CDs + Vinyl:

2 Chainz – Pretty Girls Like Trap Music CD (Def Jam)

The follow up to last year’s Hibachi For Lunch EP, Pretty Girls Like Trap Music features a star-studded lineup, consisting of Drake, Travis Scott, Gucci Mane, Quavo, Nicki Minaj, Ty Dolla Sign, Jhene Aiko, Trey Songz, Pharrell, Swae Lee and others.

Arcadea – Arcadea CD/LP (Relapse)

Drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor (Mastodon), guitarist/keyboardist Core Atoms (Zruda, Gaylord) and keyboardist/guitarist Raheem Amlani (Withered, Scarab) are said pioneers, the space wizards of psychedelic soundscapes where organic drums collide with synthetic keys to create an infinite transmission from an event horizon. They go by Arcadea and their otherworldly brand of psyche-electric, synth-driven, metallic madness sounds alien yet somehow familiar.

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy – Louie Louie Louie CD/LP (Savoy)

The incomparable kings of swing return with an electrifying celebration of jazz legends Louie Armstrong, Louie Jordan and Louie Prima.

Big Star – The Best Of Big Star CD/2xLP (Stax)

If the short-lived but fondly remembered Big Star could have experienced popular success in direct proportion to its posthumous influence, the rangy Memphis rock quartet would have lived up to its ambitious name, and then some. With the possible exception of the Velvet Underground, no other underground pop band has left such a lasting and indelible legacy. Taking the gritty soul of Memphis rhythm and blues and fusing it with the artful melodies and vocal harmonies of British power pop, and injecting it all with a flailing, pre-punk, garage-band energy, Big Star created a unique sound with a potentially universal appeal. This new Best Of compilation celebrates the founding fathers of power pop with 16 tracks spanning all three of their LPs (1972’s #1 Record, 1974’s Radio City and Third, released after the group disbanded). Includes rare single versions of some of their most popular songs, plus new liner notes.

David Bowie – Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles ’74) 2xCD (Rhino)

A previously unreleased live recording from Los Angeles on September 5, 1974. This was a pivotal gig in the transition between the Diamond Dogs tour and the Philly Dogs tour. [Limited vinyl edition was released on RSD 2017.]

Broadside – Paradise CD (Victory)

As soon as the majestic opening licks of the album’s lead off track burst onto the speakers, it’s obvious that Broadside are setting bigger and better goals the second time around. An album of boundless energy, Paradise is a culmination of two years’ worth of experiences, sacrifices, and tireless effort, and the end result is a go-for-broke tour de force in pop tinged punk rock. With the line “The sun peeking from the tall palm trees,” the title track “Paradise” sets the personality for a summer sunshine-stained statement. “The whole concept of Paradise is that you should chase that little view of happiness you create in your mind,” explains frontman Ollie Baxxter. “We often put our dreams and desires to the side believing they’re unrealistic, but this record is about building a bridge to reach your goals, your dream, your…Paradise.” [Vinyl edition due June 30.]

Sammy Brue – I Am Nice CD/LP+MP3 (New West)

Sammy Brue embodies the kind of wisdom, talent and natural empathy that are often signs of age and maturity, and yet at 15 years old, he can place himself in the shoes of others, real or fictionalized, and write stories about them. The Ogden, UT based songwriter has been writing songs since the age of 10. I Am Nice is a brilliant album with nuanced dimension that provides emotional resonance to Brue’s songs which Rolling Stone described as “a collection of devastatingly beautiful songs that touch on heartbreak, jealousy, God and suicide.” They would further declare Brue “an Americana prodigy.” Though Sammy may appear quiet and unassuming, his songs speak volumes. From busking at Sundance at age 10, to opening for Justin Townes Earle, John Paul White, Lucinda Williams and John Moreland to mention a few, as well as performing at Summer Set and the Newport Folk Festival, you will be hearing a lot about Sammy Brue.

[Read more…] about New Releases for June 16, 201

CDs + Vinyl:

AJR – The Click CD (AJR Productions)

Second album from this New York City-based pop trio comprised of brothers Adam, Jack and Ryan Met. Their music style has been described as “eclectic,” combining elements of pop, doo-wop, electronic, and dubstep.

Ambrose Akinmusire Quartet – A Rift In Decorum: Live At The Village Vanguard 2xCD (Blue Note)

Hailed by NPR Music as “one of the most talked-about names in contemporary jazz,” 35-year-old trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire has proven himself an artist of rare ability and wide-ranging aesthetic interests. With his expansive new double-album A Rift In Decorum: Live At The Village Vanguard, Akinmusire reaches a new pinnacle: he and his longtime bandmates Sam Harris (piano), Harish Raghavan (bass) and Justin Brown (drums) join a distinguished strata of jazz artists who’ve made live recordings in the hallowed New York City venue.

All We Are – Sunny Hills CD/LP+MP3 (Domino)

Liverpool-based All We Are return with their second album. Produced by Kwes (Solange, Kano, Loyle Carner), it follows the three-piece’s self-titled debut in 2015. Coming together while students in 2011, the trio is made up of Guro Gikling (Norway), Luis Santos from Brazil (guitars) and Richard O’Flynn from Ireland (drums). After spending much of 2015 touring and honing their sound the band started to write new material with a renewed sense of urgency and power, songs that documented the emotional rollercoaster the trio have been on in the past two years. Sunny Hills has a wobble to it, a human heartbeat and a grit that reflects the energy of the band’s thrilling live shows.

Anathema – The Optimist CD/2xLP (Kscope)

After Anathema’s 2012 award-winning album Weather Systems and 2014’s spellbinding Distant Satellites, the ambient rockers are back with their eleventh full-length. The Optimist reveals some of the darkest, most challenging and unexpected music the sextet have put their name to.

Below – Upon A Pale Horse CD (Metal Blade)

New album from the Swedish epic doom metallers. [Limited vinyl edition was released May 26.]

Chuck Berry – Chuck CD/LP (Dualtone)

Chuck is the final album and first new recordings in nearly four decades by founding rock & roll legend Chuck Berry, who passed away on March 18, 2017 at the age of 90. Comprised of ten new recordings, eight of which were written by Berry, Chuck is his first new album since 1979’s Rock It. Some of the songs on Chuck were originally conceived as far back as the 1980s, with Berry developing them in his home studio in St. Louis over many years during down time between tours. He worked on the album through 2014. When health concerns forced him to stop touring and recording in 2015, Berry continued to oversee production and planning for Chuck, enlisting his family and close friend Joe Edwards, the owner of Blueberry Hill, to fulfill his wishes that the album be completed and released. And from album highlight “Lady B. Goode,” a spiritual sequel to the iconic “Johnny B. Goode” featuring ripping solos from three generations of Berry guitarists, to the poignant country balladry of “Darlin’,” a duet with his daughter Ingrid, Chuck truly is a family affair. Along with his children Charles Berry Jr. and Ingrid Berry, the album features guest performances from Gary Clark Jr., Tom Morello, and Nathaniel Rateliff.

Big Thief – Capacity CD/LP+MP3/Cassette (Saddle Creek)

The trails that Brooklyn’s Big Thief – Adrianne Lenker (guitar, vocals), Buck Meek (guitar), Max Oleartchik (bass), and James Krivchenia (drums) – take us down on Capacity are overgrown with the wilderness of pumping souls. Lenker’s songs introduce us to a gallery of multifaceted women and deal with the complicated matters of identity – at once dangerous and curious, though never unbelievable. Lenker shows us the gentle side of being ripped open. Tricked into love, done in and then witnessing the second act of pulling oneself back together to prepare for it to all happen again, but this time to a sturdier soul, one who is going to take the punches better than ever before and deal some jabs and roundhouses of their own. The album is thick with raw, un-doctored beauty: most of the songs on Capacity were played for the first time in the studio and were recorded the same day. “There is a darker darkness and a lighter light on this album,” Lenker explains. “The songs search for a deeper level of self-acceptance, to embrace the world within and without. I think Masterpiece began that process, as a reaction from inside the pain, whereas I feel Capacity examines the pain from the outside.” [Limited edition white color vinyl pressing also available.]

The Birthday Massacre – Under Your Spell CD/LP (Metropolis)

The Birthday Massacre’s new album is a captivating hybrid of ‘80s, electronica, and aggressive guitars, fused with dark, cinematic melodic progressions.

Blacastan & Stu Bangas – The Uncanny Adventures Of Watson & Holmes CD/LP (Brick)

Cinematic underground hip-hop from Blacastan (of Demigodz) and beatmaker Stu Bangas, also featuring guest MCs like Ill Bill, Tragedy Khadafi, Nutso and Apathy. The Uncanny Adventures Of Watson & Holmes has been four years in the making, and every sample and beat and flow sits just right as a result.

Blackbear – Digital Druglord CD (Beartrap)

“The R&B singer’s new album is an effortless display of vocals over trap beats.” – The Knockturnal

Ritchie Blackmore – Live In Birmingham 2xCD (Eagle)

In June 2016 legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore made return to rock music as Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow played three concerts in Europe, two in Germany and one in England. This new double-CD set captures the full audio from the British show at the Genting Arena at the NEC, Birmingham.

Bokanté – Strange Circles CD (Ground Up Music)

Rich in the sounds of both delta and desert, the unusual but evocative instrumentation on Bokanté debut album, Strange Circles, blends musical worlds to convey an urgent message of social awareness against the rising tide of exclusion and human indifference. The album goes from Zeppelin-esque blues stomp to folkloric Carribbean kaladja over the course of its ten tracks, blending the extensive and varied knowledge of the individual players with a strong, yet empathetic, lyrical approach.

Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie – Lindsey Buckingham Christine/McVie CD/LP (Atlantic)

Two longtime members of Fleetwood Mac have joined together to record their first-ever album as a duo.

[Read more…] about New Releases for June 9, 2017

CDs + Vinyl:

68 – Two Parts Viper CD (Cooking Vinyl)

There are some wild song titles on 68’s second album Two Parts Viper, which is certainly a different approach than the untitled songs of their 2014 debut. “The Workers Are Few” and “This Life Is Old, New, Borrowed And Blue,” “Death Is A Lottery” and “Without Any Words (Only Crying and Laughter)” are among them. The sound is equally unique – a rollercoaster of sonic emotion. Just when you think you know what will happen next, the song takes an unexpected turn. As for lyrical content, Josh Scogin usually makes the album a time capsule – writing his lyrics in short periods of time. [Limited green color vinyl pressings also available.]

Adrenaline Mob – We The People CD/2xLP+MP3 (Century Media)

Each riff is massive, every drum hit a chest-thumping pound, and each line frontman Russell Allen sings exudes power and heart.

JD Allen – Radio Flyer CD (Savant)

JD Allen’s previous recording Americana won widespread critical acclaim for its groundbreaking melodic and harmonic explorations and for its impressive emotional intensity. While that album presented Allen’s ideas with a somewhat contemplative hand, Radio Flyer moves with a more unbridled enthusiasm, testing the possibilities jazz has for individual expressionism and improvisational freedom.

All Time Low – Last Young Renegade CD/LP+MP3 (Fueled By Ramen)

Maryland pop-punk mainstays All Time Low follow-up 2015’s Future Hearts with the new release Last Young Renegade. The band’s seventh studio effort overall comes preceded by the anthemic title cut banger which sets up the ten-track collection’s lyrical narrative. Frontman Alex Gaskarth explains, “We tried a lot of new things on this album, all within the context of what we love so much about All Time Low – There’s no denying that we were binge watching Stranger Things at the time, while also reflecting on the loss of some of our favorite musicians; Prince, Bowie, George Michael. I think the influence comes through in the best ways. We all felt pulled to exciting and different places as we searched for inspiration, approaching something that’s become so familiar to us from a new direction.”

Alt-J – Relaxer CD/LP+MP3 (Canvasback/Atlantic)

Alt-J is a group that can’t be pigeonholed. Plenty of bands place a solid mix of fast- and slow-tempo songs on their albums, and while Alt-J is no exception, there’s something different about their mix of music. Literally. No two songs sound the same. They’ve got a knack for creating unpredictable music, pleasantly surprising fans with a new sound on each track. From the horse’s mouth, that’s because they’re their own harshest critics. Their past two albums have met critical success both in the UK and North America, with their debut record An Awesome Wave winning the 2012 Mercury Prize and their sophomore effort This Is All Yours earning a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album in 2015. Their new album, Relaxer, was recorded all over London – from Shoreditch to St John’s Wood, Crouch Hill to Brixton – with producer Charlie Andrew at the helm for the third time. A first taste of the album comes in the form of the broody lead single “3WW.” The stereo-heavy tune is a production gem, sending out shakers into your eardrums and guitar chords into your heart one line at a time.

Anti-Nowhere League – League Style CD/LP (Cleopatra)

Renowned UK punk rockers Anti-Nowhere League cover 10 reggae and rocksteady classics.

Dan Auerbach – Waiting On A Song CD/LP (Easy Eye Sound/Nonesuch)

Dan Auerbach’s second solo album, Waiting On A Song, is a love letter to Nashville. As such, he recruited some of Nashville’s most respected players to write and record his latest, including John Prine, Duane Eddy, Jerry Douglas, Pat McLaughlin and Bobby Wood and Gene Chrisman of the Memphis Boys. Auerbach said about working with his musical heroes: “Living in Nashville has definitely changed the way I think about music and the way that I record it. I didn’t have all of these resources before. I am working with some of the greatest musicians that ever lived.” Auerbach moved to Nashville from his native Akron, Ohio in 2010 and with this release, his first solo album in eight years, it is clear that he has made Music City his home. During the summer of 2016, taking a break from the non-stop touring he’d done with The Black Keys and the Arcs, he finally got acquainted with the city he loves so much, as well as the world-class musicians who live there, and subsequently collaborated with some of Nashville’s heavyweights. [Limited edition blue/yellow color vinyl pressing also available.]

[Read more…] about New Releases for June 2, 2017