Social Media Program Title Released This Week:

Lamb Of God – Lamb Of God CD/LP+MP3 (Epic)

A true collaboration between all members of the band, Lamb Of God is an amalgam of each individual’s contributions, blended to create a singular style. Guitarists Mark Morton and Willie Adler fuel the album with a mountain of riffs, taking what Lamb Of God are known for, and unbelievably, upping the ante to new levels. The rhythm section of John Campbell, looming large as a rhythmic shadow, and drummer Art Cruz, who makes his studio debut with Lamb Of God here on this record, underpin the proceedings with passion, sweat and expansive dynamics. Vocalist Randy Blythe is as angry, insightful, and informed as ever. Never one to shrink from facing the darker aspects of our nature head-on, Blythe delivers with no punches pulled, and as only he and Lamb Of God can in 2020. [Limited red and black colored vinyl pressing also available.]

Luke Schneider – Altar Of Harmony CD/LP (Third Man)

Luke Schneider was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1980. He was named after Paul Newman’s character in the film Cool Hand Luke. He cut his teeth playing with artists like Margo Price and Caitlin Rose. A popular session player, he has, at the age of 40, taken the extraordinary step of transforming himself into a solo artist, the main attraction. Altar Of Harmony, which can justifiably be described as “new age” in the most essential sense, represents a radical new approach to the versatile and cosmic instrument of the steel guitar. The closest antecedents may be sculptural sounds of Francesco’s Cosmic Beam, or Constance Demby’s Sonic Steel Space Bass. But unlike these invented instruments, the pedal steel is steeped in tradition. This is something new under the sun, a total reinvention of an iconic instrument. Quite literally, there has never been anything else quite like it. [Limited indie store exclusive colored vinyl pressing available.]

July Listening Station Program Titles Released This Week:

Bob Dylan – Rough And Rowdy Ways CD (Columbia)

Rough And Rowdy Ways is Bob Dylan’s first album of original material in eight years and his first since becoming the only songwriter to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature, in 2016. Its 10 tracks include the three new songs released this spring: the album’s lead-off track, “I Contain Multitudes”, the nearly 17-minute epic “Murder Most Foul”, and “False Prophet”. “This isn’t perhaps the most comforting communique to issue in the middle of a global pandemic, but then the man behind it has seldom dealt in soothing reassurance. And besides, it doesn’t matter. For all its bleakness, Rough And Rowdy Ways might well be Bob Dylan’s most consistently brilliant set of songs in years: the die-hards can spend months unravelling the knottier lyrics, but you don’t need a PhD in Dylanology to appreciate its singular quality and power. It is a testament to his eternal greatness.” [Vinyl edition due July 24.]

[Read more…] about New Releases for June 19, 2020

July Listening Station Program Titles Released This Week:

Liam Gallagher – MTV Unplugged (Live At Hull City Hall) CD/LP (WB)

Recorded in Hull, UK in August of last year, MTV Unplugged showcases Liam Gallagher’s solo career highlights alongside Oasis classics in new arrangements featuring backing choir, a string section and more. The MTV special aired globally in September in celebration of the release of his second solo album Why Me? Why Not and includes the solo hits “Wall Of Glass” and “One Of Us” as well as Oasis’ global smash single “Champagne Supernova”.

Norah Jones – Pick Me Up Off The Floor CD/LP (Blue Note)

Nine-time Grammy-winner Norah Jones’ seventh solo studio album, Pick Me Up Off The Floor grew out of her acclaimed singles series, as the unreleased songs unexpectedly congealed into an album of tremendous depth and beauty. Jones didn’t mean to make another album. After she finished touring 2016’s Day Breaks – her beloved return to piano-based jazz – she walked away from the well-worn album cycle grind and into an unfamiliar territory without boundaries: a series of short sessions with an ever-changing array of collaborators resulting in a diverse stream of singles (with Mavis Staples, Jeff Tweedy, Brian Blade, Rodrigo Amarante, Thomas Bartlett, Tarriona Tank Ball, and more). But then slowly but surely, the session songs Jones hadn’t released congealed into that very thing she’d meant to avoid – an album. But Pick Me Up Off The Floor is not some disjointed collage. It holds together beautifully, connected by the sly groove of her piano trios, lyrics that confront loss and portend hope, and a heavy mood that leans into darkness before ultimately finding the light.

NCT 127 – The 2nd Album ‘NCT #127 Neo Zone : The Final Round’ (1^st Player Version)

NCT 127 – The 2nd Album ‘NCT #127 Neo Zone : The Final Round’ (2^nd Player Version)

NCT 127’s 2nd full-length album has been repackaged for Neo Zone: The Final Round. Features 17 songs, with the 13 tracks from the original album plus four brand-new tracks. “Neo Zone is NCT 127 at its best. It checks off all the boxes when it comes to playing to their strengths, which include vocal versatility, a diversified selection of hip-hop and R&B jams, and giving fans a fun, good time. One of NCT 127’s biggest strengths is their vocal colors and tones, efficiently pulling off heavily R&B-influenced tracks and harmonizing flawlessly. Though more than half of the tracks on Neo Zone are R&B, they exist within a spectrum. The album opener, ‘Elevator’, is a feel-good, mid-tempo dance pop with late ‘90s R&B stylings and the funnest track on the album. For ‘Not Alone’, the members took a much more minimalistic approach and relied on their vocal chops. Produced by The Stereotypes and co-written by Taeyong, Mark, and Johnny, ‘Love Song’ is full of attitude and soul and features a chorus sung by the entire team — something atypical in K-pop but a skill that NCT 127 have mastered. ‘Dreams Come True’, released back in January, is a nostalgically comical throwback to the visual and sonic aesthetics of ‘90s R&B boy band ballads.” – Consequence Of Sound

[Read more…] about New Releases for June 12, 2020

Social Media Program Titles Released This Week:

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – Sideways To New Italy CD/LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)

Aussie rock/pop outfit Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever’s second record Sideways To New Italy sees the band interrogate their individual pasts and the places that inform them. In clicking the scattered pieces back into place, they have crafted for themselves a new totem of home to carry with them no matter where they end up. The album is inspired by New Italy – a village near New South Wales’s Northern Rivers – the area drummer Marcel Tussie is from. A blink-and-you’ll-miss-it pit-stop of a place with fewer than 200 residents, it was founded by Venetian immigrants in the late-1800s and now serves as something of a living monument to Italians’ contribution to Australia, with replica Roman statues dotted like souvenirs on the otherwise rural landscape.

CDs + Vinyl:

16 – Dream Squasher CD/LP (Relapse)

16’s bouldering guitars crash into one another, set atop equally pulverizing bass and drums. Thunderous riffs express equal parts melancholy and fury.

Badly Drawn Boy – Banana Skin Shoes CD/2xLP (One Last Fruit)

Always one to wear his heart on his sleeve, Damon Gough’s ninth album as Badly Drawn Boy is a truly personal and heartfelt collection of songs. A huge statement of intent and one of the most glorious, colorful warming, honest pop record you’ll hear this year.

Boogie Belgique – Time For A Boogie [Reissue/2013] CD/LP (Cold Busted)

Boogie Belgique was formed in 2012 by Oswald Cromheecke, quickly growing into one of the top artists in European trip-hop and electro-swing circles.

[Read more…] about New Releases for June 5, 2020