CDs:
Chris Abrahams – Memory Night CD (Room40)
Abrahams is the pianist for Australian liminal improvisation trio The Necks. Memory Night is what can only be described as a profound rendering of contemporary composition — a powerful yet delicate evocation of sound where instruments and electronics melt and are reformed.
Trace Adkins – Love Will CD (Show Dog)
This collection of sexy grooves, heart-wrenching ballads and up-tempo anthems about the world’s greatest emotion are worthy additions to Adkins long list of career hits.
Adult. – The Way Things Fall CD (Ghostly International)
The Way Things Fall, the band’s first full length since 2007’s Why Bother?, is a record that sounds both focused and coherent, flowing with a conceptual ease. Vinyl version due May 21.
Sam Amidon – Bright Sunny South CD (Nonesuch)
Bright Sunny South features a band made up of Bartlett and multi-instrumentalists Shahzad Ismaily and Chris Vatalaro. Jazz trumpeter Kenny Wheeler also makes a cameo. Amidon himself not only sings but also plays banjo, fiddle, acoustic guitar, and piano on the album.
Anamanaguchi – Endless Fantasy CD (Dream.Hax)
Anamanaguchi, the band behind Scott Pilgrim Vs.The World: The Game’s soundtrack, is back with their second full length album. Vinyl version due June 11.
Anonymous – Inside The Shadow [Reissue/1976] CD/LP (Machu Piccu)
This 1976 album combines the adventure of West Coast ballroom groups, the 12-string majesty of The Byrds, and breathtaking multi-part harmonies to forge something inimitable and one-of-a-kind.
Arckanum – Fenris Kindir CD/LP (Season Of Mist)
Sweden’s black metal troll Arckanum return with his eighth opus, Fenris Kindir. Equal parts ripping riffs and howled vocals from the edge of Ragnarok, the album expands on the darkness of Helvítismyrkr and finds them taking a battle-axe to the world.
Beaches – She Beats CD/LP (Chapter Music)
Second album from the sprawling Melbourne psych-rock five-piece.
Bibio – Silver Wilkinson CD/LP (Warp)
“Stephen Wilkinson seems to occupy his own universe. Using his home studio, the producer is able to craft warped, woozy nuggets of electronic pop music which seem to break rules you hadn’t even considered were capable of being broken.” – clashmusic.com
Blank Tapes – Vacation CD/LP+MP3 (Antenna Farm)
Blank Tapes is Matt Adams, a soft-spoken kid from a Southern California suburb who learned to play practically every instrument a good garage band needs, and then started making beautifully idiosyncratic records on his trusty home eight-track. Full of the kind of three-part harmonies the Wilson Brothers used to love, Vacation has songs that transplant the style and sentiment of immortals like Ray Davies and Robyn Hitchcock, Kris Kristofferson and Lou Reed, into modern garage pop.
Jason Boland And The Stragglers – Dark & Dirty Mile CD (Proud Souls)
New album from the old school country purists, co-produced with Shooter Jennings.
Boxer Rebellion – Promises CD/LP (INgrooves)
New studio album from London based indie rock quartet. Moving away from the more analog and darker soundscapes that enveloped the band’s previous album, Promises is a significant step in a different direction for the four-piece — a hi-fi, soaring piece of work that truly delivers on the band’s epic, signature sound, and individual skill as musicians.
Randall Bramblett – The Bright Spots CD (NWT)
Bramblett’s tenth studio album finds familiar territory with the Southern-driven funk and Americana soul he has long been known for. Vinyl version due June 4.
Brother JT – The Svelteness Of Boggietude CD/LP+MP3 (Thrill Jockey)
Brother JT is Central, PA’s John Terlesky whose freewheeling boundless music has been released under many different monikers: Brother JT & Vibrolux, Brother JT3, and most commonly Brother JT. Brother JT is a moniker that finds Terlesky’s songwriting and ample guitar skills taking a decidedly psychedelic form but never deviating too far from the classic song structure.
The Svelteness Of Boogietude is a typical of JT s output in certain ways — rockers mixed with ballads, all of them crafted with casual elegance — but there are new elements here as well.
Cindytalk – A Life Is Everywhere CDEP/LP (Editions Mego)
An ecstatic mix of rhythm, noise, drone, texture, and melody. Simultaneously heartfelt and not for the faint-hearted.
Classixx – Hanging Gardens CD/2xLP (Innovative Leisure)
“California production duo Classixx made their name as remixers, but their new album Hanging Gardens is a worthy individual endeavor, one that brings a swooning Cali-pop melodic slickness to the stripped-down, synthetic thump of ye olde Chicago house music. Active Child and LCD Soundsystem’s Nancy Whang guest on the album, and it’s a fun and breezy listen” — Stereogum
The Cleaners From Venus – The Cleaners From Venus, Vol. 2 4xCD (Captured Tracks)
The Cleaners From Venus – Songs From A Fallow Land LP (Captured Tracks)
The Cleaners From Venus – Wartime Conditions LP (Captured Tracks)
The Cleaners From Venus – In The Golden Autumn LP (Captured Tracks)
The Cleaners From Venus – A Dawn Chorus LP (Captured Tracks)
The legendary lo-fi band The Cleaners From Venus formed in the small town of Wivenhoe, southeast England at the turn of 1980s by Martin Newell. The man, the myth, but to rock singer and part-time kitchen porter with a love of sunny 1960s pop music, punk rock and musical comedy. These four albums span the next chapter in the unveiling of the entire discography from the band (1981-1985). One album included here contains 12 unreleased songs, making it the first new release from the band in over 25 years, dubbed A Dawn Chorus: Early Cleaners And Beyond.
Mike Cooper – White Shadows In The South Seas CD (Room40)
A Pacific sunset-like dream spanning the horizon in pulsing waves of richly colored rhythms, tropical sound fields and island-inspired slide guitar.
Cristal – Homegoing CD (Hand-held Recordings)
J. Anthony, G. Darden and R. Donne (Labradford, Spokane, ex-Aix Em Klemm) journey through simmering electronic, wide-screen vistas to seismic, swelling and undulating soundscapes. File alongside latter-day Biosphere, Deathprod (especially both Helge Sten and Cristal’s attention to the minutest sonic detail), and the later, electronically based Zoviet France releases.
Deep ?urp!e – Now What?! CD/CD+DVD/2xLP (Eagle Rock)
Produced by Bob Ezrin, who has worked on various Kiss or Alice Cooper records but also on Pink Floyd’s legendary album The Wall, Deep ?urp!e have managed to record an album that has the excellence and elegance of Perfect Strangers and the wild freedom of Made In Japan. Available in Regular and Deluxe editions. a bonus track and a bonus DVD featuring Deep Purple in conversation plus additional audio material.
The Del-Lords – Elvis Club CD (Megaforce)
Elvis Club finds the New York-bred foursome pretty much picking up where they left off, embodying the same musical swagger and true-believer passion that originally made them one of America’s most compelling rock & roll bands, while adding a new sense of experience and perspective that lends new depth to Kempner’s personally-charged songwriting and the band’s infectiously gritty urban garage-roots-rock.
Depeche Mode – Sooth My Soul CDEP (Columbia)
New two-track single from the recently released Delta Machine features the non-album track “Goodbye (Gesaffelstein Remix).”
The Dillinger Escape Plan – One Of Us Is The Killer CD (ADA)
“Known for their incendiary live performances as much as they are their polarizing musical output, The Dillinger Escape Plan continues to tread a volatile course throughout One Of Us Is The Killer. Following a similar trajectory to that of Option Paralysis, this latest affair pits melody against a whirlwind of challenging sonic shrapnel.” – theprp.com
Dump – I Can Hear Music [Reissue/1994] 2xCD/3xLP (Morr Music)
Reissue of the second album by the solo project of James McNew (Yo La Tengo) — expanded with bonus material.
Dungeonesse – Dungeonesse CD/LP (Secretly Canadian)
Dungeoness is the pop project of Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak, Flock Of Dimes) and Jon Ehrens (White Life). The charming strength of their music rests in the dichotomy formed by of a bold re-introduction of the beautiful imperfections of the human voice into a landscape of what is an increasingly mechanized process of music making.
Eluvium – Nightmare Ending 2xCD (Temporary Residence)
Nightmare Ending is the first proper Eluvium album released since 2010’s Similes, the unexpectedly vocal-heavy ambient-pop record that simultaneously delighted and confounded longtime fans. But the Nightmare Ending story actually began years earlier, as it was intended to be the follow-up to the watershed album, Copia. Conceived as a way of helping loosen his self-imposed ideals of perfection, Cooper labeled each Nightmare Ending track as either a “dream,” or an “imperfection” a way of differentiating the philosophical concept of “dream vs. reality.”
Tommy Emmanuel/Martin Taylor – Conel & The Governor CD (Mesa Bluemoon)
New collaboration between two world-class guitarists.
Escape The Fate – Ungrateful CD/CD+DVD/2xLP (Eleven Seven Music)
The fourth album from the Las Vegas-based post-hardcore band, Ungrateful was produced by John Feldmann, who also produced the band’s second album This War Is Ours. It is also the first album without bassist Max Green, and features his replacement TJ Bell (ex-Motionless In White) and new full-time member Michael Money on rhythm guitar. Available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe adds two bonus audio tracks with two official music videos and the full live show from The Roxy in L.A.
Eve – Lip Lock CD (From The Rib)
Lip Lock, the Philly native’s fourth album, marks the singer’s confident return to music under her own label, and some new songs in tow. The album features collaborations with Pusha T, Juicy J, Snoop Dogg, Gave Saporta of Corbra Starship, Chrisette Michele, Dawn Richard, and more.
Agnetha Fältskog – A CD (Verve)
The siren songstress from ABBA returns with a new album.
Four Tet – Rounds [Reissue/2003] 2xCD/2xLP+CD (Domino)
Domino’s ten-year anniversary reissue features the original album as well as a live bonus CD recorded in Copenhagen near the time of the album’s initial release.
The Features – The Features CD (BMG)
Falling somewhere in the middle between mainstream and hipster, The Feature’s sound is an amalgamation of influences and inspirations – spanning elements of Krautrock, indie, psychedelia, and classic AOR. Vinyl version due May 28.
Gold & Youth – Beyond Wilderness CD/LP (Arts & Crafts)
Beyond Wilderness evokes memories of neo-noir L.A.’s cinematic haze and midnight solitudes. Dark and expansive synthetic textures are punctuated by programmed drums and interwoven with melancholy vocals, detuned synth melodies and understated guitars. The album varies from the cold, industrial sound of Depeche Mode to the tenderness of Avalon-era Roxy Music.
Gotye – Like Drawing Blood [Reissue/2006] CD/LP (Republic)
US pressing of this 2006 album from the Belgium born/Australia-based singer/songwriter. All sounds on the album were collected and assembled or performed by Wally De Backer in bedrooms around Melbourne between 2003 and 2005. Musically, it’s another mixed bag with a subtle thread holding it all together- alt-pop with a broad sonic and thematic palette.
Amy Grant – How Mercy Looks From Here CD (Amy Grant Productions/Sparrow)
Working closely with highly acclaimed producer, Marshall Altman (Brooke Frasier, Natasha Beddingfield, Matt Nathanson), Grant releases her first studio album in over 10 years.
John Grant – Pale Green Ghosts CD/LP (Partisan)
Recorded in Iceland and featuring Sinead O’Connor on guest vocals, the brilliant Pale Green Ghosts adds sublime notes of dark, gleaming electronica to the anticipated velveteen ballads, calling on all of Grant’s influences and tastes, presenting an artist at the peak of his powers.
Grey March – Grey March CD (Hand/Eye)
Grey March is a powerful musical collaboration with members each contributing from widely varied influences, drawing from the American punk movement and the European underground. Gritty and honest — coming from the darker side of popular music, their sound reflects a post-punk sensibility.
The Handsome Family – Wilderness CD (Carrot Top)
Appalachian holler, psychedelic rock, Tin Pan Alley, and medieval ballads continue to inform The Handsome Family’s unique brand of Americana, while an affinity for parlor ballads and clawhammer banjo has crept in with Wilderness. This is haunting music in the most wonderful way–brilliant, emotionally charged and completely unique. Vinyl version due next week.
Head East – Raise A Little Hell CD (CME Records & Film)
New album from the classic good-time rockers, best known for their signature song “Never Been
Any Reason” (which was popularized by the film Dazed And Confused).
Pete Holmes – Nice Try, The Devil CD+DVD (Comedy Central)
In his first hour-long special on Comedy Central, comedian and podcast host (You Made It Weird) Pete Holmes perfects his signature silliness and really gets into that time Juan won one. While he may look like a youth pastor, he’s as comfortable talking about religion as he is secretly hating his girlfriend’s friends and being a straight man who is 100% Gay for Ryan Gosling.
The Hot 8 Brass Band – Tombstone CD (Tru Thoughts)
Tombstone is the second part of a two-album project, and is dedicated to the fallen members of the Hot 8 Brass Band. Far from being downbeat, this is an inspiring and raucous collection.
Immolation – Kingdom Of Conspiracy CD (Nuclear Blast)
“Kingdom Of Conspiracy is not a state-of-the-art death metal record. Whether you’re judging by speed and technicality or by sheer enveloping atmosphere — see recent releases by Wormed and Defeated Sanity on one hand, or Portal and Abyssal on the other — you’ll have no trouble finding albums with more impressive on-paper stats. What this ninth Immolation full-length is, though, is something even more satisfying: a state-of-the-art Immolation LP, and a continuation of a hot streak by one of the most rewarding veteran acts in the genre.” [8.0] – Pitchfork. Vinyl version due June 11.
Iron Forest – Body Horror CD (Crucial Blast)
The eight songs on Body Horror are forged from gleaming metallic drones, glitchy electronica and vast clouds of interstellar synthesizer that wind around fractured, doom-laden riffs.
Jaga Jazzist – Live With the Britten Sinfonia CD/2xLP (Ninja Tune)
“Yes, yes, we know what you’re thinking. It’s a live album, and when are those ever very exciting? But just remember that they really can be, and trust us when we say that this one really, truly is. Like a modern day Live At Leeds, like the benevolent, neon twin of Live Evil, Jaga Jazzist’s wondrous new record is just that; a brilliant album on its own terms. It’s a psychedelic Bond soundtrack twisting and turning from the stage, propelling the listener forward on an epic emotional voyage. At times it seems to explode from the speakers in pure, exuberant color, making you wonder if you’ve recently developed synesthesia.”
Jah Cure – World Cry CD (SoBe)
“Jah Cure’s sixth album, ‘World Cry,’ shows Jah Cure in a different light compared to his previous albums. Where The Universal Cure – his fifth album – was reggae influenced by contemporary R&B, it’s the other way around with World Cry. This set is mostly contemporary R&B and electronic dance music spiced with dancehall and reggae.” – unitedreggae.com
Jenny – Love & Politics CD (Sudden Death)
This explosive four-piece, hailing from Calgary, Canada, adroitly combines tales of love, politics and—perhaps—the Canadian soul itself. Their blend of heartfelt folk and riveting punk offers simply four chords and the truths.
Glenn Jones – My Garden State CD/LP+MP3 (Thrill Jockey)
Jones’ fifth album is a collection of original compositions for solo acoustic 6 and 12-string guitar and 5-string banjo. Features guest appearances from Laura Baird and Meg Baird (Espers).
Kadavar – Abra Kadavar CD (Nuclear Blast)
New album from the riff-heavy hard rockers, the follow-up to their self-titled debut.
Kings Of Leon – The Collection Box 5xCD+DVD (Legacy)
The Collection brings together, in one custom collectible box, all five KoL albums, each featuring bonus tracks previously only available on international pressings, as well as 2009’s Live At The O2 London, England DVD.
Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood – Black Pudding CD/LP (Ipecac)
Lanegan, never one to shy away from unique collaborations, has previously worked with Isobel Campbell, Greg Dulli and as a member of The Screaming Trees, Queens Of The Stone Age and Soulsavers. On this collaboration, Lanegan says: ”Duke Garwood is one of my all-time favorite artists — working with him has been one of the best experiences of my recording life.” Lanegan and Garwood met a few years ago while playing on the same bill and Garwood was a frequent opener on Lanegan’s recent European tour.
La Vida Bohème – Sera CD (Nacional)
This Caracas, Venezuela band takes its influence from late ’80s punk, disco, funk, electronic music, jazz, salsa, reggae and dance music.
Ben Lee – Ayahuasca: Welcome To The Work CD (Ten Fingers)
“Ayahuasca: Welcome To The Work is Ben Lee’s most ambitious work to date. The 10-track set is meditative, atmospheric, often joyous and yet sometimes also dark. An exhilarating listen, Ben has described the album as a ‘sonic document’ of his experiences with the medicinal plant Ayahuasca. A jungle vine found in South America, Ayahuasca is known as the ‘death vine,’ or ‘vine of souls’ and has been used as a healing medicine by shamans for thousands of years.” – lojinx.com
Huey Lewis & The News – Sports [30th Anniversary Edition] 2xCD (Universal)
Digitally remastered and expanded edition pairs each of the original album’s nine songs (four of which were Top Ten hits in 1983-84) with choice live versions on a second disc, many of which have never before been released.
Demi Lovato – Demi CD (Hollywood)
Actress/vocalist Demi Lovato began making a name for herself after starring alongside the Jonas Brothers in the 2008 Disney Channel movie Camp Rock. Her fourth album features the single “Heart Attack.”
Christian McBride & Inside Out – People Music CD (Mack Avenue)
Jazz bassist Christian McBride is regarded as a virtuoso, and is one of the most recorded musicians of his generation, having appeared on close to 300 recordings as a sideman before the age of 40.
Bobby McFerrin – Spirityouall CD (Sony Masterworks)
Bobby McFerrin brings it all back home with his new album, Spirityouall, re-imagining Americana with beloved spirituals and original songs.
Mindless Self Indulgence – How I Learned To Stop Giving A Sh!t & Love CD (Metropolis)
Mindless Self Indulgence is an inflammatory band mixing influences of punk rock, hip-hop, and driving electronic music to create an unrestrained sound.
Mors Sonat – Comforts In Atrocity CD (Crucial Blast)
Across six long tracks, Comforts In Atrocity blends darkly gorgeous chamber music sounds (aided by guest cellist Aaron Martin), blasts of excoriating black noise, pools of cloudy dark ambience, clanking industrial horror and vicious bouts of power electronics abuse.
PJ Morton – New Orleans CD (Young Money/Republic)
The Maroon 5 keyboardist/backing vocalist makes his major label debut.
MS MR – Secondhand Rapture CD/LP (Columbia)
Secondhand Rapture is the debut album from NYC-based indie-pop duo comprised of Lizzy Plapinger (MS) and Max Hershenow (MR). In May of 2012 MS MR mysteriously released the eye-catching video for their single “Hurricane,” which was named ‘Best New Track’ by Pitchfork.
Laura Mvula – Sing To The Moon CD (Columbia)
Sing To The Moon is the critically acclaimed debut album by Laura Mvula. The 26-year-old classically trained singer-songwriter’s music fuses orchestral soul with velvety harmonies and emotional vocals, utilizing her formal training at the Birmingham Conservatoire along with hints of her Caribbean background.
Angel Olsen – Half Way Home CD (Bathetic/Jagjaguwar)
Olsen’s critically acclaimed 2012 LP is now available on CD. Half Way Home is a continuation of her elegance brought forth on Strange Cacti, a collection of both new and old music, honed and matured, thoughts revisited. We’re hearing this same beautiful girl with that same beautiful voice, this time brought up to a new level, in no doubt a growth and reach brought on by several roadtrips with the one and only Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy & crew.
OMD – English Electric CD+DVD (BMG)
Deluxe edition featuring bonus DVD. 12th studio album from the British synthpop legends and the second since the reformation of the original band (Andy McCluskey, Paul Humphreys, Martin Cooper and Malcolm Holmes). Andy McCluskey says of the album: “The overarching feel tends to be a sense of loss, of melancholia, that things haven’t turned out the way you wanted them to, whether it be with technology or personal relationships.”
The Orange Peels – Sun Moon CD/LP (Minty Fresh)
Navigating post-rock, indie-pop and nouveau psychedelia with melody as their compass, Allen Clapp & Co. deliver not just a collection of songs, but a panoramic view of Northern California life.
Orchid – The Mouths Of Madness CD (Nuclear Blast)
This San Francisco heavy rock band walks in the footsteps of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and even Pink Floyd Vinyl version due May 28.
pacificUV – After The Dream You Are Awake CD/LP (Mazarine)
An expansive sonic terrain that includes dream-pop, spacerock, shoegaze, and post-rock elements, working with a rotating cast of all-star musicians that has included members of Phosphorescent, Dream Boat, Of Montreal, and Olivia Tremor Control.
Peals – Walking Field CD/LP+7” (Thrill Jockey)
Peals is a new band led by William Cashion (Future Islands) and Bruce Willen (Double Dagger), members of two of Baltimore’s most dynamic live bands. Formed in early 2012, the duo has turned inward for their debut Walking Field, crafting a meditative and exploratory headphone panorama of the highest order. From the first moment, they set aside the basses of their high-profile post-punk outfits for acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, tambourines, toy pianos, and other sonic tools in pursuit of a stripped-down, warm living-room atmosphere. Vinyl edition features a bonus 7” with two non-album tracks.
Phantom Limb – The Pines CD (Naim Audio Ltd)
Phantom Limb sits at the exceptional crossroads between country and soul music. The massive Aretha Franklin-esque voice of Yolanda Quartey blends with a super-talented country blues band and some CSN&Y harmonies to form a unique sound that you would never expect to come from Britain, of all places.
Pinkish Black – Razed To The Ground CD/LP (Century Media)
As one of the heaviest bands of late to feature no stringed instruments, Pinkish Black uses aura and emotions to attain what other bands fail to do. All this was found on the band’s self-titled debut. Razed To The Ground continues where their eponymous album Pinkish Black left off: gloomy and unsettling doom creating inexplicable results.
Pop Evil – Onyx CD/LP (eOne)
Pop Evil’s brand new third album is a triumph of hard rock perseverance and rabble-rousing attitude, the type of record that inspires likeminded outsiders to optimism.
Jessica Pratt – Jessica Pratt CD/LP (Birth)
“To say that Jessica Pratt is an old soul would be a vast understatement,” says Jenn Pelly of Pitchfork. “The young San Francisco singer/songwriter’s deeply intimate folk sounds so sincerely cast in from the 1960s that it’s hard to believe she didn’t release a proper LP during that period of time.”
Mike Pride – Birthing Days CD (AUM Fidelity)
Mike Pride – Drummer’s Corpse CD (AUM Fidelity)
Singularly gifted drummer/composer Mike Pride is prolifically active as a leader/accompanist in a wide variety of groups and genres: metal, noise, avant-garde rock, free music, and modern jazz. This May, AUM Fidelity presents two of the most profound and potent albums he has created to date.
Project Pitchfork – Black 2xCD (COP International)
Epic and anthemic, Project Pitchfork’s return is laden with moving hymns, timeless melodies, and deep poetic lyrics. But as always, their immortal trademark sounds lurk in the new material and unite with new impulses to form an explosive cocktail of sound, showering the electro world in a novel, fascinating light.
Pure X – Crawling Up The Stairs CD/LP (Acephale)
Crawling Up The Stairs is the second LP from Austin, TX psych rockers Pure X. They stay true to the dense sound they explored on their last album, Pleasure, but add twinkling atmospherics and a new clarity to their carefully cultivated, emotionally heavy songs.
R.E.M. – Green [25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition] 2xCD/LP (Rhino)
Expanded, remastered reissue of R.E.M.’s 1989 album features a disc of live performances taken from the penultimate show of their epic 130-date Green World Tour. The set is packaged in a hard clamshell box (similar to previous R.E.M. reissues) and comes with four postcards and a foldout poster, plus insightful liner notes by Uncut editor, Allan Jones.
The Resistance – Scars CD (Eagle Rock)
The Resistance consists of former members of In Flames, The Haunted, and Grave. Their debut album is a pure reminiscence to the good old days of Swedish death metal back in the 1980s/1990s. Vinyl version due May 28.
Saltland – I Thought It Was Us But It Was All Of Us CD/LP (Constellation)
New project led by Montreal cellist Rebecca Foon (Esmerine, A Silver Mt. Zion, Set Fire To Flames), featuring Jamie Thompson (Unicorns) and guest players from Little Scream, Patrick Watson Band, and Bell Orchestre. Multi-layered cello and hushed vocals at the intersection of drone, no-wave, improv, dream-pop and minimalism.
Slightly Stoopid & Friends – Live At Roberto’s TRI Studios 2xCD+DVD (Stoopid)
On September 13, 2011, Slightly Stoopid was invited by the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir into his state-of-the-art TRI Studios for a live webcast and in-studio performance. Utilizing the technology of their studio’s Constellation sound system, Slightly Stoopid had the privilege to invite some of their close friends and family down to record Live at Roberto’s TRI Studios, performing alongside Weir as well as Karl Denson, Don Carlos, Ivan Neville, Ian Neville and host Tommy Chong.
Small Black – Limits Of Desire CD/LP (Jagjaguwar)
Where 2010’s New Chain was a lesson in maximalist pop, Limits Of Desire finds the band trimming their sound to the essentials, yet hitting new and unexpected heights with the addition of live drums, electric guitar and trumpet to their existing palette. The title track whirls softly, and channels luminaries Tears For Fears and The Blue Nile.
Snowden – No One In Control CD/LP (Serpents & Snakes)
After more than a half-decade after their breakthrough debut album, Snowden returns with No One In Control. Jordan Jeffares — the multi-talented mind behind Snowden — toiled for almost six years, pushing himself and his music ever closer to madness, and that hermetic intensity can be heard in each facet of the record, finely etched with the help of producer Bill Skibbe (John Spencer, Blues Explosion, The Kills, Fiery Furnaces).
Standish/Carlyon – Deleted Scenes CD/LP (Felte)
Debut album by the futurist dub pop duo (comprising bassist/vocalist Conrad Standish and guitarist Tom Carlyon) both formerly of noir rock group Devastation. In rich baritone or impressive falsetto, Standish intones dark, absurdist lyrics over the band’s shimmering take on dub, a sensual, ultramodern gloss disturbed by deep vibrations.
George Strait – Love Is Everything CD (MCA Nashville)
The country music legend releases his 40th album.
Survival – Survival CD/LP+MP3 (Thrill Jockey)
Survival is an album of dark and meditative heavy rock. Hunter Hunt-Hendrix (Liturgy), Greg Smith, and Jeff Bobula have been playing together for over a decade and recorded this album as Survival with Colin Marston (Krallice, Dysrhythmia) at The Thousand Caves. Syncopated riffs, intricate rhythms and atypical time signatures create dramatic and complex melodic lines that provide a bed for chant-like lyrics.
Chip Taylor – Block Out The Sirens Of This Lonely World CD (Train Wreck)
Chip Taylor follows his string of critically acclaimed and Top 10 Americana albums with an astonishing album of moody, sometimes foreboding songs that find dark clouds everywhere but a few silver linings as well.
Irma Thomas – In Between Tears [Reissue/1973] CD/LP (Alive)
Produced by legendary soul singer / songwriter / producer Jerry Williams Jr., aka Swamp Dogg,
and featuring Duane Allman on two songs, In Between Tears is finally back in print with its original cover for the first time since 1973. “A lost classic that captures deep soul at its most poignant and resonant, couchin Thomas’ deeply affecting vocals in earthy arrangements that emphasize the singer’s gospel roots.” – AMG
Marques Toliver – Land Of Canaan CD (Bella Union)
Toliver’s debut full length is a blend of R&B and classical music. Vinyl version due June 11.
Tone Of Arc – The Time Was Right CD (No. 19 Music)
Tone Of Arc is the project of Dead Seal’s Derrick Boyd and Zoe Presnick. The tracks they’ve put out (and the performances they’ve played) have revealed a distinctly pop-oriented sound, looping vocals and guitar over melodic house beat.
Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats – Mind Control CD/2xLP (Metal Blade)
Imagine the original Alice Cooper band jamming in a cell with early Black Sabbath and the Stooges, whilst sitting on murder charges, and you may get a glimpse into their fuzzed up world of exploding tube amps and cymbal smashing mayhem.
Vår – No One Dances Quite Like My Brothers CD/LP (Sacred Bones)
What began as the extremely lo-fi two-piece of Elias Rønnenfelt (Iceage) and Loke Rahbek recording on 4-track has evolved into an experimental noise/industrial/techno pop quartet. On this album Vår utilize everything from acoustic guitar, power electronics, bass, trumpet, multi-tracked vocals, and various percussive instruments, to broken glass and sheet metal samples.
Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires Of The City CD/2xLP (XL)
Modern Vampires Of The City is Vampire Weekend’s third album, and it is a bustling world of voices and visions from the death of Henry Hudson to the Orthodox girl falling in love at an uptown falafel shop, from Hannah Hunt tearing up the New York Times on a distant beach to the lethal chandelier of “Everlasting Arms,” from the ardent yearning of “Don’t Lie” to the harmonized voice of hope in “Young Lion”. The album has a grandeur and romanticism evocative of the city where it was conceived.
Various Artists – Everybody Has A Story CD (Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital At Vanderbilt)
Many great Nashville based artists lend their talents to songs written by patients at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt through its Music Therapy program. Each song was a result of a clinical music therapy session involving the patient and a music therapist. Contributing artists include Kix Brooks, Melinda Doolittle, Fisk Jubilee Singers, Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Faith HIll, Alison Krauss, Maura O’Connell, Johnny Reid, SHEL and Phil Vassar.
Various Artists – Kenya Special: Selected East African Recordings From The 1970s & ‘80s 2xCD/3xLP+7”+MP3 (Soundway)
32 extremely rare recordings from East Africa — an area barely touched by modern compilations.
Various Artists – Mirror To The Soul: Music, Culture And Identity In The Caribbean 1920-72 2xCD+DVD/2xLP+DVD+MP3 (Soul Jazz)
Over two years in the making, Mirror To The Soul is a new compilation and documentary film about the Caribbean, a unique collaboration between Soul Jazz Records and British Path‚, made up entirely of newsreel footage filmed during the period 1922-1970. British Path‚ was established in London in 1910 to produce newsreels screened in cinemas throughout Britain before main feature films. In the 1950s, to compete with the new medium of television, Path‚ began adding entertainment, cultural, musical and educational stories to hard news items. Path‚ eventually closed production in 1970 after accumulating over 3,500 hours of documentary history and Soul Jazz Records/Films were given full access to these film vaults for the making of this new film.
Various Artists – Wizzz French Psychorama 1966-1970 Volume 2 CD (Born Bad)
The second volume in this classic ’60s French psych compilation series features weirdo tracks from artists such as Brigitte Fontaine, Jean Et Janet, Bruno Leys, and others.
Wampire – Curiosity CD/LP+MP3 (Polyvinyl)
After forming Wampire, Rocky Tinder and Eric Phipps quickly made a name for themselves in Portland, OR. Produced by Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Jacob Portrait, Curiosity is an instantly memorable album.
Wild Nothing – Empty Estate CD/LP (Captured Tracks)
“The one-man lo-fi project that is Wild Nothing just keeps going from strength to strength. While last year’s Nocturne long player heralded a more beat-laden approach for Jack Tatum than the C86 inspired song structures of predecessor Gemini, Empty Estate takes him another step further towards completing his mission of touching on every musical genre known to man.” – contactmusic.com
The Wonder Years – The Greatest Generation CD (Hopeless)
The Greatest Generation is a realistic record. It’s three guitars turned way the f##k up. It’s a rhythm section that’s trademarked by broken cymbals and bloody bass strings, and Soupy and the band screaming their hearts out of their chests until you feel every moment of desperation and every moment of joy in the songs. Vinyl version due May 21.
Zeromancer – Bye-Bye Borderline CD (COP International)
“Cynical, sleek, tongue-in-cheek, and always entertaining, Zeromancer belong in some perennial nightclub scene from the crammed prose of one of Bruce Sterling or William Gibson’s cyberpunk sagas.” — Sea Of Tranquility
DVD + Blu-ray:
Kaskade – Freaks Of Nature Tour DVD (Ultra)
The DVD from the July 27, 2012 Staples Center appearance features over 40 tracks with some of Kaskade’s best mashups and biggest hits, as well as behind-the-scenes moments and his performance at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium show in San Francisco, along with 40 other stops on the tour.
Vinyl:
10,000 Maniacs – Music From The Motion Picture LP (Org Music)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Music From The Motion Picture is the first studio album from 10,000 Maniacs in over a decade.
Atlas Genius – When It Was Now LP (WB)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Australian indie rockers Atlas-Genius turned heads last year with their debut single “Trojan.” “With a colorful groove, stirring beats and catchy melodies, it’s hard not to like them.” – Cause A Scene
Bass Drum Of Death – Shattered Me b/w Crawling After You 8” (Innovative Leisure)
The lead single from BDoD’s forthcoming eponymous LP (due June 25) captures the essence of his blown-apart pop music. Pressed on a custom 8″ vinyl (part of the Innov8 series) with the backing Wavves-meets-Roky Erickson track “Crawling After You.”
Bring Me The Horizon – Sempiternal 2xLP (Epitaph)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Fourth studio album by the British metalcore band.
Brown Bird – Fits Of Reason LP (Supply And Demand)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Fits Of Reason retains Brown Bird’s blues and American roots music foundations while exploring heavier territory with a more prominent display of the band’s Middle Eastern, metal and psych-rock influences.
Candy Hearts – The Best Ways To Disappear 12” (Bridge Nine)
Candy Hearts’ sugary brand of punk-tinged indie delivers just the right amount of ‘90s nostalgia.
Christie Front Drive – CFD [Reissue/1993] LP (Magic Bullet)
20th anniversary remastered reissue of Christie Front Drive’s first LP, originally issued on Freewill Records in 1993. CD version due June 7. Color vinyl.
Cloakroom – Infinity LP+MP3 (Run For Cover)
Cloakroom channels the visceral vocals of David Bazan (Pedro The Lion), laid over quiet ethereal guitar hums that slowly grow into pounding walls of sound, at times bringing to mind a more stoned, yet delicate Jesu.
Cvlts – Realiser LP (Aguirre)
This Kansas post-hypnagogia psych enigma create a strange distillation of improvisation, keyboards, loops and field recordings. Song-length carpets of sound with the occasional attempt at dream pop.
The Dear Hunter – Migrant LP (Equal Vision)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Fifth album from the band led by Casey Crescenzo, formerly of post-hardcore outfit The Receiving End Of Sirens.
Discordance Axis – Jouhou [1997] LP (Hydra Head)
First time on vinyl for this 1997 release, which originally came one year before Nasum’s Inhale/Exhale and four years before Pig Destroyer’s Prowler In The Yard. An influential album, Jouhou signaled a sea change in world of grindcore.
Nick Drake – Bryter Later [Reissue/1970] LP (Motown/PGD)
An exact replica of the original 1970 release, pressed on heavyweight audiophile vinyl, and remastered from near-original master tapes by the album’s original engineer John Wood. Packaged in a box containing the original shop poster, a smaller ‘Live’ poster/brochure and a reprint of Nick’s handwritten set list used for his live appearances, together with reproductions of the master tape and box lids.
Drowningman – Busy Signal [Reissue/1999] LP (Hydra Head)
Drowningman’s debut full length is back in print on vinyl for the first time in 15 years.
Ekin Fil – Ekin Fil LP (Students Of Decay)
Operating out of Istanbul, Ekin Fil is the solo project of Turkish musician Ekin Üzeltüzenci. Her music first came to the ears of many by way of Language, a 2011 cassette release on the Root Strata label that presented listeners with a fractured, hazy sound-world in which half-remembered melodies and wraith-like vocals cohered into dark and hypnotic masses.
Henry Flynt – Graduation 2xLP (Superior Viaduct)
Henry Flynt took a highbrow approach to so-called lowbrow music. Combining sounds from his native North Carolina with an avant-garde sensibility honed in New York City’s loft scene in the 1960s, Flynt created what he describes as “new American ethnic music.” Shelved upon its completion in 1980, Graduation was not released until after the turn of the century. In 2013, it still sounds years ahead of its time.
Freescha – Kids Fill The Floor [Reissue/2001] 3xLP+MP3 (Attack9)
Limited triple-vinyl LP pressing of Freescha’s 2001 debut album in a deluxe tip-on gatefold jacket. Includes a bonus 12″ of previously unreleased material, an 18″ x 24″ fold-out poster, out-take artwork and a digital download package with MP3s, videos, ringtones, and wallpaper. Highly recommended melodic electronica for fans of Boards Of Canada or Casino Versus Japan.
The Gits – Second Skin 7” (Broken Rekids)
“Second Skin” was the Gits anthem and is perhaps their most powerful and popular song.
The pressing of this edition consists of 100 clear vinyl singles that were left over without covers from the ‘90s.
The Invisible Hands – The Invisible Hands 2xLP (Abduction)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The Invisible Hands is a brand new project of Alvarius B in his patented sinister style; drenched in lovely psychedelic folk arrangements. This double-LP includes both the English and Arabic vocal versions of the record.
Chuck Johnson – Crows In The Basilica LP+MP3 (Three Lobed)
Johnson’s songs are based on raga improvisations and Chinese melodies, the Piedmont Blues of Carolina pioneer Elizabeth Cotten and the mountain guitar of Appalachian legend Roscoe Holcomb.
Magazine – Real Life [Reissue1978] LP (Vinilisssimo)
Vinyl reissue of punk band’s 1978 debut.
Major Lazer – Free The Universe LP (Secretly Canadian)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. New album from the Diplo-fronted Jamaican music homage features a star studded cast, including: Santigold, Vybz Kartel, Peaches, Wyclef Jean, Bruno Mars, Tyga, as well as Amber of Dirty Projectors and Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend, and more.
Man Or Astro-Man? – Analog Series Vol. 3 7” (Chunklet)
Man or Astro-Man? return with the third of three new 7″s, all preceding a new full length in 2013. Three tracks (including a non-album B-side) recorded by Steve Albini.
Sean McCann – Prelusion LP (Root Strata)
“Our Silhouette,” which blankets the whole of the first side with jewel-like piano runs and distant fading synths, may be one of the artist’s most elegant moves. The reverse holds two tracks of long-form organ/string plateaus that float elegantly in space, refracting light and sound in patterns around the head.
Daniel Menche – Marriage Of Metals LP (Editions Mego)
Marriage Of Metals is comprised of recordings of rare and ancient Gamelan gongs, heavily processed and extending the language of the Gamelan into brave new worlds.
Messages – Mirage LP (Root Strata)
Third full-length from NY drone duo, recorded in 2008 and unreleased until now. Mirage documents the duo’s earliest long-form drone explorations and intonations. Mixing orbits of homemade acoustic instruments, electric drones and percussion, this is a humid transmission sent straight from the womb.
Mind Over Mirrors – High & Upon LP (Aguirre)
Jaime Fennelly plays his pump organ through a battery of oscillators and effects that extend and distort its tones to obtain in-the-red highs, chest-rattling mids, and low notes as bulbous and squeezable as a slightly underinflated inner tube. The end results are slow, constructive growing, repetitive melodies, and a warming wilderness of vivid harmonic depth.
Mpala Garoo – Ou Du Monde LP (Aguirre)
Wondrous, spaced-out and multi-layered electronics that float somewhere between Ducktails and Sean McCann. “Music crafted for the sunny and tropical paradises of our minds. Seasonal temperament is shared via magnetic vibes; we can all exist in the same balmy and tropical head-state no matter what our physical locale may be. Pure vibrations that ebb and flow on the appeal of tidal moons.”
Slingshot Dakota – Dark Hearts LP (Topshelf)
Released late last year on CD – now available on vinyl. Slingshot Dakota is a two-piece in the likes of Mates of State whose blend of indie pop songs are full of hooks and passion.
Rod Stewart – Time 2xLP (Capitol)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Time is Rod Stewarts first album of new material in almost 20 years.
Tidal/Rambutan – Sound of The Future/Trapdoor To Infinity LP (Aguirre)
Two wonderful, long, straight-running drone pieces: Tidal blesses us with a Popol Vuh-esque ride to the future, while Rambutan contributes a beautiful accompanying magical piece to the B-side.
Various Artists – Five Days Married & Other Laments: Songs & Dance From Northern Greece 1928-1957 LP (Angry Mom Archives)
This collection of rare music from Northern Greece circa 1928-1958 ranges from plaintive, ancient dirges to hypnotic, droning dance pieces, accompanied by liner notes and lyric translations as well as original artwork by Robert Crumb.
We Were Skeletons – Blame And Aging LP (Top Shelf)
Released last year on CD – now available on vinyl. With the musical prowess and aggression of bands like Fugazi and Shotmaker, We Were Skeletons’ unique brand of technical, groovy, and emotional hardcore should appeal to long-time fans of the genre while still pushing its boundaries.
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