CDs:

Anathema – Universal CD+DVD/LP (K-Scope)

Double-disc live release, recorded during the band’s lengthy Weather Systems world tour. The European leg of the tour opened with a triumphant one-off show at the ancient Roman theatre of Philippopolis with the Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra in September 2012. Also available on stand-alone Blu-ray.

Arp – More CD/LP+MP3 (Smalltown Supersound)

More melds bedroom art-pop with avant-garde composition to create a world of heady atmospherics and melodic song craft over its concentrated 46-minute arc.

Avicii – True CD (Island)

New release from two-time Grammy nominated superstar producer/DJ Tim Bergling aka Avicii. True was recorded in Los Angeles and Stockholm, where Avicii collaborated with an eclectic group of artists including Aloe Blacc, Michael Einsinger from Incubus, bluegrass singer Dan Tyminski, Nile Rodgers, and the legendary Mac Davis.

The Band – Live At The Academy Of Music 1971 2xCD/4xCD+DVD (Capitol)

During the final week of 1971, The Band played four legendary concerts at New York City’s Academy Of Music, ushering in the New Year with electrifying performances, including new horn arrangements by Allen Toussaint and a surprise guest appearance by Bob Dylan for a New Year’s Eve encore. Select highlights from the concerts were compiled for The Band’s classic 1972 double LP, Rock Of Ages, which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 and remains a core album in the trailblazing group’s storied Capitol Records catalog. Available in Regular and Deluxe editions.

Band Of Heathens – Sunday Morning Record CD (BOH Records)

Sunday Morning Record, the Band Of Heathens’ fourth studio album (and seventh overall), marks a milestone in the resilient outfit’s development, capturing the musicians’ remarkable creative chemistry along with the deepening melodic and emotional resonance in the songwriting of founding singer-guitarists Ed Jurdi and Gordy Quist.

Berlin – Animal CD (Something Music)

Animal incorporates contemporary electronic dance music, yet remains true to the groundbreaking synth electro-pop sounds and amazing vocals that continue to define Berlin.

The Blackbyrds – Walking In Rhythm: The Essential Collection 1975-1982 2xCD (Soul Temple)

Donald Byrd was one of the greatest and most successful practitioners of the fusion of soul and jazz. Drawn from The Blackbyrds’ eight albums released by Fantasy Records, this specially priced, deluxe multi-CD set presents a complete retrospective of his band’s career. Deluxe adds a wealth of bonus mixes, including a DVD of 5.1 surround sound.

Blind Shake – Key To A False Door CD (Castleface)

Detuned psych-noise. Upcoming tour with Thee Oh Sees.

Blouse – Imperium CD/LP (Captured Tracks)

On Blouse’s second LP, Imperium, they have shed the synths, done away with drum machines and wrote and recorded with “instruments that don’t plug into the wall.” These are delicate songs from the perspective of a valley girl who grew up with gurus and ashrams played by indie lifers on a steady diet of Neu! it makes it all the more understandable to have showers of acoustic guitars and (real, not synthesized) cellos interrupted by fuzz guitar.

Aisha Burns – Life In The Midwater CD/LP (Western Vinyl)

Burns’ contributions as the violinist and occasional vocalist for the Austin band Balmorhea belie a nuanced songwriting prowess, and a dynamic and powerful voice. The album’s title references a deep dark layer of the ocean that flows far below the surface, and just above what we call the deeps sea. Bioluminescent jellyfish often inhabit this layer of the ocean, emitting mysterious flashes of light despite the risk of exposing themselves to potential predators. Similarly Aisha’s songs are dreamlike beacons in the inky abyss.

[Read more…] about New Releases for September 17, 2013

CDs:

The 1975 – The 1975 CD (Vagrant)

The 1975 are an English, Manchester-based alternative rock band from Wilmslow in Cheshire. This album is their self-titled debut. Vinyl version due September 24. “Their sound is hard to pin down; while it’s primarily built around guitars, bass and drums, there are synths underpinning nearly every song, and the rhythms have a bounce lifted from urban pop. Their major-key melodies and ’80s guitar sounds avoid the moody post-punk dress-up games played by too many current bands, recalling instead new wave-era outfits like General Public, Fun Boy Three and Wang Chung.” – Alternative Press 

2Chainz – B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time CD (Def Jam)

B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time (stylized B.O.A.T.S. II #METIME) is the second studio album by the rapper, and is the sequel to his gold certified debut album Based On A T.R.U. Story, released in 2012. Guests include Pharrell, Drake, Lil Wayne, Fergie, Lloyd, Ma$e, T-Pain, Chrisette Michele, and others. Available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe edition adds three bonus tracks.

Abouretum – Gourd Of Gold CD/LP (Latitudes)

Arbouretum offer up four cover versions of songs by Gordon Lightfoot, the oft-overlooked Canadian singer/songwriter who helped define the folk-rock sound of the ’60s and ’70s. These are exactly what cover songs should sound like — immediately familiar, reverent yet fresh and worthy. Available on CD and limited edition gold vinyl packaged in a die-cut custom jacket with foil blocked inner sleeve and color insert.

The Albertans – Dangerous Anything CD (Ernest Jenning)

The Albertans have emerged from the studio for a third time more confident in themselves, more cohesive as a group, and with a new album that explores deeper territory than the off-kilter pop hooks they’re known for. Dangerous Anything offers a sound that’s dark and often challenging while still making previous comparisons to MGMT, Can, and Sparks as appropriate as ever.

Arctic Monkeys – AM CD/LP (Domino)

Eleven new songs and the Record Store Day single “R U Mine?” with guest appearances from Josh Homme, Pete Thomas and Bill Ryder-Jones.

Balance And Composure – The Things We Think We’re Missing CD (No Sleep)

According to Balance And Composure, they can be loud, quiet and everything in between. A pretty apt description in a nutshell. They return once again to push the boundaries of their music with driving riffs and intensely passionate vocals on the band’s long-awaited second studio album.

Willis Earl Beal – Nobody Knows CD/LP (Hot Charity/XL)

Nobody Knows is either Willis’ debut or the natural follow up to Acousmatic Sorcery. His previous release was recorded on a karaoke machine, using found instruments. It worked as raw, no-fi introduction to Beal’s life as a songwriter and outsider artist. Nobody Knows aims to deliver on the promise of his evolved live show, combining soul-baring vocals with arrangements rooted in everything from orchestral blues to ambient R&B, gentle lullabies to pure cacophony.

Carla Bley/Andy Sheppard/Steve Swallow – Trios CD (ECM)

Carla Bley, Andy Sheppard and Steve Swallow revisit classic Bley compositions on an exceptional album recorded in Lugano last year by Manfred Eicher. Included here are spirited new versions of “Utviklingssang” and “Vashkar,” and the suites “Les Trois Lagons,” “Wildlife” and “The Girl Who Cried Champagne.”

Body/Head – Coming Apart CD/2xLP+MP3 (Matador)

Body/Head are an electric guitar duo comprised of Kim Gordon (CKM, Sonic Youth, Free Kitten, etc.) and Bill Nace (X.O.4, Vampire Belt, Ceylon Mange, etc.) The pair began working together in various loose formats years ago, but the Body/Head concept evolved more specifically in early 2012. Their songs create a dream narrative of undeniable power and visionary reach featuring lots of built-in improvisational space.

Bowling For Soup – Lunch. Drunk. Love. CD (MRI)

With heartfelt breakup songs like “Since We Broke Up” and “Envy,” upbeat pop-culture/name dropping songs that only BFS can pull off such as “Normal Chicks,” and a surprising cover of Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians song “Circle,” this could actually prove to be Bowling For Soups most well rounded album to date. Vinyl version due October 1.

bvdub – Born In Tokyo CD (n5MD)

The longing in the piano work that highlights the album sets the stage for Van Wey’s various songstress’ to weave through the near deep house rhythmic passages that come and go throughout the album’s 70+ minute runtime.

[Read more…] about New Releases for September 10, 2013

CDs:

Bastille – Bad Blood CD/LP (Virgin)

The debut album from this UK quartet includes the breakout single “Pompeii,” alongside other standout tracks like “Things We Lost In The Fire,” “Flaws,” and “Laura Palmer” (all of which have managed to chart in their homeland, where the album reached #1). This US version features three studio tracks not found on the original import release.

Sandra Boynton – Sandra Boynton’s Frog Trouble CD (WB)

Grammy nominated and bestselling children’s author, songwriter and music producer, Sandra Boynton, presents her first country album, Frog Trouble. The album features 12 original songs by Boynton, arranged and mixed with Michael Ford. Boynton produced the tracks mostly in Nashville, with renowned session musicians and an all-star roster, including Dwight Yoakam, Fountains of Wayne, Mark Lanegan, Kacey Musgraves, Ryan Adams, Ben Folds, Brad Paisley, Alison Krauss, Josh Turner, Darius Rucker, Linda Eder, and Falls Mountain Cowboys.

Tamar Braxton – Love & War CD (Epic)

Sophomore solo album from the television star/R&B vocalist and younger sister of Toni Braxton.

Richard Buckner – Surrounded CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)

In the time since Our Blood was released and after a few long tours, Richard Buckner attempted to work on writing short stories but found himself drawn back into the music room. The evidence of his time in the writer’s chair is clear in the dense, lovely prose of Surrounded. The album’s liner notes include text-embedded lyrics, a technique Buckner employed on his earlier albums Since and Impasse, but this marks the first time he used the songs’ extended story to construct the album’s overall view and track sequence.

Caged Animals – In The Land Of Giants CD/LP (Lucky Number)

Caged Animals is the strangely life-affirming bedroom project of songwriter Vincent Cacchione, a New Jersey-born Italian living in Brooklyn. Known previously for the nearly folk-rock of his former band Soft Black, Cacchione carries a strong traditional gene in his band of glitch-friendly pop — as inspired by the classic songwriting of Jeff Magnum or John Lennon’s solo material as the melancholic R&B twist of James Blake or Frank Ocean, or the perfect fusion of Chad Van Gaalen’s raw pop sensibilities.

Califone – Stitches CD/LP (Dead Oceans)

Stitches, the new album Califone touches on all permutable definitions of the word, its episodes of discomfort and healing rendered with exquisite beauty and craftsmanship. Archetypes and mythological figures rub shoulders with bruised civilians throughout this odyssey. Intimate timbres garage sale drum machines, slack guitar strings, hushed vocals offset the album’s cinematic inclinations. The listener moves through a landscape of Old Testament blood and guts, spaghetti Western deserts and Southwestern horizons, zeroing in on emotions and images that cannot be glanced over.

Neko Case – The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You CD/2xLP+CD (Anti)

It’s been four years since the great alt-country wailer Neko Case posed with the sword on the car hood on her Middle Cyclone album cover, and she hasn’t released a solo album since. That changes now with her new LP The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You. Decemberists producer Tucker Martine helmed the album, and Case’s contributors this time around included Kelly Hogan, M. Ward, and New Pornographers frontman A.C. Newman. Available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe adds three bonus tracks. Also available on gatefold double-vinyl featuring three bonus tracks, an etched D-side, and a tattoo sheet.

Coachwhips – Hands On The Controls [Reissue/2002] CD (Castle Face)

This reissue of the debut album from early ’00s band lead by John Dwyer (Thee Oh Sees) adds six bonus tracks not on the original CD release. “Known for their raw, primal, stripped-down approach, Coachwhips have epitomized rock & roll at its most basic. Their infectious, riff-driven recordings of the 2000s have combined garage rock with punk and alternative rock.” – All Music

Cowboy Mouth – This Train CD (Elm City)

As frontman Fred LeBlanc says, “If The Neville Brothers and The Clash had a baby, it would be Cowboy Mouth.”

[Read more…] about New Releases for September 3, 2013