CDs + Vinyl:

Barb Wire Dolls – Rub My Mind CD/LP (Motörhead Music)
Fronted by the whip-smart vocal and fashion icon Isis Queen (named after the Greek Goddess herself), Crete, Greece band Barb Wire Dolls intelligently weave sub-genres of punk, grunge, and metal, producing an urgent sound that is truly unique.

Beatrix Players – Magnified CD/LP (Cadiz Music)
Beatrix Players is a London-based all-female trio who make florid, adventurous music that operates at the interface between folk, singer-songwriter acoustica, prog and quasi classical baroque chamber pop.

Chris Bell – Looking Forward: The Roots Of Big Star CD (Omnivore)
This 22-track collection chronicles music made by and with Bell before Big Star’s iconic #1 Record—from bands with imaginative names like Rock City, Christmas Future, Icewater, The Wallabys, and more. It examines Bell’s progress as a writer, performer, and engineer leading up to Big Star in which the sounds and roots of Big Star are completely evident.

Blind Guardian – Live Beyond The Spheres 3xCD/4xLP (Nuclear Blast America)
A 22-track, three-CD live collection by the power metal band spanning the band’s 30 year, ten album career.

Randall Bramblett – Juke Joint At The Edge Of The World CD/LP+MP3 (New West)
“Juke Joint At The Edge Of The World is a record that reflects the freedom my bandmates and I have found playing together in the last few years. Some of the places we play are like the old juke joints where people dance and shout – from these people and places we’ve found the energy we need to be free to shake the music up. Now, when we improvise we know it’s going to take us to a new and better musical place. Time listening and working together has given us that. The result is that this record has more of a ‘live in the studio’ feel to it. It’s also rooted more in the soul and R&B dance music I grew up listening to and playing. Less thinking and more playing. Less analyzing and more fun.”

Broken Social Scene – Hug Of Thunder CD/2xLP (Arts & Crafts)
On Hug Of Thunder the 15 members of Broken Social Scene – well, the 15 who play on the record, including returnees Leslie Feist and Emily Haines – refract their varying emotions, methods, and techniques into something that doesn’t just equal their other albums, but surpasses them. It is righteous but warm, angry but loving, melodic but uncompromising. The title track on its own might just be the best thing you will hear all year – a song that might become as beloved as “Anthems For a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl” from their breakthrough album, You Forgot It In People. The album’s title, Kevin Drew says, captured what he wanted people to feel about the group’s comeback, and how they sound playing together again: “It’s just such a wonderful sentiment about us, coming in like a hug of thunder.” In troubled times it offers a serotonin rush of positivity: “Stay Happy” lives up to its title, with huge surges of brass that sound like sunshine bursting through clouds. “Gonna Get Better” makes a promise that the album is determined to deliver. That’s not to say it’s an escapist record: Broken Social Scene is completely engaged, wholly focused, and not ignoring the darkness that lurks outside. But there is no hectoring, no lecturing, but a recognition of the confusion and ambiguity of the world.

Death SS – In Death Of Steve Silvester [Reissue/1989] CD/LP (Shadow Kingdom)
Death SS – Black Mass [Reissue/1989] CD/LP (Shadow Kingdom)
Death SS – Heavy Demons [Reissue/1991] CD/LP (Shadow Kingdom)
One of the most cult names in international heavy metal, Italy’s Death SS have influenced numerous acts over the past three decades in their long, twisted history, equally impacting the nascent speed metal and black metal scenes with their trademark ghoulish and theatrical presentation. Their first three albums are back in-print on CD and vinyl.

Decapitated – Anticult CD/LP (Nuclear Blast America)
Seventh album from the Polish metal band. [Limited “bone with blood splatter” vinyl edition also available.]

Discipline – Captives Of The Wine Dark Sea CD (Laser’s Edge)
Detroit, MI’s Discipline has performed and recorded together since 1987, and remains one of the top bands in the American progressive rock scene. [Vinyl edition due July 21.]

[Read more…] about New Releases for July 7, 2017

CDs + Vinyl:

The Acacia Strain – Gravebloom CD/LP+MP3 (Rise)
The Acacia Strain are pioneers of the deathcore genre, and for the past sixteen years they’ve been releasing albums that have managed to stand the test of time and become staples in the metalcore community. [Limited color vinyl pressing also available.]

Lee Bains III + The Glory Fires – Youth Detention CD/LP (Don Giovanni)
Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee at Battletapes with engineer Jeremy Ferguson and producer Tim Kerr, Lee Bains III + The Glory Fires’ Youth Detention captures the band in raw form. Each song was cut live to tape, with the four performing in the same room without headphones or baffling. The result is thoroughly human, Lynn Bridges’ mix retaining the band’s live energy and looseness at the expense of a few out of tune strings. The Glory Fires music draws deeply from punk, but also soul, power pop, country, and gospel. [Limited edition color vinyl pressing also available.]

Amina Baraka & The Red Microphone – Amina Baraka & The Red Microphone CD (ESP Disk)
Powerful inside/outside jazz, created in the moment, but occasionally building on a composition by group member Rocco John Iacovone, the cadences of Baraka’s words intertwining with the rhythms of the music to become more than the sum of its parts.

The Beach Boys – 1967: Sunshine Tomorrow 2xCD (Capitol)
This unique double-CD compilation pulls together a slew of previously unreleased material from The Beach Boys. The collection includes the new stereo remix of Wild Honey, as well as unreleased outtakes from the session recordings. Also included are unreleased session tracks from the Smiley Smile sessions and live tracks from Hawaii, Washington, DC and Boston.

Beach House – B-sides And Rarities CD/LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)
B-sides And Rarities contains every song Beach House – aka Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand – has made that does not exist on one of their albums. The band explains: “When we announced that we were releasing a B-sides and rarities album, someone on Twitter asked, ‘B-sides record? Why would Beach House put out a B-sides record? Their A-sides are like B-sides.’ This random person has a point. Our goal has never been to make music that is explicitly commercial. Over the years, as we have worked on our six LPs, it wasn’t the ‘best’ or most catchy songs that made the records, just the ones that fit together to make a cohesive work. Accordingly, our B-sides are not songs that we didn’t like as much, just ones that didn’t have a place on the records we were making.”

The Beau Brummels – The Very Best Of The Beau Brummels: The Complete Singles CD (Varese Sarabande)
This new hits collection celebrates The Beau Brummels’ (one of the first bands to come out of the San Francisco scene in the ‘60s) original mono singles.

William C. Beeley – Gallivantin’ [Reissue/1971] CD/LP (Tompkins Square)
William C. Beeley – Passing Dream [Reissue/1979] CD/LP (Tompkins Square)
Tompkins Square reissues two albums by Texas singer/songwriter Will Beely—the self-released mega-rare (only 200 copies) private press LP Gallivantin’ from 1971, and Passing Dream, originally released by Malaco Records in 1979. Recorded in San Antonio, Gallivantin’ shows Beeley’s heartfelt, folky side—a wistful set of original tunes.

Blackout – The Horse CD/LP (Riding Easy)
NYC trio Blackout’s take on doom and stoner rock is filled with a gritty, mechanistic heft unlike bands of their ilk from anywhere else. Subsumed within the greasy grooves of sophomore effort The Horse are echoes of NYC heavy legends like Helmet, Cro-Mags, Judge, Prong and others – not as an intentional homage, but rather a vibe that permeates and inadvertently gives it a unique power few can match.

Bola – D.E.G. CD/2xLP (Skam)
Skam Records’ most elusive artist returns with an enticing new album – the first movement from Darrell Fitton’s near mythical project since his Kroungrine LP bowled us over a decade ago. The end result is an album ripe with an incredibly vivid vision of the future, a set of tracks that no matter how much of a gear-head you are, makes sure you arent’ going to be able to figure out what machines have sculpted these sounds.

Alan Broadbent and The London Metropolitan Orchestra – Developing Story CD/2xLP (Eden River)
Working with the London Metropolitan Orchestra on Developing Story is a dream come true for two-time Grammy winning Alan Broadbent – who regularly arranges and conducts for Sir Paul McCartney, Diana Krall, Pat Metheny, Michael Bublé and Natalie Cole. This time he was able to write and record his own original compositions for jazz trio and orchestra and pieces of the Great American Songbook. Featuring Peter Erskine on drums and Harvie S on bass.

Brutus – Burst CD/LP+MP3 (Sargent House)
Hailing from Leuven, Belgium, Brutus create a pummeling, meteor-shower of sound. Vocalist/drummer Stefanie Mannaerts mixes black-metal blast beats with math-rock flourishes whilst belting out the most impassioned vocals that shift from deceptively melodic to outright larynx-punishing in the blink of an eye. Meanwhile, guitarist Stijn Vanhoegaerden takes ethereal post-rock tones to hardcore punk levels of speed and energy alongside Peter Mulders’ powerful sub-frequency shift. The three conspire to make a sound as monolithic and frantic as it is emotive.

Burning Ghosts – Reclamation CD (Tzadik)
A politically motivated quartet at the forefront of the jazz-metal underground featuring four of the most acclaimed musicians in the L.A. experimental music scene. Playing scorching instrumentals that touch on heavy metal and jazz, the music is uncompromising and intense, filled with precise rhythmic complexity and textural power.

[Read more…] about New Releases for June 30, 2017

CDs + Vinyl:

311 – Mosaic CD/2xLP+MP3 (BMG)

Multi-platinum genre jumping band 311 return with their twelfth studio album. Frontman Nick Hexum says that, “Mosaic is our most adventurous collection yet. Some of our highest energy jams ever. Funky grooves, dub riddims, party anthems, heartfelt sincerity, it’s all in there.” Drummer Chad Sexton adds, “Mosaic definitely takes some steps forward into more modern territory, but there are distinct reminders of where we come from in the songs. Something about blending an older 311 style with a newer 311 style is really exciting to us and I think it will be for the fans too.” Mosaic‘s album cover is made up of nearly 10,000 photos submitted by fans.

42 Decibel – Overloaded CD/LP+CD (Steamhammer)

Overloaded still carries the blues rock torch from the previous albums, but this time 42 Decibel cranked it up a notch to give a more explosive experience but with that same hard rock & roll these boys are known for.

Algiers – The Underside Of Power CD/LP+MP3 (Matador)

Poke at the seasoned members’ bruised flesh, and out wafts touchpoints as disparate and intriguing as Big Black, Wendy Carlos, John Carpenter, Cybotron, The Four Tops, Portishead, Public Image Limited, Steve Reich, and Nina Simone, to name but a few. Deep echoes of Black Lives Matter and its 20th century forbears gather, surge, and subside in their often-soulful work, a form of principled, acute dissent more interested in learning from the past than in evoking nostalgia.

Joseph Arthur – Redemption’s Son [Reissue/2002] 2xCD/LP+MP3 (Real World)

Joseph Arthur’s acclaimed third album for Real World, Redemption’s Son, is reissued as a double-CD set with bonus content for the 15th anniversary of his most beloved recording. Consistently inspired, occasionally frazzled, and often startlingly beautiful, its rich textures and acute, poetic lyrics are guaranteed to raise goosebumps. The bonus disc Morning Star is a collection of nine previously unreleased songs from the era of the original Redemption’s Son release. [Also available on vinyl for the first time which includes a download of the bonus content.]

Banditos – Visionland CD/LP+MP3 (Bloodshot)

The Birmingham/Nashville-based group’s second full-length has one foot firmly planted in reality as the other tip-toes in and out of mental complexities, self-perception and altered-state illusions. The results are revealing, exhilarating and profound. With the rugged power of a flashy Super Chief locomotive, the Banditos’s bodaciously appropriate elements of ’60s blues-fused acid rock, ZZ Top’s jangly boogie, garage punk scuzz a la Burger Records, the Drive-By Truckers’ yawp, the populist choogle of CCR, Slim Harpo’s hip shake baby groove, gut bucket Fat Possum hill country mojo and the Georgia Motherf*king Satellites. From backwoods bluegrass, to slinky nods to Muscle Shoals soul and unexpected bits of doo-wop sweetness, the Banditos recall many, but sound like no one.

BardSpec – Hydrogen CD/LP (By Norse Music)

BardSpec is the ambient project/band from Enslaved composer/guitarist Ivar Bjørnson. His music music combines stirring, hallucinatory synth-sounds with mercurial guitar effects and hypnotic rhythms that navigate illusory landscapes.

Bedouine – Bedouine CD/LP (Spacebomb)

Bedouine’s singing is like rain down a granite ruin, sweet as jasmine in the summer darkness, lilting crystal movements, precise and sure, the kind of voice that forms civilizations. Bedouine has a story to match the name, Azniv Korkejian, born in Syria to Armenian parents, spent her childhood in Saudi Arabia, and moved to America when her family won the Green Card lottery. Working on around 30 tracks, with remarkable musicians like Smokey Hormel stopping by to contribute parts, Korkejian selected 10, united by a sustained mood and presence, to bring east for the Spacebomb treatment and Trey Pollard’s expressive symphonic arrangements.

Joe Bonamassa – Live At Carnegie Hall: An Acoustic Evening CD/3xLP (J&R Adventures)

On January 21^st and 22^nd, 2016, blues-rock singer-songwriter and guitarist Joe Boamassa performed two unique shows at the iconic Carnegie Hall in New York City. The concert was part of a special all-acoustic tour and featured an all-star ensemble of world-class musicians. Acclaimed Chinese cellist and erhuist Tina Guo, whose repertoire stretches from classical to heavy metal; and Hossam Ramzy, the Egyptian percussionist and composer, who has performed on dozens of film soundtracks and records, including on Jimmy Page and Robert Plant’s No Quarter: Unledded Tour. Reese Wynans (piano), Anton Fig (Drums) Eric Bazilian (mandolin, hurdy-gurdy, saxophone, acoustic guitar, vocals), and three Australian backing vocalists, Mahalia Barnes, Juanita Tippins, and Gary Pinto round out the band. [Stand-alone DVD and Blu-ray editions also available.]

Bone Thugs – New Waves CD (E1)

New album from the duo of Krayzie Bone and Bizzy Bone with guest contributions from Tank, Jazze Pha, Yelawolf, Uncle Murda, Rico Love and more.

Broken Hope – Mutilated And Assimilated CD/LP+CD (Century Media)

[Read more…] about New Releases for June 23, 2017