CDs + Vinyl:
Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. – Reverse Of Rebirth In The Universe CD/LP (Riot Season)
Reverse Of Rebirth In Universe sees the band return to their old label Riot Season for the first time since 2012’s IAO Chant From The Melting Paraiso Underground Freak Out (CD still available). Both label and band have gone on some wonderful journeys during that time apart, but both felt the stars were finally correctly realigned to renew their partnership in all things weird. Long time AMT fans will immediately recognize some of the song titles listed on the album sleeve here. But the songs themselves have been reworked and transformed far away from their original versions.
The Beta Band – Heroes To Zeros [Reissue/2004] CD/LP+CD (Because Music)
CD and vinyl reissue of the third and final studio album by The Beta Band, released in 2004. The cover illustration was created by comic book writer and artist Kaare Andrews. The Beta Band logo for the album was created by comic book artist Dave McCaig, later to be reused on The Best Of The Beta Band. The song “Liquid Bird” features a sample of “Painted Bird” by Siouxsie and The Banshees.
Boogarins – Lá Vem a Morte CD/LP (OAR)
In the summer of 2017, Grammy-nominated Brazilian psych masters Boogarins dropped the surprise release Lá Vem a Morte, a dark and hypnotic investigation into emotional and sonic incongruity.
Brothers Of Metal – Prophecy Of Ragnarok CD/LP (AFM)
This new band of the Scandinavian metal scene brings an epic, extremely catchy mix of power metal with irresistible melodies and heavy guitar riffs. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Brown Sugar – Soul Jazz Records Presents Brown Sugar: I’m In Love With A Dreadlocks Brown Sugar And The Birth Of Lovers Rock 1977-80 CD/LP+MP3 (Soul Jazz)
13-track Soul Jazz compilation from the UK female vocal trio led by Caron Wheeler, later of Soul II Soul. Contains rare singles, dubs and extended mixes, spanning 1977 to 1980.
Tom Brumley And The Buckaroos – Steelin’ The Show CD (Omnivore)
There are many reasons Buck Owens and his Buckaroos were the hottest band in the world in the 1960s, but one is certainly Tom Brumley’s magically graceful touch on the pedal steel guitar. And as you’ll hear on this album, he’s also a fine Dobro picker. Steelin’ The Show showcases Brumley’s skill and innovative playing by collecting 17 tracks from nine releases from Buck and The Buckaroos, including “Together Again” that features Tom’s peerless solo-one of the most famous pedal steel guitar breaks ever recorded.
Chai – Wagama-Mania CD (Burger)
Luckily for fans of goofy, happy, and endlessly entertaining pop, the music Chai wants to make is all those things and Wagamamania is the work of a band in love with music, doing it for kicks alone and not worried at all about being cool or cute. It’s refreshing and fun and some of the best pop music anyone is likely to hear in the late 2010s.
Chicano Batman – Cycles Of Existential Rhyme/Joven Navegante [Reissue/2014/2012] 2xCD (ATO)
Chicano Batman – Joven Navegante [Reissue/2012] 12” (ATO)
Chicano Batman – Cycles Of Existential Rhyme [Reissue/2014] LP (ATO)
They came out of L.A., four young men in vintage formal wear, playing songs that blended Brazilian Tropicália with early ’70s psychedelic soul and the romantic pop of bands like Los Ángeles Negros. It was an immediately addictive sonic brew, and their reputation grew fast. Since forming in 2008, Chicano Batman has released three full-length albums and a pair of EPs. Out of print for years, the band’s 2012 EP Joven Navegante and their 2014 effort, Cycles Of Existential Rhyme are back in-print on CD and vinyl. Soulful, psychedelic and groovy in all the right places.
Clean Bandit – What Is Love? CD/2xLP (Atlantic)
Long-awaited sophomore studio album from the British electronic outfit. Featured as one of Billboard’s Fall 2018 Albums to Watch, What Is Love? includes the singles “Tears” (featuring Louisa Johnson), “Rockabye” (featuring Sean Paul and Anne-Marie), “Symphony” (featuring Zara Larsson), “I Miss You” (featuring Julia Michaels), “Solo” (featuring Demi Lovato) and “Baby” (featuring Marina and the Diamonds and Luis Fonsi). The album also features collaborations with Ellie Goulding, Rita Ora, Charli XCX and Tove Styrke.
Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society – Wow And Flutter CD (Six Degrees)
The Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society came about as the result of a 30-year friendship between two electronic music veterans, Garry Hughes and Harvey Jones. Their collaborative project quickly won over fans of classic ‘70s and ‘80s electronica like Cluster, Tangerine Dream, Tomita,Vangelis and Brian Eno.
Thomas Fehlmann – 1929 – Das Jahr Babylon: Original Filmmusik CD/LP (Kompakt)
1929 – Das Jahr Babylon marks Thomas Fehlmann ‘s third full-length release of 2018 and presents what appears to be a creative peak in a career that spans beyond his solo work to his early days in Palais Schaumburg, collaborating with Moritz von Oswald as 3MB to his long-time work with The Orb. Having left The Orb in late 2017 has set free unforeseen energies in Fehlmann’s studio. A departure from his recent dance floor-friendly album Los Lagos, 1929 – Das Jahr Babylon is a film soundtrack from the documentary that aired on ARD network on September 30, 2018 and is now available as a podcast series.
Gringo Star – Back To The City CD/LP (Nevado Music)
“No premeditation, posturing, or overthinking required, Gringo Star pick up their instruments and go. It’s how the Atlanta quartet—brothers Peter [vocals, guitar, keys, percussion] and Nick Furgiule [vocals, bass, guitar, percussion], Josh Longino [guitar, bass], and Mario Colangelo [drums]—quietly turned into intriguing indie outliers. That purity doubles as a linchpin for their adventurous musical necromancy as they seamlessly fuse dynamically dusty garage rock, doo-wop harmonies straight from a ‘50s jukebox, and surfed-up alternative riding its own wave.” – New Noise
Grounders – Coffee & Jam CD/LP (Nevado Music)
Grounders’ home base is an overflowing garage in Toronto’s West End, but the roots of their new album Coffee & Jam stretch much farther west. Since releasing their debut self-titled LP in 2015, the band has logged countless hours on the road, touring throughout Canada and the U.S. Somewhere down the line of empty motels, sand dunes and vast, dry American landscapes, their dreamy psych pop turned dark and unsettling. Through scraping synths and jangly guitars, Coffee & Jam oozes with self-sabotage, anti-authoritarian rebellion and that twenty-something’s sense of the world passing by.
Neil Hamburger – Still Dwelling CD/LP/Cassette (Drag City)
In our time of America’s greatest dismay, it takes “America’s Funnyman” to show the way back to a little bit of love and a whole lot of classic entertainment. With vocal pipes alight and a full studio orchestra behind him, Neil Hamburger is Still Dwelling—and dare we say, better than ever, as he brings to new life some of the greatest songs of his era.
Motörhead – End Of The Wörld 4xCD+3xDVD+Blu-ray (Motörhead Music)
Motörhead – Box Of Magic 5xLP (Motörhead Music)
End Of The Wörld collects the live releases Clean Your Clock (2016), Aftershock (2013) plus The Wörld Is Ours – Vol 1 (Everywhere Further Than Everyplace Else) (2011) and The Wörld Is Ours – Vol. 2 (Anyplace Crazy As Anywhere Else) (2012). Packaged in a DVD-Amaray case including a Motörhead keychain with bottle opener. The End Of The Wörld vinyl set includes The Wörld Is Yours on white vinyl, Clean Your Clock with special pop-up art sleeve, and Bad Magic silver picture disc and Aftershock.
Nightmare Air – Fade Out CD/LP (Nevado Music)
Nightmare Air emit swaths of analog synth transmissions punctuated by distorted guitars before succumbing to hummable hooks befitting of the big screen. This marriage of tight craft and aural expanse perfectly sets the scene for the Los Angeles trio s aptly titled second full-length album, Fade Out.
Objekt – Cocoon Crush CD/2xLP (Pan)
Written between 2014 and 2018 in Berlin and on the road, Cocoon Crush once again sees Objekt jettisoning the functional requirements of the dancefloor. Marking a further evolution from the youthful exuberance of Flatland, Cocoon Crush explores a more introspective side, with themes of human interaction resonating throughout the record as it ruminates on a spectrum of complex moods rooted in four years of sometimes turbulent personal experience.
Outrageous Cherry – Meet You In The Shadows CD/LP/Cassette (Burger)
Outrageous Cherry combined psychedelia, folk rock, art rock, and bubblegum music across more than 12 albums and nearly three decades. They attracted an international cult following and were a longstanding fixture in the Detroit rock and roll scene since their first gigs in 1991. Meet You In The Shadows is their final studio album, completed before the passing of founding lead guitarist Larry Ray.
Pearls Before Swine – Balaklava [Reissue/1968] CD/LP (Drag City)
Released in late 1968, the second Pearls Before Swine record continued to deliver music with a preternatural sense of what the youth of America wanted to hear. The music of Balaklava strips away the manic, post-garage band diversity of the first album, instead grounding the production around Tom Rapp’s guitar and singing, with the touches of instrumental color all the more dramatic and striking.
Presto Ballet – The days Between CD/LP (Rat Pak)
Sixth studio album from the Seattle prog-rockers.
Selling – On Reflection CD/LP (City Slang)
A unique collaborative venture by two giants of the electronic music world, Selling is comprised of Gold Panda and Jas Shaw, one half of techno titans Simian Mobile Disco. The two met a decade ago, and their musical alliance was initially forged when Shaw mixed Pandas 2010 opus Lucky Shiner. Recorded at Jas studio in Kent, the duo’s debut album On Reflection embraces the warmth, melody and emotion that is infused in Gold Panda records and adds in a dizzying array of techno and synth styles.
Simply Red – Symphonica In Rosso (Live At Ziggo Dome Amsterdam) CD+DVD (BMG Rights Management)
New live release from the British band fronted by Mick Hucknall. 15-tracks performed in Amsterdam in October 2017 with a 40-piece orchestra, plus expanded bonus DVD of 19 live songs.
Bruce Springsteen – Springsteen On Broadway 2xCD (Columbia)
Springsteen on Broadway is the new album of music and stories by Bruce Springsteen, and the soundtrack to the Netflix film of the same name. The album is the complete live performance of the show. Based on his worldwide best-selling autobiography Born To Run, Springsteen On Broadway is a unique evening with Bruce, his guitar, a piano, and his very personal stories. [Vinyl edition due January 25.]
Sun K – Bleeding Hearts CD/LP (Nevado Music)
Rock ‘n’ roll, if it serves one direct purpose, is to articulate life lived to the fullest – be it messy, beautiful, or a complete disaster. For more than half a century, rock ‘n’ roll musicians have been able to show us the contours of lived human experiences, scrambling to make sense of it all through screaming guitar riffs and rhythmic drum beats, hypnotic as they are soothing. This is what Sun K try to do on their thunderous sophomore record, Bleeding Hearts, which contains the whole spectrum of emotion in its 12 songs.
Mitchell Tenpenny – Telling All My Secrets CD/LP (Sony)
Sophomore album from the country singer/songwriter.
Henry Townsend – “Mule [Reissue/1980] CD (Omnivore)
Legendary St. Louis blues vocalist, guitarist and pianist, Henry Jesse Mule Townsend made his first recordings for Columbia Records in 1929. His history incorporates much of the St. Louis blues story and provides insight into the development of the ensemble style of postwar Chicago blues. He was born Shelby Mississippi in 1909 and moved to St. Louis circa 1921 and began playing guitar a few years later under the tutelage of pioneer figures Dudlow Joe, Son Ryan, and Henry Spaulding. “We at Nighthawk have become convinced that Henry is perhaps the greatest living country bluesman. This reissue follows those same sentiments and goals, and enhances the original release with eight previously unissued bonus tracks from the album sessions.”
Trixie Mattel – Two Birds, One Stone CD/LP (ATO)
Trixie Mattel, winner of Rupaul’s Drag Race All Stars 3, re-releases her pair of critically-acclaimed albums, Two Birds (2017) and One Stone (2018), ion CD and in one deluxe gatefold colored vinyl package. Marking their first appearance on wax, a full color die-cut sticker sheet, exclusive double-sided 18” x 24” fold out poster, and exclusive interview with Trixie and producer Brandon James Gwinn round out the proceedings.
Unicorn – Laughing Up Your Sleeve CD/2xLP+MP3 (Omnivore)
Released in October on vinyl – now available on CD. Unicorn released three exquisite albums in the mid-’70s with David Gilmour of Pink Floyd in the producer’s chair. The albums and the band found a wide audience elusive, even though the group opened for many heavyweights in the day (including Linda Ronstadt, Fleetwood Mac, The Doobie Brothers, Billy Joel, Dr. Hook), played with Kate Bush on her first proper demo recordings that landed her a deal with EMI, and were even covered by their producer on his first self-titled solo album, released in 1978. Laughing Up Your Sleeve attempts to correct what may have been a matter of wrong time, wrong place for a band whose music overflows with beautiful melodies, lush arrangements and perfect harmonies.
The Velvet Underground – Live At The Boston Tea Party ’68 & ’69 8xCD (Spyglass)
Lou Reed once described This eight-disc collection bringing together the Velvet Underground’s four performances at the legendary Boston Tea Party. The venue as his favorite place to play, and finds the quartet tearing through a series of extended and reworked versions of their classics, with fiery guitar interplay throughout, as well as performing numerous tracks from their recently released self-titled third album (1969). An essential collection of a great band at their most vital, it’s presented here as over forty tracks for the first time together, professionally remastered with background notes and images. Packaged in clamshell box.
Venom – Storm The Gates CD (Spinefarm)
New release from the metal icons. Approaching their 40th anniversary as a band, Storm The Gates is their fifteenth studio album – the raw sound of a band who don’t need tricks of technology to make their point. [Vinyl edition due January 18.]
Volbeat – Let’s Boogie! Live From Telia Parken) 2xCD/2xCD+Blu-ray/2xCD+DVD/3xLP (Republic)
On August 26, 2017, Volbeat became the first Danish band to headline and sell out their hometown venue, Denmark’s Telia Parken, setting the record for the biggest show by a domestic artist in Denmark ever with over 48,250 people in attendance. To commemorate and immortalize the record-breaking event, the band releases their live album and concert film, Let’s Boogie! Live From Telia Parken.
John Zorn – Salem 1692 CD (Tzadik)
The second studio CD by Zorn’s incendiary new instrumental quartet presents a remarkable suite inspired by the tragic reign of terror in the Early American settlement of the Massachusetts Bay Colony commonly known as The Salem Witch Trials. The music is intense and hauntingly beautiful, touching upon aspects of Possession, Magic, Witchcraft, Hysteria and Transformation. Tighter than ever, the quartet performs brilliantly in this spellbinding follow-up to their eponymous first release Insurrection. An evocative collection of shredding guitar fireworks and bizarre magical spells, Salem 1692 is truly a musical reign of terror.
DVDs + Blu-ray:
Elvis Presley – This Is Elvis [Reissue/1981] 2xDVD (Warner Archives)
The life and career of Elvis Presley are chronicled in home movies, concert footage, and dramatizations. Subjects include early performances, army service, Ed Sullivan Show appearance, marriage, 1968 comeback, health decline and death.
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
6lack – East Atlanta Love Letter LP (LVRN)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The Atlanta singer, songwriter, and rapper’s second album features guest appearances from Future, J. Cole, Offset and Khalid.
Herb Alpert – Music Volume 3: Herb Alpert Reimagines The Tijuana Brass LP (Herb Alpert)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. On his new album, Music Volume 3: Herb Alpert Reimagines The Tijuana Brass, the beloved and prolific trumpeter Herb Alpert returns to some of his most iconic songs and transforms them with brand new arrangements, recordings, and modern production. Alpert takes material he made famous in the 1960s and infuses it with the style and musicianship that is still earning him accolades after decades of recording and performing. Includes “A Taste Of Honey”, “Whipped Cream”, “The Lonely Bull”, and many more.
The Archies – The Archies [Reissue/1968] LP (Goldenlane)
Special limited-edition splatter vinyl reissue of the 1968 self-titled debut album by the cartoon superstars of bubble gum pop, The Archies, featuring the sticky sweet groovy goodness of “Sugar Sugar” plus “Bang Shang-A-Lang”, “Archie’s Theme” and more.
Atmosphere – When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Sh*t Gold [Reissue/2008] 2xLP (Rhymesayers)
By 2008, Atmosphere had already grown into one of the most accomplished MC/producer duos in independent hip-hop, with a half-dozen official full-length albums under their belt, along with a dozen more limited tour albums, EPs, and various side projects. While Ant’s ASR-born beats had grown increasingly melodic and musical, Slug’s name had become synonymous with introspective raps, and together, they’d galvanized a faithful following. [Both the standard anniversary edition and the limited deluxe anniversary edition–each of which feature custom packaging details and bonus track–are pressed on colored vinyl.]
Autogramm – What R U Waiting 4? LP (Nevado Music)
New release from the new wave-influenced band.
Avenged Sevenfold – Black Reign 12” (WB)
Black Reign features collaborations with the Call Of Duty: Black Ops series in one collected EP, including a new single made specifically for Black Ops 4 as well as “Jade Helm”, which was previously only available in-game on Black Ops III.
The Babe Rainbow – Double Rainbow 2xLP (30th Century Records)
After touring relentlessly and around the world in support of their debut, The Babe Rainbow retreated to the homey hills of Byron Bay, Australia to record their second album with producer Wayne Connolly. With the release of The Babe Rainbow last year, Nylon noted the band is, “everything you could ask for from a left-of-center, nostalgia trip of a new band” and Entertainment Weekly said, “Their fantastic debut album… compiles folk and psych-rock influences for one of the greatest ’60s homages in recent years.” Double Rainbow was produced by Stu Mackenzie (King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard) and is now available domestically on limited green colored vinyl courtesy of Danger Mouse’s 30th Century Records label.
The B-52s – Live! Rock ‘N Rockets 1998 2xLP (Mountain Man)
This spirited 12-track live performance was recorded at the Disney Rock ‘N Rockets Festival in Orlando in November 1998. Drawing from retro 1950s and 1960s pop sources, trash culture, and rock and roll, The B-52s evidenced a thrift shop aesthetic. The guy vs. gals vocals of Schneider, Pierson, and Wilson, sometimes used in call and response style, and their unique guitar and keyboard driven instrumentation compose their trademark sound.
Francesca Battistelli – Own It LP (Curb)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Battistelli, who was recently touted as an Artist on the Rise from YouTube Music, co-wrote nine of the ten songs found on Own It. “The Breakup Song,” which she penned with David Garcia and MercyMe’s Bart Millard, is the album’s first single and debuted in June. Many instantly responded to “The Breakup Song”, calling the anthemic tune that sings about breaking up with fear “uplifting, hope-inspiring and empowering.”
Blood Quartet – Until My Darkness Goes LP (Feeding Tube)
“Noirish trumpet drifts across a rotten cityscape, batting down noise guitar rats that pop up from open manhole covers like goddamn Whack-a-Moles.” – Byron Coley
Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians – Rocket LP (Verve Forecast)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Thirty years ago, Edie Brickell and New Bohemians exploded out of Dallas and became an international sensation with their double-platinum debut album, Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars, featuring the Top Ten hit, “What I Am”. Now, the group returns with Rocket, their first new music in a dozen years. The band’s music contains elements of rock, folk, blues, and jazz.
Brockhampton – Iridescence 2xLP (RCA)
Iridescence is the fourth studio album by collective Brockhampton. The album is their major-label debut and the first installment of their The Best Years Of Our Lives trilogy. “On their major label debut, the hip-hop boy band is a rap variety pack.” – Consequence Of Sound
Jon Brooks – No One Travels Alone LP (Borealis)
Jon Brooks’ sixth album, No One Travels Alone, accomplishes something truly interesting in modern songwriting: borrowing from the Elizabethan sonneteers, the album fulfils a ‘corona’ of songs. Corona form interconnects each song by first and last lines – the last line of the first song is the first line of the following song, etc… until the final song completes a circle, or corona.
Alessandro Cortini & Lawrence English – Immediate Horizon LP (Important)
A work that meditates on saturation and the ruptures that occur when harmonic elements are stacked. Immediate Horizon‘s six pieces swell and burst in a perpetual sense of pulse.
The Daktaris – Soul Explosion [Reissue/2006] LP+MP3 (Daptone)
Originally released on DESCO records in the ’90s this album is the start of it all. Upon its release the identities of the members and the origin of the group was like a game of telephone – the fact that the liner notes were piece of pure fiction only intensified this. But the truth is the core members of this group went on to form The Dap Kings and Antibalas. It also features Jojo Kou who had formerly played drums and percussion for Fela Kuti.
The Decemberists – Traveling On 10” (Capitol)
Veteran indie rockers The Decemberists returned earlier this year with their album, I’ll Be Your Girl, which saw the band pushing outside their comfort zone and experimenting with a new wave palette of sounds. Now, a few months after the album’s release, the band releases Traveling On, an EP featuring five tracks originally intended for inclusion on I’ll Be Your Girl. Traveling On continues on the path that was laid by the band’s eight studio effort, with Colin Meloy and co. Shifting their sonic influences in the direction of New Order and Roxy Music.
Demdike Stare – Passion 2xLP (Modern Love)
An asymmetric re-imagining of UK club styles taking in frenzied drum trax, shortwave jungle, pinging dancehall and clipped, post-punk riddims. RIYL: Errorsmith, Príncipe, Dem 2, Jon E Cash, Wiley, Joy Division, DJ Scud, Equiknoxx, Anthony ‘Shake’ Shakir, Bernard Parmegiani.
Depeche Mode – Construction Time Again | The 12” Singles 6×12” (WB)
Depeche Mode – Some Great Reward | The 12” Singles 6×12” (WB)
Construction Time Again (1983) marked the first time that Depeche Mode released limited edition versions of an album’s 12” singles, each containing the original mix of each track. Construction Time Again | The 12” Singles includes three reproductions of limited singles which each feature four bonus live performances recorded at London’s Hammersmith Odeon on October 25, 1982. Depeche Mode’s commitment to the 12” single vinyl format as a distinct art form became even more evident with 1984’s Some Great Reward. Some Great Reward | The 12” Singles includes select live recordings from the Liverpool Empire Theatre, recorded September 29, 1984. Both sets feature audiophile-quality vinyl, with audio mastered from the original tapes at the legendary Abbey Road Studios.
Doomtree – False Hopes [Reissue/2007] LP (Doomtree)
Doomtree – Doomtree [Reissue/2008] LP (Doomtree)
Doomtree is a hip-hop collective and record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The collective has seven members: Dessa, Cecil Otter, P.O.S, Sims, Mike Mictlan, Paper Tiger, and Lazerbeak. They are known for incorporating a wide range of musical influences into their work with lyrical complexity and wordplay.
Duran Duran – Thanksgiving Live: The Ultra Chrome, Latex and Steel Tour LP (Mountain Man)
Recorded on 11/27/97 in Pleasure Island Orlando Florida for the Big Band Radio Broadcast. Includes hits, fan favorites and album tracks including “Hungry Like The Wolf”, “Ordinary World”, “Rio”, “Save A Prayer”, “Electric Barbarella” and more.
Fall Out Boy – God Save Rock And Roll [Reissue/2013] 2xLP (Island)
Expanded vinyl reissue featuring the Pax AM Days EP which was recorded shortly after God Save Rock And Roll.
Fit For An Autopsy – Hellbound [Reissue/2013] LP (E1)
First-time on vinyl. On Hellbound, Fit For An Autopsy expand upon their commanding approach to an often maligned subgenre by synthesizing the rhythmic experimentalism of Gojira, the aggressive post-noisecore of Converge, the esoteric and meditative tribalism of Isis, a virulent dose of the New Wave Of Swedish Death Metal (At The Gates, Dark Tranquility, early In Flames), the legendary progenitors of Floridian death metal (Death, Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, Obituary) and the deathcore acts who offer actual proficiency in the genre (Suicide Silence, All Shall Perish, Whitechapel).
Forward – Future Toops LP (540/Todo Destructo)
The latest call to arms from the Japanese punk legends. Featuring ten new tracks on a single disc, Future Troops is the band’s first LP in six years and only their fourth in a storied twenty-two year career of state-of-the-art, nitro-fueled Japanese hardcore.
Maxine Funke – Silk LP (Feeding Tube)
Fantastic third LP by this New Zealand musician whose first recordings were with the legendary $100 Band (Funke, Alastair Galbraith and Mike Dooley), whose music was drifting experimental dust of a very high order. With the release of Silk, Ms. Funke manages to create an album that merges both of these style threads. Many of the tracks are coast in an intimate mood congruent with artists like Sybille Baier, Barbara Manning, Myriam Gendron, Joanne Robertson and other women who have pulled sweetly dark sounds from pockets of deep emotion, abetted largely by acoustic guitar.
Green Death – Hallowmass LP (Emp Label Group)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. New release from the Des Moines, IA-based metal band.
Grivo – Elude LP (Holodeck)
Combining slow, methodical hooks and warm tube amplifiers, Grivo’s massive tones artfully re-establish the link between heavy guitars and downtempo pop to yield a potently encompassing experience. Utilizing effects as an active compositional element, Elude’s infectious riffs are brilliantly crafted and paced to allow the saturated guitars and bruising low-end to fully bloom.
Gudren Gut – Moment LP (Monika)
German electronic originator Gudrun Gut’s solo collection distills a lifetime of persuasions and obsessions into a compelling 14-track statement: Moment. Stark, somber, sultry, and clever, the sides slide between ballad and lament, synth-pop and spoken word, anthemic and abstract. Gut’s background as a key figure in Berlin’s first-wave industrial uprising still casts an aura in the music’s mechanized rhythms and frozen emotional palette but decades of improvisation and collaboration have deepened her sense of composition and melody beyond any easy genre categorization.
HOK (House Of Krazees) – Head Trauma [Reissue/1996] 2xLP (Majik Ninja)
Double colored vinyl LP pressing (LP 1 is green/LP 2 is yellow). HOK was the first incarnation of the Detroit hip-hop band Twiztid. After 25 years, HOK is re-releasing their albums on vinyl. The fifth in the series is Head Trauma.
Freddie Hubbard Quintet – Live In Zonderschot LP (Cortizona)
Previously unreleased live recordings of the Freddie Hubbard Quintet recorded by Belgian Radio and Television (BRT) on a cold night in the church of Our Lady Queen in the small Heist-op-den-Berg hamlet of Zonderschot in 1973.
Toby Keith – Should’ve Been A Cowboy [Reissue/1993] LP (Mercury Nashville)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Digitally remastered and expanded 25th Anniversary edition. The album that started it all for Toby Keith, his self-titled 1993 debut featuring four hit singles, is celebrated with a special anniversary release retitled Should’ve Been A Cowboy. The album has been remastered from the original analog tapes and includes a commemorative cover, liner notes from Keith and three rare tracks from Keith’s personal vault.
The Killers – Day & Age [Reissue/2008] 2xLP (Island)
Deluxe 10th Anniversary pressing of The Killers’ third album. Includes three bonus tracks.
Willie Lane – Known Quantity [Reissue/2009] LP (Feeding Tube)
Newly remastered reissue of Willie Lane’s 2009 solo guitar LP originally released on his own Cord Art label. The music on Known Quantity is a buttery mix of electric and acoustic string action.
Laughing Hyenas – Life Of Crime Reissue/1990] LP (Third Man)
Laughing Hyenas – Hard Times + Crawl/Covers 2xLP (Third Man)
Vinyl reissues of the garage rockers’ 1990 album Hard Crim, their final album Hard Times (1995), their 1992 EP Crawl and bonus tracks. Laughing Hyenas was an American band that existed from 1985 to 1995. According to AllMusic, “At first, the band specialized in dirges overlaid with the tortuous, throat-shredding vocals of frontman John Brannon. As time passed, their blues connections became more and more explicit.”
Lil Uzi Vert – Luv Is Rage [Reissue/2015] LP (Atlantic)
Lil Uzi Vert – Perfect Luv Tape [Reissue/2016] LP (Atlantic)
A pair of mixtapes from the rapper are now available on vinyl. Luv Is Rage features guest appearances from Wiz Khalifa and Young Thug. Perfect Luv Tape features productions from Cubeatz, Don Cannon, DP Beats, Ike Beatz, Lyle LeDuff, Maaly Raw, Nard & B, Metro Boomin, XL Eagle and Zaytoven.
Lucius – Christmas Is Here b/w Keep Me Hanging On 7” (Mom + Pop)
The Fug Yep Soundation is a new 7” series created in loving memory of producer, songwriter and musician – Richard Swift. Through this special release, Lucius is raising awareness for addiction and offer community to those suffering. This series will directly benefit both MusiCares and Music Support UK foundations. The first 7” in the series is a two-song cover single by Lucius, produced by Richard Swift. The A-side features a re-imagined take on “Christmas Time Is Here” and the B-side is a cover of The Supremes song “Keep Me Hanging On”.
Lung – All The Kings LP (Sofaburn)
Lung is a growling, propulsive electric cello and drum duo from Cincinnati, OH. Classically trained cellist and vocalist Kate Wakefield vacillates seamlessly between sweetly plucked notes to shrieking squalls atop a relentless pounding beat from drummer Daisy Caplan (ex-Foxy Shazam).
Lyres – Some Lyres [Reissue/1994] LP (Taang!)
Lyres was a Boston-area garage rock band led by Jeff Conolly, founded in 1979 following the breakup of DMZ.
Ella Mai – Ella Mai LP (Interscope)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Debut album of 90’s style jams from the London R&B vocalist.
Mattiel – Customer Copy LP/Cassette (Burger)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. With a voice that elicits images of an original female super power, Mattiel Brown offers an album of raucous retro rock and soul, balanced with a gritty contemporary lean.
Meiko – Playing Favorites LP (Chesky)
Released in May on CD – now available on vinyl. Long known for her seductively haunting voice, folk singer/songwriter, Meiko releases her first covers album featuring songs byThe Cranberries, Otis Redding, Erykah Badu, Duran Duran, Blind Melon, and Rick James.
Mission Of Burma – Forget [Reissue/1988] LP (Taang!)
Playing a bracing mix of punk, pop, art rock, and avant-garde experimentation, Mission Of Burma’s vocal/guitar/bass/drums/tape manipulation lineup was relentlessly intense and dynamic. As adept at playing strident, angular blasts as they were at powerful, pretty instrumentals, the Boston quartet were integral in laying the foundation for a movement in postpunk rock which remains vital today. Forget is a 12-track collection of pre-Vs. demos and outtakes recorded from 1979 to 1982 and issued on Taang! Records in 1988. The sessions from 1979 are all included here (some of the band’s earliest work) as well as the lost tracks from 1982 with producer Lou Giordano.
Motorpsycho – Roadwork 1: Live In Europe 1998 [Reissue/1999] 2xLP (Rune Grammofon)
Motorpsycho – Roadwork 2: MotorSourceMassacre [Reissue/2000] 2xLP (Rune Grammofon)
Roadwork 1: Live In Europe consists of recordings made on the Motorpsycho Mobile during the Trust Us (1998) tour of Europe that started 6th May 1998. In 1995 Motorpsycho was invited by Trondheim freebag jazz combo The Source to share the stage at Kongsberg Jazz Festival. The band´s psychedelic/kraut/prog-leanings hadn´t taken them as far as jazz yet, not to mention the Ornette Coleman -style free jazz stuff The Source were playing, but they were game. Roadwork 2: MotorSourceMassacre is the result.
(New England) Patriots – Patriots LP (Feeding Tube)
The first vinyl record dedicated entirely to the music of Boston’s boss post-core art-punk trio
Evan Parker – The Snake Decides [Reissu/e1986] LP (Otoroku)
Featuring four solos recorded in 1986 in St. Paul’s Church, Oxford by the late Michael Gerzon, The Snake Decides is a groundbreaking example how far the language of a particular instrument can be taken. “Some of the tunes stretch out like worms in Gibby Haynes’ colon, others are compacted the way the Hobson Brothers’ nut sacs might have if they’d given each other cube-dunks back in Killdozer’s heyday. A firm and mighty sound.”—Byron Coley
Primus – Rhinoplasty [Reissue/1998] 12” (Interscope)
Primus – Antipop [Reissue/1999] 2xLP (Interscope)
Primus – Animals Should Not Try To Act Like People [Reissue/2003] 12”+MP3 (Interscope)
Vinyl reissues of Primus’ sixth studio album Antipop and a pair of EPs.
CJ Ramone – Christmas Lullabye 7” (Fat Wreck Chords)
Limited 7” holiday single from the former Ramones member.
Jean-Louis Rassinfosse/Chet Baker/Philip Catherine – Crystal Bells [Reissue/1983] LP (Igloo)
A meeting at the top between Chet Baker, whose velvety sound and moving lyricism are legendary, Philip Catherine, who plays with all the warmth and originality of his supple and determined style, and Jean-Louis Rassinfosse, whose resonant yet delicate double bass completes the magic of this recording.
Rick and Morty – The Rick and Morty Soundtrack 2xLP+7”+MP3 (Sub Pop)
Deluxe box set now available – Includes the double-LP pressed on exclusive “Portal” colored vinyl along with a custom poster, a patch, a sticker, and a bonus 7” clear vinyl single, all housed in an extravagant box featuring a plexiglass window cover which reveals a glowing design when lit by its integrated LED lights. Rick and Morty is the critically acclaimed, half-hour animated hit comedy series on Adult Swim that follows a sociopathic genius scientist who drags his timid grandson on insanely dangerous adventures across the universe. The Rick and Morty Soundtrack is the first official collection of music from the show. The album includes songs by Mazzy Star, Chaos Chaos, Blonde Redhead, and Belly, all of which have been featured in the show, as well as two new tunes from Chad VanGaalen and Clipping.
Robyn – Honey LP (Interscope)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Honey is the eighth studio album by Robyn, and her first since Body Talk (2010). The album features the lead single “Missing U” and second single “Honey”, a version of which featured in the final season of the HBO series Girls in 2017 before being released in full in 2018. The album features collaborations with Joseph Mount of Metronomy, Klas Åhlund, Adam Bainbridge, Mr. Tophat, and Zhala.
Bruce Russell & Noel Meek – Classical Music LP (Feeding Tube)
Bruce Russell is an internationally-known improviser and writer working in the field of sound. His practice includes live performance and electro-acoustic/installation work, and unifies theory and practice to a very considerable extent. He has been active since the 1980s in independent music production and distribution (Xpressway and Corpus Hermeticum), critical writing (The Wire), essay writing on sound subjects, and live performance (the Dead C., A Handful Of Dust). Noel Meek is a Wellington, New Zealand based electronic improviser.
Single Lash – Providence LP (Holodeck)
Nicolas Nadeau audaciously bares all as the frontman of Austin’s preeminent shoegaze ensemble Single Lash on their debut LP Providence. Heavy walls of effects drenched guitars and synthesizers back Nadeau’s dejected vibrato and woefully honest song writing, epitomizing the art of crestfallen chic.
Jakob Skøtt – Instrumentality LP (El Paraiso)
Causa Sui drummer and El Paraiso visual designer Jakob Skøtt unleashes his most personal vision to date. His one-man-band formula of synths, drums and effects serve him as well as ever. From the avant-electro grooves of Amor Fati (2014) to his ambitious pre-fusion cosmic jazz sessions of All The Colours Of The Dust (2016), this latest set is Skøtt at his most ripe: The grooves are deeper, more stripped down to its essentials, yet maintaining the vibrant seamless mix of airy timing, drowning drones and sludgy synth riffs.
Smoota – Pheromones LP (Personal Affair)
Recently released on cassette – now available on vinyl. Smoota draws inspiration from his deep collection of soul, funk, disco and R&B records. Filled with sounds from rare ‘70s and ‘80s synths and drum machines, his sensual and funky grooves are a fresh take on the slow jams and dance classics of sex crooners like Marvin Gaye, Serge Gainsbourg, Willie Hutch and Smokey Robinson.
Soundtrack – Music From Vanilla Sky [Reissue/2001] 2xLP (Real Gone Music)
As a former music journalist (for Creem and Rolling Stone among other periodicals), director Cameron Crowe has always put his heart and soul into the soundtracks of his films. So, it’s no wonder that the most ambitious of all his films, Vanilla Sky, sported the most far-ranging and masterful of all his scores. Features songs by R.E.M., Radiohead, Paul McCartney, Jeff Buckley, Bob Dylan, and more. [Limited “blue cloud” colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Soundtrack – Orange County [Reissue/2001] 2xLP (Real Gone Music
Limited orange colored vinyl pressing. This 2002 tale of an Orange County kid (Colin Hanks) who wangles admission to Stanford despite the best efforts of his stoner brother (Jack Black) and then turns his back on academia to be with his girlfriend and buds down by the beach won hearts both with its amiable humor (the great Mike White penned the screenplay) and with its Top Ten soundtrack, which featured new releases by Foo Fighters (“The One”) and Orange County legends The Offspring (“Defy Yo”u) among other great tunes.
Spaciousness – Music Without Horizons LP (Lo Recordings)
Spaciousness is the first volume in a series of releases that seeks to explore the connections, the overlaps, the roots and the future of a music variously referred to as ambient, deep listening, new age and even post classical. Further to this our aim – in association with Strange Attractor Press – is to explore the concept of ‘Spaciousness’ not just through music but also through writing, still and moving image and through live events. Featuring Abul Mogard, Matthew David, Private Agenda, Cathy Luca, MJ Lallo, Jon Tye & Ulrich Schnauss, India Jordan, Blackwater, Susumu Yokota, Laraaji & Seahawkes, Andras, Teleplasmiste, Yamaneko and Carlos Nino & lasos.
Bruno Spoerri – Rare & Unreleased 1971-1988 LP (We Release Whatever The F**k We Want)
A collection of never-heard and hard-to-find works by Swiss music pioneer and synth super wizard Bruno Spoerri. Rare & Unreleased 1971-1998 gives a fascinating glimpse into Bruno Spoerri’s incredibly inventive repertoire, collecting tracks from projects as diverse as commissioned music for trade fairs, the Swiss railroads, or the union of Swiss cheese makers(!), soundtracks for TV shows about ecology, live synth improvisations at Montreux Jazz Festival, and sound installations for art exhibitions.
Suidakra – Cimbric Yarns LP (AFM)
Cimbric Yarns is an attempt at recreating it’s mythology, inspired by ancient Celtic texts and megalithic sites from all over the world. It weaves a fine thread between history and fantasy, chronicling the fate of its main characters Cruàc, Arma and Aenea in 10 compelling acoustic songs.
James Taylor – October Road [Reissue/2002] 2xLP (Analog Sparks)
Double 180gm vinyl LP reissue of James Taylor’s fifteenth studio album, housed in a Stoughton old style tip-on gatefold jacket. Includes guest performances from Mark Knopfler, Yo-Yo Ma, Michael Brecker, Ry Cooder and John Pizzarelli.
Henri Texier – Amir [Reissue/1976] LP (JMS)
Henri Texier – Varech [Reissue/1977] LP (JMS)
Like his double bass, Henri Texier is a pillar, a landmark in jazz and music in general. After an early career at the end of the 1960s, along with American bebop giants such as Bud Powell, Donald Byrd, Dexter Gordon and Kenny Clarke, Henri Texier stands out for his originality at the forefront of world music well before the term.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe – Gospel Train [Reissue/1956] LP (Rumble)
As a pioneer of mid-20th-century music, Sister Rosetta Tharpe attained popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her gospel recordings, characterized by a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and rhythmic accompaniment that was a precursor of rock and roll. She was the first great recording star of gospel music and among the first gospel musicians to appeal to rhythm-and-blues and rock-and-roll audiences, later being referred to as the original soul sister and the Godmother of rock and roll.
Tomorrow’s Tulips – Harnessed To Flesh LP (Burger)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. “Intoxicatingly simple and ear catching, “Tomorrows Tulips lay down a sonic atmospheric of ultra-mellow southern California low-fi dream pop played and sung in the lower registers with limited and pleasingly repetitive chord changes that move across the room like the afternoon sun, highlighting bits of dust slowly dancing through the air by the smallest breeze, and causing your eternally sleeping cat to stretch out even more comfortably on his back.” – It’s Psychedelic Baby
UFO – You Are Here [Reissue/2004] 2xLP+CD (Steamhammer)
UFO – The Monkey Puzzle [Reissue/2006] 2xLP+CD (Steamhammer)
For the first time English hard rockers UFO’s You Are Here (2004) and The Monkey Puzzle (2006) are being released on vinyl. The former served as the band’s first album with new band members Vinnie Moore and Jason Bonham following the departure of long-time guitarist Michael Schenker and drummer Aynsley Dunbar. The latter marked the return of founding drummer Andy Parker (after the departure of replacement Jason Bonham) and the last to date to feature founding bassist Pete Way alongside vocalist Phil Mogg and rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Paul Raymond.
Piero Umiliani – Il Marchio Di Kriminal (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) LP (Mondo)
This super cult spy thriller made in 1968 and directed by Fernando Cerchio was the third in a successful film series. Previous installments had featured excellent scores by Roberto Pregadio and Romano Mussolini. The master tapes of this Piero Umiliani incredible soundtrack were recently discovered in the composer’s archives: combining jazz with 1960s beats, a hint of bossa, Spanish style guitar, trumpet, and sexy vocals, performed by the elite of the jazz and session scenes at the time, this score is a classic of its kind and a potential lounge music hit. Yellow colored vinyl pressing.
Sam Valdez – Mirage LP (Nevado Music)
Sam Valdez is a fusion of shoegaze and vintage Americana indie folk. Embodying the best of both genres, she creates dreamy, haunting atmospheric soundscapes.
Various Artists – Astral Daze: Psychedelic South African Rock 1968-72 2xLP (Take It Acid Is)
This collection brings together rarities from well-known artists like Abstract Truth, Suck, Otis Waygood, Freedom’s Children, John & Philipa Cooper, McCully Workshop and Hawk, as well as lesser known acts like Buzzard, The Fireflies, The Idiots, Tidal Wave, and The Invaders. Although the South African rock movement of the late sixties and early seventies was not a major commercial success, it’s participants heralded an exciting new age in South African rock and started a movement aimed at changing the musical tastes of fans in a spectacular way.
Victor – Amerikan Dread 12” (Music From Memory)
Originally pressed on a now very hard to find 7”, this gem crosses over the dub with disco with the rock and the wave. More Talking Dreads than Heads. Dug out for MFM by Satoshi Yamamura. Comes with original dub mix and new remixes.
Wax Taylor – In The Mood For Life (Instrumental Version) LP (Le Plan)
Wax Taylor – By Any Beats Necessary (Instrumental Version) LP (Le Plan)
Wax Taylor – Dusty Rainbow From The Dark [Reissue/2012] 2xLP (Le Plan)
A multifaceted artist with three Victoires de la Musique nominations, France’s Grammy equivalent, Wax Tailor is one of the leading voices of the downtempo scene.
Denis Wise – Wize Music LP (Finder’s Keepers)
This English-born Jamaican-raised sound designer, artist and existentialist furrowed his own unblinkered path through lesser-charted electronic fields for many moons before eventually teaming up with Bill Laswell (with Material) and Daevid Allen in New York to bring self-taught synthesis to Gong during their most oblique periods. Creating two impossibly rare self-pressed vinyl LPs of conceptual inner-visionary outer-galactic angular tonal-dronal alien-art soundscapes in the process, the man known under figure shifting guises such as Dennis Wise/Denis Weise/Dr. Wise combined a culture of sound system circuitry and radiophonic trickery adding teapot poetry and sci-fidelity future-folk to his magnetic mesh.
Wu-Tang Clan – C.R.E.A.M. b/w Da Mystery Of Chessboxin’ 7” (Sony Legacy)
Limited edition Wu-Tang logo-shaped yellow colored vinyl single.
Neil Young – Songs For Judy 2xLP (WB)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Recorded during Neil Young’s fabled November 1976 solo acoustic tour of the US, the archival 23-track live collection Songs For Judy includes performances of all-time classics like “Heart Of Gold”, “After The Gold Rush” and “The Needle And The Damage Done”, along with a number of rarer selections, including one song, “No One Seems To Know”, that has not appeared on any previous official release. “Campaigner”, recorded on November 22nd, 1976 at Boston’s Music Hall, serves as the album’s first “single”. Curated by director Cameron Crowe and producer/photographer Joel Bernstein, both of whom contribute to the fascinating liner notes, Songs For Judy marks the debut release from Young’s Reprise Records imprint, Shakey Pictures Records. “The tour had been so satisfying, and so different from all that rock would become in the ensuing years, something indelible was captured in our humble collection,” explains Crowe. “Listening to it today is a little like discovering postcards from home. It was a precious time in Neil Young’s journey, a breath of oxygen in between some of his biggest adventures.”
Cassettes:
Neil Hamburger – Still Dwelling (Drag City)
In our time of America’s greatest dismay, it takes “America’s Funnyman” to show the way back to a little bit of love and a whole lot of classic entertainment. With vocal pipes alight and a full studio orchestra behind him, Neil Hamburger is Still Dwelling—and dare we say, better than ever, as he brings to new life some of the greatest songs of his era.
Mattiel – Customer Copy (Burger)
With a voice that elicits images of an original female super power, Mattiel Brown offers an album of raucous retro rock and soul, balanced with a gritty contemporary lean.
Part Time – Spell #6 (Burger)
Nearing a decade old and with a discography reaching deep into double figures across several different labels (Mexican Summer, Burger, Plastic Response Records) David Loca’s work under the Part Time moniker really shouldn’t require any introduction. Nonetheless, the release of what is officially his sixth album, fittingly titled Spell #6, does signal something of a re-birth and provides a compelling entry point for anyone new to Loca’s prolific output. Whereas previous albums were notable for a charming lo-fi production, Spell #6 takes Part Time uptown.
Rangers – Europe On TV (Not Not Fun)
Nearly a decade after their original assembly, two crucial early volumes of Texan ranger Joe Knight’s voyaging kaleidoscope kitchen sink-psych have been dusted off and dressed up for a new generation of suburban tourists. Europe On TV collects the entirety of both 2009 outings on freeform Pittsburgh imprint As Above So Below, totaling 110 twisted minutes of miasmic guitar heroics, sci-fi city surf, face-melt glam, no-fi jangle, art rock squall, and bootleg new wave, pocked with 4-track feedback bramble and cathode-blasted voices.
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