CDs + Vinyl:

The Acorn – Vieux Loup CD/LP (Paper Bag)
In the wake of a five-year hiatus, Vieux Loup marks the beginning of a new creative cycle for Ottawa-based musician Rolf Klausener and his project The Acorn. Following the critical acclaim of their Polaris-nominated concept album Glory Hope Mountain and the cottage psych-folk of 2010’s No Ghost, The Acorn stepped away from public performances. Vieux Loup is an album steeped in years of reflection: eight faintly narrative parables examining broken systems big and small, the fray of the external world, and the return to self. Knee-deep in musky rhythms, the album blends “valley soul” with experimental disco, analog noise and languid improvisations.

Anberlin – Cities: Live In New York City CD (Tooth & Nail)
A live version of Anberlin’s third record Cities recorded at The Gramercy Theatre, NYC.

Arklight – Eternal Life In New York City CD (Phase!)
Outsider songwriting through stripped playability on the verge of ’90s-era 4AD melancholy and Shadow Ring’s isolated ghost reverb. The mature epitome of decaying urban loneliness.

Athiest – Unquestionable Presence [Reissue/1991] CD (Season Of Mist)
CD reissue of the second album by the death metal band.

Awaken The Empire – Aurora CD (Another Record Co.)
Seattle-based band Awaken The Empire fuse atmospheric alt-rock with the raw, heavy emotion of a therapy session.

Bardo Pond – Record Store Day Trilogy 3xCD (Fire)
Brings together their three exclusive RSD EPs from the last three years in one, three-CD package. Each disc is housed in a mini replica of its original vinyl release which are contained w/in a newly designed outer slipcase.

Tim Bowness – Stupid Things That Mean The World CD/LP (Inside Out U.S.)
Tim Bowness is best known as the vocalist and lyricist behind the duo No-Man (the other half of which is Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson). For Stupid Things That Mean The World, Bowness is joined by a host of players, most centrally the members of the No-Man live band from recent years (Stephen Bennett, Michael Bearpark and Andrew Booker), Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree), Bruce Soord (The Pineapple Thief), and Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson).

Brigades – Indefinite CD/LP (Pure Noise)
Debut album from the South Carolina pop-punk band.

The Bunny The Bear – A Liar Wrote This CD (Victory)
Sixth album from the Buffalo, New York post-hardcore group.
[Read more…] about New Releases for July 24, 2015

CDs + Vinyl:

Aloke – Alive CD/LP (The End)
Aloke is a New York band, featuring Christian Zucconi of the indie rock collective Grouplove. Their recent EP as well as upcoming full length were recorded with legendary producer and noise merchant Steve Albini. “Aloke all grew up together in a working class town thirty miles north of the city- Ossining, New York, best known for housing Sing Sing prison,” Zucconi recalled about the band’s humble beginnings and the artistic town which fostered their creativity.

America – The Warner Bros Years 1971-1977 8xCD (Rhino)
Eight-CD box set presented in a sleek clamshell box with each disc in a mini LP sleeve that replicates all of the original album art and inserts. Includes: America (1971), Homecoming (1972), Hat Trick (1973), Holiday (1974), Hearts (1975), Hideaway (1976), Harbor (1977), and America Live (1977).

Dan Andriano In The Emergency Room – Party Adjacent CD/LP (Asian Man)
When not penning tunes and holding down the bass chair for pop-punk stalwarts the Alkaline Trio, Dan Andriano makes music on the side as Dan Andriano in the Emergency Room. Influences range from Thin Lizzy to Elvis Costello to Billy Bragg.

Bassnectar – Into The Sun 2xCD (Amorphous)
On Into The Sun, Bassnectar delivers 16 new pieces of amorphous music — a diverse journey through sparkling melodic downtempo to shimmering hype music to mutated indie rock re-cuts to renegade deep house caught in a trap to blistering bass music explosions — plus a continuous mix bonus disc of all original songs and remixes entitled Mixtape 13.

The Bird And The Bee – Recreational Love CD/LP (Rostrum)
The fourth album from the bird and the bee, Recreational Love, came to life over a half-decade of songwriting and recording. “We didn’t mean to take so long but life ended up getting in the way, in a great way,” says vocalist Inara George, who formed the Los Angeles-based duo with multi-instrumentalist Greg Kurstin in 2005. In the midst of pursuing other projects — George also sings in the indie-folk supergroup the Living Sisters, Kurstin’s a Grammy Award-nominated producer who’s recently worked with Sia, Lykke Li, and Charli XCX — the two met most Friday mornings at Kurstin’s studio to dream up their latest batch of finely textured retro-pop. With a hint of R&B adding some warm grooves this time around, Recreational Love captures the easy intimacy of their collaboration and lets listeners slip into the band’s own charmed and secret world.

Blinddog Smokin’ – High Steppin’ CD (Silver Talon)
Seven-piece band Blinddog Smokin’s new album was produced by Grammy and Oscar winning songwriter Donny Markowitz and features three time Grammy winner Billy Branch blowing harp on three songs. New Orleans pianist David Torkanowsky and Hall & Oates music director and guitarist Shane Theriot add their talents to the recording. The band backed long time soulmate, Blues Music Hall Of Fammers Bobby Rush, on his Grammy and Blues Music Award nominated 2014 release ‘Decisions’.
[Read more…] about New Releases for July 17, 2015

CDs + Vinyl:

Banana And The Bunch – Mid-Mountain-Ranch [Reissue/1972] CD (Real Gone Music)
Recorded right after the Youngbloods broke up, and released on their own Raccoon label, 1972’s Mid-Mountain-Ranch was the sole solo album from the band’s multi-instrumentalist Banana aka Lowell Levinger. Except that it wasn’t really a solo album, because the Bunch included Joe Bauer and Michael Kane from Banana’s former outfit. In essence Mid-Mountain-Ranch really was a Youngbloods album sans Jesse Colin Young; and the absence of their former front man allows Banana and his Bunch to stretch out with some bluegrass and jazz licks alongside their patented folk rock sound. It’s something of an early alt-country cult classic.

Lee Bannon – Pattern Of Excel CD/LP+MP3 (Ninja Tune)
Gone are the rapid-fire breaks and growling basslines of his debut, replaced instead by a considered exploration of ambient soundscapes and drone influences.

Stacy Barthe – BEcoming CD (Motown)
Stacy Barthe transforms her own hurt into songs that uplift the soul. Barthe’s 2015 debut details her experience with suicidal depression, troubles with drinking and 180-pound weight loss. Through the album, Barthe graces storytelling with her powerful vocals and the sophisticated song craft that she first revealed in penning tracks for Katy Perry, Rihanna and Miley Cyrus. BEcoming proves both aching and joyful in its exploration of the complexity of the human condition. Guests include Common and John Legend.

Stiv Bators – Do You Believe In Magyk? CD/LP (Easy Action)
The last ever recordings made by Stiv Bators — issued briefly in France as The Last Race. Features Stiv covering songs by The Ramones, The Young Rascals, The Lollipopp Shoppe plus a song especially penned by Tony James alongside Lords Of The New Church. In depth liner notes by author Nina Antonia with interviews with those who were there.

Beautiful Bodies – Battles CD (Epitaph)
Loud-and-hooky new signing to Epitaph – currently on the road with this Summer’s Vans Warped Tour.

Between The Buried And Me – Coma Ecliptic CD/LP (Metal Blade)
Grandiose, dynamic, heavy, melodic, technically challenging: these are all words that fall equally short when trying to describe Between The Buried And Me’s sonic offerings.

Birth Of Joy – Live At Ubu CD/LP (Long Branch)
Influenced by psychedelia, blues and steaming rock & roll, Birth Of Joy takes you back to the good old times of MC5, The Doors and even Pink Floyd.

Bone Gnawer – Cannibal Crematorium CD (Pulverised)
Sophomore album from the horror ‘n’ gore connoisseurs.
[Read more…] about New Releases for July 10, 2015