CDs + Vinyl:
Abandon Kansas – Alligator CD (BadChristian Music)
Abandon Kansas is a four-piece indie Christian rock outfit from Wichita, Kansas, and Alligator is their first album on the BadChristian label. “‘I Hope God Don’t Mind If We Talk Awhile,’ the record’s first single, embodies the flow of the record, jumpy and honest. Touching on topics of manhood and the struggle of healing old wounds, it’s not an easy one to listen to.” – Jesus Freak Hideout
Abrahama – Reflections In The Bowels Of A Bird CD (Small Stone)
Like the main thread of this heavy odyssey peppered with Hindu mysticism and voodoo convolutions, Abrahama’s sound is hulking and hypnotic, while vocals resound like a distant and irresistible incantation; an appeal that is amped-up by guest appearances from the likes of Ed Mundell (Monster Magnet) and Thomas Bellier (Blaak Heat Shujaa, Spindrift).
After The Fall – Dedication CD (Bridge Nine)
“Albany, New York, quartet After The Fall play the type of melodic hardcore that the world sorely lacks in 2015: It’s impressively speedy and technical, with hooks aplenty and more than enough aggression to get you off of your barstool and up to the front of the stage. But their new album, Dedication, is more than just your average pit-starter; the entire album is dedicated to a fallen bandmate, which results in some seriously heavy lyrics.” — Substream
Steve Aoki – Neon Future II CD (Ultra)
Following the success of last year’s Neon Future I, the international DJ and producer releases the second part of the Neon Future package. Neon Future II comes packed with featured artists including Snoop Lion, Matthew Koma, Linkin Park and many more.
Aqua – In Loving Memory Of Aqua (1982-1988) CD (Spittle)
A collection of tracks recorded between 1982-1988 by the Turin four-piece, a stellar re-discovery from the heyday of the Italian post-punk scene. Their 1985 self-titled mini-album was praised for its melodic, surreal, new wave style that combined goth influences with dream-pop, highly reminiscent of the British scene. RIYL: Echo & The Bunnymen, Bauhaus, The Cure.
Arcturus – Arcturian CD/LP (Prophecy)
Arcturian is the Norwegian metal band’s first album in over a decade.
Banditos – Banditos CD (Bloodshot)
Mixing elements of ’60s blues-fused acid rock, jangly boogie, garage punk scuzz, and doo-wop sweetness, the Banditos recall many, but sound like no one but themselves. Jem is a multi-faceted jewel, from the lush Cocteaus-shiver of “Crocodiles” to the exquisite Eastern climes of “China” and the R&B twist of “Poppy.” What unites all 13 tracks is a beguiling fusion of intimacy and sensuality with something more mysterious and spectral. Vinyl version due May 26.
Bernard & Edith – Jem CD (Bella Union)
Debut album from hotly tipped Manchester-based electronic-pop duo. Vinyl version due May 19.
Jello Biafra – Walk On Jindals Splinters CD/LP (Alternative Tentacles)
The long-rumored, sweat-soaked live album from the night Bill Davis (Dash Rip Rock) and Fred Le Blanc (Cowboy Mouth) dared Jello Biafra to join them during Jazzfest and sing all classic New Orleans soul, rhythm and blues, and (at Jello’s request) garage songs.
Black Devil – Disco Club [Reissue/1978] CD/LP (Anthology Recordings)
Disco Club is a groundbreaking 1978 EP of experimental electronic disco produced by French library music composer Bernard Fèvre and producer Jacky Giordano. The Aphex Twin-backed Rephlex label notably reworked a handful of Disco Club tracks in 2004, however this is the first ever reissue of the EP in its original, intended sequence.
Blanck Mass – Dumb Flesh CD/2xLP (Sacred Bones)
Benjamin John Power’s newest solo offering as Blanck Mass was written, produced and recorded in a number of different locations over the space of a year. It began life in F**k Buttons’ Space Mountain studio, moved into a windowless attic space in Hatch End, North London, then was finished up at Ben’s new home in Edinburgh. The geographical spread of the sessions is reflected in the shifting landscapes of the tracks and the ever changing sound-palette used to realize Dumb Flesh as an expansive body of work. As a work of art, Dumb Flesh is a comment on the flaws of the human form in its current evolutionary state. The frailty of the human body naturally became a resonant and inescapable part of the album’s gestation.
Brass Tacks – Just The Facts: 15th Anniversary Edition CD (Beer City)
Contains the original full length album Just The Facts plus the tracks from The Good Life 7″ as well as the demo track and only recorded version of the song “Just the Facts” for a grand total of 18 blistering, boot- stomping cuts. This reissue has been given the deluxe treatment of a brand new layout including a 24-page booklet filled with lyrics, photos and flyers from the band’s 15 plus year existence.
Tyondai Braxton – HIVE1 CD/LP (Nonesuch)
HIVE1 is the composer’s first fully realized work of purely electronic music since his earlier loop-based music in the early 2000s, and an unmistakable swerve away from Braxton’s signature materials and musical concerns to date. The album draws from the mid-20th century avant-garde, a world inhabited by the likes of Varèse, Xenakis, and Stockhausen — along with the more contemporary examples of Florian Hecker, Carston Nicolai/Raster Noton, and Braxton’s frequent collaborator Ben Vida, who appears as a performer on HIVE1. Where Central Market was scored for a small army of strings, guitars, horns, kazoos, and singers, the music of HIVE1 derives from the abrasive textures and manipulation of organic and synthesized sounds.
Lenny Breau – The Velvet Touch Of Lenny Breau Live! [Reissue/1969] CD (Wounded Bird)
Lenny Breau was an American guitarist and music educator. He possessed the ability to play chords, melody and a baseline simultaneously and blended many styles including jazz, country, classical and flamenco. He approached the guitar like a piano, which opened up lots of possibilities with the instrument and allowed him to do many things which other guitarists deemed impossible.
Canibus & Bronze Nazareth – Time Flies, Life Dies… Phoenix Rise CD (RBC)
For his latest album Canibus called upon Wu-Tang Clan affiliate Bronze Nazareth to steer most of the project’s production. The 17-track album also features guest appearances from Raekwon, Kurupt, Pete Rock, Killah Priest, Craig G and Dizaster.
Canned Heat – Stockholm 1973 CD/LP (Cleopatra)
Features the revered post-Alan Wilson Heat line-up including vocalist Bob The Bear Hite, guitar Henry The Sunflower Vestine, drummer Adolfo Fito La Parra, guitarist James Shane, bassist Richard Hite, and keyboardist Ed Beyer.
Carbonized – For The Security [Reissue/1991] CD (Vic)
Digitally remastered and expanded edition of this 1991 album by one of the first Swedish death metal bands from the late ’80s/early ’90s. Formed in Saltsjöbaden, Sweden, in 1989, the band’s varying line-ups featured members from great Swedish death metal bands like Therion, Entombed and Dismember. Carbonized was slightly different then Dismember and Nihilist/Entombed as they incorporated grind and progressive influences in their songs as well.
Chappo – Future Of Former Self CD/LP (Votiv)
Chappo was born in the East Village of New York in 2009 and in a few short years has created an enthusiastic and rambunctious following. Splitting the difference between the guitar driven psychedelia of ‘60s West Coast rock and the spiritual witch doctor moonshine of Dr. John, they regularly turn their live show into nothing short of spectacle. “Very original psyche-fueled Left Coast rock that takes the spacey ideas of, say, The Flaming Lips, and injects ’60s haze, this concept album about a man journeying to a black hole is both abstract and yet easy to digest. To say it’s a bizarre listen would be putting it mildly, as the island sounds, arena rock loudness, funk, jam, garage and classic rock moments all take on an other worldly feel.” – New Noise Magazine
Civil War – Gods & Generals CD (Napalm)
Modern Swedish heavy metal.
Leonard Cohen – Can’t Forget: A Souvenir Of The Grand Tour CD/LP (Sony Legacy)
The ten songs of this hypnotic album are Cohen rarities recorded on his recent, Old Ideas World Tour. The songs on Can’t Forget have the immediacy, spontaneity, and thrilling intimacy of the best studio recordings made in the white heat of live performance and Cohen’s legendary soundchecks, in which he brings the colors of his virtuoso band to full bloom in harmony with his voice, never more seductive.
Chris Connelly – Decibels From The Heart CD (Cleopatra)
The new solo album from Ministry/Revolting Cocks vocalist Chris Connelly. Features guest vocalists Meshell Ndegeocelle, actress/singer Rebecca Pidgeon, former Pigface alum Ruby, and more.
Crocodiles – Boys CD/LP+MP3 (Zoo Music)
Boys is the latest psych-pop masterpiece from San Diego’s finest. Trashy in some places and beautiful in others, this colorful album sees the band revisiting familiar Crocodilian themes that have earned them worldwide acclaim while also cooking with many new flavors. Boys is an album for boys and for girls and for boy-girls and mutants, back-alley poets, thieves, space cadets and alien babes, righteous tricksters, sonic deviants, and everything in between.
Dark Sarah – Behind The Black Veil CD (Inner Wound)
Dark Sarah is a new music project by Finnish metal band Amberian Dawn’s former vocalist Heidi Parviainen. She is a professional classical singer and experienced performer. Her debut album Behind The Black Veil combines metal, film music and theatrical elements.
Dead End – Forever Is Not Eternal CD (Vic)
Dead End became rather popular in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s Dutch underground death metal scene and played many gigs with Gorefest, Pestilence, Pentacle, Phlebotomized and such. This CD contains all their demos, EPs, and several live tracks.
Deathwish – Out For Blood CD (Beer City)
Debut album from the edgy punks. Hailing from the brutal frozen wasteland of northern Wisconsin, Deathwish is an ass kicking, fierce motor-charged rock ‘n’ roll punk band. Think of an even more brutal and aggressive Motörhead and you have Deathwish.
The Early November – Imbue CD (Rise)
Reunion album from the New Jersey emo/pop punk band. Vinyl version due May 26.
Elvis Depressedly – New Alhambra CD/LP+MP3 (Run For Cover)
Brightly melancholic noise-pop inspired by frontman Matthew Lee Cothran’s favorite unsung heroes such as Waterboys, Prefab Sprout and Emperor X, and in more conventional instances, Elliott Smith and Mac DeMarco.
Jad Fair & Norman Blake – Yes CD/LP (Joyful Noise)
Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake and Half Japanese’s Jad Fair have teamed up to bring you their new magnum opus, Yes. Encompassing all the songwriting eccentricities that have made these guys famous, this new collaborative album also features some of the most genteel, engagingly catchy, and downright adorable music in recent memory. Fair’s characteristically-manic vocal style is still present, but when coupled with the head-bopping, articulately-layered arrangements of Norman Blake, the result is a potently earnest album that is brimming with positivity. Available on CD and oxblood color vinyl.
Michael Fennelly – Lane Changer [Reissue/1973] CD (Wounded Bird)
At age 17 in the mid 1960’s, Michael Fenelly hitchhiked to Los Angeles and began performing in clubs. Then he went on to be in the band The Millennium. Michael went on to join Stonehenge, which later became known as Crabby Appleton. In 1973 he released his first solo album Lane Changer.
Bernard Fèvre – Suspense [Reissue/1975] CD/LP (Anthology Recordings)
Bernard Fèvre – Cosmos 2043 [Reissue/1977] CD/LP (Anthology Recordings)
Suspense is an album of cinematic, proto-electro vignettes tied together with tense, dramatic melodies befitting of its title by the French composer and synthesizer wizard. Cosmos 2043 is a wild, science fiction-themed LP wherein Fèvre imagines a far future populated by space-age electronics as well as lush, vivid melody.
Flyying Colors – EPx2 CD (Shelflife)
Melbourne, Australia’s shoegaze/psychedelic outfit Flyying Colours offer their new ROYGBIV five track EP as well as their first five track self-titled EP on CD. Hearkening back to the ‘80s but also at once sounding thoroughly futuristic, there’s finely textured guitar loops and lo-fi delay used to great effect throughout the record.
Tommy Garrett – The Best Of The 50 Guitars Of Tommy Garrett CD (Varese Sarabande)
Tommy Garrett – The Best Of The 50 Guitars Of Tommy Garrett, Vol. II CD (Varese Sarabande)
Tommy “Snuff” Garrett was A&R director for Liberty from 1958-1966, producer of numerous early ’60s hits by white rock ‘n’ roll artists such as Bobby Vee, Johnny Burnette, and Gary Lewis. Garrett also gave Phil Spector his first job in the business, as A&R man in New York for Liberty. He produced a series of LPs for Liberty under the name of The 50 Guitars of Tommy Garrett, one of the least adventurous and most easy-listening guitar groups, usually arranged by Ernie Wilkins and with Tommy Tedesco as lead guitar. Garrett also produced a number of exotica recordings by The Midnight String Quartet and Jonathan Knight on the Viva! label.
The Gaslamp Killer – The Gaslamp Killer Experience: Live In Los Angeles CD/LP (Gaslamp Killer Music)
Recorded at the historic Mayan Theatre in Los Angeles on November 7, 2013, The Gaslamp Killer Experience is a live collaboration between the world-renowned artist and an incredible 15-piece band of musicians. It is a captivating recording that conveys the electric energy and unforgettable musicianship of that very special night. Original productions by The Gaslamp Killer are lit from within by a lush cast of instrumental talent: brazen horns, wandering strings and wild percussion.
Gazpacho – Night Of The Demon CD+DVD (Kscope)
Night Of The Demon is Gazpacho’s first live CD and DVD release filmed when the band embarked upon the Demon album tour in spring 2014. The band were aware that many countries were missing out on the tour and many fans across the world would be unable to attend so they brought in Dutch filmmaker Jon Vis to film their show in April at Boerderij in Zoetmeer in Holland. Night Of The Demon captures the band as they are on stage and showcases band’s raw and honest performance that will appeal to anyone with a taste for inventive and different music. The audio 80-minute CD features nine tracks, while the accompanying DVD features the full 14 track performance.
Gnod – Infinity Machines 2xCD/3xLP (Rocket Recordings)
A mixture of electronic sound and live instrumentation in which uncanny crepuscular atmosphere locks horns with sinister electronic intensity, Infinity traverses between and beyond a variety of different headspaces, from the bleak to the beatific; yet, while touching on nocturnal jazz, soothing yet unsettling ambience, menacing aggro-industrial battery, and opiated bliss-out alike, it’s shot through with an undercurrent of fiery countercultural zeal and small-hours revelation.
Andrew Gold – The Late Show – Live 1978 CD (Omnivore)
While Andrew Gold helped make smash hits for people like Linda Ronstadt, Art Garfunkel, Wynonna Judd, and many more, he also had more than a few of his own. The year after “Lonely Boy” hit the top 10, Gold toured for his follow-up album, All This And Heaven Too, which contained the track “Thank You For Being A Friend.” Previously unissued, The Late Show – Live 1978 is a document of those shows, recorded on the last date of the tour at West Hollywood’s Roxy Theatre, during the second set of the night.
Chilly Gonzales – Chambers CD/LP (Fontana North)
“Chilly Gonzales is one of those musicians you know for his sheer tenacity rather than any breakthrough moment; he’s perfected the art of sticking around. His discography is overshadowed by the names he has worked with—Jamie Lidell, Daft Punk, and many musicians from Canada’s indie and electro circles, such as Peaches and Feist (he was a key contributor to the Grammy-nominated The Reminder). It’s more likely that you own several albums with his name in the credits than one with his name on the cover… In chamber music, he found something like a solid niche. Gonzales’ neo-Romantic mode has been his most productive in recent years, with the second of two Solo Piano albums being longlisted for the Polaris Prize. He returns to it on Chambers, a modest, plush song cycle with the new addition of string arrangements performed by Hamburg’s capable Kaiser Quartett.” – Pitchfork
Great Peacock – Making Ghosts CD/2xLP (This Is American Music)
Great Peacock is a folk band from Nashville. Making Ghosts, their harmony heavy, guitar-driven debut album, finds the middle ground between rootsy, down-home Americana and super-sized arena pop/rock.
Grounders – Grounders CD (Nevado Music)
A collection of dense and intricate pop music influenced by krautrock and psychedelia. Recorded with Marcel Ramagnano (Born Ruffians, Absolutely Free) and David Newfeld (Broken Social Scene, Holy F**k).
Guantanamo Baywatch – Darling… It’s Too Late CD/LP+MP3 (Suicide Squeeze)
With Darling… It’s Too Late, Guantanamo Baywatch sought to harness and manipulate the sparkling sounds from yesteryear, all while staying true to the tape hiss and rough takes of analog recording. “We really wanted a mixtape compilation sound to the record,” says Powell, and that approach can be heard in both the songwriting and the production. According to Powell, each individual song was approached with all the amps and the EQs on the recording console zeroed out. That meant that every song was recorded with a new template. (Limited copies pressed on peaches-&-cream color vinyl.)
Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell – The Traveling Kind CD/LP (Nonesuch)
Produced by Grammy Award winner Joe Henry (Billy Bragg, Elvis Costello, Aimee Mann), The Traveling Kind comprises 11 duet tracks, including six new songs written by Harris and Crowell with co-writing by Mary Carr, Cory Chisel, Will Jennings, and Larry Klein. Also featured are new renditions of previous Crowell cuts including “No Memories Hanging Around” as well as new interpretations of Lucinda Williams’ “I Just Wanted to See You So Bad” and Amy Allison’s “Her Hair Was Red.”
Hinder – When The Smoke Clears CD/LP (The End)
Cody Hanson entered the studio with their new singer as of 2013, Nolan Neal, in the spring to record a brand new effort that was co-produced by Hanson and Marshal Dutton. There are no boundaries, and every idea was fair game throughout the process. Hanson says, “We like to think we can do anything. We don’t want to be stuck in a rut with one type of sound or formula. One song might have a country influence, while another might have a pop influence.”
Hirs – Second 100 Songs CD/LP/Cassette (SRA)
New release from the seriously heavy trans/queer thrash duo from Philadelphia. Describing itself as LGBTQIA, anti-authoritarian, bullsh*t thrash grind collective with punk ethics and goals of destroying capitalist misogynist scum while empowering those less fortunate.
Dibson T. Hoffweiler – When I Went West CD (Scissor Tail)
Dibson T. Hoffweiler explores the American Primitive (aka John Fahey) approach to acoustic guitar, but with more of a leaning towards the joyful than the majority of Fahey’s work. Hoffweiler is masterful in creating a highly textured piece of music with only one instrument. He returns to a place most of us have long since forgotten.
Tom Holkenborg aka Junkie XL – Mad Max: Fury Road [OST] CD (WaterTower Music)
Original soundtrack to the new motion picture composed by Tom Holkenborg aka Junkie XL (300: Rise Of An Empire, Resident Evil).
The Holydrug Couple – Moonlust CD/LP (Sacred Bones)
The Holydrug Couple falls well outside the boundaries of the prevailing psych-rock idiom. Aside from the French soundtrack and Gainsbourg influences, they also cite inspiration from the soul ballads of Aretha Franklin, ‘80s South American synthpop acts like Los Encargados, Virus, and Los Prisioneros, and the contemporary French electro group Air. The songs are streamlined hook delivery machines, without any baroque arrangements or unnecessary flourishes to get in the way of their ultimate goal.
Icky Blossoms – Mask CD (Saddle Creek)
Three years on from their Dave Sitek (TV On The Radio) produced debut, Icky Blossoms’ singular brand of mesmerizingly contradictory dance music has evolved. Blending avant-garde elements with catchy and danceable pop, threaded within dark, bass-heavy atmospheres, their songs nod to great music of the past, whilst firmly propelling them into the future. For the new album Icky Blossoms continue with their study of synthesizers and drum machines, finding new focus by exploring the space between their background in basement rock shows and their new-found fluency in electronic music. Vinyl version due May 26.
Incubus – Trust Fall (Side A) CDEP/12” (Island)
New EP by the alt rock band. “’Absolution Calling’ makes use of psychedelic, angular visuals that perfectly fit the way the track’s spaced out ambiance is undercut with gnarled guitars and Brandon Boyd’s ragged vocals.” – Rolling Stone
Jamison Road – Jamison Road CD (1201 Music)
Jennifer DePalma, Brent Duersch, and Laurie Heltsley the members of Cincinnati-based country trio Jamison Road have rocked audiences across the country with their cleverly crafted songs and topnotch musicianship. Their new album, recorded in Nashville, features a dozen tracks exhibiting thought-provoking lyrics, powerful vocals, soaring harmonies, and driving guitars.
Keith Jarrett – Barber/ Bártok CD (ECM)
Keith Jarrett – Creation CD (ECM)
For much of the 1980s, Keith Jarrett balanced his improvisational activities with performances of classical music and contemporary composition. On Barber/ Bártok, with concert recordings from 1984 and 1985, he is heard playing Samuel Barber’s “Piano Concerto op. 38” and Béla Bartók’s “Piano Concerto No. 3,” and rising to the challenges of these major works. Creation features music selected by Keith Jarrett from his improvised solo concerts recorded in 2014 in Japan, Canada, and Europe.
Johansson & Speckman – Mask Of The Treacherous CD (Vic)
New release by this pure old school death metal project featuring underground DM master Rogga Johansson on guitars and bass (Paganizer/Ribspreader, the Grotesquery) and true extreme metal legend Paul Speckmann on vocals (Master, Death Strike, Abomination).
David Kauffman and Eric Caboor – Songs From Suicide Bridge [Reissue/1984] CD/2xLP (Modern Classics)
Digitally remastered 30th anniversary edition of this rare 1984 album from the duo. After two frustrating years of trying and failing to catch a break in a music industry that was focused on new wave, pop, AOR-anything but the folk-rock the duo were offering-the pair conceded defeat. One of them suggested, half joking, that they should put all their darkest and least viable works together on one record, if only to spite the industry that had rejected them.
Kid606 – Recollected Ambient Works 1: Bored Of Excitement CD (Tigerbeat6)
While de Pedro is no stranger to ambient music, Bored Of Excitement is his first release to owe a significant debt to the Berlin School. The album consists of seven truly pastoral, piano-based compositions shrugging off any trace of his glitch signature. Vinyl version due May 26.
Kiss – Kiss Symphony: Alive IV [Reissue/2003] 2xCD (Sanctuary)
Double-CD reissue of this live release from the veteran rockers. Originally released in 2003, this set features Kiss performing live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO). Line up features original members Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, and Peter Criss, along with current guitarist Tommy Thayer.
Kenny Knight – Crossroads [Reissue/1980] CD/LP+MP3 (Paradise Of Bachelors)
The first-ever reissue of the private-press country-rock rarity by Colorado auto body painter, Marine, and garage band lifer Kenny Knight—he played in the original ’60s Black Flag—Crossroads recalls a homebrew American Beauty-era Grateful Dead in its world-weary, low-key mood and indelible songwriting. Faded, anxious, melancholy, and beautifully woozy, this out-of-time document belies its 1980 release date. Produced in cooperation with Numero Group, it features liner notes by writer and collector Michael Klausman and Kenny himself. Highly recommended if you like The Youngbloods, Gram Parsons, Gene Clark, Lawrence Hammond, F.J. McMahon, pedal steel guitars, and Leslie speakers.
Lost And Profound – Goodbye Mine CD/LP (Idla)
Lost And Profound is the husband and wife team of writer/producer Terry Tompkins and singer/composer Lisa Boudreau, who blend sounds from different musical genres such as folk, rock and sunshine pop. Lisa Boudreau’s vocals are reminiscent of Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval and PJ Harvey.
Luciferian Rites – When The Light Dies CD (Moribund)
An otherwise-undiscovered gem in the darkest BM underground, Luciferian Rites hail from Mexico and have one previous full-length (Evangelion Of The Black Misanthropy) to their name. Despite their geography, Luciferian Rites here extract the most potent elements of classic Finnish and Polish black metal, distilling each chilling essence into a sorcerous spell that’s as authentic as it comes.
Della Mae – Della Mae CD (Rounder)
With an approach that’s steeped in tradition yet firmly rooted in the present, Della Mae draws from a well of influences to create vibrantly original music that conveys their expansive musical vision with timeless lyrical truths and a contemporary sensibility all their own, placing them alongside such young acts as the Avett Brothers, Punch Brothers, the Lumineers, and Hurray for the Riff Raff.
Mangled – Through Ancient Times 2xCD (Vic)
Mangled was one of the first Dutch death metal bands, formed in 1989 and split up in 2006. They released three full-length albums, two demos and two EPs. Guitarist Harold Gielen currently plays in Legion Of The Damned. This double CD collects all of Mangled’s works from their earliest period: the Cadaverous demo 1992; the Perish demo 1993; the In Emptiness EP 1996, the debut full-length album Ancient Times 1998; and the Carnal Abhorrence EP from 2004.
Si Matthews – Tales Of Ten Worlds CD (Carpe Sonum)
Originally sent to Pete Namlook in 2006, Tales Of Ten Worlds is certainly a storied release. Namlook responded kindly and praised the album, but declined to release it, noting that by then his FAX label had moved away from the palpable classic FAX sound of this album. Since that time, Tales Of Ten Worlds has circulated among the FAX cognoscenti, and some have considered it “the one that got away.” In 2013, Si completely reworked two of the tracks and revisited the others, repairing some production issues that existed in the early version. The result is a sublime masterwork of ambient electronica filled with lush synths, ornate melodies, and delicate rhythms-all the necessary ingredients that harken back to the classic FAX label sound.
Vince Matthews and Jim Casey – Kingston Springs Suite CD/LP+MP3 (Delmore)
An amphetamine-fueled, prophetic, loose and gritty, 1972 Polaroid snapshot into the lives of a small town of an America gone by. Championed by Johnny Cash (who provided his studio and engineer), this was the talk of the Nashville outlaw underground, mysteriously shelved for 40 years.
The Mavericks – The Mavericks [Reissue/2003] CD (Sanctuary)
Reissue of the out of print 2003 self-titled release from The Mavericks. Features “Time Goes By” (duet with Willie Nelson) and a cover of The Hollies’ “The Air That I Breathe.”
Melt-Banana – Return Of 13 Hedgehogs (MxBx Singles 2000-2009) CD (Azap)
29 tracks from singles and split-releases, none of which have appeared on any full-length release.
Rhett Miller – The Traveller CD/LP (ATO)
Rhett Miller is the lead singer of boozy raucous rockers The Old 97’s. His latest album, The Traveler, showcases a relentless and seemingly ageless songwriter honed by years on the road. “Rhett Miller didn’t record The Traveler with his usual band, Old 97’s, but that doesn’t mean that the alt-country lifer went totally solo. This time, he got an assist from Portland’s Black Prairie, a bluegrass six-piece that shares four members with The Decemberists. Hear the first of these collaborations, a jubilant love song about picnicking in the sun. The single, ‘Most In The Summertime,’ also features Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey of R.E.M.” – Rolling Stone
Wes Montgomery – In The Beginning 2xCD/3xLP+MP3 (Resonance Records)
In the Beginning features newly discovered studio recordings of Wes Montgomery spanning from 1949 to 1958, the formative years when the six-string virtuoso was honing his craft in southern Indiana.
Róisín Murphy – Hairless Toys CD/LP (PIAS America)
Formerly of early ’00s dance-pop favorites Moloko and creator of some of that decade’s most adventurous solo electronic music albums, the unmistakable Róisín Murphy returns with her new album Hairless Toys.
Novella – Land CD/LP+7” (Sinderlyn/Omnian Music Group)
Woozy, cosmic psychedelia to sustained squalls of flanged-out, far-out dream pop. Novella’s debut album, Land, is a controlled blast of mainlined electricity, a tempest of relentless groove and crystalline vocals that is at once the vicious edge and the calm eye of the storm.
Perfect Blue Sky – Emerald CD (Scarecrow Recordings)
New release from the multi-national super group based out of Stockholm, Sweden and headed by the dynamic duo of Jane Kitto and guitarist Pna Andersson. Together they form a unique songcraft partnership along with a select cadre of well-known guest-musicians from various countries to join them to form a primary festival band. The inspiration behind the PBS songbook is the uninhibited vibes of ’60/’70s psychedelic rock, combined with folk poetry that infuses the listener with imagination and spirit.
Pfarmers – Gunnera CD/LP (Joyful Noise)
Pfarmers is the new project from Danny Seim (Menomena, Lackthereof), Bryan Devendorf (The National), and Dave Nelson (David Byrne & St. Vincent, Sufjan Stevens). According to Seim, “The record is about a dream I had where I’m reluctantly accepting a fear of drowning by focusing on being reincarnated as a giant Gunnera plant, which thrive on the banks of rivers (specifically the Jordan River i.e. the Biblical promised land) after I paint myself gold and sink to the bottom like the El Dorado of South American folklore.”
Prefuse 73 – Rivington Não Rio CD/LP (Temporary Residence)
Rivington Não Rio revels in the kind of compassionate complexity that marks Prefuse 73’s greatest works, with a profound new element added to the mix: Patience. Herren’s ability to marry the manic to the melodic has always been uncanny, but here it feels downright magical as the songs inhale with his trademark sense of urgency…then exhale in longer, more revealing breaths. The prismatic textures that have long been a staple of Prefuse 73 are bound to beats and melodies with the spirit of hip-hop and the subtlety of modern minimalism.
Prurient – Frozen Niagara Falls 2xCD/3xLP (Profound Lore)
New double-album from Dominick Fernow (Vatican Shadow, ex-Cold Cave) treads a fine line between harsh noise extremity and atmospheric beauty — his massive, layered walls of sound may be comprised of piercing feedback, tortured vocals and machine-like industrial pounding, or incorporate meticulous sampling, entrancing beats and waves of electronica.
Pure Food And Drug Act – Choice Cuts [Reissue/1972] CD (Wounded Bird)
Pure Food And Drug Act was a band that was formed in the early 1970’s. This was the bands only album, recorded live in Seattle in 1972. The album Choice Cuts was previously available as a hard to find import and did not have the original artwork. Features an 11-minute version “Eleanor Rigby.”
Gyasi Ross – Isskootsik (Before Here Was Here) CD (K Records)
Debut album from author, activist, attorney, and Native American spoken-word artist. A forceful collection ranging from historical facts to dreams of love and death and loathing, the release is driven by hypnotic original music under the guidance of Cabin Games producer Kjell Nelson, featuring Slug (Atmosphere), Aboidun Oyewole (Last Poets), and NW independent music legend Steve Fisk.
Buffy Sainte-Marie – Power In The Blood CD (True North)
Power In The Blood is Sainte-Marie’s first new album in six years, and includes odes to the sanctity of life, the splendor of Mother Nature, and scything political and social. The album was recorded in Toronto with three different producers, Michael Philip Wojewoda (Barenaked Ladies, Jeff Healey), Chris Birkett (Sinéad O Connor, Bob Geldof) and Jon Levine (Melissa Etheridge, Serena Ryder).
Scharpling & Wurster – Best Of The Best Show 16xCD+Book (Numero)
16CD+book set culled from the vaults of WFMU, featuring over 20 hours of mind-bending, hilarious phone calls between the renowned comedy duo of Tom Scharpling and Jon Wurster. From 2000 to 2013, their tremendous imaginations took over the WFMU airwaves every Tuesday night with bizarre tales from a fictional town called Newbridge, NJ and the desperate denizens that inhabit it. Included inside this definitive collection are 75 calls over 16 CDs, edited by Scharpling & Wurster (over 50 of them previously unreleased or unaired), a 108-pg hardcover book that features essays by Patton Oswalt, Julie Klausner, Damian Abraham (F**ked Up) and The Best Show associate producer Michael Lisk (aka A.P. Mike), a definitive interview, notes on the evolution and inspiration behind each bit written, a USB drive with all of the calls plus four hours of bonus material, a fold-out map of Newbridge, Philly Boy Roy and Timmy von Trimble Paper Dolls, postcards, and temporary tattoos with The Best Show catch-phrases.
Abram Shook – Landscape Dream CD/LP (Western Vinyl)
“The most apt word to describe Abram Shook would be dreamy. It’s an adjective that gets overused a lot when writing about music, but it’s the only one that comes to mind that accurately captures the charming, refreshing effect of his music.” – Stereogum
Sirenia – The Seventh Life Path CD (Napalm)
Sirenia’s new album is comfortably nestled between gothic metal and symphonic grandeur, recommended for lovers of the female fronted gothic genre.
Snoop Dogg – Bush CD (Columbia)
Snoop Dogg’s new album was entirely produced by Pharrell Williams. Channeling retro-futuristic funk topped with a feel-good mix of R&B and pop, Bush blossoms with “a Funkadelic glow,” says Snoop Dogg, “totally different than anything either of us has ever done.” Anchored by Pharrell’s effervescent production and Snoop’s smooth vocals and delivery, the album features a number of surprise collaborations.
JD Souther – Tenderness CD (Masterworks)
New release from the veteran singer/songwriter. After a 25 year performing hiatus, JD Souther returned to recording and live performance in 2008, blending his trademark Americana-influenced style with new flavors of jazz and blues. On Tenderness, he worked with Grammy Award-winning producer Larry Klein who has produced albums for Joni Mitchell, Madeleine Peyroux, Herbie Hancock and Tracy Chapman, to name a few.
Steve ‘n’ Seagulls – Farm Machine CD (Spinefarm)
Finger pickin’, head bangin’, deep-fried versions of a selection of the greatest rock songs of all time. Steve ‘n’ Seagulls take AC/DC, Metallica and Led Zeppelin to a barn dance and blow the doors off. Comprising of bumpkin beats, clodhopper chords, rural riffs and villager vocals, Farm Machine features a mix of barnyard boogie and lummox lullabies.
Surfer Blood – 1000 Psalms CD/LP (Joyful Noise)
1000 Palms marks a return to Surfer Blood’s DIY ethos. Abandoning the big time studio, the band decided to head back home to self-record and self-produce their third full-length album.
The Tallest Man On Earth – Dark Bird Is Home CD/LP (Dead Oceans)
Dark Bird Is Home doesn’t feel like it came from one time, one place, or one tape machine. The songs and sounds were captured in various countries, studios, and barns, and they carry a weatherworn quality, some dirt and some grit. If you’re a fan of The Tallest Man On Earth, Dark Bird pays real tribute to the old records you fell for, and goes new places you’re going to love as well. Reliably, the melodies and arrangements are sturdy and classic, like old cars and tightly wound clocks. The lyrics and their delivery are both comforting and alarming, like tall trees and wide hills. The other musicians and layers on this recording put a wide lens on familiar themes. Fear and darkness, sleep or lack of it, dreams in the dark and in the light. Moving, leaving, going. Distance and short stops, long straight lines, temporal places.
Torchure – The Essence [Reissue/1993] CD (Vic)
German death metal band Torchure was formed in 1985. After three demo tapes they released two albums on the German metal label 1MF Records. In 1992 they released one of the strongest German death metals albums with Beyond The Veil. Their second (and final) album, The Essence has long been out of print (over 20 years) and is expanded here with bonus tracks.
Peter Tosh & Friends – An Upsetters Showcase CD/LP (Cleopatra)
Contains all of the Peter Tosh vocal tracks recorded for Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, collecting singles from U Roy, Big Youth, Dave Barker and more. All rhythm tracks performed by Bob Marley’s band The Wailers, who were the original Upsetters lineup. Available on both CD and translucent green vinyl.
Undead – False Prophecies CD (Listenable)
By all accounts, Undead’s debut album False Prophecies is a maliciously produced and executed death metal album recommended for fans of bands like Obituary, Possessed, Celtic Frost, Morbid Angel etc.
Urban Cone – Polaroid Memories CD (Astralwerks)
Urban Cone’s electro-pop offers a fresh take on indie rock. Having already sung on Porter Robinson’s hit single “Lionhearted,” their album Polaroid Memories features a collaboration with fellow Swedish superstar, Tove Lo. “Follows in the quirky synth-pop footsteps of early Phoenix.” — Vice/Thump
Various Artists – Brutisme 1913-2013 CD (Influencing Machine)
Entre Vifs/Le Syndicat mastermind Zorin honors the centennial of the publication of Russolo’s manifesto The Art Of Noises with tracks by Le Syndicat, Tommi Keranen, Government Alpha, Rodger Stella, Lasse Marhaug, and Entre Vifs.
Various Artists – Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock And Roll CD (Dust-To-Digital)
The soundtrack to John Pirozzi’s 2014 film — an essential homage to Cambodia’s stars of the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s compiled by the director.
Various Artists – Late Night Tales Presents: After Dark Nocturne CD (Late Night Tales)
Late Night Tales introduces a tangent to the timeline of the esteemed artist curated compilation series with After Dark: a DJ led, club focused mix which – as expert compiler Bill Brewster describes – “is dance music for people who know how to make love.” After Dark is New York at 4AM, with the lights off and the strobes flaring. It’s a Dalston basement with slow chugging basslines propelling a dancefloor. It’s a starlit night on the coast of Croatia with glittery girls and burnished boys grooving to 110bpm anthems.
Various Artists – Occult Box 5xCD+7” (Cleopatra)
Five CDs packaged in individual wallets plus a bonus 7″ with a silk-screened jacket packaged with a collectible pentagram pendant and chain. Collects tracks from: Umberto, Christian Death, Soft Moon, Psychic TV, Joy Division, Chrome, Revolting Cocks, Tangerine Dream, Nico, and other demonic industrial/ghostly ambient gems.
Various Artists – Orthophonic Joy: The 1927 Bristol Sessions Revisited CD (Sony Legacy)
This double-CD set pays homage to the legendary 1927 Bristol Sessions. Orthophonic Joy re-imagines the iconic recordings that created the “Big Bang” of country music and catapulted The Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers to stardom. Produced by Grammy-winning producer Carl Jackson, these songs are accompanied by narration by longtime Grand Ole Opry host Eddie Stubbs and their enduring beauty shines through. Includes tracks by: Ashley & Shannon Campbell, Ashley Monroe, Brad Paisley, Carl Jackson, Corbin Hayslett, Dolly Parton, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Emmylou Harris, Jesse McReynolds, Keb’ Mo’, Larry Cordle & The Virginia Luthiers, Marty Stuart, Sheryl Crow, Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers, The Chuck Wagon Gang, The Church Sisters, The Shotgun Rubies, and Vince Gill.
Seanie Vaughan – Redemption CD (Éire Supply)
Redemption is the second studio album from Irish singer Seanie Vaughan. Redemption is raw, powerful and passionate indie-rock music with influences from Damien Rice to Jack White to David Gray.
Miroslav Vitous – Majesty Music [Reissue/1976] CD (Wounded Bird)
First time on CD for this 1976 album from the jazz great. Miroslav Vitous is one of the premiere bass players in all of jazz music. At age six Miroslav started with the violin and switched to the piano at age nine. He then finally settled on playing the bass at age 14. He came to the United States in 1966 and became part of the New York Jazz scene. In 1970 he formed the band Weather Report and three years later formed the Miroslav Vitous Group. This album features Lenny White, David Earl Johnson and Gerry Brown.
Steve Von Till – A Life Unto Itself CD (Neurot Recordings)
A Life Unto Itself is a perfect description for the 25-plus years Von Till’s spent forging a unique and influential sound. As with his previous solo works, Von Till’s weathered, distinctive voice and sparse acoustic guitar provides the foundation. Quiet and subdued for the most part, these songs still evoke vast emotional power as Von Till’s raspy whisper dives deeply inward and speaks of visions, memories and self-reflection in a way both seasoned and exposed. Guests include viola master Eyvind Kang, pedal steel wizard J. Kardong and percussionist Pat Schowe. Vinyl version due June 9.
Warm Soda – Symbolic Dream CD/LP (Castle Face)
Symbolic Dream is the third album from this outfit led by Matthew Melton. These vacuum-sealed and impeccably arranged power pop numbers are sure to please that teenage sweet tooth. With a masterful production blend of soft focus, punch, and dusty sparkle, Melton is essentially running a seminar on timeless teen-angst jams here, throwing second bridges and double choruses into the mix like it ain’t nothing. The nooks and crannies of this little banger, from the subtle turnarounds to the perfect hi-hat sound, reward repeat listens. He’s covering familiar bases with Symbolic Dream — it’s the finely tuned ’80s Corvette that’s gonna get your ass kicked out of school, it’s your girlfriend’s dad hanging up the phone, it’s the world intruding on a nascent romance that just wasn’t meant to last-but he still keeps it fresh-faced like that new girl in AP Chemistry.
Patrick Watson – Love Songs For Robots CD/LP+MP3 (Domino)
Love Songs For Robots is the highly anticipated fifth record from Patrick Watson. The new album is the follow up to Watson’s 2012 release Adventures In Your Own Backyard, which received widespread critical acclaim. The ambitious, evocative new music was recorded at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles and Pierre Marchand Studio in Montreal. It’s a work of fragile beauty, offering dramatic flourishes and subtle, atmospheric tension ultimately anchored by Watson’s singularly stunning voice
Juan Wauters – Who Me? CD (Captured Tracks)
Inspired by both the arrangements of Uruguayan songwriter Jaime Roos and the production of American master Dr. Dre, this collection of songs presents his continued approach to existential questioning through pop music. Vinyl version due June 9.
The Weather Prophets – Blue Skies & Free Rides: The Best Of 1986-1989 CD (Cleopatra)
A long out of print 20-track compilation of the trailblazing indie rock band from the UK.
The Weather Station – Loyalty CD/LP+MP3 (Paradise Of Bachelors)
The third and finest album yet by Toronto artist Tamara Lindeman, recorded in France with Afie Jurvanen (Bahamas) and Robbie Lackritz (Feist), Loyalty crystallizes her lapidary songcraft into eleven emotionally charged vignettes and intimate portraits, redolent of fellow Canadians Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, and David Wiffen, but utterly her own. A diaphanous eeriness and harmonic and rhythmic tension contributes to a pervading sense of clock-stopping bloom and smolder, recalling the spooky avant-soul of Terry Callier’s 1972 album Occasional Rain. She’s an extraordinary singer and instrumentalist—on Loyalty she plays guitar, banjo, and keys—but Lindeman has always been a songwriter’s songwriter, recognized for her intricate verse, filled with double meanings, ambiguities, and complex metaphors.
James Welburn – Hold CD/LP+MP3 (Miasmah)
Welburn steps into the ashes covered in drones and noise together with drumming partner Tony Buck (The Necks). Hold shifts and turns into parts inspired by everything from shoegaze to black metal, all set in a state of endless repetition.
White Eyes – CD/LP (Numero)
Hailing from the Show-Me State, White Eyes lugged their heavy psych and harmony-clad ballads across the Midwest, honing their live set wherever audiences were abundant. Whether it be the famed Cowtown Ballroom in Kansas City or the nearest American Legion, the quintet of long-haired bohemians loaded a double bass drum set, a wall of Marshall amplifiers, and a array of acoustic guitars into their 1953 Cadillac hearse to deliver their impeccable stage show across the plains. Despite years of relentless gigging, White Eyes never caught their break. This previously issued LP, recorded between the fall of 1969 and 1970, was originally intended as a demo for talent buyers and industry prospectors. Well-crafted arrangements and pro-sounding production make this an exceptional piece of lost psychedelic pop.
Zu + Eugene S. Robinson – The Left Hand Path CD (Trost)
Long-running Italian trio Zu is joined by Oxbow songwriter and vocalist Eugene S. Robinson on vocals. The Left Hand Path continues their cross-genre explorations, drawing upon influences from Coil, Throbbing Gristle, and Einsturzende Neubaten.
DVDs + Blu-ray:
Therion – Garden Of Evil Blu-ray (Dismanic Distribution)
Includes rare, live and behind the scenes material from the Swedish death metal/symphonic metal band’s latest tour. 154 minutes.
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
10,000 Maniacs – Twice Told Tales LP (Cleopatra)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. A full-length album of inspired interpretations of traditional British Isle folk songs. Vinyl version due May 12.
Joshua Abrams – Magnetoconception 2xLP (Eremite)
Magnetoconception is Abrams’ first large-scale work on vinyl, the fullest measure yet of his sound world and his explorations of the guimbri, a three-stringed North African bass lute.
Alessandro Alessandroni – Killer Nun [OST/1979] LP (Death Waltz)
Like the film, Alessandroni’s musical score is a strange one, opening with a religious choir and heavy piano notes. You might think that’s pretty standard for a movie like this, so Alessandroni starts messing with you by injecting some proto hip-hop beats with flutes and synth melodies. Things get stranger the further you get in as we have dissonant electronics that sound like chiptunes, funk beats, chilled electric guitar, and interludes of operatic vocals. And then there’s the amazing downbeat guitar piece that sounds straight out of a spaghetti western.
Ishan Al Munzer – Belly Dance Disco EP 12” (Fortuna)
Intense belly-dance disco workout from Lebanon.
Ólafur Arnalds & Alice Sara Ott – The Chopin Project LP (Mercury Classics)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Award-winning Icelandic pop/classical musician Ólafur Arnalds (composer of the score for TV series Broadchurch) has always loved the piano music of Frédéric Chopin, but he d grown weary of the uniform and standardized perfection of recordings. “There has been no re-invention of the way Chopin’s music has been presented since recording began, and I was longing for someone to come along and try something different. And one day, on a long flight to London, I thought: why don’t I do it myself?” And thus, in partnership with the acclaimed German-Japanese pianist Alice Sara Ott, The Chopin Project was born.
Asian Women On The Telephone – You Have Reached Your Destination LP (Feeding Tube)
AWOTT are near the vanguard of some very happening sounds emanating from the Russian sub-underground. Random sonic factors this time include blaring Contortions-oid sax/bass skronk-lock, unexpected blurts of glitch, air raid panic, Japanese thump-mannerisms, and lots of other glub, all placed amidst a frame that is decisively Eastern Bloc. It makes for a splendid roil.
The Beach Boys – Carl And The Passions “So Tough” [Reissue/1972] LP (Capitol)
With the addition of drummer Ricky Fataar and guitarist Blondie Chaplin to the lineup, The Beach Boys entered a period of surprisingly earthy arrangements, obviously based on what they’d been hearing on cooler outlets like FM radio and AOR. So Tough cycles through all manner of roots-based rock.
The Brian Jonestown Massacre – Musique De Film Imaginé LP (A. Records)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Musique De Film Imaginé (music for film imagined) is a soundtrack that pays homage to the great European film directors of the late ‘50s and ‘60s, such as François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard (to name but two), created by Anton Newcombe on behalf of the Brian Jonestown Massacre for an imaginary French film. Guests on this daring symphonic experience are French chanteuse and multi-instrumentalist SoKo and Italian actress, singer and director Asia Argento.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Henry’s Dream [Reissue1992] LP+MP3 (Mute)
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Murder Ballads [Reissue1995] 2xLP+MP3 (Mute)
HQ-180gm vinyl re-presses now available.
Canned Heat – Carnegie Hall 1971 LP (Cleopatra)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Blues rock icons Canned Heat teamed up with blues legend John Lee Hooker for the classic 1971 double album Hooker ‘N’ Heat and embarked on a subsequent historic tour together that has been captured here.
Sarah Mary Chadwick – 9 Classic Tracks LP+MP3 (Siltbreeze)
Sarah Mary Chadwick is back with her second official full-length release following her debut solo LP Eating For Two (2012). While preserving her distinctive traits of bare-skinned honesty and visceral delivery, 9 Classic Tracks sees Chadwick venture into decidedly more lush territory-her unmistakably raw vocals present this time through a Vaseline filter and with an air of reflection indicative of both artistic growth and intimate evolution.
Chrome Cranks – Chrome Cranks [Reissue/1994] LP (HoZac)
A 20th anniversary reissue of the debut album from NYC (by way of Cincinnati) dirt-blues champs.
Alice Coltrane – Universal Consciousness [Reissue/1971] LP (Superior Viaduct)
Vinyl repressing of this digitally remastered album by the jazz great. Originally released on Impulse in 1971, Universal Consciousness is a major turning point in Alice Coltrane’s momentous career. While her previous albums pushed the limits of spiritual free-jazz and featured much of her late husband’s band, Universal Consciousness expands the harpist/pianist’s compositional palette with organ and strings (working with Ornette Coleman).
Loren Connors – Blues: The ‘Dark Paintings’ Of Mark Rothko LP+MP3 (Family Vineyard)
Originally released in a hand-made edition of around 300 copies on his own St. Joan label in 1990 under the name Guitar Roberts — this album has been unavailable in any form until now. Distilled the blues form into bleak, minimalist lines and tone; a compound of influences spanning Louisiana guitarist Robert Pete Johnson to painter Mark Rothko.
Andy Crespo – Two Cigarettes Kissing LP (Feeding Tube)
A berserk set of splattered electronics/strings/feedback.
Marie Davidson – Un Autre Voyage LP (Holodeck)
Intimate solo work by one of Montréal’s foremost electronic artists in contemporary pop. The handling of synthesizers and drum machines by his long-time member of Les Momies Del Palerme, Hotoel Monochrome, DKMD and Essaie Pas coalesces in synchronized harmony, punctuated by Davidson’s hypnotic vocal delivery, sung and spoken in French and English.
Devil Worshipper – Devil Worshipper LP (Holy Mountain)
Imagine a version of Julio Cortzar’s The Night Face Up where there is no motorcycle crash and no series of dreams about trying to outrun Aztec warriors determined to capture you for human sacrifice. There is still darkness in this story-the darkness of living in post-Reagan America, existential dread, the futility of living one’s dreams and still waking up every day. Devil Worshipper is the dream that swirls and reflects landscapes in chrome as snakes dance in your spine. Blistering solos that wouldn’t be out of place on a Helios Creed or The Mike Gunn LP draw the night sky as a steady, hypnotic rhythm paints the lines dividing the highway out of here.
El Diablitos – Come Hell Or High Water LP (Too Good)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The trio El Diablitos, heavily influenced in Americana, roots, surf, rock and spaghetti westerns, formed in Portland Oregon around guitarist and San Francisco native Tony Guerrero, drummer Don Vito Griswold from Eastern Oregon and Texan bassist Brett Bilillo Edelen. “El Diablitos is fronted by San Francisco’s native son Tony Guerrero who absolutely shreds on guitar with a reverb-bathed Link Wray sound that has been cooked in the Latin infused cultural melting pot of ‘The Bay’.” — Chris King
Dizz1 – Get Em Up 12” (Tru Thoughts)
In the creation of this new music, Dizz1 – aka Melbourne based Dave Norris – set out with a mission to explore progressive, long-building, deep dance music arrangements in a hip-hop context and tempo, with the idea of getting his favorite MCs to spit over beats that were far from the conventional looped bars, making for a hypnotic yet punchy and accessible sound.
Ramin Djawadi – Game Of Thrones (Music From The HBO Series Season 3) 2xLP (Silva Screen)
Djawadi’s score for Game of Thrones Series 3 is integral to the fabric of the show with choir and orchestra counter-balanced by percussion and rhythmically driven sounds from the world music arena. His creative use of sound effects adds mystery and allure to this epic fantasy of political and sexual intrigue.
Brigth Engelberts & The B.E. Movement – Tolambo Funk LP (Hot Casa)
A killer and obscure rare Afro-funk album from an unknown Cameroonese bass player and lead singer. Recorded in EMI studio in Lagos in 1978, the sound definitely has echoes of the soul funk American scene mixed with deep Afro harmonies, great horn section and tremendous percussion.
The Eye Of Time – Anti LP+MP3 (Denovali)
The Eye of Time is the solo project of French musician Marc Euvrie, whose musical development is deeply connected with the French DIY punk and hardcore scene although he has been classically trained as well. With his new album, Anti, four letters take us to the most extreme and darkest recesses of the mind, influenced by the likes of Third Eye Foundation, Portishead, Neurosis, DJ Shadow, Björk, Sigur Rós, Edvard Grieg, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
Areski + Brigitte Fontaine – Je Ne Connais Pas Cet Homme [Reissue/1973] LP (Superior Viaduct)
Following their groundbreaking collaboration with the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Comme … la Radio, Areski and Brigitte Fontaine began recording almost exclusively together as a duo. Originally released in 1973, Je Ne Connais Pas Cet Homme is their first record billed under both names. Deeply rooted in North African and European folk traditions, the album features evocative vignettes with breezy vocals and minimal accompaniment of classical guitar, strings and woodwinds.
Frisk Frugt – Den Europæiske Spejlbue 2xLP (Tambourhinocerous)
Den Europæiske Spejlbue (translation: The European Mirror-Arch) consists of 12 orchestral collages revolving around the study of songs in Danish matched up with what you could call European world music.
Gleaming Spires – Songs Of The Spires [Reissue/1981] LP (Futurismo)
Songs Of the Spires, the 1981 debut album by Los Angeles’ Gleaming Spires is plucked from time tasting as zingy as a freshly baked lemon meringue pie. This forgotten gem is a cocktail of catchy melodies and skewed humour resulting in an exciting and delightfully bizarre strain of new wave.
Thee Gravemen – Monster Blues LP (Heptown)
Low-down sleazy trash ‘n’ roll.
Heat – Room LP (Kitsuné)
French label Kitsuné turns punkedelic with Heat’s new EP. “The sound of Heat is all at once fresh and familiar. Equally calling to mind the 1970s proto-punk of New York City and the sprawling psychedelia of 90s UK shoegaze, it’s a sound that is infused with youthful attitude and is altogether self-assured at it’s core. A call to arms to the tune of weaving guitars and baritone crooning, this Montreal four-piece has been turning heads and catching ears worldwide.” – UnRated Entertainment
HIM – Greatest Love Songs 666 [Reissue/1997] 2xLP (The End)
HIM – Razorblade Romance [Reissue/1999] 2xLP (The End)
HIM – Deep Shadows And Brilliant Highlights [Reissue/2001] 2xLP (The End)
HIM – Love Metal [Reissue/2003] 2xLP (The End)
Deluxe expanded vinyl reissues of the Finnish alt/dark rock band’s first four albums.
Steve Jansen & Richard Barbieri – Lumen LP (Kscope)
A recording from November 1, 1996 of the only Steve Jansen/Richard Barbieri concert ever performed to date. Featuring songs from the duo’s Stone To Flesh and Stories Across Borders albums, Jansen and Barbieri were joined on stage by Mick Karn and Steven Wilson.
Jupiter Jax – Visions LP (100% Silk)
“Jupiter Jax is about ethereal music.” Deep planetary Italo disco moods dissolved through overcast city voids, haunted by the heartbeat of melancholic early Chicago jack. See beyond the walls.
Mark Knopfler – Tracker 2xLP (Verve)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Ninth solo album from the British guitarist, singer/songwriter and former Dire Straits mainman. Tracker features eleven new Knopfler songs inspired by a wide range of subjects including authors Beryl Bainbridge and Basil Bunting.
Lanterna – Backyards LP (Independent Project)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Multi-instrumentalist Henry Frayne crafts musical landscapes interweaving layers of warm, instrumental sonic tapestries. For Frayne, the inception of Backyards began nearly a decade ago, and is a culmination of his career as a versatile musician best known for blending genres and bending guitar styles to create layers of airy overtones.
Francisco Lopez – Untitled #300 LP (Taiga)
Untitled #300 was created from multi-track field recordings made in the Chafarinas Islands off the coast of Morocco in the summer of 2011. Side A was created from recordings of a large seagull colony; side B from hydrophone and contact mic recordings of very small shrimp-like crustaceans, dolphin sonar, and occasional fish; both sides were mixed and edited freely to go beyond a traditional “soundscape” perspective.
Bob Marley – The Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry Masters LP (Goldenlane)
This historic compilation features newly remixed and remastered Bob Marley And The Wailers tracks from the original Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry Masters culled from their legendary recording sessions together at Randy’s in Jamaica circa 1970-1971.
Mastery – Valis LP (The Flenser)
Valis is the first proper Mastery full-length and the most extreme record The Flenser has ever released. As its name and sigil demands, Mastery is a vessel to ascend the partial mind — one impulsive and chaotic, the other of collected illumination. A meditation unto the subconscious. The black metal entity is the product of mastermind Ephemeral Domignostika (Pale Chalice, Pandiscordian Necrogenesis, Horn of Dagoth). Limited second vinyl LP pressing with new cover art.
Shawn David McMillen – On The Clock With JJ And Mitch LP (12xU)
Austin-via-Galveston TX guitarist/vocalist/sound artist Shawn David McMillen has been on the periphery of whatever US underground thing you’re supposed to give a f**k about for the better part of the last decade; he’s released a couple of terrific solo albums for New York’s Tompkins Square label, logged time in Austin’s power-psych demolition artists Rubble, appeared on split recordings alongside Jack Rose, Steve Gunn and Pete Walker, and collaborated with Charalambides’ Tom Carter.
Nochexxx – Plot Defender LP (Type)
Fires the influence of vintage electro and early bleep techno through an arsenal of barely-working gear to create a sound that’s as grubby as Wolf Eyes but with the unmistakable slap of late ’80s Detroit.
Alva Noto – Xerrox 3 2xLP (Raster Noton)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Inspired by childhood film memories from the 1970s, this is his most personal work — described as a “cinematographic emotion of a soundtrack to a film that actually does not exist in reality… I have to admit that this emotional output is a surprise even to myself.”
Nun – Nun LP (HoZac)
Nun—one of the most powerful bands Melbourne has ever produced, presents their dark-yet-somehow-vibrant vision of electronic pop with their debut self-titled album. Nun’s sound flows from sinister drone-orgy and hyperkinetic synth-punk to saturated new wave worship by incorporating huge, gnarling basslines, shimmering analogue synthesizer, punishing drum machine and the most malevolent vocal presence since the Dalek.
Gary Panter and Devin Flynn – Devin & Gary Go Outside LP (Feeding Tube)
Expanded vinyl edition of 2008 set. Weird and psychedelic in a vague, bad-trippy sort of way.
Peach Kelli Pop – Peach Kelli Pop III LP+MP3 (Burger)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Peach Kelli Pop’s third album of sticky bubblegum pop hits. “Deftly crafted pop… hooky as hell & to the point… sweet yet detached.” – Pitchfork
Alain Peters – Rest’ La Maloya LP (Moi J’connais)
Alain Peters is one of the best-kept secrets in the music scene of the Indian Ocean and beyond. His music is unique: a blend of Creole blues, maloya and international folk. Peters travelled through the ’70s and the ’80s like a shooting star, alone or with a band, with his Sahelian lute, his reel-to-reel tape recorder, firewater and ill-fated genius. He died in 1995, aged 43. Poet, musician, singer and melody-maker, he left behind a handful of sublime songs that are gathered here for the first time on vinyl.
Glenn Phillips – Lost At Sea [Reissue/1975] 2xLP (Feeding Tube)
Deluxe expanded reissue of 1975 album — one of the best homemade prog LPs of the era. Hints of McLaughlin, Zappa, and Duane Allman all manage to coexist in an instrumental jungle that is dense, angular, and boss. Includes an extra LP featuring demos and live recordings.
Piano Interrupted – The Unified Field Reconstructed LP (Denovali)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Piano Interrupted is the brainchild of London-based pianist and composer Tom Hodge and French electronic producer Franz Kirmann. Their working process involves digital manipulation of musical phrases on the piano, or any sounds that the pair find interesting to sample and process sonically.
PRhyme – Instrumentals LP (PRhyme)
PRhyme is a collaboration between producer DJ Premier and emcee Royce Da 5’9”. All nine DJ Premier tracks are presented here as instrumentals on this release.
Pye Corner Audio – Pye Corner Audio 10” (Death Waltz)
Mystery abounds; the hiss and buzz of old machinery envelops you—the voyage has begun and you have awoken from cryogenic slumber. Welcome to 2080. A doom-laden synthesizer riff takes control and guides you with unerring precision, the inevitably incredible beat providing weight and heft along the way. Electronic screeches echo in the darkness, suddenly silenced.
Queen – Forever 4xLP (Hollywood)
Released late last year on CD – now available on vinyl. Queen Forever celebrates the extraordinary musical path of one of the world’s greatest rock bands. Features three previously unreleased Queen tracks featuring late singer Freddie Mercury. Also includes the The Queen and Michael Jackson duet, “There Must Be More to Life Than This,” which began as a song written by Mercury during sessions for Queen’s 1981 album, Hot Space.
Raw Poetic & K-Def – Cool Convos In Quantum Speech LP (Redefinition)
“One of hip-hop’s most slept on emcees Raw Poetic (of Panacea and Restoring Poetry In Music) recently teamed up with producer K-Def on Cool Convos In Quantum Speech. Raw Poetic never strays too far away from jazz-underlined production and that still applies for Cool Convos. What makes the emcee so tantalizingly raw with his microphone abilities comes from his natural groove that emulates through his technical but always honey-like flow. K-Def provides drum breaks and jazzy melodies with minor elements of spacey ambiance to create a semi-futuristic vibe.” – HipHopSpeakeasy
Repairs – Decay 7” (HoZac)
Another crucial Australian single, from the blackend depths of minimal synth hysteria, rooted in an electronic nightmare set to overlapping Throbbing Gristle compositions.
Soundtrack – Beetlejuice [Reissue/1988] LP (Geffen)
Original soundtrack to the hit motion picture starring Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis. The Beetlejuice soundtrack, first released in 1988 on LP, features most of the score (written and arranged by Danny Elfman) from the film.
Soundtrack – Rocky [Original Motion Picture Score] [Reissue/1976] LP (Capitol)
Repress of the score from the 1976 film, composed by Bill Conti.
Ssleeping Desiress – Ssleeping Desiress LP (Onderstroom)
Coldwave/darkwave debut from San Francisco-based producer Gabriel Ramos. “Being freshly exposed to Suicide and Arthur Russell was very inspirational to begin recording music on my own… I try and incorporate a late ’70s punk vibe, a marriage of dub and krautrock repetition and cavernous space.”
The Sueves – Liquid Hounds 7” (HoZac)
“Chicago is clearly in the midst of a new rock’n roll revival, with floods of great new young bands ripping up the spots on a weekly basis, and rising to the top of that immense heap, are The Sueves. Punishing static hiss coupled with tough-as-nails riffs, careen down a belligerent groove, with immense, crushing noise that comes right to a halt, only to resume with even more thunder.” – Victim Of Time
Tenement – Bruised Music Volume One LP (Grave Mistake)
The recordings compiled here cover Tenement’s output on record between the years 2006 to 2009. The influence of ’80s punk is strong, likening the style of The Descendents or The Replacements.
Twilight Ritual – Ritual LP (Onderstroom)
First vinyl release of Belgian minimal synth masters debut, originally released in 1982 in a tiny cassette edition.
The Unthanks – Mount The Air 2xLP (Cadiz Music)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and the only British folk representation in The Guardian’s and Uncut’s Best Albums Of The Last Decade, The Unthanks is a family affair for Tyneside sisters Rachel and Becky Unthank, with Rachel married to pianist, producer, arranger and composer, Adrian McNally. Using the traditional and folk music of the North East of England as a starting point, the influence of Steve Reich, Miles Davis, Sufjan Stevens, Robert Wyatt, Antony & The Johnsons, King Crimson and Tom Waits can be heard in the band’s seven albums to date.
Various Artists – The Best Of Trojan Dub Volume 1 LP (Sanctuary)
Various Artists – The Best Of Trojan Reggae Volume 1 LP (Sanctuary)
Various Artists – The Best Of Trojan Roots Volume 1 LP (Sanctuary)
Various Artists – The Best Of Trojan Rocksteady Volume 1 LP (Sanctuary)
Various Artists – The Best Of Trojan Ska Volume I LP (Sanctuary)
First wave in a series of LPs celebrating the re-launch of Trojan Records in the US. Includes classics from Joe Gibbs & The Professionals, The Observers & King Tubby, Desmond Dekker & The Aces, Lee Perry, The Upsetters, Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, The Skatalites, Alton Ellis & The Flames, and many more.
Various Artists – Devil Got My Woman: 16 Classic Blues Songs From 1927-1937 LP (Hi Horse)
This unique album collection contains 16 classic blues songs from the 1920s and 1930s including the title track “Devil Got My Woman” by Skip James and 15 more songs by other great blues singers including Charley Patton, Willie Brown, Blind Black, Ma Rainey, and more.
Various Artists – We Jam By Condos LP (Monofonus Press)
Austin label Monofonus Press releases a new compilation of bands from its hometown, including Spray Paint, S U R V I V E, Hidden Ritual and more.
Sonny Vincent/Rocket From The Crypt – Vintage Piss LP (Swami)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Vintage Piss is the baby whose seed was planted on the 2003 Rocket From The Crypt US tour, which also paired some members of the band with legendary 1970s New York outta control rock ‘n’ roller Sonny Vincent. After the Swami release of Vincent’s previous band Testors’ Complete Discography, Speedo (John Reis), Ruby Mars (Mario Rubalcaba) and The Notorious ND (Andy Stamets) served as the man’s backing band and slashed through his Testors repertoire resulting in a primo barrage of 1970s neo-proto-punk.
Chuky Waggs & The Company Of Raggs – Low Road Ramble LP/Cassette (Let’s Pretend)
Chucky Waggs is a multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter based out of the hills of Eureka Springs, AR who’s influences range from early American roots music, as well as early punk and rock & roll, as well as early American folk songs. Low Road Ramble has a more cohesive approach to songwriting with an emphasis on performance. It offers an intimacy and a sense of humor, while including more of the style and energy of a live show.
ZNR – Barricade 3 [Reissue/1976] 2xLP (Superior Viaduct)
ZNR was the French duo of Hector Zazou and Joseph Racaille (hence, Zazou ‘n’ Racaille) active in the mid to late ’70s. Their 1976 debut, Barricade 3, is an anti-pop masterpiece that truly defies categorization; it makes perfect sense that ZNR appears on the infamous Nurse With Wound list. Featuring an array of seemingly dichotomous instruments (piano, synthesizers, woodwinds, electric guitar and more) as well as genuinely bizarre vocals, the album is composed of 15 odd experiments using a loose framework of analog electronics, avant-garde rock, jazz influences, and post-structuralist work.
Cassettes:
Hirs – Second 100 Songs (SRA)
New release from the seriously heavy trans/queer thrash duo from Philadelphia. Describing itself as LGBTQIA, anti-authoritarian, bullsh*t thrash grind collective with punk ethics and goals of destroying capitalist misogynist scum while empowering those less fortunate.
Jenks Miller And Rose Cross, NC – Music For Snow Drifts (Ba Da Bing!)
We all knew winter was coming this year, and oh boy, did it. While there’s not much to show for it in the aftermath, save for cracked roads, threadbare sweaters and a mistrust of any forecasts, we at least have Music For Snowdrifts. Conceived by Jenks Miller and Elysse Thebner over the past few stormy months (winter even struck as far south as their home base of North Carolina), Music For Snowdrifts offers a transcendental, laconic reaction to the cold, with meandering guitar threading through a hazy synth bed of pure mood. It is both subtle and epic—think Ashra teaming up with Popol Vuh.
Various Artists – Nothing Is Permanent (FM Dust)
Limited-edition box set featuring Willis Earl Beal, Blood Stereo, Travis Bursik, Casino, City Center, Das Kiste Wuintett, Everyday Cruelty, Lidless Eye, Dylan Nyoukis, Skin Lies, Sky Thing, Smegma, and Sophie Tulip.
Chuky Waggs & The Company Of Raggs – Low Road Ramble Cassette (Let’s Pretend)
Chucky Waggs is a multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter based out of the hills of Eureka Springs, AR who’s influences range from early American roots music, as well as early punk and rock & roll, as well as early American folk songs. Low Road Ramble has a more cohesive approach to songwriting with an emphasis on performance. It offers an intimacy and a sense of humor, while including more of the style and energy of a live show.
Books:
Blake Butler – Scorch Atlas (Featherproof)
A novel of 14 interlocking stories set in ruined American locales where birds speak gibberish, the sky rains gravel, and millions starve, disappear, or grow coats of mold. Rendered in a variety of narrative forms, from a psychedelic fable to a skewed insurance claim questionnaire, Blake Butler’s full-length fiction debut paints a gorgeously grotesque version of America.
Brian Costello – The Enchanters Vs. Sprawlburg Springs (Featherproof)
A satirical, riotous story of a band trapped in suburbia and bent on changing the world. A frenzied “scene” whips up around them as they gain popularity and the band members begin thinking big. A hilarious, crazy send-up of self-destructive musicians written in a musically rich prose.
Exilent – Signs Of Devastation LP+MP3 (Halvfabrikat Records)
Second full-length album from these five punks from Hannover. Signs Of Devastation contains 10 new songs of raging dispunk/crust that we already know from their first album. Their previous line up had a male/female dual vocal attack but they are down to a single female singer on this record, sounding great with her raspy vocals with some raw backings and choruses.
Susannah Felts – This Will Go Down On Your Permanent Record (Featherproof)
Felts keenly illuminates the pitfalls of coming of age as an artist, the slippery nature of identity, and the clash of class in the New South. A sparkling and probing debut novel from a rising literary star.
Amelia Gray – AM/PM (Featherproof)
Tour through the lives of 23 characters across 120 flash fiction stories full of lizard tails, Schrodinger boxes, and volcano love. Mixing poetry and prose, humor and hubris, Gray has created a truly original piece of fiction.
Daniel Higgs – The Book Of Antennae (Featherproof)
Originally self-published in 2000, The Book Of Antennae is reissued here for the first time. This short book is a powerful conjuring in short, dense bursts of language. It rewards repeated readings by revealing The Language of Nature, The Nature of Spirit, The Spirit of Science, The Science of Love, The Love of The Occult, and The Occult of Language.
Jessica Hopper – The First Collection Of Criticism By A Living Female Rock Critic (Featherproof)
Spanning from her punk fanzine roots to her landmark piece on R. Kelly’s past,The First Collection of Criticism By A Living Female Rock Critic leaves no doubt why the New York Times has called Hopper’s work “influential.” Not merely a collection of two decades of her most engaging, thoughtful, and humorous writing, this book serves as a document of the last 20 years of American music making and the shifting landscape of music consumption.
Lindsay Hunter – Daddy’s (Featherproof)
You ever fed yourself something bad? Like a candied rattlesnake or a couple fingers of antifreeze? Nope? You’ve seen what its done to other people? Like while they’re flopping around on the floor you’re thinking about how they’re fighting to live. Like while they’re dying they never looked so alive? That’s what Daddy’s is like. In this collection of toxic southern gothics, packaged as a bait box of temptation, Lindsay Hunter offers an exploration not of the human heart but of the spine; mining sex, violence, and love into a harrowing, head-spinning read that’ll push you a little further toward flopping.
Tim Kinsella – The Karaoke Singer’s Guide To Self Defense (Featherproof)
Debut novel from Owls, Joan Of Arc, Cap’n Jazz member drifts between story lines and perspectives. Long bus rides through a post-industrial Gothic Midwest, classic rock, and compulsive brawls hum a requiem for the late nightlife of Stone Claw Grove.
Jonathan Messinger – Hiding Out (Featherproof)
Playful and empathic tales of misguided lonely hearts, sparkling with humor and showcasing an array of styles. This much-anticipated debut features characters dodging consequences while trying desperately to connect.
Zach Plague – Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring (Featherproof)
A hybrid typo/graphic novel that skewers the art world and those boring enough to fall into its traps.
Patrick Somerville – The In Miniature In Miniature (Featherproof)
In this genre-busting book from award-winning novelist Patrick Somerville characters, stories, and stray thoughts revolve around “The Machine of Understanding Other People,” the story of a Chicago man who is bequeathed a supernatural helmet that allows him to experience the inner worlds of those around him. Mind-bending and cracklingly new, Somerville’s broadly appealing and uniquely imaginative constructions probe the outer reaches of sympathy, death, and love in a world seen from the inside out.
Christian TeBordo – The Awful Possibilities (Featherproof)
In brilliantly strange set pieces that explore the boundaries of short fiction, Christian TeBordo locates the awe in the awful possibilities we could never have imagined.
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