CD + Vinyl:

Ashrae Fax – Never Really Been Into It CD/LP (Mexican Summer)

The legacy of North Carolina’s Ashrae Fax seems destined to be appreciated in retrospect, in no small part given to the tremendous power of the group’s 2003 release Static Crash!, reissued twice from its initial CD-R run before appearing on Mexican Summer last year. The goth/ethereal duo of vocalist Renee Mendoza and producer/guitarist Alex Chesney had built a long, strange and mostly undocumented legacy prior to that release, and Never Really Been Into It extends the tale back even further.

William Basinski – Disintegration Loops I [Reissue/2002] CD (2062)

William Basinski – Disintegration Loops II [Reissue/2003] CD (2062)

William Basinski – Disintegration Loops III [Reissue/2003] CD (2062)

William Basinski – Disintegration Loops IV [Reissue/2003] CD (2062)

Remastered CDs finally available individually and separately from the sought-after sold-out box sets.

Big Star – #1 Record [Reissue/1972] CD (Stax)

Big Star – Radio City [Reissue/1974] CD (Stax)

Digitally remastered reissues now available. Packaging includes new liner notes penned by

R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, who cites Big Star as one of his biggest influences.

Blonde Redhead – Barragán CD/LP+MP3 (Kobalt)

Blonde Redhead’s ninth album. Tracks like “Dripping,” “The One I Love,” and “Defeatist Anthem (Harry And I)” have all the emotional punches of previous high water marks in the band’s repertoire – the just feel slightly less calculated, more serendipitous. Formed in 1993, Blonde Redhead have never made records for fame, or for money, or to ape their teenage heroes, or to indulge any of the dumb, ephemeral impulses that clog up the blogosphere with dumb, ephemeral music. (Vinyl LP version is packaged in a custom die-­-cut cover and inner sleeve with “peel and reveal” sticker insert.)

Blood Of Kingu – Dark Star On The Right Horn Of The Crescent Moon CD (Season Of Mist)

New album from the cult black metal heathens.

Bloodsoaked – Religious Apocalypse CD (Comatose Music)

Technical and explosive brutalizing American death metal.

bvdub – A History Of Distance CD (n5MD)

“A History Of Distance is said to reflect the longing for the Western world that Van Wey occasionally feels from his relatively secluded home base. Spread over four lengthy tracks, the label promises that the LP takes bvdub ‘into new territory,’ including sections influenced by garage and shoegaze.” – Resident Advisor

[Read more…] about New Releases for September 2, 2014

CD + Vinyl:

The Abigails – Tundra CD/LP/Cassette (Burger)

Killer satanic outlaw acid country in the vein of Lee Hazlewood, Gun Club, and Country Teasers.

Adrenaline Rush – Adrenaline Rush CD (Frontiers)

Fronted by vocalist Tåve Wanning (formerly part of the teen-pop duo, Peaches), Adrenaline Rush lights up the hard rock scene with a lethal dose of heavy guitars, infectious hooks and full blown rock & roll attitude.

Noel Akchote – Madrigals For Five Guitars CD (Blue Chopsticks)

The polyphonic music of late Renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613) still fascinates for its forward-looking chromaticism and its stark, unpredictable shifts in character. His fifth and sixth Books Of Madrigals from 1611 construct a world of their own – a distinctive body of work that has found adherents as diverse as Igor Stravinsky (who orchestrated Gesualdo madrigals in his 1960 Momentum Pro Gesualdo), Werner Herzog (who directed the macabre, fanciful 1995 Gesualdo documentary Death For Five Voices), and now the French guitarist Noel Akchote.

Ashrae Fax – Never Really Been Into It CD/LP (Mexican Summer)

The legacy of North Carolina’s Ashrae Fax seems destined to be appreciated in retrospect, in no small part given to the tremendous power of the group’s 2003 release Static Crash!, reissued twice from its initial CD-R run before appearing on Mexican Summer last year. The goth/ethereal duo of vocalist Renee Mendoza and producer/guitarist Alex Chesney had built a long, strange and mostly undocumented legacy prior to that release, and Never Really Been Into It extends the tale back even further.

Asia – High Voltage CD+DVD (Frontiers)

Recorded July 24, 2010 at the inaugural High Voltage Festival in Victoria Park, London, this live CD+DVD captures Asia, with the original line-up, performing classic material from the ’80s, plus songs from the first two albums of their reunion, Phoenix and Omega.

Avenged Sevenfold – Waking The Fallen: Resurrected 2xCD+DVD/4xLP+DVD (Hopeless)

This expanded version of Avenged Sevenfold’s 2003 album includes a disc of rare demos and live tracks, new artwork, the music video for “Unholy Confessions,” and a 30 minute film featuring the present day band.

[Read more…] about New Releases for August 26, 2014

CDs:

3+ – Kazesarai CD (Time Released Sound)

The gentle beauty of Kazesarai is somewhat minimalistic: it is an electronically treated piano-based journey into a fantasy landscape of gently rustling bamboo and reeds, flowing rivers, and mountainous mist — the stuff that dreams are made of.

Accept – Blind Rage CD (Nuclear Blast)

After quite a few years away from the visible hard rock scene, Germany’s legendary Accept have returned to the metal forefront with an elated new singer and a new album.

Apache Dropout – Heavy Window CD/LP (Magnetic South)

After three LPs and a clutch of 45s, Southern Indiana’s Apache Dropout have loosened an adherence to the divine mono sound and forged a scaly stereo technique for Heavy Window. This is a deeper, blown out swagger of peer-less rock & roll filtered through a lush three-dimensional spectrum. Just as their self-titled debut snapped heads back, Apache Dropout has proven again they can rescore the garage rock aesthetic and remain undisputed purveyors of true lysergic North American boogie.

ArnoCorps – The Greatest Band of All Time [Reissue/2005] CD (Alternative Tentacles)

Reissue of this 2005 album from the action adventure hardcore rock & roll band.

Bahamas – Bahamas Is Alfie CD/LP (Brushfire)

The third full-length album from Afie Jurvanen, who performs as Bahamas. Bahamas Is Afie is the first self-produced album from the Ontario-based musician. With this record he pursued a far more complex sound than on prior releases and is responsible for the majority of the instrumentation. The album follows 2011’s Barchords, which was praised for being “a reserved yet melodically rewarding exploration of rewarding exploration of relationships and heartache” by The New Yorker.

Liam Bailey – Definitely Now CD (Sony Masterworks)

British soul rocker Liam Bailey’s debut album combines American R&B, down-home rock & roll, transportive psychedelia and blistering blues riffs into a deft personal statement about battling your demons and finding life-affirming joy in music. He sings with a raw expressiveness that has been compared to Bob Marley and Sam Cooke, yet his songwriting style references post punk bands like The Smiths and Oasis.

Michael Barnett – One Song Romance CD (Compass)

Fiddler Mike Barnett is at the forefront of the new crop of acoustic instrumentalists that are redefining American string band music. His musical vision comes across in Technicolor on One Song Romance, his first solo outing for Compass Records, establishing him as one of the pre-eminent fiddle players, singers and writers on the acoustic music scene.

Beach Day – Native Echoes CD/LP (Kanine)

Native Echoes is the second album from the Hollywood, FL based garage rock/girl group with a male drummer.

Genevieve Bellemare – Live And Die CDEP (Verve)

“Bellemare’s beyond-her-years vocal work evokes the fragile, elegiac croon of Billie Holiday.”—Eugene Weekly

Eric Benét – The Other One CD (SPV)

The Other One is a departure from Eric’s familiar sleek R&B roots, offering instead an innovative sound journey that is anything but typical. Electro soul fused with drum ‘n’ bass influences, ambient atmospherics and of course Benét’s sublime vocals.

Better Than Ezra – Surprise [1989] CD (Liaison)

First time on CD for the 1989 debut release from the alt-rock band, which was originally released on cassette-only.

Elvin Bishop – Can’t Do Wrong CD (Alligator)

Legendary blues guitarist/songwriter/vocalist Elvin Bishop returns with a new album.

Bishop Allen – Lights Out CD/LP (Dead Oceans)

Lights Out features 12 new songs from the Brooklyn band. A press release explains that the album sounds like a party record at first, but then reveals a bleaker side. “Listen to what this guy’s singing. And realize that this record is not what you thought it was at all. Goddamnit! Bait-and-switch! These songs are downright melancholic!” (Limited copies also available on white vinyl.)

Wil Blades – Field Notes CD (The Royal Potato Family)

Having released a critically acclaimed co-led duo album Shimmy with Medeski Martin & Wood drummer Billy Martin in 2012, Blades returns with a deeply soulful and sinuous nine-track effort, Field Notes, on which he’s found fronting his own trio featuring Tortoise guitarist Jeff Parker and New Orleans’ drummer Simon Lott. From the recording’s outset, it’s easy to picture Blades fingers free-flowing across the keys, feet gliding along the bass pedals in a continuous dance. Vinyl version due September 9.

Bogart & Appice – Friends CD (Cleopatra)

Longtime partners in crime and one of the tightest rhythm sections in all of rock music, bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice, team up with musical friends and family for Friends. Features Vanilla Fudge alumni Bill Pascali, Teddy Rodinelli, and Vince Martell plus special guests T.M. Stevens (James Brown/The Pretenders) and Brian Auger (Rod Stewart).

Benjamin Booker – Benjamin Booker CD/LP (ATO)

Benjamin Booker is a young New Orleans based singer/songwriter. He is influenced by The Gun Club, Blind Willie Johnson, and T. Rex. Benjamin Booker’s debut self-titled album was produced by Andrija Tokic (Alabama Shakes, Hurray For The Riff Raff).

Botanist – VI: Flora CD/LP (The Flenser)

VI: Flora continues the story of The Botanist, a crazed man of science who lives in self-imposed exile, as far away from Humanity and its crimes against Nature as possible. Seated upon his throne of Veltheimia in the Verdant Realm, his sanctuary of fantasy and wonder, he surrounds himself with plants and flowers, finding solace in the company of the Natural world. While recent albums detailed a misanthropic master plan for the destruction of mankind at the hands of plants, VI: Flora focuses rather on the wondrous beauty of the plants themselves through a gauzy haze of dreamlike sound.

Cory Branan – The No Hit Wonder CD/LP (Bloodshot)

Throughout his decade-and-a-half-long career, Cory Branan has been too punk for country, too country for punk, too Memphis for Nashville, and probably a little too Cory Branan for anyone’s damn good. He has proven himself as a top-notch songwriter (Chuck Ragan recently called him “the greatest songwriter of our generation”), and a hyper-dynamic performer with the ability to fingerpick finer than ‘60s Greenwich Village folkies and brutally strum like a proto punk shredder.

The Brokeoffs – Restless Leg CD (Transdreamer)

Restless Leg was recorded at home, six acres in rural Georgia. A few songs were tracked in an empty stock trailer, some outside and the rest in a purpose built outbuilding that resembles a shed more than it does a studio.

Chuck Brown & The Chuck Brown Band – Beautiful Life CD (Raw Venture)

Posthumous new release from the Godfather of Go Go. Beautiful Life contains an intro by Doug E Fresh, collaborations with rapper Wale, R&B diva Faith Evans, R&B star Raheem DeVaughn, local DC icon Sugar Bear, gospel singer Y’Anna Crawley, as well as new songs by The Chuck Brown Band.

Buckcherry – F**k CD (F-Bomb)

New album from the L.A. based rockers.

Buddy – Last Call For The Quiet Life CD/LP (Stove Punchin’ Records)

Buddy, the evolving collection of Los Angeles-based musicians lead by a man named Buddy, returns with their sophomore release and with it a subtle transformation from cinematic, singer/songwriting, self-proclaimed “wimpy core” to “fully realized orchestral pop, both lush and evocative” (Kevin Bronson – Buzzbands L.A.).

[Read more…] about New Releases for August 19, 2014