CDs:

Arbouretum – Coming Out Of The Fog CD/LP+MP3 (Thrill Jockey)

Arbouretum continue to mine the same breadth of styles made familiar on The Gathering and Song Of The Pearl, notably the languid ballads, fuzzed-out burners, and heavier songs that have defined the group’s unique doom laden folk-rock sound.

Ash Borer – Ash Borer CD (Profound Lore)

Available on CD for the first time, Ash Borer’s 2011 album captures the vitriolic, ambient black metal fury for which they are renowned. 

Bad Religion – True North CD/LP (Epitaph)

In a world still brimming with rampant anti-intellectualism, inequality and oppression, their signature brand of sonically charged humanist dissent seems as relevant as ever. Here they revisit and refine the powerful and melodic Southern California sound they helped define.

Patricia Barber – Smash CD (Concord Jazz)

The imaginative pianist, vocalist and composer continues her crusade to retrieve the ground that jazz musicians long ago ceded to pop and rock: the realm of the intelligent and committed singer/songwriter. With a new band and a dozen new compositions, she tackles even familiar subjects (like love and loss) with a nuance and depth beyond the limits of the Great American Songbook.

Bell Gardens – Full Sundown Assembly CD/LP (Southern)

Debut from duo of Brian McBride (Stars Of The Lid) and Kenneth Gibson (Apendics, Furry Things). Here, they embark upon an exploration of cinematic pop sound that often belies their respective backgrounds in the fields of experimental electronic, techno and minimalist music. For their first long-player, the duo expand on their strange yet beautiful soundscapes, favoring piano melodies, horns, pedal steel and lush vocal harmonies.

Big Harp – Chain Letters CD/LP+CD (Saddle Creek)

The follow up to their 2011 debut White Hat, Chain Letters is built on a foundation of crackling fuzz bass and angular electric guitars and keyboards, and plays like a series of character sketches centered around escape and surrender, and the blurred borders where the two become indistinguishable.

The Blue Nile – A Walk Across The Rooftops 2xCD [Reissue/1984] 2xCD (EMI)

The Blue Nile – Hats [Reissue/1989] 2xCD (EMI)

This Scottish folk-ambient band has enjoyed a mystique contrived by its inaccessibility and the infrequency of its recordings, but it has also made a series of critically acclaimed discs.

Brokeback – Brokeback And The Black Rock CD/LP+MP3 (Thrill Jockey)

New from the longstanding project of Douglas McCombs (Tortoise, Eleventh Dream Day, Pullman). Features an entirely new band assembled by McCombs that includes members of Tight Phantomz, Pinebender, and Head Of Skulls.

Tyler Bryant And The Shakedown – Wild Child CD/LP (Carved)

Tyler Bryant is a 21 year-old guitar prodigy who has been playing since he was 6.

[Read more…] about New Releases for January 22, 2013

CDs:

A$AP Rocky – Long.Live.A$AP CD (RCA)

New album from the rising rapper features guest appearances by Schoolboy Q, Santigold, Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson and Big K.R.I.T. A$AP Rocky takes the reins as producer and co-producer on several tracks along with Danger Mouse, Jim Jonsin, Rico Love, Clams Casino, Skrillex, Hit-Boy and more. “BNM [8.5]” – Pitchfork. Vinyl version due January 23.

bvdub – Careful Ecstasy CD (Darla)

The sequel to Serenity and perhaps Brock Van Wey’s clearest melding of his ambient, chillout, and deep house roots to date.

J.J. Cale – In Session At Paradise Studios CD+DVD (Ingrooves)

Comprised of a 1979 session recorded at The Paradise Studios, Los Angeles, In Session features Cale performing tracks like “Cocaine,” “After Midnight” and “Crazy Mama” with guest Leon Russell. The DVD contains five additional performances.

Holopaw – Academy Songs 1 CD/LP (Misra)

Through collaborations with Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock (Ugly Casanova) frontman John Orth has honed his gift for lyricism, storytelling, and delivery. Now, backed by a variant possessing uncanny chemistry, Holopaw reaches for new heights.

Sean Lennon – Alter Egos CD/LP (Chimera Music)

Rolling Stone praised the Alter Egos score as “a pastiche of familiar superhero movie orchestration and a variety of pop styles, further cement(ing) Lennon’s reputation as a musical chameleon.” Similarly, Variety notes an ability to “span a wide array of musical styles from retro to noir to psychedelic to sweeping, tension filled action.”

Teena Marie – Beautiful CD (UMe)

Before her death at the age of 54, Teena Marie was working on her 14th album, Beautiful. Recorded at her home studio and finished except for final mixes, Beautiful was seen through to its conclusion by her 20-year-old daughter Alia Rose.

Mystical Weapons – Mystical Weapons CD/LP (Chimera Music)

Mystical Weapons is Sean Lennon and Greg Saunier’s (Deerhoof) new duo. Instrumental psych rock and avant grade in a variety of moods and styles.

Christopher Owens – Lysandre CD/LP (Fat Possum)

Solo debut album from the former Girls frontman. The record takes on the narrative of “a coming of age story, a road trip, a love story following Owens from San Francisco to New York to France, where he falls in love with a girl named Lysandre. Free Christopher Owens sheet music with purchase – while supplies last!

[Read more…] about New Releases for January 15, 2013

CDs:

Philip H. Anselmo/Warbeast – War Of The Gargantuas CD (Housecore)

Split release between Pantera/Down vocalist Philip Anselmo and Texan neo-thrashers Warbeast. 

Aristillus – Two CD (Fysisk)

Six songs of closely woven melodic chaos, existential wrath and soul-churning abysses. In other words, a fusion of nihilistic noise rock, epic post-rock and intense emocore.

James Blackshaw/Lubomyr Melnyk – Watchers CD/LP (Important)

James Blackshaw is a Hastings-based guitarist/pianist who primarily plays an acoustic 12-string guitar and has been compared to Bert Jansch, Robbie Basho, John Fahey, Jack Rose, and Leo Kottke. Lubomyr Melnyk is a composer and pianist who pioneered ‘continuous music’ which requires a totally new technique of piano playing, based on extremely rapid notes and note-series that create a “tapestry of sound” usually with the sustain pedal held down to generate overtones and sympathetic resonances.

Black Veil Brides – Wretched And Divine: The Story Of The Wild Ones CD/CD+DVD/2xLP (Republic)

On their third album, the L.A. quintet delivers a collection of songs that’s as immersive as it is infectious. Hallmarks of their sound, like gritty riffs, orchestral flourishes, elegant soloing, and anthemic vocals remain intact.

Broadcast – Berberian Sound Studio CD/LP (Warp)

Broadcast’s sublime soundtrack to the film Berberian Sound Studio, composed before frontwoman Trish Keenan’s untimely passing last year, sets a sinister and atmospheric tone that still exists well within the band’s signature sonic universe.

Cheap Girls – My Roaring 20’s [Reissue/2008] CD/LP (Asian Man)

Cheap Girls – Find Me A Drink Home [Reissue/2010] CD/LP (Asian Man)

Influenced by the Lemonheads, Superchunk, The Old 97’s, Green Day, Superdrag and Samiam, Cheap Girls produce a sound filled with pounding drums, jangly guitars and super sweet vocal melodies that harkens back to a simpler time and place.

[Read more…] about New Releases for January 8, 2013