CDs + Vinyl:

Béatrice Alunni/Marc Peillon – Dance With Me CD (ITI)
Dance With Me is a musical book of poems composed and interpreted by Béatrice Alunni

(piano) and Marc Peillon (double bass) who both reside on the Côte d’Azur in France.

American Heritage – Prolapse CD/LP (Solar Flare)

Fourth LP from the tech metal/hardcore band.

Arthur – Dreams And Images [Reissue/1968] CD/LP (Light In The Attic)

Released on Lee Hazlewood’s LHI label, the haunted Dreams And Images is the first of two albums from the Melbourne, Florida-born singer/songwriter. Though his lonely, intimate music, shy demeanor, and stutter might not have suggested a man of great ambition, Arthur moved to Hollywood chasing the music industry dream.

Robin Bacior – Water Dreams CD (Good Mountain)

New album from the critically acclaimed singer/songwriter. Water dreams are common and full of multi-faceted meaning, but in general they signify emotional change. This album is about ideas and paths not working out, and how humbling that can be to process. The instrumentation is meant to reflect various bodies of water, and the feeling of wading through your own life’s current.

Black Knives – Thirteenth Hour CD (Innerstrength)

This hardcore quintet mixes massive mosh parts and heavy riffs for fans of bands like Terror, Hatebreed, Stick To Your Guns and Walls Of Jericho.

California X – Nights In The Dark CD/LP+MP3 (Don Giovanni)

After last years impressive grunge influenced debut, California X return with grubby 1980s thrash and alt-rock reworked with catchier melodies and dense guitar layers. Head-nodding teen angst is great, but by blending a diverse range of influences from small scenes they create something original enough to stand outside all those references.

C’mon Tigre – C’mon Tigre CD/2xLP (Africantape)

Having collaborated with artist G. Toccafando on a vibrant football-themed animated video, C’mon Tigre drop their debut album. The duo specializes in a sinewy lo-fi funk pop with slightly Sun City Girls-ish Eastern-inflected guitar and soulfully mumbled vocals, gritty drum machines and a whole raft of international collaborators.

The Crown – Death Is Not Dead CD (Century Media)

Reactivated Swedish death/thrash metallers The Crown celebrate their 25th anniversary with a new studio album.

[Read more…] about New Releases for January 13, 2015

CDs + Vinyl:

Maurizio Bianchi – Untitled 1980/Untitled 2013 CD (Important)

CD reissue of cassette-only Untitled 1980 by Italian pioneer of noise and industrial music, paired with a 2013 re-working of the original material into four entirely new compositions.

Blackguard – Storm CD (Victory)

New album from the Canadian death metal band.

Catfish And The Bottlemen – The Balcony CD/LP (Communion)

“If it’s a nostalgia trip to 2004 you’re after, then look no further than this Llandudno rock group’s debut. What The Balcony lacks in subtlety (‘Craving your calls like a soldier’s wife’) and elegance (‘your friends can f##king do one’), it makes up for in confidence. Well produced, its burly riffs and youthful energy recall the turbocharged feeling of a fresher’s week club night. That may not suggest the most cultured sound, but it is far from lifeless. Unlike the Kaisers and Courteeners’s success with their indie rock 2.0, there’s something more stubbornly retrospective about this album.” – The Guardian 

Cybotron – Cybotron [Reissue/1976] CD/LP (Dual Planet)

Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. Digitally remastered edition of the 1976 debut album from the legendary Australian electronic duo. Cybotron was the synthesis of progressive rock and electronic music experimentation. Conceived by pioneers of the Australian electronic underground, Steve Maxwell Von Braund and keyboardist Geoff Green, together they produced a series of mind-altering cosmic albums throughout the 1970s which set the tone for the minimal wave and electronic post punk scene of early 1980s Melbourne. Part Tangerine Dream, part Ash Ra Tempel, Cybotron channeled the spirit of Krautrock to create their own unique brand of throbbing komische electronica rivaling the futuristic vision of their German counterparts.

Redd Foxx – You Gotta Wash Your Ass [Reissue/1976] CD (Real Gone Music)

Digitally remastered reissue of this 1976 album from the comedian/actor. Ne’er a truer word was spoken. And, lest someone be offended by the title of this album, let’s just remember that this is Redd Foxx, the guy who practically invented off-color humor.

Dylan Gardner – Adventures In Real Time CD/LP (WB)

“Simply put, this is one hell of an accomplished debut. If Gardner’s occasionally guilty of wearing his influences a little too enthusiastically on his sleeve (the record’s first lines are ‘I’ll be John and you be Yoko’) and there’s a puppyish eagerness to the aggressively layered production, the overall effect is more ingratiating than irritating. Gardner’s energy is infectious, and no matter how hard these arrangements push the line between clever and cluttered, they never let you forget that there are honest-to-God songs keeping things anchored under all the oohs, aahs, and handclaps. You can tell they were built from the ground up rather than bloated out as a misguided means to an end.” — Popdose

Go Dark – Bitchsword CD (Abandoned Building)

Bitchsword, is the debut EP from Oakland duo Go Dark (Doseone and Ash). Go Dark met on the streets of Oakland one eve when they stopped to watch the same street fight. Amidst the pushes and shoves, sticks and jabs the two made eye contact and noticed the other one smiling back at them. A moment of telepathy occurred in which they said let’s make some music. They’ve been thrashing buttons and cutting analog kick-drum-centric electronic music ever since.

[Read more…] about New Releases for January 6, 2015

CDs + Vinyl:

Bastard Noise – Live At Babycastles CD (Small Doses)

The very first performance of the Anthony Saunders/Eric Wood iteration of Bastard Noise, whose approach this time is fully electronic, devoid of any vocals or more traditional instrumentation. The near 40-minute performance starts at a slow, quiet boil, and builds progressively into an intense onslaught of oscillators, noise, and ambience.

The Czars – Best Of CD/LP (Bella Union)

This is a best-of collection of songs from singer-songwriter John Grant’s former alternative rock band, The Czars. “While nothing on this best-of collection quite matches the exquisiteness of Grant’s solo work, you can still hear him testing the waters and laying the groundwork for what was to come.” – Uncut 

HIM – Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666 [Reissue/1997] 2xCD (The End)

HIM – Razor Blade Romance [Reissue/1999] 2xCD (The End)

HIM – Shadows And Brilliant Highlights [Reissue/2001] 2xCD (The End)

HIM – Love Metal [Reissue/2003] 2xCD (The End)

Remastered and expanded editions of the Finnish alternative rock/dark rock and metal band’s first four albums. Vinyl versions due February 10.

Laube – Laube 2xCD (Small Doses)

Pulling from jazz, ambient noise and drone, this German trio slows it all down and allows dark, downtempo, slow-swinging compositions creep out of the speakers. You could imagine them playing in a dark corner of the Black Lodge in Twin Peaks.

Somos – Temple Of Plenty CD (Tiny Engines)

Released earlier this year on vinyl – now available on CD. Displaying an incredible maturity for such a young outfit, Somos has tightened and streamlined their songwriting. The band showcases an immediate chemistry, sucker punching you with dynamic songs that weave and unravel in short melodic bursts of energy.

[Read more…] about New Releases for December 23, 2014