CDs + Vinyl:

The Agony Scene – Tormentor CD/LP (Cooking Vinyl)

The metalcore veterans return with their first album since 2007.

Alborosie – Unbreakable: Alborosie Meets The Wailers United ‎CD (Greensleeves)

Enlisting The Wailers United (former members of Bob Marley and The Wailers with the addition of Aston Barrett Jr.) for instrumental backing, Unbreakable upholds the tradition of roots-rock reggae. While honoring traditional reggae sounds, the inclusion of Alborosie’s re-visioning of the Metallica classic “The Unforgiven” featuring Raging Fyah adds an edge to the album that addresses contemporary issues with a thoroughly modern feel. [Vinyl edition due August 24.]

The Apocalypse Blues Revue – The Shape Of Blues To Come CD/LP (Provogue)

While The Apocalypse Blues Revue’s sophomore album may be the latest project for a couple of guys from Godsmack, it’s also much more than that. There is a grand tradition in the pantheon of blues rock greats, that of the second album that literally defines a band: Led Zeppelin II, Beck-Ola, and Nantucket Sleighride, to name but a few.

Mulatu Astatke – Afro-Latin Soul CD (Strut)

Mulatu Astatke – Afro-Latin Soul [Volume 1] LP (Strut)

Mulatu Astatke – Afro-Latin Soul [Volume 2] LP (Strut)

Strut continue their essential work with the godfather Of Ethio jazz, Mulatu Astatke, with the first official reissues of his early classics Afro Latin Soul Volumes 1 and 2 from 1966, recorded as The Ethiopian Quintet. Arriving after Astatke’s life-changing years studying at Berklee College in Boston, MA the albums were the first experiments in his pioneering sound, fusing Ethiopian cultural music with Afro Latin and jazz forms.

[Read more…] about New Releases for July 20, 2018

CDs + Vinyl:

10 String Symphony – Generation Frustration CD/LP (Tasty Note)

New album from the progressive roots duo. 10 subtly subversive songs that seek to articulate the “helplessness blues” often felt by the Millennial generation with regards to politics, privilege, and the global climate crisis. This division and collision of generations plays out lyrically, but also musically in the push and pull between traditional acoustic and modern sounds-a combination of past and present that engages the listener both emotionally and intellectually.

6ix9ine – Day69: Graduation CD (Ten Thousand Project)

Following quickly on the heels of colorful rapper Daniel Hernandez aka Tekashi aka 6ix9ine’s (pronounced “six nine”) successful debut mixtape Day69, Day69: Graduation Day consists of the mixtape’s original eleven tracks including the hit singles “Gummo”, “Billy”, “Keke” and Kooda”, plus the highly anticipated track “Gotti” which finds Tekashi switching up his sound from his signature scream-rap style to a more melodic and auto-tuned flow. [Vinyl edition due August 10.]

AHI – In Our Time CD/LP (22nd Sentry)

Leading with his heart as much as with his head, AHI is an emotional yet discerning lyricist who would rather demonstrate love than use the word itself. He allows his light to shine inward but only to a degree, admitting to some autobiography on In Our Time but as glimpsed through an imaginative lens. While his music possesses a quality of timelessness, the sounds here reveal a broad spectrum of influence and also toe the line between retro and revelatory.

Tom Bailey – Science Fiction CD/LP (Red River Entertainment)

Tom Bailey, co-founding member of new wave pioneers the Thompson Twins, releases his first-ever solo album and his first new music altogether in some 25 years. Bailey produced the album himself with assistance from Hal Ritson (Chemical Brothers, David Guetta).

Rayland Baxter – Wide Awake CD/LP (ATO)

Rayland Baxter’s new album is a dream realized. Since he first started writing music, this roving rock ‘n’ roll philosopher dreamed of a space where he could devote every waking hour to creating. The hard-touring musician finally found it in the form of an abandoned rubber band factory in Franklin, KY, where he covered the windows, threw a mattress on the floor, and with guitar and piano in tow, spent three straight months writing. At night he would sit and listen to the sounds around him: coyotes, the howling wind, the faint prattle of the nightly TV news. The result of this isolation quest is Wide Awake, a 10-song collection that celebrates the best aspects of humanity and grasps at understanding the worst. The album runs the gamut from intensely personal to cutting social satire. On lead single “Casanova”, Rayland imagines student debt as a greedy girlfriend, admitting, “I got a real bad feeling ima let her down / got a hole in my pocket and I’m running around.” Album opener “Strange American Dream” was written around the time of the 2016 election and takes a hard look at the country’s values, while “79 Shiny Revolvers” skewers our national fixation with guns.

Beira – Vol II CD/LP (Doom Stew)

Beira’s sound harks back further in time to a more majestic era of doom. The band’s vocalist, guitarist and flautist, Ruby Haynes, cranks muscular riffs while the rest of the band stomps along with abundant capability and energy. Haynes voice-savagely tearing into passages here, or whispering more ethereally there-is going to keep you hooked.

[Read more…] about New Releases for July 13, 2018

CDs + Vinyl:

The 69 Cats – Transylvanian Tapes CD/LP (Cleopatra)

Reissue of the 2014 covers album from the gothabilly supergroup featuring 69 Eyes vocalist Jyrki rockin’ out with Head Cat six-string slinger Danny B. Harvey, former Cramps bassist Scott “Chopper” Franklin, and Blondie drummer Clem Burke. Includes a guest appearance by Wanda Jackson. [Limited edition hot pink colored vinyl pressing also available.]

Adele – 19 [Reissue/2008] CD/LP (XL Recordings)

CD and vinyl reissue of Adele’s debut album. Following Adele’s graduation from the

BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology in May 2006, she began publishing songs and recorded a three-song demo for a class project and gave it to a friend who posted the demo on Myspace, where it became very successful and led to interest from XL Recordings.

The Bamboos – Night Time People CD/LP (BMG)

Melbourne nine-piece funk-soul powerhouse The Bamboos (showcasing the winning combination of guitarist/leader Lance Ferguson and vocalist Kylie Auldist) return with their eighth studio effort and first album in five years, Night Time People. Already long regarded as one of the world’s premier funk/soul outfits, it is a fitting follow-up to the success of their 2016 hit “This Girl” and brings their infectious and modern take on a timeless sound to a whole new world of listeners. Lead single “Lit Up” is built upon an insanely catchy piano riff and the best use of cowbell since “Honky Tonk Women.” In contrast to that, Auldist sings of trying to hide away from her pain: “When the sun goes down, feel my heart fill up with regret.” It’s a unique balance of irresistible groove and raw emotion which could well answer the question George Clinton asked many years ago: “what is soul?”

Bluegrass Champs – Live From The Don Owens Show CD (Yep Roc)

Previously unreleased live album spotlights the renowned family band. Recorded by Leon Kagarise directly from a late 1950s television broadcast, Live From The Don Owens Show showcases the jamboree nature of the program, including live commercial reads and commentary by Don Owens himself. The album features covers of Hank Williams, Roy Acuff, The Louvin Brothers, Gene Autry, Flatt & Scruggs, and Bill Monroe, among others.

Harlan T. Bobo – A History Of Violence CD/LP (Goner)

Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. A History Of Violence highlights Bobo’s whiskey-and-cigarette-informed vocal style, and on the more intimate tracks, a distorted ear candy that warbles into increasingly sunken, uncomfortable places, like that of the songwriter with which comparisons have followed Bobo throughout his career: the late Leonard Cohen.

[Read more…] about New Releases for July 6, 2018