New Releases for January 21, 2014

CDs:

Against Me! – Transgender Dysphoria Blues CD/LP (Total Treble)

Transgender Dysphoria Blues is an insightful and highly-provocative 10-song offering written by frontwoman Laura Jane Grace, whose material examines one’s grappling with gender dysphoria, the loss of a young friend and pure self discovery, as well as love and ultimate acceptance. Featuring Grace’s signature explicit songwriting and dominant vocals, the album also features longtime guitarist/vocalist James Bowman, drummer Atom Willard and Fat Mike of NOFX on bass for “F##KMYLIFE666” and “Unconditional Love.”

Alcest – Shelter CD/LP (Prophecy Productions)

More than ever, the French outfit embraces the dreamy guitar textures of shoegaze and blends it with the sweetness of Cocteau Twins. The album, which also features a guest appearance from Slowdive’s Neil Halstead, was recorded at Sundlaugin Studio, Iceland, with Sigur Rós producer Birgir Jón Birgisson who masterfully gave Shelter its light and ethereal sound. Available in Regular and Deluxe editions. The deluxe edition includes a second disc featuring the track “Into The Waves” and is packaged with a 48-page hardcover book.

Avichi – Catharsis Absolute CD (Profound Lore)

Multi-instrumentalist Andrew Markuszewski (aka Aamonael), one of the founding members of the popular and notorious Nachtmystium, currently plays in blackened sludge metal abomination Lord Mantis. But Avichi is his solo outlet to show that he is one of the premier visionaries in today’s black metal scene.

The Beatles – The U.S. Albums 13xCD (Capitol)

The Beatles’ U.S. albums differed from the band’s U.K. albums in a variety of ways, including different track lists, song mixes, album titles, and artwork. This box set includes the following titles (all of which are available individually, with the exception of The Beatles’ Story): Meet The Beatles! (mono & stereo), The Beatles’ Second Album, A Hard Day’s Night [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack], Something New (mono & stereo), The Beatles’ Story, Beatles ’65, The Early Beatles, Beatles VI, Help! (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Rubber Soul (mono & stereo), Yesterday And Today (mono & stereo), Revolver (mono & stereo), and Hey Jude. These albums were originally issued between 1964 and 1970 by Capitol Records, Apple Records, and United Artists in the United States. The CDs are packaged in miniature vinyl sleeves that faithfully recreate the original U.S. LP releases down to the finest detail, including the inner sleeves.

Benoit Pioulard – Hymnal Remixes 2xCD (Lost Tribe Sound)

Extremely limited double-CD pressing in a Japanese style digi-wallet made of extra heavy uncoated stock with matte disc artwork. New release of remixes of tracks from his critically successful Hymnal album. Seattle-based Benoit Pioulard has become a stalwart of the Kranky label over the course of four albums, the most recent of which is Hymnal. Includes remixes by Loscil (Kranky), The Remote Viewer (City Center Offices/Moteer), Field Rotation (Facture/Denovali) and others, including Pioulard himself.

Ray Benson – A Little Piece CD (Bismeau Productions)

For his first solo album in more than a decade, Asleep At The Wheel main man Ray Benson went into this project with a simple mission: To break out from his band, and to try out a few different things. Guests on A Little Piece include Willie Nelson as duet partner on one track, members of Austin newgrass band Milkdrive, and Latino rockers Del Castillo.

Blue Highway – The Game CD (Rounder)

Blue Highway is an expert band of songwriters, players, and unforgettable vocalists, growing from strength to strength. In the here-today, gone-tomorrow world of contemporary bluegrass pairings, Blue Highway is a creative partnership of 20-years duration, with all of its original musicians, and with songs that just keep on coming.

Tommy Bolin – Original Raw Uncut Glen Holly Studio Recordings CD (Glen Holly Studio)

New archive release from the late guitarist containing 10 previously unreleased tracks. A life and career cut short but not before these jams were caught on tape with all their energy and freedom of expression. Jams from this guitar legend and his famous friends have been preserved and are now being released with the assistance of Johnny Bolin, The Tommy Bolin Archives, and the Glen Holly Studio’s Phil Polimeni.

George Cables – Icons & Influences CD (HighNote)

George Cables takes a lifetime of experience and distills it into an unhackneyed program of originals, standards and not- so-standards that pays tribute to those artists whose talent, personality and in some cases, genius, has left their indelible marks on George Cables the man and the musician.

Bill Callahan – Have Fun With God CD/LP (Drag City)

Here you will find versions of the Dream River songs that have been killed and resurrected by Callahan himself, spilling tales of the other side of life in a language conceivable only if you let yourself be taken there.

Paulina Cassidy – Sugar Wingshiver CD (Projekt)

Sugar Wingshiver is a full album of whimsical, quirky dreampop that is as melancholy as it is heartening. A visual artist by trade, Paulina uses her sultry, rich voice as a potent ethereal instrument in combination with her fluidly-layered compositions, drawing the listener into her fascinating world of audible art. Imagine Kate Bush meets Monica Richards with a dusting of Tori Amos to finish off the brew.

Tommy Castro – The Devil You Know CD (Alligator)

With his turbo-charged new album, The Devil You Know, multiple blues music award-winner Tommy Castro strips his music down to its raw essence as he rockets into the next phase of his storied career. The album, recorded in the Bay Area with his fiery new band The Painkillers and produced by Castro and Bonnie Hayes, is a contemporary blues tour-de-force. Vinyl version due March 4.

Connections – Year One CD (Anyway)

A perfect primer for the uninitiated, Year One accumulates everything released by Connections in the year 2013. Included here are both LPs—their debut, Private Airplane, and its follow-up, Body Language—plus the Tough City EP. The sounds of massive record collections are squeezed into and spit out into two and three minutes bursts from the gleeful spree of “Late Shift” which recalls hints of the Homosexuals “Astral Glamour” and the best Brit-pop of the 1990’s, to the Wire-esque “Girl’s Night Out” while the fatter sound of “Aimless” and “Hang On” have nods to the sound of Gaunt and Guided by Voices, they know that some of the best finds are in your own back yard.

Cowboy Junkies – The Kennedy Suite CD (Razor & Tie)

As stated by Michael Timmins, The Kennedy Suite took the assassination of John F Kennedy, “an event that had been subsumed and transformed by the American myth making machine, and had infused it with humanity… The songs are filled with acute insights into the human condition, black humor, profanity, moments of pure empathy, historical details, cultural references and self-referential asides. Each song is written from the perspective of someone, real or imagined, that had a connection to the events of Dealy Plaza on November 22, 1963.”

Culted – Oblique To All Paths CD/2xLP (Relapse)

Oblique To All Paths is a beautifully haunting and grim piece of sprawling doom metal — the perfect soundtrack to a desolate, barren winter.

Deaf Havana – Old Souls CD (Razor & Tie)

“’Subterranean Bullsh!t Blues’ really emphasizes the talent that harbors itself in James Veck-Gilodi’s vocal chords, with the help of backing singer Grace Barrett‘s soulful harmonies, it’s a fantastic meeting of melodies and contrasting vocals. The rest of the album continues down the pathway of stories of misfortune, fuelled by old-school rock and roll sounds, experimentation with new and worldly instruments and a handful of songs that wouldn’t sound out of place in Tennessee with a bottle of Jack. Which ironically, is probably the catalyst for the emotion in so many of the songs on this album.” – Bringthenoiseuk.com

Nick Drake – Tuck Box 5xCD (Island)

Limited edition collection of the complete Nick Drake catalogue, including: Five Leaves Left (Nick’s debut album from 1969); Bryter Layter (the second album released in 1970); Pink Moon (Nick’s final release from 1972); Made To Love Magic (the collection of Island-period recordings, out-takes, off cuts, cast-offs, orphans and the last five songs Nick recorded for his proposed fourth album); Family Tree (originally released in 2004 to add to and replace the Time Of No Reply compilation, Family Tree is a collection of recordings made before the Island Records period, from a 9 year-old Nick playing Mozart through to spoken word pieces, early songs, cover versions and demos recorded to secure his contract, as well as two recordings by his mother Molly Drake perhaps written in response to her son.

Jason Eady – Daylight & Dark CD (Old Guitar)

Jason Eady’s inspired new album Daylight & Dark embraces multiple styles of die-hard country music to weave together 11 songs about the deep, messy details of love and life.

Elizabeth & The Catapult – Like It Never Happened CD/LP (Scratchback)

After the success of Elizabeth & The Catapult’s 2010 album The Other Side Of Zero, Elizabeth Ziman went underground. Seeking a new perspective, she learned guitar and starting busking in the subways of Brooklyn. She also played drums for her friend Kishi Bashi, partnered up with her friend Paul Brill to write music for film (Knuckleball, Sexy Baby, The Other Shore), taught classical piano and wrote the songs that eventually became her new album, Like It Never Happened.

Eraas – Initiation CD/LP (Secretly Canadian)

The music of Brooklyn duo Eraas creates an entirely self-contained world an illusory, mysterious, at times supernatural realm that conjures a sense of suspense while being seductive. From the brief dialogue that precedes the pummeling beats of opener “Looking Glass” to the closing hiss and crackle of the title track, Initiation represents a coming of age for the band.

Nir Felder – Golden Age CD (Okeh)

Touted as “the next big jazz guitarist,” hailed by the New York Times as a “whiz kid,” and dubbed “incredible” by the Montreal Gazette, rising star Nir Felder has been making big waves in the New York City jazz scene since his arrival in 2005. His many credits include stints in bands led by Grammy winner Esperanza Spalding, Terry Lyne Carrington, José James, Meshell Ndegeocello and Chuck Mangione as well as performances with Jack DeJohnette, Cassandra Wilson, Stanley Clark and Black Sheep.

A Great Big World – Is There Anybody Out There? CD (Epic)

Debut full-length from the New York-based singer/songwriting duo is an album of positive, piano-driven pop songs with heartwarming lyrics. Features the YouTube hit “Is There Anybody Out There? as well as a cover of album track “Say Something” by Christina Aguilera.

John Hammond – Timeless CD (Palmetto)

With a career that spans over three decades, John Hammond is one of handful of blues musicians who was on the scene at the beginning of the first blues renaissance of the mid-’60s. Some critics have described Hammond as a white Robert Johnson, and Hammond does justice to classic blues by combining powerful guitar and harmonica playing with expressive vocals and a dignified stage presence.

Hard Working Americans – Hard Working Americans CD (Melvin Records)

Debut album from this ‘supergroup’ consisting of Todd Snider (vox), Dave Schools of Widespread Panic (bass), Neal Casal of The Chris Robinson Brotherhood (guitars/vox), Chad Staehly of Great American Taxi (keys) and Duane Trucks of King Lincoln and of the Trucks family lineage (drums). Hard Working Americans features 11 tracks written by a range of artists that include Randy Newman, Lucinda Williams, Kevin Gordon, Hayes Carll, Kevn Kinney (Drivin’ `N Cryin’), Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings, Brian Henneman (The Bottle Rockets), Will Kimbrough, Tommy Womack, Kieran Kane, Chuck Mead (BR5-49), Don Herron and Frankie Miller (Elizabeth Cook). Special guests include John Popper and John Keane.

Jonas Hellborg – The Jazz Raj CD (Bardo)

The Jazz Raj is a Jonas Hellborg trio recording continuing his collaboration with guitarist Mattias ‘IA’ Eklundh and introducing drummer Ranjit Barot. The music is seamlessly bonding Western and Indian improvised music while avoiding the stylistic clichés that are so often the pitfalls of this type of music.

Holly Henry – The Immigrant CDEP (Garden Ghost)

Coming off her recent national exposure on NBC’s The Voice, the Minneapolis singer/songwriter releases a 5-song acoustic EP.

Henry Fool – Henry Fool CD (K-scope)

Henry Fool is an English experimental rock band that use elements of psychedelia, progressive rock, jazz and post-rock in their music.

Jennifer Holliday – The Song Is For You CD (Shanachie)

Jennifer Holliday is an iconic performer who has scored a number of R&B and dance hits (including the all-time classic “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going”), starred in many Broadway plays (including her signature role as Effie in the original Dreamgirls) and more recently initiated a new career performing with symphony orchestras at major concert halls around the world. 

I Break Horses – Chiaroscuro CD/LP (Bella Union)

Chiaroscuro is the second album from the Swedish shoegaze duo, and is the follow-up to their much acclaimed 2011 debut Hearts. ”My only aim when starting to write this album was to ignore any possible second album expectations.” explains Maria Linden. “I let myself write both the happiest songs but also the saddest, and then I put them together.”

Iced Earth – Plagues Of Babylon CD/CD+DVD/2xLP (Century Media)

Plagues Of Babylon is the long-awaited follow-up to their 2011 album Dystopia. Guitarist Jon Schaffer says: “It’s a bit of a different thing for us, because it’s half of a concept and the other half is [standalone] tracks. Musically, I think it’s just another step in the right direction. It’s really heavy, it’s very melodic. It has a really epic feeling.” Available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe adds a bonus DVD.

Indian – From All Purity CD/LP (Relapse)

Chicago’s blackened noise nihilists return to scene with their fifth full-length album. On From All Purity Indian take their infamously hateful aggression to new levels of despair.  Now augmented with an even keener sense of harsh noise, all the trademark elements of Indian’s sound have been refined to reach new lows of powerful and punishing anguish.

In This Moment – Blood (Blood At The Orpheum) CD+DVD (Century Media)

This limited double-disc edition includes the band’s best-selling 2012 album expanded with a bonus live DVD.

Jeremy Jay – Abandoned Apartments CD/LP (K Records)

Jeremy Jay’s new album feels lived in, familiar, but filled with creaking shadows that go deep into the unknown. A product of several years spent in self-inflicted isolation and at various self-produced recording sessions, it is studied and wiser, culling its synthesizer tones from late-‘80s goth pop and touching on something darker than anything else he’s ever made.

Damien Jurado – Brothers And Sisters Of The Eternal Son CD/2xCD/LP/2xLP (Secretly Canadian)

Damien Jurado is every character in every Damien Jurado song. He is the gun, the purple anteater, the paper wings, the avalanche, the air show disaster, Ohio, the ghost of his best friend’s wife. It is a universe unto its own, with it’s own symbolism, creation myth, and liturgy. You might go as far as to call it a religion, and your religion is a character in his religion. Available in Regular and Deluxe editions on both CD and vinyl. Deluxe adds a disc containing eight bonus tracks.

MiWi La Lupa – New Way Home CD/LP (Team Love)

MiWi La Lupa’s debut album for Team Love is a snap shop of a relationship gone wrong. The songs take place on barstools and city stoops. Guests include Bill Frisell, Conor Oberst and Timothy Allen. The range of songwriter in the album leaps from ballads that invoke Ron Sexsmith and Stuart Murdoch, to stompers that reach back to Howlin’ Wolf for their inspiration.

Los Lonely Boys – Revelation CD (Lonely Tone/Playing In Traffic)

Rolling Stone says, “The rockers combine their musical roots with bluesy rock, harmonizing on tales of difficult times and romantic interests…packing in some slick guitar work between the storytelling.”

Paul McCartney – Off The Ground [Reissue/1993] CD (Hear Music)

Digitally remastered reissue of the ninth solo studio album by the legendary Sir Paul McCartney, originally released in 1993.

Chris Mills & The Distant Stars – Alexandria CD/LP (Loud Romantic)

Born out of a chance meeting in the Scandanavian wilderness, Alexandria is the latest album by songwriter Chris Mills & his new backing band, The Distant Stars. Recorded in NYC, Olso and Chicago, and mixed by Grammy winning engineer Ryan Freeland (Joe Henry, Tift Merritt, Ray La Montague), Alexandria braves distance, dark seas and a haunted tape machine to deliver nine emotionally start and romantic tales, where echoes of the past become a map to the wild, unknown future. 

Mogwai – Rave Tapes CD/LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)

Rave Tapes is the eighth studio album by Mogwai and their second on Sub Pop. The album is a lustrous collection mined from the same quarry as its predecessors, wreathed in painterly textures underpinned by increasingly electronic beats. Mogwai wrote and recorded Rave Tapes at the band’s Castle Of Doom studio in Glasgow, Scotland, with Paul Savage, who also worked on their 2011 Sub Pop album, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will.

Nashville Pu#sy – Up The Dosage CD (SPV)

Up The Dosage picks up seamlessly where their 2009 release From Hell To Texas left off. And what is more: the quartet’s five-year hiatus seems to have done frontman Blaine Cartwright (vocals, guitar) and Ruyter Suys (guitars) good — all the songs sound like they were catapulted into to the public from a fountain of youth, rocking in typical Pu#sy style. Available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe adds two bonus tracks. Vinyl version due February 4.

Doug Paisley – Strong Feelings CD/LP (No Quarter)

With the kind of understatement that’s typical of the man, Doug Paisley describes his wondrous third album Strong Feelings as “just 10 new songs. It’s a lot less simple and unadorned than other recordings I’ve made, but it s just as earnest and straightforward.” Not that Paisley has forsaken any of the delicacy and quiet rapture of his previous work. Recorded in a new analog studio in Toronto, Strong Feelings bears his usual trademark signature, but it’s altogether more assured, full of rich texture and fine detail.

Charlemagne Palestine – Running & Chanting & Falling & Ranting CD (Alga Marghen)

Soundtrack music to the avant-garde composer’s video works, accompanied by a book capturing images from his video works from the 1970s up to the present.

Robert Pehrsson – Humbucker CD/LP (High Roller)

Humbucker combines yearning Thin Lizzy-esque guitar harmonies with tight classic rock hooks. Heartfelt and honest, it hits with confessional hymns to a lost age of guitar-driven rock.

Jeremy Pelt – Face Forward, Jeremy CD (HighNote)

A multi-textured, thought provoking release that incorporates a sparing use of electronica along with unexpected acoustic instruments such as the cello and harp. The result is a wildly imaginative sonic landscape that exists in its own time and space as defined by the artist and the leader himself.

Monte Pittman – Power Of Three CD (Metal Blade)

Through its wall of sound production, which may call to mind T-Rex meets Ray LaMontagne meets Alice In Chains, Pittman has this time teamed up with Grammy Award-winning Danish engineer Flemming Rasmussen, a versatile producer best known for engineering and co-producing Metallica’s Ride The Lightning and Master Of Puppets albums, as well as albums by Cat Stevens, Morbid Angel and Rainbow, complementing Pittman’s equally versatile musical mastery.

Pow! – Hi-Tech Boom CD/LP (Castle Face)

In the vacuum that is now expanding, there is a ragged, determined sound vibrating out of the dirty underground. This is Pow! Deep ’80s synth bass percolates under the circuit-swamp-fried-egg guitar. The drums, a teenage tiger’s heartbeat, underpin vocals delivered like a deadpan face-slap from a kid half your age. The recording is simple and dense, and it has a natural Doppler effect on headphones. It’s perfectly poppy and rough at the same time, and it has a message, so dig in, ear-wise.

Pro-Pain – Final Revolution CD/2xLP (Steamhammer)

Available in Regular and Deluxe editions. “A short to the point album of twelve crunchy songs that you can sing with after one time through perfectly reflects their role in metal, writing simple heavy rock songs that everyone can bounce to.” – Metalinjection.net

Reverend Horton Heat – Rev CD (Victory)

11th studio album from the Reverend Horton Heat and their first in four years. Rev finds the Dallas-based trio returning to their psychobilly/rockabilly roots after a short detour through roots/alt-country territory. Listening to the Reverend Horton Heat is tantamount to injecting pure musical nitrous into the hot-rod engine of your heart. The Reverend’s commandants are simple. Rock hard, drive fast, and live true.

Steve Roach – The Long Night CD (Projekt)

The Long Night is a deep-breathing sigh of the eternal nocturnal: gossamer atmospheres for the still hours of the night. Focusing on non-rhythmic, textural-harmonic electronic soundscapes, this collaboration unfurls like slow-moving, moonlit clouds. Although The Long Night leaves the lighted world behind, its midnight path leads to a state of gleaming serenity and calmness. This music is contemplative, though not brooding: a meditative environment filled with open spaces and tendrils of sound composed of shifting subtle moods and gleaming electronic passages.

Adam Roberts – Leaf Metal CD (Tzadik)

Award winning composer Adam Roberts has studied at Eastman, Harvard and in Vienna and currently teaches composition in Istanbul. His music is powerful and kinetic, filled with jagged twists and turns and a rich sense of harmony and texture. His first CD features music for chamber orchestra and electronics, a string quartet performed by the world-renowned Arditti Quartet, as well as a piece for large wind ensemble and solo works for violin and for cello. A brilliant peek into the imaginative mind of this exciting young compositional voice.

The Scorpions – MTV Unplugged 2xCD (Sin UK)

On September 11 and 12, 2013, the Scorpions played two fantastic acoustic sets in the Lycabettus theatre of Athens.

Abram Shook – Ghost Marquee CD/LP (Western Vinyl)

From road trips through South America to surfing excursions in Indonesia, Austin-based musician Abram Shook has been fortunate to have the opportunity to absorb more of the world’s cultures first-hand than many of us ever will. After leaving Santa Cruz, CA where he grew up and studied jazz, Shook spent several years in Portland and Boston playing in numerous bands, and wrestling with an unsettled spirit. Turning to traveling as a means to quell his existential dread, eventually landed him in Austin, TX, where he’s been part of the city’s rich creative community for over 8 years.

Soviet Soviet – Fate CD (Secretly Canadian)

Post-punk leaning trio Soviet Soviet were born in 2008 on the Adriatic coast of Pesaro, Italy. Fate continues the path of past releases, but with a tighter ferocity and sense of confidence in their unique sound within the post-punk genre. Vinyl version due April 1.

Step Brothers – Lord Steppington CD/2xLP+MP3/2xLP+MP3 [Instrumental] (Rhymesayers)

Step Brothers (Evidence and Alchemist) deliver another stellar musical achievement, with lyric-driven, punch line-heavy and intricate rhymes. Lord Steppington boasts the best of the duo peppered with frequent collaborators and friends, including Action Bronson, Roc Marciano, Domo Genesis,The Whooliganz, Styles P, Fashawn, Rakaa, Blu and Oh No.

Thee Oh Sees – Singles Collection 1 & 2 CD (Castle Face)

Released early last year on vinyl – now available on CD. The first two volumes of singles and B-sides from Thee Oh Sees. 24 songs including the track “Tidal Wave” featured in Breaking Bad.

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra – F##k Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything CD/LP+MP3 (Constellation)

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra have traced a barbed-wire arc of genre defying protest music, through seven albums, since its inception in 1999. SMZ has pared back to five players, with Menuck’s massive spectrum-spanning electric guitar sound emerging as the spine around which two violins, bass (now more often electric than acoustic) and drums are supported and deployed. F##k Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything is the first definitive document of the band’s newfound sound and style as a quintet.

Throwdown – Intolerance CD (E1)

Throwdown is a groove metal band from Orange County, CA. Initially branded a hardcore band, their most recent albums Venom And Tears and Deathless have taken a sharp direction towards metal, with critics likening the bands sound to that of Pantera, Sepultura and Crowbar.

together PANGEA – Badillac CD/LP (Harvest)

The wild Los Angeles party rockers release their new album. According to Stereogum, The album’s title track is “a half-acoustic punk-rock strummer about a bad breakup, and it has some seriously top-notch power-pop handclaps.”

Various Artists – Killed By Deathrock Vol. 1 CD/LP (Sacred Bones)

In 2007, Sacred Bones Records founder Caleb Braaten started unearthing rare and little-heard post-punk, deathrock and dark punk tracks for an eventual compilation. Features rare and out-of-print tracks from 11 essential deathrock bands: Your Funeral, Kitchen & The Plastic Spoons, Twisted Nerve, Move, Bunker, Taste Of Decay, Afterimage, Screaming For Emily, Glorious Din, The Naked & The Dead, and Baroque Bordello.

Various Artists – Truth & Soul Records Presents: The Soul Fire Box Set (Rare Sides From The Soul Fire Catalog) 2xCD (Truth & Soul)

Released as a limited edition 7” vinyl box set for Record Store Day Black Friday 2013 – now available on expanded CD. This double-CD edition adds another 19 from the coveted Soul Fire catalog. The label, started in 1999 by Phillip Lehman, produced some of the funkiest recordings to ever make it to 45. Many of those 45s from the Soul Fire catalog are nearly impossible to find today, and if and when they do come up for sale, they fetch top dollar.

The Velvet Underground – The Golden Archive Series [Reissue/1970] CD/LP (Sundazed)

Digitally remastered edition of this collection originally released by MGM in 1970. Features “Candy Says,” “Femme Fatale,” “Heroin,” “Sunday Morning” and more. The Golden Archive Series was a reissue series that lasted only one year, 1970. It was comprised of greatest hits packages from the MGM, Verve, and MGM-distributed labels.

Warpaint – Warpaint CD/2xLP (Rough Trade)

To say that this follow-up to Exquisite Corpse is highly anticipated would be an understatement. Warpaint is a well-oiled machine. They weave intricate guitar lines, hypnotic vocals and driving post punk rhythms into gorgeous, sprawling songs that skirt the line between psychedelia and intimacy, channeling something truly otherworldly and mystical. (Vinyl version is three-sided with an etching on the fourth).

Wild Cub – Youth CD/LP (Mom + Pop)

Infectious, intricate electro-pop that blends ’80s beats with electronics and synths worthy of the aughts. (Initially available last year as an import-only release, this US edition has been expanded with two additional tracks.)

Matt Wilson Quartet + John Medeski – Gathering Call CD (Palmetto)

Matt Wilson is renowned for his virtuosic flair as a drummer and his good-vibes positivity as a bandleader, not to mention his facility for collaborating with top musicians across the spectrum of jazz from the mainstream to the avant-garde and virtually everything in between.

Witch – Movin’ On/Kuomboka 2xCD (Now Again)

Originally privately issued by the band in 1980 and 1984, these later albums by the Zambian rock/funk/soul/folk band found them replacing their fuzz guitars with whirling synthesizers as they tried their hand at soul, disco and boogie.

Young The Giant – Mind Over Matter CD/2xLP+MP3 (Fueled By Ramen)

For their highly anticipated second album Mind Over Matter, Young The Giant enlisted Grammy nominated producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen, known for his work with such diverse artists as Beck, Nine Inch Nails, Paramore, and M83. Featuring the electrifying lead single “It’s About Time,” the collection of songs finds the young band challenging themselves both lyrically and musically.

David Yow – Tonight You Look Like A Spider CD+DVD (Joyful Noise)

Tonight You Look Like A Spider is the debut solo album from David Yow (The Jesus Lizard/Scratch Acid). It is every bit as twisted and f’ed-up as you’d expect from Mr. Yow. 49-minutes of nightmarish noise, created and recorded entirely by David Yow over a decade. Originally released vinyl late last year, this CD version includes the Opening Suite DVD — a short film set to the albums opening track, collaboratively directed by Adam Harding (of Dumb Numbers), Tim Rutili (of Califone), Jared Varava, Todd Adam Phillips, and Jennifer (Jen) Lynch.

John Zorn – Hermetic Organ 2 CD (Tzadik)

Drawing upon traditions as varied as Messiaen, Xenakis, Ligeti, Bach, Tournemire, Ives, Korla Pandit and The Phantom Of The Opera, Zorn’s organ improvisations are transcendent, inspiring, ecstatic experiences, offering a direct line to the workings of his rich compositional imagination. Performed at St. Paul’s Chapel at a time when the organ was undergoing extensive reconstruction, the limited number of stops available to him focused his imagination to new heights, resulting in Zorn’s most revelatory recital to date. The second volume documenting these legendary organ recitals is an overwhelming experience filled with moments of passion, tenderness, fragility and extraordinary power.

DVD + Blu-ray:

The Doors – R-Evolution DVD/Blu-ray (Eagle Vision)

Combining early TV appearances with their own music films, R-Evolution illustrates how The Doors evolved from the constraints of late sixties television to a point where they had the creative input and power to shape how they were portrayed on screen. 154 minutes. Available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe is packaged in a 40-page DVD-sized hard back book with a scrapbook style presentation on each track including lyrics, background info, trivia and photos.

P!nk – The Truth About Love Tour: Live From Melbourne DVD/Blu-ray (RCA)

This 110 minute concert, which was conceived and executive produced by P!nk and Baz Halpin, was filmed during the Australian leg of a massive tour.

Vinyl:

The 24-Carat Black – Ghetto: Misfortune’s Wealth [Reissue/1973] LP (4 Men With Beards)

Ghetto: Misfortune’s Wealth is the the 1973 Stax debut and the only album released by The 24-Carat Black until a lost album, Gone: The Promises Of Yesterday, was finally released 35 years later. Ghetto: Misfortune’s Wealth is an underground soul classic, a cohesive 8-song concept album about the hardship of black urban life, produced and arranged by classically trained Detroit song writer Dale Warren, who was an orchestrator and arranger on the Isaac Hayes albums Hot Buttered Soul, The Isaac Hayes Movement, and To Be Continued, among others. HQ-180gm.

American Music Club – Mercury [1993] LP (Plain)

American Music Club – San Francisco [Reissue/1994] LP (Plain)

Mercury is the sixth release by the San Francisco indie band American Music Club. It is a subtle mix of pedal steel, electric guitar, and understated drumming supporting Mark Eitzel’s lyrics laying out tales of pain and desperation. HQ-180gm. San Francisco is their seventh album and was originally released in 1994, before they took a nine year hiatus.

Billy Joe Armstrong & Norah Jones – Foreverly LP (Reprise)

Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The result of a collaboration between Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong and Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter Norah Jones, Foreverly is a collection inspired by Songs Our Daddy Taught Us, an album of traditional Americana songs reinterpreted, recorded and released by The Everly Brothers in 1958. The album captures the beauty of the Everly’s stunning close harmonies to create a moving and powerful testament to these traditional ballads.

Julie Byrne – Rooms With Windows And Walls LP+MP3 (Orindal)

Blends psychedelic and traditional folk elements to craft a personal, mystical, lo-fi world that echoes the early work of Leonard Cohen, Vashti Bunyan, and Grouper. Elegant, deliberately wrought songs that chronicle memory, hope, and loss using finely crafted lyrics and complex fingerpicked guitar run through delay. Teal vinyl.

Bobby Charles – Bobby Charles LP (Light In The Attic)

A virtual who’s who of classic ‘roots’ rock, Bobby Charles features 10 classics supported by the likes of Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, and Richard Manuel of The Band, long time Neil Young sidekick Ben Keith, Bob Dylan’s former running mate Bob Neuwirth, session maverick Amos Garrett, the esteemed Dr. John. Each one simply supports the Louisiana vibe that flows through the collection of country, blues, R&B, and folk. The album also includes the slow burner “Street People” as featured on Country Funk 1969-1975, Volume 1. HQ-180gm.

Cheap Time – Exit Smiles LP+MP3 (In The Red)

Released last year on CD – now available on vinyl. Fourth studio album from the Nashville, TN punk warlords. 

Al Cisneros – Toward Nazareth 12” (Drag City)

More versions and deep vibrations come bumping with the thickness from out of the Cosmos and through the vessel of Om’s Al Cisneros.

John Coltrane – My Favorite Things [Reissue/1960] 2xLP (Original Recordings)

A landmark recording in every possible sense, Coltrane’s 1960 album is the first that introduced his legendary quartet with pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Steve Davis, and drummer Elvin Jones. It is also the first on which he played soprano saxophone. It absolutely reimagined how a popular song could be interpreted and spun into a completely new, absorbingly beautiful piece of art. Mastered from the original analog tapes by Bernie Grundman, this HQ-180gm 45 RPM double-LP set shines new light onto this seminal music marvel.

Eric Copeland/Larry Gus – Bobby Strong (Anthony Naples Remix) b/w The Night Patrols (Bookworms Remix) 12” (DFA)

DFA takes two artists who released different sorts of summer psychedelia in 2013 and pairs them with two fantastic new remixers/producers who have both done work for L.I.E.S.—Anthony Naples (whose personal obsession with Black Dice made him an obvious candidate for the job) and Bookworms (who Larry Gus watched play live at Output this year, mouth agape).

Dog Bite – Tranquilizers LP+MP3 (Carpark)

In a release inspired by the smooth rhythms of the region’s past, Atlanta-based Dog Bite offers more music medicine in the form of Tranquilizers. The sophomore release transcends the reverie state of Velvet Changes in pursuit of a darker, more full-bodied experience. Frontman Phil Jones found his extensive listening to iconic R&B musicians such as Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes to be the original muse for the album. In its formation it began as a soul record; however, at its core the release remains grounded in Dog Bite’s beloved shoegaze landscapes.

Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP2 2xLP (Aftermath)

Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Brand new album from legendary rapper Eminem featuring the hit singles “Berzerk”, “Rap God” and “The Monster” along with “Survival” the official song of Call Of Duty: Ghosts. Executive produced by Dr. Dre and Rick Rubin.

Ghost Maps – The Ocean From The River LP+CD (Casino Gravity)

Ghost Maps features singer/songwriter/mutli-instrumentalist Jeff Martin (Halfset), drummer John McEntire (Tortoise, The Sea And Cake), and pianist Tony Crow (Lambchop). Rich organic tones — intimate guitar and voice songs contrast with panoramic full-band tracks, occasional brass flourishes and textured string arrangements.

Guided By Voices – Alex And The Omegas 7” (GBV Inc.)

Guided By Voices – Save The Company 7” (GBV Inc.)

Guided By Voices – The Littlest League Possible 7” (GBV Inc.)

Three new 7” EPs!

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – Give The People What They Want [Mono] LP (Daptone)

Limited edition mono version! There is no other band around today that plays with the rhythm, feeling, or explosive power of the Dap-Kings, and no other singer that can match the energy and honest soul of Sharon Jones. An exercise in soul music of the highest order.

Lazy Smoke – Corridor Of Faces Demos LP (Jackpot)

In addition to the twelve 1967 demos, Corridor Of Faces Demos also includes two songs originally recorded to acetate in 1966 by pre-Lazy Smoke project: The Road Runners. These two slabs of proto-garage have never seen the light of day, and none of the songs included here have ever been released on vinyl.

Little Ann – Deep Shadows LP (Timmion)

Vinyl reissue of a rare Detroit/Northern Soul artifact.

Jack Name – Light Show LP (God?)

White Fence mainstay Jack Name’s debut solo outing. Whiffs of young Brian Eno, Gary Numan, Chrome, ELO, Bruce Haack, even Richard O’Brien (a la Rocky Horror) & Stefan Wul stain the sleeves of this story, but it’s still wholly original and cooked at home so it’s as honest as it is good for you. The sounds are a dense and ever-shifting beast — just an absolutely put-you-on-the-floor headphone record.

Olivia Tremor Control – John Peel Sessions LP+MP3 (Chunklet)

1997 was a big year for the Olivia Tremor Control. They were riding high on the release of their debut Dusk At Cubist Castle, and touring the world relentlessly. During a visit to the UK in March, John Peel requested the band to visit his studios to record for his radio show.

The Outsiders – CQ [Reissue/1968] LP (Jackpot)

Originally released in Holland in October 1968, CQ (pronounced “Seek You”) was the third LP from Dutch/Nederbeat garage punks, The Outsiders. Spanning R&B, spacey experimental numbers, folk rock and a revved-up punk that pre-dates the angular moodiness of what would become no wave/post punk a decade later, CQ is nothing short of an absolute psychedelic garage cornerstone.

The Pineapple Thief – Tightly Unwound [2008] 2xLP (K-scope)

Remastered and expanded double-LP edition of the prog band’s 2008 album.

Elaine Radigue – Opus 17 2xLP (Alga Marghen)

Deluxe edition of previously unheard material from Eliane Radigue circa 1970 — presented in a gorgeous gatefold sleeve with printed inners and extensive liner notes. This double LP was the last work from Radigue composed with feedback materials and fixed duration. It’s one of the strongest, if not definitive, examples of Radigue’s tactile and meditative approach to composition, an engrossing, intuitive refinement of the techniques and practice she honed over prior years at RTF’s Studio d’essai under the guidance of Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry’s Studio Apsome, and later at the New York University School of the Arts.

Elaine Radigue – Vice-Versa, Etc… LP (Alga Marghen)

Elaine Radigue – Feedback Works 1969-1970 LP (Alga Marghen)

Vice-Versa presents two versions performed by Emmanuel Hoelterbach with respect to Radigue’s composition methods, while Feedback Works is a remastered version of French electronic composer’s sound installations from 1969-1970, encompassing her work with feedback.

Jay Reatard – Matador Singles ’08 [2008] LP+MP3 (Matador)

Jay Reatard – Watch Me Fall [2009] LP+MP3 (Matador)

Now available on 120gm vinyl.

Shoes This High – Shoes This High [Reissue/1981] 7” (Siltbreeze)

Complimenting the forthcoming reissue of Shoes This High’s previously unreleased archival recordings (due February 18), Siltbreeze presents the first-time legitimate reissue of this essential high water mark and crucial New Zealand post-punk classic. Alongside the Gordons’ debut 7”, the band’s sole EP—originally self-released in 1981—uncapped a ferocity yet unheard not just in New Zealand, but in most corners of the global underground fraternity. Needless to say, Shoes This High is a defining moment in definitive.

Vaadat Charigim – The World Is Well Lost LP (Warm Ratio)

The World Is Well Lost is the debut album from the Tel-Aviv based trio and it’s a phenomenal amalgamation of dreamy and shimmering rock influences that stem from the ‘80s and ‘90s. All lyrics are sung in Hebrew, adding very unique vocal passages that feel ancient and pristine on every level. This is hung over the bands infectious and raw distortion approach, infusing heavy doses of new wave, pop, shoegaze and alternative rock into one form.

Various Artists – Live At The Bootleggers (Featuring Lattie Murrell And William Floyd Davis) LP (Sutro Park)

Live at the Bootleggers captures a moment in time and a place in history when community was created around the buying and drinking of illegal liquor. Moonshine…white lightning. It was recorded live at a bootlegger’s home base in Fayette County, Tennessee in 1971 at the behest of Lattie Murrell, whom Bengt Olsson and Bill Barth had tracked down to document. Besides Murrell, Barth and William Floyd Davis, the contributors to this record, just happened to be spellin’ with the same bootlegger that evening; they are unknown voices, arising with glory from the soak of moonshine, and then fading back into obscurity. HQ-180gm.

Vex – Sanctuary: The Complete Discography LP (Sacred Bones)

Despite only being active for a few years in the mid-1980s, Vex left a huge legacy in underground circles for their affecting brand of anarcho punk. Until now, it was almost impossible to find an original copy of their essential Sanctuary record, let alone their scant other recordings. Sanctuary: The Complete Discography collects all of the Vex material that was ever put to tape on one limited-edition LP for the first time ever. Drop the needle for a lean half hour by what CVLT Nation calls “a very well balanced band that combined the angst of punk with the ethereal vibe of positive punk.”

Wendy & Bonnie – Genesis [Reissue/1969 LP (Sundazed)

HQ-180gm repress of a pop-psych touchstone from 1969.

Paul Westerberg – Eventually [1996] LP (Plain)

Eventually is Paul Westerberg’s second solo album originally released in 1996, which has never been issued on vinyl until now. Coming three years after his solo debut 14 Songs put his legendary band The Replacements to rest, Eventually is the most ‘mature’ and introspective album he made up to that point in his career. HQ-180gm.

White Denim – Petty Green 10” (Downtown)

Petty Green bleeds garage-blues swagger into space-psych sonics, bookending scuffed up guitar-work with boundless atmospherics. 

Jim Whoerle & Michael Yonkers – Borders of My Mind LP (Drag City)

Michael Yonkers – Michael Lee Yonkers LP (Drag City)

Fresh vinyl editions of two unjustly unheard classics for lovers of homespun astral folk.