December/January Program Titles Released This Week:
Jack Broadbent – Moonshine Blue CD (Crows Feet)
Hailed as ‘the new master of the slide guitar’ by the Montreux Jazz Festival, and ‘the real thang’ by the legendary Bootsy Collins, singer-songwriter, Jack Broadbent, returns after three years to deliver an upbeat and smooth slide guitar performance in his new single ‘Wishing Well’ [from his new album Moonshine Blue]. The song has a catchy hook, a hint of folk and blues, as well as a satisfying guitar solo. Growing up, Jack listened to a variety of different artists that influenced the way he produces and performs his music, including Radiohead, Robert Johnson, Joni Mitchell, and Davey Graham. Listening and learning from a wide range of artists helped him to create a unique style by mixing various genres which led him to develop his own. With a successful history of opening for acclaimed artists such as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Johnny Hallyday, Robben Ford, and Tony Joe White, Jack has headlined internationally and played at sold-out shows all over the world.” [Vinyl edition due February 21.]
The Clash – London Calling: The Scrapbook CD (Legacy/Sony)
When The Clash’s third studio album London Calling was released in the winter of 1979, it was clear that the band had made an instant classic, an era-defining masterpiece that stands as one of rock’s all-time greatest albums. It is a hugely compelling melting pot of musical styles, driven by a passion for action and a fierce desire for social justice, with lyrics which remain completely relevant. This limited edition 120-page, hardback scrapbook edition contains rarely seen content from the band’s personal archives, including handwritten lyrics, Ray Lowry drawings, fanzines, original press cuttings and band images. The Scrapbook has a special clear slip case printed with Ray Lowry’s artwork, which can be removed to reveal the Pennie Smith photo underneath.
Joe Henry – The Gospel According To Water CD (earMUSIC)
Songwriter/composer/producer Joe Henry is a hyperliterate storyteller, drawing an author’s eye for the overlooked detail across a broad swath of American musical styles – folk, rock, jazz and blues – and rendering genre modifiers useless. Working with an incredibly diverse range of musicians – from Elvis Costello to Ornette Coleman to Richie Havens – Henry has produced four Grammy-winning records: Don’t Give Up On Me (Solomon Burke), Genuine Negro Jig (Carolina Chocolate Drops), A Stranger Here (Ramblin’ Jack Elliott), and Slipstream (Bonnie Raitt). Henry shares his personal reflections on the origins of his new album, The Gospel According To Water: “The album was recorded over two days this past June, and fairly by accident, when I thought I was merely making demos of thirteen new songs ahead of forgetting them – all but two written between Valentine’s and Father’s Day; all having flowered from the black earth of recent experience – namely a cancer diagnosis late last fall that left me reeling – though, as well, set into motion many blessings and positive shifts in my life, as well as an unprecedented songwriting flurry.” [Vinyl edition due November 22.]
Steve Lacy – Apollo XXI CD/LP (3QTR)
Apollo XXI is the debut solo album from Steve Lacy, best known as the guitarist of space-soul band The Internet. At the ripe age of 20, the Grammy-nominated Compton native already has a veteran’s resume; he was Wired Magazine’s Tech Visionary, Time Magazine’s Most Influential Teen, produced-written-featured with Solange, J Cole, Vampire Weekend, Blood Orange and produced some of Kendrick Lamar’s Damn on his iPhone. He’s also toured the world with his band mates The Internet, given a TED Talk, worked extensively with Louis Vuitton on behalf of Virgil Abloh (including walking at the LV Paris Fashion Week show) and now releases his debut album on his own terms.
Chadwick Stokes – Chadwick Stokes & The Pintos CD/LP (Ruff
Chadwick Stokes is an accomplished musician and songwriter who grew up on a small farm outside of Boston, MA. A songwriter since early adolescence, his many projects have woven together music, art, history and activism. From Dispatch, which he started in his early 20s; to his politically driven band, State Radio; to his nascent solo project, Chadwick Stokes & The Pintos, Stokes has committed himself to using music as a vehicle for social and political change. Chadwick Stokes & The Pintos is Stoke’s third solo record and his first as a producer. “Blanket On The Moon” is the song on the record that encompasses the rest of them. The song itself is a space story about a young alien who gets put on the moon by his parents to hopefully be adopted by earthlings and starts when the alien family is together saying goodbye…
Various Artists – Queen & Slim The Soundtrack CD (Motown)
Penned by Emmy winner Lena Waithe and helmed by Grammy Award winner Melina Matsoukas in her feature directorial debut, Queen & Slim is in theaters November 27th. The accompanying multi-genre soundtrack showcases a range of talent across black artists, including classic songs by Roy Ayers, Bilal and others plus new music from Lauryn Hill, Megan Thee Stallion, BJ The Chicago Kid, Vince Staples, Lil Baby, Tiana Major9 & EarthGang.
Ronnie Wood – A Mad Lad: A Live Tribute To Chuck Berry CD/LP/LP+CD+MP3 (BMG)
Ronnie Wood’s first solo album in nearly a decade doubles as a live tribute to one of his musical heroes, Chuck Berry. Named after an instrumental originally featured on Chuck’s 1960 LP Rockin’ At The Hops, Mad Lad: A Live Tribute to Chuck Berry was recorded live at Wimborne’s Tivoli Theatre and finds the Rolling Stones guitarist also holding down vocal duties with guest appearances from singer Imelda May and pianist Ben Waters. In addition to the tracks “Tribute To Chuck Berry” written by Wood and “Worried Life Blues” written by Maceo Merriweather, the 11-track collection includes renditions of further Chuck Berry classics like “Johnny B Goode”, “Roll Over Beethoven”, “Rock ‘N’ Roll Music”, “Back In The U.S.A.” and “Little Queenie”. [A deluxe box set which includes both the vinyl, CD and a 12” x 12” artwork print is also available.]
CDs + Vinyl:
Abigail Williams – Walk Beyond The Dark CD (Blood Music)
Icy guitars and bleak atmospheres encircle. Rapturous bursts of string accompaniments penetrate the melancholic futility of shadow and despair. Powerful guitars shift between slithering rhythms, contemplative grooves, and all-out assaults. Abigail Williams take their rightful crown as the lords of American black metal. [Vinyl edition due December 13.]
Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell – Very Uncertain Times CD/LP (Rise Above)
Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. Purveyors of nuts-out, ragged and riotous proto-metal since 2008, Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell have dedicated the last decade to kicking against the pricks and whipping up a thunderous storm of gritty, snotty and irresistible heavy rock.
Afuma – Songs From The Shore CD/LP (Blank Forms)
In Japanese folklore, Afuma indicates a time of day marked by spiritual or mysterious encounter. In Latin, one who inhales. Together as Afuma, Stefan Tcherepnin and Taketo Shimada breathe sepulchral energies into the brooding, cosmic fringes of guitar-based song vernacular. Tcherepnin’s baritone and Shimada’s lap steel guitar intertwine, smearing across world’s-end horizons that propel Tcherepnin’s ragged, foreboding vocal delivery and it’s lyrical portents of departure, of life’s vessel unmoored onto a fathomless periphery.
The Band – The Band [Reissue/1969] CD/2xLP/2xLP+7”+Blu-ray+2xCD (Capitol)
The Band’s pioneering, self-titled album receives a suite of newly remixed and expanded editions. When The Band’s seminal eponymous second album was released fifty years ago in September 1969, not much more was known about the reclusive group than when they released their landmark debut, Music From Big Pink, to widespread critical praise and bewilderment, just the year before. The group, made up of four Canadians and one American, was still shrouded in mystery, allowing for listeners and the music press to let their imaginations run wild about who these men were and what this music was that sounded unlike anything else happening at the close of the psychedelic ’60s. [Double-vinyl reissue is cut at 45rpm. CD and Super Deluxe box editions feature the Live At Woodstock performance from 1969 and 13 bonus tracks including six previously unreleased outtakes and alternate versions. Super Deluxe adds an exclusive 7” single, a 5.1 surround mix on Blu-ray, all packaged in a hardbound book.]
Martin Barre – The Meeting [Reissue/1996] CD/LP (Purple Pyramid)
CD and vinyl reissue of Martin Barre’s third solo album. Barre, famed for his career as guitarist for legendary prog rock band Jethro Tull, carves out a sound and style all his own on these unique, self-penned songs. [Limited blue colored vinyl edition also available.]
Bonnie Prince Billy – I Made A Place CD/LP (Drag City)
Bonnie Prince Billy is the man who is destined to sing a darkness for the rest of time – but not now. Not today. For I Made A Place, his first album of new songs since 2011, he is bringing the lightness to new – and next-generations as well as his longtime friends and fans. It’s a message we dearly need. With a hometown band supplying him the space to be as spare or as expansive as he needs to be, Bonny draws inspiration from a world-spanning set of musics, aiming to lift us up with songs meant to inspire, inform, lend confidence and bring warmth to assailed tribes everywhere.
David Bowie – Conversation Piece 5xCD (Rhino/Parlophone)
Five CD box set tracking David’s early development throughout 1968 and 1969, via his home demos, BBC radio sessions, studio recordings with guitarist John ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson and the experimental music and mimegroup, Feathers. The set contains twelve previously unreleased tracks/demos.
David Bowie – Space Oddity [Reissue/1969] CD/LP (Rhino/Parlophone)
2019 mix by longtime Bowie producer/collaborator Tony Visconti. Of his new mix of Space Oddity Visconti says “It was so much fun to find hidden gems of musicianship with more time to mix the second time around, a guitar twiddle here, a trombone blast there, Marc Bolan’s voice in a group choir and more detail in general that we overlooked all those years ago when the label gave us a week at the most to mix this album. And in the details, you will find 22-year-old David Bowie, who would soon take the world by storm.”
Brainstory – Buck CD/LP (Big Crown)
Call it funk, call it rock, call it soul. Buck is a state of mind, a way of life, a demeanor that gets you through the good times and the bad. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Molly Burch – The Molly Burch Christmas Album CD/LP (Captured Tracks)
On this collection of holiday songs, Austin chanteuse Molly Burch does Christmas with a twist. “I hope it’s a Christmas album for people who love Christmas music and people who don’t love Christmas music. May these songs welcome in a fresh new year and many warm, happy nights.”
Alan Clarke – Resurgence CD/LP (BMG)
New solo album from the co-founder and lead vocalist of The Hollies.
Collabro – Love Like This CD (BMG)
Collabro is one of the world’s most successful musical theatre groups, having won Britain’s Got Talent in 2014. Love Like This is the band’s fifth album and sees the group play renditions of tracks by the likes of Coldplay, Keane, Ellie Goulding and Lewis Capaldi.
Cradle Of Filth – Cruelty And The Beast: Re-Mistressed [Reissue/1998] CD (Sony)
Digitally remixed and remastered edition of the British extreme metal band’s 1998 album. [Vinyl edition TBD.]
Cyhra – No Halos In Hell CD (Nuclear Blast)
Sophomore album from the modern melodic metal highflyers. [Vinyl edition due November 22.]
The Deathtrip – Demon Solar Totem CD (Profound Lore)
New album from the cult metal band. Demon Solar Totem captures the spirit of ancient Darkthrone, Thorns and Beherit, imbued with old-English occultism and the chanting of sacred sound formulas-otherworld black metal eeriness for a deep dive into spectral realms. [Vinyl edition due November 22.]
Celine Dion – Courage CD (Sony)
A mix of beautiful ballads and edgy up-tempo tracks, Courage is Celine’s first English album in six years. [Deluxe edition includes a poster.]
Despised Icon – Purgatory CD/LP (Nuclear Blast)
Sixth album from the Canadian deathcore pioneers. [Limited colored vinyl edition also available.]
Dido – Still On My Mind 2xCD (BMG)
Deluxe edition. Still On My Mind encapsulates a variety of styles and genres, ranging from Dido’s love of hip-hop to her folk roots, but ultimately the entire record carries a dance and electronic music sensibility, even on the tracks with no beats.
DJ Shadow – Our Pathetic Age 2xCD/2xLP (Mass Appeal)
DJ Shadow’s ambitious new double album is the result of an intensely creative period that found the hip-hop and electronic innovator delving further into original composition and experimentation. The first half of Our Pathetic Age features 11 new instrumental works that balance some of Shadow’s most menacing sounds with beams of hope, including his first fully composed orchestral piece. The second half of is a full album of vocal collaborations, ranging from Run The Jewels, Nas and Dave East to Samuel T. Herring, Paul Banks and Wiki, Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon.
Kit Downes – Dreamlife Of Debris CD (ECM)
Dreamlife Of Debris carries forward the story begun on Kit Downes’s 2018 album Obsidian, extending and developing its processes and core ideas. But where Obsidian was (almost exclusively) a solo church organ album, part of Kit’s plan for Dreamlife was to put the organ in a broader context, and to bring the piano into the larger compositional picture. Musicians for the project are primarily players with whom Downes has had long associations: saxophonist Tom Challenger, cellist Lucy Railton, drummer Seb Rochford. The only exception is Norwegian guitarist Stian Westerhus, who joins him for the first time on Dreamlife. [Vinyl edition due December 13.]
Fall Out Boy – Believers Never Die Volume Two – Greatest Hits CD (Island)
New hits collection from the alt-rock band. Includes the single “Dear Future Self (Hands Up)” featuring Wyclef Jean. The song marks the band’s first new music since the August 2018 release of the three-song Lake Effect Kid EP, a love letter to their hometown city of Chicago. [Vinyl edition due November 22.]
Fea – No Novelties CD (Blackheart)
Fea is a trailblazing trifecta of Chicana punk, riot grrrl ethos and blistering musical prowess. The San Antonio based band has announced their sophomore album, No Novelties, is released on Joan Jett’s Blackheart Records. Produced by L.A. punk legend Alice Bag, the bi-lingual collection explores hot button topics, from sexism to the toxicity of social media.
Fleetwood Mac – Before The Beginning 1968-1970 Rare Live & Demo Sessions CD (Sony)
Recently discovered live recordings from 1968 and 1970 of Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac. Not much is known about them. Discovered un-labelled and by pure luck in the US, their era has been authenticated by experts of the bands blues origins. The recordings were found in incredibly good condition considering they have been untouched for over 40 years, they have been restored and provide a vital insight into the very earliest incarnation of one of the world’s biggest bands.
The Flower Kings – Waiting 2xCD/LP (Inside Out U.S.)
Citing Pink Floyd, Vangelis, The Beatles, Cream, King Crimson, Procol Harum, David Bowie, Utopia, ELO and Tomita as influence, Waiting For Miracles harks back to the joyful and playful style that made the band famous in the late ‘90s yet also offers a fresh and timeless quality. Opulent, dynamic, melodic, catchy, complex, the album is all you would expect from a proper prog rock monument.
Hal Galper – Zone: Live At The Yardbird Suite CD (Origin)
On his fifth decade as a major jazz artist, Hal Galper continues the innovation that has made him one of the most surprising and satisfying pianists alive.
Gang Starr – One Of The Best Yet CD (Gang Starr Ent.)
The seventh and final album from iconic hip-hop duo. The 16-track album, their first since 2003, was produced entirely by DJ Premier with vocals from the one and only Guru, recorded before his death in 2010. Album guests include Q-Tip, Talib Kweli, Royce Da 5′ 9, Ne-Yo, M.O.P., Jeru The Damaja, Big Shugg, Freddie Foxx, and J. Cole. [Vinyl edition due December 6.]
Erroll Garner – Campus Concert CD (Mack Avenue)
This is the final live concert album released by Erroll Garner during his lifetime. It showcases the pianist in rare form, flanked by his classic trio and performing for an attentive and receptive audience of mostly young fans.
Glorious Sons – The War On Everything CD/LP (BMG)
A daring 14-track collection of stadium-ready, dirty, sweaty rock (Alternative Press) rife with devastating moments of vulnerability and searing insight into universal truths about anxiety, sadness and isolation in the 21st century.
Jay Gordon – Slide Rules CD (Shuttle Music)
Creative, aggressive, blistering slide guitar-and then some.
Guerilla Toss – What Would The Odd Do CDEP/12” (NNA Tapes)
An exploration into new territories expanding on Guerilla Toss’s recipe for twisted, addictive rock & roll mania: fried funk, damaged dance, and cosmic cacophony. Fans of 70’s prog and rock greats like King Crimson and Todd Rundgren and modern torchbearers like Sheer Mag and Deerhoof will be joyfully united by the band’s uniquely familiar world of wonder and excitement.
Hammock – Silencia CD (Hammock Music)
Silencia is Hammock’s tenth LP since founding in 2003. And it closes a trilogy that started in 2017 with Mysterium, a towering modern classical record that Marc Byrd and co-founder Andrew Thompson made shortly after the death of 20-year-old Clark Kern, the former’s nephew. “Mysterium was about a shattering,” Byrd says. “Universalis, the trilogy’s second record, was an attempt to put things back together, and Silencia reflects a quiet resolution of knowing this is what life is. You have to live in the midst of both.” [Vinyl edition due December 6.]
Juliana Hatfield – Sings The Police CD/LP (American Laundromat)
Hatfield takes on 12 classics and deep cuts by The Police in this newest tribute in her ongoing series covering artists that were important to her in her formative years.
Julia Hülsmann Quartet – Not Far From Here CD (ECM)
Not Far From Here introduces award-winning pianist Julia Hülsmann’s new group in which her long-time working trio with Marc Muellbauer and Heinrich Köbberling (together now for 17 years) is expanded to a quartet with the addition of Berlin-based saxophonist Uli Kempendorff.
Jeezy – TM104: The Legend Of The Snowman CD (Def Jam)
The ninth and final studio album by rapper features guest appearances from Meek Mill, Ty Dolla Sign, CeeLo Green, Rick Ross, Gunna, John Legend and Queen Naija, among others.
Kele – 2042 CD/LP (Kola)
Released last week on vinyl – now available on CD. The founding member and lead singer of Bloc Party, returns with the new solo album 2042, heralded by the visceral first single “Jungle Bunny”. 2042 is Kele’s fourth solo record and, following 2017’s largely acoustic Fatherland (released under his full name and featuring a duet with Olly Alexander from Years And Years), marks something of a return to the adrenalized electronics of his previous two solo records, Trick (2014) and The Boxer (2010), whilst broadening the sonic palette by bringing in elements of his work with Bloc Party and a litany of other influences and ideas. As an artist, Kele Okereke has never stood still, relentlessly seeking new ways in which to present his luminous songs. Whilst sonically markedly different from Fatherland, lyrically 2042 picks up a thread from that record whereby Kele’s life experiences and relationships suffuse the album with some of his most personal lyrics yet.
Lily Kershaw – Arcadia CD/LP (Nettwerk)
Weaving warmer analog sounds like organ, harpsichord and guitar with cinematic force, the strongest tool Kershaw wields is her voice, both in the simmering ferocity it carries and the poetry it speaks.
Lady Antebellum – Ocean CD/2xLP (BMX)
After a wave of change, Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley and Hillary Scott have watched the tides rise and fall and are embracing the power of vulnerability with the release of Lady Antebellum’s new album Ocean. It marks a new beginning that brings the multi-Platinum trio back to their roots, showcasing their familiar vocal interplay and individual instruments on the emotionally resonant 13-track project. The trio chronicles personal relationships and everyday responsibilities with a balance of growth and maturity that could only come from 13 years of creating music together.
Marillion – Afraid Of The Sunlight [Reissue/1995] 4xCD+Blu-ray (Rhino/Parlophone)
Deluxe four CD + Blu-ray edition of the band’s acclaimed eight studio album. Includes new mixes, unheard studio outtakes, unreleased live tracks, plus a new documentary and interviews with the band about the album. Afraid Of Sunlight is Marillion’s eighth studio album, released in 1995. It was their last for EMI. Afraid of Sunlight became one of the band’s most critically acclaimed albums and was included in Q magazine’s Recordings of the Year for 1995.
Meshiaak – Mask Of All Misery CD (Mascot)
Second album by the Australian metal masters. [Vinyl edition due November 22.]
Maciej Obara Quartet – Three Crowns CD (ECM)
The half-Polish, half-Norwegian quartet led by fiery alto saxophonist Maciej Obara is gaining ground as one of the most exciting groups on the contemporary jazz scene.
Örnatorpet – Vid Himinsenda LP (Nordvis)
Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. New album from the Swedish dungeon synth act.
Pan American – A Son CD/LP (Kranky)
Legacy Chicago craftsman Mark Nelson’s offering as Pan American is less a distillation or divergence than it is a return to his musical and spiritual beginnings. Spare, subdued, and largely acoustic, A Son unfurls like late summer dusk on the edge of town, expansive but intimate. Motivated by notions of moving backward and tracing roots – as well as a couple years of hammered dulcimer lessons – the album’s nine songs were written and recorded in his home in Evanston, Illinois, and honed during a recent solo tour in Europe.
The Pineapple Thief – Hold Our Fire CD/LP (Kscope)
New live album recorded during the British prog rock band’s 16-date European headline tour in September last year in support of their latest studio album, 2018’s Dissolution. While the band’s music is often likened to Radiohead and Porcupine Tree, the generalization falls far short in describing a constantly evolving sound that deftly balances sophisticated indie pop, theatrical rock, 21st century prog, textured electro-acoustic ambiences, and neo-psychedelia.
Raised Fist – Anthems CD/LP+MP3 (Epitaph)
The Swedish rockers return with their seventh studio album. Raised Fist has been together for over 25 years and have honed their aggressive yet inviting sound that pulls influences from hardcore and punk with a metal edge. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Sparks – Past Tense: The Best Of Sparks 2xCD/3xCD/3xLP (BMG)
A new career-spanning collection by the provocateurs of pop. Masters of reinvention, with an unappeasable ambition and a ravenous hunger for the now, Sparks – brothers Ron and Russell Mael – have been creating eye-poppingly brilliant pop music for more than 50 years.
Sparks – Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins [Reissue/1994] CD/LP (BMG)
25 years after its original release, Sparks’ 1994 studio album Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins is reissued on CD and vinyl with newly remastered audio. [Deluxe vinyl edition also available.]
The Springfields – Singles 1986-1991 CD/LP+MP3 (Slumberland)
When it comes to indie-pop, few names are as respected as Ric Menck and Paul Chastain. Through years of collaboration in groups such as Velvet Crush, Bag O’ Shells, Choo Choo Train and The Big Maybe they just about *were* the entire US indiepop scene, but it’s as The Springfields that they made perhaps their best, most beloved records. Taking their cues from influences like The Byrds and The Hollies they created a sound that was as jangly and melodic as their inspirations, but marked by a unique songwriting voice, excellent tunes, and sterling arrangements. [Limited edition colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Straight No Chaser – Open Bar CDEP (Arts Music)
New EP featuring the group’s trademark reworkings of “Take Me Home Tonight” made famous by the late Eddie Money, “Tennessee Whiskey”, recently covered by Chris Stapleton, Dan + Shay’s “Tequila”, and Smash Mouth’s “All Star”.
Craig Taborn and Vadim Neselovskyi – The Book Beri’ah Vol.11: Da’at CD (Tzadik)
Craig Taborn and Vadim Neselovskyi are two of the most acclaimed and brilliant pianists working today and here they perform a select set of Masada compositions in solo, duo and trio permutations. Created as a bonus disk for the Book Beri’ah, it is a beautiful program and highlights the incredible versatility of the Masada compositions themselves as well as and the stunning virtuosity and imaginative creativity of these two keyboard masters.
Tindersticks – No Treasure But Hope CD/LP (City Slang)
Rich in intuitive warmth, lush melodies and an inquisitive spirit, No Treasure But Hope is an album that casts a fresh light on Tindersticks core qualities, bathed in the glow of a band intent on rediscovering what they can do. [Limited edition clear vinyl pressing also available.]
Summer Walker – Over It CD (LVRN)
Summer Walker is surging, and every move the Atlanta R&B/soul singer makes seems to top the one before it. Walker’s approach to music is alternative at its core, in that she doesn’t seem to fit the popular modern artist mold. Her emotional music dissects love and womanhood in the shape of SZA, and her guitar-heavy compositions mirror what H.E.R. has put down, but there’s a punk sensibility to the ProTools-obsessed Walker, and her bedroom productions are resonating big-time. [Vinyl edition due January 10.]
Cory Wells – The Way We Are CD/LP (Pure Noise)
Hailing from Los Angeles, Cory Wells is a singer-songwriter who writes about heartbreak and personal relationships. Across his debut album’s 12 songs, Wells plays the role of shapeshifter: Just when you’ve got him figured out, he unleashes new musical elements.
Various Artists [Kamaal Williams] – DJ Kicks CD (!K7)
Game-changing multi-instrumentalist Kamaal Williams is the latest big name to record a mix for DJ-Kicks’ prestigious series. Alongside being a tribute to the capital’s music and multicultural flavors, his mix is a whole lot more too, encompassing Karriem Riggins’ Detroit beat weirdness, Peven Everett’s funk driven Chi house and Max Graef/Ratgrave’s German future funk. Beats scatter, swing, break and shuffle in a multitude of different ways, mirroring both the protagonist’s dancing keys and his lesser-known background as a drummer. Although not traditionally mixed or predictably sequenced, this unique standout set has a high level of narrative and coherence, linking styles like a family tree, with branches including jazz, funk, house, UK funky, broken, Dilla schooled beats, wild jungle-esque drum patterns, nu soul and general spiritual goodness. [Vinyl edition due November 22.]
Various Artists – Frozen II (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) CD/LP (Walt Disney)
Original soundtrack to the 2019 animated motion picture.
Various Artists – Love Is All I Bring CD/2xLP (Trojan)
Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. Love Is All I Bring showcases the very talented female performers of Trojan Records, who in the world of reggae, can often be overlooked. Featuring vocals from the likes of Millie Small, Althea & Donna, Marcia Griffith, Phyllis Dillon, and Susan Cadogan plus productions by Sonia Pottinger, this all female collection also includes personal album notes from musician Rhoda Dakar. Split across a pair of LPs, with ‘hits’ on one and ‘rarities’ on the other, this collection comprises some of the greatest reggae tracks, whilst highlighting the importance and talent of Jamaican female artists.
Various Artists – Send I A Lion: A Nighthawk Reggae Joint CD/2xLP (Omnivore Recordings)
The first Nighthawk Records overview retrospective, Send I A Lion: A Nighthawk Reggae Joint was curated by original producer Leroy Jodie Pierson. It brings together Nighthawk classic tracks by Justin Hinds And The Dominoes, Culture, Gladiators and more, with some choice rarities from the label to provide a window into Piersons’ productions in Kingston, as released on Nighthawk Records. Essential roots reggae listening.
Cory Wells – The Way We Are CD/LP (Pure Noise)
Debut album from the California acoustic singer-songwriter. “Four years in the making and I cannot be more proud of this collection of songs. It portrays sadness, anger, despair, happiness, uncertainty, regret, and so much more. It’s my life. It’s your life. It’s about what it’s like to be human. Without the bad, the good would mean nothing. It would just be normal. I hope people can appreciate the emotions put into this record as well as the various feels and styles it represents. It’s the way we are.”
We Lost The Sea – Triumph & Disaster CD/LP (Translation Loss)
A post-apocalyptic view on the collapse of the world told like a children’s story and illustrated through the eyes of a mother and her son as they spend one last day on Earth. The music is the narrative for the destruction and tragedy. The words tell the story of love, loss and letting go. It is a sad love letter about the collapse of the planet as told through a lens of intricate guitars and striking color.
The Young Sinclairs – Out Of The Box CD/LP (Requiem Pour Twister)
Roanoke VA folk-rocker Sam Lunsford’s project The Young Sinclairs takes timeless ‘60s- influenced folk-rock and mixes with British Madchester/C86 indie pop influences, creating a modern embodiment of the Paisley Underground movement. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
DVDs + Blu-ray:
Foreigner – Double Vision: Then And Now DVD+CD/Blu-ray+CD (earMUSIC)
Recorded in 2018, Foreigner’s Double Vision: Then And Now celebrates the 40th anniversary of the band’s multi-platinum 1978 album Double Vision with a masterful live performance of their biggest hits, filmed at Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort, Mount Pleasant, MI. [Vinyl edition due December 6.]
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
Ae:Ther – Crosstown Rebels LP (Crosstown Rebels)
A painstakingly produced collection of haunting melodies and narcotic rhythms that display his love and inspiration for ambient electronica, deep underground music and introspective atmospheres, culminating in dreamlike soundscapes programmed with taut percussion.
The Alice Island Band – Splendid Isolation [Reissue/1994] LP (Wah Wah)
Rare private press UK folk/psych album recorded in 1968 and released in 1974 limited quantity.
The Bad Plus – Activate Infinity LP (Edition)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Activate Infinity is the second album from The Bad Plus since the remarkable pianist Orrin Evans joined the trio back in 2018. With their sights set on a new trajectory, combined with an abundance of spirit and creativity, the trio have produced one of their finest and most original albums to date.
Jeff Beck with Terry Bozzio And Tony Hymas – Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop [Reissue/1989] LP (Friday Music)
180gm blue colored LP pressing. As a continuation of multifaceted career defining albums like Blow By Blow and Wired, 1989’s Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop saw the guitar icon pairing up with world class musicians, Terry Bozio (drums) and Tony Hymas (keyboards), for some of the classiest and hardest driving material of Beck’s brilliant career. Taking home the award for the Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the 1990 Grammys, blues and hard rock fusion abounds with classics like Stand On It and Sling Shot and the ballad Two Rivers all serving as melodic and instrumental showcases for all involved.
Better Lost Than Stupid – Wild Slide LP (Skint)
Wild Slide is the debut album from techno supergroup, Better Lost Than Stupid, aka three of the world’s finest producers and DJs – Martin Buttrich, Davide Squillace, and Matthias Tanzmann.
Big Bite – Trinity LP (Run For Cover)
Washington based group makes fuzzy punk designed to make you headbang. Trinity continues the trend carved through a number of EPs and their 2018 self-titled debut. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Stephen Bishop – We’ll Talk About It Later In The Car LP (BMG)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. New album from the multi-platinum-selling singer-songwriter, whose timeless hits include “On And On,” “Save It For A Rainy Day”, “It Might Be You” and who wrote the Oscar-nominated song “Separate Lives”. Bishop says that the record contains “songs that should have been hits 40 years ago,” originally started as a demo project of tracks he wrote at the beginning of his career, but as he kept recording the idea of turning it into a proper album took shape.
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers – Meet You At The Jazz Corner Of The World – Vol 1 [Reissue/1961] LP (Blue Note)
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers – Meet You At The Jazz Corner Of The World – Vol 2 [Reissue/1962] LP (Blue Note)
The legendary NYC jazz club Birdland was sacred ground for drummer Art Blakey who recorded three live albums for Blue Note at the venue between 1954-1960: A Night At Birdland, At The Jazz Corner Of The World, and Meet You At The Jazz Corner Of The World. This last date featured one of the greatest lineups of Blakey’s powerhouse outfit The Jazz Messengers with Lee Morgan on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Bobby Timmons on piano, and Jymie Merritt on bass.
Blue Hawaii – Open Reduction Internal Fixation LP (Arbutus)
Blue Hawaii has been recording and releasing music for almost a decade. You would think it’d be clockwork by now, but their fourth record, Open Reduction Internal Fixation, has proved to be anything but. Spanning genres as diverse as trance, acoustic, UK garage, trip-hop and house, its core elements are lighthearted and groovy.
Booker T. & The MG’s – The Complete Stax Singles Vol. 1 (1962-1967) 2xLP (Real Gone Music)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. With apologies to groups like The Meters, Bar-Kays, and Average White Band, when it comes to all-time great instrumental R&B bands, for most folks Booker T. & the MG’s represent the gold standard. Together, they recorded 49 single sides for Stax, 29 of which are collected here in their correct mono versions. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Billy Bragg – Best Of Billy Bragg At The BBC 1993-2019 3xLP (Cooking Vinyl)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Billy Bragg performances at the BBC from the early 80s through to the present. The album, fully remastered and featuring many previously unreleased tracks, includes selected highlights from sessions for John Peel, David Jensen, Janice Long, Phill Jupitus, Bob Harris, Tom Robinson and more, and offers a fascinating chronological perspective on the development of one of the UK’s most beloved entertainers.
Rich Brian – The Sailor LP (12 Tone Music, LLC)
Rich Brian is the global face of Asian hip-hop. From homeschooled teenager to global icon, the 19-year-old Indonesian rap star is taking the world by storm.
James Brown – Live With Home With His Bad Self 2xLP (Polydor)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Live archive release. October 1, 1969, in Augusta, GA, was a homecoming for James Brown. His and his band’s smoking performance at the city’s Bell Auditorium was captured on tape, with an intention to make an album of the show the cornerstone of a move back to his roots. It was scheduled as a lucrative holiday release but scrapped.
Caracara – Summer Megalith LP (Run For Cover)
Caracara’s Summer Megalith made waves when it was originally released in the fall of 2017. Emerging from Philadelphia’s burgeoning network of artists used to playing shows in basements, Caracara’s sound was already too big for the rooms it was being played in. Early adopters at Pitchfork & Stereogum compared the album’s ambitions to artists like Bon Iver & Wolf Parade, while understanding that the band’s roots in the DIY, hardcore-adjacent Philly scene made more intense acts like Pianos Become The Teeth and Deafheaven just as likely influences. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Johnny Cash – Live From Austin, TX [Reissue/2005] LP (New West)
Limited colored vinyl repress. January 3, 1987 was a milestone in Austin City Limits history. One of the few individuals in the world of music who truly deserves the title of “legend” set foot onto the ACL stage and the result was magic. The legend, of course, was Johnny Cash and he delivered what even he considered to be one of his finest television performances.
CCR – Green River [Reissue/1969] LP (Craft Recordings)
CCR – Willy & Poor Boys [Reissue/1969] LP (Craft Recordings)
Half-speed master 50th anniversary editions of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s third and fourth studio albums, both released in 1969.
Eric Clapton – Money And Cigarettes [Reissue/1983] LP (Reprise)
Eric Clapton – Behind The Sun [Reissue/1985] LP (Reprise)
Limited picture disc vinyl reissues of the legendary guitarist’s eighth and ninth albums.
Cramps – Performing Songs Of Sex, Love & Hate LP (Mind Control)
Two hard to find radio broadcasts from the A Date With Elvis tour finally restored and available on vinyl.
The Damned – Black Is The Night: The Definitive Anthology 4xLP (BMG)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Legendary band The Damned was the first UK punk band to release a single back in 1976. Along with the Sex Pistols and the Clash, they helped to spearhead the punk movement in the UK. As their career developed, they became one of the first gothic rock bands and were a major influence on the goth subculture.
Danzig – Soul Of Fire 2xLP (Mind Control)
On tour between the release of their first and second long players on Rick Rubin’s Def American, Glenn Danzig & Co. rolled into the Palace in Hollywood on July 7th, 1989 for one of the most legendary live shows of the group’s career. Focusing heavily on tracks from 1988’s epic self-titled debut but also covering track from the forthcoming second LP, as well as Glenn Danzig’s earlier groups Misfits, and Samhain, this live set is pure, raw, hardcore energy.
Dead Meadow – Feathers [Reissue/2005] 2xLP+CD (Xemu)
Vinyl reissue of the fifth album by Washington, D.C. based stoner rock band.
Diane Denoir – Diane Denoir [Reissue/1973] LP (Wah Wah)
Diane Denoir was a regular in the Conciertos Beat (Beat Concerts) of Montevideo’s (Uraguay) 1960s bossa nova scene where she performed with Eduardo Mateo on guitar (leader of El Kinto, one of the most influential bands in ‘candombe beat’, and the ones who coined the term). A brave defendant of Human Rights, she had been very active against torture, thus becoming a target for the dictatorial regime military intelligence.
Devo – Freedom Of Choice Live At The Orpheum Boston LP (Mind Control)
Devo performing live in their homeland supporting their third classic album from 1980. Pure synth-punk madness at its absolute best recorded live for radio broadcast.
Dirty Heads – Super Moon CD (Five Seven Music)
Released in August on CD – now available on vinyl. Seventh album from the Southern California-based alternative rock band.
Dr. Dre – 2001 [Reissue/1999] 2xLP/Cassette (Aftermath)
Dr. Dre – 2001 Instrumental [Reissue/1999] 2xLP (Aftermath)
Vinyl and cassette reissues now available. After a seven-year hiatus, Dr. Dre returned with 2001, the follow-up to his debut album, The Chronic. In the interim between the two monumental projects, Dr. Dre assembled an all-star cast of rap superstars including, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Nate Dogg, and Xzibit who would assist in executing his vision on one of the most flawless albums in hip hop history.
The Early November – Lilac LP (Rise)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The Early November’s first album since 2015’s Imbue and fifth full-length effort overall, Lilac represents a shift towards a more pop-centric sound while preserving the raw vulnerability that the band has become known for.
Erin Enderlin – Faulkner County LP (Blue Slate)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. An intimate ramble through lonely corners in barrooms and bedrooms, where strength in the face of shame, longings that may never stop, and past lives hang around like old friends.
Everything But The Girl – Walking Wounded [Reissue/1996] LP (Buzzin Fly)
Walking Wounded – first released in April 1996 by the UK alt-pop duo Everything But The Girl (featuring Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt) – debuted at No. 4 on the UK Album Chart and contains four UK Top 40 singles, including the Top 10 hits “Walking Wounded” and “Wrong”, and set new a benchmark for the intersection of contemporary electronic music and smart pop songwriting.
Vince Gill – When I Call Your Name [Reissue/1989] LP (MCA Nashville)
Vinyl reissue of the third studio album from the country music artist. Features the singles “Never Alone”, “Oklahoma Swing”, “When I Call Your Name” and “Never Knew Lonely”.
Grant Green – Alive! [Reissue/1970] LP (Blue Note)
After a prolific five-year run from 1961-1965 when he made more than 20 great hard bop and soul jazz albums for Blue Note, guitarist Grant Green took a four-year hiatus from recording. When he returned to Blue Note in 1969, Green’s style had moved into funkier territory as was perfectly captured on his first-ever live album, Alive! – a hard-driving set of jazz-funk at the Cliché Lounge in Newark, New Jersey in 1970.
Merle Haggard – Live From Austin, TX ’78 [Reissue/2006] LP (New West)
When he stepped onto the Austin City Limits stage for the very first time on that brisk January day in 1978, Merle Haggard was at the top of his game.
Half-Handed Cloud – Gathered Out Of Thin Air 2xLP (Asthmatic Kitty)
A new compilation of sixty freshly mastered, non-LP singles, recorded throughout the band’s second decade (2010-2019) from all over the world, released in multiple formats, and compiled from an array of seventeen different releases.
Wayne Hancock – Man Of The Road: The Early Bloodshot Years LP (Bloodshot)
A career-spanning collection of the finest honky tonk, country, and Western swing tunes from legend Wayne ‘The Train’ Hancock. This is the first time any of these songs have appeared on vinyl – originally recorded and released with Bloodshot Records on albums from the last two decades: A-Town Blues (2001), South Austin Sessions EP (2001), Swing Time (2003), Hard Headed Woman: A Celebration Of Wanda Jackson (2004), Tulsa (2006), and Viper Of Melody (2009).
Hanging Garden – Into That Good Night LP (Lifeforce)
Helsinki’s Hanging Garden plays with a certain melancholy, disillusionment and gloomy structure, as well as with restrained optimism, harmonies and an overall (dark) warmth. The cautiously developed atmospheres are central to the group’s new album, Into That Good Night, their sixth album. [CD edition due December 13.]
Jackson 5 – Greatest Hits [Reissue/1971] LP (Motown)
Vinyl reissue of the rare ‘quad mix’. The original release of The Jackson 5’s Greatest Hits LP in 1971 was cause for celebration, as it encapsulated an extraordinary 18-month strings of back-to-back-to-back-back-etc. Hits and was itself a hit souvenir of Jacksonmania.
Waylon Jennings – Live From Austin TX ’84 [Reissue/2008] LP (New West)
Why did it take ten years to finally lure Waylon Jennings to the Austin City Limits stage for his first performance? Like everything else about the man, he did things his own way – when he was damn good and ready. Maybe it had something to do with that other Texas singer, that Red-Headed Stranger who shook things up in Austin and country music in general. Waylon wasn’t sure what the fuss was all about (as he sang, “It don’t matter who’s in Austin, Bob Wills is still the King!”
Kneebody – Chapters LP (Edition)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. For years, Kneebody has been at the forefront of progressive, genre-bending jazz music. Since their formation back in 2001, the group has amassed an impressive collection of works that showcase their adventurous approach to songwriting and unapologetically fiery style.
Antoinette Konan – Antoinette Konan [Reissue/1986] LP (Awesome Tapes From Africa)
It makes sense that Antoinette Konan’s eponymous album features nothing more than her ahoko on the cover. The deceptively simple traditional percussion instrument transformed Ivory Coast’s Baoulé music scene when Konan deployed it against a roaring electrified backdrop of synth, bass guitar and drum machines. Released in 1986, the album is a veritable UFO of instrumental force and contemporary pop sensibility landing in a boiling pot of diverse, creative characters inhabiting Abidjan, Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire). [CD edition due November 22.]
Robby Krieger – In Session [Reissue/2017] LP (Purple Pyramid)
Limited edition blue colored vinyl pressing of this set of rare studio sessions from The Doors’ guitarist. Includes guest appearances from Jackson Browne, Hawkwind’s Nik Turner, Asia’s John Wetton, Styx’s Tommy Shaw, William Shatner and others.
Kublai Khan TX – Absolute LP (Rise)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. New album from the metalcore band.
Azar Lawrence – Summer Solstice [Reissue/1975] LP (Craft Recordings)
Long out-of-print, Azar Lawrence’s seminal album Summer Solstice returns to vinyl with an all analog mastering from the original tapes. Originally issued in 1975, this spiritual free jazz album remains one of the highlights of the illustrious career of Azar Lawrence, who is one of the only artists from the legendary Prestige Recordings era who is still touring and putting out new music.
Leprous – Pitfalls 2xLP+CD (Inside Out U.S.)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. New release from the Norwegian prog rock band.
John Lodge – B Yond: The Very Best Of 2xLP (BMG)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. John Lodge is bass guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the iconic Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame 2018 inductees, The Moody Blues. B Yond: The Very Best Of features three new recordings, two new remixes, and other tracks chosen by John Lodge himself from the very best of his career.
Mammoth Mammoth – Kreuzung LP (Napalm)
Released last week on CD – now available on vinyl. The high voltage Australian outfit have seized the opportunity to boil down their hard rock formula since the release of Mount The Mountain two years ago, and the result is an electrifying sledgehammer that cements the name Mammoth Mammoth.
Mappe of – The Isle Of Ailynn LP (Paper Bag)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The sophomore album from Mappe of, The Isle Of Ailynn (eye-lin) is a record built on fictional landscapes full of strange flora and fauna, mysterious phenomena and mythological beings. Yet, the stories that take place within these landscapes are the connective tissue that link fantasy to reality. A cartographer’s journey discovering new lands, a militant missionary questioning his faith before godlike creatures, a rebellious daughter’s dissent against her royal father in the capital. These stories are a select few of those that make up the mythology beneath The Isle Of Ailynn.
Makaya McCraven – In The Moment [Reissue/2015] 2xLP (International Anthem)
Makaya McCraven’s early 2015 offering, In The Moment, was pared from nearly 48 hours of live, improvised performance recorded at a single venue over 12 months and 28 shows. Working with instrumental contributions from an array of Chicago jazz players (including Jeff Parker, Joshua Abrams, Marquis Hill and Matt Ulery), Makaya culled, cut, rendered and remixed the mass of sounds into 19 potent pieces of organic beat music for the original 80-minute, double-LP issue.
Migala – Asi Duele Un Verano [Reissue/1998] 2xLP (Acuarela)
With a spectacular design and sound, Así Duele un Verano, shines for it’s cinematographic and hypnotic songs and it’s complex and often cathartic musical arrangements, heavily influenced by alt-folk, post-rock, and traditional Spanish music. The result was a recognizable genre both back in the day and now.
Milky Chance – Mind The Moon 2xLP (BMG)
Mind The Moon’s many moods, from the pop-gospel fusion of Ladysmith Black Mambazo collaboration “Eden’s House” to the dancehall-steeped “Fado”, are a result of childhood friends Phillipp Dausch’s and Clemens Rehbein’s unique artistic relationship, and trace a lifetime of musical influences ranging from reggae and rock to hip-hop, electronica, gospel, and musical styles from around the globe. [CD edition due November 22.]
Mimikry – Birdnest Years LP (Krypton)
A collection of well-chosen songs by the Swedish punk band taken from their albums Automatic, Visar Vägen, Kryptonit and Uppsamlingsheatet. All tracks were originally released between 2000-2005 on the record label Birdnest Records.
Mogwai – Ten Rapid (Collected Recordings 1996 – 1997) LP (Rock Action)
After the success of the limited edition colored vinyl for RSD 2018, Mogwai’s sell-out 1997 compilation album of singles, B-sides and rarities from 1996-1997 is gets a repress; this time on a limited run of dark green heavyweight vinyl.
Anthony Moore – Pieces From The Cloudland Ballroom [Reissue/1971] LP (Wah Wah)
Anthony Moore – Secrets Of The Blue Bag [Reissue/1972] LP (Wah Wah)
British experimental musician, composer, performer and producer Anthony Moore was a founding member of Slap Happy and has worked with Henry Cow, Kevin Ayers, and Pink Floyd among other great names in the British scene. In 1971 he moved to Hamburg, Germany, and worked in the boiling experimental scene of the city. As a result, two LPs were issued on Polydor in 1971 and 1972, right before forming Slap Happy with old school pal Peter Blegvad and Dagmar Krause.
Willie Nelson – Live From Austin TX [Reissue/2006] LP (New West)
Colored vinyl pressing. There would be no Austin City Limits were it not for Willie Nelson. He started it all in 1974, performing on the original pilot episode, and has been a large part of ACL history ever since. He’s appeared on more programs than any single artist, but this show (recorded on September 6, 1990) captures him and the family band at their best.
NOFX – American Drugs And German Beers LP (Mind Control)
The pioneers of skate punk at the peak of their career, supporting their Punk In Drublic classic fifth album, on one of their first festival appearances caught on TV. 100% pure fun hardcore punk.
Norma Jean – All Hail LP (Solid State)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. New album from the metalcore act. After nearly 20 years, the group identifies more as an artistic collective than a traditional band.
Ohio – Upward, Broken, Always 2xLP (12k)
Ohio is a project comprised of 12k founder Taylor Deupree and long-time label-mate and collaborator Corey Fuller. The genesis of Ohio, besides the desire to work on a full album together, was them realizing they were both born in the US state of Ohio, not far from each other, and spent their earlier years crafting young memories there before moving away. This ended up being a simple, but interesting point of departure for the project because these early, hazy memories might provide compelling conceptual roadmaps for the album as well as become inspiration for the song titles.
Our Native Daughters – Songs Of Our Native Daughters LP (Smithsonian Folkways)
Released in February on CD – now available on vinyl. Songs Of Our Native Daughters gathers together kindred musicians Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah, Leyla McCalla, and Allison Russell in song and sisterhood to communicate with their forebears. Drawing on and reclaiming early minstrelsy and banjo music, these musicians reclaim, recast, and spotlight the often unheard and untold history of their ancestors, whose stories remain vital and alive today.
Panphage – Drengskapr [Reissue/2016] LP (Nordvis)
Limited transparent blue with black streaks vinyl pressing. Swedish artist Panphage has a rare way of interpreting Swedish folk music with a significantly wild and furious blackened metal.
Pretty Boy Floyd – Size Really Does Matter LP (Deadline Music)
Vinyl pressing of the 2003 studio album from Hollywood glam rock legends.
Ramones – Live At The Hollywood Palladium October 14th, 1992 LP (Mind Control)
A great live broadcast from the punk legends.
The Rolling Stones – Let It Bleed: 50th Anniversary 2xLP+2xSACD+7” (Abkco)
This hearty 50th Anniversary box set edition gathers the deluxe double vinyl LP, two hybrid super audio CDs and a 7” single. Includes the stereo and mono remasters of the album plus a reproduction of the 1969 7” mono picture sleeve single “Honky Tonk Women” b/w “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” Also contains three 12” x 12” hand-numbered replica-signed lithographs printed on embossed archival paper as well as a full color (for those of us fortunate enough to see in color) 23” x 23” poster with restored artwork from the Decca Records package. It also has an 80-page hardcover book with an essay by know-it-all David Fricke.
Max Romeo & The Upsetters – War Ina Babylon [Reissue/1976] LP (4 Men With Beards)
In 1976, Max Romeo teamed up with the Upsetters for a dynamite mix. Under the tutoring of famed reggae producer Lee “Scratch” Perry, they created a set of songs that are both soulful and contain an almost fervent religious appeal.
The Horace Silver Quintet – Doin’ The Thing – At The Village Gate [Reissue/1961] LP (Blue Note)
“We’d like for you all to help us get in the groove, let your hair down, and come on and get in the music with us,” says Horace Silver in the spoken introduction to Doin’ The Thing, the only live album the great pianist made during his remarkable three-decade tenure on Blue Note Records. Recorded in May 1961 at the Village Gate in NYC, this exuberant live date featured Silver’s great quintet with trumpeter Blue Mitchell, tenor saxophonist Junior Cook, bassist Gene Taylor, and drummer Roy Brooks.
Simply Red – Blue Eyed Soul LP (BMG)
Released last week on CD – now available on vinyl. Twelfth studio album by British pop group – a ten track masterclass in funky, brassy soul music and emotionally charged ballads.
Slayer – Prayin To Satan LP (Mind Control)
Live FM Broadcast Recorded At The Zenith Paris 1991.
Slow Meadow – Happy Occident LP (Hammock Music)
Released last week on CD – now available on vinyl. Two years following 2017’s Costero, Slow Meadow returns with its third full-length album Happy Occident, a collection of textured ambient melodies. Fueled by the anxiety derivative of modern life and the frenetic and often uncertain state of these ever-changing times, Happy Occident provides music for reflection. A soundtrack to life’s contemplative moments, and an experience akin to mindfulness meditation.
Todd Snider – East Nashville Skyline [Reissue/2004] LP (Aimless)
15th anniversary first-time vinyl edition. East Nashville Skyline not only represented a turning point in Snider’s career, it was a coming out party for the vibrant music community on the east side of the Cumberland River. Before Snider’s album, no one outside the city even knew there was an East Nashville. But the title wouldn’t have made a difference for Snider or his ‘hood if he hadn’t delivered a historic album.
Snoop Dogg – R & G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece [Reissue/2004] 2xLP (Geffen)
Vinyl reissue of the seventh studio album by the rapper. R & G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece was produced by The Neptunes, The Alchemist, Lil Jon, Hi-Tek, Warryn Campbell, and L.T. Hutton, among others.
Sonic Youth – Live In Austin November 26, 1988 LP (Mind Control)
Touring in support of the classic LP, Daydream Nation, Thurston, Kim, and the gang rolled into Austin’s legendary Liberty Lunch club for what would turn out to be one of the most highly regarded live dates in the group’s history.
SoulFood 76 – Original Soundtrack [Reissue/1996] LP (Old Bear Reissued)
In the mid-1990s, the Seattle based band SoulFood 76 was one of the most eclectic and forward-thinking bands in the alt-Christian underground. Their bold experimental guitars, in-your-face rhythm section, and vulnerably idiosyncratic lead vocals garnered them a dedicated indie following. Modern ears hearing the psychedelic power funk sound of SF76’s 1996 release Original Soundtrack for the first time will be pleasantly surprised at how well this album coexists sonically alongside bands like The Flaming Lips, Tame Impala, and The Black Keys.
Squid – Town Centre LP (PIAS America)
“The wonderfully anarchic British post-punk outfit tries out a little of everything on a promising debut EP.” – Pitchfork
Lindsey Stirling – Artemis LP (BMG)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Titled Artemis after the Greek goddess of the sun and daughter of Zeus, Lindsey Stirling’s new album takes listeners on a journey of tragedy and triumph. Each song sonically represents the upward struggle that Artemis, the hero of our journey, takes to find the light within. After a period of darkness and struggle, Artemis is transformed and eventually able to find the upside of down.
Carl Stone – Himalaya 2xLP (Unseen Worlds)
Following his critically acclaimed collections Electronic Music From The Seventies And Eighties and Electronic Music From The Eighties And Nineties, Carl Stone pairs Baroo (March 2019) with a double-LP album of recent works, including the final section of “Fujiken”, his epic journey through southeast Asian field recordings and street cassette culture.
Svensson/Berglund/Ostrom – e.s.t. Live In Gothenburg LP (Act Jazz)
A concert for the ages: The release of e.s.t. Live In Gothenburg brings listeners the previously unreleased recording of a concert to which Esbjorn Svensson (d. 2008) referred in his lifetime as one of the best that his trio ever did. In this 2001 recording, e.s.t. plays tracks from the albums From Gagarin´s Point Of View and Good Morning Susie Soho, both albums from a period in which the foundations were laid for what would mark a glorious, and ultimately a tragic episode in the history of European jazz.
Camu Tao – King Of Hearts [Reissue/2010] LP (Fat Possum)
In many ways King Of Hearts is a record of what could have been, a snapshot of an artist mid-evolution. In some ways it’s a diary discovered in the belongings of a friend who passed away. Or maybe it’s a scrap book of a master inventor with only half of the schematics of some incredible invention detailed inside. You don’t need to see the invention fully realized in order to recognize the magnitude of the creative force behind the sketches.
Thou – Ceremonies Of Repetition 2xLP (Gilead Media)
The next in a series of collections that compile tracks from various EPs, splits, etc. Ceremonies Of Repetition includes all tracks from the out-of-print Sacrifice EP, To The Chaos Wizard Youth EP, and the Baton Rouge, You Have Much To Answer For EP.
T.I. – Trap Muzik [Reissue/2003] 2xLP (Grand Hustle)
T.I. – Paper Trail [Reissue/2008] 2xLP+7” (Grand Hustle)
Limited vinyl reissues.
Tibble Transsibiriska – Swedisko LP (Marushka)
10 extremely catchy and dance friendly new songs; musical inspiration from Sweden, Balkan and gypsy culture all over Europe.
Pat Travers – Snortin’ Whiskey At The Warfield LP (Purple Pyramid)
A vintage 1980 concert recording from the Canadian classic rocker.
Tribe – Hometown: Detroit Sessions 1990 – 2014 2xLP (Strut/Art Yard)
Released last week on CD – now available on vinyl. The first compilation bringing together the modern era recordings of Detroit’s acclaimed independent jazz collective.
Tubes – The Completion Backward Principle [Reissue/1981] LP (Friday Music)
After five albums on A&M, The Tubes signed with Capitol Records for 1981’s The Completion Backward Principle, which teamed them up with producer David Foster for the group’s most commercially successful (and radio-friendly) release to that point, with two hit singles in the power ballad, “Don’t Want to Wait Anymore” (their first to land in the Top 40 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart) and the catchy Top 10 Rock radio anthem, “Talk to Ya Later”.
Twinkle – Golden Lights LP (Wah Wah)
The teen girl falling in love with greasy biker melodrama that set The Shangri-Las on the scene was beaten to the core when English high society child Lynn Ripley – better known as Twinkle – took it to the next level on her own composition “Terry”. Penned at the tender age of sixteen in 1965, Twinkle’s lyrics were found so twisted and in bad taste that the song got the honor of being banned at the BBC thirteen years before the Sex Pistols ran the same luck with ‘God Save The Queen.”
Unwound – The Future Of What [Reissue/1995] LP (Numero)
Their third album in as many years, 1995’s The Future of What is an unrelenting, constructivist masterstroke. The Olympia trio’s signature sound-grinding bass, syncopated drums, and fragmented guitar over measured yelps-ratchets past the thread into a stripped-out metallic slurry. Equal parts noise and adrenaline, the album opens with a simple question: Where’s your energy? It’s been 25 years and we’re still searching for the answer.
Vacivus – Annihilism LP (Profound Lore)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. New album from the UK death metal unit.
Vagabon – Vagabon CD (Nonsusch)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Vagabon’s sophomore album, All The Women In Me, follows up her breakout debut, Infinite Worlds (2017), and is an artistic leap for Lætitia Tamko, who wrote and produced the entire album. Guitar-driven melodies are largely absent, replaced by hybridized analog and digital arrangements. While Infinite Worlds situated the last Vagabon project in the realm of indie rock, All The Women In Me is not easily defined. Grounded by Tamko’s expressive voice and knack for unique melodies, the album flits between genres, never lingering too long on one sensibility. Lead single “Flood Hands” exemplifies this growth; the production ebbs like a gentle tide before a cavernous drumbeat kicks in and the tone shifts completely. “‘Flood Hands’ is a track I originally produced and arranged for a well-known pop-duo to have on their album,” Tamko says. “Knowing I was writing this song for musicians I admire, allowed me this relief from my writer’s block. I used this assignment as a chance to flex my production muscles and write something I wouldn’t have written as a Vagabon song a couple years ago. The result felt like a triumph for me in my progression as an artist and I just couldn’t stand to part with the song by the time I was finished.”
Varsity – Basement Takes (2015-2016) LP (Run For Cover)
A collection of some of Varsity’s scattered singles and other recordings from the first few years of the band’s existence. The LP features six songs only previously available digitally or on cassette directly from the band, as well as two previously unreleased tracks.
Vulfpeck – Beautiful Game LP (Vulf)
“Since its formation in 2011, Vulfpeck has made the revamping of old-school funk its singular mission. The quartet, hailing from Ann Arbor, Michigan, does not wholly sound like a typical funk outfit, which is to its credit. Gone are the multiple-bar vocal flourishes and silly sexual innuendo that passed for lyricism in the 1970s, and in their places are rock-solid instrumentation and groove clearly inspired by Motown’s Funk Brothers.” – The Diamondback
Rick Wakeman – Starship Trooper LP (Purple Pyramid)
The vinyl companion to an out of this world collection of performances by the King of Keyboards, the Prince of the Piano, the Saint of the Synth, Rick Wakeman.
B.J. Ward – Vocal Ease [Reissue/1970 (Dessinee)
Vinyl reissue of a soft rock rarity – the only solo work by B.J .Ward (Inner Dialogue vocalist).
Wasted – Electrified LP (Denomination)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. New album from the Danish old-school heavy metal band.
Doug Wieselman – From Water LP (Figureeight)
Seminal NYC multi-reedist Doug Wieselman has performed with superlative greats (including the Lounge Lizards, Lou Reed, Yoko Ono, Bill Frisell, Iron & Wine, Laurie Anderson, Tricky, etc.) and is significant presence on the NYC Downtown scene over the past three decades. Yet his debut solo recordings offer a surprise. The minimalism, patience, and subtlety on From Water is delicately formed from feather-light interweaving lines of soft, virtuosic clarinet: Wieselman expertly eschewing the larger scale arrangements of his musical background. The resulting album sits somewhere between the refined intelligence of American minimalism and the undecorated purity of ambient music.
Charles Williams – Love Is A Very Special Thing [Reissue/1975] LP (Universal Dessinee)
Vinyl reissue of a rare mid- ‘70s masterpiece of Scandinavian modern soul/mellow soul.
Aphex Twin – Peel Session 2 12”+MP3 (Warp)
Bibio – WXAXRPX Session 12”+MP3 (Warp)
Boards Of Canada – Peel Session 12”+MP3 (Warp)
Flying Lotus – Presents Infinity “Infinitum” – Maida Vale Sessions 12”+MP3 (Warp)
LFO – Peel Session 12”+MP3 (Warp)
Kelly Moran – WXAXRPX Session 12”+MP3 (Warp)
Mount Kimbie – WXAXRPX Session 12”+MP3 (Warp)
Oneohtrix Point Never – KCRW Session 12”+MP3 (Warp)
Plaid – Peel Session 2 12”+MP3 (Warp)
Seefeel – Peel Session 12”+MP3 (Warp)
Various Artists – WXAXRXP Sessions 10×12” (Warp)
10 radio sessions from Warp’s archives.
Cassettes:
Dr. Dre – 2001 [Reissue/1999] (Aftermath)
After a seven-year hiatus, Dr. Dre returned with 2001, the follow-up to his debut album, The Chronic. In the interim between the two monumental projects, Dr. Dre assembled an all-star cast of rap superstars including, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Nate Dogg, and Xzibit who would assist in executing his vision on one of the most flawless albums in hip hop history.
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