Marketing Program/ Banner/ Listening Station Titles Promoted This Week:
Aeon Station – Observatory CD/LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)
Aeon Station’s Observatory is an epic statement more than a decade in the making, with miles of timeless melodies and the kind of overpowering songwriting that will reaffirm your belief in life itself. Longtime Wrens member Kevin Whelan’s first solo album draws heavily from the perseverance of the soul, resulting in rock music possessing an infectious and inspiring sonic uplift. If you’re familiar with Whelan’s past work, these ten tracks bear a certain and unmistakable familiarity – but they also mark an exciting new chapter in Whelan’s musical career, as he steps out with more vulnerability than ever before. Whelan’s scope of musical vision on Observatory is wide open and free with possibilities – at once recalling the reflective wisdom of Bruce Springsteen, Broken Social Scene’s huge anthemic burn, and the Wrens’ own pulsing-with-life take on rock music. Above all, this is music not only for dreamers but for those who realize and appreciate the enormity of every moment. [A limited-edition cloudy blue color vinyl pressing is available.]
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers – First Flight to Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings 2xCD/2xLP (Blue Note)
First Flight To Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings is a thrilling previously unreleased live recording of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers captured at Hibiya Public Hall in Tokyo on January 14, 1961 during the band’s first-ever tour of Japan. The Jazz Messengers were among the first modern jazz groups to tour the country, and adoring Japanese audiences were enthralled by one of the band’s all-time great line-ups featuring the legendary drummer with Lee Morgan on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Bobby Timmons on piano, and Jymie Merritt on bass. The concert features soaring performances of well-known jazz staples including Charlie Parker’s “Now’s The Time”, Thelonious Monk’s “‘Round About Midnight”, and Jazz Messenger hits including “Blues March”, “Dat Dere”, and “Moanin'”.
Bria – Cuntry Covers Vol. 1 CDEP/12+MP3 (Sub Pop)
Bria is an intimate and incisive labor of love from multi-instrumentalists Bria Salmena and Duncan Hay Jennings. Catapulted by a deep sense of dread and confusion in the depths of 2020, Salmena decided to forgo writing her own music. “I wanted to listen for what might reflect my life back to me,” she says, “six tracks that could be my mirror.” The result is a pointillistic knockout of an EP that weaves a landscape both luscious and a little rogue; showing us exactly what good songs can do. Bria’s internal turbulence seemed to mirror last year’s external instability. When Jennings and back-up singer Jaime McCuaig moved to The Outside Inn, a hobby farm in Hockley Hills, Ontario, Bria soon joined. The farm’s living-room-turned-studio proved an ideal setting for the long-time friends to compile a record of handpicked country covers. They went searching for songs that could speak to our everyday loneliness, outside and in. Cuntry Covers Vol. 1 houses it all: well-worn favorites and lesser-known gems. [A limited-edition opaque light blue color vinyl pressing is also available.
Common – A Beautiful Revolution Pt. 2 CD/LP (Loma Vista)
A Beautiful Revolution Pt. 2 is the continuation of Common’s movement music. “Something kept telling me to focus on the good and the things I wanted to see in the world. Music is one of the things that gives me hope and happiness,” the artist says. Pt. 1‘s message lead with love and positivity through difficult times: a pandemic, racial and social justice protests, and a polarizing election. Pt. 2 recognizes there is much work to be done while acknowledging progress and starting to live our dreams. [A yellow color vinyl pressing, as well as an indie store exclusive limited-edition autographed CD edition, are available.]
Green Day – BBC Sessions CD/2xLP (WB)
Between 1994 to 2001, Green Day would visit the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios in London four times and record live sessions for Radio 1’s Evening Show and its popular DJ Steve Lamacq. This 16-track compilation documents those sessions, and features performances of many of the band’s most beloved hits including “When I Come Around”, “Basket Case”, “Brain Stew/Jaded”, “Minority”, “Hitchin’ A Ride”, and “2000 Light Years Away” among many more. [An indie store exclusive limited-edition white color vinyl pressing is available.]
Loney Hutchins – ‘Buried Loot’ – Demos From The House Of Cash And “Outlaw” Era, ’73-’78 CD/2xLP (Appalachia)
Buried Loot documents Loney Hutchins’s time managing the House of Cash publishing label in the 1970’s. In addition to his vast catalog of traditional country music, there are songs never before heard by Hazel Smith and Helen Carter, as well as Johnny Cash penned tunes recorded for the first time. Featuring an A-team of some of Music City’s finest session players, Buried Loot is a time capsule from an exciting era of creativity in country music. Includes 8-page booklet with extensive liner notes and photos. Mastered by Grammy nominated engineer and archivist, John Baldwin.
King Krule – You Heat Me Up, You Cool Me Down CD (True Panther)
Mere weeks before the world went into lockdown, groundbreaking songwriter and vocalist King Krule performed a handful of concerts following the release of his critically acclaimed third album Man Alive!. Recorded during those final shows, the new live album, You Heat Me Up, You Cool Me Down offers fans a glimpse into a tour that never came to be and features a setlist of 17 songs that span the acclaimed artist’s entire discography including fan favorites “Easy, Easy”, “Baby Blue” and more. [Vinyl edition due December 17.]
Jeff Parker – Forfolks LP (Nonesuch)
Jeff Parker’s Forfolks – a new album of solo guitar works – features interpretations of Thelonious Monk’s “Ugly Beauty” and the standard “My Ideal”, plus six original compositions including “Four Folks” (a tune first written by Parker and recorded in 1995) and “La Jetée” (a tune he recorded with Isotope 217 in 1997 and with Tortoise in 1998). The four totally new original compositions are loop-driven, stratiform works that marry melodic improvisation with electronic textures. The album was recorded by Graeme Gibson at Sholo Studio in Altadena, California (aka Jeff’s house) over two days in June 2021. [An indie store exclusive limited-edition vinyl pressing is available. CD version due December 17.]
Rival Sons – Pressure & Time [Reissue/2011] CD/LP (Sacred Tongue Recordings)
Rival Sons has been heralded as a modern-day mix of the Small Faces, The Who, Led Zeppelin and the Kinks and in Jay Buchanan have a vocalist who attracts attention and acclaim from all quarters. For the majority of Earache Records fans, more familiar reference points are the likes of Firebird, Spritual Beggars and Witchcraft, but with a more contemporary edge. The Rival Sons EP was recorded soon after Buchanan joined the band, and it caught the attention of Earache Records founder Digby Pearson who signed a deal in November 2010 that led to the recording of Pressure & Time in early 2011. The album was recorded in Los Angeles with Grammy-winning producer Dave Cobb and released worldwide in May 2011. The band committed to creating an experience that closely matched the attitude and excitement of one of their live performances. Coming straight off a four-week stint on the road, Rival Sons wrote, recorded, and mixed the album in just 20 days, ensuring a rawness for both the listener and the band. Raucous, blues-infused rock. [An indie store exclusive limited-edition pink color vinyl pressing is available.]
Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Barn CD/LP/LP+CD+Blu-ray/Cassette (WB)
Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Young (guitar, piano, harmonica, vocals), Nils Lofgren (accordion, guitar, piano, vocal), Billy Talbot (bass, vocal) and Ralph Molina (drums, vocal) – follow-up 2019’s Colorado with the new album, Barn featuring 10 new songs that capture the raw, idiosyncratic rock ‘n’ roll spirit and lyrical beauty that epitomizes a classic NYCH collaboration. Recorded in the summer of 2021 under a full moon, in a restored off-grid 19th century barn high up in the Rockies, the Horse was right at home and the album’s stunning love songs, reflective ballads and powerhouse rockers naturally burst into life. [An indie store exclusive special-edition vinyl pressing featuring a photo book is available, as well as a deluxe edition box set which includes the album on vinyl LP and CD plus a Blu-ray of the film of the same name. The accompanying Barn film captures this legendary band in their element – in the wild, their easy humor, their brotherhood, their humanity, and of course, the music, live, recorded in their unique spontaneous way.]
Additional Social Media Program Titles Released This Week:
Civic – Future Forecast CD/LP (ATO)
Driving and tenacious, but never losing sight of a good hook – Civic don’t tip-toe around the edges but obliterate them with primal intensity. Finding a home somewhere between ‘80s glam rock and Australia’s ‘70s greats, they break the pieces of influence before crafting them into their own beast on debut LP Future Forecast. “On Future Forecast, Civic’s first LP, they’ve added sophistication to their arrangements and songwriting without losing any of the in-your-face-ness of their previous work. Great guitar sounds. This is a really good record. Civic’s entire catalog is excellent,” hails Henry Rollins. [A limited-edition white color vinyl pressing is also available.]
Toby Keith – Peso In My Pocket CD/LP (Show Dog, LLC)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Singer/songwriter Toby Keith releases his first all-new in more than five years. Peso In My Pocket was co-produced with Kenny Greenberg and features the highest Billboard Country Airplay chart debut of his career with the lead single “Old School”. Though Keith has accomplished much since the 2015 release of 35 MPH Town – perhaps most notably in writing the Clint Eastwood inspired “Don’t Let The Old Man In” – a new studio album was long overdue. Peso In My Pocket has more than a little to do with the worldwide pandemic. “My whole musical career, I haven’t been off the road this long,” Keith says, calling 2020 “a reset button I never would have hit.”
Lunar Vacation – Inside Every Fig Is A Dead Wasp CD/LP/Cassette (Keeled Scales)
Recently released on CD and cassette – a limited-edition indie store exclusive orange color vinyl pressing is now available. Drawing from early influences like Rilo Kiley and Tame Impala and landing a little closer to contemporary favorites like Alvvays and Slow Pulp, Lunar Vacation make bright music replete with bliss.
CDs + Vinyl:
Aeon Station – Observatory CD/LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)
Aeon Station’s Observatory is an epic statement more than a decade in the making, with miles of timeless melodies and the kind of overpowering songwriting that will reaffirm your belief in life itself. Longtime Wrens member Kevin Whelan’s first solo album draws heavily from the perseverance of the soul, resulting in rock music possessing an infectious and inspiring sonic uplift. If you’re familiar with Whelan’s past work, these ten tracks bear a certain and unmistakable familiarity – but they also mark an exciting new chapter in Whelan’s musical career, as he steps out with more vulnerability than ever before. Whelan’s scope of musical vision on Observatory is wide open and free with possibilities – at once recalling the reflective wisdom of Bruce Springsteen, Broken Social Scene’s huge anthemic burn, and the Wrens’ own pulsing-with-life take on rock music. Above all, this is music not only for dreamers but for those who realize and appreciate the enormity of every moment. [A limited-edition cloudy blue color vinyl pressing is available.]
Agarthic – The Inner Side CD (Frontiers)
Agarthis is a new Italian symphonic metal band. Their songs tell stories of fantasy and mysteries of humanity, a romantic and enveloping soundtrack that will take you on a thrilling journey with cinematic flavor.
Anti-Flag – Die For The Government [Reissue/1996] CD/LP (New Red Archives)
Featuring blistering hardcore punk rock anthems such as “You’ve Got To Die For The Government”, “Red, White And Brainwashed”, “Police State In The USA” and more, this is the album that put Anti-Flag on the map and led to their numerous appearances on the Vans Warped Tour as well as their eventual signing to Fat Wreck Chords. [A red, white, and blue splatter color vinyl pressing is available.]
The Band – Cahoots (50th Anniversary) 2xCD/LP/LP+7”+CD+Blu-ray Audio (Capitol/UMe)
The 50th anniversary of The Band’s classic fourth album, Cahoots, features an all-new remix and remaster by Bob Clearmountain. Originally released on September 15, 1971, Cahoots contains a number of The Band’s best-loved and most enduring songs, including “Life Is A Carnival” and “When I Paint My Masterpiece”. [The double-CD edition features all-new liner notes, bonus tracks, alternate versions, instrumentals and the previously unreleased bootleg concert at Olympia Theatre, Paris 1971.The vinyl edition was half-speed mastered form maximum fidelity. The Deluxe box set edition includes the album on vinyl and the double-CD, as well as a bonus 7” reproduction of “Life Is A Carnival” b/w “The Moon Struck One”, new Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround-sound mixes presented in high resolution on Blu-ray, two classic photo lithographs, and more.]
Samantha Barks – Into The Unknown CD (Westway Music)
Into the Unknown is the brand-new album from British singer and actress Samantha Barks who has graced theaters in West End and on Broadway for years. She has performed in Les Miserables and City Of Angels in West End and Pretty Woman on Broadway. The album includes 12 hand-picked tracks with her amazing vocal talents and includes duets with some of her costars. Currently featured in the West End version of Frozen through 2022. For fans of showtunes.
Biffy Clyro – Myth Of Happily Ever After 2xCD/2xLP+CD (WB)
Recently released on red color vinyl – now available on CD. The record is a homegrown project that represents a reaction to their #1 album A Celebration Of Endings and a rapid emotional response to the turmoil of the past year. It is the ying to the yang of A Celebration, the other-side-of-a-coin, a before-and-after comparison: their early optimism of 2020 having been brought back to earth with a resounding thud. It’s the product of a strange and cruel time in our lives, but one that ultimately reinvigorated Biffy Clyro.
Big Twins – Hood Stories CD/LP (Tuff Kong)
Gritty and grimy street rap featuring productions by Cuns and EL ROJO and guest appearances by Beanz and Blaq Poet.
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers – First Flight to Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings 2xCD/2xLP (Blue Note)
First Flight To Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings is a thrilling previously unreleased live recording of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers captured at Hibiya Public Hall in Tokyo on January 14, 1961 during the band’s first-ever tour of Japan. The Jazz Messengers were among the first modern jazz groups to tour the country, and adoring Japanese audiences were enthralled by one of the band’s all-time great line-ups featuring the legendary drummer with Lee Morgan on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Bobby Timmons on piano, and Jymie Merritt on bass. The concert features soaring performances of well-known jazz staples including Charlie Parker’s “Now’s The Time”, Thelonious Monk’s “‘Round About Midnight”, and Jazz Messenger hits including “Blues March”, “Dat Dere”, and “Moanin'”.
Bria – Cuntry Covers Vol. 1 CDEP/12+MP3 (Sub Pop)
Bria is an intimate and incisive labor of love from multi-instrumentalists Bria Salmena and Duncan Hay Jennings. Catapulted by a deep sense of dread and confusion in the depths of 2020, Salmena decided to forgo writing her own music. “I wanted to listen for what might reflect my life back to me,” she says, “six tracks that could be my mirror.” The result is a pointillistic knockout of an EP that weaves a landscape both luscious and a little rogue; showing us exactly what good songs can do. Bria’s internal turbulence seemed to mirror last year’s external instability. When Jennings and back-up singer Jaime McCuaig moved to The Outside Inn, a hobby farm in Hockley Hills, Ontario, Bria soon joined. The farm’s living-room-turned-studio proved an ideal setting for the long-time friends to compile a record of handpicked country covers. They went searching for songs that could speak to our everyday loneliness, outside and in. Cuntry Covers Vol. 1 houses it all: well-worn favorites and lesser-known gems. [A limited-edition opaque light blue color vinyl pressing is also available.]
The Browning – End Of Existence CD (Spinefarm)
This 12-track opus tells a fascinating and fiery, cataclysmic tale over a backdrop of chugging, detuned guitars, eerie electronic transmissions, and a guttural vocal gut punch.
Bush Tetras – Rhythm & Paranoia: The Best of Bush Tetras 2xCD/3xLP (Wharf Cat)
Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. New York City legends the Bush Tetras has been making paranoid, groove-centered post-punk since 1979, when Pat Place left James Chance and The Contortions to found the group with singer Cynthia Sley, bassist Laura Kennedy and drummer Dee Pop. This LP box set features 29 songs across three LPs pressed onto 180gm vinyl and remastered by Carl Saff. Also included is a 46-page book with never-before-seen photos, an original essay on the band by Marc Masters, and micro-essays by Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, R&B legend Nona Hendryx, The Clash’s Topper Headon, and more.
Cap Outrun – Deception CD (Frontiers)
Cap Outrun is a Swedish progressive rock band formed in 2007 by Andrée Theander (guitars) and Erik Wiss (keyboards). Their mission is to develop a sound which could encompass their AOR and melodic rock influences with their progressive rock and metal influences, plus add in a few fusion elements.
The Chieftains – Chronicles: 60 Years Of The Chieftains 2xCD+DVD (Verve)
Chronicles: 60 years Of The Chieftains is a stunning career retrospective featuring tracks from across the band’s discography, from their first album Chieftains 1 through their most recent studio album Voice Of Ages. Includes collaborations with The Rolling Stones, Diana Krall, Alison Krauss, Van Morrison and Sinéad O’Connor, and previously unreleased recordings from Live at The Royal Albert Hall, Live at The Cambridge Folk Festival, and footage and recordings from the BBC and RTÉ archives.
Common – A Beautiful Revolution Pt. 2 CD/LP (Loma Vista)
A Beautiful Revolution Pt. 2 is the continuation of Common’s movement music. “Something kept telling me to focus on the good and the things I wanted to see in the world. Music is one of the things that gives me hope and happiness,” the artist says. Pt. 1‘s message lead with love and positivity through difficult times: a pandemic, racial and social justice protests, and a polarizing election. Pt. 2 recognizes there is much work to be done while acknowledging progress and starting to live our dreams. [A yellow color vinyl pressing, as well as an indie store exclusive limited-edition autographed CD edition, are available.]
Jackson Conti – Sujinho [Reissue/2008] CD (Madlib Invazion)
Madlib reissues his long out-of-print collaboration with legendary Brazilian drummer Ivan “Mamao” Conti, propellant for lauded jazz fusion archetypes Azymuth, on his own imprint. Alternate cover artwork, photography by B+. When Madlib went to Brazil in 2002 with Mochilla to participate in the production of the Brazilintime documentary, his one mission was to meet Ivan “Mamao” Conti, the drummer of the legendary trio Azymuth. Sujinho is a unique and classic record filled with the angularity and edge of a Madlib production and underwritten by the polyrhythmics of Mamao.
Stewart Copeland/Mark King/Vittorio Cosma/Adrian Belew – Gizmodrome Live 2xCD/3xLP (earMUSIC)
The terms “all-star band” or “supergroup” may be a bit worn in many ways in the general perception, but here the superlative applies in every respect. With their debut album Gizmodrome (2017) it was not a surprise that Stewart Copeland, Mark King, Vittorio Cosma and Adrian Belew, each of them with such diverse talent and musical background, created music that was vibrant, electric and unpredictable. With a collective CV that includes The Police, Level 42, King Crimson, David Bowie, Frank Zappa, Talking Heads and PFM just for starters, they combined the spirit of adventure and camaraderie that characterizes their music – a cosmopolitan blend of progressive rock and a pinch of punk with a heavy twist of avant-garde humor. Right from the start, it was not meant to be a one-off side project but the beginning of something truly unique and exciting. Their first live album Gizmodrome Live builds on the foundation laid by the band’s debut and allows for even more unpredictable outbursts of creative energy. It perfectly captures their commitment to this band and the pioneering collaboration.
Daft Punk – Homework [Reissue/1997] CD (Daft Life Ltd.)
Daft Punk – Discovery [Reissue/2001] CD (Daft Life Ltd.)
Daft Punk – Daft Club [Reissue/2003] CD (Daft Life Ltd.)
Daft Punk – Human After All [Reissue/2005] CD (Daft Life Ltd.)
Daft Punk – Alive 2007 [Reissue/2007] CD (Daft Life Ltd.)
French electronic music duo regains rights to their back catalog, reissuing CDs under their Daft Life Ltd. imprint.
Doja Cat – Planet Her (Deluxe Edition) CD (Kemosabe)
Deluxe edition of the recently released third studio album by rapper and singer Doja Cat. The album was produced by Doja Cat’s frequent collaborators such as Dr. Luke, Y2K, and Yeti Beats, and the rapper herself. Titled after the fictional planet conceived by Doja Cat, Planet Her is an amalgamation of pop, R&B, and hip-hop styles. It features guest appearances from Young Thug, Ariana Grande, the Weeknd, JID, SZA, Eve and Gunna.
Mathias Eick – When We Leave CD (ECM)
Mathias Eick sees his new album, When We Leave, as “a natural continuation of Ravensburg, almost a Ravensburg 2. More of everything.” Where its predecessor drew portraits of friends and family and sketched some personal interactions, When We Leave follows its protagonists through a troubled year. A sense of narrative could be drawn from the interplay of titles and musical atmosphere: “The songs and titles play and draw inspiration upon each other.”
Funeral – Praesentialis In Aeternum CD/2xLP (Season Of Mist)
An early progenitor of funeral doom, Norway’s Funeral return with Praesentialis In Aeternum, their first new album in nearly a decade. Crushing, mournful passages and soaring lead breaks amplify its sorrowful atmosphere, and are certain to drive the heart, mind, and soul of listeners.
Vivien Goldman – Next Is Now CD (Cadiz Music)
The eagerly awaited Next Is Now was recorded and produced by Youth (Killing Joke, The Orb, Paul McCartney) and features ten brand new tracks, including lead single “Saturday Afternoon”. [Vinyl edition due January 7.]
Green Carnation – The Acoustic Verses [Reissue/2006] CD (Season Of Mist)
In 2006, Norwegian progressive metal band Green Carnation surprised everyone with an all-acoustic record, The Acoustic Verses. The album represents a very special step in the band’s progressive career, as they combined the warmer and softer sound of an unplugged set with their earlier established progressive style and melancholic mood. This 15th anniversary remaster of the album contains three bonus tracks.
Green Day – BBC Sessions CD/2xLP (WB)
Between 1994 to 2001, Green Day would visit the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios in London four times and record live sessions for Radio 1’s Evening Show and its popular DJ Steve Lamacq. This 16-track compilation documents those sessions, and features performances of many of the band’s most beloved hits including “When I Come Around”, “Basket Case”, “Brain Stew/Jaded”, “Minority”, “Hitchin’ A Ride”, and “2000 Light Years Away” among many more. [An indie store exclusive limited-edition white color vinyl pressing is available.]
Gurrumul – The Gurrmul Story CD+DVD (Decca)
Deluxe CD + DVD contains a 25-minute documentary that chronicles Gurrumul’s rise to fame, bonus tracks and a selection of music videos. The Gurrumul Story is the first ever collection of Gurrumul’s most enduring songs. The anthology contains new recordings such as “Wiyathul (Longing For Place)” – an orchestrally-augmented version of the song that thrust him into the limelight. Also included is a rare duet version of “Bayini” featuring touching vocals by Australian singer Sarah Blasko.
Hackedepicciotto – The Silver Threshold CD/LP+MP3 (Mute)
The Silver Threshold is Hackedepicciotto’s “most symphonic” album to date. It is expansive, exploratory, and reflects the endless movement across places, landscapes and environments the pair have experienced. They glide across genres that take in cinematic drone, industrial, experimental, spoken word and soundscapes that shift between immersive ambient into noisy eruptions. Alongside beauty and tenderness, there’s also the uncertainty of the world mirrored throughout the album. This feeling of being in the middle of the unknown, where uncertainty impends, plays a significant role.
Houeida Hedfi – Fleuves de l’Âme CD/LP (Phantasy Sound)
Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. Fleuves de l’Âme is the debut album of Paris-based Tunisan artist Houeida Hedfi, produced with Olof Dreijer of The Knife and Oni Ayhun. The album is an elegant marriage of traditional folk music and contemporary sound design drawing references from Hedfi’s drumming expertise and the textures of Tunisian music alongside a startlingly broad array of global genres.
Michael Hurley – The Time Of The Foxgloves CD/LP (No Quarter)
Michael Hurley’s first new studio record in 12 years features eleven songs recorded in Astoria, Oregon during the brief time of year when the foxgloves bloom. Hurley had been workshopping the set at home for the past few years. Friends and collaborators came into town and contributed from afar. The songs are lifted by violin, organ, upright bass, banjo, percussion – but at the center, of course, is the enigmatic Snock, whose songs have grown only more unique and more 57 years after his debut album.
Loney Hutchins – ‘Buried Loot’ – Demos From The House Of Cash And “Outlaw” Era, ’73-’78 CD/2xLP (Appalachia)
Buried Loot documents Loney Hutchins’s time managing the House of Cash publishing label in the 1970’s. In addition to his vast catalog of traditional country music, there are songs never before heard by Hazel Smith and Helen Carter, as well as Johnny Cash penned tunes recorded for the first time. Featuring an A-team of some of Music City’s finest session players, Buried Loot is a time capsule from an exciting era of creativity in country music. Includes 8-page booklet with extensive liner notes and photos. Mastered by Grammy nominated engineer and archivist, John Baldwin.
The Jazz Butcher – Dr Cholmondley Repents: A-sides, B-Sides and Seasides 4xCD (Fire)
Limited edition bookback set gathering A-sides, the would-be hits along with B-sides, tangential 12” tracks (the C-sides), and an excellent session for Los Angeles radio station KCRW from 1989. Includes over a dozen indie chart hits including “Southern Mark Smith”, “Girl Go”, “The Human Jungle”, “16 Years” plus a host of truly eclectic Butcher tunes from his early Glass recordings through his time at Creation. This collection follows the much praised The Wasted Years covering his time at Glass and The Violent Years at Creation expanded CD sets. An essential alternative world view, tracing pop culture through the kaleidoscope of the ’80s and beyond, filled with a unique brand of wit and wisdom.
Katatonia – Brave Murder Day [Reissue/1996] 2xCD (Peaceville)
Deluxe 25th anniversary edition. Originally released in 1996, atmospheric metal band Katatonia’s second album, Brave Murder Day is a true genre classic, a masterpiece. The primitive structures and melodies give this album an unparalleled trance-like quality, by taking an early Paradise Lost influence (mixed with others such as Kent and Slowdive) and forming a completely unique sound and atmosphere. This expanded reissue includes the Sounds Of Decay EP plus an extra track. [Vinyl edition due January 7.]
King Krule – You Heat Me Up, You Cool Me Down CD (True Panther)
Mere weeks before the world went into lockdown, groundbreaking songwriter and vocalist King Krule performed a handful of concerts following the release of his critically acclaimed third album Man Alive!. Recorded during those final shows, the new live album, You Heat Me Up, You Cool Me Down offers fans a glimpse into a tour that never came to be and features a setlist of 17 songs that span the acclaimed artist’s entire discography including fan favorites “Easy, Easy”, “Baby Blue” and more. [Vinyl edition due December 17.]
Stephanie Lambring – Autonomy CD (Almost Autonomous)
New album from the Nashville-based singer/songwriter.
Land Of Gypsies – Land Of Gypsies CD (Frontiers)
Land of Gypsies is a new L.A. based band featuring an artistic union between vocalist Terry Ilous (XYZ, ex-Great White), together with producer and bassist Fabrizio Grossi (Glenn Hughes, Supersonic Blues Machine, Eric Gales, etc.). Rounding out the lineup are Serge Simic on guitar (The Slam, Supersonic Blues Machine) and Tony Morra on drums. They have a classic hard rock sound with unforgettable melodies and a solid bluesy background to compliment Ilous’ stellar vocals.
Lisa – LALISA [Black Box] CD (Interscope)
Lisa – LALISA [Gold Box] CD (Interscope)
After rising to the top of the K-Pop world with BLACKPINK, Lisa makes her solo debut with LALISA, a powerful new single accompanied by B-side “MONEY”. [Each box contains unique assorted photocards, etc.]
Mercury X – Imprisoned CD (Frontiers)
Mercury X is an outstanding progressive metal band hailing from Sweden. The band’s music and sound take inspiration from the early ’80s progressive metal bands as well as modern metal. The new album, Imprisoned, is based on their lives during the making of the album, taking the listener through different emotional stages with simple and beautiful melodies accompanied by rough riffs.
Midnight – Satanic Royalty [Reissue/2011] 2xCD+DVD/2xLP (Metal Blade)
Black heavy metal is the law, and Midnight subjugated all comers in 2011 with their highly anticipated debut album after nearly a decade of EPs and splits. Satanic Royalty is both a distillation of first-wave black metal magik and an extension into harder-rocking territories rampant with lust, filth, and sleaze. A fantastic synthesis of filthy rock ‘n’ roll meets early-‘90s black metal reissued here expanded CD+DVD and on blue w/ black color vinyl; both CD and vinyl editions include a bonus disc of demos.
Monsta X – The Dreaming CD (BMG)
Monsta X – The Dreaming [Deluxe Version I] CD (BMG)
Monsta X – The Dreaming [Deluxe Version II] CD (BMG)
Monsta X – The Dreaming [Deluxe Version III] CD (BMG)
Monsta X – The Dreaming [Deluxe Version IV] CD (BMG)
If you were worried that there would be only three versions of the K-pop band’s new album, take comfort knowing that there are least five. All unique and collectable!
Mouth Congress – Waiting For Henry CD/LP (Captured Tracks)
Mouth Congress – friends Paul Bellini and Scott Thompson of Kids In The Hall fame – wrote and recorded hundreds of songs in the ‘80s without ever putting out a proper release. Alongside various cohorts and conspirators, the band drew on their experiences as gay men to craft hilariously crude punk songs that run the gamut of strange characters and taboo subject matter. Their rag tag approach to songwriting blended various styles from noisy punk to lo-fi new wave and DIY disco, all with a very gay bent. Without trying, they were surprisingly cutting edge. [A limited-edition color vinyl pressing is also available.]
The Murder Of My Sweet – A Gentleman’s Legacy CD (Frontiers)
The Murder of My Sweet’s sixth studio album, A Gentleman’s Legacy, is a prog concept album.
NCT 127 – The 3rd Album Repackage ‘Favorite’ [Kit Ver.] CD (Sm Entertainment Co.)
Three new songs of various genres, including the lead single “Favorite (Vampire)”, “Love On The Floor”, and “Pilot”. The Kit Version is a random selection of the Poetic or Tragic versions of the album. Includes an assortment of collectable photos, cards, etc.
Marie Osmond – Unexpected CD/LP (BFD)
Marie Osmond has spent 5 iconic decades in the entertainment business performing as a successful singer, television performer, actor, author, entrepreneur and public speaker. She has continued to maintain relevance, remaining an instantly recognizable figure across the globe. [A limited-edition color vinyl pressing as well as an autographed vinyl edition, are available for those dying to get in on some fresh Osmond action.]
Buck Owens & Susan Raye – Together Again CD (Omnivore)
Buck Owens and Susan Raye’s Together Again is a 22-track compendium of duet and solo cuts originally issued between 1970 and 1975. Together Again boasts a dozen Owens/Raye duets and nine solo Raye deep tracks.
Jeff Parker – Forfolks CD/LP (Nonesuch)
Now available on CD. Jeff Parker’s Forfolks – a new album of solo guitar works – features interpretations of Thelonious Monk’s “Ugly Beauty” and the standard “My Ideal”, plus six original compositions including “Four Folks” (a tune first written by Parker and recorded in 1995) and “La Jetée” (a tune he recorded with Isotope 217 in 1997 and with Tortoise in 1998). The four totally new original compositions are loop-driven, stratiform works that marry melodic improvisation with electronic textures. The album was recorded by Graeme Gibson at Sholo Studio in Altadena, California (aka Jeff’s house) over two days in June 2021.
Marissa Paternoster – Peace Meter CD/LP+MP3 (Run For Cover)
Marissa Paternoster began writing Peace Meter immediately after arriving home from a west coast tour cut short due to COVID. Alone in her posthumous Grandmother’s empty home, Paternoster sent the skeleton of a song to Andy Gibbs from the metal band Thou with the hopes that he might be able to extrapolate on the original idea. Andy sent his accompaniment back, and that process continued for the bulk of the first wave of quarantine. As the songs developed, Paternoster decided to include two other musicians whom she admired: longtime friend Shanna Polley of the NYC-based band Snakeskin on backup vocals, and the cellist Kate Wakefield from the Cincinnati-based band Lung. [A limited-edition red color vinyl pressing is available.]
Pepe Deluxe – Phantom Cabinet Vol. 1 CD/LP (Catskills)
Phantom Cabinet Vol. 1 is inspired by the golden age of records, and it features the most insane collection of instruments on any album – or anywhere. From the largest to the loudest musical instrument in the world, from Alexander Bell’s human ear recorder to a Tibetan human skull drum, from the oldest synthesizer in the world to a synthesizer designed for group sex, from da Vinci’s drum machine to God’s Trumpet, captured with an occult Soviet machine and (everyone’s favorite) the world’s largest cowbell. This peculiar assemblage contains sounds from dozens of incredible and extraordinary instruments, recorded at various museums, universities, and private collections around the world.
Perfect Plan – Live At Sharpener’s House CD (Frontiers)
Live album by the Swedish AOR/melodic rock up-and-comers.
Pyrexia – Gravitas Maximus CD/LP (Unique Leader)
Hailed for over 20 years as one of the leading purveyors of the slam genre, USA death metal OG’s Pyrexia unleash Gravitas Maximus – their heaviest and most devastating full-length offering since genre classic Sermon Of Mockery. With a bludgeoning return to murderous form, the new album rages from start to finish with an unrelenting mix from Demigod Studios (Organectomy, Analepsy) – providing a pulverizing palette for Chris Basile’s riff driven sonic assault, Gravitas Maximus is without a doubt one of the heaviest albums of 2021. [Two limited-edition color vinyl pressings are available: your choice of cream or orange.]
Rival Sons – Pressure & Time [Reissue/2011] CD/LP (Sacred Tongue Recordings)
Rival Sons has been heralded as a modern-day mix of the Small Faces, The Who, Led Zeppelin and the Kinks and in Jay Buchanan have a vocalist who attracts attention and acclaim from all quarters. For the majority of Earache Records fans, more familiar reference points are the likes of Firebird, Spritual Beggars and Witchcraft, but with a more contemporary edge. The Rival Sons EP was recorded soon after Buchanan joined the band, and it caught the attention of Earache Records founder Digby Pearson who signed a deal in November 2010 that led to the recording of Pressure & Time in early 2011. The album was recorded in Los Angeles with Grammy-winning producer Dave Cobb and released worldwide in May 2011. The band committed to creating an experience that closely matched the attitude and excitement of one of their live performances. Coming straight off a four-week stint on the road, Rival Sons wrote, recorded, and mixed the album in just 20 days, ensuring a rawness for both the listener and the band. Raucous, blues-infused rock. [An indie store exclusive limited-edition pink color vinyl pressing is available.]
Saga – Detours (Live) [Reissue/1999] 2xCD/3xLP (earMUSIC)
Saga – Full Circle [Reissue/1999] CD/LP (earMUSIC)
Apart from a series of successful studio albums and worldwide hit-singles such as “Wind Him Up”’, “On The Loose”, or “How Long”, it’s mainly been Canadian prog-rockers Saga’s haunting concerts that have inspired their fans and – as a direct result – have been the reason for the outstanding success of their live albums. Detours (Live) was recorded in 1997 over the course of eight shows in Germany, Austria and France, using a mobile recording studio. Full Circle is the band’s thirteenth album of new material. This recording marks the beginning of the second round of Chapters.
The Shivas – Feels So Good / Feels So Bad CD (Tender Loving Empire)
“Portland, Oregon-hailing psych-surf band The Shivas accomplish another time-traveling, reverb-ridden sound that refuses to get boring. Jared Molyneux’s guitar work knows when to be bright or bashful at the right times, breaking into guitar solos that possess a late-’60s groove… The Shivas seem to blissfully flourish.” – Paste [Vinyl edition due February 18.]
Silencer – Death Pierce Me [Reissue/2001] CD/LP+12” (Prophecy)
Death, Pierce Me is the only album of mysterious depressive/suicidal black metal project Silencer from Sweden. Since its release, this work has stunned extreme music, becoming a genre milestone. [A grey vinyl pressing is also available. A Super Deluxe silver color vinyl edition, including the hardcover CD version, a bonus 12” EP, a black patch, a flag and other (death)emera, is available December 17.]
Sister Hazel – Before The Amplifiers 2 CD (Croakin Poet)
Iconic country/rock band, Sister Hazel’s new album Before The Amplifiers 2 is a 16-track collection of rare acoustic performances accompanied by a string quartet and recorded during an intimate live stream. Included are new arrangements of Sister Hazel’s mega hits like “All for You”, “Champagne High” and “Your Winter” as well as never before recorded deep cuts.
Sodom – M-16 (20th Anniversary Edition) CD/2xLP/4xLP (BMG)
One of the “Big Four Teutonic Thrash” bands, along with fellow legends of the genre like Kreator, Destruction and Tankard, Sodom has released nearly 20 pioneering albums to date. The German thrash icons’ hard and fast 2001 concept album M-16 gets a 20th anniversary reissue. [The four-LP vinyl box set includes 15 live bonus tracks, a USB bullet including all audio, a poster with the cover artwork, a Sodom dog tag, plus a 44-page booklet with unreleased pictures and liner notes.]
Jeon Somi – XOXO [Pink Box] CD (Interscope)
Jeon Somi – White Box [Pink Box] CD (Interscope)
Jeon Somi makes her long-awaited full-length debut with XOXO, a high-energy project showcasing her songwriting ability and natural talent as a performer. Four new tracks, including a feature by Giriboy and writing credits from Pink Sweat$, will undoubtedly delight fans and add to Somi’s legacy not only within the K-Pop space, but as a bonafide global pop superstar. [Each box contains unique assorted photocards, etc.]
Soundtrack [Jonny Greenwood] – Licorice Pizza CD/LP (Republic)
Licorice Pizza is the story of Alana Kane (Alana Haim) & Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) who grow up & fall in love in San Fernando Valley (1973). Written & directed by filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson. Sean Penn, Bradley Cooper, Tom Waits & Benny Safdi also star. Limited movie release in the U.S. 11/26/21 and goes wide 12/25/21. Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood composed the film’s score & Paul Thomas Anderson curated the soundtrack. The title pays homage to the California record store, Licorice Pizza. [An indie store exclusive red color vinyl pressing is available.]
Soundtrack – West Side Story CD (Hollywood)
Original soundtrack to the 2021 motion picture, the first musical from director Stephen Spielberg. The original West Side Story score was adapted for the new film by David Newman, who also wrote the scores to Ice Age, Matilda and Anastasia, the latter of which won him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score. [Vinyl edition due February 4.]
Ayumi Tanaka – Subaqueous Silence CD (ECM)
Subaqueous Silence, pianist Ayumi Tanaka’s leader debut for ECM, is a strikingly original statement. Deep interest in the work of Norwegian improvisers prompted Tanaka’s move, but she also speaks of a growing awareness of her own cultural roots; there is an ascetic rigor in her playing, as well as a sense of space suggesting affinities with Japanese classical music. Ayumi views the trio as “more like a chamber ensemble.” We share a flow of energy, even in silence.
Fred Thomas/Aisha Orazbayeva/Lucy Railton – Three Or One: J.S.Bach Transcriptions CD (ECM)
Here is Johann Sebastian Bach in transfigured light: with organ chorale preludes, vocal cantata movements and orchestral sinfonias – 24 pieces in all – transcribed for trio and solo piano by Fred Thomas and threaded into a compelling new sequence by Manfred Eicher. On Three Or One, Bach’s idiom is respectfully explored by three innovative players, a process Thomas describes as quietly joyful, and the trio pieces, primarily drawn from Bach’s Orgelbuchlein, acquire a fresh character.
Jeff Tweedy – Love Is The King / Live Is The King 2xCD (dBpm)
“At the beginning of the lockdown I started writing country songs to console myself. Folk and country type forms being the shapes that come most easily to me in a comforting way. ‘Guess Again’ is a good example of the success I was having at pushing the world away, counting my blessings – taking stock in my good fortune to have love in my life,” comments Tweedy. “A few weeks later things began to sound like ‘Love Is The King’ – a little more frayed around the edges with a lot more fear creeping in. Still hopeful but definitely discovering the limits of my own ability to self soothe.” This deluxe edition includes a second disc of live material, all in the same sequence as the studio recording plus a Neil Young cover bonus track titled “The Old Country Waltz”.
Various Artists – Tickets For Doomsday CD (Now Again)
Subtitled: Heavy Psychedelic Funk And Soul Ballads And Dirges 1970 – 1975. A batch of rare, largely uncompiled – and sometimes barely heard – heavy psych-rock and funk.
Brian Wilson – At My Piano CD (Decca)
Genius, icon, trailblazer – he revolutionized music as head of the Beach Boys. Now, legend Brian Wilson retraces his steps and reimagines the most iconic songs from his back catalogue into their purest form, him alone at the piano. Featuring “God Only Knows”, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”, “California Girls”, “Good Vibrations” and many more on solo piano. [Vinyl edition due December 17.]
Wo Fat – The Gathering Dark [Reissue/2006] CD/LP (Ripple Music)
CD and vinyl reissue of Wo Fat’s debut album of smoldering stoner swamp blues.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Barn CD/LP/LP+CD+Blu-ray/Cassette (WB)
Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Young (guitar, piano, harmonica, vocals), Nils Lofgren (accordion, guitar, piano, vocal), Billy Talbot (bass, vocal) and Ralph Molina (drums, vocal) – follow-up 2019’s Colorado with the new album, Barn featuring 10 new songs that capture the raw, idiosyncratic rock ‘n’ roll spirit and lyrical beauty that epitomizes a classic NYCH collaboration. Recorded in the summer of 2021 under a full moon, in a restored off-grid 19th century barn high up in the Rockies, the Horse was right at home and the album’s stunning love songs, reflective ballads and powerhouse rockers naturally burst into life. [An indie store exclusive special-edition vinyl pressing featuring a photo book is available, as well as a deluxe edition box set which includes the album on vinyl LP and CD plus a Blu-ray of the film of the same name. The accompanying Barn film captures this legendary band in their element – in the wild, their easy humor, their brotherhood, their humanity, and of course, the music, live, recorded in their unique spontaneous way.]
Zelbo – In My Dreams CD (Frontiers)
Zelbo is a new melodic rock band/project masterminded by Norwegian keyboard player Dag Selboskar. Dag is an experienced musician who debuted with the band Da Vinci, with whom he recorded and released two acclaimed albums, Da Vinci (1987) and Back In Business (1989) for Polygram Records. The band’s debut album is Scandinavian AOR of the highest order.
John Zorn – The Ninth Circle CD (Tzadik)
The latest recording by Zorn’s newest ensemble Chaos Magick is a suite inspired by the ancient Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice. Combining contemporary classical with jazz, funk, rock, blues, film soundtrack, noise improvisation and so much more this is a wild and evocative trip thru Hell and back. Tight conductions, complex melodies, burning solos, telepathic group interaction and all the wit, humor, joy and mystery that one has come to expect from Zorn’s dedicated and passionate crew of virtuosi are in abundant display in this beautiful and unique rendering of the classic Orpheus legend.
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
Bardo Pond – Amanita [Reissue/1996] 2xLP+MP3 (Matador)
25th anniversary purple color vinyl reissue of the Philadelphia psychedelic rock quintet’s long out-of-print second album.
Matt Berry – Gather Up (Ten Years On Acid Jazz) 2xLP (Acid Jazz)
Matt Berry – Gather Up 5xLP (Acid Jazz)
Released last week on CD – now available on vinyl. Gather Up (Ten Years On Acid Jazz) is a career spanning double-LP collection from Matt Berry. The perfect summation of the past decade of musical adventures from an extraordinary musician, genuine musical maverick and sonic explorer. It pulls together a 21-track career spanning selection expertly curated by Berry. [The five-LP edition, Gather Up, adds rare and never heard before outtakes, demo recordings of some songs which did, and did not, evolve into the Phantom Birds as well as five songs recorded over three festivals in 2015. Includes a 24-page hardback book.]
The Bleechers – Come Into My Parlour b/w Check Him Out [Reissue/1969] 7” (Harlem Shuffle)
Rocksteady era combo The Bleechers put out a lot of music in a short period of time, with the entirety of their bustling catalogue recorded and released between 1968 and ’71. For much of that period they were associated with the Upsetter himself, the late Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, and it’s two of his productions for the act that are showcased on this Harlem Shuffle 7″.
Joe Bonamassa – Now Serving: Royal Tea: Live From The Ryman 2xLP (J&R Adventures)
Standard black vinyl edition. Blues-rock superstar Joe Bonamassa set out to perform his brand-new music for fans amidst a global entertainment shutdown. This led to an incredible live concert at the legendary Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN. This special show includes songs from his latest studio album, Royal Tea, which was inspired by his British guitar heroes Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Cream. Joe also performs a few songs from his debut album, A New Day Yesterday, which helped launch his illustrious career.
John Carpenter / Chvrches – Turning The Bones (Chvrches Remix) 7” (Sacred Bones)
Scottish synthpop sensations Chvrches remix a standout track from John Carpenter’s recent Lost Themes III album.
Claptone – Closer 2xLP (PIAS America)
Recently released on CD – now available on grey & white color vinyl. The third album from Claptone features a string of collaborators and pop icons including Barry Manilow, Seal, James Vincent McMorrow and many others. Closer has been in the making for over three years and showcases a natural development in sound for Claptone. The album has been co-produced by Stuart Price, the three-time Grammy-winning electronic musician, DJ, songwriter, and record producer known for his work with artists such as Madonna, The Killers, Dua Lipa and Pet Shop Boys.
The Dave Clark Five – Glad All Over [Reissue/1964] LP (BMG)
DC5 was one of first UK acts to achieve success in the US as part for the ‘British Invasion’, as well as making more appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show than any other UK act. This vinyl reissue includes recordings remastered from the original tapes and an updated track listing that differs from the original US release and the subsequent UK version entitled A Session With The Dave Clark Five. It is presented on limited edition white vinyl and features reproduced original artwork.
Les Claypool’s Duo De Twang – Four Foot Shack [Reissue/2014] 2xLP (ATO)
Les Claypool’s Duo De Twang is a bluegrass duo formed by Les Claypool and high school friend Bryan Kehoe, initially for a one-off for the famed Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival. Four Foot Shack followed and features reworked Primus songs as well as covers of Alice In Chains and The Bee Gees. This new edition comes in a foil-stamped gatefold jacket and is pressed on “gold nugget” color vinyl.
Steve Conte – Bronx Cheer LP (Wicked Cool)
Recently released on CD – a limited-edition picture disc vinyl pressing is now available. New release from the New York-based singer, songwriter and guitarist who has played with the New York Dolls and Michael Monroe.
Cormega – The Realness [Reissue/2001] 2xLP (Tuff Kong)
The Realness is the 2001 debut studio album by rapper Cormega. It features guest appearances from Mobb Deep and Tragedy Khadafi, as well as production from Havoc of Mobb Deep, J-Love, and The Alchemist, among others.
Kenny Cox And The Contemporary Jazz Quintet – Introducing Kenny Cox And The Contemporary Jazz Quintet [Reissue/1968] LP (Blue Note)
Limited 180gm vinyl pressing. Recorded in 1968, Introducing Kenny Cox And The Contemporary Jazz Quintet was the debut album by this underrecognized Detroit band, led by pianist Kenny Cox and featured trumpeter Charles Moore, tenor saxophonist Leon Henderson, bassist Ron Brooks, and drummer Danny Spencer. Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes.
Daxma – Unmarked Boxes LP (Blues Funeral)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Constructed from crushingly heavy guitar tones, haunting orchestration and lush melodies, Unmarked Boxes is an intimate work of doom metal introspection that explores grief, depression, longing, and the process of overcoming.
Indigo De Souza – Any Shape You Take LP (Saddle Creek)
Two limited-edition color vinyl pressings are now available: pink and green. “Everything has to be said.” This is the conviction guiding Indigo De Souza’s sophomore album, Any Shape You Take. This dynamic record successfully creates a container for the full spectrum – pushing through and against every emotion: “I wanted this album to give a feeling of shifting with and embracing change. These songs came from a turbulent time when I was coming to self-love through many existential crises and shifts in perspective.” Faithful to its name, Any Shape You Take changes form to match the tenor of each story it tells. “The album title is a nod to the many shapes I take musically. I don’t feel that I fully embody any particular genre – all of the music just comes from the universe that is my ever-shifting brain/heart/world,” says Indigo.
Whit Dickey / William Parker / Matthew Shipp – Village Mothership LP (Tao)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Drummer Whit Dickey, bassist William Parker, and pianist Matthew Shipp present a wondrous collective creation, their first studio recording since the Shipp-led 1992 classic, Circular Temple. This is also their first assembly since working together in the revered David S. Ware Quartet.
DMX – The Legacy 2xLP (Def Jam)
This collection was originally released as a Record Store Day exclusive in November of 2020. It is the definitive official Best Of DMX compilation.
Dream Theater – Lost Not Forgotten Archives: Dramatic Tour of Events: Board Mixes 3xLP+2xCD (Inside Out)
Vinyl repress. Dream Theater, the two-time Grammy-nominated and millions-selling legends of progressive music, are pleased to announce the Lost Not Forgotten Archives. This series will see the virtuosic quintet’s long-standing Ytsejam Records catalogue reissued, alongside some brand-new additions. The latest in the series, Lost Not Forgotten Archives: Dramatic Tour of Events: Board Mixes, is a carefully curated selection of tracks recorded in 2011 and 2012. Initially a holiday fan club release, these Select Board Mixes feature Dream Theater classics including “As I Am”, “Peruvian Skies”, and “The Great Debate”.
Steve Earle – Townes [Reissue/2009] LP (New West)
Limited clear vinyl pressing. Steve Earle’s 2009 album, Townes, served as his highly anticipated follow up to the Grammy Award winning album Washington Square Serenade. The 15-song set is comprised of songs written by Earle’s friend and mentor, the late singer-songwriter, Townes Van Zandt.
Kurt Elling – SuperBlue LP (Edition)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Grammy winning vocalist Kurt Elling returns in style with an album of boisterous funk and indelible beats supported by the funky Charlie Hunter, Corey Fonville and DJ Harrison of groove merchants Butcher Brown.
Enuff Z’nuff – Enuff Z’nuff’s Hardrock Nite LP (Frontiers)
Recently released on CD – now available on limited-edition white color vinyl. Enuff Z’nuff’s fondness for The Beatles has been more than well documented over the years. The band, now led by co-founder Chip Z’nuff, has finally decided to go all in on that fandom with the release of Hardrock Nite, a covers album of some of their favorite Beatles songs as well as songs from Beatles members’ solo careers.
Foodman – Yasuragi Land LP+MP3 (Hyperdub)
Foodman is Takahide Higuchi, from Nagoya, in central Japan. Yasuragi Land is alive with footwork-inspired musical freedom and the sense that everything is a rhythm. It is breezy and refined; hyper-rhythmic music, made with a few simple tools, dances around your head.
Four Years Strong – Brain Pain LP (Pure Noise)
Indie store exclusive red, yellow & blue color vinyl pressing of the 2020 album from by Massachusetts pop punk band.
Ghost Bath – Self Loather LP (Nuclear Blast)
Recently released on CD – a black w/ grey swirl color vinyl pressing is now available. Black metallers Ghost Bath break out of the clutches of obscurity with their stunning new album, Self Loather.
Nikki Giovanni and The New York Community Choir – Truth Is On The Way [Reissue/1971] CD/LP (Modern Harmonic)
Nikki Giovanni and The New York Community Choir – Like A Ripple On A Pond [Reissue/1973] LP (Modern Harmonic)
Recently released on CD – limited-edition color vinyl pressings are now available. “Listen, the great Nikki Giovanni was protected. Inside the church, you can hear it. In the dusty silence, you can hear it. In the electric texture of the crowd, the buzz of the instruments, you can hear it. What you hear and feel is safe in the belly of the blues. Her voice loved like hands on the ivory keys of the church organ deep inside the spell of gospel. Nikki Giovanni is a poet at the pulpit righteous with spirit and energy. A poet in the choir hypnotized with the sound of the past, present and future. Nikki Giovanni inspires a new language rising out of the desolate and uncertain ‘70s.” – Camae Ayewa (Moor Mother, Irreversible Entanglements)
Thadeus Gonzales – Opposite Faces LP (Rebel Waves/Ripple Music)
Oakland, CA’s, Thadeus Gonzalez builds on a foundation of alternative hard rock with hints of Mark Lanegan, PJ Harvey and David Bowie.
Grand Cadavar – Into The Maw Of Death LP (Majestic Mountain)
Debut album from the Swedish death metal band. Pressed on smokey grey w/ black color vinyl.
Halfnoise – Motif LP (Congrats)
Forget what you think you know about Zac Farrow – founding member and drummer of Paramore. Motif is a joyous, disco-lined triumph of a record which lives comfortably on the shelf next to artists such as Beck, The Flaming Lips, and The Dandy Warhols.
Curtis Harding – If Word Were Flowers LP+MP3 (ANTI-)
Recently released on CD – an indie store exclusive red color vinyl pressing is now available. Simply calling Curtis Harding a soul man feels reductive. Harding’s voice conveys pain, pleasure, longing, tenderness, sadness and strength-a full gamut of emotions. Today his voice takes on an optimistic lilt with his new album, If Words Were Flowers. If Words Were Flowers is Harding’s first new music since 2018, a follow up to his critically acclaimed Face Your Fears. It features songs like “Hopeful”, where Harding croons with devotion over a classic soul groove, textured with infectious horn playing, background singers and modern psychedelic flourishes. Harding fuels his psychedelic sound with the essence of soul but isn’t bound by it. Instead, his songs convey an eclectic blend of genres leaping from the many musical lives he has lived from following his evangelical Gospel-singing mother on tour around the country as a child to rapping in Atlanta, forming a garage band with The Black Lips’ Cole Alexander to singing back-up for Cee Lo Green. Through these experiences he fully embraces life’s darkest intricacies and conjures dynamic, addictive melodies.
John Wort Hannam – Long Haul LP (Black Hen)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. With narratives that trace small victories earned through faith, resilience and humor, the songs on Long Haul reach beyond our current sense of isolation to share a sense of gratitude for what we have, and grief for what we have lost. Balancing personal and universal concerns, the songs offer intimate reflections of everyday life and experience.
Helm – Axis LP (Dais)
London exploratory industrialist Luke Younger characterizes the creation of his latest collection, Axis, as a liberating return to roots: “It felt like going back to the beginning, it felt freeing.” Begun before the pandemic as a soundtrack to a dance performance, the initial vision was for something “visceral, with physical movement in mind.” When the project shifted to indefinite hiatus, he reimagined the material in the context of an LP, while retaining its sense of dynamic physicality. The result is grim and gripping, seasick throbs lurching in a low-ceilinged space, strafed with fractured clanging, hissing steam, and grinding spirals of granular haze. Noise in its most elevated and compelling form, from and for the body as much as the mind. [A limited edition translucent purple color vinyl pressing is available. CD edition due January 14.]
Keaton Henson – Fragments EP 12” (Play It Again Sam)
Keaton Henson’s Fragments EP was made as a companion piece to last year’s Monument. Written and recorded at the same time, the lyrical themes and subjects may stray from Monument’s poignant subject matter, but in its sound and atmosphere, it feels suitably entwined. The eight tracks orbit a sweeping kaleidoscope of sonic shapes, shades and textures. Keaton’s voice offers lyrics in an almost frozen romanticism. It’s a voice that sounds rooted in turmoil, but also in strength. Julien Baker shares a mic from across the ocean in Australia on “Marionette”.
The Hold Steady – Open Door Policy LP (Positive Jams)
“The songs on Open Door Policy are about power, wealth, and mental health. They’re about technology, occupation, consumerism, freedom, fandom and escape. And although the album was written and recorded in 2019, the themes of this record seem to be underscored and highlighted by this year of virus and quarantine.” – Craig Finn [A limited-edition pink color vinyl pressing is also available.]
HTRK – Rhinestones LP (N&J Blueberries)
The latest by iconic slowburn Australian duo HTRK is an elegant nine song suite of windswept emotion and heartbreak noir, crafted in skeletal arrangements of guitar, voice, metronomes, and FX. Inspired by a recent infatuation with “eerie and gothic country music,” Rhinestones moves from whispered lament to acoustic eulogy to downtempo vignettes, tracing muted embers of loss and lust through haunted city streets. Taking cues from the economy and brevity of western folk but skewed through a narcotic, nocturnal lens, the album maps enigmatic badlands of strung-out beauty and lengthening shadows.
Iron Lizards – Hungry For Action LP (Sign)
Recently released on CD – a limited-edition red color vinyl pressing is now available. Blasting guitars making music alive again. Raw riffs, and with no unnecessary shit in their songs. Straight on, no fuzz, and loud screaming guitars. Iron Lizards make you feel the wild and dangerous side of rock ‘n’ roll.
Jarv Is… – REMIX ED… 2xLP (Rough Trade)
From its earliest recordings beginning in an actual cave, via the enticing hypnotics behind the mantra-likes tracks “Sometimes I Am Pharaoh” and “Must I Evolve”, the exquisite yet candid storytelling of “Swanky Modes” and timeless anthem-turned-inadvertent lockdown soundtrack, “House Music All Night Long”, the debut album of the Jarvis Cocker-led band Jarv Is… proved a standout swirl of creativity, invention and vision on its release last summer. Yet Beyond The Pale has continued to inspire long after the sessions for the record stopped. Despite being divided by the pandemic, audiences came together around the album, Jarvis and Co. made a live film based on the album with pioneering directors Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard entirely underground in a cavern, and intriguingly other musicians and producers have continued to be intrigued by the songs Cocker and his band created. The latter now has yielded an entirely new way of hearing Beyond The Pale, as for the first time in his career, Jarvis is releasing a remix album based on one of his records.
Jaga Jazzist – Pyramid Remix 2xLP+MP3 (Brainfeeder)
Double yellow color vinyl pressing. A cast of friends and extended family rework compositions from Jaga Jazzist’s ninth studio album Pyramid (2020), a record that saw the legendary Norwegian eight-piece take a deep dive into post-rock, jazz and psychedelia influences. Cosmic disco royalty Lindstrøm and Prins Thomas, André Bratten (Smalltown Supersound) and OKIOK bring the club-ready heat. Meanwhile, OKR of Once And Future Band, Ian Chang (City Slang), Paul Bender (Hiatus Kaiyote) and Swedish producer Petter Eldh (a regular collaborator with Brainfeeder’s Jameszoo) veer off to the left into more experimental territory with stunning results.
Toby Keith – Peso In My Pocket LP (Show Dog, LLC)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Singer/songwriter Toby Keith releases his first all-new in more than five years. Peso In My Pocket was co-produced with Kenny Greenberg and features the highest Billboard Country Airplay chart debut of his career with the lead single “Old School”. Though Keith has accomplished much since the 2015 release of 35 MPH Town – perhaps most notably in writing the Clint Eastwood inspired “Don’t Let The Old Man In” – a new studio album was long overdue. Peso In My Pocket has more than a little to do with the worldwide pandemic. “My whole musical career, I haven’t been off the road this long,” Keith says, calling 2020 “a reset button I never would have hit.”
Fela Kuti – Vinyl Box #5 7xLP (Knitting Factory)
Knitting Factory Records is proud to release the next installment of long-awaited vinyl reissues from the Fela Kuti catalog. Vinyl Box #5 was co-curated by Fela’s son, world-renowned multi-instrumentalist and Afrobeat ambassador, Femi Kuti, and Chris Martin (yes, that Chris Martin). This volume includes Why Black Man Dey Suffer, Noise For Vendor Mouth, Kalakuta Show, Excuse O, Ikoyi Blindness, Original Sufferhead, and Overtake Don Overtake Overtake.
Lady Gaga – Born This Way (Tenth Anniversary Edition) 3xLP (Interscope)
Triple vinyl LP pressing in custom gatefold jacket with special artwork. In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Lady Gaga’s iconic album Born This Way, this Tenth Annivesary Edition adds six new versions of songs reimagined by artists representing and advocating for the LGBTQIA+ community.
L.A. Guns – Checkered Past LP (Frontiers)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The long running hard rockers L.A. Guns release a new studio album.
Lambchop – I Hope You’re Sitting Down / Jack’s Tulips [Reissue/1994] 2xLP+MP3 (Merge)
Back in 1994, when Lambchop first lurched lackadaisically into public view, they seemed to many people freakish, outlandish, destined at best for the pages of photocopied fanzines and the graveyard hours of specialist radio stations. A sprawling collective of Nashville musicians – eleven were credited on the sleeve of I Hope You’re Sitting Down / Jack’s Tulips – they’d named themselves after a sock puppet, inexplicably given their album two titles, and stuck a painting on the cover of a small, barefooted child holding a dog whose cock and balls are on proud display.
Lilys – Better Can’t Make Your Life Better [Reissue/1996] LP (Sundazed)
On the heels of our reissue of the Lilys 1999 cult classic The 3 Way, Sundazed is honored to bring you it’s predecessor of equal acclaim, 1996″s Better Can’t Make Your Life Better. Together they form what most would call the band’s pseudo–British Invasion period, and in our opinion, two of the greatest albums to come out of the ‘90s.
Lizard Music – Airzone 2xLP (Omnivore)
Limited color vinyl pressing. Lizard Music began in Atlantic Highlands, NJ in 1989 when high school friends Mikael Jorgensen and Erik Paparozzi started learning and writing songs with a four-track. They pillaged their parents’ record collections and discovered the musical universes of The Beatles, Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, XTC, James Brown and The Meters. In the fall of 1990, Lizard Music (named after the book by Daniel Pinkwater) was hired to be the backing band for David Peel and The Lower East Side at the recently-closed Brighton Bar in Long Branch, NJ, which would serve as the unofficial home base for the band for the next five years. In 1991, Chris Apple joined the band on bass and Craig Smith on drums and the “classic” Lizard Music lineup was solidified. Their vocal harmony-driven surreal pop sensibility stood in stark contrast to the grungy testosterone-addled sludge rock that overtook the Jersey Shore in the early ‘90s.
Lontalius – Someone Will Be There For You LP (PBWH)
It’s difficult to believe that Eddie Johnston is just 23. The songwriter and producer behind Lontalius has already released three EPs and two albums, plus several more EPs and many remixes as his electronic producer alter-ego Race Banyon.
Lunar Vacation – Inside Every Fig Is A Dead Wasp LP (Keeled Scales)
Recently released on CD and cassette – a limited-edition indie store exclusive orange color vinyl pressing is now available. Drawing from early influences like Rilo Kiley and Tame Impala and landing a little closer to contemporary favorites like Alvvays and Slow Pulp, Lunar Vacation make bright music replete with bliss.
Madball – Legacy [Reissue/2005] LP (Good Fight Music)
Limited blue, silver, white 180gm color vinyl pressing of the New York-based hardcore/punk band’s 2005 album.
Makthaverskan – För Allting LP (Run For Cover)
Limited transparent red color vinyl pressing. Gothenburg’s Makthaverskan has always seemed to escape traditional genre definition. As Pitchfork wrote of their 2017 LP Ill, they are a band that makes “music for the margins” – and such has been the case since these former schoolmates founded their band (the name of which roughly translates to “powerful woman”) over a decade ago. Their fourth full-length album För Allting (which translates to “For Everything”) follows a 2019 two song single “Demands/Onkel” as well as their aforementioned third LP and continues right where those songs left off at the intersection of blissful pop and angst-ridden post-punk.
Reba McEntire – Revived Remixed Revisited 3xLP (MCA Nashville)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Revived Remixed Revisited is a reimagined collection of her most iconic songs. Revived features exciting new arrangements of fan favorites like “Is There Life Out There” and “Can’t Even Get The Blues” recorded with Reba’s touring band. Remixed takes songs like “Little Rock” and “I’m A Survivor” and spins them in ways like you’ve never heard Reba before. Revisited, produced by the Grammy Award-winning Dave Cobb, strips back songs like “Somebody Should Leave” and “Consider Me Gone” to let the raw power of Reba’s vocals shine and features a long-awaited pairing between Reba and Dolly Parton on Reba’s most famous duet, “Does He Love You”.
Milan Ring – I’m Feeling Hopeful LP (Astral People)
An accomplished musician, producer and engineer, Milan Ring is a figurehead in Australia’s recent R&B renaissance, having collaborated with the likes of SZA, DRAM, Chance The Rapper’s group The Social Experiment, BJ The Chicago Kid, The Avalanches, Cosmo’s Midnight and more. Milan Ring meticulously curates each aspect of the creative process, from the first chord struck on the guitar to the final mix, all within the walls of her studio in Western Sydney.
Ministry – Moral Hygiene LP (Nuclear Blast)
Recently released on CD – now available on green color vinyl. Moral Hygiene comes on the heels of Ministry’s acclaimed 2018 album AmeriKKKant (hailed by Loudwire as Jourgensen’s own “state of the union” address) that was written as a reaction to Donald J. Trump being elected president – though Jourgensen says this new album is more informational and reflective in tone.
The Monkees – Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. [Reissue/1967] LP (Friday Music)
180gm turquoise/aqua color vinyl pressing. Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. was one of the most successful albums ever released in classic rock history. The mono mixes are terrific here as you will hear nuances and slightly different mixes than its stereo counterpart.
Moor Mother – Fetish Bones [Reissue/2016] LP (Don Giovanni)
Moor Mother – Circuit City [Reissue/2020] LP (Don Giovanni)
Limited color vinyl pressings. Fetish Bones is the second album by Philadelphia-based musician, artist, and activist, Camae, who performs under the name Moor Mother. It features 13 songs conceived and recorded in Camae’s home studio using a variety of machines, field recordings, and analog noisemakers. The music is often harsh and strange, projecting both the visceral anger of punk and the expansive improvisatory spirit of Sun Ra. Her first theatrical work, Circuit City is a futuristic exploration, part musical, part choreopoem, part play, of public/private ownership, housing, and technology set in a living room in a corporate-owned apartment complex. Framed by Ayewa’s bold poetry and bolstered by new Moor Mother music performed live by Irreversible Entanglements and the Circuit City Band, Circuit City is an Afrofuturist song cycle for our current climate.
Mother Iron Horse – Under The Blood Moon LP (Ripple Music)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Heavy, mesmerizing and utterly good, Mother Iron Horse from Salem, MA, bring the witching hour for your pleasure.
Narrow Head – Satisfaction [Reissue/2016] LP (Run For Cover)
Narrow Head’s debut full-length record Satisfaction is available once again on vinyl for the first time since its initial release in 2016. This version of the album includes updated album art and a limited blue color vinyl release. While the band offered a handful of one-off singles and demos prior to Satisfaction‘s release, this record offers a perfect introduction to the Houston band’s world. Revisiting Satisfaction after the release of last year’s 12th House Rock finds this younger version of the band honing in their signature blend melody, heaviness and atmosphere.
Naughty By Nature – Naughty By Nature [Reissue/1991] 2xLP (Tommy Boy Music)
Double green and yellow color vinyl pressing. To qualify as a classic, a rap album must be solid from start to finish, containing no fillers, all thrillers. The musical production should match the lyrical skills of the MCs and the artist should possess his or her own style and flavor. Naughty By Nature’s self-titled debut can rightfully be called timeless.
The New Pornographers – Mass Romantic [Reissue/2000] LP+7”+MP3 (Matador)
Red color vinyl reissue of twelve effervescent and undeniable power-pop gems.
Herbie Nichols – The Prophetic Herbie Nichols Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 LP (Blue Note)
Limited 180gm vinyl pressing. Blue Note founder Alfred Lion considered pianist Herbie Nichols to be as original and important as Thelonious Monk. Little-known in his time, recognition has grown for his unique compositions like The Third World, and 2300 Skidoo. Both volumes (originally released in 1955) are combined on a single LP, with Vol. 1 on the cover, Vol. 2 on the back, and liner notes inside a gatefold jacket. Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes.
Alan Parsons – Neverending Show: Live In The Netherlands 3xLP (Frontiers)
Clear vinyl pressing. This set was recorded live in May 2019 and showcases the Alan Parsons Live Project in their element at the Tivoli in Utrecht, Netherlands. The band was, as usual, in fine form and fed off the extra energy of an enthusiastic audience. The 20-track collection documents an amazing performance by quite possibly the definitive band line-up of exemplary musicians that Parsons has toured with.
Pepper – Pink Crustaceans And Good Vibrations [Reissue/2008] LP (Law)
Reggae-rockers Pepper returned in 2008 with Pink Crustaceans And Good Vibrations, their relaxed and soulful fifth studio album and follow up to the Atlantic Records release No Shame. Named after the fictional album recorded by “Coconut Pete” in the Broken Lizard film Club Dread, the Paul Leary (Butthole Surfers, Sublime) produced affair showcases the band at their most eclectic and captures the summery essence of the Kona Boys arriving in California as seasoned veterans of rock.
Jim Peterik – Tigress: Women Who Rock The World 2xLP (Frontiers)
Recently released on CD – a limited-edition orange color vinyl pressing is now available. “I discovered that I needed to write songs that reflected the female perspective more than the male. It was gratifying when talented women from all over the world, heroes of mine such as Janet Gardner (Vixen), CathyRichardson (Jefferson Starship), Jenniffer Batten, Mindi Abair, Kate French, Kimi Hayes, Chez Kane, Rosa Laricchiuta (Black Rose Maze, Trans-Siberian Orchestra), and so many others gave me the big thumbs up! Up-and-comers likeLindsay Kent, Leslie Hunt, Chloe Lowery, Marine Lacoste, and so many others all added their unique personalities to make this a landmark album in my career.” – Jim Peterik
Chuck Prophet – No Other Love [Reissue/2002] LP (New West)
Limited red color vinyl LP pressing. Chuck Prophet has been described as “the missing link between Paul Westerberg and Bob Dylan” (Q). No Other Love is a startling blend of dusty country, twangy R&B and lilting folk served up fresh with inventive production, the use of an Omnichord, punchbowl, hip-hop samples and string sections.
The Residents – Duck Stab! Alive! 2×10”+DVD (Grand Chess)
Duck Stab! Alive! was recorded live in the studio over three days from May 19 – 21, 2021 at the 25th Street Studio in Oakland, CA. This is a custom made 10″ high quality box with a DVD nest. The package includes two 10″ LP’s and a DVD digipak with a 16-page booklet featuring a short story on Duck Stab along with full color images from the show.
Riki – Gold LP (Dais)
West coast new romantic icon Riki returns with her second simulacrum of pitch-perfect synth-pop, aptly titled for the precious substance it is: Gold. Inspired by notions of symbolic power, letting go, and transmutable realms of the heart, the album further refines her rare gift for making swooning melancholia as anthemic as it atmospheric. Working with Telefon Tel Aviv co-founder Josh Eustis at his Pasadena studio, the sessions unfolded fluidly and fruitfully, focusing on “quieter moments” and refining the record’s palette and voice. Occasional interruption from a nearby flock of wild parrots infused a mood of California dreaming, purple sunsets dissolving into deepening neon night. [CD edition due January 14.]
Todd Rundgren – A Wizard A True Star [Reissue/1973] LP (Friday Music)
Two limited color vinyl pressings. Todd Rundgren’s 1973 solo album aptly foreshadowed the contributions of the multi-faceted artist to state-of-the-art music. As with many of his solo projects, Rundgren played all the instruments, sang, wrote 17 of the 19 tunes and handled production duties.
Sad Lovers & Giants – Feeding The Flame [Reissue/1983] LP (Spittle)
Vinyl reissue of the second studio album by the English post-punk band.
Seafloor Cinema – In Cinemascope With Stereophonic Sound LP (Pure Noise)
“We wanted to push ourselves in a new direction by collaborating on an album that quintessentially merged the ‘Seafloor’ sound with the accessible pop sensibilities our producer Courtney Ballard is known for. We had a lot of fun, and that’s what we feel this album offers sonically – pure fun. Everyone in the band is inspired by starkly contrasting styles of music that range from emo, post-hardcore, math rock, pop-punk, EDM, and hyperpop – and we used that to meld genres into a visceral sound that we can only describe as ‘turbo emo’.”
Matthew Shipp – Codebreaker LP (Tao Forms)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Matthew Shipp takes an introspective turn on his latest solo piano album, continuing to discover new territory for his singular cosmic pianism. Codebreaker encrypts rich harmonies, cloud-like clusters, and the unlikely confluence of Bill Evans and Bud Powell.
Nina Simone – Nina Simone And Her Friends [Reissue/1959] LP (BMG International)
Released last week on CD – now available on vinyl. Nina Simone And Her Friends is a 1959 album released by the Bethlehem Records label that compiled songs by jazz singers Nina Simone, Carmen McRae and Chris Connor. All three artists had left the label and signed with other companies by the time Bethlehem released this album. The numbers by Simone were previously unissued “leftovers” from the recording sessions for her debut album Little Girl Blue (1958) and released without her knowledge. The tracks by Chris Connor and Carmen McRae were already issued together this way as Bethlehem’s Girlfriends in 1956 accompanied by the debut recording session of Julie London.
The Incredible Jimmy Smith – Home Cookin’ [Reissue/1961] LP (Blue Note)
Limited 180gm vinyl pressing. Drawn from three sessions in 1958-59, Home Cookin’ stands as one of the most deeply felt, soulful albums from the Hammond B3 organ virtuoso, Jimmy Smith. Featuring tenor saxophonist Percy France, guitarist Kenny Burrell, and drummer Donald Bailey, the quartet covers tunes by Ma Rainey, Ray Charles, and Jimmy McGriff, plus originals by Smith and Burrell. Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes.
Nate Smith – Kinfolk 2: See The Birds LP (Edition)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Kinfolk 2: See The Birds is the highly anticipated follow up to the 2017 Grammy-nominated album Kinfolk: Postcards From Everywhere. Featuring the diverse and all-star talents of Brittany Howard, Amma Whatt, Joel Ross, Kokayi, Michael Mayo, Regina Carter, Stokley and Vernon Reid, Kinfolk 2: See The Birds is the inspired and emphatic album that exemplifies Nate Smith’s artistry as one of the most exciting, dynamic and innovative drummer-composers of his generation, adept across multi-genres and styles.
Moses Sumney – Live From Blackalachia 2xLP (Tuntum)
Live from Blackalachia is a live album (and movie) composed of dynamic band arrangements from Moses Sumney’s first two albums. It was recorded in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the summer of 2020, on a stage built on a hill nestled within a 72-acre ranch.
Sun Crow – Quest For Oblivion LP (Ripple Music)
Seattle heavy hitters Sun Crow lay down the law with their spaced out, doomy and heavy stoner rock.
Sunset Rubdown – Shup Up I Am Dreaming [Reissue/2006] LP (Pronounced Kroog)
Though met with praise by fans and critics alike, placing 15th on Pitchfork’s Top 50 Albums of 2006, Shut Up I Am Dreaming was never made available on vinyl. Originally released on Absolutely Kosher Records, the debut effort from Montreal’s Sunset Rubdown is a project previously reserved for the solo experiments of Wolf Parade’s Spencer Krug.
Duff Thompson – Haywire LP (Mashed Potato)
Released a year ago on CD – now available on vinyl. Duff Thompson is a songwriter, producer, recording engineer, and co-founder of New Orleans-based label Mashed Potato Records. His debut album Haywire is a swampy blend of folk, pop, and garage rock that is thoroughly modern, classic, and timeless.
Unearth – III: In The Eyes Of Fire [Reissue/2006] LP (Metal Blade)
Limited clear vinyl pressing of the third studio album by the metalcore band.
Various Artists – Flag Day: Original Soundtrack LP (Republic)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Features songs from Cat Power, Glen Hansard, Eddie Vedder & Olivia Vedder. [Vinyl edition due December 10.]
Venom Prison – Samsara [Reissue/2019] LP (Prosthetic)
Limited color vinyl pressing. Venom Prison returned in 2019 with their blistering second album Samsara. Named after the Buddhist concept of being reborn into a never-ending cycle of suffering, the rising death metal outfit have laid their cards out on the table from the word go. Musically, the album is as abrasive as we have come to expect from this UK based five-piece: as frenetic as the debut but delivered with a power up of confidence in their delivery.
Walk The Moon – Heights LP (RCA)
Released last week on CD – now available on vinyl. Heights is the fifth studio album by pop rock band Walk The Moon. This is the band’s first album as a trio, without bassist Kevin Ray who parted ways with the band in December 2020.
Whitehorse – Strike Me Down LP (Six Shooter)
Recently released on CD – now available on limited-edition color vinyl. Strike Me Down showcases Whitehorse’s masterful, fantastical storytelling and melodic sensibilities, with plenty of space made for guitar shredding, epic basslines and spaced-out vocal layering.
Widespread Panic – Miss Kitty’s Lounge 2xLP (Widespread)
Recorded in John Keane’s Studio, Athens GA during the demo tracking session in the winter of 1990. “This was Widespread Panic un-filtered – or, at least self-filtered – filling in almost every cranny with sound and movement.” – John Bell, Widespread Panic
Barney Wilen – French Ballads [Reissue/1987] 2xLP (Anagram Music)
Released last week on CD – now available on vinyl. Following the unexpected success of his 1987 comeback album, La Note Bleue, iconic French saxophonist Barney Wilen immediately embarked on the follow-up. Released the same year, French Ballads is the perfect synthesis between jazz and the French chanson. Presented here in the newly remastered CD edition from the 24-track analog master tapes by the original sound engineer, Herve Le Guil. French Ballads is, because of its repertoire and approach, a quite unique work in the whole story of jazz.
Reuben Wilson – Love Bug [Reissue/1969] LP (Blue Note)
Limited 180gm vinyl pressing. Love Bug was organist Reuben Wilson’s second album for Blue Note. Recorded with an exceptional quintet including Lee Morgan (trumpet), George Coleman (tenor saxophone), Grant Green (guitar), and Leo Morris (drums), it features funky Wilson originals like “Hot Rod”, “Back Out”, and the title track, alongside R&B hits of the day like “I Say A Little Prayer”. Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes.
Xasthur – A Gate Through Bloodstained Mirrors [Reissue/2001] 2xLP (Prophecy)
Xasthur /Leviathan – Ominous Fates [Reissue/2004] LP (Prophecy)
Xasthur – Subliminal Genocide [Reissue/2006] 2xLP (Prophecy)
Xasthur – Defective Epitaph [Reissue/2007] 2xLP (Prophecy)
Xasthur – Portal Of Sorrow [Reissue/2010] 2xLP (Prophecy)
Vinyl reissues of a hearty grip of the depressive/suicidal black metal band’s albums.
Youth Lagoon – The Year Of Hibernation [Reissue/2011] 2xLP (Fat Possum)
Includes three bonus tracks on Side D: “Bobby”, “Ghost To Me”, and a live cover of John Denver’s “Goodbye Again”, recorded in 2011. Upon its release in 2011, The Year Of Hibernation was received to widespread critical acclaim, earning Best New Music from Pitchfork, which depicted the album as “compulsively listenable music that explodes at just the right moments,” while NPR described the songs as, “murmurs that bloom into powerful, otherworldly crescendos.”
Cassettes:
Boris Blenn – Berlin Future Lounge (Cold Busted)
Boris Blenn from Berlin releases a Nu Jazz Downtempo full-length album, ‘Berlin Future Lounge’ on Cold Busted. A seasoned producer with a colorful background, Boris Blenn delivers with this 14-track album, a fruitful and joyful collection of sounds. Fans of Prefuse73, Pole, Mark Farina and Gotan Project will likely dig this album. [CD and vinyl editions due December 17.]
Madlib – Sound Ancestors (Madlib Invazion)
Sound Ancestors is Madlib’s latest solo album, which is edited, arranged and mastered by Kieran Hebden (aka Four Tet).
Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Barn (WB)
Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Young (guitar, piano, harmonica, vocals), Nils Lofgren (accordion, guitar, piano, vocal), Billy Talbot (bass, vocal) and Ralph Molina (drums, vocal) – follow-up 2019’s Colorado with the new album, Barn featuring 10 new songs that capture the raw, idiosyncratic rock ‘n’ roll spirit and lyrical beauty that epitomizes a classic NYCH collaboration. Recorded in the summer of 2021 under a full moon, in a restored off-grid 19th century barn high up in the Rockies, the Horse was right at home and the album’s stunning love songs, reflective ballads and powerhouse rockers naturally burst into life.
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