Social Media Program Titles Released This Week:
No social media program titles this week.
December/January Marketing Program/ Banner/ Listening Station Titles Promoted This Week:
Dream Theater – Distant Memories – Live In London 3xCD+2xBlu-ray/4xLP+3xCD (Century Media)
Distant Memories – Live In London brings together selections from 2019’s Distance Over Time, in concert with the full and complete performance of 1999’s Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory, in what was one of the most anticipated and historic evenings in Dream Theater history, ultimately becoming this instant classic. The entirety of the band’s The Distance Over Time Tour: Celebrating 20 Years of Scenes From A Memory is a testament to their fans’ long-term appreciation and love for the band as the members themselves recount, expressing that the “tour has been really incredible for all of us in so many ways. We have been supporting our latest work which has been embraced by DT fans all around the world in a way that we are incredibly grateful for, and the two nights we recorded and filmed in London were definitely amongst the best shows of the tour.”
Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band – Straight To You: Live CD+DVD/CD+Blu-ray/2xLP (Mascot Label Group)
It’s been a decade since the Grammy-nominated Live In Chicago, when the ferocity of Kenny Wayne Shepherd and his band was last captured live. Since then the multi-platinum selling Shepherd has gone from strength to strength, releasing four studio albums and touring the world over several times – from Brazil to Europe, India to Canada and the US to Australia and beyond. The band were only weeks into The Traveler World Tour when the Covid-19 pandemic broke, and the world came to a standstill. This show took place at the famous Leverkusen Jazzstage for the iconic German TV show, Rockpalast on November 25, 2019. [Limited edition red colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Smashing Pumpkins – Cyr CD/2xLP (Sumerian)
The Smashing Pumpkins follow-up 2018’s Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 1: No Past. No Future. No Sun. and usher in the dawn of a new decade with the new 20-track double album, Cyr. Produced by frontman Billy Corgan and recorded in Chicago with original members James Iha and Jimmy Chamblerlin plus longtime guitarist Jeff Schroeder, the album comes introduced by the synth-soaked title cut which Corgan likens to a “dystopic folly” and the hooky Cure-leaning “The Colour Of Love”. “This is the first album since the album that came out in 2000, Machina, where me, James [Iha] and Jimmy [Chamberlin] worked on something for a very long time,” Corgan said. “It’s got a greater conceptual base, and it’s probably a wider swath of music. The last one was kind of like, ‘Let’s just jump in, record some stuff real fast, and let it be what it is…’ so I’m excited about this, because we’re kind of back in the lane of taking a risk, and trying to bring something new to the table, as opposed to just aping what we’re known for.” [Limited edition colored vinyl pressing also available.]
CDs + Vinyl:
Amahiru – Amahiru CD (earMUSIC)
Amahiru is a duo consisting of ex-Dragonforce member Frédéric Leclercq and Mary’s Blood member SAKI.
Billie Joe Armstrong – No Fun Mondays CD/LP (Reprise)
Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong releases an album of various covers he recorded during the Covid-19 lockdown. Armstrong launched his No Fun Mondays quarantine series back in March at the start of the lockdown with a rendition of Tommy James and the Shondells’ “I Think We’re Alone Now”. He went on to cover a broad mix of songs, from punk classics like the Clash’s “Police On My Back”, to classic rock deep cuts like John Lennon’s “Gimme Some Truth” and pop standards like the Bangles’ “Manic Monday”. “While we’ve all been in quarantine I’ve been reflecting on the things that matter the most in my life: family, friends, and, of course, music,” Armstrong said in a statement. “I figure if we have to spend this time in isolation at least we can be alone together.”
Daniel Avery – Love + Light CD/LP+MP3 (Mute)
Love + Light arrives unexpectedly, following Avery’s recent collaborations with Alessandro Cortini on the critically acclaimed Illusion Of Time LP (“a record that suggests Godspeed You! Black Emperor in drone mode, reimagining Music For Airports as if the runways were covered in gravel and air traffic control was on strike,” said Loud & Quiet, while Q hailed it as “lush mood music to get lost in”) and alongside Roman Flügel under the alias of Noun. Avery’s previous solo album Song For Alpha was released in 2018 to similar acclaim. [Limited milky clear colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Ann Brun – How Beauty Holds The Hand Of Sorrow CD/LP (Balloon Ranger)
Sweden-based Norwegian artist Ane Brun’s ninth studio album finds her returning to her early work’s intimate poignancy; nine tracks of stunning artful singer-songwriter fare.
Tim Burgess – Ascent Of The Ascended CDEP/12”+MP3 (Bella Union)
New EP from the Charlatans frontman; the follow-up to his I Love The New Sky album.
Cadaver – Edder & Bile CD/LP (Nuclear Blast)
Edder & Bile, the first full length from the Norwegian extreme metal band in sixteen years, is brimming with the same primal, primitive spirit that drove the band’s early works. [Limited green & yellow colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Carlton Melton – Where This Leads CD/LP (Agitated)
Without forcing a specific dynamic or theme, the band inhabits its womb-like confines to improvise, explore, dream. Their music draws on psychedelia, stoner metal, krautrock, and ambient atmospherics to convey, above all else, a mood.
Communic – Hiding From The World CD (AFM)
This Norwegian trio delivers a skillfully-crafted combination of progressive, power, thrash and doom metal. [Limited translucent orange colored vinyl pressing due December 4.]
Miley Cyrus – Plastic Hearts CD (RCA)
The seventh studio album by Miley Cyrus includes the single “Midnight Sky”. Of Plastic Hearts, she has cited Britney Spears and Metallica as musical influences.
Dark Buddha Rising – Mathreyata CD/LP (Svart)
Dark Buddha Rising’s abyssal and meditative sonic-void has been opening up over the last 10 years to swallow more and more devotees in their wake. The Finnish “dark underlords of psychedelic drone,” have channeled their seventh album Mathreyata, for dark spirits and those who seek to travel beyond the unknown. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Dave Davies – Dave Davies – Rock Bottom (Live At The Bottom Line) [Reissue/2000] 2xCD (Red River Entertaiment)
20th anniversary limited deluxe edition. Dave Davies live and on fire at New York’s Bottom Line in 1997, playing all the classics from The Kinks and more, including “She’s Got Everything”, “Beautiful Delilah”, Tired Of Waiting”, “Picture Book”, “Death Of A Clown” and more.
Dead Sleep – Naked Tyrant CD/LP (Denomination)
Four piece Dead Sleep from Malmö, Sweden, release their sophomore album; ten tracks of furious old school thrash metal, taking inspiration from both hardcore punk and the British heavy metal legacy. [Limited clear vinyl pressing also available.]
Diamond Head – Lightning To The Nations 2020 CD/2xLP (Silver Lining Music)
Re-imagined, re-recorded and re-born, Diamond Head’s 40-year celebration of their genre-defining debut album Lightning To The Nations is a scintillating shot of fresh metal energy. Taking the material which spawned the ground-breaking New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM), Diamond Head utilize all their skill, experience and revitalized energy to breathe so much new life into these freshly recorded takes that it feels like experiencing the earth shaking all over again.
Dream Theater – Distant Memories – Live In London 3xCD+2xBlu-ray/4xLP+3xCD (Century Media)
Distant Memories – Live In London brings together selections from 2019’s Distance Over Time, in concert with the full and complete performance of 1999’s Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory, in what was one of the most anticipated and historic evenings in Dream Theater history, ultimately becoming this instant classic. The entirety of the band’s The Distance Over Time Tour: Celebrating 20 Years of Scenes From A Memory is a testament to their fans’ long-term appreciation and love for the band as the members themselves recount, expressing that the “tour has been really incredible for all of us in so many ways. We have been supporting our latest work which has been embraced by DT fans all around the world in a way that we are incredibly grateful for, and the two nights we recorded and filmed in London were definitely amongst the best shows of the tour.”
Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia [Deluxe Edition] 2xCD (WB)
Deluxe expanded edition the second studio album from the global superstar featuring a disc of remixes. For Future Nostalgia, Dua Lipa enlisted writers and producers such as Jeff Bhasker, Ian Kirkpatrick, Stuart Price, The Monsters & Strangerz, in order to create a nostalgic pop and disco record with influences from dance-pop and electronic music, inspired by the music that Lipa enjoyed during her childhood.
Electra Hydra – Electra Hydra CD/LP (Majestic Mountain)
Formed on the windswept West Coast of Sweden, amid the dark forests of Småland, Electric Hydra’s founding members first met on an impromptu night in late 2017. In doing so they collectively hit upon a newfound friendship and shared love of Kyuss, Fu Manchu, Entombed and Black Sabbath.
Eleine – Dancing In Hell CD (Black Lodge)
Hard-hitting, melodic and seductive symphonic metal. [Vinyl edition due December 11.]
Hatebreed – Weight Of The False Self CD/LP (Nuclear Blast)
With unflinching tenacity, the impenetrable heavy metal hardcore factory that is Hatebreed has brought forth yet another iron cast, sonic weapon with Weight Of The False Self. It comes as no surprise that their eighth, full length album is the result of the usual sweat and blood that have cemented Hatebreed’s unique niche in the world of music for over two decades. Renowned for their ability to provide an intense and cathartic release for their fans, Hatebreed challenged their writing style through this album cycle in order to produce material that is exceptionally relatable in a contemporary world flooded with overstimulation, emotional dampening, and lack of social patience. [Limited bone brown swirl colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Haystack – Slave Me [Reissue/1998] CD (Threeman Recordings)
Digitally remastered edition of the 1998 album by the Swedish hard rock band. Haystack was formed 1994 by Ulf Cederlund (Entombed, Disfear, Murder Squad, Alpha Safari, Swarm Of Souls) after a North American tour where the band Unsane opened up for Entombed. Uffe liked what they were doing and formed a three-piece band influenced mainly by Unsane but also other Noise-rock/Fucked-up punk-rock three-piece bands like: Hammerhead (US), NoMeansNo, Steel Pole Bath Tub, Bitch Magnet, Melvins, Dinosaur Jr, Wipers and Dead Moon. [Vinyl edition due December 11.]
The Head and The Heart – Living Mirage: The Complete Recordings 2xLP (WB)
This deluxe double-vinyl pressing of The Head and The Heart’s 2019 album features four brand new tracks.
Howlin’ Rain – Under the Wheels, Vol 2 LP (Silver Current)
On Under The Wheels, Vol. 2, Howlin Rain’s trademark rock ‘n’ roll bombast and intricately woven, extended improv passages swirl into a distinct form of storytelling, expressed through spiraling energy and a near constant flow of form and melody. As a companion to its Vol. 1 predecessor, this latest offering is also drawn from North American coastal tours in 2018 and 2019 that came in support of the band’s most recent studio album, The Alligator Bride. Curated by Howlin Rain founder Ethan Miller, it presents favorite song performances selected from different shows along the way.
Invincible Force – Decomposed Sacramentum CD/LP (Dark Decent)
A relentless whirlwind of proto-death, hysterical thrash and demonic atmosphere full of riffs and blast beats worthy of Morbid Angel Abomination Of Desolation-era or Incubus.
Jaded Star – Realign CD (Noble Demon)
Powerful vocals by Maxi Nil, backed by dynamic arrangements and unique songwriting that is reminiscent of old-school metal with a modern edge. [Vinyl edition due December 11.]
Kings Of The F**king Sea – In Concert CD/LP (Agitated)
“Kings of the Fucking Sea make me want to mask-up, topple statues, carve Iggy’s face in Mount Rushmore, storm the White House and paint it black. Their noise hits on a visceral level and will scorch the edges of your very DNA. If MC5 and Black Sabbath had a baby it would be a biological miracle, and they would call it Kings Of The F**king Sea. Troubled times need troubling music: here it is, a live soundtrack to a crumbling empire. Totally righteous.” – Benjamin Myers (Walter Scott Award winning author of The Gallows Pole and The Offing)
Loudblast – Manifesto CD (Listenable)
Manifesto is an immediate death metal crusher, permeated with a ‘straight for killing’ feel while still delivering enough subtle thriving groove to strike deadlier and enhancing that original head banging death metal powerful trademark. [Vinyl edition due December 4.]
Lustmord/Nicolas Horvath – The Fall: Dennis Johnson’s November Deconstructed CD/2xLP (Sub Rosa)
Written for solo piano in 1959, November is the first example of minimalist music composition and was the inspiration for La Monte Young’s The Well-Tuned Piano (1964). The 66 minute piece is a collaboration between legendary artist Lustmord and renowned classical pianist Nicolas Horvath, in which they reduces Johnson’s original November to its core element and place it in a landscape of complimentary sound.
Mac Blackout – Love Profess CD/LP (Trouble In Mind)
Mac Blackout, a.k.a Chicagoan Mark McKenzie has been on the fringes of the Chicago music scene for two decades now, whether blasting brains in scuzz-punk bands The Functional Blackouts & Daily Void or as wild-eyed frontman for glam-punks Mickey. While his solo recordings as Mac Blackout have traditionally followed along the same path of KBD-infused, sci-fi punk rock, his new instrumental solo album, Love Profess offers listeners a new side.
Marathon – Mark Kelly’s Marathon CD/CD+DVD (earMUSIC)
Marillion keyboardist Mark Kelly releases a new prog rock solo album. [Deluxe edition includes bonus “The Real World Sessions” DVD.]
New Model Army – Carnival (Redux) CD/2xLP (earMUSIC)
New Model Army has never been bound by musical genres. Formed in 1980, the band from Bradford, England was initially influenced by punk rock and northern soul, but over time drew from folk, metal, R&B, hip-hop and classical music to make something totally unique and unclassifiable. Carnival was originally released in 2005, 25 years into New Model Army’s career; it had been their first studio album in more than five years. [Limited white colored double-LP pressing also available.]
Ocean Hills – Santa Monica CD (AFM)
The new band fronted by former Ignite singer Zoli Téglás delivers up-to-date stadium rock with an alternative touch. [Vinyl edition due December 4.]
Eric Reed – For Such A Time As This CD (Smoke Sessions)
For more than three decades, Eric Reed has been one of the most influential and beloved jazz musicians. He’s recorded close to 30 accomplished leader albums showcasing his virtuosic chops, intellectual clarity and unwavering will to swing. For Such A Time As This is a powerful and uplifting program framed by the realities of global pandemic anxiety, persistent racism and racial injustice, and an acrimonious, fraught Presidential election season.
Revolting – The Shadow At The World’s End CD (Transcending Obscurity)
Well-rounded Swedish death metal.
Enrique Rodríguez and The Negra Chiway Band – False Liminal CD/LP (Soul Jazz)
Enrique Rodríguez and The Negra Chiway Band have an instantly powerful and unique sound that is reminiscent of the ensembles of Sun Ra and Horace Tapscott, one that channels the righteous spirits of Alice Coltrane, John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp and McCoy Tyner together with a stunning Latin rhythmical and new consciousness and percussive energy. Added are elements of the Samurai film soundtracks of Akira Kurosawa, Popol Vuh’s musical spirituality, Tibetan Buddhism and over-blowing chants, all combining to give a truly unique new sound.
Scour – The Black CDEP/12” (Housecore)
Scour is an extreme metal supergroup featuring Philip H. Anselmo (Pantera, Down, en Minor, et al), John Jarvis (Agoraphobic Nosebleed), Derek Engemann (Philip H. Anselmo
& The Illegals), Mark Kloeppel (Misery Index), and Adam Jarvis (Pig Destroyer, Lock Up).
Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band – Straight To You: Live CD+DVD/CD+Blu-ray/2xLP (Mascot Label Group)
It’s been a decade since the Grammy-nominated Live In Chicago, when the ferocity of Kenny Wayne Shepherd and his band was last captured live. Since then the multi-platinum selling Shepherd has gone from strength to strength, releasing four studio albums and touring the world over several times – from Brazil to Europe, India to Canada and the US to Australia and beyond. The band were only weeks into The Traveler World Tour when the Covid-19 pandemic broke, and the world came to a standstill. This show took place at the famous Leverkusen Jazzstage for the iconic German TV show, Rockpalast on November 25, 2019. [Limited edition red colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Smashing Pumpkins – Cyr 2xCD/2xLP (Sumerian)
The Smashing Pumpkins follow-up 2018’s Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 1: No Past. No Future. No Sun. and usher in the dawn of a new decade with the new 20-track double album, Cyr. Produced by frontman Billy Corgan and recorded in Chicago with original members James Iha and Jimmy Chamblerlin plus longtime guitarist Jeff Schroeder, the album comes introduced by the synth-soaked title cut which Corgan likens to a “dystopic folly” and the hooky Cure-leaning “The Colour Of Love”. “This is the first album since the album that came out in 2000, Machina, where me, James [Iha] and Jimmy [Chamberlin] worked on something for a very long time,” Corgan said. “It’s got a greater conceptual base, and it’s probably a wider swath of music. The last one was kind of like, ‘Let’s just jump in, record some stuff real fast, and let it be what it is…’ so I’m excited about this, because we’re kind of back in the lane of taking a risk, and trying to bring something new to the table, as opposed to just aping what we’re known for.” [Limited edition double blood marbled colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Granger Smith – Country Things CD (Wheelhouse)
Like the first half of the project, the second volume of Country Things consists of eight tracks, rounding out a body of work that Granger says “scales the highs and lows of a life spent doing – well, country things.”
Sodom – Genesis XIX CD/2xLP (eOne Music)
Sodom is a German thrash metal band from Gelsenkirchen, formed in 1981. Along with Kreator, Destruction and Tankard, Sodom has been referred to as one of the Big Four of Teutonic thrash metal.
Shakin’ Stevens – Singled Out: The Definitive Singles Collection 3xCD/2xLP (BMG)
A collection of Shaky’s singles released as a solo artist, highlighting the broad umbrella of styles from rock and country blues, to Cajun, and Americana to classic rock.
Kelley Stoltz – Ah! (etc) CD (Agitated)
After twelve releases and a several more under pseudonyms, Stoltz is the word for one-man-band-home-recording-pop-songs of idiosyncratic character. A quick follow up to his more power pop and pub rock LP only Hard Feelings offering in the summer, Ah! (etc) finds Stoltz returning to his sweet spot, writing songs that never were, but should have been in the ’60s and ’80s.[Vinyl edition due December 11.]
Stormwind – Resurrection [Reissue/2000] CD (Black Lodge)
Remastered and expanded with five bonus tracks. Stormwind is a neoclassical power metal band from Stockholm, Sweden, founded in 1996 by the guitarist and mastermind Thomas Wolf. [Vinyl edition due December 11.]
Trees Speak – Shadow Forms CD/LP (Soul Jazz)
Trees Speak’s stunning new album Shadow Forms is a blend of 1970s German electronic and ‘motorik’ krautrock instrumentals (think Harmonia, Can, Cluster, Popul Vuh, Neu!), haunting and powerful 1960s and 1970s soundtracks (think Italian prog rock Goblin and John Carpenter horror movies, Morricone and existential John Barry spy movies), together with a New York no wave electronic synth and guitar analogue DIY-ness (think Suicide, anything on Soul Jazz’s New York Noise series or Eno’s No New York).
Voivod – Lost Machine: Live CD (Century Media)
Canada’s progressive sci-fi metal innovators return with a new live release. [Vinyl edition due December 18.]
WhoMadeWho – Synchronicity CD/2xLP (Kompakt)
Tomas Barfod’s penchant for electronic music poetically juxtaposed with Tomas Høffding and Jeppe Kjellberg’s respective backgrounds in rock and jazz, gives their music an electrifying combination of sounds, merging a variety of influences to produce a unique sonic fingerprint that is emotive, irresistible and immensely satisfying.
Within The Ruins – Black Heart CD/LP (eOne Music)
Like an icepick to the face, Within the Ruins arrives with an electric surge of sudden pain. An unrelenting end of the world assault of the cataclysmic convergence of metal and hardcore, with bits of blackened death and mid-tempo madness to spare, the MA master blasters are here to crash the crossover party. Summoning the primitive spirit of the singular moment when the heaviest of metal first smashed into a circle pit, Within the Ruins reignite the flame with sharp fury.
Jesse Colin Young – Highway Troubadour CD (BMG)
New album of reimagined songs from throughout his career, providing a fresh take on some of the material that put him on the map years ago with the Youngbloods.
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
Caroline Af Ugglas – Antingen Eller LP (Siloton)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Caroline is one of Sweden’s most beloved artists and the mastermind behind the popular TV format Clash Of The Choirs, that was broadcasted both in the US and in Sweden. She is also a recognized as an esteemed painter.
Armor For Sleep – What To Do When You Are Dead [Reissue/2005] LP (Equal Vision)
Deluxe 15 year anniversary vinyl pressing, expanded with previously unreleased B-sides and early demos.
Belphegor – Totenritual [Reissue/2017] LP (Nuclear Blast)
Limited gold with black splatter colored vinyl pressing of the Swedish death/black metal band’s eleventh album.
Big Rig – Expansive Heart [Reissue/1994] LP (1-2-3-4 Go!)
Big Rig was a very short lived project from Jesse Michaels (Operation Ivy, Common Rider, Classics Of Love), Doug Sangalang (Screw 32, Limp, One Time Angels), Kevin Cross (The Nerve Agents, Pitch Black), Jeremy Goody (Pitch Black) and Brandon Riggen. The band rose and fell in 1993. They played a single show and left behind a demo and this EP which was originally on Lookout Records in 1994.
Bipolar – Bipolar 7” (Slovenly)
Bipolar is the twisted creation of Pouya and Obash, formed in a Brooklyn pisshouse while on a bender in the not too distant past. The duo moved to the USA from ‘conservative’ Tehran, Iran as a cog in a wheel of a true underground scene in pursuit of their passion for cross dressing musical performance based on their love of the circus and all things theatrical. Think Screamers finger-banging The Dickies while The Spits egg them on.
The Bird And The Bee – The Bird And The Bee [Reissue/2006] LP (Slow Down Sounds)
White the first repressing sold out in hours on RSD 2019, The Bird And The Bee’s self-titled synth-pop debut is again repressed – this time on clear-water blue colored vinyl. The Bird and the Bee is Grammy-winning producer Greg Kurstin (Adele, Foo Fighters, Flaming Lips, Sia and Paul McCartney, etc.) and L.A. singer-songwriter Inara George.
Blind Guardian’s Twilight Orchestra – Legacy Of The Dark Lands 2xLP (Nuclear Blast)
German power metal band Blind Guardian partners with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Two limited colored vinyl pressings are available: yellow/green ‘inkspot’ swirl and orange/yellow.
Boris – No CDLP (Blood Sucker)
Limited red colored vinyl pressing. At a time when all cultures were forced to refrain from playing music due to the influence of COVID-19, Boris took the action of purifying and sublimating the negative emotions of many people with extreme music. It was a journey that reaffirmed the path they had taken. The main focus of No is on the 1980s-‘90s hardcore punk reimagining of Boris’s style.
Botonist – Photosynthesis LP (The Flenser)
Photosynthesis is a concept album about how plants convert sunlight into energy, how they transform carbon dioxide into the oxygen that all fauna need to breathe. The album’s eight tracks each deal with an aspect of photosynthesis which reflects the theme of botanical lungs on a microscopic level. The album production was handled by Dan Swanö, a musician whose legend is equally for his enormous contributions to the Swedish melodic and progressive death metal scenes in the ’90s and ’00s, as he is for his output of top-shelf album productions from his Unisound studio. The application of Swanö’s creative genius in more artistic, avant-garde areas of the metal spectrum is a match of dreams for Botanist, resulting in an album that achieves a new level of the project’s expanding vision with production excellence.
The Cavemen – Euthanise Me 12” (Slovenly)
New Zealand’s stank beacons of irresponsibility, The Cavemen, are back with four new merciless hits to the chin, as if 2020 hasn’t been painful enough.
Chai & Hinds – United Girls Rock N Roll Club 12” (Heavenly)
Though they may live a world apart, Tokyo-based Chai and Madrid-bred Hinds are cut from the same rebellious cloth. Both acts are celebrated for their euphoric live shows, described as giddy feel-good free-for-alls, often complete with synchronized dancing and sing-a-longs. That frenetic energy is palatable on their albums, which boldly state the case for female empowerment and creativity. Whether challenging outdated beauty standards or stagediving with reckless abandon, Chai and Hinds are here to make you get up and dance in celebration of life and friendship.
Chicago – Night & Day [Reissue/1995] LP (Friday Music)
Limited audiophile 180gm vinyl LP pressing of Chicago’s 1995 tribute to the big band sound. [Limited aqua colored version also available.]
Christian Death – Rage Of Angels LP (Cleopatra)
Limited picture disc vinyl pressing of the 1994 album by the death rock cult band.
Chrome – Into The Eyes Of The Zombie King [Reissue/1984] LP (Cleopatra)
Limited edition vinyl reissue of Chrome’s 1984 album. After the departure of guitarist Helios Creed, Chrome founder Damon Edge took the band in a more synthesized, cold wave direction.
Kenny Claiborne And The Armed Gang – The Armed Gang [Reissue/1983] LP (Espacial Discos)
Vinyl reissue of an Italo/boogie/funk/synth holy grail.
Coil – Musick To Play In The Dark² [Reissue/2000] 2xLP (Dais)
Convening at Johnn Balance and Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson’s vast Victorian house / studio in the coastal town of Weston-super-Mare, they began a series of ambitious sessions aided by inner circle associates Thighpaulsandra and Drew McDowell as the foundation of Musick To Play In The Dark². Although the creative process was admittedly iterative and a bit of a drug blur, the results are astoundingly inventive and well realized, winding through shades of divination dirge, wormhole kosmische, noir lounge, ominous humor, and black mass downtempo, guided by Balance’s cryptic lunar muse, which he announces on the opening track: “This is moon music / in the light of the moon.”
John Davis and Dennis Callaci – Arches & Pathways LP (Shrimper)
Recorded over a three day weekend in July of 2019, Arches & Pathways finds The Folk Implosion’s John Davis and Refrigerator’s Dennis Callaci reuniting following their Room For Space LP from twenty five years back. That first record was improvised and recorded in one afternoon live to a one track. This record has the luxury of being recorded over three days by engineer Steve Folta in the Callaci living room. The improvised collection features brand new songs written and recorded over those three days by the two of them building upon a live take of piano and drums, or dueling guitars and layering the new baby with overdubs immediately afterward to capture all that was in the room at the time. It is a modern day minimal psych score whose guts are pushed into the skin of songs. Songs of minimal expanse.
Dio – Finding The Sacred Heart – Live In Philly 1986 [Reissue/2013] 2xLP (earMUSIC)
Finding The Sacred Heart – Live In Philly 1986 was recorded at The Spectrum in Philadelphia during the second leg of the Sacred Heart tour in June 1986. It is a spectacular show with Ronnie James Dio in fine skyscraping voice while the band delivers a blistering performance featuring tracks from Dio’s first three albums alongside Black Sabbath and Rainbow classics. [Limited white colored vinyl pressing also available.]
The Durutti Column – Short Stories For Pauline [Reissue/2012] LP+MP3 (Factory Benelux)
Limited edition blue colored vinyl reissue. Short Stories For Pauline was originally recorded in 1983 for Factory Benelux. The album was scrapped when Factory Records’ head, Tony Wilson (who also served as the band’s manager), suggested that Reilly instead record a full instrumental album similar to the album track “Duet”. Reilly did so, as ’84’s Without Mercy, allowing Short Stories For Pauline to collect dust, until 2012.
Editors – The Back Room [Reissue/2005] LP (PIAS America)
Limited white colored vinyl pressing. Editors’ classic debut album, celebrated 15 years on. Includes the hit singles and noir-indie classics “Munich”, “Bullets”, “Blood” and “All Sparks”.
Empyrium – …Der Wie Ein Blitz Vom Himmel Fiel… [Reissue/1995] LP (Prophecy)
Empyrium first played melodic black metal and only later shifted to dark folk. …Der Wie Ein Blitz Vom Himmel Fiel… (“He who fell from the sky like lightning”) was recorded on December 19, 1994, and released earlier in the following year. The Germans’ first demo cassette, which became an underground success just by word of mouth in times before the internet, not only marked the beginning of a lifelong career in music for mastermind Schwadorf; it also triggered the foundation of Prophecy Productions and Klangschmiede Studio E, both becoming internationally renowned in their own right, but also served as a template for black-metal-infused sounds with lyrics inspired by the wonders and mysteries of nature that were picked up by many a band that came afterwards. [Limited gold colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Enuff Z’nuff – Dissonance [Reissue/2008] LP (Deadline Music)
Limited color vinyl pressing of the powerful 2008 album from Chicago’s kings of power pop. Dissonance featured the return of vocalist Donnie Vie after a several year hiatus as well guitar work from former Ozzy Osbourne axeman Jake E. Lee.
Falkenbach – The Nine Worlds Of Falkenbach (Manifestations 1995-2013) 9xLP (Prophecy)
One-man band (with session participation of some musicians), started in 1989 in Iceland. The first demo “Havamal” was purely clean folk music, but the music has developed into more raw sound (but also very epic), featuring the elements of black, heavy & folk metal. All of Falkenbach’s major works are collected in this lavish box set. [Limited gold colored vinyl pressing also available. The nine-CD box set version is due December 11.]
Flogging Molly – Swagger (20th Anniversary Box Set) 2xLP+12”+DVD (SideOneDummy)
Limited 20th anniversary colored vinyl box set of the Celtic punk band’s 2000 debut album containing a remixed and remastered version of the album that features a bonus version of “Sentimental Johnny” en Espan~ol) plus a bonus LP featuring three live songs recorded in 2001 at Denver’s famed Bluebird Theatre and a traditional Irish set, a never-before-seen DVD documentary from 2000 including a full live performance, an expanded lyric booklet featuring photos from the band’s personal collection, Flogging Molly Logo vinyl slip mat, embroidered patch and four badge Swagger button pack.
Gamma Ray – To The Metal [Reissue/2010] LP (earMUSIC)
Limited orange colored vinyl pressing of the tenth full-length studio album by the German power metal heavyweights.
Catherine Christer Hennix – Unbegrenzt LP (Blank Forms)
Unbegrenzt is the third in an ongoing series of archival records of the unheard music of Swedish composer Catherine Christer Hennix. Recorded in February of 1974 and featuring Hennix (recitation, percussion, and electronics) and Hans Isgren (bowed gong), Hennix’s realization of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Unbegrenzt (German for unlimited) from Aus den Sieben Tagen is an elaboration both rigorous and radically different from the canonical 1969 recording.
Jethro Tull – Nothing Is Easy – Live At The Isle Of Wight 1970 LP (earMUSIC)
Nothing Is Easy – Live At The Isle Of Wight 1970 finds Jethro Tull, a few years prior to their superstardom, playing heavy blues-rock on what would later be remembered as one of the most important festivals in rock music history. Taking the stage at the so-called “British Woodstock” was a milestone to the young band surrounding mastermind Ian Anderson, with a classics-filled setlist. Pressed on colored double-vinyl in gatefold packaging.
Kingdom Of Giants – Passenger LP (Sharptone)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. While firmly rooted in classic metalcore elements, familiar to fans of Killswitch Engage and As I Lay Dying or international counterparts like Architects UK and Northlane, six-piece California band Kingdom Of Giants bravely color outside the lines of the safe and predictable.
Leaves Eyes – The Last Viking 2xLP (AFM)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Epic new album from the symphonic metal band. [Limited edition colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Brennen Leigh – Prairie Love Letter LP (Brennen Leigh)
Brennen Leigh is an American songwriter, guitar player, mandolin player, and singer with a direct storytelling style that has elevated her to cult icon status with American and European fans alike; and songwriting skills that have landed compositions on recordings by Rodney Crowell, Lee Ann Womack, and other renowned artists. The Nashville-based artist delivers her sixth album here, her Prairie Love Letter, an ode to her birthplace on the state line between Minnesota and North Dakota, a region not often immortalized in song. Produced by Robbie Fulks.
Mano Negra – Best Of Mano Negra [Reissue/1998] 2xLP (Because Music)
Mano Negra was a French music group active from 1987 to 1995 and fronted by Manu Chao. The Best Of Mano Negra collects 22 hits and two previously unreleased tracks.
Negativland – The World Will Decide LP (Seeland)
Negativland’s mirror image sequel to last year’s True False, The World Will Decide turns the focus away from the very human inability to accurately define reality, and towards the technologies being built to do a better job at it. But if sorting true from false seemed like a full time job back when all one had to keep track of was one’s own mind, life alongside the machines built to connect everyone only seems to multiply the uncertainties. On The World Will Decide, those uncertainties are made almost deliriously danceable: a netweb of densely sampled voices melting speech back down into music and back again, into what everyone can agree are the real questions-did that firefly really land on your finger? Would you like to be arrested? Does this app connect you to people, or replace them? Is this post an example of inauthentic behavior? Do people have to die? Or, as one of the many sampled voices on this work assures the listener: we can really feel like we’re here.
The Neighborhood – Chip Chrome & The Mono-Tones 2xLP (Columbia)
“Chip Chrome & The Mono-Tones sounds like its own band name, but in actuality, it is the latest album by The Neighbourhood. After topping the charts with the single, “Sweater Weather,” The Neighbourhood took their newfound success and decided to reinvent themselves, slightly. It is remis to find that the alt-rock stylings are gone in favor of an electro-funk style.” – The Young Folks
Overland – Scandalous LP (Escape Music)
Limited edition ‘Dracula red’ colored vinyl pressing. Steve Overland has a history that goes way back into the late ‘70s, his first major recording was with the band Wildlife in 1980. After the demise of “Wildlife” Steve went on to form the cult British melodic rock band FM, a band that released many great albums throughout the years and they are still going strong to this very day.
The Paranoyds – Pet Cemetery 7” (Suicide Squeeze)
As the world continues to literally burn, The Paranoyds return with a much-needed dose of musical levity. It’s been nearly a year since the Los Angeles-based outfit released Carnage Bargain, their debut full-length, and this new release, a two-song 7”, is a total embodiment of their every influence. Their identity – a band fueled by campy horror movies and garage rock – is more evident than ever on this single.
Orville Peck – Show Pony LP (Columbia)
Limited purple colored vinyl pressing. Includes sticker and poster. Orville is a critically-acclaimed rising country artist.
Phish – Sigma Oasis 2xLP (Jemp)
Double green and black vinyl pressing. 15th album by the jam band superheroes.
Picks & Lighters – TVA/Starvation [Reissue/1997] LP (VG+)
The first-ever reissue of Picks & Lighters’ 1997 private-press LP TVA/Starvation, two sides of tumbling lo-fi guitars-and-drums improvisation that stumbles across the under-explored territory that lies between the rough minimalism of early Terry Riley and the protean drone of Hill Country blues.
Podium – Podium LP (Slovenly)
“Pulsating with the epic aggression of hardcore, the impersonal and perverse tone of industrial metal, and fully balanced with the liveliness of the authentic surf scene, we’ll be so bold as to describe them as a curious mixture of Ministry (circa ’89), Man Or Astroman? and the goddamn Go-Go’s ablaze with the pyromaniacal tendencies of Steve Albini’s Shellac.”
Polo G – The Goat 2xLP (Columbia)
The Goat is the second studio album by rapper Polo G. The album features guest appearances from Mustard, Juice Wrld, Stunna 4 Vegas, NLE Choppa, Mike Will Made It, Lil Baby, and BJ the Chicago Kid.
Possessed – The Eyes Of Horror [Reissue/1987] LP (Red Music Legacy)
Limited white colored vinyl pressing. The Eyes Of Horror is an EP by American death metal band Possessed, originally released in 1987 on Combat Records, and produced by legendary guitarist Joe Satriani. The five songs offer a great variety of metal.
Ana Roxanne – Because A Flower LP (Kranky)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The sublime songs comprising Los Angeles-based musician Ana Roxanne’s second record, Because Of A Flower, germinated gradually across five years, inspired by interwoven notions of gender identity, beauty, and cruelty. She describes her process as beginning with a drone element and a mood, then intuiting melody, syllables, and lyrics incrementally, like sacred shapes materializing from mist. The experience of identifying as intersex informs the album on levels both sonic and thematic, from spoken word texts borrowed from tonal harmony textbooks to cinematic dialogue samples and castrati aria allusions. It’s an appropriately interstitial vision of ambient songcraft, a chemistry of wisps and whispers, sanctuary and sorrow, conjured through a fragile balance of voice, bass, space, and texture.
Moonchild Sanelly – Nüdes LP (Transgressive)
South Africa’s Queen of Gqom, Moonchild Sanelly’s electrifying music, iconic personal style and outspoken approach to female sexual empowerment has earned her a global audience. The Nüdes EP follows her recent feature on “My Power” from Beyoncé’s Black Is King visual album and the announcement of her upcoming feature on “With Love To An Ex” from the Gorillaz’s album Strange Timez. Nüdes includes the empowering anthem Thunda Thighs, which spawned its own TikTok challenge, as well as singles “Where De Dee Kat” and “Bashiri”.
Soulwax – Night Versions [Reissue/2005] 2xLP (Deewee)
Double pink and white colored vinyl pressing. “People tend to forget that rock and roll was, is and forever shall be ‘dance music.’ What that means is music shouldn’t have to be backed by that incessant `unhts-uhnts’ to be considered something to which you can move your body, no matter how awkward you might look. Soulwax, aka 2 Many DJ’s, whom some would argue are the progenitors of the `mash-up,’ remind us of that fact on Nite Versions.” – Treble
Stratovarius – Nemesis [Reissue/2013] LP (earMUSIC)
Limited white colored vinyl pressing of the fourteenth studio album by Finnish power metal legends.
The Telescopes – Between Dimensions 2 LP (Alive)
The Telescopes’ Between Dimensions compiles all of their EPS originally released on the Creation, What Goes On, and Cheree labels. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Wayfarer – A Romance With Violence LP (Profound Lore)
Wayfarer is black metal of the American West. A cavalcade of fury, melancholia, and dust-laden storytelling; the band is informed by the fierce and adventurous spectrums of heavy music, along with the stark Americana of the “Denver sound” artists that carved the identity of their home.
Junior Wells – Blues Brothers LP (Cleopatra)
Recently released on CD – now available on limited colored vinyl. Blues legend Junior Wells lives on with these historic recordings featuring vintage Wells performances enhanced with new recordings from some of the hottest blues players around today.
Dwight Yoakam – Population: Me [Reissue/2003] LP (New West)
Dwight Yoakam – Dwight’s Used Records [Reissue/2004] LP (New West)
Dwight Yoakam’s, Population: Me (2003) and Dwight’s Used Records (2004) are repackaged with updated artwork and remastered for vinyl; both released on limited edition colored vinyl for their first pressing release.
Leave a Reply