Best Coast – Crazy for You CD/LP (Mexican Summer)
12-track, 29-minute collection of genuinely romantic, sandy jams. Hazy and dreamy pop perfect for summer.
Seu Jorge – Seu Jorge And Almaz CD/2xLP (Now Again)
New album from Brazilian singer/actor Seu Jorge (City Of God, The Life Aquatic) with members of Nacao Zumbi.
Mark Olson – Many Colored Kite CD/LP+MP3 (Rykodisc)
New album from The Jayhawks co-founder. Many Colored Kite greets the listener with its earthy, neo-folk feel that encompasses classic and ’60’s British folk as well as the “desert country” that he has been associated with in the past.
Madlib/Yesterday’s New Quintet – Medicine Show 7: High Jazz CD (Madlib Medicine Show)
Madlib follows Brain Wreck Show with the seventh installment in his Madlib Medicine Show series, a jazz album with his Yesterdays New Quintet ensemble.
Major Lazer – Lazers Never Die CDEP (Interscope)
New EP from producers Switch and Diplo. “On this concise and surprisingly fresh sounding EP, Major Lazer retain the sweat-soaked club feel that’s curried them so much favor but also appeals to their perennial accessibility.” [7.8] — Pitchfork
Menomena – Mines CD/2xLP+MP3 (Barsuk)
In the wake of brutal disagreements, unrelenting grudges and failed marriages (not to mention a world full of modern terrorism, natural disasters and economic collapse) Menomena is still standing, and has made an album that many are already saying defines the state of intelligent pop music one decade into the millennium.
Jesca Hoop – Hunting My Dress CD (Vanguard)
Hoop’s music is a genre-bending, time-period-blurring mix of off-kilter pop, stark ballads and classic folk. Includes a bonus five-track EP. “Hunting My Dress sounds like the sprouting of a wondrous new talent. Four stars.” — The Guardian
Jaill – That’s How We Burn CD/LP (Sub Pop)
A somewhat sneaky, rarely sleazy group of guys from Milwaukee who play with undeniable guts. Recalling the glory of ’90s lo-fi pop, these songs possess a sinewy tension honed from years of basement shows, and a palpable, gritty rock sense born of enduring cold Midwest winters.
Tom Jones – Praise & Blame CD (Mercury Nashville)
This is Tom Jones going back to his roots on an album of gospel, blues, traditional and country songs, wearing his heart on his sleeve, emotionally raw. Guest artists include steel guitarist BJ Cole, keyboardist Booker T Jones, organist Chris Holland and background vocalists Gillian Welch, Alison Pierce, Dave Rawlings and Orin Waters.
CDs:
36 Crazyfists – Collisions And Castaways CD (Ferret Music)
New album from the Alaskan heavy metal unit.
Angel Band – Bless My Sole CD (Appleseed)
Anyone who likes the “sigh-to-a-shout” vocal chops, lyrical grit and real deal instrumental abilities of the Dixie Chicks and Lucinda Williams (along with the soulful heart of Bonnie Raitt) will definitely be satisfied with Angel Band.
Avenged Sevenfold – Nightmare CD (WB)
Their first album since the death of drummer James “The Rev” Sullivan — Nightmare was produced by Mike Elizondo (Dr. Dre, Eminem).
The Blasters – The Blasters [Reissue] CD (Wounded Bird)
Originally released in 1982. The Blasters were a rock group out of Los Angeles, featuring brothers Dave and Phil Alvin.
Burning Spear – Marcus Garvey/Garvey’s Ghost [Reissue] CD (Hip-O Select)
Burning Spear’s classic Island Records debut Marcus Garvey (1975) is paired with Garvey’s Ghost (1976), the dub mix companion — both remastered for their 35th anniversary.
Eilen Jewell Presents Butcher Holler – A Tribute To Loretta Lynn CD (Signature Sound)
“Butcher Holler is named for the little Kentucky town where Loretta Lynn was raised. In this tribute to the country star we pay homage to her humble roots and straightforward, hard-hitting performance style.” — Eilen Jewell
Robert Cray – Cookin’ In Mobile CD+DVD (Vanguard)
Live CD+DVD release from the singer/songwriter and world-renowned American blues guitarist. This is The Robert Cray Band’s first-ever live DVD release.
Cruel Hand – Lock & Key CD (Bridge Nine)
Full of just as many catchy, metallic riffs as mosh parts, Lock & Key is a heavy mix of influences including Madball, Leeway, Cro-Mags, Metallica, Suicidal Tendencies, and Obituary.
Cut Chemist – Sound Of The Police CD/LP (A Stable Sound/Soul Kitchen)
“Sound Of The Police contains African and South American inspired music from around the world. I had the privilege of performing this set opening for Mulatu Astatke which was his very first Los Angeles appearance.” — Cut Chemist
Dean & Britta – 13 Most Beautiful Songs For Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests CD (Double Feature)
Ex-Luna, Galaxie 500 members were commissioned by the Andy Warhol Museum to compose and perform songs for 13 Screen Tests — short, silent portrait films made by Warhol in the mid-’60s.
Decrepit Birth – Polarity CD (Nuclear Blast)
New from Santa Cruz, CA tech-death masters.
Die Antwoord – 5 CDEP (Interscope)
New EP from South African electronic/hip-hop group.
Miniature Tigers – Fortress CD/LP (Modern Art)
Critical darlings Morning Tigers return with a new album — produced by Chris Chu of the Morning Benders. The first single “Gold Skull” was produced by Neon Indian.
Mystery Jets – Serotonin LP+MP3 (Rough Trade)
Recently released on CD — now available on vinyl. Echoes of ELO, 10CC, Fleetwood Mac and Supertramp rub up against the band’s own idiosyncratic, very British, psychedelic sensibility.
Revamp – Revamp CD (Nuclear Blast)
After Forever vocalist Floor Jansen returns under a new guise. Revamp is bombastic, but with heavy riffing. Complex and pounding drums mix with melancholic strings while crazy synth-sounds mix with a beautiful choir.
Rufio – Anybody Out There CD (Roc-A-Fella)
New from the California pop/punk outfit.
Pete Seeger With The Rivertown Kids And Friends – Tomorrow’s Children CD (Appleseed)
Tomorrow’s Children is like a joyful town picnic featuring Pete as a global village elder, assembling his neighbors to appreciate their past and present, to celebrate their triumphs against environmental threats, to swap old and new stories, to appreciate the natural glories surrounding them and to make sure that the following generations “carry it on” — the unifying spirit and power of music, the “folk process” of adapting or writing songs to respond to current situations.
Slum Village – Villa Manifesto CD (E1 Music)
Slum Village’s sixth studio (and reportedly final) album. “To be completely fair, it’s surprising the group has stayed around this long considering the tragedy that has struck Slum Village. Aside from label changes and the typical industry bullshit, two of their founding members, J Dilla and Baatin, have died since the group formed in the ’90s. Both will appear posthumously on Villa Manifesto along with De La Soul, Colin Munroe, DJ Khalil, Little Brother, and several others.” — Prefixmag
Tech N9ne Collabos – The Gates Mixed Plate CD (Strange Music)
With an emphasis on enjoying life, The Gates Mixed Plate brings together a diverse set of notables including Jay Rock, Glasses Malone, Yukmouth, Devin The Dude and Stevie Stone, as well as the familiar Strange Music cohorts: Krizz Kaliko, Kutt Calhoun and Big Scoob.
Thievery Corporation – Babylon Central CD+DVD (Eighteenth Street Lounge)
Double-disc package includes the film and the original motion picture soundtrack. Babylon Central is the directorial debut from Eric Hilton of Thievery Corporation. The soundtrack includes tracks by: Thievery Corporation, Bad Brains, El Michaels Affair, Nostalgia 77, and more.
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble – Couldn’t Stand The Weather [Reissue] 2xCD (Sony Legacy)
Digitally remastered and expanded double-disc Legacy Edition of the blues guitarist’s 1984 album contains 16 previously unreleased tracks, studio outtakes and the live recording of Vaughan & Double Trouble’s 1984 performance at the Spectrum in Montreal.
Christopher Willits – Tiger Flower Circle Sun CD/LP (Ghostly International)
Willits uses the language of ambient, dream pop, experimental electronic and Afro/Latin music to explore themes of love, connectivity and universal vibrations.
DVDs:
Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Pictures At An Exhibition [Reissue] DVD (Eagle Vision)
Pictures At An Exhibition was filmed at the Lyceum in London in December 1970. This new special edition, forty years on from when it was originally filmed, has the most complete version of the film available and is presented in the best possible sound and picture quality, complete with the original seventies psychedelic effects.
Grateful Dead – At The Hollywood Festival North West England, 1970 DVD+CD (Ozit)
Very rare archive film footage of the first time the Grateful Dead performed in the UK. Plus, short clips of Free, Family, Screaming Lord Switch and his Heavy Friends, John Peel and crowd footage.
Vinyl:
John Coltrane – My Favorite Things [Reissue] LP (Atlantic)
John Coltrane – Coltrane’s Sound [Reissue] LP (Atlantic)
Vinyl reissues of two Coltrane classics — originally released in 1961 and 1964, respectively.
Eminem – Recovery 2xLP (Aftermath/Interscope)
Now available on vinyl.
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