard Patrick (Filter) and Tommy Victor (Prong) both guest on the album as well. Sonically, this is a brooding, heavy industrial album with explosions of Lynch’s bluesy, psychotic guitar licks.
The Beat Farmers – Poor & Famous [Reissue/1989] LP (Curb)
Thre Beat Farmers – Loud And Plowed And…Live!! [Reissue/1990] LP (Curb)
The Beat Farmers’ third album for MCA/Curb is also their most glossily commercial, a transparent attempt to dress up their rough-edged roots rock in more commercially presentable duds. The fact that the subterfuge doesn’t work not only isn’t a failing, it’s what gives the album its tension and makes it the most musically interesting and satisfying studio album since their indie debut, Tales Of The West. Loud And Plowed And… Live!! is a best of live collection that shows the Beat Farmers at the height of their powers in their best environment.
Brighten – Early Love LP (Near Mint)
Brighten is a pop rock band from Chico, California, consisting of brothers Justin (guitar, lead vocals) and Jimmy (drums) Richards, and Alex Draper (bass, backing vocals). The band has been on tour with This Providence, Cute Is What We Aim For, Eisley, and All Time Low.
Cafuné – Running LP (Elektra)
Running is the debut album by Cafuné. During the five years after Noah Yoo and Sedona Schat graduated from college together in the mid- 2010s, the duo continued to write songs and play shows in New York as they worked around their day jobs. One of the songs on the album is “Talk”; it’s about the tension between feeling alone and alienated while also wanting to feel better and needing to open up to people. Improvised around the clanking pipes of Yoo’s apartment, the atmosphere on the track is spectral, glowing with the distortion of an old heater and the digital haze of manipulated drum breaks.
Tim Carmen Trio – King Comfy LP (F-Spot)
From the first notes of King Comfy, Tim Carman Trio play jazz like it was supposed to be played: hot, sweaty, and a damn good time. Recorded in one day on the floor of The Record Co. in Boston MA, this LP opens the door to what jazz is really all about. “Jazz doesn’t have to be so academic. It could be a party. It doesn’t have to be about playing a million complicated notes that only schooled musicians would enjoy. I went in focusing on groove, sound, and simplicity,” says bandleader/ drummer Tim Carman.
Camp Cloud – Moody Moon LP (Diggers Factory)
They are at the origin of the Sky Wave style that mixes dream pop, electro rock and cold wave. Diane, Mike, and Leo compose together emotive and nihilistic ballads that seek ecstasy in a disenchanted reality. Their first album, Swimming Lessons, released in 2016, was widely received and applauded in media and tours, the eponymous track is now the soundtrack of the Versace perfume commercial. Their second album, Double Dreaming, more electro, flew to Japan thanks to the Hermes brand, the single Hero was synchronized for one of their campaign ads in 2019 and the track “Old Downtown” became a staple of road trip playlists around the world. The third album promises to be just as disillusioning, but with magnetic strength and passionate maturity.
Dan Campbell/Ace Embers (Clear Eyes Fanzine) – Season One: Episodes 1–6 LP (Bad Timing)
Gold color pressing. Clear Eyes Fanzine – its name is taken from the motivational rallying cry said by Coach Eric Taylor and chanted by the team before every game – is a part-band, part-fanzine hybrid that celebrates Friday Night Lights. It’s a joint project from The Wonder Years’ frontman Dan Campbell and The Early November frontman Ace Enders. The project has developed a cult following online and this is the first time on vinyl.
Charli XCX – Pop 2 [Reissue/2017] LP (Atlantic)
Limited fifth anniversary pink color vinyl pressing. The 2017 album, which contains collaborations with Caroline Polachek, Kim Petras, Carly Rae Jepson and Tove Lo, is a firm fan favorite and features popular Charli XCX cuts “Out Of My Head” and “Unlock It”.
Eric Clapton – Unplugged [Reissue/1992] 2xLP (Surfdog)
Eric Clapton – Moon River b/w How Could We Know 7” (Surfdog)
A three-time Grammy winner, diamond-platinum certified record, and the album that marked Eric Clapton’s creative and personal comeback, 1992’s Unplugged remains one of the most emotional, transfixing acoustic performances of all time. Backed by an excellent ensemble (featuring Nathan East on bass and the legendary Andy Fairweather-Low on rhythm guitar) the album contains acoustic versions of both traditional covers and originals that span Clapton’s unsurpassed career. “Moon River” and “How Could We Know” is a double A-side single featuring two newly recorded songs by Eric Clapton. The first song, “Moon River”, is a cover by Eric and Jeff Beck, which was recorded shortly before Jeff’s passing. The second song, “How Could We Know”, is a new original song featuring Judith Hill (vocals), Simon Climie (vocals) and Daniel Santiago (acoustic guitar).
Bruce Cockburn – O Sun O Moon 2xLP (True North)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Bruce Cockburn has enjoyed an illustrious career shaped by politics, spirituality, and musical diversity. His remarkable journey has seen him embrace folk, jazz, rock, and worldbeat styles while earning high praise as an exceptional songwriter and a revered guitarist. He remains deeply respected for his activism and humanist song lyrics that thread throughout his career. On all his albums Cockburn has deftly captured the joy, pain, fear, and faith of human experience in song. O Sun O Moon is Cockburn’s latest studio album; a collection of 12 new original songs that demonstrate the songwriting and guitar-playing skills that come from more than 55 years of artistry.
Colloboh – Saana Sahel 12” (Leaving)
Colloboh (a portmanteau of Collins Oboh) is a Nigerian-born, Los Angeles-based experimental producer and composer who has spent the past several years cultivating genre-spanning modular wizardry. A self-taught synthesist, Colloboh’s DIY recording diaries (still archived on Instagram) quickly amassed a dedicated online following, eventually catching the eye of Leaving Records founder, MatthewDavid, who wasted no time tapping the then-26-year-old to perform at the monthly Leaving showcase, Listen To Music Outside In The Daylight Under A Tree. Beginning with the stately “Acid Sunrise” (like a Phillip Glass rave comedown), the EP functions as an atlas of sorts, mapping the region’s varied environments and moods. And varied indeed-across these six tracks there lie ecstatic jazz freakouts, samba shuffles, guest vocals from (seemingly) the very Seraphim, and interpolations of Debussy and Gabriel Faure.
Mike Cooper – Life & Death In Paradise + Milan Live Acoustic 2018 LP+CD (A Paradise Of Bachelors)
Mike Cooper wrote his final songwriter record, a suite of gloaming glam-rock anthems performed with a spiritual jazz trio, while living on the Costa Tropical of Granada, Spain, an era when he was considering retiring from music altogether. A chance encounter and a last-ditch record deal convinced him to make one last album, which he recorded in 1974 at Pathway Studios in London, with “The Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World,” featuring the inventive South African jazz rhythm section of Louis Moholo and Harry Miller with UK saxophonist Mike Osborne. This first-ever reissue includes a bonus CD of Milan Live Acoustic 2018, a previously unreleased solo set that represents Cooper’s return, after forty-four years pursuing free improvisation and electronics, to a new, deconstructed approach to singing, steel guitar, and songcraft. [A stand-alone CD version is available.]
Corduroy – Men Of The Cloth LP (Acid Beat)
Recorded to mark the 30th Anniversary of their debut Dad Man Cat and the follow-up High Havoc, Corduroy return with a new mini-album, Men Of The Cloth. Sitting perfectly at the corded fringe between acid jazz and rising Britpop, Corduroy emerged in 1991 out of the ashes of cult band Boys Wonder. They also became one of the top live acts of their generation. Theirs is a heady mix of swinging ‘60s soundtracks, pop art imagery and jazz-funk.
Daphne Loves Derby – Good Night Witness Light LP (Near Mint)
Daphne Loves Derby were an American Indie rock band that formed in Kent, Washington, in 2001. They have released three studio albums, the third in 2007 titled Good Night, Witness Light, peaking at number 30 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart. The band was featured on Billboard’s official website following the release of the album.
Dead Lakes – Daydreamer LP (Sharptone/Nuclear Blast)
Sky-blue color vinyl pressing. A record designed to be consumed front to back on a solo nighttime drive, Daydreamer challenges listeners to take a chance on themselves in the name of personal discovery. And, baring their souls across the span of twelve vulnerable and hook-driven tracks, the album sees the group follow their own advice, leaving their former selves silhouetted by the glow of the sinking sun and emerging reborn in the neon twilight.
Death Cab For Cutie – Narrow Stairs [Reissue/2008] LP (Barsuk)
Death Cab For Cutie – The Open Door [Reissue/2008] 12” (Barsuk)
Vinyl reissues now available. Released in the spring of 2008, Narrow Stairs is the follow-up to the band’s classic major-label debut Plans. The Open Door four-track EP is a companion Narrow Stairs.
Deftones – Deftones [Reissue/2003] LP (Maverick)
Limited ruby red color vinyl pressing of Deftone’s self-titled 4th studio album, featuring the songs “Hexagram” and “Minerva”.
Jack De Johnette – Sorcery [Reissue/1974] LP (Craft Recordings)
Sorcery finds DeJohnette teamed up with a tight crew of virtuosic bandmates, including veterans like Dave Holland and Bennie Maupin. Discursive, meditative, trippy but grounded in tasty grooves, Sorcery is laced with flurries of Hendrix-on-jazz-steroids guitar tones and the ahead-of-its-time electronic processing of DeJohnette.
Giovanni Di Domenico – Succo Di Formiche LP (Unseen Worlds)
Written and recorded with the goal of creating a one-movement suite in the least amount of time possible, Succo Di Formiche reflects the archetypal joy of music making, the spontaneous impulses underlying its formation, and a love of the record album form. Features Giovanni Di Domenico, Pak Yan Lau, Stan Maris, Manuel Mota, and Joe Talia.
Dirty Nil – Free Reign To Passions LP (Dine Alone)
After the release of 2001’s F**k It, The Dirty Nil jammed in their practice space for weeks, not overthinking anything or taking any external input. They didn’t sweat the small details or fret over transitions and arrangements. Less second guessing, more reckless abandon. It’s the same approach to rock they’ve taken since they were kids. “We had the best time pulling these songs together. It made me feel like a teenager in my parents’ basement again,” Bentham says. What came out was the appropriately titled Free Rein To Passions. [An indie store exclusive pink color vinyl pressing is available.]
Dogs – The Melodies Massacre Years 12” (Reminder)
It took Rouen, France over five-hundred-years to find an act as fiery as the execution of Joan Of Arc, but they finally found one in 1977: Dogs. The absolute picks-of-the-litter and best-in-French-new-wave-rock-show, Dogs (no ‘the’), over the course of nine albums, two dozen singles and EP’s left behind an undeniable legacy.
Dust – Et Cetera, Etc 12” (Kanine)
Green color vinyl pressing. Newcastle, Australian post-punk quintet Dust is urgent, mesmeric and arresting. Their debut EP Et Cetera, Etc offers a contemporary take on post-punk with elements of experimental jazz and electronic music. It is as dark, introspective and angular, as it is powerful and progressive, leaning heavily on themes of mortality, family and social commentary.
Eiafuawn – Birds In The Ground [Reissue/2006] LP (Numero)
While Duster went into hibernation in the year 2000, Clay Parton’s four-track never stopped rolling. Recorded alone at home over several years, Birds In The Ground is an album of 30-something, post-9/11 malaise. Under his Eiafuawn (Everything Is All F***ed Up And What Not) acronym, Parton hides beneath layers of fuzzy and clean guitars, his hesitant, cottony vocal disappear into noise. This deluxe pressing is packaged in a gorgeous tip on sleeve and includes the complete lyrics for this cryptic entry of the Dusterverse.
Roky Erickson – Openers [Reissue/1988] LP (Survival Research)
Legendary Texan psychedelic innovator Roky Erickson formed the 13th Floor Elevators in the mid- ‘60s, shaking up the local and national music scenes with his astounding debut LP. After spells at psychiatric facilities, Erickson formed the Bleib Alien which became the Aliens, but by the early 1980s was fixated with junk mail. In the convoluted aftermath, 1988’s Openers, released in limited numbers by London’s 5 Hours Back, had Erickson solo on six of the tracks, his anguished, meandering lyrics backed by disjointed acoustic guitar chords, and here contrasted by the swampy power-pop backing of The Explosives on the rest.
Connie Francis – Stupid Cupid: Hits Collection 1957–1962 LP (Acrobat)
As one of the most popular performers of the 1950s and ’60s, Connie Francis’ cherished tales of love and heartbreak remain just as evocative and popular today as when she first recorded them. Scoring hit after hit, all the tracks on this collection were chart entries. Whether it was a sentimental ballad or up-tempo bopper, her versatility and distinctive style helped cement the singer’s place in the hearts of fans around the world.
Hilight Tribe – Free Tibet – Vini Vici Remix 12” (Diggers Factory)
With its Tibetan trumpet sounds, Hilight Tribe grooves, unforgettable melody, sing-along chorus, and lyrics that have become an institution, Free Tibet has gone beyond the status of a song and has become a great message of peace and hope for all generations.
Honeybus – Under The Silent Tree: Gentle Sounds With Strings LP (Hanky Panky)
Over the course of their stop-start five years together, Honeybus ventured into the BBC studios on a dozen occasions, leaving a catalogue of recordings that mirrored their latest releases as well as offering up a fascinating alternate history. The songs that make up 1970’s much-loved “almost didn’t happen” Story album began appearing as early as the summer of 1968.
Fana Hues – flora + fana LP (Bright Antenna)
Fana Hues has an acute sense of self-awareness. You can hear it in the way she sings about showing compassion to herself. Her sophomore project, flora + fana, opens with: “I found myself in the bottom of this Moscato / Can’t see no day ain’t no tomorrow.” But instead of drowning in those sorrowful feelings, Hues immediately self-soothes her dark thoughts with therapeutic optimism – a lyrical style that the Pasadena artist introduced on her 2020 debut EP. Vinyl includes three extra songs, including a cover of Steve Wonder’s “Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer”.
Jack The Ripper – The Book Of Lies [Reissue/2000] LP (Themsay)
The first chapter in what would come to be known of the Jack The Ripper trilogy, The Book Of Lies is amazingly mature for the now-cult group’s first outing. All the elements that have come to define the band’s sound are already in place here & possessed frontman Arnaud Mazurel’s vocal delivery already seems mature beyond his years.
Jantra – Synthesized Sudan: Astro-Nubian Electronic Jaglara Dance Sounds from the Fashaga Underground LP (Ostinato)
The first ever release of electronic Jaglara, an obscure dance music being innovated in an area near the Sudan, Ethiopia, and Eritrea border called Fashaga. Among the most raucous, hypnotic, addictive, and celestial dance styles being made anywhere in Africa, this heavy, mysterious sound is being led by one man: Jantra, which translates as “craziness,” a moniker bestowed to celebrate both his personality and sound. Jantra is a rather unknown quantity even in Sudan, outside of the circles which have granted him cult status to perform at their humble gatherings or at street parties far from the gaze of the cities.
Joe P – French Blonde 12” (Atlantic)
When New Jersey artist Joe P’s band Deal Casino decided to call it quits during the early stages of the pandemic, frontman Joe Parella started posting nightly performances on TikTok. His videos began to take off, earning him hundreds of thousands of followers on the app, as well as the attention of entertainers such as Zane Lowe. French Blonde is his latest EP.
The Kinks – Preservation Act 1 [Reissue/1973] LP (Sanctuary)
The Kinks – Preservation Act 2 [Reissue/1973] LP (Sanctuary)
The Kinks – Soap Opera [Reissue/1975] LP (Sanctuary)
The Kinks – Schoolboys In Disgrace [Reissue/1975] LP (Sanctuary)
Vinyl reissues The Kinks 14th – 16th albums.
Kordhell – Psychx LP (Kordhell)
Mick Kenney aka Kordhell is a musician, artist, and record producer from Birmingham, England now living in California. He is currently working on the Fast & Furious X soundtrack and various high profile remixes and collaborations.
Kurupt / C-Mob (Gotti Mob) – Don’t Be Stupid LP (Compound Interest)
Released last year on CD – now available on vinyl. Underground hip-hop mainstays Kurupt & C-Mob have teamed up to bring fans a new project, Gotti Mob. The project has features from Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Tech N9ne, X-Raided & More. It also features production from Tone Spliff, Johnny Slash, Mossberg & more.
L.A. Guns – Black Diamonds LP (Frontiers)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Black Diamonds sees L.A. Guns continuing the same inspiring sonic journey that they’ve been on with their most recent studio albums since the reunion of original members Tracii Guns (guitar) and Phil Lewis (vocals). With no interest in solely revisiting their ’80s glam metal origins, the 21st century L.A. Guns is at once familiar, but also an evolution. The grit, anger, and danger that they always had remains, while their ’70s hard rock influences shine through.
Steve Lacy – The Ictus Archives, Volume 1 LP (Ictus)
Steve Lacy – The Ictus Archives, Volume 2 LP (Ictus)
The Ictus Archives Volume 1 and Volume 2 encounter Steve Lacy – one of the giants of American free jazz – already two decades into a career defined by brilliant collaborations with Cecil Taylor, Don Cherry, and Thelonious Monk, among others, as well as a sprawling body of visionary work as a leader.
Laibach – Sketches Of The Red Districts LP (God)
Released earlier this year on CD – now available on vinyl. This 2023 Laibach album, through a new/fresh interpretation, examines the conflict-ridden genesis of the band’s formation in the industrial town of Trbovlje in 1980 and questions the band’s aesthetic, sonic and ideological roots from the distance of time.
Yusef Lateef – Psychicemotus [Reissue/1965] LP (Verve)
This excellent 1965 album from the always versatile Lateef runs the gamut musically, from the Coltrane influenced “Semi-Octo” to soulful reads of standards from Hammerstein/Kern, Fats Waller and Erik Satie, and a beautifully rendered original “Bamboo Flute Blues”.
Maggi Lindemann – Paranoia LP (Swixxzaudio)
Maggie Lindemann’s 2021 debut Paranoia launched her as one of pop’s most subversive forces. With “Knife Under My Pillow”, “GASLIGHT! (feat. Siiickbrain)”, “Scissorhands”, “Loner”, and “Crash And Burn” the EP revealed her progression as an artist coming into her own with a darker alt/punk/pop sound.
Lindstrøm – Everyone Else Is A Stranger LP (Smalltown Supersound)
Lindstrøm returns with his sixth studio album Everyone Else Is A Stranger, and the first since 2019’s On A Clear Day I Can See You Forever. The title of the album was inspired by John Cassavetes’ original title for his 1984 film Love Streams and contains four tracks of his signature chord-stacking disco epics and freeform cosmic voyages, stretching across nearly 40 minutes. An album that in many ways sums up his career and gathers his different musical paths into one sound and one album.
Booker Little – Out Front [Reissue/1961] LP (Candid)
Out Front is probably the greatest realization on record of trumpeter Booker Little’s scope as a musician and composer. It is also one of only five sessions led by Little as a band leader before his premature death at the age of 23 in 1961. The fact that this is only Little’s third outing as a leader is further testament to the talents of this young artist. Arguably, the seven original compositions here might be more widely known today had his life not been so tragically cut short. Little is mostly known for this association with Max Roach, who he began playing with as early as 1955. But it was not until 1958 that he officially joined Roach’s outfit and began recording with him.
Little Richard – The Complete Atlantic & Reprise Singles LP (Real Gone Music)
Red color vinyl pressing. Little Richard’s one-of-a-kind career veered wildly from the sacred to the profane, but everything he did was profound; he was one of the greatest gospel and rock ‘n’ roll singers of all time. And you can scale the dizzying heights of both sides of the man’s mountainous talent on this 15-track collection, which brings his Atlantic and Reprise singles back to vinyl, almost all for the first time since they originally came out on 45s.
Marillion – Seasons End [Reissue/1989] 2xLP (Rhino/Parlophone)
2023 remix. The last release in Marillion’s series of EMI era deluxe reissues. Seasons End marked the beginning of the ‘h’ era of Marillion with Steve Hogarth as the vocalist.
Masego – Lady Lady [Reissue/2018] LP (Eqt Recordings LLC)
Limited red and gold color vinyl pressing. Lady Lady is the 2018 debut studio album by Jamaican American singer Masego. Pitchfork gave the album a 7.3 out of 10 saying, “His music is sophisticated, steeped in 1980s quiet-storm R&B with hints of smooth jazz along the fringes,” and “Lady Lady is a grand coming-of-age record that displays the playful and reflective halves of Masego, illuminating his versatile nature with the promise of more to come.”
Dave Mason – Alone Together [Reissue/1970] LP (Friday Music)
Limited 180gm translucent gold color vinyl pressing. Alone Together is the debut solo album by former Traffic member Dave Mason, originally released in 1970. Mason was joined on the album by a roster of guest musicians, including Bonnie Bramlett, Leon Russell, Jim Capaldi, Rita Coolidge, Carl Radle and Jim Gordon.
Merzbow – Space Metalizer [Reissue/1997] 2xLP (Urashima)
Opening with a surge of swirling noise and cosmic echoes, “Space Metalizer Pt.1” immediately establishes a sense of vastness and otherworldliness. Merzbow masterfully combines layers of distorted metallic sounds, oscillating frequencies, and disorienting textures, creating an immersive soundscape that feels like traversing the depths of the universe. The intensity builds gradually, capturing the listener’s attention and propelling them into a sonic voyage.
Mission To The Sun – Sophia Oscillations LP (Felte)
Mission To The Sun synthesizes ambient, post-industrial landscapes with expansive arrangements and haunting vocals. The project consists of Ritual Howls’ Christopher Samuels (synths, samples, programming) and Kirill Slavin (vocals). Their sophomore album, Sophia Oscillations, is an immersive journey through the dark corners of post-industrial music. The Detroit based duo continues the sonic exploration started on their debut album, Cleansed By Fire, while delving deeper into themes of isolation and lost communication. Christopher Samuels’ synths, samples and rhythmic programming is accented by Kirill Slavin’s haunting vocal delivery as the listener receives intersperse audio recordings from the outer reaches of inner space.
Misterwives – Nosebleeds LP (Photo Finish)
Translucent ruby red color vinyl pressing. Through a decade-long career of tremendous highs and lows, the album Nosebleeds meets the band at their most evolved as they turn their pain into power. With 14 compelling tracks, the band digs deeper than they ever have before, capturing the nuances of life’s highs and lows and re-defining what it means to succeed and to fail.
Joni Mitchell – Song To A Seagull [Reissue/1968] LP (Rhino)
Joni Mitchell – Clouds [Reissue/1969] LP (Rhino)
Joni Mitchell’s songs were already popular with the likes of Tom Rush and Judy Collins when David Crosby saw her potential as a performer and brought her to Reprise Records. Released in March 1968, Mitchell’s Crosby-produced debut Song To A Seagull features relatively simple instrumentation, but the dense, sophisticated songwriting showed Joni was already looking beyond the folk idiom for inspiration (hints of classical composition can be heard here). Featuring “Chelsea Morning”, “The Fiddle And The Drum” and one of Joni Mitchell’s best known songs “Both Sides, Now”, the accomplished singer/songwriter’s second album Clouds won the 1969 Grammy (her first of nine) for Best Folk Performance.
Idris Muhammad – Black Rhythm Revolution! [Reissue/1971] LP (Craft Recordings)
Black Rhythm Revolution! is the first solo album from jazz-funk legend Idris Muhammad, a New Orleans-bred percussion wizard. Here we catch him accompanied by virtuosos Kenny Barron, Ron Carter, Melvin Sparks, who came together for sessions overseen by legendary producer Rudy Van Gelder.
Immy Owusu – Lo-Life! LP (Hope Street)
Immy Owusu’s debut LP Lo-Life! draws on the work of West African giants such as Ebo Taylor and William Onyeabor as well as psychedelic troubadours like Rodriguez. Immy’s sound, which he describes as “lo-fi highlife” is a synthesis of his Ghanaian roots and his own experiences growing up in coastal Australia.
George Palmer – Working Man LP (Irie Ites)
Entitled Working Man, this opus is composed of 10 titles including two combinations with Lion D, the famous international singer based in Italy, and Solo Banton, the famous English singer and toaster who needs no introduction. The instrumentals are composed by big names of the genre: Sly & Robbie (Jamaica), Jammy’s (Jamaica), Naram (New Zealand), Med Tone (Israel), Irie Ites (France) giving this project a great scope.
Oscar Peterson – A Time For Love: The Oscar Peterson Quartet – Live In Helsinki 1987 3xLP (Mack Avenue)
In 1987, Oscar Peterson led his quartet – featuring Joe Pass, Dave Young and Martin Drew – through the final engagement of their 14-concert European fall tour at Helsinki’s famed Kulttuuritalo. A Time For Love captures Peterson’s desire to focus on performing original compositions alongside timeless classics at the pinnacle of the group’s creative stride.
Posture & The Grizzly – I Am Satan [Reissue/2016] LP (Near Mint)
I Am Satan began with Christians And Freemasons Will Kill Me, a three-track EP uploaded online months after Busch Hymns. It’s a return to Posture’s solo DNA and a convergence of its main influences: bleeding-heart statements, full-strength chords, and a vocal tone that sharpens and rises as syllables stretch to their limits. The 2016 revamp of those bedroom demos were written in collaboration with Brian McFarland (For Everest) and Josh Cyr (TWIABP). The added personnel didn’t slow Posture’s knack for jittery efficiency. After live demoing the full album in two days, it was recorded by Chris Teti in five.
Puscifer – “V” Is For Viagra – The Remixes LP (BMG)
“V” Is for Viagra – The Remixes is a remix album by Puscifer, a side project of Maynard James Keenan, originally released in 2008. It contains ten remixes of tracks from the first Puscifer album “V” Is For Vagina, as well as two remixes of the non-album single “Cuntry Boner”.
Rammstein – Sehnsucht [Reissue/1997] 2xLP (London)
The 1997 Rammstein album Sehnsucht is re-released as a limited Anniversary Edition, for the first time in remastered HD sound. The album exclusively includes a new mix version of the track “Spiel Mit Mir”. The reworked packaging was designed by the original artwork designer Dirk Rudolph. The double-LP set comes in a triple gatefold with an embossed silver foil slipcase on 180gm black vinyl. A 40-page booklet features numerous unpublished and re-edited portrait photographs by artist Gottfried Helnwein.
Lisa Ramona – Arcadia LP (Caroline Polachek)
Over the last year, Chairlift’s Caroline Polachek was playing secret shows and debuting new material under increasingly inventive, singer-songwriterly pseudonyms such as Ramona Lisa, the name under which she’s presented her solo debut, Arcadia. The album is a quiet curiosity, a quirky side project that’s mostly a labor of love. Arcadia was composed and recorded entirely on tour and on laptop with MIDI instruments, but the music’s not too recognizably lo-fi or idiosyncratic, especially when compared to some of Chairlift’s past work. There are reprises and recurring motifs that lend Arcadia a conceptual coherence, but Polachek’s songwriting is as broad as it is pared-down.
Raveena – Asha’s Awakening 2xLP (WB)
Asha’s Awakening is the second studio album by singer-songwriter Raveena, originally released in 2022. Asha’s Awakening is a concept album from the point of view of a Punjabi space princess called Asha.
R.E.M. – Around The Sun [Reissue/2004] 2xLP (Craft Recordings)
R.E.M. – Collapse Into Now [Reissue/2011] LP (Craft Recordings)
Vinyl reissues of R.E.M.’s thirteen and fifteenth studio albums.
Revolution Saints – Eagle Flight LP (Frontiers)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The fourth album from Revolution Saints. Band features vocalist/drummer Deen Castronovo (Journey) and is the first with new members guitarist Joel Hoekstra (Whitesnake, Trans-Siberian Orchestra) & bassist Jeff Pilson (Foreigner, ex-Dokken).
RM– Indigo LP (Bighit Music)
The first solo album Indigo by RM of BTS is available for the first time on vinyl. Indigo includes different tracks in collaboration with various artists that portray RM’s prevailing thoughts.
Rolling Stones – Metamorphosis L[Reissue/1975] LP (Abkco)
The first official Rolling Stones rarities collection, Metamorphosis, was originally released in June 1975. The release combines legendary outtakes, rarities, and a wealth of demos that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards composed for other artists, which were subsequently re-recorded by the Stones themselves. The collection includes an orchestrated version of “Out Of Time”, featured in Quentin Tarantino’s film Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.
RÜFÜS DU SOL – Bloom [Reissue/2016] 2xLP (Sweat It Out!)
RÜFÜS DU SOL – Innerbloom (The Remixes) [Reissue/2015] 12” (Sweat It Out!)
RÜFÜS DU SOL’s now classic sophomore album Bloom and accompanying remix EP Innerbloom, are back in stock after multiple sold out pressings. Limited 180gm 2xLP pink & white and limited 180gm 12” clear vinyl, respectively. Hailing from Sydney, Australia and formed in 2010, RÜFÜS DU SOL (Jon George, James Hunt and Tyrone Lindqvist) came together around a shared passion for live-electronic icons like Chemical Brothers and Röyksopp. It is this fusion of instrumentative sensibilities and thoughtful dance production that became the bedrock for the sound that would propel the trio from the continent to the global stage.
Pharoah Sanders – Black Unity [Reissue/1971] LP (Verve)
For 1971’s Black Unity, Pharaoh Sanders added groove to the foundation of spiritual and free jazz he had explored on his previous Impulse! Albums. The result is a piercing and emotive 37-minute title track exploration of African, Latin, aborigine and Native American sounds, driven by rhythm.
Smashing Pumpkins – Monuments To An Elegy [Reissue/2014] LP (BMG)
Vinyl reissue of the Smashing Pumpkins’ ninth album.
Leon Spencer – Where I’m Coming From [Reissue/1973] LP (Craft Recordings)
Where I’m Coming From has all the hallmarks of Prestige Records at its finest, with an all-star cast of sidemen who brought down Rudy Van Gelder’s studio with electrifying grooves from top to bottom. Featuring scorching hot covers of Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye, Leon Spencer’s rippling organ lines sear this prime example of groove jazz.
Survivor – The Best Of Survivor [Reissue/2006] 2xLP (Friday Music)
Double 180gm translucent blue and black swirl color vinyl pressing housed in gatefold jacket. Includes 24″ x 24″ poster. 14 smash hits including “Eye Of The Tiger”, “I Can’t Hold Back”, “High On You”, “The Search Is Over,” “Burning Heart”, “Is This Love”, “Poor Man’s Son”, and “Rebel Son”.
Tame One & Parallel Thought – Da Ol’ Jersey Bastard (The Definitive Version) LP (Parallel Thought Ltd.)
Rough, rugged and raw. Nothing better describes one’s listening experience when they first heard Tame One & Parallel Thoughts 2008 collaboration Da Ol’ Jersey Bastard. This is unfiltered raw hip-hop, showcasing Tame One’s unparalleled ability on the mic.
Temple Of Angels – Endless Pursuit LP (Run For Cover)
Cloudy clear vinyl pressing. Temple Of Angels’ debut full-length, Endless Pursuit, is a towering and stunning album of gothic beauty that heralds the proper arrival of one of the most dazzling bands performing right now. Shaped by the ghosts of the past and the wonder of the present, the release is dream pop at its most striking, using the haze and beauty of the genre not to blur songs until they are impenetrable in every sense, but rather to capture the fleeting wonder of new love and emphasize the confusion and disorientation of loss.
Big Mama Thornton – The Best Of Big Mama Thornton LP (Acrobat)
Powerhouse performer Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton was a singing sensation who did not get the recognition her talents so richly deserved. A big woman with a big personality, Big Mama Thornton possessed one of the most soulful voices in R&B history. She had a huge-selling R&B No.1 with the original recording of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller’s “Hound Dog”, but would see her success eclipsed by Elvis Presley. This 16-track LP goes some way in showcasing her colorful personality as well as highlighting her as a performer who brought more to popular music than one landmark hit.
Don Toliver – Love Sick LP (Atlantic)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Hip-hop soul artist Don Toliver is proud to announce the release of his new album Love Sick. The highly anticipated collection arrives with a self-written short film, Love Sick, presented by Rotation – the hip-hop and R&B brand from Amazon Music. Love Sick includes the brand new single “Slow Motion (Feat. Wizkid)” and such scintillating new tracks as “Leave The Club (Feat. Lil Durk &GloRilla)”, and “4 Me (Feat. KaliUchis)”.
Mike Tramp – Songs Of White Lion 2xLP (Frontiers)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. As the title implies, Songs Of White Lion sees respected vocalist/guitarist Mike Tramp re-imagining select cuts from his former band White Lion’s catalog.
Ubiquitous Meh! – Songs Wrought Wrong / Fecund With Love LP (Fat Cat)
Starting out as an organ and drum machine solo project for Luke Richards, Ubiquitous Meh! is now a fully-fledged band. Self-described as “cult post-something organ jams for fans of Young Marble Giants/Dead Moon/The Stranglers,” they only record to four-track and only do seven song records, pushing the old Hohner into every corner of the experimental pop landscape.
Various Artists – Dig Me In: A Dig Me Out Covers Album LP (Many Hats Dist.)
To commemorate 25 years of their iconic record, Dig Me Out, Sleater Kinney gathered artists across genres to reimagine the 13 original tracks. Artists include Courtney Barnett, St. Vincent, Wilco, The Linda Lindas, Nnamdï, Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires, Low, and more.
The Wheel – The Path / The Divide LP (Omn Label Services)
New double EP collection by the Finnish prog metal band.
Jackie Wilson – Higher And Higher [Reissue/1967] LP (Org Music)
Higher And Higher is the 1967 album from “Mr. Excitement” himself, R&B pioneer Jackie Wilson. As one of the defining vocalists of the era, this record finds Wilson in peak form and features one of his biggest hits, “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher”. [A limited-edition blue color vinyl pressing is available.]
Wiz Khalifa – Multiverse 2xLP (Diggers/T-Gang Ent.)
Now available on vinyl – the latest album from multi-platinum selling, Grammy and Golden Globe nominated recording artist Wiz Khalifa. Multiverse includes features from THEY. #and Girl Talk, who Wiz teamed up with last year on their joint album, Full Court Press. The highly anticipated album is Wiz’s seventh studio album and first full-length album since the release of Rolling Papers 2 in 2018. On the album, Wiz reunited with Hitmaka to produce five songs. The pair have a long history of successful collaborations, including 2017’s “Something New” and “Still Wiz” released in 2020.
XXXTentacion – Presents: Members Only Volume 3 [Reissue/2017] 2xLP (Bad Vibes Forever)
Members Only is a group XXXTentacion formed as he was still bubbling beneath the surface of the mainstream. The album features XXXTentaction, Ski Mask The Slump Godd, Kid Trunks, Robb Bank$, Craig Xen, Bass Santana, Flyboy Tarantino, Kin$oul, Killstation, Coolie Cut, Tank Head.
Hiroshi Yoshimura – Green [Reissue/1986] LP (Light In The Attic)
Originally released in 1986, Green is one of Hiroshi Yoshimura’s most well-loved recordings and a favorite of the artist himself. Recorded over the winter of 1985-86 at Yoshimura’s home studio, the compositions unfold at an unhurried pace, a stark contrast to the busy city life of Tokyo. As Yoshimura explained in the original liner notes, the album title in the context of this body of work is not meant to be seen as a color but is rather used to convey “the comfortable scenery of the natural cycle known as Green” – which perfectly encapsulates the soothing and warm sounds contained on the album, although it was created utilizing Yamaha FM synthesizers, known for their crisp digital tone.
Cassettes:
Being Dead – When Horses Would Run (Bayonet)
Garage-y psychedelic outsider pop band Being Dead should be considered in the same category as rainbows and finding $60 in the pocket of a winter coat: incontrovertibly lovable.
Cavalera – Morbid Visions (Nuclear Blast)
Cavalera – Bestial Devastation (Nuclear Blast)
Max and Iggor Cavalera, formerly of Sepultura, perform the classic Sepultura album Morbid Visions and EP Bestial Devastation.
Claud – Supermodels (Dead Oceans)
No matter your age or station, Supermodels is the sort of record you can hear yourself in. Claud’s engrossing and poignant second album is a confident diary of the mercury of life and love in one’s early 20s, whether it’s the self-doubt that creeps through its tunes or the place of compromise they try to find. It’s an exacting map of the emotional and logistical vicissitudes they’d encountered in their early 20s. Fissures in romances and friendships, pressures of recording careers, the casualties of growing up: Each of these 13 songs is another articulated diary entry, threaded together with scant regard for genre and with the roller-coaster of feeling that gives each tune such specific gravity.
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