CDs + Vinyl:

Josh Abbott Band – Until My Voice Goes Out CD (Pretty Damn Tough)

New release from the Texas country music band.

The Accidentals – Odyssey CD/LP (SME Masterworks)

“It wasn’t all that long ago that the qualities valued most highly in the youthful sectors of folk-pop and folk-rock were earnestness and simplicity. This was music made with minimum fuss — all four-on-the-floor foot stomps, straight-ahead strumming and spirited sing-along choruses. The Accidentals were surely aware of that movement, though they’d barely reached high school in Traverse City, Mich., when Mumford & Sons blew up. But even back then, violinist Savannah Buist and cellist Katie Larson were occupied by making familiar MGMT and Led Zeppelin songs into pieces to which they could apply their classical chops. The Accidentals became a sprightly trio several years back with the addition of drummer Michael Dause. On their latest, which the three bandmates co-produced in partnership with Jason Lehning, a specialist in roots-inflected alt-pop, they display equal interest in the focused musical forms of indie rock and pop and the expansive potential of orchestral arrangements, jam band open-endedness and impressionistic singer-songwriter expression. The fact that all of that is in the mix doesn’t, in fact, result in long songs. Most, including the closing instrumental suite, clock in under four minutes. They’re just busier, more dynamic songs, animated by the tensions between aesthetic possibilities.” – NPR

Banny Grove – Cars In Control CD/7” (Nicey Music)

“Giddy and surreal synth-driven songs that fuse pointed social commentary with off-kilter melodies and teetering rhythms.”—Bandcamp New and Notable

Beneath – Ephemeris CD/LP (Unique Leader)

Third full length from the Icelandic death metal titans.

Bobby Bland – Here’s The Man!!! [Reissue/1962] CD/LP (Tempo)

Here’s The Man!!! was originally released in 1962 on Duke Records – Houston’s legendary R&B label run by the infamous Don Robey – and is the second LP from Bobby “Blue” Bland. Featuring one of his most enduring and classic hits, “Turn On Your Love Light”, along with 10 other smoking R&B numbers – Here’s The Man!!! is a fine showcase of one of the most influential and important R&B/soul singers of the 1960s.

[Read more…] about New Releases for August 18, 2017

CDs + Vinyl:

Abominable Putridity – In The End Of Human Existence CD/LP (Unique Leader)
CD and first-time vinyl reissue of the 2007 debut from the Russian brutal, slamming death metal outfit.

Alborosie – Freedom In Dub CD (Greensleeves)
Newly recorded dub versions of songs from the 2016 album Freedom & Fyah. Using vintage analog equipment, Alborosie bridges the sounds and rhythms of classic reggae to 2017, highlighting his lineage to producers like Linval Thompson and King Jammy among others. [Vinyl edition due August 25.]

Alpheus – Good Prevails [Reissue/2014] CD/LP (Liquidator Music)
The dynamic duo of London England-raised Jamaican singer Alpheus and producer Roberto Sanchez teamed up once again to make yet another quality album of ska and roots rocksteady reggae music with 2014’s Good Prevails. Back in print on CD and vinyl.

Altered Five Blues Band – Charmed & Dangerous CD (Blind Pig)
“Explosive, hard driving blue collar rockin’ blues… muscular blues mixed with vintage soul designed to showcase the mighty vocals of frontman Jeff ‘JT’ Taylor.” — No Depression

Atriarch – Dead As Truth CD/LP (Relapse)
Ritualistic, apocalyptic noisemakers Atriarch are back with their fourth offering of mind-altering, doom-soaked, deathrock.

James Blunt – The Afterlove [Extended Version] CD (Atlantic)
The Afterlove sees Blunt melding contemporary pop production with his classic brand of personal songcraft, equal parts heartfelt poignancy and self-deprecating wit. The chart-topping troubadour enlisted a who’s who of modern talent to join him in writing and recording the album, among them such icons and studio luminaries as Ed Sheeran, Ryan Tedder, Amy Wadge (Ed Sheeran), Johnny McDaid (Example, Biffy Clyro), Stephan Moccio (Miley Cyrus, The Weeknd), and MoZella (Miley Cyrus, One Direction).

The Bombay Royale – Run Kitty Run CD/LP (Hope Street)
A retro Bollywood fueled rampage through psyche-surf, 80’s electro-pop and desert rock, Run Kitty Run is, like its predecessors, conceived as the soundtrack to a lost film. The music conjures into life a devastated futuristic landscape peopled by robotic horsemen, killer satellites and grinning sadhus. Overlaid with vocals in Hindi, Bengali and English, the resulting soundtrack is one of love and betrayal, hopeless escapes and unlikely salvation.

Bonobo – One Offs… Remixes & B-Sides [Reissue/2002] CD/2xLP (Tru Thoughts)
Successfully beating the bootleggers at their own game, 2002’s One Offs offered Bonobo fans the chance to get their mitts on rare 12” and 7” cuts, as well as some truly exceptional remixes.

[Read more…] about New Releases for August 11, 2017

CDs + Vinyl:

Accept – The Rise Of Chaos CD/2xLP (Nuclear Blast)
Fifteenth studio album from the Teutonic metal band. [Limited color vinyl pressing also available.]

Black Grape – Pop Voodoo CD/LP (MCA/Radioactive)
The ragtag bunch of Madchester veterans Black Grape have returned with a new album, Pop Voodoo, the band’s first new material in 20 years. Happy Mondays and Black Grape frontman Shaun Ryder is once again joined by the original British b-boy and former Ruthless Rap Assassin, Kermit to make genre-melding music and take aim at today’s cultural climate.

Bonehunter – Sexual Panic Human Machine CD/LP (Hell’s Headbangers)
Second album from the Finnish thrash/punk/black metal trio.

Tyler Childers – Purgatory CD/LP (Hickman Holler)
Like many great Southern storytellers, singer-songwriter Tyler Childers has fallen in love with a place. The people, landmarks and legendary moments from his childhood home of Lawrence County, Kentucky populate the ten songs on his formidable debut, Purgatory, an album that’s simultaneously modern and as ancient as the Appalachian Mountains in which events unfold. The album, co-produced by Grammy Award winners Sturgill Simpson and David Ferguson, is a semi-autobiographical sketch of Childers’ growth from wayward youth to happily married man, told in the tradition of a Southern gothic novel with a classic noir antihero who may just be irredeemable. Purgatory is a chiaroscuro painting with darkness framing light in high relief. There’s catharsis and redemption. Sin and temptation. Murder and deceit. Demons and angels. Moonshine and cocaine. So much moonshine and cocaine. All played out on the large, colorful canvas of Eastern Kentucky.

Coldplay – Kaleidoscope CDEP/12”+MP3 (Parlophone)
This new EP features a live version of Coldplay’s hit collaboration with The Chainsmokers, “Something Just Like This,” recorded in Tokyo in April. It also includes “Miracles (Someone Special),” a collaboration with Detroit rapper Big Sean. Another new song, “A L I E N S,” was written with Brian Eno, and co-produced by Eno and Markus Dravs (Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons, Kings Of Leon). [Limited blue colored vinyl pressing also available.]

Gal Costa ‎– Índia [Reissue/1973] CD/LP (Mr. Bongo)
Digitally remastered edition of this 1973 album housed in replica of the original gatefold including the cover that was banned by the Brazilian military government in 1973 during the brutal dictatorship. Índia is a post-Tropicalia masterpiece from one of the movements key figures and true legends of Brazilian music, Gal Costa. Features a stellar line up of musicians including Gilberto Gil, Arthur Verocai, Dominguinhos, and Tenorio Jr.

Dale Crover – The Fickle Finger Of Fate CD/LP (Joyful Noise)
Debut solo album from the enigmatic legend that is Dale Crover. Amongst his 30+ year career as one half of the essential Melvins roster, Crover has contributed to countless albums ranging from platinum-plated classics (ahem, Nirvana) to seminal cult LPs. Though consistently otherworldly, The Fickle Finger Of Fate is surprisingly approachable— dare we say, catchy. But even at its most anthemic, you won’t be able to shake the feeling that a sinister ambience is hovering just beneath the surface.

Dead Cross – Dead Cross CD/LP (Ipecac)
Dead Cross emerged out of a series of impractical schemes, fallen-through plans, and last-minute musical experimentation. Shows were scheduled before a single song was written, fans were formed before even one show was played. The chaos of its creation seems apt; after all, the band is comprised entirely of artists who have thrived playing tightly-coiled turmoil – intelligent dissonance disguised as disorder. Consisting of Dave Lombardo, Justin Pearson, Michael Crain, and Mike Patton, the impressive, expansive, and eclectic list of prior bands collectively played in would be enough to ensure the unyielding ferocity of the music… but a resume isn’t necessary, here. Dead Cross stands on its own, speaks volumes with its multilayered evil-genius vocals, manic guitar riffs, and brutal rhythms. [Limited red colored vinyl pressing also available.]

[Read more…] about New Releases for August 4, 2017