CDs:

Adrenaline Mob – Coverta CD (Elm City)

Adrenaline Mob bring together some of the biggest names in metal and prog metal, from singer Russell Allen (Symphony X), to drummer Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater and Avenged Sevenfold), to John Moyer (Disturbed) and guitarist Mike Orlando. Coverta is a covers album featuring tracks originally by Badlands, Rainbow, Led Zeppelin, Dio, The Doors, and Van Halen.

Aina Haina – Aina Haina CD (Badman)

Portland’s Aina Haina (pronounced “Eye-na High-na”) is a power duo that traces its roots back to Hawaii where members Mike Ailes and Dylan Magierek met while attending the University Of Hawaii.

Arkona – Decade Of Glory 2xCD (Napalm)

Double-disc live set from the Russian Pagan metal band, recorded early last year in Moscow.

Devendra Banhart – Mala CD/LP+CD+7” (Nonesuch)

Mala was co-produced by Banhart and his longtime bandmate, Noah Georgeson. The duo plays most of the instruments themselves, using borrowed equipment and a vintage Tascam recorder (often used in early hip-hop recordings) they’d found in a pawnshop. Vinyl version includes CD and bonus 7″.

Biffy Clyro – Opposites CD/2xLP (WB)

Sixth album from the critically acclaimed Scottish trio – originally released overseas last year as a 22-track, double-disc edition – which has now been pared down to a 15-track, single-disc for the stateside release. Vinyl version features 20 tracks.

Bon Jovi – What About Now CD (Island)

Bon Jovi’s twelfth studio album — available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe edition adds three bonus tracks.

David Bowie – The Next Day CD (lp 03/26) (Sony)

Bowie’s first studio album in ten years and his 30th studio recording overall — available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe includes three bonus tracks and is packaged in a digipak sleeve.

Carmen Villain – Sleeper CD (Smalltown Supersound)

Let’s get this out of the way first — Carmen Villain used to be a very successful model. Her face has appeared on the covers of Vogue and Nylon, and high profile cosmetic ad campaigns. It turns out Carmen Hillestad (Carmen Villain) has been a spy in the house of fashion. Behind the scenes, she was channeling her frustrations into a set of songs with a defiantly DIY underground free-rock sound. Now she’s stepping off the glossy page and emerging as a major new songwriting voice and multi-instrumentalist. With acid in her airbrush, she reminds us of This Heat, Bikini Kill, Sonic Youth, Royal Trux.

Eric Clapton – Old Sock CD/LP (Brushbranch/Surfdog)

Old Sock is a collection of some of Clapton’s favorite songs spanning from his childhood to present day that highlights his vast appreciation and knowledge of music, from Leadbelly to J.J. Cale; Peter Tosh to George Gershwin; Hank Snow to Gary Moore and Taj Mahal. The album explores romantic standards of the ‘30s, reggae, soul, rock, and includes a stand out playful collaboration with Paul McCartney.

Durag Dynasty – 360 Waves CD (Nature Sounds)

Debut album from the hip-hop supergroup featuring Killer Ben, Alchemist, Tristate, and Planet Asia. Guests include Prodigy, Phil The Agony, Evidence, Iman Thug and others.

[Read more…] about New Releases for March 12, 2013

CDs:

Apple And Three Oranges – Free And Easy: The Complete Works 1970-1975 CD/2xLP (Now Again)

Soul and funk from the L.A. drummer/singer/songwriter Ed “Apple” Nelson and his band. “Thick slices of rhythmic soul that are clearly indebted to J.B. and Sly, yet are completely their own things, loose, at once joyous and accusatory, and grounded in that distinctive New Orleans drumming that blows today’s beat-heads’ lids” – L.A. Weekly

Ólöf Arnalds – Sudden Elevation CD/LP (One Little Indian)

Recorded in her native Iceland, Sudden Elevation, Ólöf Arnald’s third full album and her first sung entirely in English, captures a rare and idiosyncratic songwriting talent in full bloom. From the breezily skipping rhythm of opener “German Fields” to the pealing vocals of closer, “Perfect,” Sudden Elevation’s particular brand of heartache is magical, dislocated and otherworldly; its harmonies complex and quietly electrifying.

At The Drive-In – Acrobatic Tenement [Reissue/1996] CD (Twenty First Chapter)

ATDI’s 1996 debut is back in print.

Autechre – Exai 2xCD/4xLP (Warp)

“As Autechre, Sean Booth and Rob Brown have produced some of the best electronic music of the past 20 years. Characterized from the beginning by gloom and intricacy, their sound has grown more complex and austere over time.” – BBC

Stefano Battaglia Trio – The River Of Anyder CD (ECM)

Stefano Battaglia first made waves as a classical pianist, playing music from baroque and early music to 20th century composition touring the European festivals in this capacity, before making the transition to music that incorporated improvisation. A strong feeling for structure, a legacy from the ‘classical’ years, continues to inform all his work.

B/B/S/ – Brick Mask CD/LP (Miasmah)

Debut album from collaboration between Miasmah label boss Erik Skodvin (Svarte Greiner, Deaf Center), experimental don Andrea Belfi, and metal stalwart Aidan Baker (Nadja). Like Supersilent, but rooted in metal instead of jazz.

Blue Hawaii – Untogether CD/LP (Arbutus)

Untogether frames a time of warmth and novelty, featuring dense female harmonies, tape saturated synths, guitars and drum machines.

Marcus Canty – This Is Marcus Canty CD (Epic)

Guided by his idol, Epic president L.A. Reid, R&Bs latest breakthrough vocal powerhouse Canty describes his sound as R&B with a pop twist, a la Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson and Usher.

The Cave Singers – Naomi CD/LP (Jagjaguwar)

On Naomi, The Cave Singers have charted new territory for the band, both musically and spiritually, while remaining true to their distinctive brand of brushfired folk. After some time in the dark wealth of the unknown, they have returned to the light with a revitalized purpose.

Chelsea Light Moving – Chelsea Light Moving CD/LP+7” (Matador)

New band from Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, featuring the backing talents of Keith Wood, Samara Lubelski and John Moloney, all of whom featured as Thurston’s backing band on his last solo record, Demolished Thoughts — but this time it hits hard with rock noise.

Cloud Cult – Love CD (Earthology)

“Love is packed with optimistic theories about how we connect to each other and the world around us. Also true to form, the music that surrounds those messages bursts with warmth, whether in spare examinations of faith or in big-hearted explosions of ecstatic celebration.” – NPR

Dirty Beaches – Water Park OST CD/10” (A Records)

The instrumentation of oscillators, heavily reverberated strings, mellotron/chamberlain, and experimental electric guitar sets the mood for this bizarre plastic tropical paradise that’s within a shopping mall. Also available on 10″ white vinyl.

[Read more…] about New Releases for March 5, 2013

CDs:

10,000 Maniacs – Music From The Motion Picture CD (Org Music)

The first studio album from 10,000 Maniacs in over a decade. Vinyl version due March 26. 

Alcoa – Bone And Marrow CD/LP (Bridge Nine)

Singer/songwriter Derek Archambault has spent the last four years on tour with progressive hardcore/punk band Defeater, and has had a solo project called Alcoa going for even longer. Alcoa’s debut full-length, Bone & Marrow, is country-tinged with pop sensibilities; full of songs about life, love and regret. Also prevalent on the album is the addition of instrumentation like upright bass, banjo, fiddle, pedal steel, piano/organ, and charming guy/girl dueling vocals.

Alvin & Alyosha – All The Times We Had CD/LP (Dualtone)

Ivan & Alyosha’s debut full-length album encapsulates the personalized blend of rousing songcraft, infectious melodic hooks and thoughtful lyrical introspection that’s already endeared the band to just about anyone who’s witnessed one of their effortlessly uplifting live shows, or who’s heard either of their two prior indie EP releases. “Like their Seattle brethren in The Head And The Heart, Band Of Horses and Fleet Foxes, Ivan & Alyosha create luscious, enjoyable folk-pop.” – Paste

Joan Armatrading – Starlight CD (429)

“This isn’t a jazz album, anymore than her UK charttopper Into The Blues was about something so simple as the blues. She’s always had a roving eye, a restless muse. As with each of her more recent projects, Armatrading plays all of the instruments — save for drums, which she programs with an idiosyncratic verve. They are sometimes strangely busy, often weirdly off-kilter. This gives the album more of a found-art avant-pop sensibility, and in that way recalls almost nothing that she’s done before.” – somethingelsereviews.com

Atoms For Peace – AMOK 2xCD/LP/2xLP+MP3 (XL)

Atoms For Peace is Thom Yorke, Nigel Godrich, Mauro Refosco, Joey Waronker, and Flea. They came together by playing in support of Thom’s Grammy nominated album The Eraser. They got a big buzz from those shows and discovered loads of energy from transforming the music from electronic to live, so they carried on for a few days in the studio and decided to make it a loose, on-going thing. Both CD and vinyl are available in Regular and Deluxe editions, which feature unique packaging (foil embossed sleeves) and bonus tracks.

Autre Ne Veut – Anxiety CD/LP (Software)

Autre Ne Veut’s influences range from David Byrne to Lee Scratch Perry, Laurie Anderson and Annie Lennox to Katy Perry and Rihanna. However, their primary influence is karaoke — the solitary person singing along with their favorite song. There are club bangers on Anxiety, for sure; “Counting” — a cybernetic sea shanty, tips its hat to Timbaland; and opening track, “Play By Play” rolls out like a slowly evolving Top 40 operetta with nods to Dr. Luke and Patti LaBelle in equal measure.

Syd Barrett – The Madcap Laughs [Reissue/1970] CD (Capitol)

Syd Barrett – Barrett [Reissue/1970] CD (Capitol)

Syd Barrett – Opel [Reissue] CD (Capitol)

Digitally remastered reissues — each featuring bonus tracks.

Don Bikoff – Celestial Explosion [Reissue/1968] CD/LP (Tompkins Square)

A kid from Oyster Bay, LI, Bikoff got his start in Greenwich Village, annoying Dave Van Ronk and playing the folk/blues circuit where he met Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Jesse Fuller and Mississippi John Hurt. The comparisons to John Fahey’s and Robbie Basho’s work stated in the LP liner notes touched a nerve with Fahey himself at the time.

Bilal – A Love Surreal CD (eOne)

“A Love Surreal, Bilal’s fourth studio album, cultivates the stratospheric vibe of John Coltrane’s spiritual jazz masterpiece, A Love Supreme, which inspired its title. Most songs here float around as if in zero gravity, anchored by subtle melodic hooks and producer Steve McKie’s gently assertive drums. Bilal’s tenor, taut and shiny as copper wire, spins out stories of complicated love.” – NPR

Boduf Songs – Burnt Up On Re-Entry CD/2xLP+MP3 (Southern)

Burnt Up On Re-Entry is an infinite space where dark psychedelics are crafted using a combination of raw electronics, manipulated samples and heavy rock guitar. The songcraft remains centered around a heavy melodic and melancholic core, which has been prevalent across the entire Boduf Songs canon.

BOY – Mutual Friends CD/LP (Nettwerk)

BOY is comprised of Valeska Steiner and Sonja Glass (neither of which are boys). Steiner sang in several bands in her native Switzerland before moving to Germany, where Glass grew up, playing the cello in classical orchestras as a child, and later working as a bass player for several pop bands. The duo met when they both participated in a prestigious music workshop in Hamburg.

[Read more…] about New Releases for February 26, 2013