CDs + Vinyl:
Adept – Sleepless CD (Napalm)
These Swedes have been around since 2004, creating a diverse brand of post hardcore/metalcore.
After The Burial – Dig Deep CD (Sumerian)
Fifth studio album by the deathcore/prog metal band.
Aluk Todolo – Voix CD (Ajna Offensive)
This rhythmic, dissonant instrumental trio burrow into dark avenues of occult rock. They began working on Voix after the release of their previous album in 2012. It’s one piece divided in six parts, composed as a multi-directional labyrinth with a constantly changing map. The focus this time is on precision, the space between the notes and beats, articulations, pulse, breath and resonances.
Animal Collective – Painting With CD/LP+MP3 (Domino)
“Animal Collective’s tenth album, Painting With, reunites the Merriweather lineup of Lennox, Portner, and Weitz, with Josh Dibb (a.k.a. Deakin) sitting this one out for a side project of his own. Built around modular synths and eccentric percussion instruments, it’s definitely in line with the group’s style. But one reference point tending to crop up in interviews now is the Ramones; stripping away any husk of reverb or ambient interludes for the very first time, the 12-song, 41-minute set distills Animal Collective’s sound to a potent, hypercolor dose. It’s poppier, in a characteristically warped way, than even Merriweather, the group’s most popular album to date. That’s down to the record’s rarely wavering energy; subtle details abound in the interplay between Lennox and Portner’s near-indistinguishably overlapping yawps, or in the giddy, ping-ponging sonic backdrops, but that’s all a bonus when the songs bounce along like Tigger in a 5 Hour Energy ad.” – SPIN
BJ The Chicago Kid – In My Mind CD (Motown)
In My Mind’s 15 tracks spin a cinematic narrative of sex, drugs, love, and Chi-Town soul. His croon cruises from a sexy come-hither on “The Resume” to the swaggering, yet guilty confession “I got church in the morning” of “Church” (feat. Chance The Rapper). The funkified gospel swoon and scratching of “The New Cupid” sees BJ reunite with longtime collaborator Kendrick Lamar for a different kind of love song declaring, “Cupid’s too busy in the club.” The snappy beat of “Man Down” [feat. Buddy & Constantine] tempers a strut through the hood with organ swells and a haunting chant. The delicate piano of “Shine” gives way to a heavenly refrain, and “Turnin’ Me Up” leaves off with victorious hands in the air.
Seth Bogart – Seth Bogart CD/LP+MP3/Cassette (Burger)
Debut solo album (under his given name) from the L.A. renaissance man features a guest appearance by Katherine Hannah on the track “Eating Makeup”. Other guests include Tavi Gevinson, Cherry Glazerr, and Chela. “Seth Bogart used to be a hairdresser. He spent close to a decade working on clients in the Oakland area. Even after he moved to Los Angeles about four years ago, he traveled back to the Bay Area for occasional appointments. Eventually, he was able to put down the scissors, but memories of the salon have stayed with the musician and artist better known as Hunx, from his bands Gravy Train!!! and Hunx And His Punx. As Hunx, he made a 2012 solo album called Hairdresser Blues that was accompanied by a commercial featuring lots of hair and hand-decorated cans of cream and goop. In Bogart’s work, the remnants of salon life mix with objects of musical obsession.” – L.A. Weekly
David Bragger – Big Fancy CD (Old Time Tiki Parlour)
21 tunes played on a variety of instruments including fiddle, banjo, guitar, bagpipes & pump organ.
Tracey Bryant – Subterranean CD/Cassette (Burger)
“Tracy Bryant, frontman and founder of L.A.’s post-punk experimentalists Corners, debuted his first solo effort in 2014, the split cassette with Billy Changer, appropriately called 2 In 1. Since then, Bryant has been busy mastering and touring with Corners, or so we thought. In January of 2015, Bryant escaped to the Arizona desert to start working on his next album Subterranean with a little help from The Resonars’ Matt Rendon. Cut live with Froth’s Joo-Joo Ashworth and Jeremy Katz, and drummer Cameron Gartung of Mystic Braves, the album was his way of exploring musical boundaries and elaborating on his own prolific style” – What Youth. Vinyl edition due April 15.
Carcass – Surgical Steel & Surgical Remission/Surplus Steel 2xCD (Nuclear Blast)
This double-CD set contains a pair of releases from extreme metal icons Carcass. Surgical Steel is Carcass’s 2013 studio that featured the first songs they recorded since reforming in 2007. The Surgical Remission/Surplus Steel EP contains songs that were recorded during the Surgical Steel sessions.
The Cave Singers – Banshee CD/LP+MP3 (Jagjaguwar)
Banshee brings The Cave Singers back to their original three-piece lineup and also their approach to songwriting: an exchange of Derek Fudesco sending lead vocalist Pete Quirk a riff and Pete responding with vocal ideas. From there, the songs come together. Driving guitars, foot-tapping percussion, and Quirk’s powerful vocals make an intricate quilt that blankets the audience in comfort, aggressively communicating a gentle reminder: we are soft bodies trying to survive with one another.
Cavern Of Anti-Matter – Void Beats/Invocation Trex CD/3xLP+MP3 (Duophonic)
Cavern Of Anti-Matter is the new band from Stereolab mainman Tim Gane, now Berlin-based and collaborating with original Stereolab drummer Joe Dilworth, and synth wizard Holger Zapf. Void Beats/Invocation Trex features contributions from Bradford Cox (Deerhunter/Atlas Sound), Sonic Boom (Spacemen 3), and Jan St. Werner (Mouse On Mars/Lithops).
Cemetery Filth/Ectovoid/Sabbatory/Trenchrot – 4 Doors To Death CD (Unspeakable Axe/Dark Decent)
“I love a good split release. They’re a short, usually inexpensive way to discover new music and support your favorite artists in between bigger releases, and sometimes you strike gold. Unspeakable Axe’s upcoming 4 Doors To Death full-length split offers an excellent collection of modern death metal, and fans of both Horrendous and Chthe’ilist will find something to satisfy (though those seeking singalong choruses or In Flames worship would do well to look elsewhere). There are no weak links or disposable tracks, which says quite a lot about the quality of bands herein.” – Noisey (Music By Vice)
Choir Of Young Believers – Grasque CD/LP+MP3 (Ghostly Int’l)
Having been inspired by everything from experimental electronic music to Danish ’80s and ’90s pop, to modern hip-hop and R&B to techno and Westcoast slow jams, Choir Of Young Believers’ Jannis Noya Makgrigiannis had made a new, imaginary band in his head called Grasque to reflect those influences.
Cortijo – 1969-1971: The Ansonia Years CD/LP (Vampisoul)
The best recordings from a trio of albums by the the famous Puerto Rican/Afro-Cuban percussionist and bandleader – a leading ambassador of bomba and Plena music since the ’50s until his death in 1982.
Robert Crumb/Eden Browler/John Henehgan – John’s Old Time Radio Show 2xCD/3xLP (East River Music)
John’s Old Time Radio Show is a compilation of John Heneghan’s podcast of the same title. This never before released episode features legendary comic artist/record collector Robert Crumb and East River String Band front woman Eden Brower. Robert Crumb and John Heneghan play 78 rpm blues, country, Hawaiian and pop records from their fabulous collections and then along with Eden discuss music, philosophy and the state of the modern world. The record contains some of the greatest forgotten music of the early 20th century including songs by Frank Stokes, Beans Hambone, Piper’s Gap Ramblers, Bukka White, Nelstone’s Hawaiians, Pigmeat Pete & Catjuice Charlie and many others.
Miles Davis – Live In San Juan ’89 CD (Hi Hat)
By the late ’80s Miles Davis had radically overhauled his style yet again, incorporating prominent synthesizers and using an ever-changing cast of young backing musicians. This remarkable set took place in the intimate setting of the Coach House Concert Hall in San Juan Capistrano, California, on June 15, 1989, and was broadcast on American Public Radio. It features just two tracks, a tribute to Jaco Pastorius from Davis’s 1989 Amandla album and the title-track from 1986’s Tutu.
Delain – Lunar Prelude CD (Napalm)
New album from the Dutch symphonic metal band.
DJ Katapila – Troto CD/LP (Awesome Tapes From Africa)
DJ Katapila makes Ga traditional music using electronic sounds instead of live percussion to create his own kind of what he calls house music. In the context of Ghana’s pop music landscape, Katapila’s music is singular. The uptempo, bass-heavy, Roland 808-rooted sounds echo early 1990’s Detroit techno and Chicago acid house more than the contemporary hiplife productions blasting across Ghanaian airwaves currently.
Entrails – Tales From The Morgue [Reissue/2010] CD (Dark Decent)
Reissue of the second album form the Swedish death metal band.
Fire! – She Sleeps, She Sleeps CD (Rune Grammofon)
Fire! Is a Swedish trio comprising Mats Gustafsson (The Thing), Johan Berthling (Tape), and Andreas Werliin (Wildbirds & Peacedrums), which came together with the idea of a fresh approach to improvised music drawing upon a number of influences from free jazz, psychedelic rock, and noise.
Jack Garratt – Phase CD (Interscope)
Winner of the 2016 BRITs Critics Choice Award, Jack Garratt is a London-based multi-instrumentalist songwriter who combines elements from the alternative and electronic genres for a unique sound and live show. “Worry And Water” from his 2014 Remnants EP gained heavy traction online and tipped him as Zane Lowe’s Next Hype, which he followed up with “The Love You’re Given” and “Chemical” from his Synesthesiac EP in early 2015 to acclaim. He recently released Weathered (added to BBC A List for four weeks) and Breathe Life from his forthcoming debut album Phase, which builds on his genre-bending sound and will tip him for ones to watch in 2016. Vinyl version due April 29.
Gazebos – Die Alone CD/LP+MP3/Cassette (Hardly Art)
Gazebos rages against the forces of post-millennial, pre-midlife anxiety and Die Alone is the soundtrack. Given the band’s collision of interests, Die Alone’s manic diversity makes perfect sense. These songs are patchworks of parts conceived individually as demos and woven together collectively during sessions in guitarist T.V. Coahran’s basement—which is also where the album was recorded on 8-track with Seattle garage-rock guru Kurt Bloch as engineer. No song sounds like another and yet the album sustains a dizzying, alluring vibe. It hits you right from the start: Is that vocalist Shannon Perry singing backwards on opener “Just Get High”? Her vocal delivery is bewitchingly unpredictable, the band stretching the song around her like bubblegum. “I Don’t Wanna Be Here” is the album’s punchiest track, clocking in at two minutes thirty seconds, Perry venting some serious girl-power angst; dig the woozy flange on TV Coahran’s guitar throughout.
Stan Getz – Moments In Time CD (Resonance)
Stan Getz/João Gilberto – Getz/Gilberto ’76 CD/LP (Resonance)
Newly discovered music by the Stan Getz Quartet featuring pianist Joanne Brackeen, bassist Clint Houston, and drummer Billy Hart, recorded live in 1976 at the famed San Francisco jazz club Keystone Korner. Captured during a week of performances with the legendary bossa nova innovator João Gilberto, these instrumental recordings document the only time this uniquely adventurous configuration of the Stan Getz Quartet recorded together.
Golden Daze – Golden Daze CD/LP+MP3 (Autumn Tone)
Formed by Ben Schwab and Jacob Loeb, Golden Daze is a collaborative songwriting duo. Inspired by ‘60s melodic rock and contemporaries like Cass McCombs and The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Golden Daze drenches their straightforward earthly pop tunes in ethereal drones and tape flutter.
Skylar Gudasz – Oleander CD (Daniel 13)
A native of Ashland, Va., Gudasz started playing flute at age 5. Her brother taught her to play guitar in elementary school, and she began learning piano on her own a few years later. “With guitar and piano, I was too impatient with authority to listen long enough to learn how to properly play, so I worked my own way through them.” Such individualism helped shape her distinctiveness as a songwriter from the outset. Gudasz studied theater and creative writing at the University of North Carolina, then stuck around in Chapel Hill and Durham post-college after connecting with some of the areas most promising young musicians. Early work with the likes of producer Jeff Crawford (Old Ceremony) and bassist Casey Toll (Mount Moriah) resulted in the 2011 EP Two Headed Monster and a follow-up of B-sides. Together, they served notice of a major new voice in the N.C. Triangles music community.
Nigel Hall – Ladies And Gentlemen… Nigel Hall CD (FEEL Music)
Soul provider Nigel Hall is in many ways an artist who needs no introduction. An in-demand sideman, he’s built a mighty foundation of funk over the years onstage and in the studio with collaborators including the Warren Haynes Band, Jon Cleary, Soulive, Oteil Burbridge and Roosevelt Collier, Ledisi, the Soul Rebels, Lettuce and countless others. Ladies & Gentlemen… Nigel Hall presents a blend of original songs and covers that evoke the timeless sounds of soul and R&B in a contemporary setting. Eric Krasno produced the record and shares songwriting credits on many of the tracks with his fellow Lettuce cohort. Kraz also appears on the album along with ?uestlove, Ivan Neville, Charlie Hunter, James Casey, Maurice Brown, and members of Lettuce.
John Holt – 1000 Volts Of Holt [Reissue/1973] CD (Trojan)
Digitally remastered and expanded edition of the reggae great’s classic 1973 album, expanded with six bonus tracks.
John Lee Hooker – The Great John Lee Hooker [Reissue/1963] CD (Southern Routes)
This disc reveals Hooker’s innate power in all its high-voltage, soulful glory. These 26 classic recordings from the late- ‘40s and early- ‘50s ably demonstrate the majestic artistry which kept him at the blues forefront for the next five decades. This is stuff that profoundly altered the course of popular music, anticipated rock & roll and inspired generations of guitarists to reach out for a chance at conjuring one small shred of the almost mystical, downright hypnotic and profoundly compelling blues truths that came so easily to John Lee Hooker.
Lightnin’ Hopkins – Lightnin’ And The Blues [Reissue/1954] CD (Southern Routes)
These 30 tracks, comprising the original Lightnin’ And The Blues LP and additional songs he cut for Herald Records in April 1954, qualify as the ultimate showcase for Hopkins prodigious blues power. Lightnin’ didn’t just sing the blues, he embodied them; his mesmerizing electric guitar doesn’t just walk and talk it howls, growls and testifies, coiling up and striking out with stinging precision.
Jago – Microphones And Sofas CD (Tru Thoughts)
Inspired by ’90s jungle and ragga MC’s, Microphones And Sofas offers up a reggae and Future dancehall mix which pays its dues to a deep history of sound clash battles and cites current political issues which are hammered home by a forward-thinking future-bass sound and quick-witted and conscious lyrics.
Wendy James – The Price Of The Ticket CD/LP (Wendy James)
Wendy James’ (Transvision Vamp) sophomore solo album was recorded with Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith Group) on guitar, Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols) on bass and James Sclavunos (Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds) on drums.
Jóhann Jóhannsson with Hildur Guðnadóttir and Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe – End Of Summer CD+DVD (Sonic Pieces)
End Of Summer captures Jóhann Jóhannsson’s journey to the Antarctic Peninsula to discover the calm scenery of a landscape changing seasons, barely influenced or even noticed by humanity. The Super 8 film is a comforting study of a peaceful setting in one of the most crucial and endangered areas of our planet. Accompanied by rich and detailed field recordings of the surroundings, this footage forms a perfect foundation for Jóhannsson’s musical compositions, performed together with fellow musicians and friends Hildur Guðnadóttir and Robert A. A. Lowe. The varying use of cello, voice, synthesizer, and electronics creates a listening experience that reflects both the vast beauty of the quiet scenery and the necessary caution of its inhabitants.
Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra – All My Yesterdays: The Debut 1966 Village Vanguard Recordings 2xCD (Resonance)
All My Yesterdays is the first official release of the opening night recordings of the mighty Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra at the legendary Village Vanguard in NYC on February 7, 1966 endorsed by the estates of Thad Jones, Mel Lewis and the Village Vanguard. This double-CD set also includes recordings from March 21, 1966, many of which have never been released before (although some of the recordings were unofficially exploited via a limited bootleg in 2000), and comes with an expansive 92-page book providing rare, previously unpublished photos, historic essays, interviews and memoirs.
Jordan Klassen – Javelin CD/LP (Nevado)
“The indie-pop performer’s latest was tracked at Tornillo, TX’s Sonic Ranch studio, with Klassen performing the bulk of the instruments and handling all production duties. The 10 tracks are described in a press release as being ‘among the most confidently and imaginatively arranged Jordan Klassen has ever recorded.’ On the lyric front, Javelin is said to have Klassen exploring his depression and his mother’s battles with breast cancer. She is currently in remission. Sonically, parts of the set are apparently in the same wheelhouse as Enya, whom Klassen apparently heard a lot of during his formative years. ‘The record is a nod to the ’90s new age music that I grew up with,’ he says. ‘My mom was really into Enya, and I wanted to explore some of those sounds in a very modern way. I wanted to really embrace ethereality.’” – Exclaim
Ulrich Krieger – /RAW:ReSpace/ 2xCD (XI)
Ulrich Krieger’s /RAW:ReSpace/ is the first ever experimental noise-metal saxophone solo album, changing and redefining how the saxophone can sound and what saxophone playing means. No saxophone player has ever dared to explore these uncharted outer realms of woodwind expression. RAW brings together noisescapes, electronica, death- and doom-metal approaches, and contemporary instrumental composition techniques, while ReSpace combines soundscapes of dark ambience and controlled feedback with a reductionist approach to create eerie ambient sound-fields. All sounds are saxophone-produced and performed live, with no sampling and no purely electronic sounds.
Lake Street Dive – Side Pony CD/LP (Nonesuch)
For their Nonesuch Records debut album, Side Pony, Lake Stree Dive (drummer Michael Calabrese, bassist Bridget Kearney, singer Rachael Price, and guitarist/trumpeter Michael “McDuck” Olson) worked with Nashville-based producer Dave Cobb (Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, Secret Sisters). Title track “Side Pony” refers to a whimsical hairstyle, but it also serves as a metaphor for Lake Street Dive’s philosophy and personality as a band. As Kearney puts it, “When we were settling on the album title, that one just stuck out to us as embodying the band’s spirit. We’ve always been this somewhat uncategorizable, weird, outlying, genre-less band. That’s the statement we wanted to make with this record: be yourself.” Olson echoes her sentiment: “It has also come to mean anything you’re doing for the sheer joy of it. We have always ‘rocked our side pony.’ Now we have a convenient phrase for it.” (Limited vinyl copies pressed on colored wax.)
Travis Laplante – Secret Meeting CD/Cassette (NNA Tapes)
Secret Meeting is the result of a collaboration betweenTravis Laplante (tenor saxophone) and Peter Evans (trumpet). Laplante and Evans are each devoted to creating multi-dimensional improvisational spaces, pushing their instruments to the edge in the service of a musical experience that travels beyond the realm of the mind. The deeply mysterious, epic improvisations on Secret Meeting points toward a seemingly ancient relationship between these two boundary-breaking improvisers.
Like Pacific – Distant Like You Asked CD/LP (Pure Noise)
Like Pacific is Toronto’s best kept punk rock secret. Distant Like You Asked is the band’s first proper LP and is a great balance of aggressive punk rock and captivating melody. It’s everything that’s right with pop punk with a little bit more edge than some of their sugary peers.
Lushlife – Ritualize CD/LP (Western Vinyl)
From the moment you hear the bristling boom-bap chorus on album-opener “Totally Mutual Feeling,” it’s apparent that Lushlife’s third full-length finds the Philadelphia rapper-producer at his most introspective. Themes of isolation and mortality permeate Ritualize, a cinematic hour-long odyssey co-produced by enigmatic production trio, CSLSX (pronounced “Casual Sex”) and featuring contributions from Ariel Pink, Killer Mike, Marissa Nadler, RJD2, and more. With CSLSX at the boards, an entire universe opens up for Lush, where the pulsating Juno synths of ’80s L.A. night music sit side-by-side with gorgeously propulsive indie-leaning jams, and low-fi soul burners too. The resulting LP is a post-blog-era joint that seems to exhale the whole of the 20th century in a single, fascinating breath.
Gigi Masin/Alessandro Monti/ Alessandro Pizzin – The Wind Collectors / As Witness Our Hands [Reissue/1991] CD (Diplodisc)
A sumptuous 2+ hour collection of adult contemporary ambient music recorded in Padua, Veneto in Northern Italy between 1989 and 1990, including a lot of material made available for the first time. Spanning glistening electro-acoustic minimalism and heart-melting ambient pop along with moonlit solo piano expressions and loosely refined, hypnagogic new age experiments, they cross lines with everything from David Sylvian to Iasos and Brian Eno, and heck, i’ll say it, at times he definitely sounds like Sting, but, don’t let that dissuade you, because there’s a real tenderness and searching sehnsucht to their music that transcends all of the above.” – Boomkat
Matmos – Ultimate Care II CD/LP+MP3 (Thrill Jockey)
Recorded in the basement studio of their home in Baltimore, Ultimate Care II was constructed entirely out of the sounds generated by a Whirlpool Ultimate Care II model washing machine. Like its namesake, the album runs across its variations as a single, continuous 38-minute experience that starts with the grinding turn of the wash size selection wheel, and ends with the alert noise that signals that the wash is done. Between these audio-verité book-ends, we experience an exploded view of the machine, hearing it in normal operation, but also as an object being rubbed and stroked and drummed upon and prodded and sampled and sequenced and processed by the duo, with some occasional extra help from an ultra-local crew of guest stars (some of whom regularly do laundry chez Matmos). Dan Deacon, Max Eilbacher (Horse Lords), Sam Haberman (Horse Lords), Jason Willett (Half Japanese), and Duncan Moore (Needle Gun) all took part, either playing the machine like a drum, processing its audio, or sending MIDI data to the duo’s samplers.
Pat Metheny/Charlie Haden/Jack DeJohnette – Live Montreal ’89 CD (Hi Hat)
A remastered CD of Canadian radio broadcast live recordings from an explosive 1989 performance. Background notes and images are included.
Monster Truck – Sittin’ Heavy CD/2xLP (Dine Alone Music)
Monster Truck are a Canadian rock band from Hamilton, Ontario. The band won the 2013 Juno Award (Canada’s equivalent of The Grammys) for ‘Breakthrough Group of the Year’ with the release of their debut, Feriocity. Sittin’ Heavy is the group’s second album. “Sittin’ Heavy is packed full of crowd pleasing, groove heavy, crunchy guitar riffs, blistering solos, and infectious rock numbers. Opening tracks include the ferocious ‘Why Are You Not Rocking?’ and ‘Don’t Tell Me How To Live,’ which sets the tone for the rest of the album. A few of the tracks have a retro feel as evidenced by the organ licks of Brandon Bliss, such as ‘She’s A Witch’ where Harvey proclaims, ‘that girl’s got a demon in her soul.’ The atmospheric opening to ‘Black Forest’ conjures up images of Led Zeppelin’s ‘No Quarter;’ at other times he could well be channeling the late great Jon Lord.” – National Rock Review
Motorpsycho – Here Be Monsters CD/LP (Rune Grammofon)
Here Be Monsters started life as a commission for the centennial jubilee of the Norwegian Technical Museum in November, 2014. The music was written for the expanded version of Motorpsycho that features everyone’s favorite keyboardist Ståle Storløkken (Elephant9, Supersilent, Terje Rypdal, etc.). Performed just once, this music clearly had more life in it, and while Ståle’s commitments meant he had to pass on making an album out of it, Bent, Snah and Kenneth have turned it into a full-blown Motorpsycho project.
Michael Nau – Mowing CD/LP (Suicide Squeeze)
“Appalachian singer/songwriter Michael Nau didn’t intend to make an album by himself. Recorded piecemeal on various back porches and down back roads in Burlington, Vermont, Nashville, and his home base of Cumberland, Maryland, his debut solo LP Mowing came together in quiet moments of downtime between polishing earnest jangle-pop gems with his wife as Cotton Jones. ‘While You Stand,’ the album opener, has a similarly homespun texture without the sepia-toned production; it’s just Nau harmonizing with himself, hitting a reedy and resonant hum — surprisingly indelible for such a wisp of a song — that stays lodged in your ear long after its two minutes’ end.” – SPIN
Nightwish – Endless Forms Most Beautiful [Tour Edition] CD+DVD (Napalm)
Deluxe CD+DVD Tour Edition of the symphonic metal band’s 2015 album. The DVD features 11 videos.
nonkeen – The Gamble CD/LP (R&S)
“Composer/producer Nils Frahm’s latest album with his childhood trio nonkeen highlights that Frahm is best when he’s having fun: proposing limitations but then pushing back against them when the musical moment seems to call for it.” – Pitchfork
Buck Owens – Buck ‘Em! The Music Of Buck Owens Volumes One & Two 4xCD (Omnivore)
20 years and 100 tracks spread across four CDs.
Augustus Pablo – Original Rockers [Reissue/1979] CD (VP)
Roots reggae/dub man Augustus Pablo was first introduced to the wider (read: outside Jamaica) world in 1979, with the Original Rockers compilation. Pablo’s melodica sits well with the dubbed rhythms of these tracks. This reissue presents the whole lot again, this time with some rare and heavy extra cuts added into the mix. Vinyl version due March 18.
Tyla J. Pallas – A Treasury Of The King Outlaw: Doubloons And Diamonds Raided From 1995-2015 5xCD+DVD (King Outlaw)
Archival box set set from The Dog’s D’amour frontman. If you don’t know who that is, you’re not alone. The Dogs D’amour is a glam rock band formed in London, England in July 1983 and broke-up around 1990, but briefly reformed in 2000 and again in 2012. Tyla has had an extensive solo career, and has toured with Alice Cooper.
Perversor – Anticosmocrator CD/LP (Hell’s Headbangers)
Firmly committed to the hellish climes of South American black/death madness, Perversor whip up a fury of filthiness and bestiality on Anticosmocrator that could only come from the cult-metal cauldron of Chile.
Burnell Pines – Till The Day I Die CD (The Royal Potato Family)
The Catskill Mountains’ most notable contemporary bard, Burnell Pines, returns with his latest album, Till The Day I Die — a valentine to life in the land where The Band, Van Morrison, and Bob Dylan made legendary music. Burnell taps directly into that tradition with co-producer/drummer Justin Guip, Levon Helm’s three-time Grammy Award-winning producer and right hand man. He’s joined on the recording by keyboardist Marco Benevento, Rachael Yamagata and drummers Joe Magistro (The Black Crowes) and Robert Burke (Toshi Reagon). Vinyl version due April 1.
The Pop Group – For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder? [Reissue/1980] CD/LP (Freaks R Us)
The Pop Group’s arrival on the music scene in 1977 caused such a savagely radical commotion, that they are now seen as one of the most wildly innovative, groundbreaking bands of the whole post-punk era. With mystical fire, enraged by global injustices, the group delivered scathing political and society-indicting messages aboard an apocalyptic roller coaster, ferociously straddling their beloved influences such as free jazz, conscious funk, heavyweight dub and audacious experimentalism.
Rangda – The Heretic’s Bargain CD/LP (Drag City)
“Psychedelia and dark, wicked folklore has always found a special connection in musical ventures. Rangda is no exception: a supergroup comprising fellow Drag City signees Ben Chasny, Sir Richard Bishop and Cris Corsano, who have borrowed their group name from a Balinese demon queen, like a composite creature born from the inner depths of guitar picking. Though its structure remains pretty much the same as Rangda’s first album – just a few long, instrumental guitar and percussions jams – The Heretic’s Bargain, released after four years of silence, takes the band a step further from what they were, with a fuller and more consistent sound, extremely fascinating in its lighter and wider psych approach that now includes a mix of world-folk and does away with vacuous virtuosity.” – Loud And Quiet
Ra Ra Riot – Need Your Light CD/LP+MP3 (Barsuk)
After being a band for a decade, it’s easy to get disillusioned with the tedium of adulthood, but Need Your Light, the fourth full-length from Ra Ra Riot, is the sound of a band being reinvigorated by their own existence. Correspondingly, the album sees the group—which originated in Syracuse but has now dispersed all over the country—getting back to their house party roots without abandoning the more-heady soundscapes they explored with 2013’s Beta Love. The result is an album that’s celebratory without being saccharine, and that sees the group collectively mining their prior experiences to craft something that looks toward the future with an optimistic gaze. “Ra Ra Riot’s journeyed state of identity—adapting to several lost members of the years, incorporating synthesizers to their original baroque pop sound—has managed to culminate in their most balanced record to date.” – Flood Magazine
Blind Alfred Reed – Appalachian Visionary 2xCD+Book+MP3 (Dust-To-Digital)
Born blind on June 15, 1880, in Floyd County, Virginia, Alfred Reed grew up on a West Virginia farm. In the 1920s, when radio became available in his area, Alfred listened to and enjoyed performances by several of the era’s popular singers. Alfred would purchase songbooks and hymnbooks, and his wife Nettie would read the lyrics to him. Because the songs he learned from others did not always express aspects of what he was thinking, feeling, and experiencing, Alfred felt compelled to compose his own songs, and he was exceptionally talented in this endeavor – a craftsman with many things to say. Relying upon his talent to generate money, he gave music lessons, performed at dances and various social and church gatherings, sold printed copies of his own lyrics, and, in 1927 and 1929, made the commercial recordings included on this set. Hardcover 84-page book with CD and streaming/download code.
Sam Riggs – Breathless CD (Deep Creek)
“In the crowded field of independent Texan talents seeking to write, perform, and sell their own distinct takes on modern country music, occasionally a voice jumps above the fray. Or at least gets some serious traction on that uphill climb to being the sort of artist that can pack a venue, light up the radio dials and find their audience through some magical combo of talent, relatability, hard work and the best of luck. Austin musician Sam Riggs has been on that kind of trajectory lately, finding the sweet spot between the crowd-pleasing sound of modern country music and the sort of detail-oriented, personality-driven songwriting that makes his best songs among the more memorable ones to dominate Texas radio in recent years.” – Lonestar Music Magazine
Carrie Rodriguez – Lola CD (Luz)
A bilingual album by Carrie Rodriguez and The Sacred Hearts featuring guitarist Bill Frisell and guest vocalist Raul Malo. Inspired by 1940s-era recordings of her San Antonio-born great aunt Eva Garza, the bilingual album presents a collection of ranchera-inspired originals by Rodriguez in English, Spanish and “Spanglish,” coupled with Spanish songs written by some of her favorite Mexican composers. Backing band The Sacred Hearts features Bill Frisell, Viktor Krauss on bass, Luke Jacobs on pedal steel and guitars, David Pulkingham on nylon string guitar and electric guitar and Brannen Temple on drums and percussion. Vocalists Raul Malo and Gina Chavez and Grammy Award-winning bajo sexto player Max Baca also make appearances.
Dan Sartain – Century Plaza CD (One Little Indian)
While Suicide and Alan Vega have long been acknowledged influences, Century Plaza finds Sartain trolling the British synth-pop wave of ’80-’84 – particularly Depeche Mode – for inspiration. Vinyl edition due April 1.
Scraper – Misery CD/LP (Slovenly)
It is with great gusto that Slovenly Recordings thrusts the second LP from San Francisco’s Sraper squarely into the jaws of the desperate. Misery is an exercise in simplistic, tightly controlled negativity that crushes the fine line between panic and frenzy into oblivion. A rapid attack of artillery-mimicking snare and bass heavy hunch is the canon, wrought in a Bay Area sewer and reveling in a verminous infestation of post-punk pulse: think Wire versus The Spits in a Shaolin death trap.
The Shivas – Better Off Dead CD/LP (K Records)
The Shivas — typically versed in garage and surf and psych, pieces of Nuggets and Pebbles, touring regularly with The Dandy Warhols and playing Austin Psych Fest — have laid down Better Off Dead not with the raucous anarchy of the John Cusack movie of the same name, but instead with this lilting grace of static and radio waves from the past century falling all around, studying not the fuzzy chunks that fell off in the wake of the ’60s psychedelic crisis.
Simple Plan – Taking One For The Team CD (Atlantic)
The multi-platinum band’s fifth studio full length and first new album in five years.
Sister Hazel – Lighter In The Dark CD (Croakin’ Poet/Average Joe’s Entertainment)
As Sister Hazel’s lucky 13th album release, Lighter In The Dark ties together the many threads that make up the band’s tapestry: the restless, road-hungry rush of “Fall Off The Map” and “Run Highway Run,” the deep-country dive of “Prettiest Girl At The Dance,” and the sentiment and swagger of “Take It With Me.” You can’t miss Darius Rucker’s voice on “Karaoke Song,” too.
So Pitted – Neo CD/LP+MP3/Cassette (Sub Pop)
“Based in Seattle and signed to Sub Pop, So Pitted don’t so much relive grunge’s heady days as rip up the formula entirely. In fact, the trio don’t remotely resemble their heroes. But it’s difficult to say exactly where their distorted, junk food punk stems from. Whenever debut LP Neo swerves close to normality, these formula-shunners tear things to shreds. Opener ‘Cat Scratch’ is true to its title, a dastardly graze that won’t fade anytime soon. ‘No Nuke Country’ is frustration epitomized in ultra-disjointed form. So Pitted tend to find the rulebook, chuck it into dynamite before penning their own in smudgy, indecipherable shades.” – DIY
Mavis Staples – Livin’ On A High Note CD (ANTI-)
The soul and gospel music legend takes on a set of 12 original songs written exclusively for her by a group of fine songwriters, including: M .Ward, Ben Harper, Valerie June, Neko Case, tUnE-yArDs, Nick Cave, John Baptiste, Justin Vernon, Aloe Blacc, and more. Vinyl edition due April 1.
Surgeon – From Farthest Known Objects CD/2xLP (Dynamic Tension)
“The UK producer Anthony Child, better known as Surgeon, traffics in toughness. He’s long represented one of the most forbidding corners of the techno scene; just consider the name of his turbulent duo with Regis, British Murder Boys. But even at its most bruising, his music is marked by its formal inventiveness and formidable intelligence. With his new album, From Farthest Known Objects, he wades back into techno’s roiled waters. All eight tracks employ four-to-the-floor rhythms, flickering triplets or 16th-note syncopations, and studiously greyscale atmospheres. There are no melodies, just gnarled one- and two-bar loops that wend their way across the tracks’ blasted expanse like inchworms through radioactive ash.” – Pitchfork
Steve Taylor & The Danielson Foil – Wow To The Deadness CDEP/12” (Sounds Familyre)
New release from veteran singer/songwriter Steve Taylor. Opener “Wow To The Deadness” is the perfect example of their effortless fusion. Part eerie campfire sing-a-long, part bruised-up brawler, the song volleys from Taylor’s exhortation to “let it slide to the other side” to Daniel Smith’s ecstatic declaration, “We have a winner!” On “A Muse,” Taylor plays another glory hound clawing for his 15 minutes over acrid, clawing guitars. And “Wait Up Downstep” is a revved-up Boy Scout marching song, Smith alternating between mantra-like refrain and beautifully swooping verses.
TEEN – Love Yes CD/2xLP+MP3 (Carpark)
TEEN’s new album, Love Yes, explores the disharmony and empowerment that both sexuality and spirituality can create within the modern woman’s psyche. Universal ideas of loyalty, pleasure, purity, power, aging, and love are confronted with a knowable specificity. There is a quality of wholesomeness, but also an edge—a kind of wise anger and electricity. “Love Yes feels like a culmination of the band’s initial evolution, and [album track] ‘Tokyo’ signals another bold direction. A driving pop song built from churning synths, a rubbery bass line, and a swaying 6/8 waltz groove, it captures the group’s stage-honed interplay, with all four members playing together live without multi-tracking. The chirping sounds and sterling voices on ‘Tokyo’ disguise an all-too-real story about a crumbling marriage and infidelity. Teeny Lieberson’s lyrics take a dramatic leap forward as she analyzes the complexities of aging relationships, sensuality, and misogyny that all too often goes unchecked.” – NPR
TEST – Always Coming From The Love Side 2xCD (Eremite)
NYC free jazz cooperative TEST was literally an underground favorite — as part of the Music Under New York program in the 1990s, TEST was out on the street and subway platforms year-round, playing long-form unadulterated free jazz with an energy and creativity rarely encountered. Even on a scene known for strong personalities, these guys were renegade cats. Eremite heard and recorded TEST many, many times over a ten-year period; Always Coming From The Love Side, a two-CD set from TEST’s 1999 US tour captured live by Malachi Ritscher at Fred Anderson’s Velvet Lounge just prior to Y2K (on November 13, to be exact), is right up there among the band’s strongest and most memorable performances.
True Love Always – Return Of The Wild Style Fashionists CD (Teenbeat)
True Love Always solidified the definition of indie-pop in the late 1990s and early 2000s with their penchant for incredibly catchy melodies and bossa nova inspired pop music. Return Of The Wild Style Fashionists is both their comeback and return to form. Between 1997 and 2003, the group released four studio albums and a singles comp and countless singles both on Teen Beat and also in Japan and Thailand. This mini-album from the world-renowned Charlottesville, Virginia band may remind folks of releases on the Slumberland label and may also bring to mind the Teen Beat bands Flin Flon, Versus, or Unrest.
Doug Tuttle – It Calls On Me CD/LP (Trouble In Mind)
New Hampshire-native Doug Tuttle (ex-MMOSS) presents the follow-up to his acclaimed 2013 solo debut self-titled album with It Calls On Me. Eschewing the jittery, love-lorn anxiety of his first solo outing, It Calls On Me presents a decidedly dreamier journey through softer, sun-burnt landscapes, while still showcasing Tuttle’s trademark masterful guitar-work and his very own brand of impeccably-crafted, fractured psychedelic pop.
Vandaveer – The Wild Mercury CD/LP (WhiteSpace/MRI Associated)
Vandaveer is the song-singing, record-making, globetrotting project penned and put forth by folk-pop tunesmith Mark Charles Heidinger. The Wild Mercury is their fifth album. “The opening track is nearly acapella. The mournful tenor is then joined by harmonies, drums, acoustic guitars, and then we arrive to where the fun begins. This album is folksy, country, and rootsy. They have crossed all of those throwback bridges and then lateral the football to the modern times touches of synth, and back to the past with pedal steel guitar accents. To attempt to pigeonhole this album into a single genre would be doing it a disservice. The only way I could classify it is as music from another era.” – Glacially Musical
Various Artists [Eats Everything] – Fabric 86 CD (Fabric)
A musical treat for lovers of all shades of house, from the classic to the modern. Kicking off with a classic Danny Tenaglia edit of The Ananda Project’s “Cascades Of Colour,” whose echoing, hypnotic vocals prove an attention-grabbing, nostalgia-tinged start to the 75 minutes. Expertly building pace, the mix takes in laidback deep house groover “Kaimanawa” by Cavalier and the darker “Nostalgia” by Peter Horrevorts, before the distinctive flute melody of Lauren Lane’s “Diary Of A Madwoman” is teased in. Forthcoming on the new Eats Everything album Edible, it’s the first of two special new tracks included on the mix.
Various Artists [Moodyman] – DJ-Kicks CD/3xLP (!K7)
!K7’s long-running mix series has invited Detroit’s freakiest MF to curate the latest instalment, following previous editions by Seth Troxler, DJ Koze and Actress. The charismatic Moodyman focuses on creating a “libidinous, blues-drenched mood” for his own DJ-Kicks, combining soul, hip-hop and house. The 30-track CD versopm features 11 exclusive Moodymann edits. The vinyl release contains 19 tracks with Flying Lotus, Jai Paul and Les Sins all on the bill.
Various Artists – Desert Dances And Serpent Sermons CD (Ajna Offensive)
Eduardo Ramirez and his Black Twilight Circle horde of acolytes evoke from the arid, tumbleweed-strewn earth of Southern California a unique strain of esoteric, tribal, truly transcendental black metal of magical Mexican ancestry. This compilation serves as a good introduction to their scene, with new tracks by Volahn, Arizmenda, Shataan and Kallathon.
Venetian Snares – Traditional Synthesizer Music 2xCD/2xLP+MP3 (Timesig/Planet Mu)
An LP comprised of songs created and performed live exclusively on a modular synthesizer with no overdubbing or editing. “Each song was approached from the ground up and dismantled upon the completion of it’s recording. The goal was to develop songs with interchangeable structures and sub structures, yet musically pleasing motifs.”
Wild Nothing – Life Of Pause CD/LP+MP3 (Captured Tracks/Bella Union)
Life Of Pause is the new LP from dream pop songwriter Jack Tatum, aka Wild Nothing. “Opener ‘Reichpop’ provides the first indication of Wild Nothing’s new direction, with its multiple layers creating a tropical backdrop to Tatum’s airy vocals, which sound remarkably similar to the husky tones of Bombay Bicycle Club frontman Jack Steadman. It may not be a radical transformation – the dream pop label could certainly still be attached – but the natural evolution of the track is evidence of the freedom Tatum allowed himself. The same is true of ‘Lady Blue,’ where the underlying synths and repeated ‘ooohs’ give it a summery, cool swagger, before it breaks down into an infectious hook as Tatum sings ‘Can you wait for ever girl?’. The title track is also wrapped in a cloak of haze as the prominent synths reach their peak on yet another catchy chorus (‘How can we want love?’), while the funky bassline works seamlessly in the background.” – Music OMH
Marlon Williams – Marlon Williams CD/LP+MP3 (Dead Oceans)
Marlon Williams is a singer/songwriter and guitarist from Lyttelton, New Zealand. He has performed solo as well as with current backing group the Yarra Benders. He first came to attention as front-man of The Unfaithful Ways and has also performed and recorded as a duo with Delaney Davidson. William’s music style straddles folk, country, soul, bluegrass and the blues. “As a former choirboy turned classical music student whose father was a member of a punk band, Marlon Williams was never going to make a conventional country-rock LP. Sure enough, the New Zealander’s solo debut is part Jeff Buckley, part early rock ‘n’ roll, as underlined by his cover of a Billy Fury song (‘I’m Lost Without You’). Williams’s voice is shown off best on another cover, the folk standard ‘When I Was A Young Girl,’ every second of which rings true. And while he doesn’t know quite where his strengths lie yet, tracks such as ‘Strange Things’ and ‘Lonely Side Of Her’ boast a ghostly, weathered quality.” – The Guardian
Wolfmother – Victorious CD/LP (UMe)
Fourth album from the Australian hard rock band. “Possessing a fun lightness (and brevity) that Wolfmother have sorely lacked, Victorious is an eminently listenable record: ‘Simple Life,’ ‘Baroness’ and ‘City Lights’ are high-order stompers, while ‘Pretty Peggy’ and ‘Best Of A Bad Situation’ are a pair of bucolic Zeppelin III changes of pace.” – Rolling Stone
Yo Gotti – The Art Of Hustle CD (Epic)
Yo Gotti’s new album features the #1 Urban Radio single “Down In The DM” and boasts a killer collection of tracks which show off the Memphian’s prowess in the hip-hop arena. Guests include Timbaland, Future, Lil Wayne and others. Available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe adds two bonus tracks.
Zeitkratzer/Keiji Haino – Stockhausen: Aus Den Sieben Tagen CD (Zeitkratzer)
The third collaboration between Keiji Haino, one of the most prolific artists of the Japanese experimental/noise scene, and the critically acclaimed Zeitkratzer ensemble, comprising stunning interpretations of Stockhausen compositions.
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
Abysmal Lord – Disciples Of The Inferno LP (Hell’s Headbangers)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. “Lurking in the ghoulish swamps of Louisiana are the members of bestial metal quartet, Abysmal Lord. They dropped their Storms Of Unholy Black Mass mini-album through Hell’s Headbangers last year, which I was fortunate to get the opportunity to introduce to Cvlt Nation fans. The guys are back with their debut full-length, Disciples Of The Inferno, and they prove on their latest that they have quite the admiration for bands like Proclamation and Blasphemy. More importantly, they up the intensity and tempo on most of their new material.” – Cvlt Nation
Agnes Strange – Strange Flavour [Reissue/1975] LP (Radiation Deluxe)
Originally released in 1975 on the BirdsNest label, the sole album by boogie stompers Agnes Strange is an obscure hard rock gem begging to be rediscovered. Formed in Southampton, UK, in the mid- ’70s by Alan Green (bass), Dave Rodwell (drums), and John Westwood (guitar, vocals), Agnes Strange failed to reach any glory or fame, but their legacy of heavy rock riffs, raw leads, and tough attitude — with a spacey Hawkwind-esque touch here and there — helped them reach cult status among ’70s rock fanatics.
AMM – AMMMusic [Reissue/1967] LP (Black Truffle)
The first recording by these pioneers of electro-acoustic improvisation, AMMMusic stands the test of time both as a remarkably prescient session and as an utterly powerful and deep piece of 20th century music. Drummer Eddie Prevost’s superb and detailed liner notes document AMM’s early history, including the confusion engendered not only in audiences and critics but even in the band members themselves, unsure if they were in a free jazz ensemble, a contemporary classical group, neither, or both.
Roy Ayers – Everybody Loves The Sunshine [Reissue/1976] LP (Polydor)
This is the 40th anniversary of Roy Ayers’s 1976 album, pressed on yellow vinyl. The title track, is a quintessential song from the mid- ’70s. The rest of the album contains Ayers classics such as the burning percussive funk of “It Ain’t Your Sign It’s Your Mind,” the spacey cosmic soul of “The Third Eye,” the bumping rubbery disco of “People And The World,” and the two horn-scorched closers “Tongue Power,” and “Lonesome Cowboy.”
Bobby Bare – The Moon Was Blue [2005] LP (Dualtone)
Bobby Bare’s The Moon Was Blue was produced by his son, Bobby Bare, Jr. as well as Mark Nevers (Lambchop, Calexico). The album stays true to his country roots with lazy waltzes and lap-steel but also incorporates distorted guitars, spacey atmospheres, strings, horns, and haunting background vocals. The result is a progressive country album that’s rooted in ‘70s retro tradition.
The Beach Boys – Little Deuce Coupe [Reissue/1963] LP (Rumble)
1963’s Little Deuce Coupe is the fourth album from The Beach Boys. Featuring a small handful of Top 100 hits including the title cut, “Be True to Your School,” and “Shut Down,” Little Deuce Coupe is yet another early classic from Southern California’s finest surf-rock outfit, showcasing Brian Wilson’s further development into the full-fledged pop genius he’d soon become.
Joshua Bonnetta – Lago LP (Shelter Press)
Lago is an LP recording created in dialogue with the photobook of the same title by photographer Ron Jude. The two compositions revisit the sites of Jude’s initial photographs in and around the Salton Sea in the Southern California desert, and use site-specific field recordings and analog processing to craft an aural counterpoint to the photographs themselves and the photographic process. Contact microphones and hydrophones were used to gather sounds from flora, desert refuse, architectural ruins, and the Salton Sea itself to create an expanded study of the acoustic ecology of the area.
The Breeders – Last Splash [Reissue/1993] LP (Plain)
Limited red vinyl reissue of The Breeder’s phenomenal 1993 album.
Brood Ma – Daze LP (Tri Angle)
Marking this as his debut on Tri Angle, Daze is actually the third in a series of wildly ambitious and confounding albums Brood Ma has put his name to in the last few years, generating a good deal of intrigue and acclaim along the way. His first release Fission turned heads with its juddering, noisy take on EBM, while the follow up, Populous (reissued in 2014 by pioneering dubstep label Hemlock), signaled for many the arrival of a genuinely unique and intriguing talent, bolstered also by his affiliations with the endlessly fascinating and undeniably forward thinking Quantum Natives collective. By stripping back on some of the beat-suffocating distortion that defined some of his earlier work and by zeroing in on some of the more disorienting side effects of immersing oneself in trance and hardcore styles, Brood Ma has made his most radically club-oriented release to date on Daze.
Don Cherry/Jon Appleton – Don/Jon 7” (Cacophonic)
Rare, previously unreleased outtakes from electroacoustic pioneer and Synclavier developer Jon Appleton and experimental jazz outrider Don Cherry’s controversial electronic jazz experiments, recorded during the sessions for their 1970 Human Music LP at the Bregman Electronic Music Studio at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire.
Jason Collett – Song And Dance Man LP (Arts & Crafts)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. “Song And Dance Man,” the title track from Jason Collett’s sixth full-length album, finds the singer/songwriter back at center stage, with three-minutes-and-change and a story to sing. Featuring the bright production touch of Bahamas’ Afie Jurvanen, “Song And Dance Man” covers the trials and triumphs of the modern musician with poignant poetry: If you can tweet something brilliant, you got a marketing plan. Song And Dance Man’s thirteen songs bear the wit and melody of classic Jason Collett: contemplative reflections on getting older, backed with an affinity for freewheeling ‘70s dance music. The album’s conspiring themes of love and loneliness, sun and shadows, are buoyed by its soaring sound. Each song rises into an easy, spacious groove, lead by Jason’s languid melodies and Afie’s sun-drunk bass.
Mike Cooper – New Kiribati [1999] LP (Discrepant)
First vinyl release of Kiribati, the first installment in the acclaimed Ambient Exotica Soundscapes series by veteran English experimentalist Mike Cooper. The set is comprised of lap steel, electronics, prepared guitar, sampler, live environmental recordings (from Bali, Malaysia, Australia and Italy) and acoustic and electronic percussion.
Elizabeth Cotten – Vol. 2: Shake Sugaree [Reissue/1965] LP (Folkways)
Originally released in 1965 Elizabeth Cotten’s second album Vol. 2: Shake Sugaree is another gem featuring her idiosyncratic, self-taught upside-down left-handed guitar playing, plus banjo. The song “Shake Sugaree” is a folk classic featuring her great granddaughter Brenda Evans on vocals. This is an absolutely essential collection from an American folk legend.
Julee Cruise – Floating Into The Night [Reissue/1989] LP (Plain)
Limited red vinyl reissue of Julee Cruise’s (Twin Peaks) debut album.
CTMF – A Glimpse Of Another Time 7” (Damaged Goods)
New 7” EP from Billy Childish’s CTMF. The title-track is about the scene around Slim Chance’s Club at London’s Wild Western Rooms venue in the 1990s. Billy Childish’s group Thee Headcoats used to play there monthly. “Ode To Citrus Heights” and “Throwback” are written and sung by Juju, while “SQ 1” is another Billy Childish composition.
Danko Jones – Live At Wacken 2xLP (UDR)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Featuring their 18-song 2015 set and various bonus material items spread across the formats, Live At Wacken provides fiery bursts of energy, quirky alternative riffery and Jones’ own electric personality, one which has seen him become an independent commentator, spoken word artist and columnist for The Huffington Post. Bonus material includes a track-by-track commentary, an exclusive backstage interview with Jones and his spoken word performance from the 2012 Wacken Festival.
Kevin Devine – Put Your Ghost To Rest [Reissue/2006] 2xLP (Bad Timing)
Vinyl reissue of Kevin Devine’s fourth studio album. Devine is a singer/songwriter and musician from Brooklyn, New York, who is known for melodic, acoustic songs with alternately introspective, and political lyrics. He is a contemporary member of the underground indie rock and indie folk musical scenes, and his influences range from older indie artists such as Neutral Milk Hotel, Elliott Smith and Pavement to more mainstream and well known acts such as Nirvana and Bob Dylan.
Doctor L. – Immigrant Forever LP (Comet)
Following his trilogy of The Great Depression (2012), We Got Lost (2012), and Wisdom Of Life (2014), Doctor L (aka Liam Farrell) presents a limited vinyl edition of the best tracks from the trilogy. Sound-activist since 1990, Doctor L moves through musical galaxies like an incandescent comet, fusing ’80s punk rock with hip-hop, electronica, and Afrobeat.
Dub Spencer & Trance Hill – Physical Echoes 2xLP (Echo Beach)
Swiss group Dub Spencer & Trance Hill have been releasing their musical visions and sound designs since 2006, approaching their numerous projects as pop soundtracks referencing the great names of the time, including The Clash, William S. Burroughs, Metallica, Genesis, Deep Purple, Falco, and others – all remix projects that have created a massive stir on the dub scene.
Their love of minimalist electronic dance music with epic endings reaches a climax on Physical Echoes.
The Duke St Workshop and Laurence R. Harvey – Tales Of H.P. Lovecraft LP (Static Caravan)
Tales Of H.P. Lovecraft contains two stories (From Beyond (1920) and The Hound (1922)) by the king of cosmic horror, H. P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft laid the foundations of modern horror; without him the golden age of horror films in the late 20th century would have been very different. The setting is a perfect meeting ground for both actor and group, who bond over their mutual love of horror history. The artists approached the stories like screenplays to create a soundtrack in the mind to rival the narrative and visual thrust of film.
Emotional – Ahh… The Name’s Emotional, Baby! LP (Empty Cellar)
Emotional is the spiritual manifestation of songwriter, singer, director, and Death Records founder Brian Wakefield. Following his heroes Kate Bush, Gram Parsons, and The Smashing Pumpkins, Wakefield casts a spell of irresistible tangy guitar reverb, bending synths, and candid melodies. It is a pop record, it is a true story, and it is a testament to the modern state of feelings.
Essaie Pas – Demain Est Une Autre Neut LP (DFA)
The music of this Montreal-based electronic duo is vibrant and varied — comparisons range from film soundtracks, electronic body music, disco, and minimal techno, with sensually-delivered lyrics exploring the themes of fantasies, obsessions, and the feeling of The Void.
Foo Fighters – Saint Cecilia EP 12” (RCA)
Recorded at its namesake the Saint Cecilia Hotel in the midst of the band’s two headline sets at this year’s Austin City Limits festival, Foo Fighters’ five-song Saint Cecilia EP is both a scrapbook of nearly forgotten moments in the band’s 20-year odyssey and a heartfelt thank you to the legions of FF faithful who have made that journey possible.
Funkadelic – Maggot Brain [Reissue/1971] LP (4 Men With Beards)
Funkadelic – Cosmic Slop [Reissue/1973] LP (4 Men With Beards)
Funkadelic – Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On [Reissue/1974] LP (4 Men With Beards)
Funkadelic – Tales Of Kidd Funkadelic [Reissue/1976] LP (4 Men With Beards)
Limited colored vinyl reissues now available.
Thee Headcoats – Conundrum [Reissue/1994] LP (Damaged Goods)
Vinyl reissue of the garage rock kings’ long-out-of-print 1994 classic.
Helios – Yume LP (Unseen Music)
Released last September on CD – now available on vinyl. Yume takes its title from the Japanese word for dream and delivers an otherworldly ambient-electronic hybrid that’s cinematic in scope yet intimate in emotion. In making the album, composer and multi-instrumentalist Keith Kenniff (the sole artist behind Helios) has created a warm sonic tapestry from luminous guitar lines, elegant piano work, ingeniously-crafted rhythms, and lo-fi electronic elements.
Lightnin’ Hopkins – Lightnin’ Hopkins [Reissue/1959] LP (Rumble)
Houston, Texas’s favorite son Sam John Hopkins, better known as Lightnin’, was recorded in 1959 by the legendary musicologist Samuel Charters, predating and predicting the folk-blues revival of the early ’60s. Widely regarded as one of the finest acoustic blues albums ever, Lightnin’ Hopkins, originally released in 1959 on Folkways Records, established its hero as a legend.
Billy Joel – Greatest Hits Volume III [1997] 2xLP (Friday Music)
Limited edition HQ-180gm translucent gold vinyl LP pressing in a gatefold jacket.
John Stuart Mill – Forget Everything [1999] LP (Scioto)
In 1997, John Schmersal (Caribou, Vertical Scratchers, Enon, Brainiac) found himself without a band. Brainiac had broken up following the tragic death of frontman Tim Taylor, so he recorded a solo album on a 4-track machine at an old Masonic Temple in Kentucky. Released in 1999 on CD by SeeThru Broadcasting under the pseudonym John Stuart Mill, the title, Forget Everything was an homage to Brainiac song of the same name. Shortly after its release, Schmersal went on to form Enon, releasing a series of acclaimed records that blend pop melody and electronic art rock. Largely ignored at the time, Forget Everything now stands as the missing link between Brainiac and Enon, and is available for the first time on vinyl.
Johnny Moped – Real Cool Baby b/w Never Never Time 7” (Damaged Goods)
English band Johnny Moped present “Real Cool Baby,” taken from their 2016 album It’s a Real Cool Baby (their first album since 1990’s The Search For Xerxes). It’s backed here with exclusive track “Never Never Time.”
Chuck Johnson – Velvet Arc LP (Trouble In Mind)
Chuck Johnson has cemented his reputation as a master of solo guitar with his critically acclaimed solo albums Crows In The Basilica and Blood Moon Boulder perfecting his modernist style of American fingerpicking over the course of those two albums. Velvet Arc finds Johnson returning to territory he explored in bands like Idyll Swords and Spatula, utilizing an expanded lineup of like-minded musicians to augment his captivating guitar stylings.
Khola Cosmica – Khola Cosmica [2011] LP (New Records)
Hailing from Tokyo, Khola Cosmica is not your average “stoner rock” band. This brutal power trio plays some of the most extreme, psychedelic doom metal you can find. Long tracks featuring devastating, loud, in-your-face fuzz riffing, hypnotic drones, and dark atmospheres destined to destroy your mind.
King Mud – Victory Motel Sessions LP (Alive)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. “Los Angeles isn’t exactly a hotbed for blues rock — most would suggest journeying south for that — however, that didn’t keep King Mud from pulling together a record that sounds as though it was born deep in the Mississippi Delta.” – Consequence Of Sound
Konstrukt & Peter Peter Brötzmann – Message: Live at Kargart LP (Holidays)
A meeting with the giant. In this live session recorded in 2014, the Konstruct quartet’s basic lineup reunites again with Peter Brötzmann, with whom they recorded the amazing studio albums Dolunay (2011) and Eklisia Sunday (2013). As the title states, all are invited to listen to the message hidden in these rhapsodic vibes, where the energy of an elephant stampede is channeled into a coherent structure of percussion (and the drumming here is absolutely mind-blowing), electric guitar, double bass, and two whirling — but still clearly discernable — saxophones.
Gordon Lightfoot – If You Could Read My Mind [Reissue/1970] LP (Friday Music)
Limited HQ-180gm audiophile vinyl repress of the 1970 album by the Canadian singer/songwriter.
Lightstorm – Creation LP (Drag City/Yoga)
Husband and wife team Johnima and Kalassu Wintergate are Lightstorm: globetrotting musical collaborators retransmitting messages of love from their teacher and Avatar Sathya Sai Baba. Since 1973, the Lightstorm discography has been issued under a variety of aliases (Creation Earth, 33 1/3, Teeth) unknown to all but the most obsessed vinyl casualties. Insofar as the irrepressible J&K are known at all, it’s for their twisted, ridiculously entertaining 1982 shot-on video horror-comedy classic Boardinghouse. Creation fuses the best tracks from the spiritual concept double LP Who Am I: One (1977) and sensual glam rock killer 33 1/3 (1980, recently featured in the Enjoy The Experience private press book). Eleven pieces of riveting catchy, psych-glam-weirdness.
Egisto Macchi – Africa Minima [Reissue/1972] LP (Sonor Music Editions)
Originally released on Ayna Records in 1972 as a private pressing, Africa Minima is the pinnacle of Egisto Macchi’s rare LPs. Super rad percussive music, as minimal as it is experimental, created for an obscure late- ‘70s documentary.
The Mahavishnu Orchestra – Inner Mounting Flame [Reissue/1971] LP (Friday Music)
Limited HQ-180gm clear colored vinyl repress housed in a gatefold sleeve. Brilliantly fusing rock, jazz, blues and classical grooves into a masterful progressive work, the 1971 debut by Mahavishnu Orchestra (John McLaughlin, Billy Cobham, Jan Hammer, Jerry Goodman, and Rick Laird) is still amazingly fresh and innovative over 45 years after its initial release.
Marching Church – Coming Down 7” (Sacred Bones)
Marching Church, formerly an outlet for the mostly solo musical experiments of Elias Bender Rønnenfelt (Iceage, Vår), metamorphosed into a full band during the sessions for a 2014 LP on Sacred Bones, This World Is Not Enough. The installation of a permanent supporting cast of collaborators did nothing to tame the project’s wild spirit, and that record was an eclectic, eccentric mix of post-punk, improv, soul music, and more. With Coming Down: Sessions In April, Marching Church reaches even further afield, backing an intensely personal A-side with a fully instrumental 21-minute free jazz odyssey.
Mastodon – White Walker 12” (Reprise)
Extremely limited 12” inch vinyl picture disc pressing. “White Walker” was released digitally last winter as part of the Game Of Thrones mixtape Catch The Throne: The Mixtape, Volume 2. The B-side features an a cappella version of the single.
Tift Merritt – Bramble Rose [Reissue/2002] LP (Yep Roc)
Bramble Rose, the debut album by Tift Merritt, celebrates its 14 year anniversary with a deluxe reissue on limited edition vinyl with new artwork. The New Yorker has called Tift Merritt “the bearer of a proud tradition of distaff country soul that reaches back to artists like Dusty Springfield and Bobbie Gentry.”
Mimisku – The Thrill Of Living LP+MP3 (Count Your Lucky Stars)
Mimisku hails from Denton, TX and play a style that mixes punk ala The Promise Ring, The Get Up Kids, and Texas Is The Reason.
Marilyn Monroe – Marilyn [Reissue/1962] LP (Rumble)
Released in 1962, the same year the Hollywood icon fatally OD’d barbiturates in her Brentwood home, this Marilyn Monroe release compiles her tunes from the classic musicals There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954), The River Of No Return (1954), and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). Performing songs from Hoagy Carmichael and Irving Berlin, Marilyn may not have been the most classically trained vocalist, but her voice is undeniably recognizable.
Mountain – Nantucket Sleighride [Reissue/1970] LP (Friday Music)
Limited HQ-180gm clear audiophile vinyl repress in a gatefold jacket. Includes 12″ by 24″ lyric/photo insert. After a blistering performance at Woodstock in 1969 and a great chart run with “Mississippi Queen” and their first album Climbing!, Mountain roared back a year later with Nantucket Sleighride.
The Neighbourhood – Wiped Out! 2xLP (Columbia/Sony)
Released last October on CD – now available on vinyl. Wiped Out! Is The Neighbourhood’s second album and follow-up to 2013’s I Love You. The first single “R.I.P. 2 My Youth” – which is actually the last track on the album – blends rocky shades of Foals with minimalist hip-hop. The track is both playful and despairing: ‘I’m just telling the truth / You can play this at my funeral / Tell me sister don’t cry and don’t be sad / I’m in paradise with Dad.’ Speaking of the song to KROQ Los Angeles, the band said, “Sometimes your youth — some people have it taken away from them earlier and some people get to wait a little longer before you have to grow up, but either way the world kind of hits you.”
NIGHTS – Whisper LP (Tragic Hero)
Propelled by aggressive dynamics, infectious melodies, and shimmering soundscapes, NIGHTS winds through grooves of jostling rhythm and guitar textures. Barreling past any specific genre, they combine ambient psychedelia and slicing guitar work with haunting, melancholic vocals to deliver chilling performances reminiscent of the early Smashing Pumpkins and My Bloody Valentine.
Octopus – Restless Nights [Reissue/1971] LP (Radiation Deluxe)
Originating in Hatfield, UK, in 1967, Octopus released their lone LP, Restless Night, in 1971 on the Penny Farthing label. Produced by Tony Murray of The Troggs, the album bridges the gap between ’60s psychedelia and a harder-edged ’70s sound, drawing on the obvious touchstones of the time including Lennon/McCartney, Argent/Blunstone, and the brothers Davies and Gibb. But Octopus had the songwriting and playing chops to make this album much more than an also-ran; with hooks galore, swirling organ, and fuzz-tone guitars, Restless Nights is a prime piece of early-’70s UK psychedelia that’s rare as hen’s teeth in it’s original form. HQ-180gm.
Charlemagne Palestine – Godbear [1998] LP (Black Truffle)
The first vinyl release of Charlemagne Palestine’s Godbear, a 1987 solo piano recording originally scheduled to sit alongside Sonic Youth and Swans in the catalogue of Glenn Branca’s Neutral Records but eventually released on CD by the Dutch Barooni label in 1998.
The Paper Kites – Twelvefour LP+MP# (Nettwerk)
Released last August on CD – now available on vinyl. Sophomore album from the Australian indie-folk outfit. The Paper Kites’ music has been featured on numerous television shows including ABC’s Forever and Grey’s Anatomy, as well as The CW’s Reign. (Two pressings: transparent blue and limited glow-in-the-dark vinyl.)
The People’s Workshop – Houston Talent Expo ’82 [Reissue/1982] LP (BBE)
HQ-180gm reissue of a private press soul/boogie rarity. Formed in 1976 at Texas Southern University by Howard Harris, then the primary professor of music composition, The Peoples’ Workshop began as a space for students to compose, perform and experiment outside the strictures of Western classical musical education, in an effort to accommodate students who showed enthusiasm to create music relative to their own realities. It arose to fill the needs of the young composers in the Houston area to find performers, artists and technicians to realize their works, for them to gain practical insight into performance, studio recording, stage presence and various production techniques, and to grant them meaningful exposure to the public and business side of the music world. Houston Talent Expo ’82 features all original compositions by members of The Peoples’ Workshop, performed by musicians from Houston. Naturally, the songs vary in style, but they retain a sensibility centered around gospel, funk and soul. The lyrics deliver positive messages gleaned from struggle but true to the philosophy of togetherness that underpins The Peoples’ Workshop.
Madeleine Peyroux – Careless Love [Reissue/2004] LP (Rounder)
Vinyl repress in a gatefold jacket. Madeleine Peyroux’s 2004 critically-acclaimed sophomore album, Careless Love, found the smoky-voiced singer at the top of her game, covering a diverse collection of songs by everyone from Elliott Smith to Hank Williams. Breakout track “Don’t Wait Too Long” helped push her into the mainstream by topping the jazz charts and appearing in national commercial spots and film soundtracks.
Picadilly Line – The Huge World Of Emily Small [Reissue/1967] LP (Radiation Deluxe)
Originally released in 1967, this sought-after obscurity of British psychedelic pop is a delightful confection of high harmonies and a Beatles-via-California melodic sensibility. Twee in the best way possible, Picadilly Line was essentially the duo of Rod Edwards and Roger Hand (who would go on to greater fame as Edwards Hand, releasing two albums produced by George Martin), with help from the cream of the UK’s session musician crop and some expert horn and string arrangers. With whimsical slice-of-life lyrics and a true ear for melody, The Huge World Of Emily Small is a classic piece of UK pop-psych available again on LP for the first time since 2006.
Iggy Pop/Tarwater/Alva Noto – Leaves Of Grass LP (Morr Music)
German electronic artist Carsten Nicolai, aka Alva Noto, and instrumental duo Tarwater pay tribute to great poet Walt Whitman with an album voiced by Iggy Pop.
Problem People – Problem People LP (Tic Tac Totally)
Chicago’s Problem People have quietly slummed in the ranks of numerous debauched bands while kindling this debut album for Tic Tac Totally Records. Sonically a range of melodic rock fronted by the poetic lyrics carried with a visceral and raspy delivery.
Public Image Ltd. – Second Edition [Reissue/1979] 2xLP (4 Men With Beards)
Another limited edition colored vinyl repress courtesy of 4 Men With Beards. The second album from John Lydon’s post-Sex Pistols group is widely considered to be their magnum opus. Combining such diverse influences as krautrock, dub, post-punk, and the avant-garde, Second Edition is four sides of harsh and uncompromising, yet danceable, music. While not the immediate influence and sensation that Never Mind The Bollocks was, this record is certainly John Lydon’s finest artistic achievement.
Purling Hiss – Something 7”+MP3 (Famous Class)
Mike Polizze, recording as Purling Hiss, has a fuzz-glazed output full of poppy pearls. On the Something EP, Polizze returns to the original Purling Hiss approach, a vibe harking back to Lounge Lizards and Public Service Announcement. He has collected here four self-recorded tracks made at his home in Philadelphia on which he tackles all instrumentation, giving you a brief peek inside the power pop process.
Red Hare – Lexicon Mist 7” (Dischord)
Red Hare is Shawn Brown (Swiz, Fury, and the original-and-current singer of Dag Nasty), Jason Farrell (Swiz, Bluetip), Dave Eight (Swiz, Bluetip), and Joe Gorelick (Garden Variety, Retisonic). This 7” is the band’s first release since their debut full-length, Nites Of Midnite (2013), and arrives as the group is completing work on its second album. The single contains two original songs and also a cover of the Lungfish composition, “Sphere Of Influence.”
Rocchi/Godi/Chiarosi – Pop-Paraphrenia….. [Reissue/1972] LP (Sonor Music)
Absolutely one of the best library LPs by Italian jazz pianist Oscar Rocchi. Totally killer jazz-funk vibes with outstanding Tullio de Piscopo drumming to die for, and Oscar Rocchi on Fender Rhodes and organ accompanied by his colleague Giancarlo Barigozzi on flute and soprano sax. A fantastic album, featuring the best jazz-funk breaks for samples on Side A and stellar experimental avant-garde jazz sounds on Side B. Psychedelic and moody, and as beautiful as it’s original edition is rare. Some tracks were used in 1972 and 1973 as soundtracks for Italian TV shows.
Secret Boyfriend – Memory Care Unit LP (Blackest Ever Black)
Memory Care Unit is a long-form offering of poignant, isolationist machine music from Secret Boyfriend. Eschewing the cryptic and compact song-sketches that characterized his 2013 LP This Is Always Where You’ve Lived, Ryan Martin instead guides listeners through vast interior topographies and nerve-damaged ambiences that comfort and deceive like memory itself. Beginning with “The Singing Bile”—minimal synth submerged and subjected to an almost oceanic pressure—the tracks are mostly crude, extended live improvisations, recorded straight to tape.
Self Defense Family – Superior 12”+MP3 (Run For Cover)
On the new four-song EP, Self Defense Family presents some of its darkest material to date. Themed around the movement to make the Upper Peninsula the 51st state, this is cold winds over permafrost. This is Christian Death meets Death In June meets Death meets actual loss of life. It’s Killing Joke in their Iceland apocalypse phase. If you could mainline ‘bummer’ this would be it. Features an etched B-side.
Claudio Simonetti – Demons [OST/1985] LP (Rustblade)
Limited green colored vinyl LP pressing of the original soundtrack to the 1985 horror film.
Soundtrack – The Wash [OST/2001] LP (UMe)
The soundtrack to The Wash was produced by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. It was Dre’s first compilation/soundtrack album. Artists include Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg, D12, Bilal, Xzibit, Busta Rhymes, Bubba Sparxxx, and more. Part of UMe’s ongoing Respect The Classics vinyl reissue campaign.
The Starting Line – Anyways 7” (Downtown)
New three-song EP – The Starting Line’s first new music since 2007.
John Tejada & Tin Man – Acid Test 10 12” (Acid Test)
L.A.-born Vienna resident Tin Man (Johannes Auvinen) and Vienna-born Angeleno John Tejada present a four-track journey through the highways of Los Angeles. Opener “Swiftbox” is a perfect amalgam of Auvinen and Tejada’s respective styles, with its tremulous 303, complex minor key melodicism, and deconstructed stabs. “Diamond Lanes” is another muscular acid cut with subtle, swinging percussion, layering widescreen pads and jacking snares, reimagined as a skeletal electro roller in Achterbahn D’Amour’s remix. Closer “Deep Traffic” is a bugged-out acid cut that captures the feeling of sitting alone in a crowd of cars crawling toward eternal sunset.
Thin Lips – Divorce Year 7” (Lame-O)
Released last year on cassette, this four-song EP from the Philly pop/punk band is now available on vinyl.
Thundercat – The Beyond / Where The Giants Roam LP (Brainfeeder)
Virtuoso bassist and singer/songwriter Stephen Bruner aka Thundercat returns to the Brainfeeder fold with his first solo material in two years. Mini-album The Beyond / Where The Giants Roam finds Thundercat collaborating with the likes of Flying Lotus, Herbie Hancock, Kamasi Washington, Miguel Atwood- Ferguson and Mono/Poly.
David Toop – Life On The Inside LP (Sub Rosa)
David Toop’s environmental beauty Life On The Inside is the audio companion (created and recorded in 2015) to French sculptor Pierre Besson’s 2014 exhibition D’objets noires et de Choses carrees (Black Objects and Square Things). This 34-minute ambient track was diffused inside of the sculpture and has never been published before.
Univers Zero – Univers Zero [Reissue/1977] 2xLP (Sub Rosa)
Univers Zero’s 1977 debut album, reissued as a double LP with a bonus track “La Faulx” spread over sides C and D. Long-running Belgian chamber rockers and avant-garde pioneers led by drummer and composer Daniel Denis, Univers Zero formed in 1974 with co-composer and guitarist Roger Trigaux (who left the band in 1980). This is their first album, recorded between August 2-5, 1977. The rhythmic energy and dissonant riffs, the distinctive sound of the bassoon and strings, and the tricky, fragmented time signatures make for a challenging and highly distinctive listening experience.
Useless Eaters – Temporary Mutilation 10” (Slovenly Recordings)
Welcome to the latest Useless Eaters installment in the Slovenly Recordings repertoire. Following the unrestrained pummel of 2014’s Desperate Living 7”, and the strange cohesiveness of their Singles: 2011-2014 collection, the label presents you with this stark and weird new five-track 10” EP. Featuring the instrumental prowess of drummer Miles Luttrell from future Slovenly legends Scraper, Brendan Hagarty on bass, and recorded by Kelley Stoltz and mastered by Mikey Young, this release especially exemplifies singer/guitarist/leader Seth Sutton’s growth as a sonic craftsman—less concerned with “punk” as a sound while inevitably remaining punk, devoting himself to the development of unique noise.
Various Artists – Not The Same Old Blues Crap 3 [2004] LP (Fat Possum)
(First time) vinyl edition of the third volume in Fat Possum’s Not The Same Old Blues Crap series features thirteen tracks from Charles Caldwell, The Black Keys, Nathaniel Mayer, Iggy And The Stooges, Little Freddie King, R.L. Burnside, Thee Shams, Kenny Brown, Bob Log III, Grandpa Boy, T-Model Ford, Robert Belfour, and Robert Pete Williams.
Various Artists – Root Hog Or Die: 100 Songs, 100 Years – An Alan Lomax Centennial Tribute 6xLP (Mississippi)
In celebration of Alan Lomax’s 100th birthday, Mississippi Records presents this six-LP box set featuring 100 of his finest field recordings. Previously unreleased tracks by Bob Dylan, Bascom Lamar Lunsford, Southern Drum And Fife Corps, Bill Broonzy, Rosa Lee Hill, Dennis McGee, Jean Ritchie, Shirley Collins, Bukka White, Vera Ward Hall, The Georgia Sea Island Singers, Son House and many more. 55 unreleased tracks in all on this set. Also features hard to find tracks by Skip James. Fred McDowell, Almeda Riddle, Duke Of Iron, Jeannie Robertson, Bessie Jones, Texas Gladden, and many more.
Ween – Chocolate And Cheese [Reissue/1994] 2xLP (Plain)
Limited chocolate brown/cheese yellow vinyl reissue of Ween’s 1994 classic.
Emily Wells – Promise LP (Thesis + Instinct/Lefse)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Eighth album from the composer/multi-instrumentalist – “a soul record in baroque clothing… a pauper’s opera.” Wells’ songwriting combines electronics, orchestral strings, jazz structures, pop sensibilities, and vibrato-laden vocals into one eclectic package.
Randy Weston – African Cookbook [Reissue/1964/1972] LP (Pure Pleasure)
When this set was recorded in 1964, pianist Randy Weston had no luck interesting any label to release the music, so he came out with it independently on his tiny Bakton company. In 1972 Atlantic released the performances.
Various Artists – Why The Mountains Are Black – Primeval Greek Village Music: 1907-1960 2xLP (Third Man)
Now available on vinyl. Double-disc collection of primal and unhinged Greek village music that at times sounds more like free jazz or doom folk, feral and trance-like as it is. After years of research, fieldwork and collecting, Christopher King—Grammy-winning producer, sound-engineer, curator and writer—has gathered together from his private 78 rpm archive the most mind expanding and libido inducing song and dance music from the rural hinterlands of mainland Greece and its islands. Recorded between 1907 and 1960, this collection contains the first and the last—the alpha and the omega—of Greek demotika—or folk music.
Young Thug – Barter 6 2xLP+MP3 (300 Entertainment)
Limited double vinyl LP pressing of this mixtape, originally a digital-only release in 2015. Features appearances by Birdman, T.I. and Boosie.
Cassettes:
Seth Bogart – Seth Bogart (Burger)
Debut solo album (under his given name) from the L.A. renaissance man features a guest appearance by Katherine Hannah on the track “Eating Makeup”. Other guests include Tavi Gevinson, Cherry Glazerr, and Chela. “Seth Bogart used to be a hairdresser. He spent close to a decade working on clients in the Oakland area. Even after he moved to Los Angeles about four years ago, he traveled back to the Bay Area for occasional appointments. Eventually, he was able to put down the scissors, but memories of the salon have stayed with the musician and artist better known as Hunx, from his bands Gravy Train!!! and Hunx And His Punx. As Hunx, he made a 2012 solo album called Hairdresser Blues that was accompanied by a commercial featuring lots of hair and hand-decorated cans of cream and goop. In Bogart’s work, the remnants of salon life mix with objects of musical obsession.” – L.A. Weekly
Gazebos – Die Alone (Hardly Art)
Gazebos rages against the forces of post-millennial, pre-midlife anxiety and Die Alone is the soundtrack. Given the band’s collision of interests, Die Alone’s manic diversity makes perfect sense. These songs are patchworks of parts conceived individually as demos and woven together collectively during sessions in guitarist T.V. Coahran’s basement—which is also where the album was recorded on 8-track with Seattle garage-rock guru Kurt Bloch as engineer. No song sounds like another and yet the album sustains a dizzying, alluring vibe. It hits you right from the start: Is that vocalist Shannon Perry singing backwards on opener “Just Get High”? Her vocal delivery is bewitchingly unpredictable, the band stretching the song around her like bubblegum. “I Don’t Wanna Be Here” is the album’s punchiest track, clocking in at two minutes thirty seconds, Perry venting some serious girl-power angst; dig the woozy flange on TV Coahran’s guitar throughout.
Travis Laplante – Secret Meeting (NNA Tapes)
Secret Meeting is the result of a collaboration betweenTravis Laplante (tenor saxophone) and Peter Evans (trumpet). Laplante and Evans are each devoted to creating multi-dimensional improvisational spaces, pushing their instruments to the edge in the service of a musical experience that travels beyond the realm of the mind. The deeply mysterious, epic improvisations on Secret Meeting points toward a seemingly ancient relationship between these two boundary-breaking improvisers.
So Pitted – Neo (Sub Pop)
“Based in Seattle and signed to Sub Pop, So Pitted don’t so much relive grunge’s heady days as rip up the formula entirely. In fact, the trio don’t remotely resemble their heroes. But it’s difficult to say exactly where their distorted, junk food punk stems from. Whenever debut LP Neo swerves close to normality, these formula-shunners tear things to shreds. Opener ‘Cat Scratch’ is true to its title, a dastardly graze that won’t fade anytime soon. ‘No Nuke Country’ is frustration epitomized in ultra-disjointed form. So Pitted tend to find the rulebook, chuck it into dynamite before penning their own in smudgy, indecipherable shades.” — DIY
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