CDs + Vinyl:

23 Skidoo – Beyond Time CD+DVD (Les Disques Crepuscule)

Beyond Time is the first album by acclaimed experimental group 23 Skidoo in fifteen years, released in a special double-disc edition combining the soundtrack music to the 2011 documentary film of the same name, and a DVD of the film itself. Directed by Alex Turnbull and Pete Stern, Beyond Time is a journey into the life and work of artist William Turnbull, from his modest roots as the son of a Dundee shipyard engineer to his standing as one of the world’s most highly regarded modern sculptors. Narration is by Jude Law.

Adelitas Way – Deserve This CDEP (Wild Wild West)

New EP from the Las Vegas hard rockers.

Akatombo – Sometime Never CD (Hand-Held Recordings)

Following his critically acclaimed False Positives and Editions Mego collaborations with E.G. Lewis of Wire/Dome, ex-pat Scotsman and long-time resident of Hiroshima Paul Thomsen Kirk delivers his fourth album. Sometime Never contains 10 tracks of atmospheric, powerful, beat-driven, electronic-based compositions.

Angst Hase Pfeffer Nase – Bidden CD (Glistening Empire)

Six compositions spanning 1996 to 2009, including the previously unreleased 20-minute “Feldweg” by one-time secret weapon for Caroliner, Fat Worm Of Erro and Deerhoof. Tiny Mix Tapes is pretty sure Bidden can easily “satisfy your deep and abiding desire for your head space to get crackled,” while Bhob Rainey is equally reassuring: “No one [else] handles so many skittering, teeming particles with such (alien) bar room elegance.”

The Answer – Raise A Little Hell CD/2xCD/2xLP+MP3 (Napalm)

Gritty guitar work, smoky vocals, and the blues infused spirit of AC/DC and Thin Lizzy. Available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe adds a six-track bonus disc.

Seth Avett & Jessica Lea Mayfield – Seth Avett & Jessica Lea Mayfield Sing Elliot Smith CD/LP (Ramseur)

“The songs of Elliott Smith are widely revered — especially by those who came of age in the ‘90s — but a new generation of listeners is only beginning to discover him. Seth Avett & Jessica Lea Mayfield Sing Elliott Smith is likely to expose new fans to the great singer-songwriter. Smith released five albums in his lifetime and died in 2003 from two stab wounds to the chest; he’d left a suicide note. His songs, which often dealt with depression and desperation, were beautiful and frequently quiet. This album, by Jessica Lea Mayfield and The Avett Brothers’ Seth Avett, was made over a four-year period with great love for the man and his songs. The production is lean, the harmonies are beautiful, and the words and melodies are kept at the center of all 12 songs.” — NPR

AWOLNATION – Run CD/LP (Red Bull)

Los Angeles-based electronic rock outfit AWOLNATION exploded onto the UK scene with their global smash “Sail,” featured on a BMW TV advert. The single would go on to be the longest serving song on the Billboard 100 Chart (79 weeks) exceeded by Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive.” The band’s success racked up the charts across Europe, America, Australia and beyond. Run is the highly anticipated follow-up to their chart-topping debut Megalithic Symphony.

The Bad Chapter – Cheers To The Down And Outs CD (Invogue)

Debut album from ex-Attack Attack! and I Am Abomination vocalist Phil Dryor. Sing-along choruses, creative guitar work, and hard-hitting breakdowns.

Bad Veins – The Mess Remade CD (Dynamite Music LLC)

The Cincinnati based indie rock duo remakes their 2012 album The Mess We Made, adding two new songs.

Berner – 20 Lights CD (Bern One Entertainment)

Seven new tracks from the cannabis champion and master cookie maker. Features guest appearances by Wiz Khalifa, The Jacka, Ampachino, Mac Dre and more.

Bigg Robb – Showtime CD (Music Access Inc.)

Bigg Robb presents his eleventh solo album. Showtime showcases his trademark style of Southern funk and includes 10 tracks such as “Hotter Than Fish Grease,” “Swing It For Me,” “Good Love” and “Country Girl” which was recorded live from Greenwood, MS.

Per Bloland – Chamber Industrial CD (Tzadik)

Per Bloland studied at Stanford with Brian Ferneyhough and Mark Applebaum, has worked at IRCAM and Oberlin, and currently teaches at Miami University. His innovative sound world brilliantly blends custom built electronics with instrumental textures to create unique soundscapes unlike anything you’ve heard before. His work has been performed worldwide to great acclaim and Tzadik is proud to present his first full CD release. Passionately performed by ECCE Chamber Industrial is an exciting CD of acoustic and electroacoustic compositions filled with surprise and dramatic tension.

Jakob Bro/Thomas Morgan/Jon Christensen – Gefion CD (ECM)

Gefion is Danish guitarist Jakob Bro’s first ECM album as leader, following recordings for the label as sideman with Paul Motian and Tomasz Stanko. Like the work of those masters, Bro’s balladeering distils a sense of jazz history in its specific and highly personal atmospheres. The open forms of Bro’s compositions leave plenty of space for his companions drum legend Jon Christensen and creative bassist-of-the-moment Thomas Morgan — to make their statements, interactively and in parallel. Vinyl version due May 19.

Bunny Brunel – Invent your Future CD (Brunel Music)

Featuring jazz-fusion notables Patric Moraz to Virgil Donati to Patrice Rushen, and many more, Brunel wows us with his virtuoso bass playing, imaginative arrangements, and exciting compositions by both him and Chick Corea.

[Read more…] about New Releases for March 17, 2015

CDs + Vinyl:

Aero Flynn – Aero Flynn CD/LP (Ooh La La)

“Break out the Justin Vernon family tree! Aero Flynn is the project of Josh Scott, a musician whose old band Amateur Love shared members with Vernon’s old band, DeYarmond Edison, more than a decade ago. (Specifically, the two bands shared future Megafaun members Brad and Phil Cook and Peter Wolf Crier’s Brian Moen.) Scott is revered in the Wisconsin music scene that yielded Bon Iver, Volcano Choir, Field Report, and so many other great bands. And after years in obscurity, he might finally be ready for his spotlight moment.” — Stereogum

Alialujah Choir – Big Picture Show CD/LP+MP3 (Jealous Butcher)

Forming away from the comforts and constraints of their primary bands (Weinland, M. Ward, Norfolk and Western), Alialujah Choir showcases fuller arrangements than their previous self-titled release, expanding their sound where sparse arrangements create an open bed for two, three and four part vocal harmony, while instrumentation ranging from guitar, upright piano, Theremin, and marching drums allow Alialujah Choir to sing their stories in ethereal allure. Features luminaries from Blind Pilot, Hook & Anchor, and Neko Case Band.

Best Girl Athlete – Carve Every Word CD/LP+MP3 (Minty Fresh)

“Based in the cold North in Aberdeen, Scotland, Best Girl Athlete is producing music with a warmth and maturity beyond her 15 years. The singer/songwriter, aka Katie Buchan, has a youthful innocence contrasted sharply with the experience in music she has inherited from her folk-singer father, Charley Buchan, and is quite evidently a number of steps ahead in comparison to musical contemporaries of her age.” — Gigslutz

The Bevis Frond – Inner Marshland [Reissue/1987] CD/2xLP (Cherry Red)

Inner Marshland is the second album from The Bevis frond, aka Nick Saloman. Originally released in 1987, the album has been long out-of-print and features six bonus tracks from the original sessions. Nick Saloman has the ability to write beautiful, honest pop songs and wrap them in swirling psychedelia. Artists such as Teenage Fanclub, Dinosaur Jr and Mary Lou Lord are among The Frond’s many fans and have covered Nick’s songs.

Blackbird Raum – Destroying CD/LP (Silversprocket)

Blackbird Raum’s Destroying is a raging folk/punk record featuring collaborations with Dublin based traditional Irish group Lynched. Recorded to 24 track tape at San Francisco’s legendary Tiny Telephone studio with engineer Jay Pellici (Deerhoof, Om, Sleater-Kinney), Blackbird Raum collage funerary bagpipe whine over ripping fast banjo and mandolin in a folk-orchestral swirl; shouting in dense harmony. Influences of neo-folk, classic Crass records, anarcho-punk, and the Pogues at their most desperate and heard throughout.

Blamstrain – For All The Dreamers In CD/LP (Erotus)

In marked departure from the dubby excellence of previous EP Sunday Dub, Juho Hietala changes up not just his writing process but also overall sound. Whereas previously he’d locked himself into a rigorous writing methodology of time versus restricted sound palette, For All The Dreamers sees Hietala properly letting loose across all manner of influences. The result is wide exploration of sound-with a particular slant on switching between expansive ambient and much heavier percussive led material that spans multiple musical touch points.

The Blues Busters – The Wonder And Glory Of The Blues Busters CD/LP (Secret)

A compilation of early ‘60s tracks by the seminal Jamaican duo. The Blues Busters were the most consistently popular Jamaican male duo of the early 1960s, and were part of the Jamaican party that performed at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. They initially worked on a showboat performing in cabaret shows for tourists in Kingston and on Jamaica’s north coast, but got their big break when they were asked to accompany Sam Cooke on his tour of Jamaica.

The Bright Light Social Hour – Space Is The Place CD/LP+MP3 (French Kiss)

On their second album, the collective’s musical palette has expanded, embracing influences as diverse as deep house icon Frankie Knuckles, dance renegades Disclosure, Motown legends like Marvin Gaye, and Detroit Afro-rock revolutionaries Black Merda.

Broadcast – Work And Non Work [Reissue/1997] CD/LP (Warp)
Broadcast – The Noise Made By People [Reissue/2000] CD/LP (Warp)
Broadcast – Haha Sound [Reissue/2003] CD/LP (Warp)
Broadcast – Tender Buttons [Reissue/2005] CD/LP (Warp)
Broadcast – The Future Crayon [Reissue/2006] CD/2xLP (Warp)
Broadcast With The Focus Group – Broadcast And The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age [Reissue/2009] CD/LP (Warp)

Nearly five years after the death of frontwoman Trish Keenan, Broadcast’s entire back catalog has been reissued by Warp Records. The English electro-pop outfit released three full-lengths during their more than decade-long career, including their 2000 debut, The Noise Made By People, 2003’s Haha Sound and 2005’s Tender Buttons. Warp’s bundle also includes the band’s 1997 and 2006 compilations, Work And Non Work and The Future Crayon, plus Broadcast’s album with the Focus Group.

Luke Bryan – Spring Break … Checkin’ Out CD (Universal Nashville)

The 50th ACM Awards Show co-host and reigning CMA Entertainer Of The Year releases his final Spring Break album,

Will Butler – Policy CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)

Will Butler has been a member of the band Arcade Fire for over 10 years. This is his first release under his own name. Policy is American music—in the tradition of the Violent Femmes, The Breeders, The Modern Lovers, Bob Dylan, Smokey Robinson, The Magnetic Fields, Ghostface Killah. And John Lennon. Music where the holy fool runs afoul of the casual world. Policy was recorded in one week in Jimi Hendrix’s old living room (upstairs at Electric Lady Studios). Jeremy Gara played drums; other musicians contributed woodwinds and backing vocals. Most everything else was played by Will.

The Callstore – Save No One CD/2xLP (Tallitres)

New album from the French singer/songwriter. “The solo project of Brittany born Simon Bertrand is a refreshingly unique take on folk/rock-pop with a thick French accent and some quite interesting musical backing. Now based in London for fifteen years, Simon has developed a knack for writing infectious and memorable songs with enough cross Channel integration to appeal to many an audience. His style of semi-spoken, sometimes indecipherable drawl is full of intrigue, but sometimes becomes a little too much. As standalone tracks they appear as mini masterpieces, but as a collection the formula could wear a little thin.” – Louder Than War

Code – Mut CD (Agonia)

“Code has gone full prog post-rock for their latest effort Mut, abandoning much of the black metal leanings in favor of the lands occupied by names like Virus and Solstafir.” – Noisy (Vice)

Bob Crewe – The Complete Elektra Recordings 2xCD (Real Gone Music)

Double-CD set containing a pair of albums plus bonus tracks from the music industry legend. A songwriter, producer, singer, entrepreneur, artist and candidate for the title of the “Fifth Season,” Crewe co-wrote and produced most of the Four Seasons greatest hits, and he also guided the careers of Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Oliver, and many others. During 1976 and 1977, Crewe was signed to Elektra Records, where he released two remarkably diverse albums. 1976’s Street Talk resurrected The Bob Crewe Generation, best known for the swinging bachelor pad classic “Music To Watch Girls By,” for the disco age. The following year, Crewe emerged as a singer/songwriter with the solo Motivation. Helmed by legendary rock producer Jerry Wexler and famed Muscle Shoals musician Barry Beckett, Motivation was inspired by Carole King’s Tapestry and remains a passionate, spiritual and raw pop statement.

[Read more…] about New Releases for March 10, 2015

CDs + Vinyl:

AJR – Living Room CD (WB)

AJR has been favorably compared by Billboard to the Beach Boys and Simon & Garfunkel (for the harmonies), fun. and Imagine Dragons (for the electro-pop influences), and got love from the New York Post for their “sticky-sweet pop melodies with vintage barber shop vocals [and] edgier electronic samples and ‘spokestep’ [aka dubstep breakdowns derived from vocals].”

Oren Ambarchi – Live Knots CD/2xLP (Pan)

Two live realizations of the epic centerpiece of 2012 album Audience Of One. Both recordings feature the interplay between his swirling guitar harmonics and the metronomic pulse and shifting accents of Joel Talia’s DeJohnette-esque drumming.

Asleep At The Wheel – Still The King: Celebrating The Music Of Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys CD (Bismeaux Recordings)

Western swing is all things Texas, uniquely American, and loved the world-over. Nine-time
Grammy winners Ray Benson & Asleep At The Wheel have been the genre’s chief practitioners, conspirators, and caretakers for over forty years, carrying its timeless tradition well into the 21st century. Now with this collection, Benson brings together not only a legendary cast of Texas music contemporaries but also a new generation of Americana artists inspired by the Lone Star State’s favorite son, Bob Wills. Guest include: Amos Lee, The Avett Brothers, Lyle Lovett, Merle Haggard, Old Crow Medicine Show, Pokey LaFarge, The Del McCoury Band, George Strait, Brad Paisley, Buddy Miller, The Devil Makes Three, and many more.

Ata Kak – Obaa Sima CD/LP/Cassette (Awesome Tapes From Africa)

Ata Kak’s cassette Obaa Sima fell on deaf ears when it was self-released in Ghana and Canada in 1994. The music on the recording—an amalgam of highlife, Twi-language rap, funk and disco—is presented with the passion of a Prince record and the DIY-bedroom-recording lo-fi charm of early Chicago house music. The astute self-taught song craft and visionary blend of sounds and rhythms has made the album a left-field cult favorite.

Au.Ra – Jane’s Lament CD/LP (Felte)

Au.Ra is Tim Jenkins and Tom Crandles, two Sydney musicians who specialize in otherworldly guitar pop.

Baba Commandant & The Mandingo Band – Juguya CD/LP (Sublime Frequencies)

Baba Commandant is a practitioner of the Afrobeat style, drawing inspiration from the golden era of Nigerian music. Fela Kuti/Africa 70 and King Sunny Adé are big influences, as is the legendary Malian growler Moussa Doumbia.

Azealia Banks – Broke With Expensive Taste CD (Prospect Park)

“Smile, Chinese Democracy, Detox – the pop music world has never been a stranger to the frustration of the delayed album release. New York rapper and singer Azealia Banks’ Broke With Expensive Taste could have easily earned its own pedestal in such a dubious pantheon. Since she first took music blogs, dorm rooms, and block parties by storm in 2012 with the joyously vulgar earworm 212, Banks has become mired in so many Twitter feuds and record-label publicity flaps that the release of her debut album seemed increasingly unlikely by the month. Instead, she has now presented us with one of the most explosive and intriguing hip-hop releases of the year. We should hardly be surprised — Banks has always demonstrated a precocious talent for confounding expectations.” – Pretty Much Amazing

Beardyman – Distractions CD (Tummy Touch)

“Beardyman is an absolute legend in the world of beatboxing, achieving a level of success pretty much unmatched in the mainstream circuit by anyone else in the scene. Distractions is his latest studio album, and it’s an interesting and innovative listen from start to finish. It was produced using the Beardytron 5000 mkIII, designed by the man himself, which enables live recording and mixing. The result isn’t pretentious or over the top however, it is in fact a thoroughly enjoyable experience, showing that Beardyman isn’t a one trick pony, and his journey into the more leftfield, glitchy electronic setting is successful and engaging.” – Contact Music

James Blackshaw – Summoning Suns CD/LP (Important)

Summoning Suns is James Blackshaw’s tenth studio album and the first recording to feature his voice and lyrics. Drawing inspiration from ’60s and ’70s singer/songwriters, baroque and orchestral pop, and folk music, while still sounding contemporary, Summoning Suns is Blackshaw’s foray into more traditional forms of songcraft. Blackshaw sings in a gentle but assured voice while his words combine his personal experiences, neuroses, and fantasies through many layers of abstraction, poeticism, and dark humor.

Blutengel – Omen CD/2xCD (Out Of Line)

Omen is the ninth studio album from German futurepop band Blutengel. Available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe adds an eight-track bonus disc and is packaged in a digipak sleeve.

Tom Brosseau – Perfect Abandon CD/LP (Crossbill)

Perfect Abandon is the new album by Tom Brosseau. It was produced, engineered and recorded in Bristol, England by John Parish (PJ Harvey, Sparklehorse, Peggy Sue) and Ali Chant, features a two-piece drumkit, double bass and Stratocaster guitar. Themes of the songwriting include man struggles to understand divinity, betrayal of a kinsman, discovery, individualism, love.

Thomas Buckner/Claudio Parodi – Taken From A True Story CD (Extreme)

Claudio Parodi has a classical training and played jazz. He joined the improvisers’ scene after meeting Barre Phillips. Since some years he plays cheap electronics alongside his piano. For more than 40 years baritone Thomas Buckner has dedicated himself to the world of new and improvised music. In collaboration with a host of prominent composers and improvisers, Buckner continues to commission and perform numerous chamber works, orchestral pieces and song cycles, as well as improvisations, electronic constructions, and multi-media theater pieces. Taken From A True Story was recorded by Paolo Valenti at Loud Music Studio, Genova, Italia, on March 11-12, 2008.

Buxton – Half A Native CD/LP+MP3 (New West)

Some places you feel like you only sort of fit in and it is this theme that permeates Houston based folk rock band Buxton’s new aptly titled album Half A Native. One of the leading lights of an emerging music scene from a city with a burgeoning youth culture, Buxton have won two Houston Press Music awards as ‘Best Houston Folk/Americana Band’ as well as ‘Best Male’ Vocals (Sergio Trevino). Their new album ventures into vast sonic territories, sometimes pairing atmospheric piano with off-kilter electric guitar, blanketed by Trevino’s heart-clenched voice and melancholic but optimist lyrics.

[Read more…] about New Releases for March 3, 2015