CDs:
Aqua Nebula Oscillator – Spiritus Mundi CD (Tee Pee)
New album from the celebrated French underground psych rock trio. ”Unrelentingly awesome…crammed with spiraling space-rock guitar solos, layered tape effects and occult atmospherics. Indulgence is the name of the game.” — The Onion/AV Club
Beehoover – The Devil And His Footmen CD/LP (Exile On Mainstream)
The multi-faceted clawing at the stoner doom mantle which defined their 2010 full length, Concrete Catalyst, has been taken to pastures fresh; self-recorded behind the locked doors of their own studio, Beehoover’s latest is a swirl of raw, sultry tones and rumbling octaves that strike chords with braggadocio ‘70s hard rock as much as it does the thunderous rumble of Black Cobra and the jutting angles of Unsane.
Eric Bibb – Jericho Road CD (Stony Plain)
Bibb is one of the highest profile international roots music artists, winning Acoustic Artist of the Year at the Blues Music Awards in 2013.Jericho Road reflects the many musical influences that have informed Eric Bibb’s writing throughout his career. World music, blues, folk and soul all find their way into the songs.
James Blunt – Moon Landings CD (Atlantic)
A collection of songs that is raw, direct, and emotionally honest, Moon Landing is a thing of pure, understated beauty. And, as an introduction, and like all of James Blunt’s best work, the melody for first single “Bonfire Heart” will quickly etch itself into your conscience, and you’ll soon be humming along to the sweetly reflective verses, and anthemic chorus.
David Bowie – The Next Day Extra 2xCD+DVD (Columbia)
This is the collector s edition of David Bowie’s critically acclaimed 2013 album The Next Day. The package adds a disc featuring the three tracks from the original Deluxe edition of The Next Day, plus four new studio tracks, a bonus track (“God Bless The Girl”), and two new re-mixes (including one by James Murphy). The DVD features four videos.
Bright Eyes – A Christmas Album [2002] CD/LP+CD (Saddle Creek)
First widespread release of this collection of 11 traditional Christmas songs. Contributors include members of Cursive, Azure Ray, Rilo Kiley and the rest of the Saddle Creek family. Also available on HQ-180gm white vinyl, which includes the entire album on CD.
Crusades – Perhaps You Deliver This Judgment With Greater Fear Than I Receive It CD/LP (No Idea)
Injecting punk with a welcomed literary-minded approach, Crusades take the teachings of Italian friar and philosopher Giordano Bruno — who tried to pass “down an intoxicating idea to the generation that was to follow him…The sky was no longer simply a 15th Century God’s backyard, and it was too vast to be presided over by a 15th Century God” — and transform them into 10 songs of melodic hard rock.
Cut Copy – Free Your Mind CD (Lomo Vista/Republic)
Frontman Dan Whitford produced the anticipated follow-up to Zonoscope, which was recorded in Cut Copy’s hometown of Melbourne and later mixed by Dave Fridmann (Tame Impala, The Flaming Lips, MGMT) in upstate New York. As the new wavy foursome tell it, Free Your Mind was heavily inspired by the two Summers Of Love (San Francisco’s in 1967 and Britain’s in 1988 and 1989). In an official statement, Whitford explained the album’s thesis as such: “The concept of freedom is one that’s universally positive and timeless, and whatever each person’s version of that freedom is, it’s a good thing to be reminding people or even just ourselves to be ‘free.'” Vinyl version due November 19.