AIMS Marketing Program/ Featured Titles Promoted This Week:

Herb Alpert – Wish Upon A Star CD (Herb Alpert Presents)

What happens when you wish upon a star? You get new music from Herb Alpert, of course! The prolific trumpet player returns at age 88 with his new studio album (his 49^th) Wish Upon A Star. Filled to the brim with new takes on classic songs we’ve known and loved for decades, this set of music continues to serve up the unmistakable trumpet playing of the Tijuana Brass master. Herb covers everything from Jerry Reed’s “East Bound And Down” to Elvis’ “(Marie’s The Name) His Latest Flame” and the Beatles’ “And I Love Her”. Other hits include “Father And Son”, “We’ve Only Just Begun” and the titular song “When You Wish Upon A Star”.

Bahamas – Bootcut CD/LP (Republic)

Bahamas’ sixth full-length album, Bootcut, sees Afie Jurvanen lean into his (alt and old-time) country music influences. Produced by Grammy-nominated Robbie Lackritz (Jack Johnson, Peach Pit) and Dan Knobler (Allison Russell), the album features country legend (and current Eagle) Vince Gill, pedal-steel maestro Russ Pahl (Kenny Rogers), bassist Dave Roe (Johnny Cash), harmonica player Mickey Raphael (Willie Nelson) and many more. [An indie store exclusive green w/ smoke color vinyl pressing is available.]

Baroness – Stone CD/2xCD/LP/Cassette (Abraxan Hymns)

The origins of Stone go back to 2020. It is not a pandemic record, but the core of it was written during its darkest days. Anxiety, relief, and resolve are stitched deeply throughout. When the foursome was isolated in Pennsylvania and New York, turning stems of music into full-fledged songs felt insurmountable. Barones toiled as the world roiled. Creativity fully flourished only when they escaped to an Airbnb in Barryville, a quaint hamlet on the New York/Pennsylvania border. The undulating “Beneath The Rose”, the energetic drive of “Anodyne”, the trad-metal burlof “Last Word”, and the dynamic introspection of “Shine” rushed out, as did the motorik of “Choir” and the emotional heft of “Magnolia”. Stone was a sort of catharsis, a turning of the page, a middle finger to the suffocating insincerity of expectation. [The deluxe double-CD edition features six live tracks recorded in 2022. A variety of color vinyl variants themed after each song – including and indie store exclusive red pressing – were pressed.]

[Read more…] about New Releases for September 15, 2023

AIMS Marketing Program/ Featured Titles Promoted This Week:

Boris – Heavy Rocks [Reissue/2002] CD/2xLP (Third Man)

Formed in 1992, Boris boldly explores their own vision of heavy music, where words like “explosive” and “thunderous” barely do justice. Using overpowering soundscapes embellished with copious amounts of lighting and billowing smoke, Boris has shared with audiences across the planet an experience for all five senses in their concerts, earning legions of zealous fans along the way. This is the highly requested, unbelievably anticipated official vinyl release of Boris’s 2002 album and first dive into the stoner rock idiom, originally released in Japan on CD only. Heavy Rocks (2002) is heavy, sure, but fuses sludge, noise, stoner rock and hardcore all together for a deeply bone-shaking and unforgettable trip. For fans of: Melvins, Kyuss, Fu Manchu. [An indie store exclusive yellow color vinyl pressing is available.]

Tyler Childers – Rustin’ In The Rain CD/LP (RCA)

Rustin’ In the Rain is the eagerly anticipated new album from singer-songwriter Tyler Childers. This collection of new songs is Childers’ sixth studio album, and the follow up to his critically acclaimed release Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven?. Rustin’ In the Rain is produced by Childers alongside his longtime band The Food Stamps, and the album features the heartfelt single “In Your Love”, which Tyler first teased to fans earlier in 2023 during his Bonnaroo Music Festival performance. [An indie store exclusive green color vinyl pressing is available.]

Yussef Dayes – Black Classical Music CD/2xLP (Nonesuch)

Multi-instrumentalist Yussef Dayes delivers his highly anticipated debut solo studio album, Black Classical Music, which comes introduced by the title track “Black Classical Music”, featuring Venna and Charlie Stacey. Dayes’ drum licks and Rocco Palladino’s bass are the anchors to Dayes’ nineteen-track debut, aided by Charlie Stacey (keys/synths), Venna (saxophone), Alexander Bourt (percussion), and a host of features including: Chronixx, Masego, Jamilah Barry, Tom Misch, Elijah Fox, Shabaka Hutchings, Miles James, Sheila Maurice Grey, Nathaniel Cross, Theon Cross, and the Chineke! Orchestra – the first professional orchestra in Europe to be made up of majority Black and ethnically diverse musicians. [An indie store exclusive white color vinyl pressing is available.]

[Read more…] about New Releases for September 8, 2023

AIMS Marketing Program/ Featured Titles Promoted This Week:

Frankie & The Witch Fingers – Data Doom CD/LP/Cassette (Ras/Greenway)

There’s long been a growl festering in the West, an earthen rumble fed by tectonic tension, acrid smoke, and sun-parched air. The brew has boiled over lately, a pressure-cooked chaos that can no longer be contained. The growl has grown to a howl… the howl is at the door. Few are as ready to meet the madness head on as Frankie and the Witch Fingers. On their new album Data Doom, the band hurtles the listener headfirst into the wood-chipper of technological dystopia, systemic rot, creeping fascism, the military-industrial profit mill, and a near-constant erosion of humanity that peels away the soul bit by bit. With a fuse lit by these modern-day monstrosities the band seeks to find salvation through a thousand-watt wake-up of rock ‘n’ roll exfoliation. [An indie store exclusive translucent orange color vinyl pressing is available.]

Islands – And That’s Why Dolphins Lost Their Legs CD/LP (Elf)

If Islands’ last record, (2021’s Islomania) was a Saturday Night Fever dream, then the follow up – 2023’s And That’s Why Dolphins Lost Their Legs – is the Sunday Morning comedown. Taking a giant leap forward, replete with addictive hooks at every turn, Dolphins (the ninth record in the catalogue), stands out as the strongest and most articulate Islands record yet. Nick Thorburn and crew manage to tap into both the pain and the joy of living, (sometimes within the very same breath), while musically stripping things down to their simplest element: a bouncing bassline, a snappy kick and snare, or a persistent, hooky guitar line. Though Dolphins is arguably their biggest musical departure (which is saying something, coming from a band that has constantly reinvented their sound from album to album), the DNA of Thorburn’s first band The Unicorns can clearly be heard throughout. [A limited-edition red color vinyl pressing is available.]

[Read more…] about New Releases for September 1, 2023