CDs:
August Alsina – Downtown: Life Under The Gun CD (Def Jam)
August is a 20-year-old R&B singer from New Orleans that has been groomed by Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter The Dream. His form of edgy, melodic music will turn heads and open ears. Eager to follow in the footsteps of the NOLA music legends that paved his way, look for August to make 2013 his official coming out party.
AMSG – Anti Cosmic Tyranny CD (Profound Lore)
AMSG’s debut full-length is a testament of the real essence of black metal—the sonic interpretation of a Satanic ritual replete with layered whispers, chants and other subliminal sounds that honor the endless dark Aeon and the chaotic black light.
A$AP Ferg – Trap Lord CD (RCA)
A$AP Ferg may hail from a block in Harlem notoriously known as ”Hungry Ham” (Hamilton Heights), but that never completely defined him. Whether it be launching clothing and jewelry lines or attending art school, he constantly bobbed and weaved past expectations. As a rapper, unpredictability remains his only calling card. The next member of the A$AP Mob collective to have a solo project, he can slip from gruff, gritty rhymes to soaring singing, and he does so seamlessly. Vinyl version due September 10.
Bob Baldwin – Twenty CD (City Sketches)
Twenty celebrates a humble milestone in the career of New York native/arranger/producer/entrepreneur Bob Baldwin and represents 20 discs in 25 years, which has been a great journey for Baldwin, also radio host of NewUrbanJazz Lounge, now over 453,000 listeners weekly.
Julianna Barwick – Nepenthe CD/LP (Dead Oceans)
Julianna Barwick’s art is equal parts force and beauty. Her music finds its motor in significant events in her own life, but they are abstracted into a sense of sonic wonderment, a radiance that you could say is her signature sound. That radiance has been taken to new zeniths with Nepenthe, her third full-length album, which was recorded in Reykjavík, Iceland, in the dark cold days of February.
Andrew Belle – Black Bear CD (Elm City)
Andrew Belle is a Chicago based singer/songwriter. His last album, The Ladder (2010), sold over 25,000 completely independently. Black Bear is his highly anticipated follow-up. Produced by Chad Copelin (Ivan & Alyosha) Black Bear highlights nuanced melodies and thoughtful, contemplative lyrics. Andrew’s music has previously been used on Grey’s Anatomy, Pretty Little Liars, Castle, and Vampire Diaries.
blessthefall – Hollow Bodies CD (Fearless)
Fourth album from the Phoenix, AZ metalcore band.
Blue October – Sway CD/LP (Up/Down)
New album from the San Marcos, TX-based band known for shimmering rock songs and haunting lyrics. With lush, atmospheric songs such as “Bleed Out,” “Angels In Everything,” and “Fear,” and the edgy rocker “Put It In,” the Texas four piece comes back strong with a revitalized energy and a positive outlook.
Born Of Osiris – Tomorrow We Die Alive CD/LP (Sumerian)
Third full-length album by the American deathcore band.
Braids – Flourish // Perish CD (Arbutus)
“Hailing from Calgary Canada, Braids band broke the music scene with their lighter, shoe-gaze debut, Native Speaker in 2011, scoring points and finding devoted fans almost instantly. Having logged well-earned touring hours of over 18 months and even recovered from the departure of a fellow band member, the now three-piece holed up for an entire year to write, heal and record their follow up. Flourish // Perish offers a soul-reaching contrast through its complex rhythms and structured melodies, affirming the trios collective strength. Finding a harmonic balance between structure and delicacy, it encompasses much-loved older-material roots with raw electro exploration” – Gigwise. Vinyl version due September 17.
Kurt Braunohler – How Do I Land? CD (Kill Rock Stars)
Kurt Braunohler is an “adult” male comedian, who enjoys skywriting jokes in the sky and altering greeting cards. Kurt was recently named one of Variety’s “Top 10 Comics To Watch” as well as Time Out NY’s “50 Funniest New Yorkers.” He was even named another “Comic To Watch” by Comedy Central and the New York Comedy Festival.
Buffalo Killers – Ohio Grass CD/LP (Alive)
“This collection of atmospheric psychedelia is laced with the swamp blues of the Killers’ first three outings, coupled with a mature, melodic folk nuance sure to have you reaching for your lava lamp. (…) Brilliantly sequenced, organically produced, and genuinely executed, Dig. Sow. Love. Grow. cements Buffalo Killers’ reputation for ’70s-infused tunes in a postmodern package and plants the seeds for growth on new musical horizons.” – John Castino/Innocent Words
Jimmy Buffett – Songs From St. Somewhere CD (Mailboat)
Featuring 15 brand new recordings plus a bonus track, Songs From St. Somewhere was recorded this spring in various locals including Key West, Nashville, Austin, Miami, and St. Barts.
The first single “Too Drunk to Karaoke” is a duet with Toby Keith.
Carousel – Jeweler’s Daughter CD/LP (Tee Pee)
Carousel’s music incorporates many elements, most notably the harmonized guitar lines of Thin Lizzy, the bombast of Mountain and the rhythmic propulsion of Diamond Head, Motörhead and other bands whose names include the word “head.”
Chicago Jazz Orchestra With Cyrille Aimée – Burstin’ Out CD (Origin)
Now entering its 35th year, the Chicago Jazz Orchestra has built a resume that ranks it among the greatest artistic institutions in the city, if not the United States. For their latest recording, director Jeff Lindberg teams the CJO with the quickly emerging vocalist Cyrille Aimée for a diverse album of great jazz classics.
Crocodiles – Crimes Of Passion CD/LP (Frenchkiss)
Crimes Of Passion is bursting with sounds inspired by the likes of The Soft Boys, Street Hassle-era Lou Reed, the Notorious Byrd Brothers, the Jackson 5 and even Glenn Branca.
Destruction Unit – Deep Trip CD (Sacred Bones)
Destruction Unit is an American band formed in the Sonoran desert of Arizona. Formed by Ryan Rousseau, D. Unit was initially a synth-heavy three piece whose other members were Jay Reatard and Alicja Trout (Lost Sounds); likewise Rousseau was also in the Reatards before Jay went solo. Morphine boogie for the 21st century noise addict. Aggressive psychedelic sprawl at its finest. Vinyl version due September 3.
Lee DeWyze – Frames CD/2xCD/LP (Vanguard)
Available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe adds a disc of acoustic versions. DeWyze played guitar, piano, mandolin, banjo and drums during the recording sessions, during which he collaborated with renowned producer/songwriters Toby Gad, Drew Pearson, Matthew Wilder and Phil Allen, as well as mixer extraordinaire Jim Scott.
Diana – Perpetual Surrender CD/LP (Jagjaguwar)
Comparisons traverse eras and genres; from the soft-focus soft rock and pop of Roxy Music to the dreamy production of jj and Chromatics, topped off with the Balearic disco swirl of Studio.
Earl Sweatshirt – Doris CD (Columbia)
Doris arrives three years after Earl Sweatshirt’s debut mixtape, Earl, introduced the world to one of the most talented and exciting voices in music. During the time that has passed, Earl attended a reform school in Samoa returning with a stronger artistic focus and a more mature outlook on life. To create Doris Earl worked with producers such as Pharell, RZA, BADBADNOTGOOD, Tyler, The Creator, and more while also receiving guest verses from Odd Future cohorts Frank Ocean, Domo Genesis, and Tyler, The Creator as well as LA-based rappers Vince Staples, Casey Veggies, and Mac Miller.
Tim Easton – Not Cool CD/LP (Campfire Propaganda)
Not Cool is a tightly wound gearbox of tunes that showcase his influences, including Doc Watson, Elmore James, and Keith Richards. A compelling live performer, Easton recently re-located from Joshua Tree, California, to Nashville, where he recorded Not Cool in five hard-charging days with producers and long time collaborative team Robin Eaton and Brad Jones.
Fleetwood Mac – Then Play On [Deluxe Edition] CD (Rhino)
Then Play On was Fleetwood Mac’s 1969 debut on Reprise. This expanded and remastered edition features the original UK running order and track segues, with “One Sunny Day” and “Without You” making their first appearance on a CD issue of the album, as well as new liner notes by veteran rock journalist David Fricke and four bonus tracks, including the revered single “Oh Well Pt. 1,” which boasts one of the great guitar riffs in rock history and has been covered by likes of Billy F Gibbons, Jimmy Page, and Tom Petty.
Fleshgod Apocalypse – Labyrinth CD (Nuclear Blast)
Epic album from the Italian symphonic death metal band.
Golden Suits – Golden Suits CD/LP (Yep Roc)
Golden Suits is Fred Nicolaus of the band Department Of Eagles. Musically, the songs follow the thread of Department Of Eagles’ swervy take on classic pop in the vein of Randy Newman, Van Dyke Parks, Paul Simon, and Lennon and McCartney solo.
The Greencards – Sweetheart Of The Sun CD (Darling Street)
With their sixth album, Sweetheart of the Sun, The Greencards present a most reflective and ambient form of Americana.
Hickoids – Harry Chafin’ Ape Suit CD (Saustex Media)
Garage, punk and country played with their unique South Texas flair, style and humor.
His Electro Blue Voice – Ruthless Sperm CD/LP (Sub Pop)
Ruthless Sperm is Italian band His Electro Blue Voice’s debut album, following a string of collectible singles/EPs and an appearance on the Sub Pop 1000 compilation. Ruthless Sperm is thirty-plus minutes of blaring cyber-synth attacks and Stooges-meets-Killing Joke throb. Yet for all the bombast and bummer, His Electro Blue Voice still bring forth euphoric hooks and shards of shoegaze. You can hear the sounds of the early 4AD roster in the grooves, left teetering between warped indie sensibility and creepy-crawl madness.
Julia Holter – Loud City Song CD/2xLP (Domino)
Loud City Song is the third full length by Los Angeles based artist Julia Holter. It’s her first studio album proper following 2011’s groundbreaking debut Tragedy and last year’s follow-up, the critically lauded Ekstasis. Loud City Songs is a continuation and a furthering of the fiercely singular and focused vision displayed on her past records. It combines her rare gift for merging high concept compositional prowess and experimentation with pop sensibility.
Horseback – Plague Of Knowing: Singles Splits & Rarities 3xCD (Relapse)
This limited edition three-disc collection compiles a half-decade’s worth of compilation, vinyl-only, demos, live recordings and previously unreleased Horseback material from 2007-2012.
JJ DOOM – Key To The Kuffs (Butter Edition) 2xCD (Lex)
The freak rap duo of DOOM and Jneiro Jarel release a reworked/revamped version of 2012’s Keys To The Kuffs, with the pair recruiting names like Beck, Thom Yorke, and Clams Casino tweaking the original tracklist to create a wholly different album.
kandodo – k2o CD/LP+7” (Thrill Jockey)
Second album from Simon Price, singer and guitarist of British heavyweight psych masters The Heads is comprised of languid expanses of guitar and keyboard that are deceptively detailed and immaculately constructed.
Mark Kozelek & Desertshore – Mark Kozelek & Desertshore CD (Caldo Verde)
Recorded at San Francisco’s Hyde Street Studios in March of 2013, Desertshore’s third release, Mark Kozelek & Desertshore, features ten new songs co-written by guitarist Phil Carney (formerly of Red House Painters), pianist Chris Connolly, and Sun Kil Moon vocalist Mark Kozelek. While Kozelek guested as producer, vocalist and bassist on Desertshore’s critically acclaimed Drifting Her Majesty and Drawing Of Threes, Mark Kozelek & Desertshore finds Kozelek singing throughout the record’s entirety.
Kim Lentz & The Jaguars – Follow Me CD (Riley)
“Rowdier than Rosie Flores and cuter than Big Sandy, Kim Lenz is the sexiest thing to happen to rockabilly music since Elvis Presley.” — AllMusic.com
The Lumineers – The Lumineers [Deluxe Edition] CD+DVD (Dualtone)
The roots revival has primed listeners for a new generation of rustic, heart-on-the-sleeve music the kind that nods to tradition while setting off into uncharted territory. The Lumineers walk that line with an unerring gift for timeless melodies and soul-stirring lyrics. The Lumineers (Deluxe Edition) packages the band’s platinum-selling debut with five bonus tracks, exclusive video content, and a 14 page photo booklet.
Lycia – Quiet Moments CD (Handmade Birds)
First new full length in 13 years from one of the most crucial darkwave bands born from gothic rock, electronica, and post-punk’s original moonlit romance.
Mandolin Orange – This Side Of Jordan CD/LP (Yep Roc)
“Two years ago, Andrew Marlin decided to walk across a North Carolina dam at night. He slipped, fell 10 feet, landed on his pelvis and woke up in a hospital bed. As he regained consciousness, one of his visitors – Mandolin Orange bandmate Emily Frantz — handed him an acoustic guitar. He picked it up, still stoned from the meds, and started strumming. Mandolin Orange’s new release, This Side Of Jordan, tells the story of Marlin’s healing process. The music may be rooted in Appalachian traditions — everything from gospel to folk to country-rock — but the songs are rooted in the human condition, balanced equally between tragedy and hope.” – American Songwriter
Willy Mason – Carry On CD/LP (Communion)
Carry On is Mason’s third album in all, following his 2004, Conor Oberst-approved debut Where The Humans Eat and its 2007 successor, If The Ocean Gets Rough. Though recorded with Kylie and Hot Chip producer Dan Carey in South London, it far from marks an attempt at an electro-pop direction. However, Carey’s gallant use of drum boxes and occasional, restrained glitchy sonics – like on the carousing “Pickup Truck” and undulating “Into Tomorrow” – round out Mason’s sound, bringing a raft of rousing fresh dimensions to his previously straight-up folksy stylings.
John Mayer – Paradise Valley CD (Columbia)
Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, and musician John Mayer returns with his new album Paradise Valley, which he produced with longtime collaborator Don Was. Vinyl version due September 30.
R. Stevie Moore – Personal Appeal CD/LP (Care In Community)
A collection of tracks circa 1973-2001 from the American lo-fi hero who has influenced everyone from Thurston Moore to Ariel Pink.
Native – Orthodox CD/LP (Sargent House)
Native make a raucous mix of post-hardcore and math rock.
Sarah Neufeld – Hero Brother CD/LP (Constellation)
Sarah Neufeld is a violinist and composer based in Montréal, Canada. Best known as a member of Arcade Fire, she is also a founding member of the acclaimed contemporary instrumental ensemble Bell Orchestre and has performed and recorded with many other groups, including The Luyas, Esmerine and Little Scream. Hero Brother was recorded in Berlin by pianist and producer Nils Frahm, who captures Neufeld’s performances in a number of locations with site-specific acoustics, including an abandoned geodesic dome, an underground parking garage, and the legendary Studio P4 orchestral recording hall.
No Age – An Object CD/LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)
On their fourth full-length the duo have their feet planted in fresh, fertile soil. The drummer/vocalist explodes from behind his kit, lands percussive blows with amplified contact mics, four-string bass guitars, and prepared speakers, as well as traditional forms of lumber and metal. Meanwhile, guitarist Randy Randall corrals his previously lush, spastic, sprawling arrangements into taught, refined, rats’ nests.
Oathbreaker – Eros|Anteros CD/LP (Deathwish Inc.)
Carefully balances shoegaze leanings with their wounded post-metal heart.
O’Brother – Delusion CD/2xLP (Triple Crown)
O’Brother’s sophomore studio album Disillusion is a heavier, refined follow-up to the band’s critically acclaimed 2012 debut Garden Window. In addition the album had both Guitar World and Decibel comparing them to Radiohead and the Melvins and Consequence Of Sound threw in Queens Of The Stone Age and Tool comparisons.
The Ongoing Concept – Saloon CD (Solid State)
New album from the hardcore hipsters.
Porcelain Raft – Permanent Signal CD/LP (Secretly Canadian)
“Rome-born, but a citizen of London and New York, Mauro Remiddi is preoccupied with rootlessness and lost connections, but Permanent Signal finds beauty in loneliness. It’s as bathed in electronics as last year’s debut, Strange Weekend, only this time members of Yuck and The Antlers – and a cellist – augment Remiddi’s vision, giving ‘Minor Pleasure’ a steadily intensifying rock build amid all the overlapping synths. Remiddi himself has a tremulous, feminine voice that works well on shoegazey tracks like ‘Night Birds’ and ‘Cluster’, but his real speciality lies in making the machine sound vulnerable and human.” – NME
Primitive Man – Scorn CD/LP (Relapse)
“It takes balls to open your debut album with an 11-minute sludge epic (the title track no less), but that’s precisely what this Denver blackened doom trio brings to the table—gigantic, filthy, scarred, and quite-possibly-diseased balls.” – Revolver
Public Service Broadcasting – The War Room CDEP/12” (Test Card)
A rather eclectic mix of samples from old World War Two propaganda films, which are put over the top of a part rock, part electronica sound scape.
Pure Bathing Culture – Moon Tides CD/LP (Partisan)
It’s a rare and beautiful thing when a band emerges fully formed, but it makes perfect sense in the case of guitarist Daniel Hindman and keyboardist Sarah Versprille’s Pure Bathing Culture. Building off their past experiences as musical collaborators, in a short time the duo have created a sound that is undeniably their own: soaring synths, chiming keyboards, and shimmering electric guitars move in lockstep with bouncing drum machines. It’s a sound that looks back momentarily for inspiration — Talk Talk, Prefab Sprout, Cocteau Twins — but then fixes its gaze firmly on the present.
Sam Sanders – Mirror Mirror CD/LP (180 Proof)
Previously unreleased rare jazz from the legendary Detroit jazz label Strata.
Ty Segall – Sleeper CD/LP/Cassette (Drag City)
“Segall wrote the 10 mostly acoustic tracks for Sleeper after losing his father to cancer last year and relocating to Los Angeles to be closer to his younger sister. He’s since had a falling-out with his mother, with whom he says he’s no longer on speaking terms. Segall works through this emotional upheaval on Sleeper, and while he trades his normally scorched electric noise for gently strummed acoustic guitars, he doesn’t indulge in mopey confessionals. The songs are introspective, but more curious and comforting than the teary poetry the themes might suggest.” — NPR
Shigeto – No Better Time Than Now CD/LP (Ghostly International)
Beat-driven but given to richly textured sound design, rhythmically fractured but melodically sumptuous, Shigeto’s music is a bridge between the past and present, bringing the artist face to face with a creative legacy that spans decades.
Ricky Skaggs/Bruce Hornsby – Cluck Ol’ Hen CD (Skaggs Family)
Friends and fellow Grammy winners, Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby together with Skaggs award winning band, Kentucky Thunder, unite on brand new tunes and traditional bluegrass classics. This live release features a mix of new tunes, Bluegrass treasures and an expansive version of Bruce Hornsby’s hit “The Way It Is.”
SOiL – Whole CD/LP (Pavement Music)
SOiL’s sixth studio album marks the return of original frontman Ryan McCombs, who hasn’t been in the lineup since 2004’s re.de.fine.
Still Life Still – Mourning Trance CD/LP (Arts & Crafts)
Mourning Trance is a record about loss and family, but also about coping and finding a way to enjoy life through all of the exhaustion. It’s an album about waking up every morning, working eight hours, and still finding a way to celebrate surviving another day. In Still Life Still’s case, that way was the only one the band knows — writing and playing music with best friends. The album was recorded and produced in Toronto by Alex Bonenfant (Crystal Castles, Metz) the result of that process is a weird, beautiful pop record, inspired by, and in honor of the brilliance and absurdity of real life. Those bittersweet experiences continue to be what drives the band and record.
Superchunk – I Hate Music CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)
I Hate Music is Majesty’s dark twin. It’s similarly aggressive often moreso and every bit as energetic. It reflects the joys of a life spent immersed in music (“Me & You & Jackie Mittoo,” “Trees Of Barcelona”), but there’s a dark undercurrent as well. That title isn’t tongue-in-cheek, but it’s really more a question than a statement: When you’re 20, lazy co-workers and romantic missteps number among your biggest worries; two decades later, life’s bigger questions knock louder and louder, demanding answers.
Tedeschi Trucks Band – Made Up Mind CD (Sony Masterworks)
TTB is known for their extraordinary family of musicians, and Made Up Mind continues that tradition as most tracks were penned by husband-and-wife Tedeschi and Trucks along with various friends and co-writers Doyle Bramhall II, Eric Krasno, Gary Lour’s, John Leventhal all of whom also contributed to TTB’s debut Revelator. The album was also co-produced by Jim Scott (Johnny Cash, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Wilco) and Trucks, and engineered by Bobby Tis — the same team that developed the last two TTB albums. Vinyl version due September 17.
TGT – Three Kings CD (Atlantic)
What happens when you take three of R&B’s most successful male artists of the last 10 years to form the ultimate super group? Three letters; TGT. The bond between Tyrese, Ginuwine and Tank is deeper than just musical. The three have been friends for nearly a decade and even though they have had incredible success on their own, they are ready to show the together, they are bringing true R&B back.
Tosca – Tlapa: The Odeon Remixes CD/2xLP (!K7)
It’s something of tradition for Tosca to get their albums remixed. If Odeon was the sound of a band at the top of their game, still relevant after two decades, then the remix album shows they’re still on top of the music scene, pulling together well-judged names, old and new, to give their distinctive sound an equally distinctive twist.
Travis – Where You Stand CD/CD+DVD/LP (Red Telephone Box/Kobalt)
Available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe edition includes two additional tracks plus a bonus DVD containing a documentary on the making of the album. Travis return after a five-year hiatus with their seventh album. Sounding and looking more invigorated than ever, the band has delivered an album of effortless, melodic pop gems produced by ‘Super Swede’ Michael Ilbert (The Hives/The Cardigans/The Wannadies).
Typhoon – White Lighter CD (Roll Call)
New release from Portland, OR’s 11-piece orchestral alt-folk rockers, the follow-up to the acclaimed EP A New Kind of House, which scanned 13k+ independently after receiving stunning reviews from Bob Boilen/NPR to Rolling Stone to Paste, appearances on Letterman, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Newport Folk Fest, Sasquatch and Osheaga.
Various Artists – The Big E: A Salute To Steel Guitarist Buddy Emmons CD (WB)
Born in the wake of a biographical project that Grammy-winning producer and steel guitarist Steve Fishell and Buddy Emmons worked on together, The Big E: A Salute To Steel Guitarist Buddy Emmons pays tribute to the most influential pedal steel player of them all. Buddy Emmons, known for endless musical vocabulary, his ultra clean technique, and his constant mechanical experiments on this complex, Rubick’s cube-like instrument, is a legend amongst musicians and hardcore music fans alike, but remains largely a background figure to the general public.
Venom P. Stinger – Venom P. Stinger 1986-1991 2xCD (Drag City)
Collects Venom P. Stinger’s entire discography. “Playing unconventional avant-garde music to a strong live audience, Melbourne band Venom P. Stinger issued their debut album, Meet My Friend Venom, in January 1987. Completely uncompromising and uncommercial, it was followed by the equally uncompromising single, ‘Walking About’/’26 Milligrams,’ in July 1988. Guitarist Mick Turner left to re-form the band Fungus Brains for their 1989 album I’m So Glad, until Turner, bassist Alan Secher-Jensen, drummer Jim White, and new singer Nick Palmer re-formed Venom P. Stinger in 1991. Originally released in 1991, Waiting Room is VPS’s swansong, just before Mick and Jim joined up with Warren Ellis to form the Dirty Three” – All Music. (Individual vinyl reissues of each title are also available.)
Laura Veirs – Warp & Weft CD (Raven Marching Band)
Veirs’ ninth full-length album is beautiful, lush and at times deeply dark. Vinyl version due September 3.
Watain – Wild Hunt CD (Century Media)
Fifth album from the Swedish black metal band. ‘Official’ vinyl version due September 3 (limited copies of a white-label vinyl pressing are available now).
White Hills – So You Are… So You’ll Be CD/LP+MP3 (Thrill Jockey)
“Space rock is often ethereal; other times it f*%king slays. White Hills is all over the latter. The New York outfit has spent the last several years honing its savage, celestially heaviness, and its upcoming Thrill Jockey full-length, So You Are… So You’ll Be, is another step beyond.” — AV Club
White Lies – Big TV CD/LP (Harvest Records)
“There aren’t many pop concept albums about contemporary emigration, not least ones as catchy as this one. This time around White Lies are, if anything, more ‘80s than ever, but with fatter guitars, and ‘Mother Tongue’ paying major homage to the chorus of ‘Mad World’ by Tears For Fears. Get past that, though, and the song is (partly) a meditation on losing one’s identity. There is something helplessly skewering about its vintage pop-rock chug.” – The Guardian
Charlie Worsham – Rubberband CD (WB)
Before he wrote and recorded Rubberband, the Mississippi native was a busy in-demand studio musician along with being on the road. He worked with artists such as Eric Church and Dierks Bentley and shared stages with Taylor Swift and Miranda Lambert.
Zola Jesus/JG Thirlwell/Mivos Quartet – Versions CD/LP (Sacred Bones)
On the heels of her Conatus world tour, Nika Roza Danilova was offered an opportunity to perform at one of the most prestigious modern art museums in the world, NY’s Guggenheim. Rather than doing her standard Zola Jesus electronic set she decided she wanted to work with a classical composer who could arrange her songs for a quartet. She recruited legendary industrial pioneer JG Thirlwell (Foetus) to do the arrangements. If there is a common thread to Thirlwell’s varied musical styles, it is dramatic intensity and evocative, cinematic quality.
DVD + Blu-ray:
Santana & Mclaughlin – Invitation To Illumination: Live At Montreux 2011 DVD/Blu-ray (Eagle Vision)
On July 1st, 2011, Montreux hosted the reunion of two master guitarists, Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin, with their Invitation To Illumination concert. Both musicians have been regulars at Montreux across the years but this was the first time they headlined their own concert together. The show features most of the tracks from their classic 1973 album Love Devotion Surrender mixed in with a wealth of other material. 136 minutes.
Vinyl:
Aquarelle – August Undone LP (Students Of Decay)
August Undone recalls the halcyon days of C/Psi/P-era Birchville Cat Motel, with a massive wall of guitar distortion and distant chimes slowly dissolving into cascading chords and radiant, microtonal drones.
Author & Punisher – Women & Children LP (Seventh Rule)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Author & Punisher is an industrial doom metal, one man band utilizing primarily custom designed and fabricated machines and speakers. The devices draw heavily on aspects of industrial automation and robotics, focusing on the eroticism of interaction with machine.
Barenaked Ladies – Grinning Streak LP (Welk Music Group)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Barenaked Ladies deliver another batch of sunny pop-rock on their latest release, which marks the band’s 25th anniversary.
Bear Mountain – Xo LP (Last Gang)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Bear Mountain’s electro/dance style blends syncopated bass lines and arpeggiated synth chords with live instrumentation and soaring vocals to produce a style that is unmistakably fresh and powerfully captivating. With a vocal timbre reminiscent of Ray Lamontagne, and an emotive, spacious sensibility in the vein of Damien Rice, Bear Mountain performs with powerful release and vulnerable honesty.
David Bowie – Valentine’s Day b/w Plan 7” (Columbia)
Limited picture-disc vinyl single with non-album B-side.
Bill Callahan – Expanding Dub/Highs In Mid-‘40s Dub 12” (Drag City)
Two dub versions of songs from Callahan’s forthcoming album Dream River (due September 17th on Drag City).
Carton/Alpha Cop – Split 7” (Negative Fun)
Propulsive post-hardcore noise pop from Vermont on one side, dynamic and explosive post-rock from North Carolina on the other. RIYL: Hoover, A Minor Forest, Rodan, Drive Like Jehu.
Circle Of Ouroborus – Lost Entrance Of The Just LP (Handmade Birds)
“The duo churns out a very strange brand of metal that would appear to share just as much, or maybe even more, with melancholy gloom merchants like Joy Division and Dead Can Dance, as it does with black metal.” — Aquarius
Al Cisneros – Ark Procession/Jericho 10” (Drag City)
Two songs written upon the completion of Advaitic Songs and the start of the next Om album.
Fleetwood Mac – 1969-1972 4xLP+7” (Rhino)
Features four complete albums Then Play On (1969), Kiln House (1970), Future Games (1971) and Bare Trees (1972) housed in a striking black slipcase. To ensure superb sound quality, Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering cut the lacquers for all four albums. The records look as good as they sound thanks to authentically reproduced packages, including gatefolds for Then Play On and Kiln House and single sleeves for Future Games and Bare Trees. 7” features the two-part single “Oh Well.”
Eddie Gale – Eddie Gale’s Ghetto Music [Reissue/1968] LP (4 Men With Beards)
Eddie Gale – Black Rhythm Happening [Reissue/1969] LP (4 Men With Beards)
Having developed his skills amongst the cream of New York’s hard bop players (jamming with John Coltrane and Jackie McLean), Eddie Gale helped ring in jazz’s controversial new thing during the ’60s and ’70s on a series of influential releases. His inspired trumpet playing graced Cecil Taylor’s Unit Structures, Larry Young’s Of Peace And Love and a series of recordings and performances with Sun Ra’s Arkestra.
Grazia – Grazia LP (Fortuna)
The self-titled album by Grazia is one of the rarest and most sought after Israeli records of all time, and features pounding drums and wild Moogs, and is sung in Turkish by the 16-year-old.
Remastered and reissued for the first time on a HQ-180 vinyl with a gatefold picture sleeve.
Danny Paul Grody – Between Two Worlds LP+MP3 (Three Lobed)
Third solo album from Tarentel/The Drift member. One imagines the grooves on his copy of the seminal West African kora music compendium Cordes Anciennes are as well worn as those of the Takoma catalog. The American school is there, but so are the folkways of the old world; as is the clustered pointillism of Morton Feldman; the luminescent guitar of New Zealand drone stalwarts like Roy Montgomery and Peter Wright; the eternal overtones of the New York minimalists.
Medicine – To The Happy Few LP (Captured Tracks)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Over ten years after they called it quits as a working band, 2013 finds the original members of Medicine reunited. To The Happy Few is the sound of a highly inspired group reclaiming its creative legacy, thoroughly immersed in the practice of mixing harsh noise with obsessive melodic detail and heavily groovy rocking.
Minks – Tides End LP (Captured Tracks)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Tides End is the second Minks album, but you could say it’s a world away from the first. Moving out of New York City to try and cure a bout of writer’s block, frontman/songwriter Sonny Kilfoyle wound up in the East End of Long Island. Surrounded by water on three sides, it’s the same place that drew Warhol, Pollock, de Kooning, Steinbeck and more to escape the constant barrage of information of the urban landscape.
Mountains – Mountains Mountains Mountains [Reissue/2008] LP+MP3 (Thrill Jockey(
Mountains Mountains Mountains was first released on the Catsup Plate label in 2008 in an edition of only 500 copies, and was Mountains first album released on a label other than the band’s Apestaartje label. The pieces were recorded during the duo s early years, between 2005-2007, demonstrating that that even at this early stage they were fully confident in there unique use of dynamics, moving from subtle acoustic guitar and electronics to an absolutely huge wall of sound drone.
Neotantrik – Intervisions LP (Pre-Cert Home Entertainment)
A live project featuring Andy Votel and Demdike Stare’s Sean Canty.
Norma Jean – Wrongdoers CD (Razor & Tie)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Sixth album from the Atlanta, GA-based alt-rock band.
Octopus Project – Fever Forms LP+MP3 (Peek-A-Boo)
Recently released on CD – now available on gold vinyl. While its immediate predecessor, 2010’s Hexadecagon, was celebrated for its epic scope, cosmic departure and conceptual nature, Fever Forms is more akin to the band’s best-selling Hello, Avalanche LP, with concentrated doses of frenetic beats and exuberant melody set in a brilliantly colored sound world. These twelve dense, ecstatic pop jams will astound and disorient.
Octopus Project – Sharpteeth 7” (Peek-A-Boo)
New (color vinyl!) single from Austin’s favorite experimental pop band. Proceed with caution: As tempting as it may be to keep “Sharpteeth” on repeat, the soaring guitorchestra and haunting Theremin lead has been known to reduce some listeners to puddles of tears about the 250th consecutive listen. The single also features two exclusive non-album B-sides.
Robert Randolph And The Family Band – Lickety Split 2xLP (Blue Note)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. New album from the virtuoso pedal steel guitarist features special guest appearances from Trombone Shorty and Carlos Santan.
Rokk – I Want To Live High LP (Numero)
Shelved 1977 album full of mid-tempo grooves, flute-lead funk, sultry female backing vocals, slap bass, chorus-drenched guitars, and lyrics about getting baked and eating baked apple pie.
Scorched Earth Policy – Going Thru A Hole In The Back Of Your Head LP+MP3 (Siltbreeze)
Going Through A Hole… collects the entire recorded output from mid-’80s Christchurch ensemble. Equal parts Southern no wave and post-apocalyptic surf, Scorched Earth Policy utilize trademark tinges of ’60s garage/psych that coursed through the veins of every great Christchurch band from that era.
Seefeel – Quique [Reissue/1993] 2xLP (Modern Classics)
Seefeel’s Quique (pronounced ‘keek’) is a dreamy confluence of dub, abstract electronic music and minimalist composition techniques, and remains a touchstone record in the ambient and shoegaze movements. The album first oscillated into the world in July 1993 via UK label Too Pure, joining the dots between Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine and Aphex Twin.
Soundtrack [Hans Zimmer] – Man Of Steel 2xLP+MP3 (WaterTower Music)
Limited vinyl edition of the Man Of Steel soundtrack by Academy Award, Grammy, and Golden Globe-winning composer Hans Zimmer.
Telekinesis – Telekinesis [2009] LP+MP3 (Merge)
First time on vinyl in North America! Includes five bonus tracks culled from the 2009 self-released Coast Of Carolina EP.
Urinals – Negative Capability [1996] 2xLP (In The Red)
In The Red is proud to announce this double-vinyl release of The Urinals’ Negative Capability, originally released by Amphetamine Reptile on CD in 1996. Before changing their name to the less restricting 100 Flowers and becoming one of the most respected underground post-punk-pop acts in the US, Los Angeles’s seminal trio released eleven songs during their 1977-1980 tenure—ten on their three 7-inch singles and one more on a 7-inch compilation, all on their own Happy Squid label (they were about the only Los Angeles band to do that back then). This retrospective triples their output to 31 songs!
Venom P. Stinger – My Friend Venom [Reissue/1987] LP (Drag City)
Venom P. Stinger – Walking About b/w 26 Milligrams [Reissue/1988] 7” (Drag City)
Venom P. Stinger – Waiting Room [Reissue/1991] 12” (Drag City)
“Playing unconventional avant-garde music to a strong live audience, Melbourne band Venom P. Stinger issued their debut album, Meet My Friend Venom, in January 1987. Completely uncompromising and uncommercial, it was followed by the equally uncompromising single, ‘Walking About’/’26 Milligrams,’ in July 1988. Guitarist Mick Turner left to re-form the band Fungus Brains for their 1989 album I’m So Glad, until Turner, bassist Alan Secher-Jensen, drummer Jim White, and new singer Nick Palmer re-formed Venom P. Stinger in 1991. Originally released in 1991, Waiting Room is VPS’s swansong, just before Mick and Jim joined up with Warren Ellis to form the Dirty Three.” – All Music
Cassette:
Ty Segall – Sleeper (Drag City)
“Segall wrote the 10 mostly acoustic tracks for Sleeper after losing his father to cancer last year and relocating to Los Angeles to be closer to his younger sister. He’s since had a falling-out with his mother, with whom he says he’s no longer on speaking terms. Segall works through this emotional upheaval on Sleeper, and while he trades his normally scorched electric noise for gently strummed acoustic guitars, he doesn’t indulge in mopey confessionals. The songs are introspective, but more curious and comforting than the teary poetry the themes might suggest.” — NPR
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