CDs + Vinyl:

Alter Bridge – Last Hero CD/2xLP (Alter Bridge)

Alter Bridge is known for blurring the line between hard rock and heavy metal. They return with

their fifth studio album, The Last Hero.

Apoptygma Berzerk – Exit Popularity Contest CD/Cassette (The End)

On Exit Popularity Contest, APOP founder Stephan Groth distils the essence of carefully selected pioneers to construct a classic yet refreshingly contemporary sound. Always a musical chameleon, Groth pays homage to his roots through emulating the analogue soundscapes of innovators like Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis and Klaus Schulze, and the driving motorik Krautrock rhythms of Neu!, Cluster and La Düsseldorf, all filtered through his own unique Scandinavian sensibility. In doing so he has created a vibrant, colorful 21st century palette on which to blend these classic influences from the Golden Age of electronic music. Exit Popularity Contest demonstrates an admirable musical purity and sincerity, channeling the best of the past to forge a path into the future.

Rick Astley – 50 CD/LP+MP3 (BMG Rights Management)

50 is Astley’s first new album in a decade and his first official US release since 1993’s Body & Soul. The set finds Rick returning to his musical roots, with a deeply resonant voice that soars over driving soul, reflective pop and gospel influences.

[Read more…] about New Releases for October 7, 2016

CDs + Vinyl:

The Agonist – Five CD (Napalm)

Along with Despised Icon, Beneath The Massacre and Cryptopsy, The Agonist is a part of the extreme metal scene with their fine-tuned mixture of melodic death metal and metal core.

Gerald Albright – G CD (A Train Entertainment)

Once again Albright shows off on bass guitar while never letting you down with his own unique sound displayed on alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones.

Alcest – Kodama CD/LP/3xLP (Prophecy)

Kodama the fifth album from blackgaze pioneers, Alcest, marks the French duo’s ferocious return to the stylistic maximalism of it’s early albums while continuing the band’s relentless pursuit for new sounds and fresh ideas. “Kodama” is the Japanese word for ‘tree spirit’ and ‘echo’ and from the album’s structure and dynamics to its cinematic sound, Kodama indeed echoes Alcest’s 2010 classic, Écailles de Lune. [Limited Deluxe vinyl box edition also available (45RPM/ clear vinyl/etching) with six art prints and a lyric sheet.]

Alsarah And The Nubatones – Manara CD (Wonderwheel)

Alsarah And The Nubatones are fast establishing themselves as the trailblazers of East African retro pop. [Vinyl edition due October 14.]

Asphyx – Incoming Death CD/LP (Century Media)

New album from the Dutch doom metal pioneers.

Auras – Heliospectrum CD (E1)

Debut album from the Canadian progressive metal upstarts.

[Read more…] about New Releases for September 30, 2016

CDs + Vinyl:

Airbourne – Breakin’ Outta Hell CD/LP (Spinefarm)

Fourth album from the mighty bearers of the stadium-rock torch.

Allegaeon – Proponent For Sentience CD (Metal Blade)

New album from the Fort Collins, CO melodic death metal band. [Vinyl edition due October 7.]

AlunaGeorge – I Remember CD/LP (Interscope)

Released last week on vinyl – now available on CD. I Remember is the second studio album by English electronic music duo AlunaGeorge aka Aluna Francis and George Reid. The album includes collaborations with Popcaan, Zhu, Leikeli47, Dreezy, Flume and Pell.

Devendra Banhart – Ape In Pink Marble CD/LP (Nonesuch)

“In the three years since he released Mala, more and more artists have found space for themselves in the surrealist, freak-folk world Devendra Banhart has inhabited for over a decade. Smartly, instead of trying to shout over the din of a packed room, he dials things back, and Ape In Pink Marble feels inviting and intimate, if a bit somber. The album is one of his sparsest; most tracks subsist on little more than Banhart’s vocals and a few lines of intertwining guitar. Single ‘Middle Names’ is truly bewitching, a tribute to the lingering feeling of missed connections written about his friend Asa Ferry, the singer of Kind Hearts and Coronets, who passed away last year. The guitars sweep along the mix dutifully, but Banhart’s voice is mesmerizing, and his delicate intonation says as much as his atmospheric lyrics. It’s a stunning track that beautifully captures a sentiment often difficult to evoke.” – The Line Of Best Fit

Beach Slang – A Loud Bash Of Teenage Feelings CD/LP+MP3/Cassette (Polyvinyl)

Beach Slang’s sophomore album is a raucous collection of shout-along punk rock anthems anchored by frontman James Alex’s trademark heart-on-sleeve lyricism. “Alex opens Beach Slang’s fantastic new LP, A Loud Bash Of Teenage Feelings, by demanding that you play him something loud and fast and also ‘something that will always last.’ Typical rock & roll fare, in other words. And the band’s still playing music for those same outsiders. Alex’s worldview, however, isn’t an ‘Us v. Them’ mentality. Instead, he’s simply writing songs that say, ‘If you have unwavering faith that rock music can save your life, and your preferred hymn of choice is ‘Born To Run’ — welcome to our congregation’” – The Line Of Best Fit. [Limited blue color vinyl pressing also available.]

Biosphere – Departed Glories CD/LP (Smalltown Supersound)

Widely regarded as one of the chief ambient producers the world has ever seen, Biosphere follows up his Deathprod collaboration with new LP Departed Glories on his home country Norway’s Smalltown Supersound imprint. Five years in the making, the album’s core influence stems from the recently discovered work of Russian photographer Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky.

Joe Bonamassa – Live At The Greek 2xCD/4xLP (J&R Adventures)

Blues rock master Joe Bonamassa delivers a musical tribute to The Three Kings Of the Blues (Albert, Freddie and B.B.) at the legendary Greek Theatre — recorded in August 2015. For the set Bonamassa is backed by a stellar band of blues musicians including Anton Fig (drums), Michael Rhodes (bass), Reese Wynans (keys), Lee Thornburg (trumpet), Paulie Cerra (saxophone), Ron Dziubla (saxophone), Kirk Fletcher (guitar), Mahalia Barnes, Jade MaCrae and Juanita Tippins (vocals). Playing on a warm summer night to a nearly sold-out crowd, Bonamassa’s handpicked setlist of songs was called “spectacular” by Premier Guitar; Los Angeles Times said the show “had swing and polish” and that “Bonamassa evoked the signature licks of all three icons while managing to put his own stamp on things.” [Standalone DVD and Blu-ray editions also available.]

David Bowie – Who Can I Be Now? (1974-1976) 12xCD/13xLP (Rhino/Parlophone)

Who Can I Be Now? (1974-1976) is the second box set spanning David Bowie’s career, and is the follow-up to Five Years (1969-1973). The set includes Diamond Dogs, David Live (in original and 2005 mixes), Young Americans, and Station To Station (in original and 2010 mixes) as well as The Gouster, Live Nassau Coliseum ’76, and a new compilation entitled Re: Call 2, which is a collection of single versions and non-album B-sides.

Boxed In – Melt CD/LP+MP3 (Nettwerk)

With comparisons to LCD Soundsystem and Hot Chip, Boxed In is intellectual without being pretentious, wide-ranging yet accessible. [Limited red color vinyl pressing also available.]

Billy Bragg & Joe Henry – Shine A Light: Field Recordings From The Great American Railroad CD/LP (Cooking Vinyl)

Recorded at various train stations during a four-day trip travelling by train, Shine A Light features songs originally made famous by Hank Williams, Lead Belly, The Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Glenn Campbell, Gordon Lightfoot and more. In March 2016 Billy Bragg and Joe Henry, guitars in hand, boarded a Los Angeles-bound train at Chicago’s Union Station looking to reconnect with the culture of American railroad travel and the music it inspired. Winding along 2,728 miles of track over four days, the pair recorded classic railroad songs in waiting rooms and at trackside while the train paused to pick up passengers. “With this project, we wanted to explore the transformative power that the coming of the railroad had on the lives of ordinary people by taking these songs back to the places that inspired their creation,” Bragg says. “Travelling on the train and recording the songs as we went allowed us to both visit places that were important 125 years ago when the lines were laid, but to also explore the viability of the railroad as a means of transport in the 21st century.”

Jakob Bro/Thomas Morgan/Joey Baron – Streams CD (ECM)

On his second leader album for ECM following on from the prizewinning Gefion, Danish guitarist Jakob Bro continues to refine his trio project, with its emphases on melody, sound, space, layered textures and interaction.

Budderside – Budderside CD (Motörhead Music)

Doused in the (street) waters of Los Angeles, Budderside is fronted by Patrick Stone, who was with the likes of Quiet Riot, Velvet Revolver and Adler’s Appetite before realizing the ultimate dream of his own band and singing his own songs to the world.

[Read more…] about New Releases for September 23, 2016