Social Media Program Title Released This Week:
Becca Mancari – The Greatest Part CD/LP (Captured Tracks)
Expanding beyond the homespun rootsiness of her critically acclaimed debut to incorporate a grittier, more experimental palette, Becca Mancari’s captivating new collection, The Greatest Part, lives in a liminal space between grief and joy, pain and forgiveness, sorrow and liberation. The record, produced by Paramore drummer Zac Farro, marks a significant sonic and emotional evolution, balancing unflinching self-examination with intoxicating grooves and infectious instrumental hooks fueled by explosive percussion and fuzzed out guitars. [Limited coke bottle clear vinyl pressing also available.]
July Listening Station Program Titles Released This Week:
Carach Angren – Frankensteina Strataemontanus CD/2xLP/Cassette (Season Of Mist)
Following the mythos of the “real” Dr. Frankenstein, Johann Conrad Dippel, who served as the inspiration for the famed novel by Mary Shelley, Carach Angren’s Franckensteina Strataemontanus delivers a bombastic symphonic cacophony of necromancy and mad science. Interwoven with haunting keyboards, majestic orchestrations, and a perfect balance of melodic brutality, the new album serves as the most theatrical offering from the horror metal masters to date. [Deluxe CD edition also available.]
Thad Cockrell – If In Case You Feel The Same CD (ATO)
Thad Cockrell returns with his first solo album in over a decade. If In Case You Feel The Same taps into the tremendous depth of expression Thad has brought to co-writing for such artists as Joy Williams (on her Grammy-nominated 2019 album Front Porch), Joseph, Devon Gilfillian and Mathew Caws of Nada Surf, as well as his much beloved band Leagues. Buoyed by the support of Brittany Howard, whom he first met over a 4 a.m. pitcher of homemade margaritas, Cockrell set to work on his first solo effort in over a decade: an album that exposes his deepest insecurities and weaknesses, all for the sake of creating a transcendent connection with the audience. [Limited pink colored vinyl pressing due July 24.]
Grey Daze – Amends CD/LP/LP+CD (Loma Vista)
Grey Daze, the late Chester Bennington’s pre-Linkin Park band, release Amends, the Phoenix-born outfit’s eagerly awaited album featuring newly recorded music with re-mastered vocals from the group’s long out-of-print, and largely undiscovered, catalogue. Amends is the origin story of one of modern rock’s most recognizable voices and also a full circle moment among friends. The album is the fulfillment of a planned Grey Daze reunion that Chester had announced prior to his untimely passing. Several musicians lent their time and talent to the album, including Korn’s Brian “Head” Welch and James “Munky” Shaffer, Paige Hamilton (Helmet), Chris Traynor (Bush, Helmet, Orange 9MM), LP, Jasen Rauch (Breaking Benjamin) and Ryan Shuck (Orgy). [Limited deluxe edition includes a colored 180g vinyl pressing, the accompanying CD, and a 60-page book with never before seen band photos and ephemera.]
Matthew Austin Hunt – Matthew Austin Hunt CD (Edgewater Music Group)
The musical trajectory of Matthew Austin Hunt was probably set for him when he was only 7. His grandfather, a Los Angeles recording artist in the late 1940s, bought him his first guitar, and he was hooked. As a musician, his influences are vast. From the records his father played (like Jerry Jeff, Willie, and Merle, in addition to artists like CCR, Bill Withers, and Stevie Wonder) to crooners of his grandfather’s era like Perry Como, Bing Crosby, and Johnny Mathis, Hunt draws from a deep well of long-established classics. His own, more primary influences as a songwriter include the likes of Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell, and The Turnpike Troubadours.
Indigo Girls – Look Long CD/2xLP (Rounder)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Their first new studio album in five years, Look Long is a testament to the Indigo Girls’ storied 40-year career. Produced by John Reynolds at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studio in England, the album features 11 brand new tracks, all written by the pair. Among the many highlights are “Country Radio” and Reynolds’ arrangement of a recent live staple, “Howl At the Moon”. “It’s something I always do with my daughter, when we’re out in the woods,” says Amy. “I did it with my friends, when we were kids. It means you’re happy, you’re free. Explore the irreverent, but also honor the things that you should. Don’t be afraid.” In the song “Feel This Way”, Emily is singing to her younger self. She adds, “Enjoy everything, suck it all up now.”
Kansas – The Absence Of Presence CD/CD+Blu-ray/2xLP (Inside Out Music)
Legendary progressive rock band Kansas follow-up 2016’s The Prelude Implicit with the new release The Absence Of Presence. Featuring nine new originals produced by Zak Rizvi, Phil Ehart and Richard Williams, Kansas’ signature sound is unmistakable throughout. The album showcases Ronnie Platt’s towering vocals, David Ragsdale’s searing violin, Tom Brislin’s dazzling keyboards, Williams and Rizvi’s electrifying guitar riffs, Ehart’s powerful drums, and Billy Greer’s rocking bass. “We are really proud of the album” comments Rizvi. “Making a new Kansas album sets a very high musical standard that is expected from our fans. From rockers, to progressive epics, to ballads, there is something on this recording for everybody.”
Corb Lund – Agricultural Tragic CD/LP (New West)
Corb Lund embraces his rich and rustic western heritage with a style that’s unique, honest and resolute, while touching on a range of cowboy themes – from rough-and-tumble tales of lawless frontier saloons, to the somber realities of running a modern family ranch. As a descendant of many generations of rodeo contestants and ranchers, he sings about a life that he and his ancestors have lived themselves, paired with his quick-witted, wry observations of today’s world. As a result of his heritage and the ten years he spent touring the world with his indie rock band, Corb’s writing resonates emphatically with rural and urban audiences alike. It’s a classic sound with a twist, something of a rarity these days, but one that evokes the spirit of the American West, past and present. Lund’s eleventh studio album, Agricultural Tragic, finally puts a name to the genre he’s been embodying all of these years. [Limited edition indie store exclusive clear vinyl pressing also available.]
CDs + Vinyl:
The 13th Floor Elevators – You And I And Me 2xCD (Sunset Blvd.)
This collection brings together tracks from the Elevators 1966 performances in San Francisco and Houston, plus bonus tracks from Roky Erickson’s solo performances in the early ’70s.
38 Spesh & Benny – Stabbed & Shot [Reissue/2018] CD/LP (Air Vinyl)
Digitally remasterd and expanded edition including bonus instrumentals of Benny The Butcher and 38 Spesh’s seminal joint album. “These underground kingpins were both at their hungriest at the top of 2018, and this album is the proof.”
Absu – In the Eyes of Ioldánach [Reissue/1998] CDEP (Osmose)
A reissue of the Texas extreme/black metal band’s 1998 EP.
Ahab – Live Prey CD/2LP (Napalm)
A live album – from the nautical doom funeral doom band. Recorded at the Death Row Fest 2017 in Jena, Germany. [Vinyl edition features an etched D-side.]
Alice Bag – Sister Dynamite CD/LP (In The Red)
On her new album Sister Dynamite, L.A. punk icon Alice Bag confronts some of the most pervasive problems troubling the world today: unchecked privilege and willful ignorance, systemic inequality and fragile masculinity. The album marks a thrilling return to the full-throttle punk that Bag pioneered with her legendary first-wave punk band, The Bags.
Asking Alexandria – Like A House On Fire CD/2xLP (Sumerian)
The sixth studio album by the British rock band shows the group’s continuity of a straight forward and melodic hard rock sound while also shifting into different genres.
Masaki Batoh – Smile Jesus Loves You CD/LP (Drag City)
Solo again after last fall’s new Silence album, the Japanese psychedelic guru makes some one-man performances, with others featuring Ghost and Silence family members, including free drumming legend of Fushitsusha and early Ghost, Hiroyuki Usui.
Benighted – Obscene Repressed CD/LP (Season Of Mist)
Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. Benighted detonate Obscene Repressed, their latest (s)platter of high-velocity death metal destruction. Long one of Europe’s finest death metal exports, they deliver a razor-sharp synthesis of modern extremity with a ferocity that cannot be understated. This CD edition is packaged in an elaborate box.
Benny The Butcher – Butcher On Steroids [Reissue/2017] CD (Next Records)
Across 12 tracks, the Butcher delivers the kind of authentic street flow that has come to define the Buffalo, NY rap scene, backed up by guest appearances from his Griselda bretheren ElCamino and Conway, atop a bed of stark and intense beats courtesy of guest producers DJ Green Lantern, Daringer, IceRocks, and more.
Blaze and Blaze Ya Dead Homie – Gang Rags [Reissue/2010] CD/2xLP (Majik Ninja)
This long out of print album has been reissued on CD and vinyl with new artwork. Includes collaborations with Kottonmouth Kings, The Dayton Family, ABK, and the Insane Clown Posse. [Limited colored vinyl pressings are also available.]
Bloodshot Bill – Get Loose Or Get Lost CD/LP (Goner)
For nearly twenty years, Bloodshot Bill has shouted, snorted, cooed and crooned his way through the wild shadowland of primitive rock and roll, touring the world and collaborated with heavyweights like Jon Spencer, King Khan, the 5678’s and Deke Dickerson. 17 albums and over two-dozen singles later, this unstoppable Montrealeño has not slowed his manic touring and recording schedule one whit. He’s a seminal punk, a true wildman who blazes his own path to honky tonk hell with a bottomless repertoire of desperate rock and roll and insatiable R&B.
Dee Dee Bridgewater – Afro Blue [Reissue/1974] CD/LP (Mr. Bongo)
Released last week on vinyl – now available on vinyl. Recorded in Tokyo in 1974, Afro Blue features an exquisite collaboration of American and Japanese musicians, such as Cecil and Ron Bridgewater, Motohiko Hino and producer Takao Ishizuka. The result is a sublime deep soul-jazz masterpiece.
Carach Angren – Frankensteina Strataemontanus CD/2xLP/Cassette (Season Of Mist)
Following the mythos of the “real” Dr. Frankenstein, Johann Conrad Dippel, who served as the inspiration for the famed novel by Mary Shelley, Carach Angren’s Franckensteina Strataemontanus delivers a bombastic symphonic cacophony of necromancy and mad science. Interwoven with haunting keyboards, majestic orchestrations, and a perfect balance of melodic brutality, the new album serves as the most theatrical offering from the horror metal masters to date. [Deluxe CD edition also available.]
Johnny Cash – Easy Rider: The Best Of The Mercury Recordings CD/2xLP (Mercury Nashville)
Johnny Cash – The Complete Mercury Recordings 1986-1991 7xCD/7xLP (Mercury Nashville)
Easy Rider: The Best Of The Mercury Recordings is a 24-track collection highlighting the Mercury years. Featuring tracks such as “Waymore Blues” (with Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison and Carl Perkins, “We Remember The King”, “The Big Light”, “Tennessee Flat Top Box”, “Cats In The Cradle”, “I Shall Be Free” and many more. The Complete Mercury Recordings 1986-1991 collects all six albums Cash recorded for the label: Class Of ’55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming (1986), Johnny Cash Is Coming To Town (1987), Water From The Wells Of Home (1988), Classic Cash: Hall Of Fame Series (1988), Boom Chicka Boom (1990) and The Mystery Of Life (1991). The set is augmented with several rare or previously unreleased tracks and an additional disc of spare early mixes aptly titled Classic Cash: Hall Of Fame Series (Early Mixes), mastered from tapes newly discovered in the Mercury vaults. [Each title also available separately on vinyl.]
Cauldron Black Lamb – Slaver CD/LP (20 Buck Spin)
Australia’s bastard horde of pillaging plunderers return with a new album. Though rising from their watery tombs only infrequently, the burglarious villains of Cauldron Black Ram uniquely slay their enemies with demented grooves, blackened thrash malice and sludgy death metal barbarity. [Limited silver with mustard splatter colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Caustic Wound – Death Posture CD/LP (Profound Lore)
Pacific Northwest’s Caustic Wound (featuring members of Mortiferum, Cerebral Rot, Fetid, and Magrudergrind) play unrelenting and punishing brutal death-grind that captures the aesthetic and palpitations of the classic old-school era of the genre (not exceeding 1992 of course). Their debut album, Death Posture, which follows their 2018 Grinding Terror demo, sounds like a foul relic that could have been produced in ’88-91, while upholding a powerful, dark, murky yet unyielding production.
Ceu – Apka! CD (Six Degrees)
The fifth album from Sao Paulo’s singer/composer Ceu brings together sonic, thematic and conceptual extremes. It reveals an artist passing through her past musical trips, eventually leaving her chrysalis, transformed and ready for a new phase. The title is based on a made-up word shouted by Ceu’s youngest child, Antonino, which expresses complete satisfaction.
Thad Cockrell – If In Case You Feel The Same CD (ATO)
Thad Cockrell returns with his first solo album in over a decade. If In Case You Feel The Same taps into the tremendous depth of expression Thad has brought to co-writing for such artists as Joy Williams (on her Grammy-nominated 2019 album Front Porch), Joseph, Devon Gilfillian and Mathew Caws of Nada Surf, as well as his much beloved band Leagues. Buoyed by the support of Brittany Howard, whom he first met over a 4 a.m. pitcher of homemade margaritas, Cockrell set to work on his first solo effort in over a decade: an album that exposes his deepest insecurities and weaknesses, all for the sake of creating a transcendent connection with the audience. [Limited pink colored vinyl pressing due July 24.]
Coriky – Coriky CD/LP (Dischord)
Coriky is a band from Washington, D.C. Amy Farina plays drums. Joe Lalley plays bass. Ia MacKaye plays guitar. All sing.
Country Westerns – Country Westerns CD/LP (Fat Possum)
Debut album from the Nashville rockers.
Depeche Mode – Live Spirits 2xCD (Sony)
Depeche Mode – Spirits In The Forest 2xCD+2xBlu-ray/2xCD+DVD+DVD-Audio (Sony)
Live Spirits Soundtrack is the audio from the full concert film, Depeche Mode: Spirits In The Forest, recorded on the band’s 2017/2018 Global Spirit Tour.
Diamond Dogs – Honked All Over Again [Reissue/1994] CD (Wild Kingdom)
Digitally remastered expanded edition of the Swedish rock band’s 1994 debut album. [Vinyl edition due July 10.]
Elbow – Live At The Ritz – An Acoustic Performance CD/LP (Verve)
In the week that their eighth studio album, Giants Of All Sizes, became their third consecutive UK #1 album, Elbow played a series of special acoustic shows for select audiences in Leeds, Kingston and Manchester. Combining tracks from the new album with songs from their extensive and ever growing back catalog, the shows offered fans a rare opportunity to see Elbow in small venues, with the recordings emphasizing the special bond that exists between the band and
their fanbase.
ElCamino – Don’t Eat The Fruit CD (Next Records)
The Buffalo, NY hip-hop collective’s 2019 album is drawn from a combination of dire themes of urban decay and criminal degradation, as well as biblical iconography, to craft a record that crams a lot of hard-edged gloom and mafioso vibes into just a little over 29 minutes.
Exocrine – Maelstrom CD/LP (Unique Leader)
Exocrine is a modern progressive technical death metal band from Bordeaux, France.
Falconer – From A Dying Ember CD/LP (Metal Blade)
New release from the Swedish rockers.
Fred The Godson – Payback CD (Air Vinyl)
South Bronx rapper Fred the Godson died on April 23rd, 2020 at the age of 35 after contracting coronavirus earlier that month. Payback is an example of throwback New York rap.
Gordi – Our Two Skins CD/LP (Jagjaguwar)
Written in 20 anxious minutes during a lonely plane-ride to an isolated six weeks in Europe, Sophie Payten – the Australian musician known as Gordi – penned “Aeroplane Bathroom”, the Our Two Skins opening track. “It’s like all the adrenaline of the last two months just dropped away and I had a nervous breakdown,” says Payten, “thinking about all these big changes and entering a relationship with a woman. I was seeing my life that I thought was evolving in one direction is now evolving in this other direction.” The song and record open with a question: “Do you see yourself unravelling?” Our Two Skins, Gordi’s sophomore full-length album, chronicles the intense and impossible time Payten spent renegotiating who she is and how she fits in the world, particularly against the backdrop of Australia’s marriage equality vote – something that previously had not personally impacted Payten – and her Catholic upbringing. “It was a devastating way to fall in love with somebody,” she reflects. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
The Green Hill All-Stars – Cocktail Lounge: Easy Jazz 70s CD (Green Hill)
The Green Hill All-Stars present an instrumental collection of jazz/lounge renditions of classic hits of the 1970s, which they like to describe as lounge music worth listening to.
The Jerry Granelli Trio – The Jerry Granelli Trio Plays The Music Of Vince Guaraldi & Mose Allison CD/LP (RareNoise)
Over the course of a career spanning six decades, drummer Jerry Granelli has worked with many of the greatest artists across the full spectrum of jazz and beyond. On The Jerry Granelli Trio Plays Vince And Mose, Granelli revisits two of his most indelible collaborations from the vantage point of the exploratory now.
Green Lung – Woodland Rites CD/LP (Svart)
New release from the British stoner/hard rock band.
Grey Daze – Amends CD/LP/LP+CD (Loma Vista)
Grey Daze, the late Chester Bennington’s pre-Linkin Park band, release Amends, the Phoenix-born outfit’s eagerly awaited album featuring newly recorded music with re-mastered vocals from the group’s long out-of-print, and largely undiscovered, catalogue. Amends is the origin story of one of modern rock’s most recognizable voices and also a full circle moment among friends. The album is the fulfillment of a planned Grey Daze reunion that Chester had announced prior to his untimely passing. Several musicians lent their time and talent to the album, including Korn’s Brian “Head” Welch and James “Munky” Shaffer, Paige Hamilton (Helmet), Chris Traynor (Bush, Helmet, Orange 9MM), LP, Jasen Rauch (Breaking Benjamin) and Ryan Shuck (Orgy). [Limited deluxe edition includes a colored 180g vinyl pressing, the accompanying CD, and a 60-page book with never before seen band photos and ephemera.]
Haim – Women In Music Pt. III CD/2xLP/Cassette (Sony)
Following their 2017 release, Something To Tell You, Haim’s third full-length record, Women In Music Pt. III, was produced by bandmember Danielle Haim, Rostam Batmanglij (Vampire Weekend, Discovery), and Ariel Rechtshaid (Vampire Weekend, Adele, Madonna). It indicates a new personal and poppier direction for the sibling trio, from the sweet “Summer Girl” to the emotional heft of “Hallelujah”.
Colin Hicks – Sexy Rock – The Brits Are Rocking Vol. 4 CD (Bear Family)
27 songs recorded between 1957-1961 by the unjustly neglected brother of Tommy Hicks, better known as Tommy Steele.
Derrick Hodge – Color Of Noize CD (Blue Note)
Derrick Hodge is a celebrated composer and bassist who is equally adept on both electric and upright instruments. He is an accomplished session musician who has worked extensively across jazz, cinematic and R&B.
Will Hoge – Tiny Little Movies CD/LP (Edlo)
For two decades, Will Hoge has carried the torch for American rock & roll, carving out his own blue-collar sound rooted in amplified guitars, melodic hooks, southern soul, and rootsy stomp. It’s a sound that nods to the best moments of the past – the punch of Tom Petty’s anthems; the countrified twang of Buck Owens’ singing; the raw, greasy cool of the Rolling Stones – while still pushing forward into new territory, with Hoge’s storytelling and larger-than-life voice leading the charge. Trends come and go. Yet Will Hoge remains a mainstay of the Americana landscape, hitting the road year after year, turning new pages of a career whose twists and turns – including No. 1 hits, a near-death experience, major-label record deals, and hard-won independence – sound like stuff of some long-lost movie script. Maybe that’s why Tiny Little Movies, his eleventh album, feels so cinematic.
Randy Holden – Population II [Reissue/1970] CD/LP (Riding Easy)
Reissue of the now legendary, extremely rare album by guitarist/vocalist Holden and drummer/keyboardist Chris Lockheed, considered to be one of the earliest examples of doom metal.
Matthew Austin Hunt – Matthew Austin Hunt CD (Edgewater Music Group)
The musical trajectory of Matthew Austin Hunt was probably set for him when he was only 7. His grandfather, a Los Angeles recording artist in the late 1940s, bought him his first guitar, and he was hooked. As a musician, his influences are vast. From the records his father played (like Jerry Jeff, Willie, and Merle, in addition to artists like CCR, Bill Withers, and Stevie Wonder) to crooners of his grandfather’s era like Perry Como, Bing Crosby, and Johnny Mathis, Hunt draws from a deep well of long-established classics. His own, more primary influences as a songwriter include the likes of Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell, and The Turnpike Troubadours.
Impaled Nazarene – Rapture [Reissue/1998] CD (Osmose)
Reissue of the fifth full length studio release from Finnish black metal.
Kansas – The Absence Of Presence CD/CD+Blu-ray/2xLP (Inside Out Music)
Legendary progressive rock band Kansas follow-up 2016’s The Prelude Implicit with the new release The Absence Of Presence. Featuring nine new originals produced by Zak Rizvi, Phil Ehart and Richard Williams, Kansas’ signature sound is unmistakable throughout. The album showcases Ronnie Platt’s towering vocals, David Ragsdale’s searing violin, Tom Brislin’s dazzling keyboards, Williams and Rizvi’s electrifying guitar riffs, Ehart’s powerful drums, and Billy Greer’s rocking bass. “We are really proud of the album” comments Rizvi. “Making a new Kansas album sets a high musical standard that is expected from our fans. From rockers, to progressive epics, to ballads, there is something on this recording for everybody.”
Khruangbin – Mordechai CD/LP (Dead Oceans)
Khruangbin has always been multilingual, weaving far-flung musical languages like East Asian surf-rock, Persian funk, and Jamaican dub into mellifluous harmony. But on their third album, it’s finally speaking out loud. Mordechai features vocals prominently on nearly every song, a first for the mostly instrumental band. It’s a shift that rewards the risk, reorienting Khruangbin’s transportive sound toward a new sense of emotional directness, without losing the spirit of nomadic wandering that’s always defined it. And it all started with them coming home.
B.B. King and Eric Clapton – Riding With The King [Reissue/2000] CD/2xLP (WB)
Digitally remastered and expanded 20th Anniversary edition including two bonus tracks. Two guitar legends – Eric Clapton and B.B. King – first performed together in NYC in 1967. Over 30 years later, in 1999, the two longtime friends joined forces to create a collection of all new studio recordings of blues classics and contemporary songs.
Ray LaMontagne – Monovision CD/LP (RCA)
The eighth studio album from singer/songwriter sees Ray not only writing and producing the album once again but also includes added duties of engineering as well as performing all the instruments for the tracks.
Mike LePond’s Silent Assassins – Whore Of Babylon CD (Silver Lining Music)
Mike LePond’s Silent Assassins is a union between the mighty worlds of heavy metal and ancient history. “Steel-clad riffs swinging like battle swords, no concessions accepted and full-cranial impact guaranteed.”
Roman Lewis – Heartbreak (For Now) CDEP/12” (Bright Antenna)
New EP from the acoustic folk singer/songwriter.
The Lickerish Quartet – Threesome Vol. 1 CD (Label Logic)
The Lickerish Quartet is a supergroup of sought-after musicians, former members of the legendary band, Jellyfish: Eric Dover ((Imperial Drag, Slash’s Snakepit, Alice Cooper, Sextus), Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (Beck, Air, Cheap Trick, Imperial Drag) and Tim Smith (Noel Gallagher, The Finn Brothers, Sheryl Crow). [Vinyl edition due August 21.]
Corb Lund – Agricultural Tragic CD/LP (New West)
Corb Lund embraces his rich and rustic western heritage with a style that’s unique, honest and resolute, while touching on a range of cowboy themes – from rough-and-tumble tales of lawless frontier saloons, to the somber realities of running a modern family ranch. As a descendant of many generations of rodeo contestants and ranchers, he sings about a life that he and his ancestors have lived themselves, paired with his quick-witted, wry observations of today’s world. As a result of his heritage and the ten years he spent touring the world with his indie rock band, Corb’s writing resonates emphatically with rural and urban audiences alike. It’s a classic sound with a twist, something of a rarity these days, but one that evokes the spirit of the American West, past and present. Lund’s eleventh studio album, Agricultural Tragic, finally puts a name to the genre he’s been embodying all of these years. [Limited edition indie store exclusive clear vinyl pressing also available.]
Stephen Mallinder – Pow-Wow [Reissue/1982] CD (Ice Machine)
A new sub-label of the longstanding Canadian electro imprint Suction Records, Ice Machine focusing on old-school wave/post-punk sounds is thrilled to present a new, deluxe expanded reissue of the debut 1982 solo album from Cabaret Voltaire’s Stephen Mallinder. [Vinyl edition due July 17.]
Becca Mancari – The Greatest Part CD/LP (Captured Tracks)
Expanding beyond the homespun rootsiness of her critically acclaimed debut to incorporate a grittier, more experimental palette, Becca Mancari’s captivating new collection, The Greatest Part, lives in a liminal space between grief and joy, pain and forgiveness, sorrow and liberation. The record, produced by Paramore drummer Zac Farro, marks a significant sonic and emotional evolution, balancing unflinching self-examination with intoxicating grooves and infectious instrumental hooks fueled by explosive percussion and fuzzed out guitars. [Limited coke bottle clear vinyl pressing also available.]
Marduk – Germania [Reissue/1997] CD (Osmose)
Reissue of the Scandinavian metal act’s 1997 album.
Brian McKnight – Exodus CD (Sono Music Group)
The R&B singer’s 20th album is his final album of original material.
Naeem – Startisha CD/LP (3703D)
Startisha introduces Naeem as a restlessly creative artist with an impressionistic, genre-bending album. As a complete work, the album exemplifies artistic daring and emotional intelligence while exploring new ideas and sounds, and philosophically excavating the artist’s histories. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Noveller – Arrow CD/LP (Ba Da Bang)
Creating what Iggy Pop described to Jim Jarmusch as symphonies for people that don’t have a lot of time, Sarah Lipstate has emerged as an innovative and defining voice in the world of music under the name Noveller. Wielding a guitar as her main instrument, Lipstate has pioneered a transcendent approach to composition through her mastery and integration of effects pedals and technology. Forming unexpected sonic routes, her songs are vivid and cinematic, telling intricate tales with each tone and swell.
Old Tower – The Last Eidolon CD/LP (Profound Lore)
The third album by the enigmatic Old Tower, The Last Eidolon, tells a somber story of a kingdom laid to waste by its own creator through the corruption of dark magic and possession of destructive spirits.
Once & Future Band – Deleted Scenes CD/LP (Castleface)
The space-age songsmiths of Once & Future Band has been ting-tinging away on the truly heavy anvil of hominid perspective and emotion again to bring you this singing scape of songs. Annealing for over a year now, until it was cool enough to hold in your ears, nested in the pinnae, the time has finally come. Dew drops pop and hiss as they settle on the gliding guitarmonies.
Paysage D’Hiver – Im Wald 2xCD/4xLP (Kunsthall Produktionen)
Paysage D’Hiver are a phenomenon within the black metal genre. Wintherr, the Swiss project’s sole and solitary member, has released ten albums and several splits within 20-plus years, all of which became underground successes and sought-after items while he kept mostly to himself, feeling no need to go public. Uninterested in flocking to the herd, the artist and his craft remain an enigma that never fails to surprise… which rings especially true with regards to his first full-length since 2013: Im Wald (in the forest), a monochromatic epic in the truest sense of the word.
Pottery – Welcome To Bobby’s Motel CD/LP+MP3 (Partisan)
The 11 songs on Welcome To Bobby’s Motel don’t just invite you to move your body; they command you to. Fusing reckless, manic energy with painstaking precision, the record is part post-punk, part art-pop, and part dance floor acid trip, hinting at everything from Devo to Gang of Four as it boldly careens through genres and decades. The music is driven by explosive drums and off-kilter guitar riffs that drill themselves into your brain, accented with deep, funky grooves and rousing gang vocals. The production is similarly raw and wild, suggesting an air of anarchy that belies the music’s careful architecture and meticulous construction. The result is an album full of ambitious, complex performances that exude joy and mayhem in equal measure, a collection that’s alternately virtuosic, chaotic, and pure fun. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Prof – Powderhorn Suites CD/2xLP (Rhymesayers)
Prof is determined to grab the world’s attention, but it’s his artistic range that holds onto it. On Powderhorn Suites, Prof proves masterful at incorporating many different personas, styles, and deliveries into his music. With apparent ease, he vacillates between rapping and singing, between humor and drama, between joy and anger. [Limited gold colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Pyrrhon – Abscess Time CD/LP (Willowtip)
New album from New York’s shapeshifting extreme metal quartet.
Public Practice – Gentle Grip CD/LP (Wharf Cat)
On their debut full length, Gentle Grip, Public Practice reanimate the spirit of late ’70s New York with their playfully angular brand of no wave-meets-funk and dark disco.
Redd Kross – Redd Cross CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)
This special 40th anniversary edition of the Red Cross EP, which includes the band’s six-song eponymous debut and adds five contemporaneous extra tracks, is the most comprehensive document to date of the extraordinary birth of Redd Kross. Redd Kross incubated alongside such SoCal luminaries as Black Flag, Descendents, and the Minutemen, and this new 11-song collection-which includes rare and unreleased demos plus a live track recorded in 1979 at The Church, the infamous Black Flag birthplace in Hermosa Beach, CA-puts in proper perspective the McDonald brothers’ contribution, at the ridiculously precocious ages of 12 and 16, to that area’s punk scene.
Nadine Shah – Kitchen Sink CD/LP (Infectious Music)
Kitchen Sink follows up Nadine Shah’s critically acclaimed and Mercury Prize nominated 2017 album Holiday Destination. With the same ferocious determination and distinct voice Shah now turns her sights closer to home with a collection that explores her own story as a woman in her 30’s and the societal pressures and expectations that come with that. Jovial and playful at times, unblinkingly daring at others – Kitchen Sink is bursting with Shah’s beloved personality while simultaneously refusing to compromise on the social commentary that she continues to deliver so fearlessly.
Sonar with David Torn – Tranceportation Volume 2 CD/LP (RareNoise)
The music created by Stephan Thelen (tritone guitar), Bernard Wagner (tritone guitar), Christian Kuntner (tritone bass), Manuel Pasquinelli (drums, percussion) harnesses elements of rock, jazz and contemporary classical minimalism and fuses them to create a distinctive musical language. Their partnership with David Torn began with their 2018 release, Vortex. Initially brought in as producer, such was Torn’s enthusiasm for the quartet’s music he couldn’t help but add his flowing brand of effusive, vivid soloing and textural layering across the breadth of the record. While that was a spontaneous, off-the-cuff reaction to music that had been composed for a quartet, for Tranceportation the music has been specifically composed with Torn in mind from the very beginning.
The Staples – Family Tree [Reissue/1977] CD (Omnivore)
The Staples – Unlock Your Mind [Reissue/1978] CD (Omnivore)
Digitally remastered and expanded editions. 1977’s Family Tree spun off two singles, “See A Little Further (Than My Bed)” and a cover of “I Honestly Love You” (made popular by Olivia Newton-John). The self-titled track from 1978’s Unlock Your Mind was their best-showing on the charts since 1975’s “Let’s Do It Again”.
The Subways – Youth For Eternity [Reissue/2005] CD/LP (Echo Label Limited)
The Subways – All Or Nothing [Reissue/2008] CD/LP (Echo Label Limited)
Reissue of the English indie/alternative rock band’s debut album and Butch Vig-produced follow-up. [Limited colored vinyl pressing of All Or Nothing also available.]
Tenille Townes – The Lemon Stand CD (SME Nashville)
The debut album from the country singer-songwriter was produced by Jay Joyce (Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town) and consists of seven new songs as well as all five songs from Townes’ Road to The Lemonade Stand EP, which includes hit singles “Somebody’s Daughter” and “Jersey On The Wall (I’m Just Asking)”. [Vinyl edition due August 14.]
Sonic Boom – All Things Being Equal CD/LP+MP3 (Carpark)
Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. It’s auspicious that Sonic Boom – the solo project and nom-de producer of Peter Kember (Spectrum, Spacemen 3) – returns in 2020 with his first new LP in three decades. Kember’s drawn to the year’s numerological potency, and this intentionality shines into every corner of All Things Being Equal. It’s a meditative, mathematical record concerned with the interconnectedness of memory, space, consumerism, consciousness’ everything. Through regenerative stories told backwards and forwards, Kember explores dichotomies zen and fearsome, reverential of his analog toolkit and protective of the plants and trees that support our lives.
Ulthar – Providence CD/LP (20 Buck Spin)
With the release of Cosmovore in 2018, Ulthar presented a twisted warped dystopia where furiously paced, inverted death metal and scathing, angular blackness defined a new way forward. Now the band returns with the grotesquely intangible Providence, whereby they stretch the fabric of previously trod worlds into idiosyncratic new forms and elevated levels of primal intellect [Limited pink with black and magenta colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Various Artists – Field Works: Ultrasonic CD/2xLP (Temporary Residence)
Stuart Hyatt returns with another sonic wonder in the Field Works series, bringing the listener into truly uncharted acoustic territory. Ultrasonic is perhaps the first-ever album to use the echolocations of bats as compositional source material. For this special album, Hyatt has assembled an extraordinary group of contributors: Eluvium, Christina Vantzou, Sarah Davachi, Ben Lukas Boysen, Machinefabriek, Mary Lattimore, Felicia Atkinson, Noveller, Chihei Hatakeyama, John Also Bennett, Kelly Moran, Taylor Deupree, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Julien Marchal, and Player Piano. Ultrasonic is part of a broader storytelling project about the federally endangered Indiana Bat. Generously funded by the IUPUI Arts & Humanities Institute and the National Geographic Society, each album contains an official printed booklet of The Endangered Species Act of 1973.
Voidceremony – Entropic Reflections Continuum: Dimensional Unravel CD/LP (20 Buck Spin)
Circulating in the pits of the deepest underground for nearly seven years, Ramona, CA’s Voidceremony present their long-awaited debut full length album. Furiously fragmented death metal rips though the reflective fabric of reality, sinking deep memory-hooks into the innermost cerebral chasms. [Limited gold inside ultra-clear with black smoke limited vinyl pressing also available.]
Katie Von Schleicher – Consummation CD/LP (Ba Da Bing)
Katie Von Schleicher doesn’t hold back. Her music, drenched in layers of warmth and fuzz, mines depression, devotion, power, and anxiety without reserve.
Jessie Ware –What’s Your Pleasure? CD/LP (Interscope)
What’s Your Pleasure? is the fourth album from Jessie Ware. The recording process was a transformative period for Ware and the album sees the influential artist reconnect with her roots, entirely on her own terms. At its core, the album explores themes of femininity, freedom of imagination and escapism.
Warp Chamber – Implements Of Excruciation CD/LP (Profound Lore)
Pacific Northwest abnormal death metal oddity Warp Chamber create a raw, nightmarish and twisted sonicscape of otherworldly cosmic horror that attends to the likes of the old school Finnish, Swedish, and American death metal scenes, while creating a putrid and celestial atmosphere through its own abominable vision.
Marcin Wasilewski Trio & Joe Lovano – Arctic Riff CD (ECM)
The first-time teaming of Poland’s dynamic Marcin Wasilewski Trio and big-toned US tenorist Joe Lovano brings forth special music of concentrated, deep feeling, in which lyricism and strength seem ideally balanced. The alliance plays four new tunes by Marcin and one by Joe, as well as Carla Bley’s classic “Vashkar” plus collective improvisations with strong input from all four players; Slawomir Kurkiewicz’s bass skills are particularly well-deployed in the spontaneous piece “Arco”. [Vinyl edition due August 7.]
Bobby Watson – Keepin’ It Real CD (Smoke Sessions)
A vital continuation of the supple hard-bop sound that Watson has practiced throughout the decades, laced with the profound influences of gospel and R&B and now infused with the renewed vigor of hungry young collaborators.
Frank Zappa and The Mothers – The Mothers 1970 4xCD (Zappa Records)
The Mothers 1970 is a collection commemorating the 50th anniversary of The Mothers with 70 unreleased tracks. Features unheard studio sessions from Trident Studios in London England with engineer Roy Thomas Baker, and historical live performances mostly captured by Zappa’s own tape recorder. Packaged in a clamshell box with a booklet and a button.
DVDs + Blu-ray:
INXS – Live Baby Live: Live At Wembly Stadium DVD+2xCD/Blu-ray (Eagle Rock Entertainment)
In July 1991, INXS delivered the gig of their lives at London’s Wembley Stadium to 74,000 ecstatic fans. The band played over 2,000 shows before singer Michael Hutchence’s untimely passing 20 years ago, but Wembley was the one, both band and crowd knew this would be the performance of a lifetime. Restored from the original 35mm negative as well as audio restored by Giles Martin and Sam Okell at Abbey Road Studios this 2020 version is the full Wembley soundtrack of an ‘80s band left without an iconic lead singer.
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
Active Child – In Another Life LP (Masterworks)
Third full-length album from singer, songwriter, and producer.
Archers Of Loaf – Talking Over Talk b/w Cruel Reminder 7”+MP3 (Merge)
“North Carolina indie rock greats Archers of Loaf should have a new record on the way sometime soon, hopefully, and while we wait for details, here’s a new song, ‘Talking Over Talk’, that’s set to slow simmer and makes good use of Eric Bachmann’s smoky pipes.” – Brooklyn Vegan
Auroch – Stolen Angelic Tongues LP (20 Buck Spin)
Neon magenta with black & mustard yellow splatter vinyl version. Vancouver’s Auroch return with new music for the first time in nearly four years. Stolen Angelic Tongues draws upon the magical and spiritual traditions of South America and the Caribbean as their histories, past and present, represent a microcosm of the great spiritual rebellion that has been the band’s inspiration throughout its singular discography. An ever-evolving beast of the deep, here Auroch conjure vicious black/death spells of occult necromancy and technical sorcery, making manifest a dark vision of obscure magic.
Alec Benjamin – These Two Windows LP (Artist Partner Group)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Debut album from the Phoenix, AZ-based singer/songwriter. Features the single “Demons”.
Blanck Mass – Black Mass [Reissue/2011] LP (Sacred Bone)
Colored vinyl reissue of the debut album from John Power (Fuck Buttons). His eponymous debut album is a collection of tracks loosely themed around cere- bral hypoxia and the beautiful complexity of the natural world.
Avashi Cohen – Big Vicious LP (ECM)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Charismatic trumpeter Avishai Cohen launched his homegrown band Big Vicious six years ago, after relocating from the US to his native Israel, rounding up friends to shape the music from the ground up, including guitarist Uzi Ramirez, bassist Jonathan Albalak and drummers Aviv Cohen & Ziv Ravitz. Textures from electronica, ambient music and psychedelia are part of the blend, along with grooves and beats from rock, pop, trip-hop and more.
Bee Gees – Best Of The Bee Gees [Reissue/1975] LP (Capitol)
Bee Gees – Main Course [Reissue/1975] LP (Capitol)
Bee Gees – Children Of The World [Reissue/1976] LP (Capitol)
Bee Gees – Here At Last: Live [Reissue/1977] 2xLP (Capitol)
Bee Gees – Spirits Having Flown [Reissue/1978] LP (Capitol)
Vinyl reissues of the Bee Gees’ 13th, 14th, and 15th albums, along with their 1975 early hits compilation and 1977 double live album.
Johnny Cash – Class Of ’55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming [Reissue/1986] LP (Mercury)
Johnny Cash – Johnny Cash Is Coming To Town [Reissue/1987] LP (Mercury)
Johnny Cash – Water From The Wells Of Home [Reissue/1988] LP (Mercury)
Johnny Cash – Classic Cash: Hall Of Fame Series [Reissue/1988] 2xLP (Mercury)
Johnny Cash – Boom Chicka Boom [Reissue/1990] LP (Mercury)
Johnny Cash – The Mystery Of Life [Reissue/1991] LP (Mercury)
Stand-alone vinyl reissues of Johnny Cash’s Mercury Nashville oeuvre.
Charmer – Ivy LP+MP3 (No Sleep)
Ivy is a snapshot of the time in everyone’s life when they stop long enough to realize everything, including themselves, is changing. The tracks demand listeners let go of their collective nostalgia for the times they thought they would live forever, urging us to live in the present. Limited white with orange and blue splatter colored vinyl pressing.
Dashboard Confessional – The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most [Reissue/2001] LP (Hidden Note)
The long-awaited first-ever vinyl pressing of Dashboard Confessional’s The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most. The monumental emo album, produced in 2001 by original collaborator James Paul Wisner, marked the first time Chris Carrabba’s hyper-personal acoustic sing-alongs were amplified by additional instrumentation.
Earth, Wind & Fire – That’s The Way Of The World [Reissue/1975] LP (Music On Vinyl)
Limited 180gm orange and yellow mixed colored vinyl pressing in gatefold jacket. Includes insert. Earth, Wind & Fire’s sixth studio album That’s The Way Of The World rose to #1 on both the Billboard 200 and Top Soul Albums charts. It was also the soundtrack for a 1975 motion picture of the same name. They won a Rock Music Award for the album in the category of Best Rhythm and Blues Album.
Exciter – Violence And Force [Reissue/1984] LP (Megaforce)
Vinyl reissue of the second studio album by Canadian speed metal band.
Experience Yourself – Free Yourself [Reissue/1977] LP (Now Again)
Vinyl reissue of the debut studio album by the Washington, D.C.-based go-go band.
Fanny – Fanny [Reissue/1970] LP (Real Gone Music)
Limited white vinyl pressing in gatefold jacket. It’s hard to overstate the importance of Fanny’s 1970 debut album. For the first time, a group of women (sisters June and Jean Millington, Alice de Buhr and Nickey Barclay) wrote and sang their own songs, played their own instruments and, perhaps most importantly, rocked just as hard as any male band out there. And, as the first all-female band signed to a major label (Reprise) and with superstar producer Richard Perry at the board, these four women became perhaps L.A.’s biggest ‘buzz band,’ landing repeated bookings at the Whisky-a-Go-Go with a who’s who of rock’s glitterati in attendance.
Art Feynman – Half Price At 3:30 LP (Western Vinyl)
Art Feynman (aka accomplished recording artist and producer Luke Temple) stitches art pop, Nigerian highlife, worldbeat, and other lesser-known genres into a musical quilt that displays his unmistakable guile and eccentric songcraft. On his sophomore album Half Price At 3:30 he delivers songs that side-smile while pointing out the emotional sinkholes that whirl beneath the most overlooked, seemingly commonplace scenarios.
Dana Gavanski – Yesterday Is Gone LP (Ba Da Bing!)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. While on a crowded train last spring, Gavanski sang the Macedonian song “Jano Mome” to a cheering group of commuters. The moment, brief but beautiful, lays bare Gavanski’s craving for live spontaneity. But it also reflects her injection of stylish drama and vivid emotion into the folk landscape that inspires her, from contemporary singers H Hawkline and Julia Holter, to stalwarts Fairport Convention, Anne Briggs, Connie Converse, and Judee Sill. Expressive urges run all through Yesterday Is Gone. Moments of beguilement splinter a backdrop of tenderly picked guitar, bass, synth, and poppier elements, which commune to produce her own kind of wall of sound.
The Goners – Good Mourning LP (RidingEasy)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. “Following in the long-established tradition of studied and proficient Scandinavian rock bands, The Goners mix up several forms of rock on their debut album Good Mourning. Taking in garage, surf, heavy, and psych, these Swedes deftly sidestep what could have been a chaotic mash-up, instead offering a surprisingly measured and refined take on a style of rock and roll that they’ve made all their own. And incredibly cool and controlled riot of riffs, solos and great songs.” – The Sleeping Shaman Webzine
High Sunn – Coffin Eyes LP (Cleopatra)
Bay Area multi-instrumentalist/vocalist/songwriter Justin Cheromiah releases his latest album of melodic guitar-oriented indie rock – now available on limited edition vinyl.
Ice – The Ice Age LP (Riding Easy)
This astounding 50-year-old album by Indianapolis quintet Ice is an exceptional archive of hard edged rock with serious pop hooks akin to something like Grand Funk Railroad meets The Guess Who and The Move.
I Fight Dragons – The Near Future [Reissue/2014] LP (Oglio)
Green with blue swirl colored vinyl reissue of the chiptune-rock band’s 2014 album.
Ike Yard – Ike Yard [Reissue/1982] LP (Superior Viaduct)
Ike Yard remain a legendary band of early ’80s New York City – at once immensely influential, yet obscured by a far-too-brief initial phase. Their debut EP, the dark and absorbing Night After Night, sounds almost like a different group, so rapidly would Ike Yard evolve towards the calmly menacing electro throb of their self-titled LP. Originally released on Factory in 1982, the album put Ike Yard’s indelible mark on the synth-driven experimental rock scene then emerging all over the planet.
Indigo Girls – Look Long 2xLP (Rounder)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Their first new studio album in five years, Look Long is a testament to the Indigo Girls’ storied 40-year career. Produced by John Reynolds at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studio in England, the album features 11 brand new tracks, all written by the pair. Among the many highlights are “Country Radio” and Reynolds’ arrangement of a recent live staple, “Howl At the Moon”. “It’s something I always do with my daughter, when we’re out in the woods,” says Amy. “I did it with my friends, when we were kids. It means you’re happy, you’re free. Explore the irreverent, but also honor the things that you should. Don’t be afraid.” In the song “Feel This Way”, Emily is singing to her younger self. She adds, “Enjoy everything, suck it all up now.”
Alan Jackson – The Greatest Hits Collection [Reissue/1995] 2xLP (Sony Legacy)
Available for the first time on vinyl as a double-LP set, The Greatest Hits Collection features chart topping classics like “Don’t Rock The Jukebox”, “She’s Got Rhythm (And I Got The Blues)”, “Chattahoochee” and “Summertime Blues”, plus the exclusive songs “Tall, Tall Trees” and “I’ll Try”, both of which topped Billboard’s country singles chart as well.
The Julies – Lovelife [Reissue/1996] 12” (Lost In Ohio)
The Julies spent four years playing shows and breaking hearts. In 1996, just before riding off on separate horses into the sunset, they released a much-adored EP called Lovelife. Six tracks of musical bliss, with sonic similarities to artists like The Cure, Catherine Wheel and The Smiths. [Limited red colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Kleeer – Intimate Connection [Reissue/1984] LP (Real Gone Music)
Vinyl reissue of a slice of cult ’80s electro-funk from multi-talented and multifaceted New York ensemble Kleeer. Limited ‘red telephone’ colored pressing.
Kore Rozzik – Vengeance Overdrive [Reissue/2018] LP (Deadline Music)
Notorious NY metal heroes Kore Rozzik were out for blood with their debut album – now available on limited edition vinyl.
Kruelty – A Dying Truth LP (Profound Lore)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Japan’s Kruelty was formed in 2017 and play a brutal and devastating mix of beatdown hardcore and punishing doomy death metal. Their debut full-length album A Dying Truth follows several splits and a single EP along with a slew of live shows and is a savage and monolithic slab of what an ideal mix between vicious hardcore and brutal death metal should encompass.
Miranda Lambert – Platinum [Reissue/2014] 2xLP (Sony Legacy)
First-time vinyl pressing. Already a must-watch country artist after her breakthrough performance on the singing competition Nashville Star and then four consecutive million-selling albums, Miranda Lambert approached her fifth studio effort Platinum with a strong sense of purpose and a commitment to recording some of her most energetic and ambitious songs.
Laveda – What Happens After LP (Color Station)
What Happens After is Laveda’s (Albany, NY) debut LP. Within moments you’re swept into a wave of cathartic distortion and noise. Laveda are bringing indie shoegaze back.
Mayhem – Esoteric Warfare [Reissue/2014] 2xLP (Season Of Mist)
Limited green colored vinyl repress of the fifth album by the Norwegian black metal band.
Midwife – Forever LP (The Flenser)
As Midwife, Denver-based multi-instrumentalist Madeline Johnston plays what she describes as heaven metal, or emotive music about devastation.
Kip Moore – Wild World 2xLP (MCA Nashville)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The weathered heartland-rock sound Moore embraces on Wild World pumps up its emotional volume, recorded live with a full band.
Mourning (A) Blkstar – The Cycle 2xLP (Don Giovanni)
A double LP spanning 20 songs and three singers, touching on neo-soul, hip-hop, and the cosmic expanse in between/beyond.
Willie Nile – New York At Night LP (River House)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. 13th studio album from the veteran rock ‘n’ roll troubadour. New York At Night exemplifies the artist’s trademark mix of romance, idealism, humor, emotional urgency and a true believer’s passionate embrace of all things rock ‘n’ roll.
Old Man Gloom – Seminar IX: Darkness Of Being LP (Profound Lore)
The new Old Man Gloom album sees the notorious experimental super-group forge on with their legacy after a slight suspension in uncertainty following the passing of bassist / vocalist Caleb Scofield. It was decided that the remaining members Aaron Turner (Sumac/Isis), Nate Newton (Converge), and drummer Santos Montano would continue and would bring in Scofield’s former Cave In bandmate, Stephen Brodsky, to take his place amongst the pulse. Seminar IX: Darkness Of Being is is another towering Old Man Gloom masterwork with earth-crumbling riffs, post-hardcore brutality, sprawling noise transmissions, experimental ambient sonic subdivisions and epic, impenetrable melancholy. [CD edition due July 10.]
Mark Olson & Ingunn Ringvold – Magdalen Accepts The Invitation CD (Fiesta Red)
Released last week on CD – now available on vinyl. This third collaboration between Americana pioneer Mark Olson (Jayhawks) and Norwegian singer/multi-instrumentalist Ingunn Ringvold mines a Death Valley isolation chamber folk/pop sound awash with dramatic darkness and vivid light. While continuing along the Americana-cobbled roads they took on their first two albums, the husband-and-wife duo here explore lesser traveled musical territories here.
Pão Com Manteiga – Pão Com Manteiga [Reissue/1976] LP (Polysom)
This important chapter of progressive rock and national psychedelia returns to the shelves in the excellent quality it deserves.
Dolly Parton – The Very Best Of Dolly Parton [Reissue/2007] 2xLP (Sony Legacy)
First-time vinyl pressing. As you would expect, The Very Best Of Dolly Parton collects a sample of the material that made the pop/country singer-songwriter one of the best and brightest musicians of all-time.
Robert Pollard – EAT 16: Soundtrack From Planet Cake 7” (GBV Inc.)
Stand-alone edition of the 7” seven song EP that was included with EAT 16. All songs were recorded on the boombox in Bob’s living room.
Post Malone – Hollywood’s Bleeding 2xLP (Republic)
Double pink colored vinyl pressing. Post Malone stirs a mix of genres into his own sonic sound that’s both intoxicating and invigorating.
Josey Rebelle – Josey In Space LP (RVNG Int’l)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Drawing from a kaleidoscope of deeply felt and understood sounds, Josey’s 20-track mix maps her personal history onto a collective trajectory in dance music.
Reigning Sound – Home For Orphans [Reissue/2005] LP+MP3 (Merge)
Stephen Deusner wrote in his review for Pitchfork: “Greg Cartwright has an ear for the hooks and hits from the mid-20th century, when rock, country, and R&B were only just beginning to diverge, and his songs with The Reigning Sound have the authenticity of dusty 45s by long-forgotten artists, buried for decades in some lonely LP store or flea market.” Featuring the original Memphis lineup of singer-guitarist Cartwright, bassist Jeremy Scott, drummer Greg Roberson, and organist Alex Greene, Home For Orphans represents Reigning Sound’s classic sonic blueprint.
Remo Drive – A Portrait Of An Ugly Man LP+MP3 (Epitaph)
With its acrobatic guitar work, deeply self-referential lyrics and off-the-walls energy, Remo Drive’s new album, A Portrait of an Ugly Man, calls back to the dexterous, eccentric sound that helped the band – brothers Erik (vocals, guitar) and Stephen (bass) Paulson – explode into the underground with their 2017 debut. [Limited opaque maroon colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Ringo Deathstarr – Ringo Deathstarr LP (Levitation)
Austin, TX shoegaze legends Ringo Deathstarr are back with album number five, 13 tracks of soaring guitar daydreams, misty musings and blissful noise. Titled simply Ringo Deathstarr, the record comes almost five years after their acclaimed 2015 Pure Mood but picks up right where they left off.
Scarlet Rivera – All Of Me 12” (Bright Sun)
World-renowned violinist and composer Scarlet Rivera has come a long way in her music career since being first introduced to the world by Bob Dylan as his featured violinist in 1975. On All Of Me, Rivera combines her versatility as a world-class violinist with her singer-songwriter skills to create six original songs covering topics from women empowerment and political power to self-identity and the wisdom one gains from living life.
The Rolling Stones– Living In A Ghost Town 10” (Interscope)
Limited orange colored 10” vinyl pressing. Following the band’s Global Citizen performance, The Rolling Stones release a new song, “Living In A Ghost Town”. This is the band’s first new material in eight years. The track was written by Mick and Keith which was created/recorded in Los Angeles and London while in isolation during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers [Reissue/1971] LP (Interscope)
The Rolling Stones – Exile On Main Street [Reissue/1972] 2xLP (Interscope)
The Rolling Stones – It’s Only Rock N Roll [Reissue/1974] LP (Interscope)
The Rolling Stones – Black & Blue [Reissue/1976] LP (Interscope)
The Rolling Stones – Some Girls [Reissue/1978] LP (Interscope)
The Rolling Stones – Emotional Rescue [Reissue/1980] LP (Interscope)
The Rolling Stones – Tattoo You [Reissue/1981] LP (Interscope)
The Rolling Stones – Undercover [Reissue/1983] LP (Interscope)
The Rolling Stones – Dirty Work [Reissue/1986] LP (Interscope)
The Rolling Stones – Steel Wheels [Reissue/1989] LP (Interscope)
The Rolling Stones – Voodoo Lounge [Reissue/1994] 2xLP (Interscope)
The Rolling Stones – Bridges To Babylon [Reissue/1997] 2xLP (Interscope)
The Rolling Stones – A Bigger Bang [Reissue/2005] 2xLP (Interscope)
Remastered and cut at revelatory Half-Speed at Abbey Road Studios from vinyl specific original tape transfers designed to get the very best possible sound from the format.
She Past Away – X LP (Metropolis)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. She Past Away forgoes the simplicity and traditionalism of goth rock, instead adopting a more avant-garde set of sensibilities and diverse influences to create a new take on modern gloom. To celebrate the band’s first decade, the band presents X which is comprised of remixes from a vast array of influential artists, such as The Soft Moon, Front 242, Clan of Xymox, Selofan, Ash Code, Boy Harsher, and more.
The Shifters – The Shifters [Reissue/2015] LP (Digital Regress)
“There’s way more at play here than blatant UK DIY worship, though-it’s not a huge jump from the homespun, pastoral pop of ’80s Australian DIY legends like The Particles and The Cannanes to the Shifters’ raggedly melodic ‘Colour Me In’, and ‘The American Attitude To The Law’ sprawls into a lengthy Velvet Underground-addled haze, if only Lou Reed had written songs referencing ‘drinking cough syrup to fall asleep’ instead of heroin.” – Erika Elizabeth, Futures & Pasts MRR #421
Slugfuckers – Transformation Salt [Reissue/1981] LP (Digital Regress)
Slugfuckers’ sole full-length Transformational Salt, originally released on Tom Ellard’s (Severed Heads) Dogfood Production System in 1981, is an absorbing slab of Australian DIY, dense with thought and fury. The album brings together reprobate dub poetics and thug-drubbing spite in a mangled collage of post-punk disjunct and proto-industrial churn.
Sofie – Cult Survivor LP (Stones Throw)
Sofie is a musician and artist based in Vienna. Best known as a DJ, she releases her self-produced debut album, Cult Survivor, a collection of leftfield pop songs inspired by chanson, heartbreak and life’s overwhelming decisions.
Sports Team – Deep Down Happy LP (Bright Antenna)
Recently released on CD – now available on limited red colored vinyl. Sports Team, a band of six singular characters – who have been variously described as “one of the most raucous, electrifying and chaotic acts in the UK” – release their debut album.
Lennon Stella – Three. Two. One. LP (Sony)
Recenlty released on CD – now available on vinyl. Three. Two. One. is the debut album from Nashville-based singer, songwriter, actress, and multi-instrumentalist. Lennon Stella first rose to popularity when she was just 12 years old as part of the duo Lennon & Maisy, alongside her younger sister. The pair gained national attention with a cover of Robyn’s “Call Your Girlfriend”. Lennon then went on to star in the ABC/CMT television series Nashville as Maddie Conrad for six years.
Tobacco – Hungry Eyes 7”+MP3 (Ghostly Int’l)
Tobacco’s take on the Eric Carmen song (written by Franke Previte and John DeNicola) obscures its sentimentality, mucking up the desire of the Dirty Dancing classic while honoring its strange and timeless mystique. Pop melodies and structure intact, the Tobacco treatment is textural: all blown-out bass, analog synths, and drum machine chugging beneath Fec’s unmistakable analog gurgle and hiss.
The Turtles – It Ain’t Me Babe [Reissue/1965] 2xLP (Manifesto)
The Turtles – You Baby [Reissue/1966] 2xLP (Manifesto)
The Turtles – Happy Together [Reissue/1967] 2xLP (Manifesto)
The Turtles – Present The Battle Of The Bands [Reissue/1968] 2xLP (Manifesto)
The Turtles – Turtle Soup [Reissue/1969] 2xLP (Manifesto)
The Turtles – Wooden Head [Reissue/1969] 2xLP (Manifesto)
Originally released on the small White Whale label, The Turtles’ original albums have remained stubbornly out of print for many years. These expanded double-vinyl reissues feature a wealth of rare bonus material on every set.
Carrie Underwood – Some Hearts [Reissue/2005] 2xLP (Sony Legacy)
First-time vinyl pressing with an etched D-side. When Carrie Underwood was crowned the winner on the fourth season of American Idol in 2005, even her most devoted new fans couldn’t anticipate the career she’d have.
Various Artists – Louis Wayne Mood High 2xLP (Numero)
The lost yearbook from Louis Wayne Moody High’s graduating class of 1967, chronicling the peaks and valleys of teenage angst, lost loves, and life after summer vacation. Fourteen moody melodies of surf kings, guitar Bettys, talent show psychers, and pre S.D.S. soft- poppers. Walls of jangly guitars, maudlin organs, and melancholy harmonies deliver the bummer to ring in the summer.
Wetware – Flail LP (Dais)
Brooklyn-based outfit Wetware return with the intense follow-up album to 2018’s Automatic Drawing, an electronic dirge, simply titled Flail. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Gary Wilson – The King Of Endicott LP (Cleopatra)
Endicott, also the birthplace of otherworldly geniuses including Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling and the IBM corporation, features heavily in this album’s lyrics as Gary leads the listener on a funky psychedelic trip through his past.
Withering Surface – Meet Your Maker LP (SPV)
Swedish melodic death metal, the so-called melo-death, got its breakthrough in the mid-1990s with especially bands from Gothenburg such as In Flames, At The Gates and Dark Tranquility. Withering Surface from Næstved, Denmark quickly captured the new special genre and since then marked the band as the most successful Danish melodic death metal band since its foundation in 1994.
Wooden Shjips – Back To Land [Reissue/2013] LP+MP3 (Thrill Jockey)
Clear with copper colored vinyl pressing. Wooden Shjips rise to prominence from the psychedelic underground to the rock and roll overground has been a steady sojourn. With each consecutive release, the band has found new ways of transforming heady psychedelic rock into minimalist masterpieces, bridging the gap between the woozy freeness of Les Rallizes Denudes and Crazy Horse and the tightly wound simplicity of Suicide and the Velvet Underground.
Woods – Strange To Explain CD/LP (Woodsist)
Dreaming doesn’t come easy these shadowed days, which is why Strange To Explain by Woods is such a welcome turning of new colors. It presents an extended moment of sweet reflection for the 15-year-old band, bouncing back to earth as something hopeful and weird and resolute. Like everything else they’ve recorded, it sounds exactly like themselves, but with subtly different shades and breaths and rhythmic feels and everything else that changes, the natural march of time and the intentional decisions of the musicians moving in what feels like an uncommonly organic alignment. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Xibalba – Años En Infierno CD/LP (Southern Lord)
For the past 13 years, Xibalba has been dedicated to carving a sound which combines unadulterated aggression booming out of the vocals, an ultraheavy low-end frequency, colossal death metal riffs, brutal hardcore breakdowns, and a trademark groove now synonymous with the group. Años En Infierno takes these conventions and finds a new way of expression that the band define as more harsh, brutal and creative in a metaphorical sense.
Cassettes:
Carach Angren – Frankensteina Strataemontanus (Season Of Mist)
Following the mythos of the “real” Dr. Frankenstein, Johann Conrad Dippel, who served as the inspiration for the famed novel by Mary Shelley, Carach Angren’s Franckensteina Strataemontanus delivers a bombastic symphonic cacophony of necromancy and mad science. Interwoven with haunting keyboards, majestic orchestrations, and a perfect balance of melodic brutality, the new album serves as the most theatrical offering from the horror metal masters to date.
Haim – Women In Music Pt. III (Sony)
Following their 2017 release, Something To Tell You, Haim’s third full-length record, Women In Music Pt. III, was produced by bandmember Danielle Haim, Rostam Batmanglij (Vampire Weekend, Discovery), and Ariel Rechtshaid (Vampire Weekend, Adele, Madonna). It indicates a new personal and poppier direction for the sibling trio, from the sweet “Summer Girl” to the emotional heft of “Hallelujah”.
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