Social Media Program Titles Released This Week:
mxmtoon – dawn/dusk LP (mxmtoon)
mxmtoon, the Oakland-raised, Brooklyn-based artist and social media personality known for singing and playing the ukulele, is back with a vinyl-only compilation of two thematically interconnected Eps: dawn and dusk. If dawn from earlier this year drew from the gentle optimism and hope found in gorgeous sunrise, dusk is a beautiful exploration of the other side of the emotional duality that is the human experience. dawn and dusk together are at once recalling of mxmtoon’s earlier work while also expanding her sonic horizons more than ever before, an exciting new direction suggesting that the sky is the truly the limit for her artistry.
Tank and The Bangas – Friend Goals 12” (Verve Forecast)
Breakout New Orleans-based funk-soul outfit Tank And The Bangas are fronted by Tarriona “Tank” Ball, a singer and poet who can wail like Patti LaBelle, scold like Millie Jackson, and soliloquize like Jill Scott. Tank and The Bangas won NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest in 2017, leading to a major-label contract with Verve and the 2019 release of Green Balloon, their second studio album. The Friend Goals EP is the Grammy-nominated group’s highly anticipated follow-up endeavor, six-tracks featuring collaborations with CHIKA, PJ Morton, and Duckwrth.
Various Artists – Southeast Of Saturn 2xLP (Third Man)
It makes sense that Detroit had a buzzy, thriving space-rock scene in the ‘90s. What American city’s denizens had a more urgent need to disengage and think outside the grim, post-industrial rustbelt realities? With space-rock (and its close sonic cousin shoegaze) being at once expansive and introspective, it naturally appealed to the young, intelligent artists who gravitated toward its vertiginous orbit. The music of Southeast Of Saturn did not arise organically from metro Detroit’s fertile soil. Locally, garage-rock, goth-rock, neo-hippie groups, and the usual preponderance of adequate bar bands dominated the landscape. Penned “Detroit Space-Rock”, the scene centered on Burnt Hair Records, Burnt Hair CEO Larry Hoffman’s Life According To Larry radio show, Zoot’s Coffeehouse and bands, such as Windy & Carl, Asha Vida, Füxa, Auburn Lull, and Majesty Crush. It was a modern movement of a more traditional “space-rock” sound, influenced less by The Stooges and MC5 and more by Spacemen 3, Loop, My Bloody Valentine and krautrock bands like Can and Neu!. Even the best-known artists on Southeast Of Saturn – Windy & Carl, Majesty Crush, Füxa – never achieved mainstream success, but within the rock underground, they inspired a cultish devotion that burns to this day.
The War On Drugs – Live Drugs CD/LP (Super High Quality)
Culled from over 40 hard drives of recorded live shows spread out across years of touring behind multiple critically acclaimed records, Live Drugs is a document showcasing the evolution of the band’s live show over the years. Additionally, Live Drugs is a portrait of the enduring relationship between Adam Granduciel and Dominic East. A longtime friend, guitar tech and stage manager, East is Live Drugs‘ co-producer and the presence Granduciel credits as holding everything together. Inspired to finally finish with fresh ears, Granduciel and East poured through the vaults of live multi-tracks, sending final selections for mixing to Jonathan Low at Aaron Dessner’s Long Pond Studio. Sequenced to reflect how a typical 70-minute set would flow, Live Drugs thrives on live set staples immortalized on record for the first time. [A limited indie store exclusive colored vinyl pressing is available.]
December/January Marketing Program/ Banner/ Listening Station Titles Promoted This Week:
John Calvin Abney – Familiar Ground CD/LP (Black Mesa)
The sojourn back to what could be called familiar ground is a multi-faceted path, different for everyone, every time. When writing this album, Oklahoma multi-instrumentalist musician and songwriter John Calvin Abney couldn’t shake this feeling, this awareness of the ephemeral and impermanent state of existence that we all dwell in, and how fast our time runs without knowing where it all goes. No wheels, no wings, only his legs left to carry him in a radically different world where what he had normally done to get by and acknowledge his own purpose had been put to a stop. Abney missed certain places that resonated with him, people that he had become accustomed to seeing, and times he had taken for granted. These songs are how Abney grieved the loss of these things.
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone At Alexandria Palace 2xCD/2xLP (AWAL)
Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone At Alexandra Palace is a live album by musician Nick Cave. It was filmed by cinematographer Robbie Ryan and live streamed across three different time zones on July 23rd, 2020 and features Cave performing solo on piano at Alexandra Palace in London. Idiot Prayer serves as the final film in a trilogy-along with 20,000 Days On Earth (2014) and One More Time With Feeling (2016) and was described by Cave as “it’s luminous and heartfelt climax.” The set features songs (including rare tracks) from across the breadth of Cave’s career, including early Bad Seeds and Grinderman, right through to the most recent Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds album, Ghosteen.
Neil Diamond with The London Symphony Orchestra – Classic Diamonds CD/2xLP (Capitol)
Classic Diamonds is a new 14 song collection featuring new vocals from Neil Diamond paired with an interpretation of some of the unrivaled artist’s most celebrated chart-topping hits performed by The London Symphony Orchestra. Recorded at the world-famous Abbey Road Studios in London and Diamond’s studio in Los Angeles, the album was produced by Grammy-winning producer/arranger Walter Afanasieff and co-arranged by Afanasieff and Grammy-winning conductor/arranger William Ross, who also conducted The London Symphony Orchestra for the recording. Diamond’s towering artistic achievements have carried him far, from “Brooklyn Roads”, to “Glory Road”, to “Melody Road” and now to Abbey Road.
The Dirty Knobs – Wreckless Abandon CD/2xLP (BMG)
While 2020’s Wreckless Abandon is their first official release and occasion to tour, The Dirty Knobs first came together 15 years ago after Mike Campbell met guitarist Jason Sinay at a session and liked the way their guitars sounded together. After adding the acclaimed rhythm section of bassist Lance Morrison (Don Henley) and drummer Matt Laug (Slash, Alanis Morrisette), The Dirty Knobs became an outlet for Campbell to work on some of the other songs he was writing between Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers records and touring. They got together when schedules permitted, playing music without an agenda, expectations or deadlines, without worrying about outcome or hits, pushing boundaries of taste, imagination, and genres and creating some of the most brutally confident yet psychically dangerous rock and roll since sonic-renegade juggernauts the Yardbirds first sauntered onto a London stage and ripped into “For Your Love”.
Dirty Projectors – 5EPS CD/2xLP+MP3 (Domino)
The newest chapter for Dirty Projectors is a sequence of five four-song EPs. Each EP features lead vocals by a different band member including Maia Friedman, Felicia Douglass, Kristin Silpp and Dave Longstreth. The final EP features vocals by all members. Each song collection is strikingly different from the next, but true to itself: Maia’s Window Opens is acoustic and folky; Felicia’s Flight Tower is super future, both soulful and electronic. Kristin’s Earth Crisis is cut-up orchestral collage – looped, pitch-shifted, and digitally deconstructed – and Dave’s Super Joao is four-track bossa nova. Ring Road, the final EP, recapitulates everything with a classic full-band Dirty Projects sound.
Eels – Earth To Dora LP (PIAS America)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. “Mark ‘E’ Everett’s 13th album under his melancholic indie moniker is a life-worn collection that charts the rise and fall of a relationship, exuding fragile hope. Revisiting the fertile emotional ground of Eels’ earliest albums, where naive simplicity met life-worn melancholy, Earth To Dora is structured to trace the rise and fall of a relationship (but not, E has been at pains to point out, as an open diary of his recent, short-lived marriage). All of which makes for Eels’ most complete and self-contained record, arguably the epitome of their oeuvre and a record that places E – in his own gruff, xylophone-toting way –alongside the great downtrodden romantics: Cohen; Rufus Wainwright; Stephin Merritt of Magnetic Fields; Nick Cave. Just the sort of bullheaded optimism we need, in fact, to see us through the cold winter ahead.” – NME
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard – Live In San Francisco ’16 2xLP (ATO)
Just under a month after delivering their award-winning 2016 album Nonagon Infinity, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard took the stage at San Francisco’s The Independent for a set both wildly frenetic and meticulously executed. In one of their final club gigs before bursting onto the international scene – soon selling out amphitheaters and headlining festivals – the Melbourne septet laid down a breakneck performance that, in the words of SF Weekly, “made every organ ache just right.” Multi-tracked and impeccably mixed, Live in San Francisco ’16 simultaneously channels the massive energy of King Gizzard’s set while echoing the sweaty intimacy of the 500-capacity venue. The set captures an extraordinary moment in the band’s increasingly storied history, a 13-song spectacular likely to leave every listener awestruck and adrenalized. [A deluxe colored vinyl pressing housed in a mirror board jacket is also available. CD edition due December 4.]
Leo Kottke & Mike Gordon – Noon CD/LP (ATO)
The unlikely partnership between acoustic guitar pioneer Leo Kottke and Phish bassist Mike Gordon continues with the long-awaited Noon, their first new album in fifteen years. Couching late-night melancholy in a summer lilt, Noon features eleven tracks of warmly askew songs and intricate playing – and the intimate third voice created by Kottke and Gordon, two of the most accomplished and idiosyncratic instrumentalists in American music. Noon is the pair’s third collaborative LP following 2005’s Sixty Six Steps and 2002’s Clone. [Limited gold & red colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Rob Mazurek and The Exploding Star Orchestra – Dimensional Stardust CD/LP (Nonesuch)
Marfa, Texas-based multidisciplinary artist Rob Mazurek delivers the new album Dimensional Stardust with the Exploding Star Orchestra. The album recalls an array of Mazurek’s symphonic influences – from Béla Bartók to Morton Feldman to Gil Evans to Sun Ra to Pedro Santos to Bill Dixon to The Art Ensemble of Chicago. Opting to focus on tight ensemble orchestration over passages of open improvisation, Mazurek distills an orchestra of explosive improvisers into a beautifully restrained, graceful group exercise in melodic minimalism. Mazurek himself is sparsely present as an instrumentalist, only occasionally joining the ensemble with his piccolo trumpet.
CDs + Vinyl:
John Calvin Abney – Familiar Ground CD/LP (Black Mesa)
The sojourn back to what could be called familiar ground is a multi-faceted path, different for everyone, every time. When writing this album, Oklahoma multi-instrumentalist musician and songwriter John Calvin Abney couldn’t shake this feeling, this awareness of the ephemeral and impermanent state of existence that we all dwell in, and how fast our time runs without knowing where it all goes. No wheels, no wings, only his legs left to carry him in a radically different world where what he had normally done to get by and acknowledge his own purpose had been put to a stop. Abney missed certain places that resonated with him, people that he had become accustomed to seeing, and times he had taken for granted. These songs are how Abney grieved the loss of these things.
Dave Alvin – From An Old Guitar: Rare And Unreleased Recordings CD (Yep Roc)
This 16-song collection features studio performances that Dave Alvin recorded over the years for his own albums or for tribute albums but mainly they’re just things he did for the pure kicks of playing music he loves with musicians he loves and admires. The songs range from some originals to interpretations of compositions by dear friends like Peter David Case, Chris Smither and the late Bill Morrissey to tunes written by heroes like Willie Dixon, Bob Dylan, Lil Hardin Armstrong, Earl Hooker and Marty Robbins. The music ranges from acoustic blues and ballads to electric barroom blues, folk/rock and even a little country/rock. [Vinyl edition due December 18].
Ash Ra Tempel – Gin Rosé (At The Royal Festival Hall) LP (MG.Art)
Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. A one-time reunion concert at the Royal Festival Hall on April 2, 2000 by the beat and blues band.
Dame Shirley Bassey – I Owe It All To You CD (Decca)
One of Britain’s successful female artists releases a ‘grand finale’ album that includes new material written specifically for the world-renowned singer, plus tracks handpicked by Bassey to reflect her incredible career.
Bearings – Hello, It’s You CD/LP (Pure Noise)
The Ontario, Canada quintet’s sharpened take on the classic pop-punk vibe is the same mix of ebullient energy and undeniable melodies that have earned them respect and tour invitations from both new-school heavyweights like State Champs and legends like Less Than Jake.
Mary J. Blige – My Life [Reissue/1994] 2xCD/2xLP (Republic)
Digitally remastered and expanded edition of the second studio album by the R&B artist.
Lee Brice – Hey World CD (Curb)
New 15-track album from the country music superstar.
Garth Brooks – Fun CD (Pearl)
Garth Brooks’ 12th studio album, Fun features 14 tracks including “Dive Bar”, the rowdy (Rolling Stone) and anthemic (Billboard) collaboration with Blake Shelton. The album also includes a cover of “Shallow” with Trisha Yearwood, “All Day Long” and “Stronger Than Me”. [Limited holographic foil cover edition also available.]
BTS – Be CD (Bighit Entertainment)
Limited edition boxset. Be imparts a message of healing to the world. The set includes: CD, one photobook, one making book, one lyric poster, eight photo cards, one polaroid photo card, one photo frame, seven postcards, and one poster.
Cabaret Voltaire – Shadow Of Fear CD/LP (Mute)
Shadow Of Fear is Cabaret Voltaire’s first release with Richard H Kirk as the sole member of the band and the result is an album that defies categorization. The tone and personality of Cabaret Voltaire is ingrained into its core as it dances across techno, dub, house, 1970s Kosmische, and general esoteric explorations coupled with mangled vocal samples. It’s a voyage through the history of electronic music that arrives at a new destination. [Limited purple colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Isobel Campbell – Amorino [Reissue/2003] CD/LP (Cooking Vinyl)
Isobel Campbell – Milk White Sheets [Reissue/2006] CD/LP (Cooking Vinyl)
After vaulting to fame as a founding member of the beloved indie pop collective Belle & Sebastian, Isobel Campbell enjoyed success as a solo artist, recording lush and elegiac chamber pop under her given name, under the moniker the Gentle Waves, and with longstanding duet partner Mark Lanegan. Following excellent reviews for her recent solo album, There Is No Other…, released earlier this year, Campbell reissues her third and fourth solo albums, Amorino and Milkwhite Sheets on CD and vinyl.
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone At Alexandria Palace 2xCD/2xLP+MP3 (AWAL)
Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone At Alexandra Palace is a live album by musician Nick Cave. It was filmed by cinematographer Robbie Ryan and live-streamed across three different time zones on July 23rd, 2020 and features Cave performing solo on piano at Alexandra Palace in London. Idiot Prayer serves as the final film in a trilogy-along with 20,000 Days On Earth (2014) and One More Time With Feeling (2016) and was described by Cave as “it’s luminous and heartfelt climax.” The set features songs (including rare tracks) from across the breadth of Cave’s career, including early Bad Seeds and Grinderman, right through to the most recent Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds album, Ghosteen.
Eric Clapton – Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival 2019 3xCD/6xLP (Rhino)
Held at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, 2019’s two-day Crossroads Guitar Festival concert event raised funds for the Crossroads Centre in Antigua – the chemical dependency treatment and education facility that Clapton founded in 1998. With actor Bill Murray as the Master of Ceremonies, this set features outstanding performances by Clapton (of course), James Bay, Jeff Beck, Doyle Bramhall II, Gary Clark Jr., Robert Cray, Sheryl Crow, Andy Fairweather Low, Peter Frampton, Vince Gill, Buddy Guy, Sonny Landreth, Lianne La Havas, Los Lobos, John Mayer, Keb’ Mo’, Bonnie Raitt, Robert Randolph, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Jimmie Vaughan and many more. [Stand-alone DVD and Blu-ray editions are also available.]
Coil – A Guide For Beginners: Voice Of Silver/Finishers/Hair Of Gold CD (Cold Spring)
A reissue of a much sought after ‘Best Of’ set by the acclaimed experimental group.
Contrarian – Only Time Will Tell CD (Willowtip)
The prog death metal band’s fourth studio album deals with their familiar concepts of philosophy and theology.
Crass – Christ – The Album (The Crassical Collection) [Reissue/1982] 2xCD (Crass/One Little Indian)
Crass – Best Before 1984 (The Crassical Collection) [Reissue/1986] 2xCD (Crass/One Little Indian)
Crass – Ten Notes On A Summers Day (The Crassical Collection) 2xCD (Crass/One Little Indian)
Painstakingly remastered and redesigned over recent years by Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher, The Crassical Collections are a radical reappraisal of the Crass catalogue. The message remains the same, but with new visuals, improved sound and the added clarity of hindsight. Crass as it was in the beginning, but with all the power of now.
The Cribs – Night Network CD/LP (Sonic Blew)
Featuring three brothers, Yorkshire, England’s The Cribs are back and on blistering form, brandishing their brand-new eighth album, Night Network; a unique blend of bittersweet melody, brutal lyrical honesty and riffs for days. [Limited clear blue colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Dark Tranquility – Moment CD/2xLP+CD (Century Media)
The melodic death metal pioneers return with a new album.
Ward Davis – Black Cats And Crows CD (Ward Davis Music)
Ward Davis’s much-anticipated third album, Black Cats And Crows, is a muscly country-rock record filled with murderous story songs, heartbreaking vulnerability, and Ward’s weathered croon. [Vinyl edition due December 11.]
Der Blutharsch – Bologna CD/LP/CD+LP (Nordung)
An impressive show recorded in Bologna Italy in 1999 together with NON and Death In June. Excellent sound quality. [Limited colored vinyl pressings and deluxe box set edition also available.]
Raheem DeVaughn – What A Time To Be In Love CD (Sonos)
New album from the R&B singer and undisputed Love King.
Neil Diamond with The London Symphony Orchestra – Classic Diamonds CD/2xLP (Capitol)
Classic Diamonds is a new 14 song collection featuring new vocals from Neil Diamond paired with an interpretation of some of the unrivaled artist’s most celebrated chart-topping hits performed by The London Symphony Orchestra. Recorded at the world-famous Abbey Road Studios in London and Diamond’s studio in Los Angeles, the album was produced by Grammy-winning producer/arranger Walter Afanasieff and co-arranged by Afanasieff and Grammy-winning conductor/arranger William Ross, who also conducted The London Symphony Orchestra for the recording. Diamond’s towering artistic achievements have carried him far, from “Brooklyn Roads”, to “Glory Road”, to “Melody Road” and now to Abbey Road.
The Dirty Knobs – Wreckless Abandon CD/2xLP (BMG)
While 2020’s Wreckless Abandon is their first official release and occasion to tour, The Dirty Knobs first came together 15 years ago after Mike Campbell met guitarist Jason Sinay at a session and liked the way their guitars sounded together. After adding the acclaimed rhythm section of bassist Lance Morrison (Don Henley) and drummer Matt Laug (Slash, Alanis Morrisette), The Dirty Knobs became an outlet for Campbell to work on some of the other songs he was writing between Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers records and touring. They got together when schedules permitted, playing music without an agenda, expectations or deadlines, without worrying about outcome or hits, pushing boundaries of taste, imagination, and genres and creating some of the most brutally confident yet psychically dangerous rock and roll since sonic-renegade juggernauts the Yardbirds first sauntered onto a London stage and ripped into “For Your Love”.
Dirty Projectors – 5EPS CD/2xLP+MP3 (Domino)
The newest chapter for Dirty Projectors is a sequence of five four-song EPs. Each EP features lead vocals by a different band member including Maia Friedman, Felicia Douglass, Kristin Silpp and Dave Longstreth. The final EP features vocals by all members. Each song collection is strikingly different from the next, but true to itself: Maia’s Window Opens is acoustic and folky; Felicia’s Flight Tower is super future, both soulful and electronic. Kristin’s Earth Crisis is cut-up orchestral collage – looped, pitch-shifted, and digitally deconstructed – and Dave’s Super Joao is four-track bossa nova. Ring Road, the final EP, recapitulates everything with a classic full-band Dirty Projects sound.
John Fogerty – Fogerty’s Factory CD (BMG)
Fogerty’s Factory is a newly recorded album of stripped back tracks from legendary singer, songwriter and guitarist John Fogerty. All 12 songs were recorded during lockdown by John and his family including his sons Shane and Tyler (who together are the band Hearty Har) and daughter Kelsy. None of these included tracks have been available physically before. [Vinyl edition due January 15.]
Fourplay – The Best Of Fourplay [Reissue/1997] CD/LP (Evosound)
First released in 1997, The Best Of Fourplay showcases the smooth jazz supergroup’s signature style of indelible melodies, tasteful arrangements and addictive, toe- tapping grooves.
Josh Groban – Harmony CD (WB)
The making of the Harmony album was cathartic for Josh. He wanted to go back to basics, and interpret songs that make him feel good, are a blast to sing, and most importantly, are songs that fans have asked for. Highlights include “The Impossible Dream”, “Angels”, “I Can’t Make You Love Me”, and “Celebrate Me Home”. Special guest appearances on the album include a duet with Leslie Odom Jr. (Tony award for Hamilton On Broadway) on “Shape Of My Heart”, plus a duet with Sara Bareilles of the Joni Mitchell song “Both Sides Now”, and Kirk Franklin bringing his unique blend of energy and a choir to a new and timely original called “The Fullest”.
Jimi Hendrix Experience – Live In Maui 2xCD+Blu-ray/3xLP+Blu-ray (Experience Hendrix L.L.C./Legacy)
A companion piece to the brand-new feature length documentary Music, Money, Madness…Jimi Hendrix In Maui, (included here on Blu-ray) Live In Maui chronicles the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s storied visit to Maui and how they became ensnared with the ill-fated Rainbow Bridge movie produced by their controversial manager Michael Jeffery. The Blu-ray includes the full documentary as well as bonus features featuring all of the existing 16mm color film shot of the two performances that afternoon mixed in both stereo and 5.1 surround sound.
Hjelvik – Welcome To Hel CD/LP (Nuclear Blast)
Steeped in the classic sounds of metal, both underground and mainstream, and enshrouded in a mystical fog of Norse mythology, the former Kvelertak frontman’s debut collection of monstrous anthems is the sound of a modern god of heaviness embracing the spirit of the old school and injecting it with his own, unique, genre-blurring charisma. [Limited dark blue swirl colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Ilsa – Preyer CD/LP (Relapse)
On Ilsa’s new album, Preyer, the Washington, D.C. band embraces sonic pummeling like never before. Recorded as the world shuttered away in 2020, Ilsa harnessed the fears and uncertainties of troubled times, and used these as driving forces for their unnerving metal’s raw, chaotic, and whipping intensity. The result is a new full-length that delivers overdoses of crushing doom and menacing death metal. [Limited green and white colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Iron Maiden – Nights Of The Dead, Legacy of The Beast: Live In Mexico City 2xCD/3xLP (BMG)
Iron Maiden’s new concert recording Nights Of The Dead, Legacy Of The Beast: Live In Mexico City relives the band’s three sold out arena shows in Mexico City in September 2019. The 17-track setlist spans from Maiden’s eponymous debut to the 2006 release of A Matter Of Life And Death. [Deluxe CD edition is packaged in a hardcase book.]
Yves Jarvis – Sundry Rock Song Stock LP+MP3 (Epitaph)
Released last week on vinyl – now available on CD. On Sundry Rock Song Stock, Yves Jarvis continues to refine his creative approach to the core of his being, where music and life intertwine in harmonious fashion. The latest album from the Montreal-based musician fuses genre elements into a symbiotic relationship where wistful folk, tender R&B, pastoral prog, and musique concrète experiments feed into one another to grow lush new forms. [Limited opaque green colored vinyl pressing also available.
Jewel – Pieces Of You [Reissue/1995] 2xCD/4xCD (Craft Recordings)
This 25th anniversary limited edition reissue (available as a double-CD and four-CD box set) comprises Jewel’s breakthrough debut album, newly remastered, plus a dog’s dinner of bonus tracks. [Vinyl edition due December 18.]
Jinjer – Alive In Melbourne CD/LP (Napalm)
On March 5, 2020, Ukrainian modern metal juggernauts Jinjer played one of their last shows before the world went on a global lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. [Limited purple colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Tom Keenlyside Quartet – Fortune Teller CD (Cellar Live)
Tom Keenlyside drops a poignant album featuring his wonderfully melodic and beautiful flute playing with a wonderful trio of Vancouver jazz musicians.
Killer Be Killed – Reluctant Hero CD/LP (Nuclear Blast)
An assemblage of aggressive compositions that blends basement-show worthy carnage and massive festival-ready hooks, anchored in smart, dissident sensibilities, and raw authenticity. [Limited clear with black & white splatter colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Leo Kottke & Mike Gordon – Noon CD/LP (ATO)
The unlikely partnership between acoustic guitar pioneer Leo Kottke and Phish bassist Mike Gordon continues with the long-awaited Noon, their first new album in fifteen years. Couching late-night melancholy in a summer lilt, Noon features eleven tracks of warmly askew songs and intricate playing – and the intimate third voice created by Kottke and Gordon, two of the most accomplished and idiosyncratic instrumentalists in American music. Noon is the pair’s third collaborative LP following 2005’s Sixty Six Steps and 2002’s Clone. [Limited gold & red colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Greg Lake – The Anthology: A Musical Journey CD/2xLP (BMG)
The Shame, The Shy Limbs, King Crimson, Emerson Lake & Palmer, solo artist, producer, composer, lyricist, bass player extraordinaire, Greg Lake had it all. The 20-track The Anthology: A Musical Journey collects all of his outstanding songs and iconic performances.
The Last – Look Again CD (House Arrest)
Sometimes great bands have a rough go of it. Consider The Last, the influential Los Angeles band who rose to the top of the city’s music scene – with bands like The Go-Go’s opening for them – and released their critically acclaimed album L.A. Explosion! in 1979 on Bomp Records. But rather than build on that momentum, which included shows with X and Black Flag, The Last – Joe Nolte (guitar, vocals), Vitus Mataré (keyboards, flute, vocals), Joe’s two brothers, Mike Nolte (harmony vocals) and David Nolte (bass) and John Frank (drums) – recorded a follow-up album that was doomed and shelved by the band. Now, the never-before-released, thought-to-be-lost-to-history album, is finally available 40 years after it was originally recorded. [Vinyl edition due December 18.]
Madre Del Vizio – Dio Dio Dio CD/LP (Nordung)
“One of the best albums of the post-punk/batcave scene.” [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Ava Max – Heaven & Hell CD (Atlantic)
“Ava Max was destined to be a pop star. Growing up, the Wisconsin native listened to the likes of Mariah Carey, Lady Gaga, Whitney Houston, Britney Spears and Beyoncé, studying their craft in hopes of one day becoming their peer. While the legendary performers’ influence is evident on the 26-year-old’s debut album, Heaven & Hell. The album is split into two sides like an old-school vinyl record; the first half is more pop-driven and carefree, while the second takes a darker, moodier approach. And yet, all 15 tracks are upbeat; Max refused to include a single ballad on her introduction to the world.” [Vinyl edition due February 12.]
Rob Mazurek and The Exploding Star Orchestra – Dimensional Stardust CD/LP (Nonesuch)
Marfa, Texas-based multidisciplinary artist Rob Mazurek delivers the new album Dimensional Stardust with the Exploding Star Orchestra. The album recalls an array of Mazurek’s symphonic influences – from Béla Bartók to Morton Feldman to Gil Evans to Sun Ra to Pedro Santos to Bill Dixon to The Art Ensemble of Chicago. Opting to focus on tight ensemble orchestration over passages of open improvisation, Mazurek distills an orchestra of explosive improvisers into a beautifully restrained, graceful group exercise in melodic minimalism. Mazurek himself is sparsely present as an instrumentalist, only occasionally joining the ensemble with his piccolo trumpet.
Tim McGraw – McGraw Machine Hits: 2013-2019 CD (Big Machine)
A compilation of McGraw’s biggest and greatest hits from recent years. [Vinyl edition due December 18.]
Arlo McKinley – Arlo McKinley & The Lonesome Sound [Reissue/2014] CD/LP (Oh Boy)
McKinley has washed his songs in the blood of street soul, country, punk and gospel – and tattooed them onto the underground. They’re filled with an honest weight and gritty hope from rustbelt city life. McKinley was the last artist John Prine and his son Jody signed together to their label Oh Boy records who released 2020’s Die Midwestern and reissues Arlo McKinley & The Lonesome Sound here.
Anna McClellan – I Saw First Light CD/LP (Father/Daughter)
The third album from the Omaha, NE-based songwriter. I Saw First Light obliquely relates a tumultuous year in the life of its composer. Moving, geographically, from the heart of New York City to a bucolic retreat upstate, and finally back to her midwestern hometown of Omaha, NE, Anna also traversed emotional states – from the restless frenzy of urban life, to the enforced, depressive rumination of the country. Her vision – one artist’s reckoning with her forebears and coevals, along with her ongoing obligation to use art as a tool for connection and understanding – coalesced, upon her return to Nebraska, with the help of local friends, into the album. [Limited pink colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Tim Minchin – Apart Together CD (BMG)
“In his first studio album, Minchin mixes bitter barbs and humor with self-introspection – and surprising vulnerability. A Randy Newman-esque portrait of a man at a crossroads.” – The Guardian [Vinyl edition due January 8.]
Nas – King’s Disease CD/2xLP/Cassette (Mass Appeal)
Produced by Hit-Boy (Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Travis Scott) and co-executive produced by Hit-Boy and Gabriel “G Code” Zardes, Nas’ thirteenth studio album King’s Disease follows up 2019’s The Lost Tapes 2 and the Kanye West-helmed Nasir from 2018. As the title of lead single, “Ultra Black” suggests, the track is a celebration of the black community, but also includes a shot at California rapper Doja Cat: “We goin’ ultra-Black, unapologetically Black / The opposite of Doja Cat,” the legendary Queens MC raps. He also name-checks everyone from Grace Jones to actor Billy Dee Williams and the Motown label. [Limited red colored vinyl edition also available.]
Pain Of Salvation – The Perfect Element: Part 1 [Reissue/2000] CD (Century Media)
Remixed and remastered anniversary edition of the Swedish progressive metal/rock innovators’ third studio album. [Vinyl edition due December 4.]
The Piano Guys – 10 2xCD/2xCD+DVD (Masterworks)
Having spent the last decade together releasing chart-topping music, debuting stunningly original music videos and touring in sold-out venues across the globe, The Piano Guys celebrate their tenth anniversary as a group with the release of this album. This release reflects on The Piano Guys’ greatest career moments thus far with 15 newly remastered fan favorite tracks from the past decade as well as introduces their next chapter with 12 brand new tracks. [Deluxe version adds a DVD of their most viewed clips, packaged in a soft pack.]
Pig – Pain Is God CD (Metropolis)
Fourteen tracks of pure swine and swagger.
Pink Floyd – The Delicate Sound Of Thunder [Reissue/1988] 2xCD/2xCD+DVD+Blu-ray/3xLP (Pink Floyd Records)
A new remixed and remastered reissue of Pink Floyd’s Grammy-nominated film/live album, complete with nine bonus songs not included on the original release. [Deluxe double-CD+DVD+Blu-ray+40-Page Book box set edition features the original album plus the full concert film restored/re-edited from the original 35mm film and enhanced with 5.1 surround sound. Stand-alone DVD and Blu-ray editions are also available.]
Elvis Presley – From Elvis In Nashville 4xCD/2xLP+MP3 (Sony Legacy)
Available as both a four-CD box set and double-LP. From Elvis In Nashville is the definitive chronicle of Elvis 1970 “Marathon” sessions at RCA Studio B with the Nashville Cats. The CD box includes 40 undubbed, newly mixed recordings plus two discs of rare/unreleased outtakes.
Collin Raye – Scars CD (BFD)
New release from the veteran country music vocalist.
Revenge – Attack.Blood.Revenge [Reissue/2001] CD/LP (Season Of Mist)
A reissue of the Canadian black metal band’s Attack.Blood.Revenge EP with bonus tracks.
Duke Robillard – Blues Bash CD (Stony Plain Music)
Duke Robillard has defined himself as not merely a great artist, but also a true historian, scholar and curator who is adept at electric and acoustic blues, jazz, jump, swing, ballads and standards. Grammy-nominated and a five-time winner of the Blues Award, over his 50 plus year career Duke has been a prolific songwriter and is considered a blues guitar master.
Seahaven – Halo Of Hurt CD/LP (Pure Noise)
Astral and eerie, moonlit and menacing, Halo Of Hurt reignites the magic dust that made Seahaven’s early 2010s run so special. It’s an adventurous rock album that urges you to grapple with your self-doubt and innermost demons, then cast them into oblivion.
Soft Kill – Dead Kids R.I.P. City CD/LP (Cercle Social)
A story odyssey of sorts told in ten parts, ten songs – each track essentially a character – Dead Kids…, produced by David Trumfio (Built To Spill, Wilco, OK Go) and mastered by the legendary Howie Weinberg (The Cure, Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana), explores, through a beguiling mix of personal memory, allegory, and narrative structures by turns both poetic and stinging, a long and complicated relationship with a dark version of Portland OR. It’s songs that tell of the fractured and fragile legacies of those lost during the city’s last couple decades as it moves from soggy backwater to unheard of growth and tech-fueled transformation.
The Suitcase Junket – The End Is New CD/LP (BMG)
The End Is New is the compelling sixth album from The Suitcase Junket, the moniker for multi-instrumentalist Matt Lorenz, who crafts or salvages most of the instruments that he performs live and on the album. Aided by production from Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, The End Is New is musically diverse and lyrically dense with meaning.
Tombs – Under Sullen Skies CD/LP (Season Of Mist)
A blackened fury of extreme metal, intertwining with savage, doom-laden brutality.
Vibrators & Chris Spedding – Mars Casino CD (Cleopatra)
British guitar icon Chris Spedding joins UK punk legends The Vibrators on the band’s newest studio album. Mars Casino reunites the original line-up of Knox on vocals and guitar, John Ellis on guitar, Pat Collier on bass and Eddie on drums for their first full-length album since 1985’s Fifth Amendment. [Vinyl edition due December 11.]
The War On Drugs – Live Drugs CD/LP (Super High Quality)
Culled from over 40 hard drives of recorded live shows spread out across years of touring behind multiple critically acclaimed records, Live Drugs is a document showcasing the evolution of the band’s live show over the years. Additionally, Live Drugs is a portrait of the enduring relationship between Adam Granduciel and Dominic East. A longtime friend, guitar tech and stage manager, East is Live Drugs‘ co-producer and the presence Granduciel credits as holding everything together. Inspired to finally finish with fresh ears, Granduciel and East poured through the vaults of live multi-tracks, sending final selections for mixing to Jonathan Low at Aaron Dessner’s Long Pond Studio. Sequenced to reflect how a typical 70-minute set would flow, Live Drugs thrives on live set staples immortalized on record for the first time. [A limited indie store exclusive colored vinyl pressing is available.]
Weathered – Everything All At Once CD (Facedown)
While Weathered’s debut was a more relaxed and laid back album, Everything All At Once has more gravity and a decidedly guitar-driven urgency also mirrored in the lyrics. Even so, the new album is undeniably Weathered: first-rate, Midwest emo with cathartic vocal hooks and moody riffs. [Vinyl edition due January 22.]
Kamaal Williams – Wu Hen CD/LP+MP3 (Warp)
Wu Hen is the sophomore album from Peckham visionary Kamaal Williams an invitation to elevate to a higher state. Cinematic strings from Miguel-Atwood Ferguson and virtuoso saxophone from Quinn Mason are textural additions that make for a deeper, multi-layered experience than previous releases. Bringing groove back to the forefront, Wu Hen oscillates between celestial jazz, funk, rap and R&B reinforced with the rugged beat-heavy attitude of grime, jungle, house and garage – a self-styled fusion Kamaal describes as Wu Funk. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Matt Zo – Illusion Of Depth CD/2xLP (Anjuna Beats)
Grammy-nominated dance music producer Mat Zo is back with the brand-new artist album.
DVDs + Blu-ray:
Eric Clapton – Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival 2019 2xDVD/2xBlu-ray (Rhino)
Held at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, 2019’s two-day Crossroads Guitar Festival concert event raised funds for the Crossroads Centre in Antigua – the chemical dependency treatment and education facility that Clapton founded in 1998. With actor Bill Murray as the Master of Ceremonies, this set features outstanding performances by Clapton (of course), James Bay, Jeff Beck, Doyle Bramhall II, Gary Clark Jr., Robert Cray, Sheryl Crow, Andy Fairweather Low, Peter Frampton, Vince Gill, Buddy Guy, Sonny Landreth, Lianne La Havas, Los Lobos, John Mayer, Keb’ Mo’, Bonnie Raitt, Robert Randolph, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Jimmie Vaughan and many more.
Pink Floyd – The Delicate Sound Of Thunder [Reissue/1988] DVD/Blu-ray (Pink Floyd Records)
Pink Floyd’s full concert film, recorded on their Delicate Sound Of Thunder tour, restored/re-edited from the original 35mm film and enhanced with 5.1 surround sound.
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
Luther Allison – Life Is A Bitch LP (Ruf)
Luther Allison – Live 89 Let’s Try It Again LP (Ruf)
Two live albums from the iconic blues guitarist and vocalist.
Bad Nerves – Bad Nerves LP (Suburban)
Bad Nerves is an irresistible (molotov) cocktail of The Ramones, Radioactivity, The Clash, Libertines, The Strokes and Jay Reatard. Plays at 78rpm.
Battles – Juice B Mixed 12”+MP3 (Warp)
This release sees the aforementioned artists using an array of sounds from across the spectrum of Battles’ latest LP Juice B Crypts, released late last year. In utilizing the wide array of sounds, the remixers have created work that is not singularly indebted to one song or another, rather inspired by the sonic world of the album and serving as an extension of it. The remixers have utilized this creative freedom to the fullest, delivering a collection of songs that occupy distinctly different spaces of the electronic music landscape while retaining a shared connectivity to the original work. Four uniquely individual remixes ((DJ Dairy & DJ Orient (black midi), Delroy Edwards, Shed, and DJ Nigga Fox)), remixing one of the uniquely individual bands of the new millennium, tied together by experimental spirit and a shared musical perspective.
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers – Roots & Herbs [Reissue/1970] LP (Blue Note)
One Art Blakey’s greatest albums with the Jazz Messengers, Roots & Herbs, is little known. In 1961, the group featured Lee Morgan (trumpet), Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Bobby Timmons (piano) and Jymie Merrit (bass). Recorded in Rudy Van Gelder’s New Jersey studio, it’s a brilliant set of six Shorter compositions. Reissued as part of The Blue Note Tone Poet Series: all-analog, remastered 180gm vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.
Blue October – This Is What I Live For LP (Up Down)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Blue October has earned a reputation for being remarkably dynamic, consistently delivering anthemic songs filled with rousing melodies and precision playing. And with this latest release, the members are even more in synch than ever because they wrote much of the material while they were on the road supporting their last album, 2018’s I Hope You’re Happy, often fine-tuning songs in front of audiences. While Blue October’s expert instrumentation is always impressive, it is the band’s lyrics that have always truly set this band apart. [Limited green colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Jennifer Castle – Monarch Season LP (A Paradise Of Bachelors)
Jennifer Castle’s sixth full-length record, the moon-suffused Monarch Season – an album as delicate and diaphanous as its namesake butterfly – stands, in a literal sense, as her first proper “solo” album, performed alone in her coastal kitchen, windows open to the insects and the wind and the reflection of the moon on Lake Erie, entirely without human accompaniment (though a chorus of crickets provides rich interstitial support throughout). The first-pressing also includes a songbook of sheet music to every song and inner sleeve with lyrics.
Cayucas – Blue Summer LP (Park The Van)
A return to musical roots is a time-honored tradition for many established artists who have endured for the better part of a decade. The eight tracks also mark the first time Zach will earn a producer credit for a Cayucas album. When it came time to title the record, only one phrase seemed to capture the mood correctly. “The album is called Blue Summer. No matter your feelings about the warmest season, be sure that Cayucas will always be there to provide its perfect soundtrack.
Coldplay – Parachutes [Reissue/2000] LP (Parlophone)
Limited yellow colored vinyl reissue of Coldplay’s double-platinum debut featuring the hit single “Yellow”.
Luke Combs – What You See Ain’t What You Get [Deluxe Edition] 3xLP (SME Nashville)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Deluxe expanded edition of the country singer/songwriter’s chart-topping, Platinum-certified sophomore album including five bonus tracks.
The Damned – The Rockfield Files 12” (Spinefarm)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. New EP from the British punk rock legends.
Gavin DeGraw – Chariot [Reissue/2003] LP (Real Gone Music)
Limited clear and green colored vinyl pressing. This prodigiously talented piano man came out of the New York club scene with a brash, rocking sound that drew obvious comparisons to Billy Joel and Elton John, but some more contemporary touches also brought peers like Rufus Wainwright, Jeff Buckley and J label mates Maroon 5 to mind. It’s an artful blend – leavened with a little classic R&B – that clicked commercially, as Gavin’ DeGraw’s 2003 debut album Chariot went Platinum and spawned several hit singles including the Top Ten hit (and One Tree Hill theme song) “I Don’t Want To Be”.
Draconian – Under A Godless Veil LP (Napalm)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Gothic doom metal à la My Dying Bride or Trees Of Eternity Almost five years after their sixth long-player Sovran, Draconian once again cast their breathtaking veil of melancholy over the world. This second full-length release featuring singer Heike Langhans delivers a captivating mélange of dreary doom and contrasting vocals with Heike’s angelic female voice is paired with Anders Jakobsson’s death growls.
Drive-By Truckers – Decoration Day [Reissue/2003] LP (Yep Roc)
Drive-By Truckers – The Dirty South [Reissue/2004] LP (Yep Roc)
Drive-By Truckers – A Blessing And A Curse [Reissue/2006] LP (Yep Roc)
Drive-By Truckers – Brighter Than Creation’s Dark [Reissue/2008] LP (Yep Roc)
Drive-By Truckers – The Fine Print (A Collection Of Oddities And Rarities) 2003-2008 [Reissue/2009] 2xLP (Yep Roc)
Limited colored vinyl pressings.
Dr. Ring Ding – The Remedy LP (Jump Up!)
The German ska & reggae virtuoso presents a fresh collection of songs that range between reggae, old school dancehall, 2 Tone, traditional ska, cumbia and dub.
Emily Edrosa – Another Wave Is Coming LP (Part The Van)
The new solo record from New Zealand multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Emily Edrosa is the product of a labor spanning three years and two halves of the globe. Many of the songs that became Another Wave were written and partly recorded before Emily moved to Los Angeles in 2016. She left behind a friendly music scene and a reputation built upon nearly ten years fronting the award-winning band Street Chant to start over in a country that seemed in its death throes. The album’s title reflects the almost cosmic swell that carried her across the world.
Eels – Earth To Dora LP (PIAS America)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. “Mark ‘E’ Everett’s 13th album under his melancholic indie moniker is a life-worn collection that charts the rise and fall of a relationship, exuding fragile hope. Revisiting the fertile emotional ground of Eels’ earliest albums, where naive simplicity met life-worn melancholy, Earth To Dora is structured to trace the rise and fall of a relationship (but not, E has been at pains to point out, as an open diary of his recent, short-lived marriage). All of which makes for Eels’ most complete and self-contained record, arguably the epitome of their oeuvre and a record that places E – in his own gruff, xylophone-toting way –alongside the great downtrodden romantics: Cohen; Rufus Wainwright; Stephin Merritt of Magnetic Fields; Nick Cave. Just the sort of bullheaded optimism we need, in fact, to see us through the cold winter ahead.” – NME
The Ex – Disturbing The Domestic Peace [Reissue/1980] LP (Superior Viaduct)
The Ex – History Is What’s Happening [Reissue/1982] LP (Superior Viaduct)
Emerging out of Amsterdam’s vibrant squat scene in 1979, The Ex – a name chosen for the ease and speed with which it could be spray-painted onto a wall – has for four decades been an entirely self-sustaining musical entity, charting a course through the global underground with a spirit of freedom and radical exploration.
Five Finger Death Punch – A Decade Of Destruction Volume 2 LP (Prospect Park)
Second volume of active rock radio hits (including three #1 singles), popular streaming favorites and five previously unreleased tracks. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
The Flat Five – Another World LP (Pravda)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The Flat Five’s focus is harmony. Hardcore junkies for a vocal buzz, they share a vast range of influences from The Free Design to The Three Degrees to Captain Beefheart. The charms of this band are manifest. From the laid-back simple to the oddly romantic to the slightly subversive, a heart of wide-eyed sweetness colors their music.
The Flower Kings – Islands 3xLP+2xCD (Century Media)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Includes copy on CD. The Flower Kings’ new double-album, featuring artwork by legend Roger Dean (Yes, Asia, Gentle Giant, Greenslade, Uriah Heep), contains all of the trademark sounds and melodies the band is renowned for.
Groove Armada – Edge Of The Horizon 2xLP (BMG)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. It’s been ten years since Groove Armada released their landmark album Black Light. They’ve been active in recent years – DJ sets, select live shows and the Twenty One Years compilation – yet the prospect of a new album seemed unlikely. That all changed when they stepped out at the Boomtown Festival and saw the reaction from long-term fans and newcomers alike. “We walked on stage to a young crowd, there were 40,000 people there,” notes Cato. “We had the most amazing Hollywood Bowl type view from the stage and it just felt so fresh and relevant.” Their creative reconnection resulted in new album, Edge Of The Horizon.
Gwar – Scumdogs Of The Universe [Reissue/1990] LP/Cassette (Pit)
Recently released on CD — red marble colored vinyl pressing and cassette editions are now available. It has been thirty Earth “years” since the lords and masters Gwar released what many consider to be the band’s career-defining album, Scumdogs Of The Universe. In celebration of this momentous occasion, Gwar are pleased as piss to unveil this 30th anniversary remastered reissue.
The Hawkins – Silence Is A Bomb LP (Sign)
New album from the Swedish rock band.
John Hiatt – Crossing Muddy Waters [Reissue/2000] LP (Yep Roc)
John Hiatt – The Tiki Bar Is Open [Reissue/2001] LP (Yep Roc)
John Hiatt & The Goners – Beneath This Gruff Exterior [Reissue/2003] LP (Yep Roc)
John Hiatt – Master Of Disaster [Reissue/2005] LP (Yep Roc)
Limited colored vinyl pressings now available.
Katatonia – Dead Air 2xLP/2xLP+2xCD+DVD (Peaceville)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. A recording of an intimate lockdown show from the Swedish dark rock masters which was originally streamed live from Studio Grondahl, Stockholm on May 9th, 2020. [A deluxe box set edition is also available featuring vinyl, CD and DVD editions.]
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard – Live In San Francisco ’16 2xLP (ATO)
Just under a month after delivering their award-winning 2016 album Nonagon Infinity, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard took the stage at San Francisco’s The Independent for a set both wildly frenetic and meticulously executed. In one of their final club gigs before bursting onto the international scene – soon selling out amphitheaters and headlining festivals – the Melbourne septet laid down a breakneck performance that, in the words of SF Weekly, “made every organ ache just right.” Multi-tracked and impeccably mixed, Live in San Francisco ’16 simultaneously channels the massive energy of King Gizzard’s set while echoing the sweaty intimacy of the 500-capacity venue. The set captures an extraordinary moment in the band’s increasingly storied history, a 13-song spectacular likely to leave every listener awestruck and adrenalized. [A deluxe colored vinyl pressing housed in a mirror board jacket is also available. CD edition due December 4.]
k.d. lang – Watershed [Reissue/2008] LP (Nonesuch)
k.d. lang’s landmark 2008 album represents the first time lang had assumed the role of producer-as well as writer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. “Few singers command such perfection of pitch. Her voice, at once beautiful and unadorned and softened with a veil of smoke, invariably hits the middle of a note and remains there.” – New York Times.
LÉON – Apart LP (BMG)
Building off the success of her self-titled debut album, Swedish act LÉON (aka Lotta Lindgren) returns with her sophomore album, Apart which finds the songstress further demonstrating her knack for crafting emotive, tender, and unforgettable pop songs.
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Burnin’ [Reissue/1973] LP (Island)
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Catch A Fire [Reissue/1973] LP (Island)
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Natty Dread [Reissue/1974] LP (Island)
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Live [Reissue/1975] LP (Island)
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Rastaman Vibration [Reissue/1976] LP (Island)
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Exodus [Reissue/1977] LP (Island)
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Kaya [Reissue/1978] LP (Island)
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Babylon By Bus [Reissue/1978] 2xLP (Island)
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Survival [Reissue/1979] LP (Island)
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Uprising [Reissue/1980] LP (Island)
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Confrontation [Reissue/1983] LP (Island)
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Legend [Reissue/1984] 2xLP (Island)
Half-speed Abbey Road Masters.
Thelonious Monk – At Newport 1963 & 1965 LP (Naked Lunch)
The legendary Thelonious Monk’s appearances at two Newport festivals, reissued on vinyl.
mxmtoon – dawn/dusk LP (mxmtoon)
mxmtoon, the Oakland-raised, Brooklyn-based artist and social media personality known for singing and playing the ukulele, is back with a vinyl-only compilation of two thematically interconnected Eps: dawn and dusk. If dawn from earlier this year drew from the gentle optimism and hope found in gorgeous sunrise, dusk is a beautiful exploration of the other side of the emotional duality that is the human experience. dawn and dusk together are at once recalling of mxmtoon’s earlier work while also expanding her sonic horizons more than ever before, an exciting new direction suggesting that the sky is the truly the limit for her artistry.
Motörhead – Ace Of Spades [Reissue/1980] 3xLP (Sanctuary)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Half-speed remastered and expanded reissue of Motörhead’s fourth album includes a live album of a previously unreleased concert, recorded at Whitla Hall, Belfast on December 23rd, 1981.
Jack Name – Magic Touch LP+MP3 (Mexican Summer)
In times rife with alienation, Magic Touch, the third album by the ubiquitous and mysterious Jack Name, offers the comfort of contact. With a body of work that ranges from the catchy to the cacophonous, Name has earned the reputation of a musician who’s difficult to define. For over a decade, he’s been a fixture in the Los Angeles underground. His songs have appeared on albums by U.S. Girls and White Fence; he’s produced recordings for Cass McCombs and collaborated with Ariel Pink.
Nelly – Country Grammar [Reissue/2010] 2xLP (Motown)
Double translucent blue vinyl pressing. The 20th-anniversary edition of Country Grammar includes bonus tracks Icey, Come Over, Country Grammar (Instrumental), and Ride Wit Me (Instrumental), all four on vinyl for the first time.
New Order – Be A Rebel 12”+MP3 (Mute)
The first brand-new music from New Order since the release of the critically acclaimed album Music Complete In 2015. Includes remixes from the band’s own Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris. [Limited grey colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Nightly – Night, Love You LP (BMG)
“From the beginning we’ve wanted to be an album band,” explains Nightly frontman Jonathan Capeci. “Night, Love You was the sentiment behind the band name, so in a way this is our semi-self-titled debut. It’s deeply personal, and we couldn’t be prouder of this record. All of it was created in Joey’s basement which feels full circle from where we started, making songs in a tiny apartment. All of the songs were written this year with the exception of the closing track which is one of the first songs we ever wrote. We always knew that we wanted to save it for our debut record, now it’s finally yours.” [Limited grey colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Nurse With Wound – Rock ‘N Roll Station [Reissue/1994] LP (Abstrakce)
Nurse With Wound – Lumb’s Sister [Reissue/2014] 2xLP (Nordung0
Two NWW albums reissued on vinyl. Everything built by two of the most brilliant industrial music minds: Steven Stapleton and Colin Potter. [Limited picture vinyl pressing of Lumb’s Sister also available.]
People Under The Stairs – O.S.T. [Reissue/2002] 2xLP (Piecelock 70)
With a career spanning two decades and 12 releases, L.A. duo People Under The Stairs bid farewell last year. Their unique self-produced legacy earned them the designation ‘The Steely Dan of Hip-Hop’.
Martin Rev – See Me Ridin’ [Reissue/1996] LP (Bureau B)
Martin Rev’s fourth solo album See Me Ridin’ was released on the New York label Reachout International Records (ROIR) in 1996. Received by the critics with amazement, it proved to be a watershed moment in his career.
Rilo Kiley – Rilo Kiley [Reissue/1999] LP (Little Record Co.)
For the first time on vinyl, Rilo Kiley’s rare original self-released record from 1999. Originally only a homemade CD and only sold at shows, this release features the same artwork in a gatefold package.
Joel Ross – Who Are You? LP (Blue Note)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. In 2019, vibraphonist and composer Joel Ross issued his Blue Note debut KingMaker to peer acknowledgment and wide critical acclaim. An introduction to his longstanding outfit Good Vibes, the album received nods from The New York Times’ Best Jazz of 2019, NPR Music’s Jazz Critics Poll and Rolling Stone’s 2019 Jazz Listener’s Guide. Now, expanding the breadth of his expression with his second release Who Are You?, the young artist has actualized his sound. Inspired by communication through storytelling – a method he absorbed, in part, working with such creative forces as Ambrose Akinmusire, Marquis Hill and Makaya McCraven – and with input from producer Walter Smith III, Ross assembled the album’s narrative in halves. Tracks 1-7 provide setting, as well as character introductions; tracks 8-15, plot twists. Each artist advances the spirit of risk-taking, while maintaining Ross’ vision for story structure.
Terje Rypdal – Conspiracy LP (ECM)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. On Conspiracy, the great Norwegian guitarist seems to reconnect with the wild inspiration that fueled such early masterpieces as Whenever I Seem To Be Far Away, Odyssey, and Waves, exploring the sonic potential of the electric guitar with both a rock improviser’s love of raw energy and a composer’s feeling for space and texture. Keyboardist Ståle Storløkken, who contributed to Terje’s Vossabrygg and Crime Scene albums, is an ideal co-conspirator, perpetually thickening the plot with his own intuitive feeling for complementary sound-colors.
Sleaford Mods – Austerity Dogs [Reissue/2013] LP (Extreme Eating)
Sleaford Mods – Divide & Exit [Reissue/2013] LP (Extreme Eating)
Once dismissed around their native Nottingham as two skip rats with a laptop the Sleaford Mods have simply knocked all their distractors clear out of the way. [Limited yellow colored vinyl pressing of Austerity Dogs also available.]
The Specials – More Specials [Reissue/1980] LP (Chrysalis)
40th anniversary half-speed remastered vinyl reissue. The Specials are one of the defining bands of the late ‘70s/early ‘80s along with Jerry Dammers iconic label Two Tone Records.
Tank and The Bangas – Friend Goals 12” (Verve Forecast)
Breakout New Orleans-based funk-soul outfit Tank And The Bangas are fronted by Tarriona “Tank” Ball, a singer and poet who can wail like Patti LaBelle, scold like Millie Jackson, and soliloquize like Jill Scott. Tank and The Bangas won NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest in 2017, leading to a major-label contract with Verve and the 2019 release of Green Balloon, their second studio album. The Friend Goals EP is the Grammy-nominated group’s highly anticipated follow-up endeavor, six-tracks featuring collaborations with CHIKA, PJ Morton, and Duckwrth.
Tanya Tucker – Live From The Troubadour LP (Fantasy)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Recorded October 16, 2019, Live From The Troubadour features a cache of Tucker’s #1 hits, like her smash first single “Delta Dawn” plus “Strong Enough To Bend”, “What’s Your Mama’s Name”, and “Would You Lay with Me (In a Field of Stone)”. With sublime medley of Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire” & Cash’s “Ring Of Fire” and tracks from Grammy-winning Country Album Of The Year, While I’m Livin’, like “Mustang Ridge”, “The Wheels Of Laredo”, “Hard Luck”, and the poignant title track.
UFO – Strangers In The Night [Reissue/1979] 2xLP (Chrysalis)
Regarded by many as one of the finest live albums of all time, Strangers in The Night captured UFO at the peak of their powers as a band. Originally released in 1979, this double album recorded during the bands October 1978 US tour, which can only be described “a live greatest hits of the band’s repertoire”.
Various Artists – Black Snake Moan [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] LP (New West)
Limited colored vinyl pressing. As Hustle & Flow depicted the underground world of Dirty South rap, Black Snake Moan, which was filmed in Memphis, Tennessee and surrounding environs, employs as a setting the contemporary North Mississippi hill country music scene, revealing it’s sound through purveyors like the North Mississippi Allstars, R.L. Burnside, and Jessie Mae Hemphill.
Various Artists – Southeast Of Saturn 2xLP (Third Man)
It makes sense that Detroit had a buzzy, thriving space-rock scene in the ‘90s. What American city’s denizens had a more urgent need to disengage and think outside the grim, post-industrial rustbelt realities? With space-rock (and its close sonic cousin shoegaze) being at once expansive and introspective, it naturally appealed to the young, intelligent artists who gravitated toward its vertiginous orbit. The music of Southeast Of Saturn did not arise organically from metro Detroit’s fertile soil. Locally, garage-rock, goth-rock, neo-hippie groups, and the usual preponderance of adequate bar bands dominated the landscape. Penned “Detroit Space-Rock”, the scene centered on Burnt Hair Records, Burnt Hair CEO Larry Hoffman’s Life According To Larry radio show, Zoot’s Coffeehouse and bands, such as Windy & Carl, Asha Vida, Füxa, Auburn Lull, and Majesty Crush. It was a modern movement of a more traditional “space-rock” sound, influenced less by The Stooges and MC5 and more by Spacemen 3, Loop, My Bloody Valentine and krautrock bands like Can and Neu!. Even the best-known artists on Southeast Of Saturn – Windy & Carl, Majesty Crush, Füxa – never achieved mainstream success, but within the rock underground, they inspired a cultish devotion that burns to this day.
Dominik Wania – Lonely Shadows LP (ECM)
After acclaimed ECM recordings with the Maciej Obara Quartet, Polish pianist Dominik Wania delivers his solo album, Lonely Shadows. Wania’s sensitivity to touch, tone and texture is informed by his classical background and his instincts of a great improviser, acutely focused on the unfolding details in the responsive interior of the Auditorio Stelio Molo studio.
Reverend John Wilkins – Trouble LP (Goner)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. To call the Reverend John Wilkins a national treasure would not be an overstatement. He is the son of pre-war blues/folk-revival legend Reverend Robert Wilkins and he leads one of the most exciting and uplifting musical acts on the blues and gospel circuit today. His multiracial, multi-generational band blends soul, southern gospel and hill country rhythm, into a sound that has the infectious drive of hill country blues with the emotional heights of a summer tent revival.
Young The Giant – Young The Giant [Reissue/2010] 2xLP (Roadrunner)
10th Anniversary deluxe edition. Young The Giant’s certified gold self-titled debut album Young The Giant (featuring the band’s hits “Cough Syrup”, “My Body” and more) celebrates its landmark 10th anniversary with this vinyl release. The set also includes three highly sought-after tracks that have never been on vinyl, plus a newly studio recorded bonus track “Take Me Home”, originally from The Jakes (band’s former name) Shake My Hand EP. Double 180gm vinyl pressing. Includes 20-page booklet and a 2’x2′ poster featuring a unique, modernized twist of the original cover art.
Cassettes:
Gwar – Scumdogs Of The Universe [Reissue/1990] (Pit)
Recently released on CD — cassette edition now available. It has been thirty Earth “years” since the lords and masters Gwar released what many consider to be the band’s career-defining album, Scumdogs Of The Universe. In celebration of this momentous occasion, Gwar are pleased as piss to unveil this 30th anniversary remastered reissue.
Nas – King’s Disease (Mass Appeal)
Red cassette edition. Produced by Hit-Boy (JAY-Z, Beyonce, Travis Scott) and co-executive produced by Hit-Boy and Gabriel “G Code” Zardes, King’s Disease marks Nas’ first new album in two years.
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