CDs + Vinyl:

Agrimonia – Awaken CD (Southern Lord)

Agrimonia’s sound has always been dense, immersive, ambitious even, and on Awaken their prog-infused form of expansive metal has evolved into something more energetic, dynamic, and powerful. [Vinyl edition due February 16.]

Phil Anselmo & The Illegals – Choosing Mental Illness As A Virtue CD/LP (Housecore)

Instead of treading the same ground as his previous bands Pantera and Down, Phil Anselmo and his band mates ”The Illegals” – Jose Manuel ”Blue” Gonzalez [drums], Stephen Taylor (moved from bass to guitar), and new extreme additions ”Metal” Mike DeLeon (guitar), and Walter Howard (bass) – open up another doorway altogether with their release. Choosing Mental Illness As A Virtue is extreme, abrasive, aggressive, and anthemic.

Robbie Basho – Live In Forli, Italy 1982 CD (ESP Disk)

Robbie Basho (1940-86), who died young after a stroke, never got his due in the culture at large, but steel-string guitar enthusiasts have known for decades that he was one of the greats of “American Primitivism”. Technically adept and compositionally imaginative, fusing the music of many cultures into a mesmerizing solo style, he has been an inspiration for many; his music has generated a surge of interest in recent years. This 1982 concert was part of a four-show Italian tour. [Vinyl edition due February 23.]

Jaap Blonk & Terrie Ex – Thirsty Ears CD (Terp)

Jaap Blonk is a Dutch avant-garde composer and sound poet. He is primarily self-taught, both as a sound artist and as a visual/stage performer. One of his early influences was Kurt Schwitters, whose Ursonate he first heard in 1979; he memorized the entire work, and it became one of the cornerstones of his repertory; he has recited portions of the piece hundreds of times in various public places. His performances of sound poetry are unique and world renowned, making use of words and phonetic snippets as well as clicks, hisses, and other vocal manipulations. He hooked up with The Ex guitarist Terrie Ex in 2006 and they did several gigs after that. In 2012 The Ex brought Blonk over to Ethiopia for a special sound poetry project. This combination, Thirsty Ears, is an adventure in improvising sound and poetry; electronics, guitar and vocals. [Vinyl edition due February 9.]

Brainticket – Zurich/Lausanne 2xCD (Purple Pyramid)

Live archive release containing a pair of full-length unreleased live recordings. Features Joel Vandroogenbroeck, the founder of pioneering electronic behemoth Brainticket. Includes compositions not found on any other album

Dennis Brown – Stick By Me CD (Abraham)

A collection of tracks from Jamaica’s favorite singer Dennis Brown, also dubbed the “Crown Prince of Reggae”.

[Read more…] about New Releases for January 26, 2018

CDs + Vinyl:

Arrows Of Love – Product: Your Soundtrack To The Impending Societal Collapse CD/LP (I’m Not From London)

East London art-rockers Arrows Of Love (the five-piece led by co-writers Nima and Nuha) release their eagerly anticipated second album – an eleven-track amalgamation of blisteringly heavy guitars and earnest, heartfelt lyrics. Here, the collective weave a world which is equal parts aggressively powerful and vulnerable, where poetry meets pure punk attitude.

Bahamas – Earthtones CD/LP (Republic)

Afie Jurvanen isn’t from the Bahamas. He’s a Finnish-Canadian from Barrie – a working class town in rural Ontario. But his chosen epithet is fitting. Since 2009 he’s been making music under the name Bahamas – writing songs about sunsets, love affairs, and making out with crooked smiles. Through simple arrangements, he charts an escape route from the snow belt to the coral reefs. Afie is self-taught on guitar and has worked with such musicians as The Lumineers, Feist, Howie Beck, Jason Collett, Jack Johnson, The Weather Station, and Zeus. Earthtones is a quirky yet haunting collection of songs that touch on success, parenting, facing depression, and everything else in his life. Most of all, it’s an album about friendship and how great it is to have someone in your life that can lift you up when you’re feeling down.

Belle Adair – Tuscumbia CD/LP (Single Lock)

When Muscle Shoals four-piece Belle Adair recorded their new album Tuscumbia they leaned into their hometown’s musical legacy to create a sound unlike anything that’s come out of The Shoals region before. The result doesn’t so much update the Muscle Shoals sound as redefine it with chiming guitars, meditative lyrics and a breezy, blissed-out feel. The eleven new songs on Tuscumbia were all written by frontman Matt Green, and the album marks a massive leap forward for a band that’s already been praised by NPR for its “dreamy sound” and by SPIN for songs that “glow with a deep, dusky aura.” Both grand and intimate, far-reaching and deeply personal, Tuscumbia is a definitive declaration of identity from a band that bucks tradition in search of their own personal truths.

Black Label Society – Grimmest Hits CD/LP (E1)

Black Label Society bandleader Zakk Wylde wields his guitar like a Viking weapon, bashing out thick riffage and squeezing out expressive squeals as if the glory of his Berserker brotherhood depends upon every single note, which of course, it does. Charismatic beast and consummate showman, Wylde puts his massive heart and earnest soul on display with unbridled, unchained, animalistic passion in Black Label Society, whether it’s a crushingly heavy blues-rock barnstormer or a piano-driven ode to a fallen brother. Grimmest Hits is the band’s tenth album.

Cane Hill – Cane Hill CD/LP+MP3 (Rise)

10 aggressive, fast-paced metal anthems. [Limited edition colored vinyl pressing also available.]

The Chick Corea + Steve Gadd Band – Chinese Butterfly 2xCD (Concord Jazz)

Chinese Butterfly is a reunion of two musical titans, a creative partnership that dates back to the early days of Return To Forever with Chick Corea when Steve Gadd was one of the first drummers. [Vinyl edition due February 16.]

[Read more…] about New Releases for January 19, 2018

CDs + Vinyl:

Arcade Fire – The Suburbs [Reissue/2010] CD (Sony)

Arcade Fire’s third album is back in-print on CD. [Arcade Fire’s first three albums have all been recently reissued on vinyl.]

Bola – D.E.G. CD/2xLP (Skam)

Released last May and quickly sold-out – repressed on CD and vinyl. Skam Records’ most elusive artist Bola returns with an enticing new album – the first movement from Darrell Fitton’s near mythical project since his Kroungrine LP a decade ago.

Diamond Ortiz – Tiz Zop Diz Zown CD (Needle To The Groove)

West Coast funkster Diamond Ortiz returns with a collection of unreleased songs. Thought to be just a Bandcamp release from the summer of 2017, Ortiz dug into the archives to share some of his laidback hip-hop and g-funk style tracks, but with his signature modern vocoder slap sound.

Lil Pump – Lil Pump CD (WB)

Debut album from the 16-year-old South Florida sonic fireplug. Features guest appearances by Smokepurpp, Lil Yachty, Gucci Mane, Chief Keef, 2 Chainz, and Rick Ross).

Shining – X – Varg Utan Flock CD/LP (Season Of Mist)

Shining, led by lightning rod frontman Niklas Kvarforth, enter their third decade with the epic new album X – Varg Utan Flock (“Wolf Without A Pack”). As is their wont, Shining use black metal as a foundation upon which to build epic and radical songs that smash all genre convention.

[Read more…] about New Releases for January 5, 2018