CDs + Vinyl:
August Alisana – This Thing Called Life CD (Def Jam)
Second studio album by the New Orleans-based R&B/hip hop artist. Guests include Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Jadakiss, and more.
Badly Drawn Boy – The Hour Of The Bewilderbeast [Reissue/2000] 2xCD (XL)
When The Hour Of Bewilderbeast was originally released in 2000, it was met with critical acclaim and won the Mercury Prize that year. The album is both ambitious and extremely entertaining and while it’s not a traditional pop album, it’s a continually beguiling trip through lo-fi postmodern folk, drawing as much from Harry Nilsson as it does Beck. This 15th Anniversary reissue features a disc containing 16 bonus tracks. Vinyl editions due January 22.
Art Blakey – The Complete Blue Note Collection: Part One 1954-1957 4xCD (Enlightenment)
Art Blakey – The Complete Blue Note Collection: Part Two 1957-1960 4xCD (Enlightenment)
Art Blakey – The Complete Blue Note Collection: Part Three 1960-1962 4xCD (Enlightenment)
24 albums from the jazz great, collected over three separate remastered volumes.
Bud Bronson & The Good Timers – Fantasy Machine CD (The Greater Than Collective)
Bud Bronson & The Good Timers, reigning Denver Rock City champs since 2012 release their full-length studio debut, Fantasy Machine. Exploding with stadium-sized riffs, dual-lead pyrotechnics and storytelling that splits the atom between earnestness and absurdity, Fantasy Machine tells of the struggle to maintain the wide-eyed wonder of adolescence — when a Squier strat could transform a suburban bedroom into an arena of screaming fans — during the long stretch between the twilight of childhood and the rest of your life. Vinyl due January 8.
Cam – Untamed CD (Arista)
New album from the country/pop singer/songwriter. Cam recently played opening slots for Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, and Darius Rucker.
Clay Rendering – Snowthorn CD/LP (Hospital Productions)
Clay Rendering is the duo of Mike Connelly (Wolf Eyes, Hair Police) and his wife Tara. “If, like me, your brain is swimming with the medieval fantasy gristle that is Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law Trilogy, then this album title immediately calls to mind some ruddy dude covered with crudely stitched-together animal skin and callouses so sharp they could rake trenches in your face. While its songs are more icy than bloody, Snowthorn still cuts deep (you just might not feel it right away). After two murky but insidious singles and a promisingly addictive EP (featuring the epic diagonal smear that is ‘Temple Walking’), Snowthorn flashes through the trees and into your clearing. But no real carnage ensues. A ragged warrior, eternally lost. Snowthorn is at the mercy of not only the elements, but also his own dumb awe at their impossible beauty.” – Tiny Mixtapes
Billy Cobham – Ayajala Live CD (Hi Hat)
Having made landmark recordings with Miles Davis, formed pioneering fusion bands Dreams and Mahavishnu Orchestra, and made several fine solo albums, by 1978 Billy Cobham was firmly established as one of the world’s leading jazz-rock drummers. This set was taped for radio broadcast by WXRT-FM at Park West, Chicago, Illinois, on March 4, 1978, and finds him supported by his recently formed Magic Band, consisting of Charles Singleton (sax, reeds, guitar), Ray Mouton (guitar), Alvin Batiste (clarinet), Mark Soskin (keyboards), and Randy Jackson (bass).
Joe Cocker – The Life Of A Man 2xCD (UMe)
This 36 track, double-CD collection offers a career retrospective of one of the most unique vocalists of the rock era. From his 1969 debut, With a Little Help From My Friends, via, “Up Where We Belong” to his live medley of “Fire It Up,” “I Come in Peace” (both from his final album) this Ultimate Hits collection is the most comprehensive Joe Cocker collection ever released. It also contains “You Are So Beautiful,” and an in-concert “With A Little Help From My Friends.”
Larry Coryell – Acoustic Reflections CD (Hi Hat)
By 1976 Larry Coryell was firmly established as one of America’s most accomplished and innovative electric guitarists, and a pioneer of jazz-rock and fusion. However, he was equally talented on the acoustic guitar, as this superb solo live set indicates. Taped for broadcast on the local station WCUW-FM in Worcester, MA, at Clark University’s Little Center on June 23, 1976, it’s presented here in digitally remastered sound with background notes and images.
Miles Davis – The Last Word: The Warner Bros. Years 8xCD (WB)
In 1985, Miles Davis shocked the music world by moving from Columbia to Warner Bros. He immediately started working on an album called Perfect Way after a tune by Scritti Politti, later renamed Tutu by producer Tommy LiPuma. When Tutu (a tribute to Desmond Tutu) was released in 1986, it re-ignited Miles Davis’ career, crossing over into the rock and pop markets and winning him two Grammy Awards. A definitive collection of the later part of Miles Davis’ work, lavishly packaged and remastered, from the Warner Bros studio albums Tutu, Amandla and Doo-Bop, the Dingo and Siesta soundtracks, live recordings with Quincy Jones, and the likes of Kenny Garrett, Foley and Adam Holzman.
Fats Domino – Complete Hits 1950-62 3xCD (Acrobat)
This three-disc (79 track) set collects Fats Domino’s entries in the US pop and R&B charts, many of which also made the UK charts, with nine R&B Number Ones among them. His trademark New Orleans R&B style found a distinctive niche in rock ‘n’ roll, with landmark hits like “Ain’t That A Shame,” “Blueberry Hill,” “Blue Monday,” “I’m Walkin’” and “Walkin’ To New Orleans.”
Ramblin’ Jack Elliot – San Francisco Bay Blues Live CD (Klondike)
The entire original KFAT-FM broadcast of Ramblin’ Jack Elliott’s performance at the Keystone Club, Palo Alto, CA, on November 12, 1979. Professionally remastered original FM broadcast with background liners and rare archival photos. For fans of real roots music.
Neil Finn + Paul Kelly – Goin’ Your Way 2xCD (Omnivore)
Two of Australia and New Zealand’s best-selling and most revered singer/songwriters, Neil Finn and Paul Kelly, toured their home country together in 2013. Their performance at the Sydney Opera House is presented on Goin’ Your Way (which was released in 2013 in Australia and is now available for the first time in the US). The set features 29 tracks on two CDs, including staples like Kelly’s “To Her Door” and “Before Too Long” and Finn’s “She Will Have Her Way” and “Sinner.”
The Five Satins – Complete Releases 1954-62 2xCD (Acrobat)
The Five Satins were one of the many doo-wop vocal groups to achieve popularity during the genre’s boom years of the mid-50s, and their huge debut hit “In The Still Of The Night” has become one of the most played oldies on US radio over the decades. Complete Releases collects all their A & B-sides and album tracks – 36 in all.
Nils Frahm – Screws Reworked 2xCD/2xLP (Erased Tapes)
Nils Frahm’s 2012 album Screws is reissued with a bonus disc featuring nine remixes. Among the contributors are American composer Keith Kenniff (aka Helios), Bug Lover from Hamburg, and French artist Fred Yaddaden.
Grimes – Art Angles CD/LP+MP3 (4AD)
“Some artists use alter egos to protect their private selves from their performative ones; others use their personas to become more themselves than they ever could be without an audience. Grimes, the chimera puppeted by Canadian producer Claire Boucher, falls in the latter camp. Her art, her fashion, her music, and her personality appear seamless across the channels where she’s chosen to display them. Grimes is a maximized self, sparkling, mutable, and inexhaustibly alive. Her fourth album, Art Angels, is simultaneously her most accessible and her least personal body of work. You could trace lines into Boucher’s own narratives in the ragged edges of her first three LPs; you could find the details of her hurt and fold them into your own hurt. But Art Angels is pure Grimes — performative, maximalist, joyful, and broad. [A-]” – Consequence Of Sound
Karl Hector & The Malcouns – Can’t Stand The Pressure CD (Now Again)
Following their deft handling of music from Eastern and Northern Africa alongside Western psychedelia, jazz and funk on Unstraight Ahead, Karl Hector & The Malcouns combine the previously vinyl-only tracks from four EP’s — Tamanrasset, Ngugna Yeti Fofa, Coomassi and Ka Rica Tar — into an album as krautrock as Afro beat, as multi-culti-psychedelic as deep funk.
The Hell – Brutopia CD (Prosthetic)
“Last summer, anonymous hardcore outfit The Hell turned our heads with Groovehammer and they had us asking two questions: who on earth were they and why were they calling us all dickheads? Neither of those things mattered, because we found ourselves becoming big fans of their tongue-in-cheek take on the hardcore genre, so when they announced their follow-up Brutopia we jumped out of our seats with joy. We thought that The Hell couldn’t get any better, but with Brutopia they’ve proved us wrong” – Bring The Noise. Vinyl due January 8.
John Holt – Before The Next Teardrop [Reissue/1976] CD/LP (Kingston Sounds)
John Holt had one of the finest and most versatile voices to come out of Jamaica. His solo career covered pop and soul, not to mention a much-overlooked roots period, and he was the frontman of the great vocal group The Paragons, which he joined around 1965, singing many of their greatest hits including “Tide Is High,” “On the Beach,” and “Wear You To The Ball.” John Holt (b. 1947, Kingston, Jamaica) was a child prodigy; he began his career as a regular voice on talent contests run by Vera Johns across Jamaica. He cut his first single in 1963 for Leslie Kong’s Beverley’s label and sang many duets with various singers of the day, including “Rum Bumper” with Alton Ellis. 1965 to 1970 were John Holt’s Paragon years, a period in which he also ran solo with hits such as “Fancy Make Up,” “A Love I Can Feel,” and “Let’s Build Our Dreams.” Holt’s 1976 album Before The Next Tear Drop was produced by Bunny “Striker” Lee, part of Holt’s extremely productive period working with the legendary producer.
Hox – Duke Of York CD/LP (Editions Mego)
Hox is Edvard Graham Lewis (Wire/Dome/He Said/He Said Omala/Ocsid) and Andreas Karperyd (Omala/He Said Omala/Woodwork). Duke Of York is their second release following 1999’s highly acclaimed it-ness. Duke Of York is a bittersweet contemporary electronic pop record that could only exist as a result of the unison of these particular peculiar souls. At once tender, skewered, sophisticated, and unsettling, Duke Of York is a both a journey through the collective minds of Lewis and Karperyd and a substantial representation of their individual talents.
The I Don’t Cares – Wild Stab CD (Dry Wood Music)
Paul Westerberg and Julian Hatfield are The I Don’t Cares.
Petre Inspirescu – Vin Ploile CD/LP (Mule Musiq)
Since the release of his first EP, Tips, on Luciano’s Cadenza label in 2007, producer and DJ Petre Inspirescu has emerged as one of the key figures of the Romanian electronic music scene. Although he’s established himself as an internationally in-demand house DJ, performing regularly at all the major clubs, festivals, and party destinations around the globe, Inspirescu offers no easy rhythms, melodies, or harmonies on Vin Ploile.
Elmore James – Complete Singles As & Bs CD (Acrobat)
Despite the fact that his career was curtailed in 1963 by a fatal heart attack when he was only 45, Elmore James was an extremely influential figure in the development of blues guitar.
jennylee – right on! CD/LP+MP3 (Rough Trade)
“Her inventive bass playing grounds Warpaint’s lush, painterly compositions, so it’s little wonder that Jenny Lee Lindberg (aka jennylee)’s first solo album, right on!, is both spacious and intimate. More focused than the last Warpaint record, right on! is subtle, with the softness and density of cashmere. It owes quite a bit to ’80s and ’90s goth-leaning college rock but thankfully never feels like a direct tracing thereof. It’s a good record for the winter, reflecting long nights, and the search for comfort and safety, the desire to wrap ourselves in layers.” – Pitchfork
Kitty Kallen – Collection 1932-62 CD (Acrobat)
American songstress Kitty Kallen had a remarkable career, starting in the swing era of the late ’30s and extending beyond the rock ‘n’ roll explosion of the ’50s into the early ’60s, racking up a lengthy run of hits spanning two decades.
- Kelly – The Buffet CD (RCA)
- Kelly’s 13th studio album is a musical smorgasbord with sounds ranging from R&B to pop to blues, and even country. Available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe adds four bonus tracks.
Lonely Walk – Teen CD/LP (Born Bad)
Dark, addictive songs of hypnotic post-punk slumming it with pop and making a few psychedelic stops, led by obsessive singing with catchy slogans.
Misfits – I Don’t Care/Zombie Girl CDEP (Misfits Records)
The first official studio material from yet a new Misfits lineup, centered around founding member Jerry Only. Vinyl version due January 15.
The Mist – Phantasmagoria [1989] CD (Greyhaze)
First-time CD pressing of the Brazilian thrash metal band’s debut album.
The Moth Gatherer – The Earth Is The Sky CD (Agonia)
Sludge metal/post-rock from Stockholm.
Fats Navarro – Collection 1943-50 CD (Acrobat)
Despite his tragically brief career, cut short as it was by tuberculosis, exacerbated by heroin addiction, at the age of 26, bebop trumpeter Fats Navarro built an extraordinarily high profile and reputation during the few short years he was recording and performing.
nowHere – Hell Knows I’m Miserable Now CD (Equal Vision)
Hell Knows I’m Miserable Now expands on the Portland, OR-based performer’s previously all spoken word/slam poetry solo work – originally released under the moniker Trey The Ruler – with the new incorporation of the truly impressive and enveloping instrumentation of Anays Torres (My Iron Lung). The musical collaboration takes the project into new territory, creating an even darker path of poignancy through driving bass lines, heart wrenching articulations, and wispy, atmospheric guitars.
Pastilla – Sentidos Saturados CD (ORG Music)
Sentidos Saturados is the sixth studio album from alternative rock band, Pastilla. The album was first released as a limited edition cassette via Burger Records, and is now getting its wide release in the US on CD.
Edith Piaf – Intégrale 1915-2015 20xCD+10” (Rhino/Parlophone)
This 21-disc box set includes rare recording sessions, rehearsals, a 1962 interview with Piaf, and classic live performances at the Paris Olympia in 1955, 1958, 1961 and 1962, at the New York Carnegie Hall in 1956 and 1957 and at the Paris Bobino in 1963. Also included is a deluxe 30-page book featuring a new biography, various photos and three emblematic scenes from Edith Piaf’s life re-created in pop-up.
Ringo Deathstarr – Pure Mood CD/LP (Reverberation Nation)
Texan shoegaze revivalists Ringo Deathstarr return with their fifth studio album, which oozes all things dank, dark and dreamy.
Sarcófago – Die Hard CD (Greyhaze)
A collection of Sarcofago material that’s clearly meant for diehard fans, but that will also serve as an excellent crash course in the history of one of extreme metal’s most influential and important bands. The comp encompasses Sarcofago’s two official demos—Satanic Lust, and Christ’s Death—as well as demo versions of songs off the band’s full-length albums, and their previously-unreleased first demo.
Secrets – Everything That Got Us Here CD (Rise)
Third album from San Diego-based post hardcore band.
Spoon – Gimme Fiction [Deluxe Edition/Reissue/2005] 2xCD+MP3/2xLP+MP3 (Merge)
Gimme Fiction dragged the sonic pointillism of Kill The Moonlight further into dub-influenced weirdness as the increasingly confident Spoon went crazy in the studio, experimenting with everything from warped hip-hop samples to horse whinnies. How all this directionless Dylan worship and psychedelic goofing resulted in an album as sharply realized as Gimme Fiction is a testament solely to Spoon’s self-assurance and tastefulness (and some hard work, and a bit of luck, etc.). This deluxe tenth anniversary edition includes a second disc with 12 previously unreleased demos from the era, nine additional bonus tracks via digital download, and a full-color book containing photos and an extensive oral history of the making of the album.
Teen Suicide – I Will Be My Own Hell Because There Is A Devil Inside My Body [Reissue/2012] CD/LP/Cassette (Run For Cover)
Teen Suicide – DC Snuff Film/Waste Yrself [Reissue/2013] CD/LP/Cassette (Run For Cover)
For as long as they’ve been a band, Teen Suicide’s catalog has been as alluring as it has been elusive. Beneath the dreamy haze & noisy apathy of the band’s recordings exist earnest, extremely well-written pop songs that reflect and express the uncertainty and desperation of reality.
Toots And The Maytals – Sailin’ On: Live At The Roxy Theater LA 1975 CD (Klondike)
By the mid-’70s, the profile of Jamaica’s largest and most successful export was chiefly headed by Bob Marley & The Wailers, with their exotic and exciting brand of Jamaican roots music. By 1975, the USA was grasping the phenomenon with the release of Toots & The Maytals’ 1973 album Funky Kingston. It was a move that would inevitably open doors for the band and while they could never match Bob Marley or Peter Tosh’s commercial appeal abroad, their significance and legacy in reggae music is unmatched. Riding high on their new recognition, Toots & The Maytals rolled into Los Angeles on October 1, 1975, performing a blistering set of new and old material.
Various Artists [compiled by Charles Maurice] – Brazilian Disco Boogie Sounds Volume 2, 1977-1984 CD/LP (Favorite Recordings)
Maurice assembles a second volume of obscure hits from the Brazilian funk-boogie-disco scene of 1977 to 1984. At that time musicians and arrangers such as Lincoln Olivetti, Robson Jorge, and Oberdan Magalhães, along with Banda Black Rio, were responsible for the new music scene. They dominated the studios with sophisticated and original arrangements that have forever transformed Brazilian musical culture. This music, at that point, had gained a new style and great international respect that has remained ever since. Includes tracks by Marcia Maria, Miss Lene, Brenda, Cristina Camargo, Lady Zu, Almir Ricardi, Rosana, Kaito, and Adriana.
Various Artists [compiled by Robert Millis] – Indian Talking Machine: 78 RPM Record And Gramophone Collecting On The Sub-Continent 2xCD (Sublime Frequencies)
Robert Millis’s Indian Talking Machine is a 244-page full-color hardcover book with two CDs containing 46 tracks from shellac discs spanning 1903 to 1949, which Millis collected in India and compiled for their first-ever CD release; the book contains over 300 photographs of 78rpm record collections, collectors, and ephemera, as well as detailed track notes and an essay.
Various Artists [compiled by Waxist] – Caribbean Disco Boogie Sounds 1977-1982 CD/LP (Favorite Recordings)
Crate digger Julien “Waxist” Minarro does a fine job gathering together eight suitably obscure Caribbean disco, boogie and disco-funk killers. Highlights come thick and fast, from the winding synthesizer lines, swinging disco-funk grooves and intergalactic sound effects of Musicism’s “Bermuda Triangle,” to the Clavinet-laden shuffle of Eddie & The Movement’s “Macho Man,” and the hard-wired reggae-boogie business of Barry Bryson’s “Going To The Party.”
Various Artists [selected by Jeremy Newall] – House Of Ages CD/LP (BBE)
A collection of house tunes from house-master Jeremy Newall. With Jeremy’s beloved New York vibe predominant, there are also productions here from Chicago, the UK and elsewhere.
Various Artists – Chébran: French Boogie 1980-1985 CD/LP (Born Bad)
In the early ’80s in France, the happy-go-lucky gathered the nectar of each and every new release. Believing in a bright future for videotex and loosened up by budding pirate radio stations, the new generation dreamt of dancefloors and holiday clubs. French Boogie, which preserves the spirit of these years of boodle and bunkum, is the ideal soundtrack to their dreams. What has come to be called “French boogie” is a form of synthetic funk reflecting the spirit of those days when everything seemed possible. Chébran: French Boogie 1980-1985 includes tracks from this era by Interview, Krootchey, Gérard Vincent, Style, Pierre Edouard, Casino, Bianca, Trigo & Friends, Hugues Hamilton, Pascal Davoz, Anisette, Pilou, Henriette Coulouvrat, New Paradise, Ich, Attaché Case, and Yannick Chevalier.
Various Artists – Christians Catch Hell: Gospel Roots 1976-79 CD/2xLP (Honest Jon’s)
A scorching, sublimely soulful survey of the Gospel Roots label, subsidiary of the mighty T.K. Records, at the height of the Miami Sound — 1976-’79. Includes tracks by The Brooklyn All Stars, Pastor T. L. Barrett, Camille Doughty, The Howard Lemon Singers, The Fantastic Family Aires, Jean Austin & Company, The Jordan Singers, The Phillipians, The Fabulous Luckett Brothers, Bright Clouds, The O’Neal Twins, The Original Sunset Travelers, Reverend Edna Isaac and the Greene Sisters, and The Fountain of Life Joy Choir.
Various Artists – Down Home Blues Classics 1943-1954 4xCD (Secret)
Four CD set featuring 100 tracks of rare great classic blues. Part of a series of CD sets featuring blues artists from all over the USA, remastered from 78s, many never previously available on CD. Includes Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Little Walter, John Lee Hooker, Howlin’ Wolf, Elmore James and many more.
Various Artists – Electric Psychedelic Sitar Headswirlers 1-11 11xCD (Rubble)
This 11-CD box set gathers all 11 volumes in the classic Electric Psychedelic Sitar Headswirlers series. It’s packed with Eastern-tinged rock, pop, and folk from the hippie heyday of the late ’60s and early ’70s, as well as the more recent psychedelic revival. Featuring over 200 tracks from acts from both sides of the Atlantic, as well as India, Germany, Sweden, Holland, Australia, and elsewhere.
Withered Bones – For The Ones I Love CD (Blood & Ink)
New album from the Phoenix, AZ melodic hardcore band.
Younghusband – Dissolver CD/LP (ATP Recordings)
Dissolver takes in a wide sweep of guitar music and focuses it into a precisely individual proposition; a sound unto itself that nonetheless garners comparisons with Elliott Smith, The Shoes, and Big Star.
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
Ryan Adams – 1989 LP/Cassette (Pax Americana/Blue Note)
Recently reissued on CD – now available on vinyl and cassette. Produced by Adams, the first news of this reinterpretation of 1989 was revealed last month on the Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter’s Instagram (misterryanadams) with the post “Taylor Swift 1989 full album cover night 1. As played by the Smiths.” Several subsequent posts of song snippets revealed much more range than that including a take on “Bad Blood” that Vanity Fair called “a lovely Heartbreaker-era style version” referencing Adams’ classic debut, a string quartet-enhanced version of “Blank Space,” what Adams promised to be the “guaranteed saddest version of ‘Welcome To New York’ ever — or your tears back,” and more.
Anthrax – Worship Music [Reissue/2011] LP (Megafore)
Colored vinyl reissue of speed/thrash metal band’s 2011 album, which marked the return of vocalist Joey Belladonna, whose last studio work with the band was 1990’s Persistence Of Time.
Apocalypse Meow – The End Is Nigh LP (Rad Girlfriend)
Beautifully crafted, the inventive songs on The End Is Nigh span genres, not limited just to “punk”. From straight pop jams to weird discordant rock and back into pop-punk, Minneapolis band kills it on this, their debut LP. Features current members of Off With Their Heads.
Atomizador – Fuego LP+MP3 (La Castanya)
Progressive radical pop, circular Martian polyphonies and ukulele explosions with a punk soul.
Beach Boys – Beach Boys’ Party! Uncovered And Unplugged LP (Capitol)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Beach Boys’ Party! is the tenth studio album by the Beach Boys and is mostly cover songs. When originally recorded, the band invited friends and family into the studio for a party. Those sounds were then layered over the recorded music for a true party sound. Uncovered And Unplugged now strips away those party sounds so that the true sessions can be heard in their entirety.
Sir Richard Bishop and Ava Mendoza – Ivory Tower (Hanuman) LP (Unrock)
The third installment in Unrock’s string-related Saraswati Series features Grandseigneur Richard Bishop performing with his rough charm and maximum elegance, along with one of the hottest kick-ass avant-guitar players around, the now-Brooklyn-based Ava Mendoza.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Live In Paris 3xLP+DVD (Vagrant)
Released this past June on CD – now available on vinyl. 24 tracks recorded live on BRMC’s last World Tour at Theatre Trianon in Paris on 2/24/14. The DVD contains 23 tracks plus documentary film 33.3%.
Christian Bland & The Revelators/Chris Catalena & The Native Americans – Split LP (Reverberation Nation)
Christian Bland is best known as the guitarist for The Black Angels, and one of the founders of Levitation, formerly knows as Austin Psych Fest. His solo project, Christian Bland & The Revelators highlights his signature sound and contributions to one of modern psychedelic rock’s biggest bands, while providing an open canvas to explore different ideas and influences. Christian’s side of this split EP collects B-sides from his 2014 LP, The Unseen Green Obscene. As a staple of both the psychedelic rock and Americana scenes in Austin, TX, Chris Catalena transcends contemporary genres and styles — reaching across musical aisles. The songs on Chris’ side of this split EP were largely conceived during a stay in the hills of Laurel Canyon and Hollywood, California.
Bone Gnawer – Cannibal Crematorium LP (Pulverised)
Released this past July on CD – now available on vinyl. Sophomore album from the horror ‘n’ gore connoisseurs.
Brokedown/Boilerman/Brickfight/Boxsledder – B-sides (Split) 7” (Rad Girlfriend)
Four Chicago-based bands whose names all start with a “B” join forces for a four-way split 7”. Each band delivers a stylistically unique song that all come together to form a wonderfully seamless and cohesive release. The lesser known Boxsledder bring it just as furiously as The Brokedowns, the heavy hitters on this release.
Chaino And His African Percussion Safari – Jungle Echoes [Reissue/1959] LP (Moi J’connais)
A rare African percussion record originally released in 1959, Jungle Echoes features Chaino and his African Percussion Safari ensemble performing authentic traditional African percussion.
Kurt Cobain – Montage Of Heck: The Home Recordings 2xLP (UMe)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. This audio companion to the acclaimed film showcases tracks from the documentary including spoken word, demos and full songs. The soundtrack is comprised from various early and raw cassette recordings made by Kurt alone, the soundtrack allows a rare, unfiltered glimpse into Cobain’s creative progression from early song snippets and short demos to musical experiments and ultimately, pieces of songs or lyrics that eventually appeared on later Nirvana albums.
Craw – 1993-1997 6xLP (Northern Spy)
Northern Spy reissues the first three records by Cleveland, Ohio, post-hardcore band Craw in this limited edition vinyl box set. All out of print for two decades or more, these full-length LPs (1993’s self-titled debut, 1994’s Lost Nation Road and 1997’s Map, Monitor, Surge) complete a story that concluded on Bodies For Strontium 90, released in 2002 by Hydra Head Records.
Cult Leader – Lightless Walk LP (Deathwish, Inc.)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Cult Leader is a band from Salt Lake City, UT that play metallic and grimy hardcore.
The Cure – Seventeen Seconds [Reissue/1980] 2xLP (Vinyl Lovers)
The Cure – Faith [Reissue/1981] 2xLP (Vinyl Lovers)
Back in print on HQ-180gm vinyl. Each contains a bonus disc of rare material.
D’Angelo – Live At The Jazz Cafe, London 2xLP (Virgin)
Live album by the R&B and neo soul musician. The original 1998 release only contained seven tracks; this vinyl edition contains the complete show for the first time. Now included are four unreleased performances — three of them covers of tracks originally by D’Angelo influences Mandrill, Ohio Players and Al Green — plus a longer version of “Lady.”
Miles Davis – Live In Tokyo 1975 2xLP (Hi Hat)
The performances on this double-LP set, from a soundboard recording for FM broadcast, hail from a January 22 gig at Shinjuku Kohseinenkin Hall in Tokyo. Staged ten days earlier than the February 1 shows at which his Agharta and Pangaea LPs were recorded, this includes some songs not contained on those albums, and spotlights one of the most adventurous bands Davis assembled. The complete broadcast is presented here in remastered sound with an insert of background liners and photos.
The Dirty Streets – White Horse LP (Alive)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. White Horse is the new album by Radio Moscow’s young tour mates, The Dirty Streets. Psychedelic, bluesy, folky, soulful rock & roll.
Drive-By Truckers – It’s Great To Be Alive 5xLP+3xCD (ATO)
Deluxe box set edition of an epic, career-spanning live set the Drive-By Truckers recorded in San Francisco last fall.
Epic Soundtracks – Rise Above [Reissue/1992] LP (Mapache)
Epic Soundtracks – Sleeping Star [Reissue/1994] LP (Mapache)
Vinyl reissues of the first two albums by Epic Soundtracks (born Kevin Paul Godfrey of The Swell Maps and brother of Nikki Sudden; died in1997). “Rise Above is an album that fell through the cracks—in 1992, records by singer-songwriters were more likely to be ignored than they were 20 years before in the early 1970s or would be 20 years later in the early 2010s. It was certainly critically acclaimed but unnoticed by the world at large. Time, surely, for these dozen classic songs to be re-assessed.”—Chris Coleman
Filipe Felizardo – Volume IV: The Invading Past And Other Dissolutions LP (Three Four)
Recorded while in residency at Moinho da Fonte Santa in the deep, silent countryside of southern Portugal, Volume IV captures Filipe Felizardo (frequent collaborator of Norberto Lobo, David Maranha’s Ensemble and Margarida Garcia) doing what he does best—composing for solo electric guitar, on an exceedingly personal level. The album conveys more than the mere cosmogonies and pataphysics of his earlier work.
James Ferraro – Skid Row 2xLP+MP3 (Break World Records)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. “Ferraro, a veteran of drone group Skaters, is known as a prolific underground figure, dropping well over 50 releases under a raft of aliases in the late 2000s. He would go on to form a close alliance with Hippos In Tanks, presided over by the late Barron Machat. Hippos In Tanks released his last album, NYC, HELL 3:00 AM, in 2013. Ferraro’s latest LP comes courtesy of Break World Records and takes its name from the L.A. neighborhood containing one of the largest stable homeless populations in the United States.” – Resident Advisor
FKA Twigs – M3LL155X 12” (XL)
M3LL155X is a continuation of the holistic creative process that FKA Twigs has undertaken on each of her previous EP releases (EP1 and EP2), with videos forming an integral part of the release. However, M3LL155X is more ambitious than ever before and, in terms of concept, scope and execution.
Flag – Heat Waves LP+MP3 (Geographic North)
After exhuming skeletal grooves of pristine noise during the first iteration of shape-shifting weirdo outfit These Are Powers (Hoss, Dead Oceans, RVNG Intl.), singer Ted McGrath ventured out on his own, surviving on the expected trials and unlikely fringe benefits of the so-called ‘solo artist.’ The Brooklyn-based painter and musician has since used his modest but ample survey of pedals, drum machines, and ephemeral f**kery to issue brief but potent sketches of the American underground, signal flares, warning shots.
The Girls – Punk-Dada Pulchritude LP+MP3 (Feeding Tube)
Here we have some of the very earliest work of The Girls, a Boston group who made slicing cutting-edge art-punk music to the joy of all. The late ’70s recordings on Punk-Dada Pulchritude start out rough and get more and more precise as the band gathered momentum: a thrilling process to hear.
Grateful Dead – Fillmore East 2-11-69 3xLP (Friday Music)
A late-60s line-up of Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, Bill Kruetzmann, Ron McKernana and Tom Constanten offer up definitive like takes of the beloved “Dark Star,” Aoxomoxoa cuts “St. Stephen” and “Dupree’s Diamond Blues” and jam gems “The Other One” and “The Eleven.” They also revisit their roots in signature style on such blues classics as “Good Morning Little School Girl” and “I’m A King Bee” plus the Bobby Blue Bland rhythm & blues warhorse “Turn On Your Lovelight.” They even tip their hat to the Beatles with a cover of “Hey Jude.” 17 tracks total, culled from both early and late shows. HQ-180gm.
Alexander Hacke – The Cut [OST/2014 LP (Bureau B)
With his 2014 film The Cut, director Fatih Akin completed his Love, Death And The Devil trilogy, following Gegen die Wand (Head-On) (2004) and Auf der anderen Seite (The Edge Of Heaven) (2007). The music for The Cut was written by the Berlin-based musician, producer, and actor Alexander Hacke, a member of the band Einstürzende Neubauten, with which he has played guitar since the age of 14.
Lee Hazelwood – The Very Special World Of Lee Hazelwood [Reissue/1966] LP (Light In The Attic)
Lee Hazelwood – Lee Hazlewoodsim: Its Cause And Cure [Reissue/1967] LP (Light In The Attic)
Lee Hazelwood – Something Special [Reissue/1968] LP (Light In The Attic)
Recently reissued on CD – now available on vinyl. The mid-to-late ’60s were strange days for Lee Hazelwood. Having struck gold as songwriter and vocal foil for Nancy Sinatra, he signed up to MGM as an artist in his own right, and between 1966 and 1968, produced three ambitious solo albums that were eclectic, idiosyncratic, and most of all, unpredictable. It was a happy time for Lee; his music was hot on the charts, he was fully immersed in his collaboration with his muse, Suzi Jane Hokom.
Helios – Eingya [Reissue/2006] LP (Unseen Music)
Vinyl reissue of Keith Kenniff’s second full-length release as Helios, following his incredible alias Goldmund album, Corduroy Road. Eingya is very different from his work as Goldmund, as it incorporates not only his piano playing, but his delicate touch on guitar, drums and his masterful electronic production. It is an album of wordless songs, eleven carefully measured movements, each holding inside it an entire movie’s worth of emotion.
Hills – Frid LP (Rocket)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Hills is a band from Göteborg, Sweden, playing instrumental psychedelic rock.
Holy Wave – The Evil Has Landed Part II 10” (Reverberation Appreciation Society)
Generating thick layers of sound that twist and turn through a complex labyrinth of reverb and echo, Holy Wave are a garage-psych band from Austin, Texas who uphold the Lone Star State’s long-standing reputation for top-notch lysergic sounds.
Hospital Job – Never Get Cold LP (Rad Girlfriend: rgf054) $9.99
Springfield, Illinois’ own Hospital Job deliver loud guitars, bitt hooks and weird ideas on their third full-length, Never Get Cold — a melody-heavy, power-driven, pop-punk album that rides the line between contemporary Midwest pop/punk and indie rock styles of decades past. Features current members of The Copyrights, The Nephrons and Horrible Things.
Chris Isaak – First Come The Night 2xLP (Concord/Welk)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Includes the five bonus tracks featured on the Deluxe version of the CD. “For his most recent album, 2011’s Beyond The Sun, roots rocker Chris Isaak went old school. The album compiled his versions of songs by classic Sun Records artists including Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, and Jerry Lee Lewis. To keep that country vibe alive on his new album, First Comes The Night, Isaak enlisted two of the genre’s foremost producers: Lady Antebellum collaborator Paul Worley and Dave Cobb, who has worked with acts including Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, and Jason Isbell. Accordingly, First Comes The Night foregoes the glitz and pop sheen that could guarantee a hit record. Tracks like ‘Reverie’ showcase Isaak’s melancholy voice and ear for tuneful, lush arrangements.” – Entertainment Weekly
Jamie XX – Loud Places (feat. Romy) 12” (XL)
Four club-ready reworks of Jamie xx’s “Loud Places (feat. Romy”) taken from the UK producer’s debut album In Color. On the A- side, Young Turks affiliate John Talabot adds his trademark melodic take on disco and house while UK producer Tessela, known for his hard hitting 12″s on legendary techno label R&S, goes darker and tougher. On the B-side, Barnt adds another layer of melancholy while UK legend Matthew Herbert, under his Herbert moniker, makes a surreal and experimental revision.
Jay Vons – It Was Wrong to Love You b/w Ghoulin’ 7” (La Castanya)
New 7” from this Brooklyn rock ‘n’ soul combo that features members of Reigning Sound.
Jefferson Airplane – Takes Off [Reissue/1966] LP (Friday Music)
Jefferson Airplane – Surrealistic Pillow [Reissue/1967] LP (Friday Music)
HQ-180gm colored vinyl reissues of the classic psych-rock band’s first two albums.
Kangding Ray – Cory Arcane 2xLP (Raster-Noton)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. “Cory Arcane is the fifth LP from the French-born, Berlin-based experimental techno producer, real name David Letellier. Like the previous four, including the most recent, Solens Arc, from early 2014, it [comes] through Raster-Noton. Letellier typically brings a conceptual, cinematic approach and a rebellious spirit to his work, and this one would seem to continue in that vein.” – Resident Advisor
Kiasmos – Swept 12” (Erased Tapes)
Kiasmos is made up of Icelandic BAFTA-winning composer Ólafur Arnalds, known for his unique blend of minimal piano and string compositions with electronic sounds, and Janus Rasmussen from the Faroe Islands, known as the mastermind of the electro-pop outfit Bloodgroup.
Killing Joke – Pylon 2xLP (Spinefarm)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. 16th studio album by the veteran British post-punk outfit fronted by Jaz Coleman and backed by the original lineup. Pylon isn’t for a quiet night at home; these 10 tracks, produced by the band and Tom Dalgety (Royal Blood) are very much music as ritual — raw, uncompromising and targeted lyrically.
King Diamond – The Spider’s Lullaby [Reissue/1995] 2xCD (Metal Blade)
Recently reissued on CD – now available on vinyl. Digitally remastered 20th Anniversary edition of this 1995 album by the Danish heavy metal band.
Mark Lanegan – One Way Street 6xLP+MP3 (Sub Pop)
This set compiles the first five solo albums recorded by Mark Lanegan, the Pacific-Northwest singer/songwriter known for his work with Screaming Trees, Gutter Twins, Mad Season, Queens Of The Stone Age, Isobel Campbell, and more. Includes: The Winding Sheet (1990), Whiskey For The Holy Ghost (1993), Scraps At Midnight (1998), I’ll Take Care Of You (1999), and Field Songs (2001). HQ-180gm vinyl, each packaged in sleeves reproducing the original artwork.
Mali Music [Afel Bocoum, Damon Albarn, Toumani Diabaté and friends] – Mali Music [Reissue/2002] 2xLP (Honest Jon’s)
In July 2000, Damon Albarn travelled to Mali for Oxfam’s On the Line project, which focused on people living along the Greenwich Meridian. He seized the chance to meet and play with the Malian musicians whose recordings he loved, and to exchange ideas with them in their own backyard. Albarn’s chosen instrument was a battered melodica. His musical encounters were leisurely, low-key, and immersive, as natural and spontaneous as could be. Touring the capital, Bamako, and its surrounding villages, he sat in on club and private jam sessions, playing concerts and street corners, bars and boats. He hooked up with practically any musician he came across, from enthusiastic amateurs to such master-musicians as Toumani Diabaté, Lobi Traoré, Afel Bocoum, Kassé Mady Diabaté, and the only female ngoni player in Mali, Ko Kan Ko Sata.
Cass McCombs – A Folk Set Apart LP+MP3 (Domino)
The Cass McCombs’ anthology, A Folk Set Apart, is subtitled Rarities, B-Sides & Space Junk, Etc. which is, on the surface, true but it’s so much more than that. It’s an alternate retelling of the last decade and a half of an enigmatic career built on immaculate songwriting but short on “breakthrough success.” While it contains none of McCombs’ better known songs from his seven full-lengths, he would have you believe this is his favorite album. CD version due next week.
Jacob Miller – Who Say Jah No Dread 7×7” (VP)
A must own vinyl box set collecting the complete set of Jacob Miller’s legendary and elusive Augustus Pablo produced singles. Produced by Pablo at Randy’s & Dynamics and mixed by King Tubby these six original ‘70s sound system weapons are augmented by the first official release of “Some Of Them Say Them A Rasta,” a woofer testing exclusive cut as a special for King Tubby’s Hometown Hi-Fi sound system.
Mac Miller – GO:OD AM 2xLP (WB)
Recently release on CD – now available on vinyl. Third album from the Pittsburgh, PA rapper. The album starts with “Doors,” featuring a beat by Tyler, The Creator. Mac lets us know where he’s at: “Ain’t sayin’ that I’m sober, I’m just in a better place.” With that, we’re introduced to the latest chapter in Mac’s life.
Roger Miller – Oh [Reissue/1988] LP+MP3 (Feeding Tube)
“Roger Miller, king of many roads both known and unknown, has a long and illustrious recording history. As a member of Sproton Layer, Destroy All Monsters, Mission Of Burma, The Din, etc., he has made many records that are definitive statements of powerful outsider rock music in many guises. But this, his third solo LP, originally released by Forced Exposure in 1988, remains one of the great lost chords in his discography. Although he’d been focusing mostly on extended keyboard techniques for a couple of years, Roger approached us with the idea of doing a guitar-oriented record, and furthermore suggested that he’d spray-paint the back covers of all copies in his driveway, after sprinkling rocks across them. It was a hard opportunity to pass up. And the first bits we heard of the actual recording were amazing.” – Byron Coley/Feeding Tube
Ken Moore – Anvil Creations: Recordings 1972-1983 5xLP+7” (Vinyl On Demand)
Ken Moore (from Baltimore, Maryland) is one of the very early American DIY synthesists and multi-instrumental talents. Moore started to explore electronic music in the mid ’70s while working in various (progressive) rock formations. In 1980 he established his own label, Anvil Creations, and in the following four years released approximately 20 tapes of solo and collaborative works he had recorded between 1973 and 1983. This box set of his work contains five LPs and one 7″.
Ennio Morricone – Città Violenta [OST/Reissue/1970] LP (Dagored)
A tight, atmospheric, and pretty damn funky soundtrack composed by the maestro Ennio Morricone for the 1970 crime-drama Città Violenta (released in the US as The Family in 1973), starring the mighty Charles Bronson and directed by Sergio Sollima. Another hard-hitting score by Morricone with quite a dark mood, flowing from the dramatic to psychedelic along with a touch of funkiness. The famous “Città Violenta” track, the score’s main theme, is celebrated as one of Morricone’s most iconic themes. This is the first vinyl release of the complete edition. Green vinyl.
Ennio Morricone – The Humanoid [OST1979] LP (Dagored)
For the 1979 cult sci-fi movie L’umanoide (The Humanoid), directed by Aldo Lado (credited as George B. Lewis), the legendary Ennio Morricone composed a score of catchy, futuristic, synthesizer-based arrangements with great electro-orchestral disco grooves and dissonant atmospheric soundscapes, marking quite a departure from his usual style. This is the first release of the complete soundtrack on vinyl. Transparent blue LPs.
Isreal Nash – Silver Season LP (Loose Music, Inc.)
Cosmos-wrangling Americana upstart Israel Nash returns from Texas Hill Country with his
Silver Season, a deeply gorgeous and wholly immersive nine song set that plays less like
an album, and more like a cross section of time and space. The man’s fourth LP ventures
farther down the acid soaked trail blazed by 2013’s Rain Plans, arriving in lush and
expansive territory. Here, this Missouri son sounds more assured than ever, supported by
his highly capable band and production inspired by psychedelic greats. Vinyl version due December 11.
Bruno Nicolai – Gatti Rossi In Un Labirinto Di Vetro (Eyeball) [OST/1975] LP (Dagored)
The classic 1975 Italian thriller Gatti Rossi In Un Labirinto Di Vetro, directed by Umberto Lenzi features a truly pleasant and entertaining score by the great Bruno Nicolai with an authentic ’70s Italian cinema feel to it and a catchy main theme that is definitely one of his best. Splatter colored LPs.
Gary Numan – The Pleasure Principle [Reissue/1979] LP (Beggars Banquet)
Tubeway Army – Replicas [Reissue/1979] LP (Beggars Banquet)
Gary Numan – Telekon [Reissue/1980] 2xLP (Beggars Banquet)
Essential Gary Numan titles back in print on vinyl. Gary Anthony James Webb started his musical career in 1977 as a punk rocker in the band Mean Street, before being sacked in May 1977 for being “too creative.” He responded to an advert in Melody Maker to join the band The Lasers, alongside Paul Gardiner. Both soon left to form their own punk band, Tubeway Army, with his uncle Jess Lidyard filling in on drums. In 1978 Tubeway Army was signed to Beggars Banquet and released a couple of punk singles. By then he was using the name Numan and the band was performing live in pubs and clubs around London, supporting The Lurkers. Whilst recording demos for Beggars, Gary stumbled upon a Minimoog that had been left behind in the studio, still programmed to a sound that caught his attention. The rest, as they say, is history.
Yoko Ono & The Flaming Lips – Happy Xmas (War Is Over) b/w Atlas Eets Christmas 7” (Chimera)
Yoko Ono & The Flaming Lips re-recorded the John Lennon & Yoko Ono classic “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” for a 2014 online playlist. It is now available on limited edition 7” vinyl. On the B side is “Atlas Eets Christmas,” a 2013 Christmas collaboration between Yoko & The Lips, previously only sold as a limited edition EP at their 2013 New Years show in Oklahoma City.
Roy Orbison – Sings [Reissue/1972] (UMe)
An addition to last week’s major pile of Roy Orbison remastered HQ-180gm vinyl reissues.
Christopher Owens – Chrissybaby Forever 2xLP (Turnstile Music)
Third solo album from the former Girls frontman. Chryissybabby Forever is the follow-up to last year’s A New Testament. The sixteen-track LP was co-produced, engineered, and mixed by JJ Wiesler. The cover photograph is by Hannah Hunt (of Vampire Weekend fame), who the album is dedicated to.
The Pharcyde – Labcabincalifornia [Reissue/1995] 2xLP (Bicycle Music)
Repressed in time for its 20th anniversary.”If Labcabincalifornia came out today, boasting production by J Dilla on seven out of 17 tracks would be a big deal” — Complex Magazine. “Labcabincalifornia is an artistic breakthrough, and because of the deep shift in hip-hop production in the last two decades, the timelessness of the album is more apparent than ever.” — Treble Music’s Induction of Labcabincalifornia into their Hall Of Fame. “Years ahead of its time for a scene still hung over from The Chronic, Labcabincalifornia was an underappreciated album that would almost certainly have fared better amidst the alt-rap renaissance of 1999.” — Rap Reviews
Sam Phillips – Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll LP (Yep Roc)
Recently reissued on CD – now available on vinyl. Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll was curated by Peter Guralnick (Last Train To Memphis: The Rise Of Elvis Presley) and accompanies his landmark Sam Phillips biography of the same title. These tracks are a hand-picked selection of Sam Phillips productions that illustrate Phillips’ unique (sounds and sense) approach to recording and his cosmic genius. A celebration of the period (1950-1961) in which Sam played a revolutionary role in the music business, this collection includes big hits, near misses and never-was tracks that encompass blues, country, gospel, R&B, and the birth of rock & roll.
Chuck Prophet – 3D Night Surfer 7×7” (Yep Roc)
This limited edition box set includes all 12 tracks from Night Surfer plus two bonus tracks, all on seven 7″ vinyl singles. Featuring new artwork specific to each song on the record sleeves and unique 3D box cover art with 3D glasses included in the package.
Cassie Ramone – Christmas In Reno LP+MP3/Cassette (Burger)
Cassie Ramone is a singer/songwriter best known for her work with Vivian Girls and The Babies. Christmas In Reno is her take on the classic Christmas album, through the lens of someone at once in love with its concept, and disillusioned with it’s reality.
Raury – All We Need 2xLP (Columbia)
Recently reissued on CD – now available on vinyl. Raury cites Phil Collins, Kid Cudi, Bon Iver, Andre 3000 and Coldplay as some of his musical influences. All We Need features the single “Friends” feat. Tom Morello, and also includes appearances from Big K.R.I.T., RZA and Key! and production by Raury, Malay, Danger Mouse, Jacknife Lee, Daytrip, and DJ Kahlil.
Guy Reibel – Douze Inventions En Six Modes De Jeu LP+MP3 (Karlrecords)
Karlrecords kicks off its Perihel series with previously unreleased material by GRM member Guy Reibel, one of the most enigmatic figures of the 20th century’s electronic avant-garde.
Walter Rizzati Orchestra – Park Avenue [Reissue/1978] 2xLP (Dagored)
Italian groovy lounge music, very sophisticated and classy, from the great Walter Rizzati, known for his legendary score for The House By The Cemetery (1981) and 1990: The Bronx Warriors (1982). An absolute gem from 1978, long-forgotten and now reissued on double-colored vinyl.
Kenny Rogers & The First Edition – Live Vegas ’72 LP (Maplewood)
The New Christy Minstrels helped launch the careers of such notables as Gene Clark (The Byrds) and Kim Carnes; it also helped launch the careers of Kenny Rogers and Mike Settle. After a short stint with the Minstrels, Rogers and fellow members Mike Settle, Terry Williams and Thelma Camacho left the group. They formed The First Edition in 1967 (later renamed Kenny Rogers & The First Edition, whose biggest hit was “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” which was later featured in The Big Lebowski).
A Room With A View – Jupiter & Beyond 2xLP+MP3 (La Castanya)
A Room With A View was a part of the Spanish indie scene from 1997 to 2003. Jupiter & Beyond collects their complete discography of the years 2000-2003, including the band’s second studio LP and their last recordings.
Rush – Hold Your Fire [Reissue/1987] LP (Mercury)
Rush – A Show Of Hands [Reissue/1989] 2xLP (Mercury)
Latest installments in Rush’s 40th anniversary HQ-200gm vinyl reissue campaign.
Salad Boys – Scarce Tracks 7” (Chunklet)
The Salad Boys celebrate their second vinyl release through Chunklet Industries. Hot off the heels of their Metalmania LP on Trouble In Mind, “Scarce Tracks” digs back into the
band’s debut tape along with some new selections. The Christchurch trio’s single is a perfect companion piece to their full length & is available only for a limited time! NO UPC #.
Masahiko Sato – Belladonna (Colonna Sonora Originale Del Film) [OST/Reissue/1975] LP (Finders Keepers)
An unholy grail of near-mythical status is finally now available in the form of this first-ever reissue. Masahiko Sato composed this elusive, sensual, psychedelic free jazz score for the stunning 1973 Japanese witchcraft animation Belladonna Of Sadness (Kanashimi no Belladonna) directed by Eiichi Yamamoto.
The Slow Death/The Raging Nathans – Split EP 7” (Rad Girlfriend)
Two brand new songs Minneapolis heroes The Slow Death and Dayton, OH’s very own The Raging Nathans. The Slow Death features members of Dillinger Four and Soviettes and include a cover of “Nothing” by Negative Approach. The Raging Nathans provide two blistering tracks for the flip.
Soundtrack – Cold Mountain [2003] 2xLP (ORG Music)
The soundtrack of the 2003 film Cold Mountain was produced by T Bone Burnett, and features original compositions from Jack White, Sting, and Elvis Costello. Jack White, who performs five songs on the soundtrack, also had a role in the movie.
Summer Twins – Limbo LP+MP3 (Burger)
Recently released on CD and cassette – now available on vinyl. Sisters Chelsea & Justine Brown weave together modern pop, ‘50s sock hop melodies and wild ‘60s garage rock, topped with dreamy harmonies and a tinge of sunny psychedelia.
Earl Sweatshirt – Doris [2013] LP (Sony)
Earl Sweatshirt – I Don’t Like Sh!t, I Don’t Go Outside [2015] LP (Columbia)
Vinyl pressings of the first two albums by the rapper, producer and member of the Los Angeles-based hip-hop collective Odd Future. I Don’t Like Sh!t, I Don’t Go Outside includes collaborations with Dash, Wiki, Na’kel and Vince Staples. “At just 10 songs in a half-hour, I Don’t Like Sh!t is surprisingly concise — even if it’s sometimes dark and paranoid enough to make There’s a Riot Goin’ On sound like the Three’s Company theme. And who needs more? Even a half-hour with Earl is enough to leave you with a lifetime of creepy memories.” – Rolling Stone
together PANGEA – The Phage LP+MP3 (Burger)
Recently released on CD and cassette – now available on vinyl. “Give ’em a year and they’ll come back louder. That’s sound advice, no pun intended, yet also the vibrant truth for Los Angeles garage rockers together PANGEA. After teasing demos, touring Europe, and sharing a bill with The Replacements, the scorched lungs of William Keegan and his raucous band of misfits have returned in chummy style with a new EP…” – Consequence Of Sound
Umphrey’s McGee – Hall Of Fame: Class Of 2013 2xLP (Nothing Too Fancy)
A compilation featuring the best live tracks of 2013 as voted by fans.
Various Artists – Cumbias Chichadelicas: Peruvian Psychedelic 2xLP (Pharaway Sounds)
Psychedelic Peruvian cumbia and chicha from the archives of the legendary Infopesa label, 1968-1982. Alberto Maraví was the man behind the Peruvian Infopesa label. A key figure in the creation of Peruvian cumbia, he recorded and produced legendary bands like Los Mirlos, Los Orientales de Paramonga, Juaneco y Su Combo, Los Pakines — all represented here — and many more. Original records from the Infopesa label are now highly sought-after by collectors and discerning DJs worldwide, who marvel at the exotic mix of jungle sounds, reverb-drenched electric guitars, and delay effects.
Various Artists – Jungle Jive: Voodoo Exotica Jungle Swing Vol. 1 – From Swingin’ Dick’s Collection Of Shellac Shakin’ Hot Jazz 78s 10” (Stag-O-Lee)
Inspired by the call of the wild and the primitive beat, this collection of voodoo exotica comes from the vaults of the Swingin’ Dick’s 78 Social event series, renowned as “The Original Gramophone Operative.” Includes tracks by Joe Loss & His Orchestra, Duke Ellington and His Cotton Club Orchestra, The Bobby True Trio, Juan Tizol & His Orchestra, Bob Crosby’s Bob Cats, The Mills Brothers, Sidney Bechet, Miff Ferrie & His Ferrymen, Charlie Barnet & His Orchestra, and Ambrose & His Orchestra.
Various Artists – Lagos All Routes [Reissue/2005] 2xLP (Honest Jon’s)
Honest Jon’s presents the second of two compilations (Lagos Chop Up being the first) focusing on music from the Nigerian city of Lagos circa the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s (considered to be the golden age of African popular music). With many African nations fighting for (or gaining) independence, locally produced modern music was seen as a powerful expression of new national identity. Bands either modernized folk, classical, or traditional African genres, or Africanized foreign genres such as R&B and funk. From West Africa came ’60s highlife, which then influenced Fela Kuti’s Afro-funk of the ’70s, while from the traditional Yoruba religion came juju, fuji, waka, and apala tracks, all of which are included here.
Various Artists – London Is The Place For Me 2: Calypso & Kwela, Highlife & Jazz From Young Black London [Reissue/2005] 2xLP (Honest Jon’s)
Various Artists – London Is The Place For Me 4: African Dreams and the Piccadilly High Life [Reissue/2006] 2xLP (Honest Jon’s)
London Is The Place For Me 2’s focus remains on the ’50s, with classic calypsos running alongside the African jazz of Ambrose Campbell — the father of modern Nigerian music — and some blistering high-life. Among the contributions from the ’60s there is some South African kwela (featuring Chris McGregor) and a jazz-dance percussion workout from the Trinidadians who put the Notting Hill Carnival on London streets. For the fourth volume, Honest Jon’s resumes an open-house policy, suited to musicians whose lives and artistic ambitions carried them all over the world; calypso and kwela are back, and highlife and bebop, with a little rock ‘n’ roll, a “mambo Indio,” a shango hymn, some Sun Ra-style cha-cha-cha.
Various Artists – Slow Grind Fever Volume 5 LP (Stag-O-Lee)
Welcome once more to Slow Grind Fever, the soundtrack to Melbourne’s smokiest slow dance party, where the DJs play moody mid-century slow-burners for the indolent and the aroused on the last Saturday of the month. Listening to the albums is nice, but when you’re up there all wrapped up in the smoke and the smells and the sizzle of the records, there’s nothing quite like it.
Various Artists – Son Cubano NYC: Cuban Roots New York Spices 1972-82 2xLP (Honest Jon’s)
Almost all of the Afro-Cuban music in this compilation fell under the new marketing category ‘salsa’ (up till then it would have been simply called Latin music), and its cradle was New York City, where the tradition flourished amidst the constant mix of ethnicities and so many styles of music. It was inevitable that Afro-Cuban music would proliferate in new genres reflecting its new home. Afro-Cuban jazz was born in New York City, through the amalgamating creativity of musicians like Chano Pozo, Machito, Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie. The recordings on Son Cubano NYC were made over the decade beginning 1972, for the new Salsoul and SAR labels and their sisters Mericana and Guajiro.
Amy Winehouse – The Collection 8xLP (Republic)
Lavish box set containing Amy Winehouse’s three studio albums, live recordings from Amy’s 2007 Shepherd’s Bush shows, including tracks available for the first time on vinyl, and an album’s worth of rarities featuring live session tracks dating back to 2003. Includes: Frank, Back To Black, Lioness: Hidden Treasures, Live From Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London 2007, and rarities. The set also includes a bespoke litho print and an exclusive set of photographs taken from the commissioned photo sessions for Frank and Back To Black.
Nico Yaryan – Just Tell Me 7” (Partisan)
Cutting his musical teeth on drums and midi samplers, digging through dollar-record bins with a dream of producing hip-hop beats worthy of his idols, like J Dilla and DJ Premier, Yaryan would eventually travel the world as Hanni El Khatib’s touring drummer.
Frank Zappa – Sheik Yerbouti [Reissue/1976] 2xLP (Zappa Records)
Originally released in 1979, Sheik Yerbouti was Zappa’s first album to be released on Zappa Records and contains the FM radio hits “Dancin’ Foot” and “Bobby Brown” amongst others. The album represented a major turning point in Zappa’s career, as it emphasized the comedic aspect of his lyrics more than ever before, beginning a period of increased record sales and mainstream media attention.
Cassettes:
Ryan Adams – 1989 (Pax Americana/Blue Note)
Produced by Adams, the first news of this reinterpretation of 1989 was revealed last month on the Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter’s Instagram (misterryanadams) with the post “Taylor Swift 1989 full album cover night 1. As played by the Smiths.” Several subsequent posts of song snippets revealed much more range than that including a take on “Bad Blood” that Vanity Fair called “a lovely Heartbreaker-era style version” referencing Adams’ classic debut, a string quartet-enhanced version of “Blank Space,” what Adams promised to be the “guaranteed saddest version of ‘Welcome To New York’ ever — or your tears back,” and more.
Night Birds – Mutiny At Muscle Beach (Fat Wreck Chords)
Recently released on CD and vinyl – now available on cassette. An unrepentantly raw blast of punk rock that evokes the spirit of Adolescents, Dead Kennedys, Germs, D.I. and Circle Jerks, while further integrating modern influences and a healthy dose of passionate innovation.
Bronze – In Stone (Not Not Fun)
Bronze’s third long-player twists and burns through eight new iterations of their classic oscillator-fusion psychedelia, inflected with shades of post-punk raga, skronk lurch, modal incantantion, deep space narcosis, lizard kingmanship, and home-wired industrial dementia.
Poster Children – Flower Power [Reissue/1989] (Grabbing Clouds)
Cassette reissue of the seminal, Steve Albini recorded, Flower Power from Chicago/Champaign’s Poster Children. “Poster Children conjured up a Dinosaur Jr- style guitar hurricane with muffled, deadpan vocals. The writing is slightly influenced by late-’70s Britwave (a smidge of Buzzcocks here, a dab of The Jam), plus a soupçon of the poppier side of Television, but those are all influences, not derivations.” — Trouser Press
Cassie Ramone – Christmas In Reno (Burger)
Cassie Ramone is a singer/songwriter best known for her work with Vivian Girls and The Babies. Christmas In Reno is her take on the classic Christmas album, through the lens of someone at once in love with its concept, and disillusioned with it’s reality.
Real Numbers – What Was & What Is (Grabbing Clouds)
Minneapolis rebel rousers Real Numbers churn out a bubbly, fun-loving, jangly, pop nugget-filled ruckus reminiscent of Television Personalities, but with a modern take. What Was & What Is culls their best jams from their previously sold-out cassette releases. “Minnesota has discovered the finer pieces of indie’s archaic pieces of important esoterica.” – Impose
Teen Suicide – I Will Be My Own Hell Because There Is A Devil Inside My Body [Reissue/2012] (Run For Cover)
Teen Suicide – DC Snuff Film/Waste Yrself [Reissue/2013] (Run For Cover)
For as long as they’ve been a band, Teen Suicide’s catalog has been as alluring as it has been elusive. Beneath the dreamy haze & noisy apathy of the band’s recordings exist earnest, extremely well-written pop songs that reflect and express the uncertainty and desperation of reality.
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