December/January Program Titles Released This Week:
IDLES – A Beautiful Thing: IDLES Live At Le Bataclan CD/LP (Partisan)
A Beautiful Thing: IDLES Live at Le Bataclan is the brand-new live album from IDLES, recorded at Le Bataclan in Paris on December 3, 2018, at the close of a 90-date world tour. The album celebrates the band’s success over the last two years, featuring songs from Brutalism and Joy As An Act of Resistance, and highlights their overall message of unity, and of healing through community. “Our show at Bataclan (the site of a horrific massacre on November 13th, 2015 which claimed 131 lives) was the end of a very long journey for us,” notes Joe Talbot. “On that tour we learnt so much about ourselves, each other and the audiences we have grown with over the past 10 years. That show was nothing short of catharsis and nothing more than love. We love what we do and the people who have carried us here, there was no hiding that at Bataclan and we are so very grateful that the moment was captured in all its glory, love and fatigue. Long live the open minded and long live the moment.” [Three colored vinyl pressings are available: orange, lime green, and pink).
The Who – WHO CD/LP (Polydor)
The Who are back with their first new album in thirteen years. Singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend are joined on the album by long-time Who drummer Zak Starkey, bassist Pino Palladino along with contributions from Simon Townshend, Benmont Tench, Carla Azar, Joey Waronker and Gordon Giltrap. The songs on WHO cover a myriad of subjects including the Grenfell Tower fire, musical theft, spirituality, reincarnation, the power of memory and “an old rock star that has lost his marbles.” Daltrey rates it amongst their strongest, “I think we’ve made our best album since in 1973; Pete hasn’t lost it; he’s still a fabulous songwriter, and he’s still got that cutting edge.” Townsend adds, “Roger and I are both old men now, by any measure, so I’ve tried to stay away from romance, but also from nostalgia if I can. I didn’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable. Memories are OK, and some of the songs refer to the explosive state of things today.” [Indie exclusive colored vinyl pressing also available.]
CDs + Vinyl:
Acid Reign – The Age Of Entitlement CD/LP (Dissonance)
Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. The reactivated UK thrashers release their first full-length album in 29 years.
Artillery – Deadly Relics [Reissue/1998] CD/LP (SPV)
Artillery – In The Trash CD/LP (SPV)
Classic tracks from the Danish thrash legends.
Mary J. Blige – HERstory Vol. 1 CD/2xLP/8×7” (UMe)
Since her debut establishing her as queen of ’90s R&B, Mary J. Blige has reigned as a trailblazer and an icon, proving that she could be as tough as the bad boys but with a fathoms-deep emotional reservoir of soul that touched hearts. Now comes a collection of her epoch-defining ’90s original hits and remixes. HERstory, Vol. 1 deep dives into the instantly recognizable jams, showcasing them as the definitive anthems they have always been. Features include Notorious BIG, Craig Mack and Puffy.
Blitzkrieg – Loud And Proud CD/LP (SPV)
For fans of Iron Maiden, Slayer & Judas Priest.
Peter Brötzmann – Solo: I Surrender My Dear CD/LP (Trost)
A long desire of extraordinaire saxophone player Peter Brötzmann was a studio recording of some of his favorite jazz tunes and his own music – a grand bridge over the music important for his life and his musical career in the past and present. Trost invited him to Martin Siewert’s studio in Vienna to do so in summer 2018. The result is intense, beautiful and touching.
Jaz Coleman – Magna Invocatio – A Gnostic Mass 2xCD (Spinefarm)
The iconic Killing Joke frontman, Jaz Coleman has been driven by twin musical loves: experimental rock and classical music. With Manga Invocatio, recorded with Russia’s oldest orchestra, the St Petersburg Philharmonic, this stirring body of work taps into the more melodic, uplifting aspects of the KJ musical canon, using Coleman’s ongoing journey with this hugely influential UK outfit, something central to his being since later teenage years. [Vinyl edition due January 24.]
The Comet Is Coming – The Afterlife CD (Impulse!)
The Comet Is Coming released sophomore album, Lifeforce, in March. Now, the English fusion band releases The Afterlife. “The afterlife has been a topic of deep consideration and one of the keys to spiritual mythology around the world for millennia,” says Danalogue. “The two records can be seen as companions that cannot exist without each other, like day and night, light and dark, creation and destruction. They were made together, at the same time, and have always been intended to be experienced together.”
Crass – Christ – The Album / Well Forked – But Not Dead [Reissue/1982] 2xCD (One Little Indian)
Latest in the remastered reissue series of the anarcho punk band’s back catalog.
Czarface – The Odd Czar Against Us CD/LP (Silver Age)
Czarface, iron clad crime fighter, heroically returns to his lair after two spine-chilling adventures with MF DOOM and Ghostface Killah. In his secret hideout, he has whipped up a few uncanny surprises for longtime Czar fans…expect curveball concepts, solo exploits, and noggin nodding neck-snappers alike. The Odd Czar Against Us launches this winter on compact disc and vinyl, and Czarface goes full Voltron, employing every asset in his arsenal, maximizing lyrical efforts from Inspectah Deck & Esoteric and pulse-pounding production from in house beatsmith 7L & Jeremy Page.
Bob Dylan – The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 (The Bootleg Series Vol. 9) [Reissue/2009] 2xCD (Sony Legacy)
Recorded for his first music publishers between 1962 and 1964, these recordings trace Dylan’s dramatic growth as a songwriter from early traditionally-styled songs through social commentaries and ultimately to groundbreaking lyrical genius.
Eamon – Captive Thoughts CD (Now Again)
New album from the unapologetic soul singer.
Edge Of Forever – Native Soul CD (Frontiers)
Sporting a dynamic and renewed lineup featuring founding member, producer, singer, and keyboardist Alessandro Del Vecchio, guitarist Aldo Lonobile (Secret Sphere), bass player Nik Mazzucconi (Labyrinth), and drummer Marco Di Salvia (Hardline), Edge Of Forever’s new album is back to the heavier, but still melodic, sound of their acclaimed debut.
Emapea – Seeds Roots & Fruits CD (Cold Busted)
Accomplished Polish beat-maker Emapea has made memorable appearances on many Cold Busted label compilations – such as in the IWYMI and Bust Free series – and has been selected for inclusion in Mark Farina’s next Mushroom Jazz installment. All this activity has mouths watering for the debut full length album from Emapea, and the appearance of Seeds, Roots & Fruits doesn’t disappoint one bit. Featuring sixteen exceptional tracks ranging from hip-hop to acid jazz to psychedelic trip hop in the style of Mo’Wax, Emapea’s long player is indeed, as a wise man once said, a journey into sound. [Vinyl edition due January 17.]
Enslaved – Vertebrae [Reissue/2008] LP (By Norse Music)
Enslaved – Axioma Ethica Odini [Reissue/2010] LP (By Norse Music)
Recently reissued on vinyl – now back in-print on CD. Enslaved offer up vinyl reissues of Vertebrae (2008) and Axioma Ethica Odini (2010), two albums which form an important pair musically in dynamics sonically and conceptually. By now Enslaved was up and running with the turn to the more progressive and avant-gardist directions completed with its more mellow predecessors.
Fen – The Dead Light CD/LP (Prophecy)
On The Dead Light, Fen explore the beauty that comes from destruction. Representing the vanguard of contemporary UK post black metal, the band offers its heaviest, most direct album to date. [Limited gold colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Function – Existenz CD/4xLP+MP3 (Tresor)
Function’s long career has seen him uncover a vast range of sonic identities, a mainstay through house, techno and industrial with collaborations with the likes of Regis, Damon Wild, alongside his highly influential Infrastructure imprint. With influences deeply tied to pop art, rave, and gay scenes, and early memories of block-parties emitting Kraftwerk and Strafe, he found himself seeking out the undercover illegal nights of the ’90s on a quest of sexual unearthing, mixing the ever-yearning escapology mission of disco with the influential DJ sets of Jeff Mills. For his new album Existenz, he marks a clear step away from the corporeal techno of his recent releases. Pivoting around themes of religion, sexuality, trauma, and healing, it is a work expansive and celebratory, a clear liberation from a deeply internalized past.
Jessie Mae Hemphill – Run Get My Shotgun CD/LP (Big Legal Mess)
Jessie Mae Hemphill played guitar and drums, wrote and sang her own songs in the primal northern Mississippi hill country blues traditions. Considered the Queen of the Guitar Boogie, as one of the earliest successful female blues musicians, Hemphill has been an influential and pioneering artist. Run Get My Shotgun is a ten track collection of field recordings originally recorded on New Years Eve 1989 by Ko de Korte and Tom Haarsama.
Jimi Hendrix – Live At Woodstock [Reissue/1999] 2xCD (Sony Legacy)
Live At Woodstock documents Jimi Hendrix’s legendary performance at the Woodstock Festival on August 18, 1969 and contains his iconic interpretation of The Star-Spangled Banner and other songs from the original festival film and soundtrack album.
Isenordal – Shores Of Mourning [Reissue/2017] CD/LP (Prophecy)
Isenordal orchestrates its songs beyond a typical rock setting with female and male voices as well as several acoustic instruments that bind themselves to the principle of duality on many levels. Their compositions can be both light-hearted and abysmal while all the beauty and joy are emitted by an outside world rich of nature. [Limited yellow colored vinyl pressing also available.]
The JBs – More Mess On My Thing CD/2xLP (Now Again)
The demo Bootsy Collins and his band recorded for James Brown in 1969 that won them the title The J.B. s and changed the course of popular music.
Kickin Valentina – Chaos In Copenhagen CD/LP (SPV)
New live album from the heavy touring sleaze rock sensation. For fans of Motley Crüe, Ratt, Hardcore Superstar and Backyard Babies.
Sammi Lanzetta – Ceiling Mirror CD (6131)
Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. Sammi Lanzetta’s unique perspective on feminist-fueled rock anthems is on perfect display throughout her debut full length. She takes on topics such as misogyny and anxiety head on, unrelenting in her vitriolic send up of the status quo. And it’s all set to some of the best guitar-driven, proper rock music to surface in recent memory.
Left Behind – No One Goes To Heaven CD/LP (Pure Noise)
Tapping into the darker side of the hardcore/metalcore stratum, Left Behind deliver a sludgy mix of breakdowns and staccato guitar riffage that invokes names likes Harms Way, Crowbar, and Black Breath.
Lil Tecca – We Love You Tecca CD (Republic)
Debut mixtape by the rapper with a sole guest appearance from Juice Wrld. [Vinyl edition due February 7.]
Lovekillers feat. Tony Harnell – Lovekillers Feat. Tony Harnell CD (Frontiers)
Lovekillers marks Tony Harnells return to the soaring vocals and melodic hard rock sound of the ’80s TNT albums.
Souad Massi – Oumniya CD (Wrasse)
Oumniya marks the great comeback of Souad Massi, the Algerian chaâbi-folk icon. This sixth album is decidedly modern, with themes anchored in current events. Algeria, politics, love, freedom and emancipation are all topics that feed this sensitive artist. Massi makes folk music, but she does so with an Algerian mandole, the main instrument of châabi and Kabyle music. A light, melodic folk, balanced with pop.
Karlsson Mats – The Time Optimist CD/LP (MK Music)
11 tracks that move freely between rock, hard rock, singer/songwriter style and some AOR-touches.
Reba McEntire – Read My Mind [Reissue/1994] CD/LP (MCA Nashville)
Digitally remastered and expanded 25th Anniversary edition features bonus tracks including a 2019 live version of “And Still”.
Kylie Minogue – Kyle: Golden – Live In Concert 2xCD+DVD (BMG)
New live release from the Australian pop princess.
Modern English – Mesh & Lace [Reissue/1981] CD/LP (Blixa Sounds)
Modern English – After The Snow [Reissue/1982] CD/LP (Blixa Sounds)
Digitally remastered editions featuring re-imagined artwork from Vaughan Oliver, the genius artist behind the original Modern English album covers on 4AD.
The Murder Of My Sweet – Brave Tin World CD (Frontiers)
Fifth album from the cinematic/symphonic metal band.
Joey Negro – 2019 Essentials 2xCD (Z. Records)
This double CD contains four exclusive new remixes of disco classics from Double Exposure, The O’Jays, Tamiko Jones, and Delia Renee. Along with these are a selection of the best Joey Negro remixes from what has been a great year musically including his reworks of CeCe Peniston, Horse Meat Disco featuring Kathy Sledge, and Sunkids. Joe Negro also originated some new music in 2019 under the aliases of Mistura, Doug Willis, and Lakeshore Commission, which are also included; add to this remixes of Zedd classics from Grant Nelson, Crakazat, and Dr. Packer.
New Riders Of The Purple Sage – Thanksgiving In New York City 2xCD (Omnivore)
Captured at the late show from November 23, 1972, at the Academy of Music, Thanksgiving In New York City features the band in the midst of an energetic and highly regarded tour.
Oath Of Cruelty – Summary Execution At Dawn CD/LP (Dark Decent)
Having formed in 2010, Houston’s Oath Of Cruelty has been honing their craft for nearly a decade releasing two demos and 2014’s Hellish Decimation EP. Summary Execution At Dawn is nine tracks spanning 33 minutes of death/thrash influenced by bands such Kreator, Sodom, Merciless, Slayer and more.
Jim O’Rourke – To Magnetize Money And Catch A Roving Eye 4xCD (Sonoris)
A four-hour work recorded at Steamroom (composer’s studio) between 2017 and 2018.
Detailed and delicate electronic layers, processed instruments, and ambiguous field recordings come together in a slow-moving, fascinating kaleidoscope with multiple reflections and wrong turns, always in constant state of flux. The finely crafted art of subterfuge.
Liam Payne – LP1 CD (Republic)
Debut album by the British singer, best known as a member of One Direction. [Vinyl edition due December 20.]
Lee Scratch Perry – Heavy Rain CD/LP+MP3 (On-U Sound)
A dub companion to the critically acclaimed Rainford album that sees the Upsetter and co-producer Adrian Sherwood radically re-version the original tapes with a host of guest musicians including Brian Eno and Vin Gordon. [Limited silver colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Praying Mantis – Keep It Alive CD+DVD (Frontiers)
Recorded live at Frontiers Rock Festival V in Milan, Italy on April 28, 2018, this live release shows the NWOBHM legends offering the crowd a set of new songs and several classic tracks.
Pumarosa – Devastation CD/LP (Harvest)
From the very first beat of Pumarosa’s second album, Devastation, anyone familiar with the band can tell that a transformation has taken place. But as work began on the follow-up, life for the band shifted irreversibly; sad endings, devastating diagnoses, new beginnings and a strange optimism – the promise of what can be built only after total annihilation – all fed into a record that feels like an exhilarating affirmation of life. [Limited translucent orange colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Ragnarok – Non Debellicata CD (Agonia)
Ragnarok return with their ninth full-length album of blistering, blasting and intensely unrelenting black metal.
Red Death – Sickness Divine CD/LP (Century Media)
Released last week on vinyl – now available on CD. Washington D.C. crossover thrashers return with their third album. [Limited edition colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Will Samson – Paralanguage CD/LP (Wichita)
Across his previous releases Will has experimented with electronica, folktronica, ambient and a more guitar-friendly aesthetic; Paralanguage finds him exploring and assuredly consolidating these various styles. Musically, the album perfectly captures the “dreams and meditative experiences” that provided inspiration for the record with Will’s experiments with water-soaked vintage tape machines adding an atmospheric layer to the recordings. His fragile vocals (often compared to Sufjan Stevens and Patrick Watson) and evocative lyrics also add to the dreamlike feeling of the record.
Shed – Oderbruch CD/2xLP (Ostgut Ton)
The fifth studio album by Shed, aka Rene Pawlowitz, centers thematically on the Oderbruch region in former East Germany where the producer and DJ grew up and continues to split his time (when not in Berlin.) Both the album and track titles as well as the artwork by Arnim Tölke reflect Pawlowitz’s deeply personal associations with the borderland’s marshy landscape, as well as enormous political and historical changes the region underwent as the last Eastern front during World War II – and, later, following the dissolution of the GDR.
Sun Of The Sleepless/Cavernous Gate – Sun Of The Sleepless/Cavernous Gate CD/LP (Prophecy)
Utterly unique, moody and dark metal. [Limited silver colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Trippie Red – ! CD/LP (Ten Thousand Project)
Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. . Multi-platinum artist Trippie Redd defies conventions with lovelorn melodies and bulletproof rapping. [Limited red colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Various Artists [Charles Maurice] – French Disco Boogie Sounds Vol. 4: Selected by Charles Maurice CD/2xLP (Favorite)
In the late ’70s and early ’80s, while France was still firmly tuned into variety-show pop, a few enlightened ears and souls picked up the hypnotic beat of funk from across the Atlantic. These first warrior monks spread the good word in discotheques, jumped on newly available frequencies to fill the airwaves and – in some cases – took up instruments themselves to unabashedly build on the US model.
Various Artists [Jeremy Orlander] – Balance Presents Vivrant 2xCD (Balance)
The Swedish Vivrant label founder, DJ, and producer joins the revered Balance Presents series. Since it’s inception in 2015, Jeremy Olander’s label and event series, Vivrant, has become one of the most intriguing platforms for the melodic house and techno sound. With this long overdue project, Olander is bringing two discs of exclusive music from himself and friends.
Various Artists – 20 Years Of Fabric 2xCD (Fabric)
Using the platforms of Fabric and FabricLive that the London club has nurtured over the past 20 years, Fabric Records presents the past and future with 20 artists across 20 original tracks made especially for this release, for the 20th anniversary celebration of the beating heart of London. The release features two sets: Fabric and FabricLive. Both sets are presented as a double-CD (includes book with artist photos, club scenes, and its historic flyer artwork).
Various Artists – Space Funk – Afro Futurist Electro Funk In Space 1976-84 CD/2xLP+MP3/2xLP+7”+MP3 (Soul Jazz)
An intergalactic journey into black space, fueled by funk, powered by computers, Space Funk is a lovingly compiled collection of superb, rare and off-the-wall space funk and electro releases mostly issued on small independent labels in the late 1970s and 1980s. Features music by Jamie Jupitor, Solaris, Juju & the Space Rangers and many more intergalactic space warriors. [The album comes in deluxe artwork and three formats: digipack + slipcase CD, a very limited deluxe double-LP + bonus 7” single and a standard double-LP version.]
Various Artists – Spiritual Jazz 10: Prestige – Esoteric, Modal and Deep Jazz from Prestige Records, 1961-73 CD/LP (Jazzman)
The tenth edition of Jazzman Records Spiritual Jazz series takes a closer look at the music Prestige was recording at the start of the 1960s. This was the period when the modal jazz sound pioneered by Miles and Coltrane was starting to percolate through the jazz underground. In its heyday, Prestige was the only jazz label that could hold a candle to Blue Note.
Venetian Snares – Greg Hates Car Culture [Reissue/1999] CD/LP (Planet Mu)
Greg Hates Car Culture was Venetian Snares’ first ever vinyl release. Long out-of-print, it came out in 1999, as the third release on Minneapolis label History Of The Future. Aaron Funk’s hallmarks were there from the start. His absurdist sense of humor, the razor sharp edits and his use of odd time-signatures. There is a rawness here, not often captured on later records, where you can imagine Aaron playing live in front of a room full of young breakcore fanatics. Indeed most of the tracks here were recorded live, tweaking his effects and EQ on the fly, to DAT from his Amiga.
The Viscaynes – The Viscaynes & Friends CD (ORG Music)
Formed in Vallejo, California in the 1950’s, The Viscaynes was a high school doo-wop act who are said to be the first recorded singing group of Sylvester Stewart (aka Sly Stone), and the launching point of his extensive career. The group gained some early notoriety with a performance on Dick Stewart’s Dance Party, after which they were introduced to producer George Motola. The Viscaynes & Friends features seven tracks from Sly and The Viscaynes, along with one cut from the The Individuals and two from The Precisions, all of which were produced by Motola. [Vinyl edition due December 20.]
Tony Joe White – That On The Road Look “Live” CD (Real Gone Music)
The only live album recorded at Tony Joe White’s peak and it’s never been available at regular physical retail on CD. Recorded in the fall of 1971 while TJW was opening for Creedence Clearwater Revival, this show became the proverbial ‘legendary lost live album’.
WHOOP-Szo – Warrior Down LP (You’ve Changed)
Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. WHOOP-Szo is a blazing force of DIY rock. hunderous and ground-breaking, harmonious and generative, on Warrior Down, WHOOP-Szo create an emotional weather-storm that dances conscientiously between anger and discipline, frustration and hope for a concise, focused 35-minute examination of injustice, history, language reclamation, and Indigenous solidarity.
Thomas Zehetmair – Johann Sebastian Bach: The Sonatas And Partitas For Solo Violin 2xCD (ECM New Series)
Thomas Zehetmair, one of the great violinists of our time, revisits the solo works of Bach, the summit of the violin repertory. Using period instruments, Zehetmair plays the music with vividness and intelligence to produce a recording that is deeply steeped in the music and at the same time original.
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
1919 – Futurecide LP (Cleopatra)
The British post-punk veterans release their brand new album of darkly melodic goth rock. Limited orange colored vinyl.
Akasha System – Echo Earth LP (100% Silk)
Long-dawning long-player by Pacific Northwest producer Hunter P. Thompson aka Akasha System spins a suite of remote outpost rhythms and old-growth electronics variously inspired by “days and nights spent in the forests,” “long stretches of back road trails,” and “sitting alone under moss-covered trees.” It’s club music for misty mornings, towering redwood canopies, and overcast skies above uninhabited terrain: Echo Earth.
Arp – Ensemble – Live! LP (Mexican Summer)
Last summer’s spellbinding album Zebra struck a chord with many listeners. Combining innovative production with an interest in music from around the globe – fourth world, Japanese avant-garde, minimalism, kosmische, dub, cosmic jazz and more – Zebra found Arp (AKA Alexis Georgopoulos) firing on all cylinders, drawing comparisons to Don Cherry, Midori Takada, Jon Hassell and Alice Coltrane and ultimately, made the best case yet for the polymath he is. If Zebra, the first album made primarily in his home studio, showed Georgopoulos blossoming as an arranger/producer, Ensemble – Live! emphasizes a different character – the sound of a group dynamic, of a vibe, of inspiration found in the moment – and how these songs work with 5 people playing them at the same time, together in a room.
Robert Ashley – Automatic Writing [Reissue/1979] LP (Lovely Music)
Over the course of Robert Ashley’s career his preoccupation with language and the voice took many forms. He became known in his librettos as a wonderful, funny, moving writer. But with Automatic Writing he examines language at a very primitive level – the human impulse make sounds to express his inner state, whether it be regret, embarrassment, fear, or happiness – even though there is no one else to listens.
Chet Baker – The Legendary Riverside Albums 5xLP (Craft Recordings)
Few musicians have embodied the romantic, and ultimately tragic, jazz figure as totally as Chesney Chet Baker (1929-88). Unschooled yet eloquent in his music, the Baker mystique has only reinforced one of the most haunting trumpet styles and ingenuous approaches to jazz singing. The Legendary Riverside Albums is a collection that features four legendary Chet albums released in the late ’50s on Riverside Records, plus a bonus LP with choice outtakes and alternates from Baker’s Riverside sessions.
Benny The Butcher – The Plugs I Met LP (Next/Black Soprano Family)
Released last July on CD – now available on vinyl. New full-length from Benny The Butcher, featuring: Pusha T, Black Thought, Jadakiss, Conway The Machine, RJ Payne and more plus beats by Alchemist, Daringer, DJ Shay, and more.
Betraying The Martyrs – Rapture LP (Sumerian)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. For fans of August Burns Red, Asking Alexandria, Born Of Osiris.
Better Oblivion Community Center – Little Trouble b/w Sleepwalkin’ Daydreamin’ Version 7”+MP3 (Dead Oceans)
Two new tracks from band featuring Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst.
Blood Sweat & Tears – Child Is The Father To The Man [Reissue/1968] LP (Sundazed)
Blood, Sweat & Tears’ seminal 1968 debut Child Is Father To The Man is generally acknowledged as the band’s greatest and most adventurous work. The group’s only album under the leadership of founding keyboardist/singer Al Kooper, this one-of-a-kind classic features a unique fusion of psychedelic/jazz/blues/classical.
Blu & Damu The Fudgemunk – Ground & Water LP (Redefintion)
After collaborating in different ways over the years, the two joined forces for a release that’s every bit as dope as you’d hope considering who’s involved. From the Los Angeles rapper’s tight-as-ever rhymes to the Washington, D.C. native’s crunchy production, Ground & Water captures exactly why Blu and Damu are so revered.
Blueboy – Unisex [Reissue/1994] LP (A Colorful Storm)
Vinyl reissue of a Sarah Records classic. The first vinyl issue since 1994, Unisex has gained an immense cult following in all corners of the world and stands as an almost forgotten pinnacle of pop songwriting. “A raw, gentle, bruised sort of record that’s built for swooning emotions and grey-skied walks.”
Peter Brown – Thousands On A Raft [Reissue/1970] LP (Alternative Fox)
London-based poet Pete Brown made a name for himself after joining Mike Horovitz’s New Departures art group in the early 1960s, leading to a residency at The Marquee and a 1965 appearance at the Royal Albert Hall. Brown began co-writing lyrics for Cream the following year after a request from drummer Ginger Baker, yielding tremendous hits such as Sunshine of Your Love, White Room, and I Feel Free. Following encouragement from keyboardist Graham Bond (in whose band Baker had been before Cream), Brown began fielding demo recordings, leading to a contact with EMI’s progressive imprint, Harvest. Thousands On A Raft, the group’s debut album for the label, clocks in at the hard-rock and experimental jazz edge of prog.
Cabaret Voltaire – Methodology ‘74/’78 Attic Tapes 7xLP (Mute)
Methodology ‘74/’78 Attic Tapes charts the development of Cabaret Voltaire, starting from their early experimental period of ‘74/’75. Included on the release are the original recordings of classics such as “Nag Nag Nag”, “No Escape”, “The Set Up”, “Baader Meinhof”, “Here She Comes Now” and “Do The Mussolini (Headkick)” all later re-recorded with new equipment and released by Rough Trade in the late ‘70s. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
The Jim Carroll Band – Catholic Boy [Reissue/1980] LP (Fat Possum)
The late, great Jim Carroll, who once roomed with Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe, found fame with his 1980 punk masterpiece Catholic Boy and its singles, “People Who Died” and “It’s Too Late”, and whose tough teen years led to a cult-classic memoir – not to mention a subsequent movie adaptation starring Leonardo DiCaprio – called The Basketball Diaries.
Christian Death – Catastrophe Ballet [Reissue/1984] LP (Season Of Mist)
Christian Death – “Ashes” [Reissue/1985] LP (Season Of Mist)
Few albums from any generation can stand the test of time, let alone become the archetype of a genre and measure by which all others are judged. Christian Death’s landmark album second album Catastrophe Ballet is such a recording and a cornerstone of the Gothic/deathrock/post-punk/early punk scenes. Led by charismatic, iconic singer Rozz Williams and guitarist Valor Kand, Christian Death broke rank from their LA punk rock surroundings here, and eschewed raw anger for an elegant, romantic and hypnotic form of art not heard before. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Eric Clapton and Guests – Crossroads Revisited: Selections From The Guitar Festivals 6xLP (WB)
Boasting 40 live tracks, Crossroads Revisited: Selections From The Guitar Festivals includes a selection of landmark performances from all four Crossroads Guitar Festivals, which were held in 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013. A veritable Who’s Who of guitar music can be heard on this set, including Clapton, Jeff Beck, Gary Clark Jr., Robert Cray, Billy F Gibbons, Vince Gill, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, John Mayer, Carlos Santana, Joe Walsh, Ronnie Wood, and Jimmie Vaughan, just to name a few.
Luke Combs – What You See Is What You Get 2xLP (SME Nashville)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. New release from the country superstar. Produced by Scott Moffatt, What You See Is What You Get features 17 songs including the five tracks previously released via Combs’ The Prequel EP earlier this summer.
Company – Epiphanies I-VI 2xLP (Honest Jon’s)
Company – Epiphanies VII-XIII 2xLP (Honest Jon’s)
The second and third parts of a three-part release, which contains all of the free improve music on the original Epiphany release as well as additional material from the same festival. Personnel: Derek Bailey, Julie Tippetts, Moto Yoshizawa, Karen Brookman, Fred Frith, Akio Suzuki, Anne LeBaron and more.
Dark Angel – Darkness Descends [Reissue/1986] LP (Red Music Legacy)
The roots of Dark Angel go back to the year 1981 when Don Doty (vocals), Jim Durkin (guitars), Rob Yahn (bass) and Mike Andrade (drums) formed the band in Downey, CA, during the early days of the Bay Area thrash invasion. Their original band name was Shellshock which they changed to Dark Angel in 1983.
The Miles Davis Quintet – The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions 6xLP (Craft Music)
Limited six vinyl LP box set. The 42 tunes that make up Miles Davis’ famed quintet sessions – featuring John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones – have nearly all become classics, and have resulted in several iconic albums. Originally released in 2006, this critically-acclaimed collection returns in vinyl format. Includes a 20-page booklet with notes by Jazz historian Bob Blumenthal. The final LP contains audio recordings from eight TV and radio performances by the quintet.
The Devil’s Daughters – Rebirth + Revelations LP (Cleopatra)
The Devil’s Daughters have been reborn with a new frontwoman, superb vocalist and niece of the legendary Jerry Lee Lewis, Annie Marie Lewis. Originally formed in 2011 by singer Mysti Moon and joined a year later by the incredible guitar slingin’ six-string shooter Danny B. Harvey, The Devil’s Daughters recorded two EPs that are combined on this vinyl album.
Diabolical Masquerade – Death’s Design [Reissue/2001] LP (Peaceville)
From Katatonia mastermind Anders ‘Blakkheim’ Nyström, Peaceville presents the fourth and final album from his symphonic extreme metal solo-project, Diabolical Masquerade, which launched onto the scene in 1996 with the release of debut album Ravendusk In My Heart. Death’s Design was first released in 2001 when it was speculated that the album was originally to appear as an actual movie soundtrack before the film was unfortunately cancelled. Past guest musician Dan Swanö featured alongside Blakkheim as a more prominent and involved contributor to this black metal horror soundtrack.
Dome – Dome 4: Will You Speak This Word [Reissue/1983] LP (Editions Mego)
With the demise of the group Wire in 1980, founding members Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis joined forces to create Dome. With the assistance of engineer Eric Radcliffe and his Blackwing Studio Dome took the ethic of “using the studio as a compositional tool” and recorded and released three Dome albums on their own label in the space of 12 months: Dome (July, 1980), Dome 2 (October, 1980), and Dome 3 (October 1981). A final fourth album, Dome 4: Will You Speak This Word was released on the Norwegian Uniton label in May 1983. These albums represent some of the most beautifully stark and above all timeless exercises in studio experimentation from early 1980s alternative music scene.
The Dream Syndicate – The Days Of Wine And Roses [Reissue/1982] LP+12”+7” (Fire America)
An exceptional early ’80s guitar-powered gem, remastered in full and includes the band’s debut indie EP and both tracks from main protagonist Steve Wynn’s earlier combo 15 Minutes. The Days Of Wine And Roses is as timelessly potent as the records that inspired it.
Dreamville/J.Cole – Revenge Of The Dreamers III 2xLP (J.Cole/Dreamville)
Dreamville and J. Cole’s third compilation album features contributions from Dreamville artists, J. Cole, Bas, Cozz, Omen, Lute, Ari Lennox, EarthGang, and J.I.D. The album features appearances from several artists including DaBaby, T.I, Young Nudy, Buddy, Reason, Maxo Kream, Mez, Vince Staples, Ty Dolla Sign, Dreezy, Smino, Saba, and Guapdad 4000, among others. Features production from a variety of record producers, including T-Minus, Christo, Elite, Bink!, Deputy, Henny Tha Bizness, Hollywood JB, ChaseTheMoney, Pyrex, Galimatias, Pluss, Kal Banx, and Cam O’bi, among others.
Edward Sizzerhand – A Taste Of Honey LP (Beat Art Department)
Sizzerhand loves beats and bees, and this is reflected in his first instrumental project, in which Edward Sizzerhand composed various honeys to beats. [Limited translucent honey colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Enhet För Fri Musik – Det Finns Ett Hjärta Som För Dig [Reissue/2017] LP (Grapefruit)
Enhet För Fri Musik is a free-folk and experimental music collective formed in 2015 in Gothenburg, Sweden. The band features assorted members of the current Swedish underground from bands like Neutral, Makthaverskan, Arv & Miljö, and Blod.
Roky Erickson – Clear Night For Love [Reissue/1985] LP (Alternative Fox)
Originally released by France’s New Rose label in small numbers, mini-album Clear Night For Love found Erickson back in semi-psychedelic/country rock mode on opening track “You Don’t Love Me Yet”, the plaintive “Starry Eyes”, and the anthem-like title track, while “The Haunt” is more in swamp/horror rock vein and Don’t Slander Me has heavy blues leanings.
Exodus – Bonded By Blood [Reissue/1985] LP (Red Music Legacy)
Exodus – Pleasures In The Flesh [Reissue/1987] LP (Red Music Legacy)
Exodus – Fabulous Disaster [Reissue/1988] LP (Red Music Legacy)
Vinyl reissues of the San Francisco thrash metal band’s first three albums. [Limited colored vinyl pressings also available.]
Fit For An Autopsy – The Sea Of Tragic Beasts LP (Nuclear Blast)
Standard black vinyl pressing. New Jersey six-piece band Fit For An Autopsy deliver their fifth studio album, The Sea Of Tragic Beasts which is introduced by lead single “Mirrors”. Producer, guitarist, principal songwriter and co-founder Will Putney comments, “You carry things with you, for better or worse. ‘Mirrors’ illustrates the darker side of this idea. It’s also a testament to how the decisions you make can have a resonating effect on the ones around you. Clearly this song was born out of a personal struggle, but in end it’s a reflection on the greater human condition of love and dependency; not being able to release yourself from the darkness around you. Our new record dives head-on into some difficult topics, ‘Mirrors’ is the tip of the iceberg.”
Flee Lord & Eto – Rockamerikkka LP (Air Vinyl)
Collaborative album Rocamerikkka LP continues Eto’s busy year, which has already seen him release projects with DJ Muggs and Superior. The set includes 10 tracks with production by DJ Green Lantern, V Don, JR Swiftz and TrickyTrippz, among others. 38 Spesh and singer Imanii Skyy make guest appearances on the album.
Foreigner – Double Vision: Then And Now 2xLP+Blu-ray (earMUSIC)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Recorded in 2018, Foreigner’s Double Vision: Then And Now celebrates the 40th anniversary of the band’s multi-platinum 1978 album Double Vision with a masterful live performance of their biggest hits, filmed at Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort, Mount Pleasant, MI.
Terry Fox – Linkage [Reissue/1982] LP (Etats-Unis)
Terry Fox was a first-generation Bay Area conceptual artist. Beginning in the 1970s, he worked extensively with sound, especially the use of piano wires detached from their native instrument and anchored between opposing walls of the performance space. Linkage, Fox’s first album, was originally released in 1982 to accompany an installation at Kunstmuseum Luzern in Switzerland. Side one links five ways of playing the piano wires: drumming, pulling, bowing, beating and scraping. The room itself acts as a type of natural resonator as Fox moves the wires with padded mallet, his bare fingers, violin bow, wooden shish kebab stick and rusted metal rod. The effect of such plain arrangements can be utterly hypnotizing. The second half of Linkage was recorded in the attic of Künstlerhaus Bethanien, West Berlin, in May 1981. A thirty-three meter long wire was held in contact with a sardine tin. Over the course of 20 minutes, pulsating drones dissolve into rhythmic patterns that sound almost synthetic in origin.
Gang Starr – One Of The Best Yet LP (Gang Starr Ent.)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The seventh and final album from iconic hip-hop duo. The 16-track album, their first since 2003, was produced entirely by DJ Premier with vocals from the one and only Guru, recorded before his death in 2010. Album guests include Q-Tip, Talib Kweli, Royce Da 5′ 9, Ne-Yo, M.O.P., Jeru The Damaja, Big Shugg, Freddie Foxx, and J. Cole.
Generationals – Actor-Caster [Reissue/2011] LP+MP3 (Polyvinyl)
Generationals – Trust/Lucky Numbers [Reissue/2010/2012] LP+MP3 (Polyvinyl)
Limited colored vinyl pressings of the Generationals’ second LP and two album-era singles collected on one LP. “Ted Joyner and Grant Widmer court their catchy tunes in uncomplicated ways, creating minor, genre-spanning songs that oddly locate the same sort of similar kind of grinning, crowd-pleasing affability. The dusty guitar boogie of ‘Ten-Twenty-Ten’, which could pass for an early Phoenix track, is a great guidepost, showcasing the band’s proclivity for lively rhythmics and frill-less, friendly hooks. From the Graceland-indebted bop of ‘I Promise’ to the jerky, life-affirming thump of highlight ‘You Say It Too’, Genrationals trade in a number of types of hooks. Even when they step outside their contort zone a little, like on the twinkling, MGMT-esque love song ‘Yours Forever’, they do so with poise and clarity.” – Pitchfork
Rachel Grimes – The Way Forth 2xLP (Temporary Residence)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The Way Forth, a new folk opera from Rachel Grimes, encompasses lush layers of voices and orchestrations in an experiential, non-linear investigation highlighting perspectives of Kentucky women from 1775 to today. Inspired by a treasure-trove of family documents, photos, and letters spanning several generations, Grimes began in 2016 to research some of the more vexing questions that came to the surface about these people, places, and events. Fueled by intuition, travel to visit family, photographing, and filming present day rural Kentucky life, the research led to many more questions: What is missing? What is not being said here? What did she really think and feel?
Gas – Pop [Reissue/2000] 3xLP (Kompakt)
Vinyl reissue of Wolfgang Voigt’s third album under his Gas moniker. “Previous releases like Zauberberg and Köenigsforst adhered to a strict formula of sampled symphonic passages (sometimes described as Wagnerian, though they could be from anywhere) swirling atop an incessant 50Hz bass thump. On Pop, Voigt switches things up. Gone are the gloomy samples, and the signature bass heartbeat appears on but two of these seven long tracks. Instead of containing linear motion, Pop is an exercise in sonic texture.”
Ariana Grande – Yours Truly [Reissue/2013] 2xLP (Republic)
Ariana Grande – My Everything [Reissue/2014] 2xLP (Republic)
Ariana Grande – Dangerous Woman [Reissue/2016] 2xLP (Republic)
Vinyl reissues of the first three albums from the Grammy Award-nominated, multi-platinum superstar.
Steve Hauschildt – Nonlin LP (Ghostly Int’l)
Developed and recorded in several studios during and around the edges of tour – Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Tbilisi, and Brussels – this material emulates an alienating encounter with a smattering of places, a replicant of culture shock, a solitary and stark experience with uncanny environments, melody and dissonance as oblique locales. Nonlin finds Hauschildt evolving his palette of tools, integrating modular and granular synthesis. The improvisatory and generative nature of modular systems, when paired with his signature grid-oriented and hand-played techniques, guides these compositions slightly out of line to hypnotic effect. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Joe Henry – The Gospel According To Water LP (earMUSIC)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Songwriter/composer/producer Joe Henry is a hyperliterate storyteller, drawing an author’s eye for the overlooked detail across a broad swath of American musical styles – folk, rock, jazz and blues – and rendering genre modifiers useless. Working with an incredibly diverse range of musicians – from Elvis Costello to Ornette Coleman to Richie Havens – Henry has produced four Grammy-winning records: Don’t Give Up On Me (Solomon Burke), Genuine Negro Jig (Carolina Chocolate Drops), A Stranger Here (Ramblin’ Jack Elliott), and Slipstream (Bonnie Raitt). Henry shares his personal reflections on the origins of his new album, The Gospel According To Water: “The album was recorded over two days this past June, and fairly by accident, when I thought I was merely making demos of thirteen new songs ahead of forgetting them – all but two written between Valentine’s and Father’s Day; all having flowered from the black earth of recent experience – namely a cancer diagnosis late last fall that left me reeling – though, as well, set into motion many blessings and positive shifts in my life, as well as an unprecedented songwriting flurry.”
John Lee Hooker Featuring Earl Hooker – If You Miss ‘Im … I Got ‘Im [Reissue/1790] LP (Elemental Music)
Another must have album from the legendary bluesman John Lee Hooker. On this LP, John is joined by his cousin Earl Hooker. A blues icon with a formidable slide technique, Earl died shortly after this session. The other key figure on this date was organ player Big Moose Walker.
Hurt Valley – Glacial Pace LP (Woodsist)
During a trip to Death Valley, California in 2010, two friends decided to drive an old Saturn station wagon down a four-wheel drive road into the wilderness. After a few hours of driving through the canyons, ever so slowly so not to bottom out the car, they came upon a clearing. It was filled with burned out vehicle carcasses and double wide trailers that had all been shot at, set on fire, vandalized, and finally left to become relics of the desert. It was surreal in the sunset of painted rocks and dead silence. Upon returning home to an A-frame house in Sugarloaf California, Brian Collins started Hurt Valley as a recording project. Many ideas and songs were fleshed out next to a wood burning stove and firelight. Fast forward a few more years, and with a relocation to Los Angeles in 2014, Hurt Valley became a routinely worked on project. What happened next, along with the comings and goings of many different friends and neighbors, was the recording of a series of songs over the course of a few years. Days, nights and weekends, and anytime in between, songs were crafted and recorded in a living room, in an apartment, in Los Angeles. This is what would become Glacial Pace, an album that is part memoir, part dream, part feeling-good, bad, and in between.
Iconoclast – Domination Or Destruction LP (Sealed Records)
Iconoclast was part of the early ’80s American peace punk scene – idealistic bands highly influenced by Crass which shined amongst the heavily nihilistic California punk scene of the era. Iconoclast’s sound was in tune with Discharge, early Antisect, or Wretched while lyrically the songs were political and to the point. Domination Destruction collects the band’s entire discography. [Limited white colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Iggy & The Stooges – Death Trip [Reissue/1988] LP (Revenge)
A mix of songs recorded in 1973 during rehearsals before the release of the famous and unmissable Raw Power.
Mick Jagger – She’s The Boss [Reissue/1985] LP (UMe)
Mick Jagger – Primitive Cool [Reissue/1987] LP (UMe)
Mick Jagger – Wandering Spirit [Reissue/1993] LP (UMe)
Mick Jagger – Goddessinthedoorway [Reissue/2001] 2xLP (UMe)
Vinyl reissues of the Rolling Stones frontman’s first four (and only) solo albums.
Etta James – Queen Of Soul [Reissue/1965] LP (Elemental)
Vinyl reissue of the sixth studio album by blues artist.
Cody Jinks – The Wanting After The Fire 3xLP (Late August)
Now available on vinyl. Cody Jinks follows up his 2018 album Lifers with two new albums: After The Fire and The Wanting, both released via the Texas songwriter’s own label, Late August Records. A former thrash-metal singer, Jinks has become one of outlaw country’s most popular new stars, amassing a passionate base of fans who gravitate to his blue-collar brand of lived-in country music and his fierce DIY aesthetic. “I tried to play the game a long time ago, I tried to do the clean-cut thing,” Jinks told Rolling Stone of his indie approach. “I talked to some people who wanted to shelve me for a developmental deal, but it just wasn’t a route I could see myself going down. Too much hand tying.” [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Samuel Jonathan Johnson – My Music [Reissue/1978] LP (Be With)
My Music is a stellar spiritual soul/jazz-funk gem, recorded by keyboardist-singer Samuel Jonathan Johnson in 1978. The epitome of a cult classic, it didn’t do much upon its release but steadily found an audience over the decades that followed. This is music that shares the jazzy R&B; DNA of contemporaries like Roy Ayers and is an intoxicating blend of mellow moments and more groove-heavy tracks. Spacey keys and lush production give it a luxurious, enveloping warmth.
The Juan Maclean – Future Will Come 2xLP+MP3 (DFA)
The Juan Maclean is a Brooklyn, NY based DJ and producer who has been a mainstay of the New York club scene, as well as maintaining a rigorous international touring schedule, since the release of his first records on the DFA record label in 2002. DFA offers up a colored vinyl double-LP reissue of The Juan Maclean’s 2009 album The Future Will Come. “Thoughtful dancefloor fare…a cosmic, contemporary Human League (The Guardian). “A dance album evolved to the point that even a robot could come around on its human potency” (Tiny Mix Tapes).
Mark Kozelek & Petra Haden – Joey Always Smiled LP (Caldo Verde)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Mark Kozelek teams up with violinist and singer Petra Haden for a new LP. Along with Haden, it features contributions from Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley, character actor Kevin Corrigan, regular Kozelek collaborator Ben Boye, and more. And following six originals with very Kozelekian song titles, the record closes out with a folky, beautifully spare cover of Huey Lewis & The News’ immortal Back To The Future soundtrack hit “The Power Of Love”.
Steve Lacy, Alvin Curran, and Frederic Rzewki – Threads [Reissue/1977] LP (Alternative Fox)
Playing in Dixieland jazz bands during his teens and then passing through some Kansas City jazz acts, New York-born alto saxophonist Steve Lacy became associated with the avant-garde jazz movement from the mid-1950s, playing on free jazz pianist Cecil Taylor’s influential debut LP and early work by the Canadian pianist Gil Evans, before serving a long tenure with the idiosyncratic improv pianist Theolonius Monk, whose work he would continue to reference throughout his career.
Miranda Lambert – Wildcard LP (SME Nashville)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl., Seventh studio album by the country music artist. Features the single “It All Comes Out In The Wash”.
The Mamas And The Papas – The Complete Singles 2xLP (Real Gone Music)
A double-LP, 31-track set that brings together the A and B side of every single the group released, all in their rare mono single mixes.
Kevin Max – Romeo Drive LP (Old Bear)
Romeo Drive continues to build on this musical legacy by incorporating ‘80s pop synthesizers and programmed new wave beats with unique 16 bit console sounds to provide the foundations for Kevin’s poetic and haunting delivery that ties the project together to make it feel both nostalgic and futuristic all at the same time.
Donna McGhee – Make It Last Forever [Reissue/1978] LP (Wewantsounds)
Donna McGhee has been one of the key female singers of the New York disco scene, gracing several cult albums with her superb singing.
The Milk Carton Kids – The Only Ones 10” (Milk Carton Kids)
The Milk Carton Kids return with the new 10″ vinyl EP, The Only Ones, which follows up 2018’s All The Things That I Did And All the Things That I Didn’t Do – dubbed “practically irresistible” by NPR. The new project speaks to the core of what The Milk Carton Kids are about musically – the duo. Off the heels of their last, full band effort, The Only Ones brings them back to their roots.
Lloyd Miller With The Press Keys Quartet And The Lloyd Miller Trio – Oriental Jazz [Reissue/1968] LP (Now Again)
On Oriental Jazz, Miller sought to combine a cool, modal style with the exotic arrays of instruments and styles that he had picked up during his travels. Traces of Bill Evans, Stan Getz and Jimmy Giuffre rub shoulders with Persian santur, Arab oud and Turkish saz music.
Muse – Origins Of Muse Of Muse 4xLP+9xCD (WB)
Deluxe box set containing nine CDs, four colored vinyl LPs, 48-page booklet, and more, released in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the band’s debut album Showbiz. Includes in depth interview and 40 unreleased tracks.
Nolan The Ninja – Illphoria 2 LP (Mello Music)
Earning his reputation while working alongside the likes of Royce Da 5’9″, Quelle Chris, Denmark Vessey, Guilty Simpson, Phat Kat, Chris Orrick and more, Detroit raised musician Nolan The Ninja returns with a new instrumental album showcasing his lo-fi brand of hip-hop. Includes guest appearances by legendary west coast emcee Blu and fellow Detroiter Semi Six.
Klaus Nomi – Klaus Nomi [Reissue/1981] LP (Real Gone Music)
Klaus Nomi was a fixture in the late-’70s NYC East Village performance art scene, but his big coming-out party was when he performed alongside David Bowie on Saturday Night Live in 1979. It wasn’t easy to out-alien The Man Who Fell to Earth, but Nomi’s demented harlequin act complete with plucked, Elsa Lanchester-like eyebrows, whiteface and widow’s peak – not to mention a pink poodle doll pal – pulled it off (Nomi often claimed he was from outer space). That got Nomi signed to RCA, where he recorded two studio albums (and adopted the oversized plastic tux that Bowie wore when he sang “The Man Who Sold the World” on SNL) before succumbing to AIDS in 1983 at the age of 39, one of the first celebrities to die from the disease. [Limited pink colored vinyl pressing available.]
Nurse With Wound – Trippin’ Musik 3xLP (United Dirter)
Nurse With Wound has been Steven Stapleton’s main musical outlet for 40 years. He has also appeared on records by other artists and worked as a producer, remixer and, more recently, a critically acclaimed soundtrack composer. As well as his musical output Stapleton is a highly accomplished and renowned painter and sculptor often working under the guise of Babs Santini. Nurse With Wound’s Trippin’ Musik is a new colored triple vinyl LP box set comprised of all new material and features no track listing (no Side A, B, etc). This music is to be played in whichever order the listener wants to.
Overkill – Feel The Fire [Reissue/1985] LP (Megaforce)
Limited edition shaped picture disc of the thrash metal band’s debut album.
David Porter – Victim Of The Joke?….An Opera [Reissue/1971] LP (Craft Recordings)
Listed as one of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time by Rolling Stone, Porter established his career at Stax, working alongside writing partner Isaac Hayes. The ambitious Victim Of The Joke?….An Opera stands as a testament to Porter’s endless creative spirit. The album pairs original pop-infused soul music and covers (including an infectious rendition of the Beatles’ “Help!”) with interludes of dialogue to tell the story of a love affair.
Possessed – Seven Churches [Reissue/1985] LP (Red Music Legacy)
Few bands have done more to push the boundaries of extreme metal than the legendary Possessed. Even fewer can create a unique style which continues to set them apart from all others by being the very first in a genre they laid the foundation for. Possessed are by definition, one of the pillars of death metal.
Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band – Nightmare Forever LP (Castleface)
For fans of Embryo, the Mothers, Pink Floyd, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Moody Blues, the Stark Reality, and Placebo. They’re from Austin, Texas, but you’d swear it’s from 1972 Europa-Mothership.
Donovan Quinn – Absolom LP (Soft Abuse)
Fourth full length release from Donovan Quinn (Skygreen Leopards/New Bums). Coming out of the psychedelic underground school of ’01, Quinn has slowly built an idiosyncratic catalogue that combines obsessive long-form metaphors and oblique arrangements with simple song structures.
The Raincoats – The Raincoats [Reissue/1979] LP (Kill Rock Stars)
Widely acclaimed as one of the musical highlights of the post punk period and a breakthrough moment for women in music, The Raincoats self-titled debut was recorded in 1979 by Ana da Silva, Gina Birch, Palmolive and Vicky Aspinall and produced by Geoff Travis and Mayo Thompson. The group created a sound here that, while inspired by punk and rock music that had come before it, was uniquely and uncompromisingly powerful and female, and which has held a fascination over all those lucky enough to stumble across it. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Screaming Females – Ugly [Reissue/2012] 2xLP (Don Giovanni)
Screaming Females – Rose Mountain [Reissue/2015] LP (Don Giovanni)
Screaming Females’ seven years as a band, four full-length albums and 700 globe-spanning live shows has made them difficult to miss. Through it all, the New Brunswick, New Jersey trio have continued to exude a frenetic energy which is built upon the zeitgeist of America’s punk and indie underground yet has always remained forward-looking.
Showbiz & A.G. – Full Scale [Reissue/1998] 12” (D.I.T.C.)
Released last week on CD – now available on vinyl. Diggin In The Crates (D.I.T.C.) was born out of a group of artists who began making noise in the late ’80s and into the next decade and beyond-namely Lord Finesse, Diamond D, and Fat Joe. After well-received albums, an official, wider collective was founded that also included O.C., Big L, Buckwild, and producer-rapper combo, Show & A.G. (originally known as Showbiz & A.G.). The crew proceeded to drop a run of sublime records, including Show & A.G.’s Soul Clap EP (1992), their full-length debut Runaway Slave (1992), followed by Goodfellas in 1995. Show & A.G.’s next project, Full Scale, arrived in 1998 and featured appearances from O.C., KRS-One, Big Pun, the Ghetto Dwellas and verses from members of D.I.T.C. including Diamond D, Big L and Lord Finesse.
Snow Patrol – Reworked 2xLP (Republic)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Issued in celebration of the band’s 25th anniversary, Reworked presents thirteen re-envisioned versions of Snow Patrol classics including “Run”, “You’re All I Have”, “Chasing Cars”, “Take Back The City”, “Crack The Shutters” and “Called Out In The Dark” plus three new songs.
Carl Stone – Baroo LP (Unseen Worlds)
“I have always been searching for a way to articulate the intangible area between the recognizable and the unfathomable, a feeling perhaps informed by some long-abandoned experiments with psychedelics. This has been a continued pursuit starting with my tape experiments in the 1970’s until the present, with technological evolution driving new ways of expression. With the exception of ‘Xé May’, which is performed on an Elektron Octatrack, these pieces were constructed for live performance using a laptop computer running programs I have built in the MAX programming language.”
Stone Harbour – Emerges [Reissue/1974] LP (Out-Sider)
Two multi-instrumentalists creating a melancholic dreamlike state with songs fading in and out of the speakers, cavemen drums, primitive electronics and murky fuzz lurking in the background. The best tracks go into places no other albums reach. Songs fade in and out; finger-picking blurs into screaming squelching synths; guitars melt in the mid-summer heat.
Hiromasa Suzuki Trio – Primrose [Reissue/1978] LP (Le Très Jazz Club)
Hiromasa Suzuki is a Japanese pianist who began his recording career in the early ’70s. Nicknamed Colgen in Japan, he is well-known for two amazing records combining jazz-fusion and traditional Japanese instruments (Rock-Joint Biwa and Rock-Joint Cipher on the RCA label), jazz-funk oriented albums (High-Flying and Skip Step Cogen), and the famous record from the Electro Keyboard Orchestra, his band along with other famous Japanese pianists Yuji Ohno and Hideo Ichikawa. But Hiromasa Suzuki was also interested in more classical jazz. In 1978 he released Primrose on the Union label. It’s a beautiful record of modal jazz, with Nobuyoshi Ino on bass and Steve Jackson on drums.
Johnnie Taylor – Who’s Making Love [Reissue/1968] LP (Craft Recordings)
In 1968, Johnnie Taylor ‘s provocative single “Who’s Making Love” gave the newly independent Stax Records its first major hit. The song peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and helped to bolster the label’s profile. The album Who’s Making Love was released months later, and not only featured the title track but also an irresistible collection of bluesy songs penned by Booker T. Jones, Bettye Crutcher, Steve Cropper and the inimitable team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter.
Termanology/Dame Grease – Set In Stone LP (Tuff Kong)
Two music legends, Termanology and Dame Grease, present their full length collaborative album, Set in Stone. “Term and I hooked up on the “Its Quiet” record (from Term’s More Politics album) a couple years back and that lead us to creating Set In Stone. We wanted to make records that our fan base would respect and have enough of a worldwide vibe for the universe to appreciate,” explains Dame. Adds Term, “This is my most diverse project. Every song is different. I got boom bap joints, lyrical joints, R&B records, political records, even a song about fighting alcoholism. There is something for everyone on this project.”
Makoto Terashita – Great Harvest [Reissue/1978] LP (Le Très Jazz Club)
Pianist Makoto Terashita has only released three records under his name during his career. Topology with Harold Land, on the great indie Japanese label Aketa (1984), Ihatov, a trio, with only one of his composition (1997), and Great Harvest. Released in 1978 on the Japanese label Union, Great Harvest is the first record of a then young Makoto Terashita who proudly poses on the back cover of this album recorded in New York. In five tracks, Makoto Terashita shows an exceptional mastery of the piano, accompanied by Bob Berg on tenor sax, Errol Walter on bass, Jo Jones Jr on drums, and Yoshiaki Masuo on guitar.
Prins Thomas – Ambitions Remixes I 12” (Smalltown Supersound)
Prins Thomas – Ambitions Remixes II 12” (Smalltown Supersound)
Two 12”s of remixes from Thomas’s recently released sixth album, Ambitions.
Urinals – Pin The Needles LP (Harbinger Sound)
The first official live Urinals LP, released a mere 40 years after being recorded in 1979.
Various Artists – Strictly The Best Vol. 60 LP (VP)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Strictly the Best Vol. 60 on vinyl LP is the only place to find many of these songs on the format. A sure win for reggae DJs and vinyl collectors, STB 60 presents the best lover’s, roots and dancehall including exclusive tracks from Tessanne Chin and Noah Powa (feat. Shams The Producer).
Vatican Shadow – Kuwaiti Airforce [Reissue/2012] 2xLP (Hospital Productions)
The rarest of all Vatican Shadow’s tape releases (only 25 were made), Kuwaiti Airforce now appears on double vinyl alongside obscure cuts and previously unreleased collaborations with Silent Servant and Demdike Stare in the fourth vinyl collection of early, hard-to-find VS editions.
Walk Off The Earth – Here We Go LP (Walk Off The Earth)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. A collection of songs about life, love, loss and straight-up kicking ass. Ranging from top 40 pop and organic folk ballads, to EDM rises and drops, Here We Go touches on many modern genres but still stays true to Walk Off The Earth’s signature sound.
Whitechapel – The Valley LP (Metal Blade)
Standard black vinyl pressing. Since their 2007 debut, The Somatic Defilement, Whitechapel’s output has been mired in darkness, but they have never inhabited blacker territory than on their seventh full-length, The Valley. “Lyrically, emotionally, melody wise, there are not many ‘happy’ sounding parts on this record,” states guitarist Alex Wade. “Our last album, Mark Of The Blade (2016) did not sound exactly ‘happy’ either, but the majority of those songs did not have much emotion or vibe behind them, they were just straightforward metal songs. These songs have a darker, more melancholic presentation to them.” The valley of the title relates to the part of Hardin Valley, west of Knoxville, TN, where vocalist Phil Bozeman grew up. Set against this backdrop, he approaches the hardships of his childhood unflinchingly, building upon everything that came before, making it clear that he has survived that which he was forced to endure and is not afraid to confront it. “It’s all about me as a child, and some of it is me looking back on that time from the perspective of now,” he explains.
Richard Youngs/Raül Refree – All Hands Around The Moment LP (Soft Abuse)
For their first meeting, Richard Youngs (Glasgow) and Raül Refree (Barcelona) have created a suite of stately, circular longform songs that manage to connect Tim Buckley’s Happy Sad to Federico García Lorca to plainsong liturgy. The largely acoustic and quietly urgent All Hands Around The Moment finds Youngs in an impassioned and emotional space he’s rarely inhabited since Sapphie, elevated by lush chamber folk/jazz compositions that incorporate piano, guitar and more, performed by both Youngs and Refree.
Yungblud – Underrated Youth 12”(Geffen)
Released last week on CD – now available on vinyl. New mini-album from the buzzy British singer-songwriter/punk rocker. Deluxe edition also available. [Vinyl edition due December 6.]
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