Social Media Program Titles Released This Week:
Josiah Johnson – Every Feeling On A Loop CD/2xLP (ANTI-)
Josiah Johnson – a former and founding member of The Head And The Heart – releases his debut solo album Every Feeling On A Loop. On lead single “Nobody Knows”, Johnson sings for people to have courage in sharing and receiving the truths of their hearts. The messages, like the man himself, are a welcome breath of air. “A lot of the growth documented on this album is about taking responsibility for how I’m showing up in the world, and that song was about taking responsibility for how I care for myself,” Johnson says. “Part of my experience with addiction was that I was having a hard time, but I wasn’t raising my hand to get the help I needed.” With time, though, came clarity. Although the music came regularly, Johnson still allowed himself to fantasize about a life never returning to professional music. He still contemplates earning a degree in social work. Yet, the songs kept bubbling up. On Every Feeling On A Loop, lush musical arrangements and harmonies support Johnson’s baritone crooning. At times, the songs sound like prayers. At others, his exuberance feels like the euphoria he’d always sought, this time hard-earned and wiser. He says he feels like a new person making it, charting his journey out of the dark into the wide-awake of the morning, using the magic that was his all along.
September Listening Station/Marketing Program Titles Released This Week:
All Them Witches – Nothing As The Ideal CD/LP (New West)
All Them Witches have built a career out of playing music that cannot be pigeonholed into one specific genre. Nothing As The Ideal was recorded in Studio 2 at the world famous Abbey Road with the help of longtime mixing engineer Mikey Allred. The history and vibe of that setting laid the groundwork for what was to come. The band’s signature psychedelic blues riffs, relentless drums, melodic bass lines and non-linear lyrics are all present. The resulting album is a thought provoking head banger that is the band’s most cohesive album to date. [Limited edition picture disc vinyl pressing also available.]
Carolina Story – Dandelion CD/LP (Black River Americana)
Blending folk intimacy, country grit, and alt-rock muscle, Carolina Story’s resilient new album, Dandelion, is an ode to survival in the face of struggle, a full-throated tribute to the power of hope and the unbreakable bonds of family. Recorded with acclaimed producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Paul Moak (Joy Williams, Ashley Monroe), the collection is fueled by raw, honest storytelling and lush, cinematic arrangements, expanding the homespun craftsmanship of the Nashville duo’s debut to draw on a broader, more ambitious palette, one that hints at everything from The Jayhawks and Lucinda Williams to R.E.M. and Nirvana. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Lang Lang – Bach: Goldberg Variations 2xCD/4xCD/2xLP (Deutsche Grammophon)
Bach’s monumental Goldberg Variations stand alone in the piano literature as a work of unique artistry and brilliance. Lang Lang first began exploring this masterpiece more than 20 years ago and presents this recording as the outcome of a long personal and emotional journey. Marking a new stage in Lang Lang’s artistic development, it is the project of a lifetime. Alongside a studio recording is a contrasting performance, a single take from a recital in Leipzig’s iconic St Thomas Church, where Bach worked and is now buried. The heart of this project is the deluxe edition four-CD edition: a unique offering with simultaneous studio and live recording.
Declan McKenna – Zeros CD/LP (Tomplicated)
Zeros is a world-building, not destroying, album. The unshakeable confidence and boldness of McKenna’s voice, as well as the stories he tells, are reinforced by the empathy and compassion with which he tells them. The “wisdom beyond his years” label McKenna’s often charged with stems from this as well: his recognition that as diverse as his generation is, their struggles with the modern world are similar, and that as disquieting and absurd as these experiences might feel, no one is in it alone. The album’s opening track, “You Better Believe!!!” combines a retro, ’70s space-race inspired energy with a modern tale of anxiety. Musically and lyrically, it provides a perfect blueprint to the album. Throughout Zeros, McKenna also manages to encapsulate both a very human psyche and a more absurd, dystopian future. The songs, while they stand as a reflection of our own culture, are also the warped carnival mirror- funny, bizarre, otherworldly but always close enough to see a familiar face staring back.
Tennessee Jet – The Country CD/LP (Tennessee Jet Music)
Long before Tennessee Jet began crisscrossing America as a one-man band, playing nightly shows full of fuzz guitar, primal percussion, and songs that split the difference between country and raw rock & roll, he traveled the interstates of Oklahoma with his bronc-riding father and barrel-racing mother. Sitting on the bench seat of an old Ford pickup truck pulling a horse trailer while heading to the next rodeo, he’d watch the grasslands of his home state fly past the windshield at highway speed. Country music was always on the radio back then, and those songs – honest, heartfelt classics by icons like Willie Nelson and Dwight Yoakam, both of whom he’d eventually join on tour – left a permanent mark. The Country, Tennessee Jet’s third album, nods to that childhood soundtrack. A salute to the sounds of his youth, these songs double down on Jet’s country and folk influences, without sacrificing the left-of-center approach that’s earned him a reputation as a genre bender. The result is a richly textured album that’s both classic and modern in the same breath. This is raw, truthful country music – a reinvention of the sound that’s always formed the bedrock of Tennessee Jet’s artistry, even during his most amplified moments.
Various Artists – AngelHeaded Hipster: The Songs Of Marc Bolan & T. Rex CD/2xLP (BMG)
The genius and pioneering influence of Marc Bolan’s T. Rex – 2020 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and one of the great rock musicians of all time – is celebrated with AngelHeaded Hipster: The Songs Of Marc Bolan & T. Rex. The collection features 26 songs culled from Bolan’s vast body of work released as T. Rex and Tyrannosaurus Rex from 1968-‘77. A wide-ranging cast of wizards and cosmic dancers have joined together to re-imagine Bolan’s work including Nick Cave, U2 featuring Elton John, Joan Jett, and Peaches among others – sometimes in radical fashion – resulting in a collection that is less tribute than bold new work. [Indie store exclusive vinyl pressing also available.]
CDs + Vinyl:
Hannah Aldridge – Live In Black And White CD/LP (Icons Creating Evil)
With every song, Hannah Aldridge is facing down demons of a life once lived from substance abuse to failed relationships and scars from the lashes of the Bible belt. Raised in the extremely religious State of Alabama. Live In Black And White was recorded in London as a statement of her desire to get back to the roots of why she started down this path. While her studio records feature full bands and impressive collaborations this live album narrows in on the heart of the music.
Cindy Alexander – Curve CD (Blue Élan)
New acoustic-based release from the L.A.-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.
All Them Witches – Nothing As The Ideal CD/LP (New West)
All Them Witches have built a career out of playing music that cannot be pigeonholed into one specific genre. Nothing As The Ideal was recorded in Studio 2 at the world famous Abbey Road with the help of longtime mixing engineer Mikey Allred. The history and vibe of that setting laid the groundwork for what was to come. The band’s signature psychedelic blues riffs, relentless drums, melodic bass lines and non-linear lyrics are all present. The resulting album is a thought provoking head banger that is the band’s most cohesive album to date. [Limited edition picture disc vinyl pressing also available.]
Ball – Like You Are….. I Once Was…Like I Am – You Will Never Be CD/LP (Horny)
The disturbed, smut-peddling, Swedish hard rock slime heavy psych band makes a triumphant return soaked in bloody diabolical occult havoc. F**ked-up, subhuman fuzz guitars. Depraved, screaming vocals. Gut-rumbling bass and caveman groove drums. This is hard rock from hell.
Emily Barker – A Dark Murmuration Of Words CD/LP (Everyone Sang)
Produced by Greg Freeman (Portico Quartet, Peter Gabriel, Amy Winehouse) and recorded with an incredible band featuring Rob Pemberton (drums, percussion, synth, backing vocals), Lukas Drinkwater (bass, guitars, backing vocals), Pete Roe (guitars, keys, backing vocals), Misha Law and Emily Hall (strings), A Dark Murmuration Of Words searches for meaning in a rapidly shifting modern world. Barker’s clear voice cuts through the deafening clamor of fake news and algorithmically filtered conversation to deliver a timely exploration of the grand themes of our times through the lens of what it means to return “home”.
Afel Bocoum – Lindé CD/LP (World Circuit)
Afel Bocoum is among the last of a breakthrough generation of African musicians who cross-pollinated their own traditional music with the new sounds that arrived from all over the world throughout the 20th century. With the support of executive producers Damon Albarn and Nick Gold, Lindé stitches together the age-old music of the Niger bend, featuring performances from eminent Malian musicians including Madou Kouyaté, the late ‘Hama’ Sankaré and Madou Sidiki Diabaté, with interventions as diverse as the drums of Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen, the trombone of Vin Gordon (Bob Marley/Skatellites), and the violin of Joan as Police Woman. Traditional instruments like the ngoni, the njurkele, the kora and the calabash blend with guitars, percussion and call-and-response vocals. The result is a gently undulating flow that emanates from a source hidden deep in the historical and mystical traditions of Bocoum’s native land, enriched along its way by tributaries and cross-currents.
Carolina Story – Dandelion CD/LP (Black River Americana)
Blending folk intimacy, country grit, and alt-rock muscle, Carolina Story’s resilient new album, Dandelion, is an ode to survival in the face of struggle, a full-throated tribute to the power of hope and the unbreakable bonds of family. Recorded with acclaimed producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Paul Moak (Joy Williams, Ashley Monroe), the collection is fueled by raw, honest storytelling and lush, cinematic arrangements, expanding the homespun craftsmanship of the Nashville duo’s debut to draw on a broader, more ambitious palette, one that hints at everything from The Jayhawks and Lucinda Williams to R.E.M. and Nirvana. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Mino Cinelu & Nils Petter Molvær – SulaMadiana CD (Modern)
This atmospheric new album by Mino Cinelu and Nils Petter Molvær takes its name from Sula, the island off the west coast of Norway where Molvær is from, and Madiana, a synonym for Martinique, where Cinelu’s father comes from. SulaMadiana pays tribute to Manu Dibango, Tony Allen and Jimmy Cobb, all recently departed. [Vinyl edition due November 13.]
Diamond Dogs – Weekend Monster CD (Wild Kingdom)
A combination of Mott The Hoople, ‘73-era UK glam, Roy Wood-era ELO, lots of early ‘70s Bowie and The Faces. [Vinyl edition due September 11.]
Emperor – Wrath Of The Tyrant [Reissue/1992] LP (Spinefarm)
Emperor has become known as one of the originators of Norwegian symphonic black metal. Their 1992 debut has been remastered and repressed on limited edition clear vinyl.
Eno / Cale – Wrong Way Up [Reissue/1990] CD/LP+MP3 (All Saints)
Eno / Wobble – Spinner [Reissue/1995] CD/LP+MP3 (All Saints)
Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. Digitally remastered and expanded editions. “Brian Eno and John Cale’s 1990 collaboration [Wrong Way Up] is an album of contention, contrasts, cycles, and pop songs so layered and euphoric it ranks among the best albums either artist has ever made” (Pitchfork). Eno’s 1995 collaboration with Public Image Limited bassist Jah Wobble, Spinner, combines icy ambience with a kind of psycho-geographical funk.
Sara Evans – Copy That CD/2xLP (Born To Fly)
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and Sara Evans is about to put smiles on a lot of faces with the release of Copy That. The 13-song collection finds Evans putting her distinctive creative stamp on some of the most iconic songs in country and pop music as well as shining a spotlight on some little-known gems, including tracks by Old Crow Medicine Show, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, The Knack, and more.
Fleetwood Mac – Fleetwood Mac: 1969-1974 8xCD (Rhino)
Includes remastered versions of all seven studio albums the band recorded between 1969 and 1974, several bonus tracks, and an unreleased 1974 concert recorded just a few months before Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the band. The set covers a five-year timeframe that encompasses several different band lineups, from founding members Fleetwood, Green, McVie and Spencer; to later additions like Danny Kirwan, Christine McVie, Dave Walker, Bob Welch, and Bob Weston. The collection includes seven studio albums: Then Play On (1969), Kiln House (1970), Future Games (1971), Bare Trees (1972), Penguin (1973), Mystery To Me (1973), and Heroes Are Hard To Find (1974). The CD set concludes with an unreleased recording of the band’s December 15, 1974 concert at The Record Plant in Sausalito, California while on tour supporting their latest album, Heroes Are Hard To Find.
Foretoken – Foretoken CD/LP (Prosthetic)
New album from the melodic death metal duo. Combining symphonic elements with genres such as folk metal, melodic death, tech death, and black metal, Foretoken create something familiar yet distinct.
Hardy – A Rock CD/LP (Big Loud)
“The pride of Philadelphia, MS is one of Music Row’s most consistent hit-makers on the rise.” — CMT
Helix – Eat Sleep Rock CD (Perris)
Eat Sleep Rock is a compilation album with some of the Canadian hard rock/heavy metal band’s favorite songs recorded since they left Capitol/EMI in 1990. Includes tracks from the albums Half Alive, When Pigs Fly, Bastard Of The Blues, The Power Of Rock And Roll, Vagabond Bones, and The Devil Is Having A Party Tonight plus two previously unreleased tracks.
Hell In The Club – Hell Of Fame CD (Frontiers)
Hell In the Club is an Italian hard rock/heavy metal band featuring members of Elvenking and Secret Sphere. Hell Of Fame is the their fifth album.
Hurts – Faith CD/LP (Hurts)
Fifth studio album by the English synth-pop duo.
Iron Wigs – Your Birthday’s Cancelled CD (Mello Music Group)
Somewhere along the line, rap became a primarily solo sport despite projects being made with a roomful of people who end up appearing as producer and feature credits. But, the chemistry of a group is still something special to hear over the course of an entire album. So, when Chicago’s Vic Spencer and Verbal Kent joined forces with the UK’s Sonnyjim (who also produced the entire album) to form the group Iron Wigs, you know it’d be a vibe. The group’s debut album, Your Birthday’s Cancelled, is a late night, smoke filled, crystal glass tinkling, blunts split on the table, jazz rap experience. [Vinyl edition due October 16.]
Bob James – Once Upon A Time: The Lost 1965 New York Studio Sessions CD (Resonance)
Previously unissued release of studio recordings from pianist Bob James at Wollman Auditorium at Columbia University in 1965. Features James in two different trio settings: one from January 20, 1965 with bassist Larry Rockwell and drummer Bob Pozar, and one from October 9, 1965 with bassist Bill Wood and drummer Omar Clay, performing a mix of jazz standards and original compositions.
Josiah Johnson – Every Feeling On A Loop CD/2xLP (ANTI-)
Josiah Johnson – a former and founding member of The Head And The Heart – releases his debut solo album Every Feeling On A Loop. On lead single “Nobody Knows”, Johnson sings for people to have courage in sharing and receiving the truths of their hearts. The messages, like the man himself, are a welcome breath of air. “A lot of the growth documented on this album is about taking responsibility for how I’m showing up in the world, and that song was about taking responsibility for how I care for myself,” Johnson says. “Part of my experience with addiction was that I was having a hard time, but I wasn’t raising my hand to get the help I needed.” With time, though, came clarity. Although the music came regularly, Johnson still allowed himself to fantasize about a life never returning to professional music. He still contemplates earning a degree in social work. Yet, the songs kept bubbling up. On Every Feeling On A Loop, lush musical arrangements and harmonies support Johnson’s baritone crooning. At times, the songs sound like prayers. At others, his exuberance feels like the euphoria he’d always sought, this time hard-earned and wiser. He says he feels like a new person making it, charting his journey out of the dark into the wide-awake of the morning, using the magic that was his all along.
Danny Keane – Roamin’ CD (MVKA Music)
New release from the British jazz pianist. Includes musical assistance from Astatke, Pirashanna Thejaravah (Ravi Shankar, Anoushka Shankar), Tom Skinner, Richard Olatunde Baker, and Khadijatou. “Jazz album of the month.” – Mojo [Vinyl edition due October 30.]
Ruston Kelly – Dirt Emo Vol. 1 CDEP (Rounder)
Released in January on vinyl – now available on CD. “I don’t play country. This stuff is dirt emo; it’s like crying in a barn or anguishing in your room with a banjo.” Ruston Kelly’s Dirt Emo Vol. 1, is a collection of dirt-soaked covers, hand-picked by Kelly from some of his revered predecessors. The project includes acclaimed renditions of Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well” and the Carter Family’s “Weeping Willow”.
Landfall – Turning Point CD (Frontiers)
Hailing from Curitiba, Brazil, Landfall features former Auras singer Gui Oliver – a true dead ringer for the legendary Steve Perry of Journey. The band’s sound can be described as classic melodic rock a là Journey with some slightly heavier influences, such as classic era Dokken, White Lion, and Extreme.
Lang Lang – Bach: Goldberg Variations 2xCD/4xCD/2xLP (Deutsche Grammophon)
Bach’s monumental Goldberg Variations stand alone in the piano literature as a work of unique artistry and brilliance. Lang Lang first began exploring this masterpiece more than 20 years ago and presents this recording as the outcome of a long personal and emotional journey. Marking a new stage in Lang Lang’s artistic development, it is the project of a lifetime. Alongside a studio recording is a contrasting performance, a single take from a recital in Leipzig’s iconic St Thomas Church, where Bach worked and is now buried. The heart of this project is the deluxe edition four-CD edition: a unique offering with simultaneous studio and live recording.
Declan McKenna – Zeros CD/LP (Tomplicated)
Zeros is a world-building, not destroying, album. The unshakeable confidence and boldness of McKenna’s voice, as well as the stories he tells, are reinforced by the empathy and compassion with which he tells them. The “wisdom beyond his years” label McKenna’s often charged with stems from this as well: his recognition that as diverse as his generation is, their struggles with the modern world are similar, and that as disquieting and absurd as these experiences might feel, no one is in it alone. The album’s opening track, “You Better Believe!!!” combines a retro, ’70s space-race inspired energy with a modern tale of anxiety. Musically and lyrically, it provides a perfect blueprint to the album. Throughout Zeros, McKenna also manages to encapsulate both a very human psyche and a more absurd, dystopian future. The songs, while they stand as a reflection of our own culture, are also the warped carnival mirror- funny, bizarre, otherworldly but always close enough to see a familiar face staring back.
The Moody Blues – Live At The Isle Of Wight Festival 1970 CD (earMUSIC)
Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. In August 1970, The Moody Blues arrived at the third Isle Of Wight Festival as one of the world’s top rock bands.
The Neverly Boys – Dark Side Of Everything CD/LP (BMG)
The Neverly Boys is a band from Los Angeles, made up of David Andrew Sitek (TV On The Radio) and Daniel Ledinsky. The Neverly Boys know you are many things. You are a pilot, flying on a giant rock through space. You are an explorer, navigating the depths of modern living. You are an animal seeking shelter from the blue flickering light of modern living. If you can manage to cultivate stillness in the midst of the hustle, The Neverly Boys would like to present to you a human story. An honest story about finding your place in the world. With all its glory and all its drama, they seek to give a voice to the unknown, the magic, the heartbreaks and the aspirations. They hope you find comfort in their songs. Please listen to the album. It’s important. Now, more than ever.
Oceans Of Slumber – Oceans Of Slumber CD (Century Media)
As history methodically records mankind’s 21st century follies, the power of music to inspire, uplift and heal has never seemed more vital. Oceans Of Slumber has long been purveyors of a uniquely human(e) and emotionally fertile strain of heavy music; hewn from the bedrocks of arcane doom metal, visceral extremity and gothic grandeur. But as the Texan ensemble has moved forward, building an ever more formidable reputation for both live and studio work along the way, their collective desire to reach beyond the known and embrace the unfathomable has been clear to see. New album Oceans Of Slumber masterfully redefines the band’s sound for a new era while bringing their conceptual core into sharper focus. [Vinyl edition due October 23.]
Grant-Lee Phillips – Lightning, Show Us Your Stuff CD/LP+7”+MP3 (Yep Roc)
Lightning, Show Us Your Stuff is a turbulent and highly musical rumination that finds the veteran singer-songwriter addressing the strange fragility of life. His tenth solo release bears the markings of his prolific output, a melodic prowess and an ear for lyric in everyday conversation. The album offers a salve to a wounded world, struggling to regain equilibrium. This is GLP at his most reflective, wrestling with the most pertinent of questions.
Rising Steel – Fight Them All CD (Frontiers)
Rising Steel is an up-and-coming heavy metal band from Grenoble, France. The quintet is influenced by 80’s NWOBHM, hard rock, and thrash metal scenes.
The Rolling Stones – Goat’s Head Soup [Reissue/1973] CD/LP/2xCD/3xCD+Blu-ray/4xLP (Interscope)
Digitally remastered edition features the new stereo album mix, sourced from the original session tapes. [Both the double-CD edition and deluxe half-speed master vinyl pressing add 10 bonus tracks including three previously unreleased songs “Scarlet”, “All The Rage”, and “Criss Cross” as well as The Brussels Affair, recorded live at the Forest National Arena in October 1973. The Super Deluxe set features 35 tracks on three CDs and one Blu-ray disc (Dolby Atmos, 96kHz/24-bit high resolution stereo, and 96 kHz/24-bit DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1).]
Michael Rother – Solo II 7xCD (Groenland)
Michael Rother – Dreaming LP (Groenland)
Retrospective of one of the influential figures of German electronic music: Michael Rother of NEU! And Harmonia. Containing seven albums including a disc of new and unreleased tracks titled Dreaming (which is also available separately on vinyl).
San Cisco – Between You And Me CD/LP (Nettwerk)
Set to an upbeat indie-pop groove on the cusp of innocence and heartbreak, this is where San Cisco lives. Between You And Me is the fourth album by the indie trio from Fremantle in Western Australia, town of sunbaked sandstone and sea breezes. It’s an album two years and at least one sadly remembered love affair in the making. Between You and Me finds the childhood friends’ open-hearted/good time chemistry distilled to its essence. Nearly 10 years since those first EPs, ARIA nominations and early US and UK inroads, San Cisco has made their most painstaking album sound effortless.
Serpent Omega – II CD/2xLP (Icons Creating Evil)
Serpent Omega meld sludge, doom, metal and crust into a unique, sordid brew. [Limited orange colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Skyzoo – Milestones CDEP (Mello Music Group)
“This is a conceptual EP, where each song is a story that holds hands with the ones before and after it, all about my life as a kid, growing up with my father always in my life, and how that’s now shaped me as a father myself. It’s named Milestones, after my son Miles, and also signifying the milestones that we dads reach in life as we grow into fatherhood. This project is solely about growing up with a dad, being a dad, and the importance of it all. To all the fathers out here who are lovingly and actively doing the work, this one is for you.” – Skyzoo [Vinyl edition due October 2.]
Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith – Peradam CD/LP+MP3 (Bella Union)
The sounds of Himalayan winds, sacred mantras and water rippling in the holy river Ganges, invite us to Peradam, the transcendent new album by Soundwalk Collective with Patti Smith. After albums devoted to Antonin Artaud (The Peyote Dance) and Arthur Rimbaud (Mummer Love), Peradam takes as its entry point René Daumal’s early 1940s novel Mount Analogue: a Novel of Symbolically Authentic Non-Euclidean Adventures in Mountain Climbing, in which the French writer, critic and poet mapped a metaphysical journey to the ultimate symbolic mountain in search of meaning. In it, Daumal introduced the idea of the peradam, a rare, crystalline stone harboring profound truths that is only visible to seekers on a true spiritual path.
Steve & Teresa – Catching A Wave [Reissue/1983] CD/LP (Aloha Got Soul)
During the 1970s and 1980s, Hawaii’s live music scene was at its peak. Countless clubs, lounges, and bars filled the islands. Musicians embraced and experimented with all manner of ideas. Among them were Steve Ma’i’i and Teresa Bright, a harmonizing guitar-and-bass duo that floated somewhere between nostalgia and an unassuming island sound. [Clear vinyl pressing also available.]
Stick In The Wheel – Hold Fast CD/LP (From Here)
Stick In The Wheel (singer Nicola Kearey, and guitarist/producer Ian Carter), blend the traditional with their own innovative and unique sound. Their debut From Here (2015) and second album Follow Them True (2018) received much critical acclaim; with the Guardian describing their music as “razor-sharp, direct and fantastic.” Their third album Hold Fast is the creation of a band who are politically motivated, unapologetically raw, experimental and genuine. It’s a made-under-pressure, no- punches-pulled unique and vivid collection of protest music in its true sense, and in times like these it makes Stick In The Wheel one of Britain’s most essential bands.
Carolina Story – Dandelion CD/LP (Black River Ent.)
Blending folk intimacy, country grit, and alt-rock muscle, Carolina Story’s resilient album, Dandelion, is an ode to survival in the face of struggle, a full-throated tribute to the power of hope and the unbreakable bonds of family. The collection is fueled by raw, honest storytelling and lush, cinematic arrangements, expanding the homespun craftsmanship of the Nashville duo’s debut to draw on a broader, more ambitious palette, one that hints at everything from The Jayhawks and Lucinda Williams to R.E.M. and Nirvana. [Limited yellow colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Stryper – Even The Devil Believes CD/LP (Frontiers)
Stryper returns with the new album, Even The Devil Believes. While Stryper is known for their Christian faith, their decades plus career in heavy metal has made them much more than just a “Christian metal” band. Sure, that is part of who they are, but at the end of the day, they are simply a long-running and well-respected heavy metal band with a late-career rebirth that proves their enduring talent and musical skills are intact.
Teleplasmiste – To Kiss Earth Goodbye CD/LP (House Of Mythology)
To Kiss Earth Goodbye, Teleplasmiste’s second full album, sees their sound-vision expanding and deepening, phantasmally and fantastically, opening onto thrilling new vistas of euphoria. The music is informed by a deep awareness and respect for prior esoteric traditions and counterculture currents but forges a new and fertile synthesis very much its own.
Tennessee Jet – The Country CD/LP (Tennessee Jet Music)
Long before Tennessee Jet began crisscrossing America as a one-man band, playing nightly shows full of fuzz guitar, primal percussion, and songs that split the difference between country and raw rock & roll, he traveled the interstates of Oklahoma with his bronc-riding father and barrel-racing mother. Sitting on the bench seat of an old Ford pickup truck pulling a horse trailer while heading to the next rodeo, he’d watch the grasslands of his home state fly past the windshield at highway speed. Country music was always on the radio back then, and those songs – honest, heartfelt classics by icons like Willie Nelson and Dwight Yoakam, both of whom he’d eventually join on tour – left a permanent mark. The Country, Tennessee Jet’s third album, nods to that childhood soundtrack. A salute to the sounds of his youth, these songs double down on Jet’s country and folk influences, without sacrificing the left-of-center approach that’s earned him a reputation as a genre bender. The result is a richly textured album that’s both classic and modern in the same breath. This is raw, truthful country music – a reinvention of the sound that’s always formed the bedrock of Tennessee Jet’s artistry, even during his most amplified moments.
Theatre Of Tragedy – Assembly [Reissue/2002] CD/LP (AFM)
With Assembly, the Norwegian Gothic-metal pioneers considerably deviated from their roots and instead made a big step towards popular rock music. [Limited clear vinyl pressing also available.]
Thor & Friends – 3 CD/LP (Joyful Noise)
Thor & Friends – 4 CD/LP (Joyful Noise)
Polymath percussionist Thor Harris inaugurated Thor & Friends in the autumn of 2015 after five years of touring as the percussionist of iconic avant-rock ensemble Swans. The project is intended as a vehicle for experimentation with the conceptual vocabulary of American Minimalism collaborating with a rotating cast of Austin based musicians. The ensemble has three core members, Thor Harris, Peggy Ghorbani and Sarah Goat Gautier – with its line-up expanding and contracting with the flux of compositional and improvisational contexts. Thor & Friends draws on classic Minimalist composers, including Terry Riley and Steve Reich, but also amalgamate
such diverse influences as Brian Eno, Aphex Twin, Moondog and The Necks around a polyrhythmic core of mallet-struck instruments, primarily marimba, xylophone and vibraphone.
Throwing Muses – Sun Racket CD/LP (Fire)
New album from the legendary Boston trio consisting of Kristin Hersh, David Narcizo and Bernard Georges. Sun Racket is an outpouring of modal guitars, reverbed shapes, echoey drums and driving bass set behind Kristen Hersh’s well-thumbed notebook of storylines. A ten-song opus of suitably wrought tales set against a wall of sound that’s at once calm and ethereal before building into glorious cacophonous crescendos.
Various Artists – AngelHeaded Hipster: The Songs Of Marc Bolan & T. Rex CD/2xLP (BMG)
The genius and pioneering influence of Marc Bolan’s T. Rex – 2020 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and one of the great rock musicians of all time – is celebrated with AngelHeaded Hipster: The Songs Of Marc Bolan & T. Rex. The collection features 26 songs culled from Bolan’s vast body of work released as T. Rex and Tyrannosaurus Rex from 1968-‘77. A wide-ranging cast of wizards and cosmic dancers have joined together to re-imagine Bolan’s work including Nick Cave, U2 featuring Elton John, Joan Jett, and Peaches among others – sometimes in radical fashion – resulting in a collection that is less tribute than bold new work. [Indie store exclusive vinyl pressing also available.]
Various Artists – Crüe Believers: A Tribute To Mötley Crüe CD/LP (Deadline Music)
Classic Mötley Crüe tracks such as “Shout At The Devil”, “Too Young To Fall In Love”, “Live Wire”, “Girls, Girls, Girls” are covered by stars of the ’80s metal scene including, L.A. Guns, Bullet Boys, Bang Tango, Pretty Boy Floyd, Jack Russell (of Great White) and many more. [Red colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Various Artists – Heat [OST/1995] 2xLP (WB)
Original soundtrack to the 1995 motion picture. “Michael Mann films are notable for their high-quality soundtracks. Heat is no exception.” – Q. “An artfully assembled montage of industrial rock, darkly romantic symphonics and moody jazz guitar, evokes a nightmarish Los Angeles of dashed hopes and soiled glamour…” – New York Times
Various Artists – Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil [OST/1994] 2xLP (WB)
Contemporaneously newly recorded versions of repertoire written by Johnny Mercerby k.d. lang, Paula Cole, Brad Mehldau, Tony Bennett, Alison Kraus, Kevin Mahogany, Diana Krall, Joshua Redman, Rosemary Clooney, Joe Williams, Cassandra Williams, Kevin Spacey, Alison Eastwood and Clint Eastwood.
Various Artists – A Thin Line Between Love And Hate [OST/1996] LP (WB)
A Thin Line Between Love And Hate is a dark comedy-romance film directed and co-written by Martin Lawrence (who also stars in the film). The film tells the story of Darnell Wright, a ladies’ man who finds himself targeted by one of his obsessed lovers. The title for the film is taken from the 1971 song “Thin Line Between Love And Hate” by The Persuaders. R&B trio H-Town recorded a cover version of this song that was included on the film soundtrack. Includes tracks by L.B.C. Crew, H-Town, Somethin’ For The People, R. Kelly, Soopafly and more
Steve Von Till – No Wilderness Deep Enough CD/LP (Neurot)
Von Till’s fifth solo album is a swirling and iridescent blend of ambient, neo-classical, and gothic Americana that swan-dives into the darkness of modern life, with the resulting emergence a sonic document of rural psychedelia that transcends the physical world – towards a greater spiritual acceptance that connects naturalism, spiritualism, and the corporeal form.
Yelle – L’Ère du Verseau CD (Recreation Center)
First album in six years from the French electro-pop group. [Vinyl edition due September 25.]
DVDs + Blu-ray:
The B-52’s – Live At Us Festival DVD (Shout Factory)
The B-52’s live September 3, 1982 at the US Festival in California.
Blue October – Get Back Up DVD (Up Down)
A riveting emotionally charged rock doc, this decade long journal follows the band and Phoenix-like implosion and spiritual immersion of Blue October’s frontman Justin Furstenfeld, who was born with a genius like gift to create hit music.
This Week’s Vinyl Exclusives:
Aesop Rock – Float [Reissue/2000] 2xLP (Rhymesayers)
Available in three different, limited edition colorways. In 2000, Aesop Rock released his first official album, Float, following his steady ascent in the underground from two previous releases, the collection of works CD of lore, Music For Earthworms (1997), and the Appleseed EP (1999). And, while every album Aesop has done since then has captured his continual evolution as both a producer and a writer, Float was undeniably exceptional in its own right.
Astral Doors – Of The Son And The Father [Reissue/2003] LP (Metalville)
Orange colored vinyl reissue of the fantastic debut album by the Swedish hard ‘n’ heavy band.
Gabby Barrett – Goldmine LP (Warner Nashville)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Debut album from ACM New Female Artist of the Year nominee.
Count Basie – Basie At Birdland 2xLP (Pure Pleasure)
Live recording of Basie’s band in 1961.
Blonde Redhead – Melody Of Certain Damaged Lemons [Reissue/2000] LP (Touch And Go)
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Blonde Redhead’s classic album, Melody Of Certain Damaged Lemons, Touch And Go present a deluxe vinyl edition pressed on colored 180-gram vinyl courtesy of RTI and packaged in a full-color gatefold jacket with revised cover art and never-before-seen photos from the original recording sessions. The mix of the guitars, the power of the drums, and the infectiousness of the rhythms, combined with the remarkable vocals and lyrics, make Melody Of Certain Damaged Lemons a true masterpiece.
Apollo Brown & Che’Noir – …As God Intended LP (Mello Music)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Buffalo and Detroit are America’s broken dream. They are once thriving cities, now known for frigid temperatures and violent crime. The cities were birthed in a different era, forged in fire, built of cold steel. It follows that the rawest hip-hop in recent memory has bled from these two regions. No two artists exemplify this hard truth more than legendary Detroit producer Apollo Brown and Buffalo’s maverick emcee Che’ Noir. The two artists came together to create a sound as natural as calm after the storm. The pair’s album, …As God Intended, drifts up and down city streets and offers a glimpse behind closed doors, telling the stories of gunshots, missing fathers, and playing the system. Features guest contributions from Skyzoo, Blakk Soul, Planet Asia, Ty Farris, and Black Thought.
Carach Angren – Lammendam [Reissue/2008] LP (Season Of Mist)
Vinyl reissue of the debut full-length studio album by the Dutch symphonic black metal band.
Crass – Normal Never Was LP (MRI Associated)
Late last year, anarchist punk icons Crass took the step of making the original separate track stems of their seminal debut album The Feeding Of The Five Thousand available as a free download. With a call to take the original sixteen track recording in its pre-mix state, the intent was for people to create their own remixes and interpretations and breathe fresh life and ideas into this revolutionary music. First released in 1978, The Feeding Of The Five Thousand pre-empted rap and grime in its hard-on-the-beat, fast fire, uncompromising lyrics, and the iconic sounds and messages are ripe for reinterpretation. Crass encouraged people to rip apart the sound and ideas and create something new, then send the files to Crass Records for future releases and charitable projects. The message is DIY like it never was before.
Kris Delmhorst – Long Day In The Milky Way LP (Cen)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Called “bold and brilliant” by the Boston Globe and “transcendent” by the L.A. Times, Delmhorst is a veteran of the indie Americana world, with vivid songwriting, soulful delivery, and adventurous arrangements that stretch the limits of genre. She’s been compared to artists as various as Anaïs Mitchell, Lucinda Williams, and Juana Molina – though she cites Rickie Lee Jones, in all her fearless joy and complexity, as an artistic north star.
D.I. – Flashback Favorites LP (Cleopatra)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The bad boys of SoCal punk rock return from a long hiatus with punked-out cover versions of classics by Fleetwood Mac, The Guess Who, Kiss, Deep Purple, Blondie, Depeche Mode and more. [Limited white colored vinyl pressing also available.]
D.I. – On The Western Front [Reissue/2007] LP (Cleopatra)
Two colored vinyl pressings (white and red) of the 2007 album from the veteran punk band.
Dirty Projectors – Super João 12”+MP3 (Domino)
Super João is dedicated to João Gilberto, the Brazilian guitarist and singer who innovated Brazilian music in the late ’50s in part by transposing Afro-Caribbean drum patterns to the right (fingerpicking) hand of the guitar. Super João is about beautiful and surprising chord progressions, longform melodies, and nylon string acoustic guitar.
Evergrey – Torn [Reissue/2008] LP (AFM)
Two colored vinyl pressings (gold and white) of the prog rock band’s seventh album.
Fleetwood Mac – Fleetwood Mac: 1973—1974 4xLP+7” (Rhino)
Fleetwood Mac: 1973–1974 collects Penguin, Mystery To Me, and Heroes Are Hard To Find plus an unreleased December 1974 live date at the Record Plant. The live performance captures the band – Fleetwood, Welch and the McVies – on tour supporting their latest album, Heroes Are Hard To Find. Originally, the show was simulcast on the legendary rock radio station KSAN-FM in San Francisco.
Grateful Dead – Skeletons From The Closet: The Best Of The Grateful Dead [Reissue/1973] LP (Grateful Dead)
The Grateful Dead rose out of their mid-’60s San Francisco roots as a hippie-blues-jam band to become one of the biggest acts on the planet. The group’s free-form musical brew and free-spirited psychedelic vision are now legendary, as are their fans. Featuring eleven early classics like “Casey Jones”, “Truckin'”, “Friend Of The Devil”, “Uncle John’s Band”, and “Sugar Magnolia”, the band’s 4x Platinum-certified 1974 hits collection Skeletons From The Closet: The Best Of The Grateful Dead remains a fine jumping off point and perennial bestseller.
The Greyboy Allstars with Fred Wesley – West Coast Boogaloo [Reissue/1994] LP (Knowledge Room)
Remastered and repressed on tricolor (purple/maroon/orange) vinyl. When The Greyboy Allstars self-released West Coast Boogaloo in 1994, its eight tunes felt both anachronistic and urgent. This was the golden era of hip-hop crate diggers, with DJs plundering rare groove records to shape the perfect beat.
Parry Gripp – Mega Party 2xLP (Oglio)
Parry Gripp is an Emmy-winning songwriter and recording artist, whose best-known works include “Raining Tacos”, songs for Netflix’s Ask The StoryBots, and theme songs for Disney’s The 7D, The Cartoon Network’s Ben 10: Omniverse, and Marvel’s The Super Hero Squad Show. This 50-song double vinyl LP of Parry Gripp’s greatest includes “Space Unicorn”, “Hamster On A Piano,”, “Raining Tacos” and many more. Limited edition yellow/blue and yellow/red colored vinyl pressing.
Headcat 13 – Headcat 13 LP (Cleopatra)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. An exciting new incarnation of the rockabilly project originally created by Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister & Danny B. Harvey, and now featuring Lemmy protégé Alan Davey and Frantic Flattops drummer Paul Vezelis joining Harvey for another round of good rockin’. The album features all new recordings of both original tunes and killer covers plus guest appearances by Jerry Lee Lewis’s niece, Annie Marie Lewis.
Humanity’s Last Breath – Humanity’s Last Breath [Reissue/2013] LP (Unique Leader)
Humanity’s Last Breath – Detestor [Reissue/2016] LP (Unique Leader)
Formed in 2009, this Helsingsorg, Sweden based group has made huge waves in the death metal underground with their monolithic, terrifyingly heavy, and relentlessly technical sound.
Immaterial Possession – Immaterial Possession LP (Cloud Recordings)
Immaterial Possession was conceived by Atlanta natives, Cooper Holmes and Madeline Polites, whom share a history of the underground DIY Atlanta music, theater, and arts scene. The duo moved to Athens, GA and was soon granted the seasoned drummer, John Spiegel, and eventually fulfilled with Kiran Jeremy Fernandes (keyboards, clarinets, flutes)- descendant of Elephant 6’s beloved John Fernandes (Circulatory System, Olivia Tremor Control, Cloud Recordings). All members bring forth a spectral hue unique to the ear – with Holmes’ dark and driving punk-rooted base interwoven with Spiegel’s vast repertoire of drumming artistry and sacral ardor.
Iration – Coastin’ LP (3 Prong)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Hawaiian-bred, California-based band Iration release their seventh studio album, Coastin’. Deep-rooted reggae influence fused with elements of rock and pop, Coastin‘ keeps true to their quintessential smooth sound and Aloha spirit, while paying homage to their diverse musical influences. The 13-track album features special guests Eric Rachmany, Stick Figure, Common Kings and Eli Mac.
Janes Addiction – Ritual De Lo Habitual Alive At Twenty-Five: 2016 Silver Spoon Anniversary Tour 2xLP (Cleopatra)
Splatter colored vinyl. Recorded at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheater, this show reunites founding members Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, and Stephen Perkins as well as bassist Chris Chaney.
Jack Johnson – Brushfire Fairytales [Reissue/2000] LP+HDCD (Everloving)
Remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analog tapes, this is a true AAA edition pressed at RTI on HQ Vinyl 180g for unsurpassed quality and long life. A must for audiophiles and beach bums alike.
Idris Muhammed – Kabsha LP (Pure Pleasure)
Originally recorded at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio in New Jersey on September 12, 1980 with George Coleman and Pharoah Sanders on tenor saxophones and Ray Drummond on bass. Recommended to anyone who appreciates inventive and passionate modern jazz.
Naked Roommate – Do The Duvet LP (Trouble In Mind)
Cherry red colored vinyl pressing also available. Oakland group Naked Roommate began as a side project while the duo of Amber Sermeño and Andy Jordan were on a break from their band, The World. Not content to lie dormant while the creative juices were flowing, they recorded a set of tunes in their home studio that would make up their self-released 2018 cassette. Those six tunes rooted around in the same musical slop The World enjoyed; skeletal, danceable post-punk sprinkled with a smirk of humor and playfulness, but they became the genesis and jumping off point for Naked Roommate’s debut album, Do The Duvet.
Nocturnus – The Key [Reissue/1990] LP (Earache)
One of the first bands to overtly combine death metal with atmospheric keyboards, Nocturnus’ debut album introduced more technical and progressive elements into the traditional death metal formula without losing any of the brutality. The audio for this vinyl is taken from the original tapes in Full Dynamic Range, allowing the music’s nuances to shine through and giving the album a more immersive and dynamic sound than ever before.
Pain Of Salvation – Panther LP (Century Media)
Released last week on CD – now available on vinyl. New release from the progressive metal band.
Prince Daddy & The Hyena – I Thought You Didn’t Even Like Leaving [Reissue/2016] LP (Counter Intuitive)
One of the most exciting up and comers in punk rock, Prince Daddy & The Hyena are constantly winning over fans and bands alike. From humble beginnings in the suburbs of Albany, NY these kids have been hitting the road relentlessly for three years straight and they are starting to catch the eyes of their peers. Featured on support tours with the likes of Mom Jeans, Remo Drive, TTNG, Rozwell Kid & more. I Thought You Didn’t Even Like Leaving (2016), their debut record, has found critical success as it’s on its third pressing.
Quantic – Apricot Morning [Reissue/2002] 2xLP (Tru Thoughts)
Will Holland aka Quantic has developed a sound combining influences from jazz, hip-hop, Afro, funk, soul and breakbeats to forge a style that is truly original. 2002’s Apricot Morning has a melting pot of techniques and tempos that has influences from across the world but with an indubitably UK-centered sound.
Repulsion – Horrified [Reissue/1989] LP (Relapse)
Horrified is the only full-length studio album by grindcore band Repulsion. Although the album was originally recorded in 1986, it remained unreleased until three years later.
Resurex – Skeletons LP (Cleopatra)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Rezurex mix equal parts ’50s rockabilly, punk rock and Catholic mysticism. Limited transparent green colored pressing.
Rex Orange County – Bcos U Will Never B Free [Reissue/2015] 2xLP (Rex Orange County)
Vinyl reissue of the debut album by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Rex Orange County. Written and recorded in his bedroom at the age of 16, it caught a wave of interest when it was self-released digitally in 2015. Its lo-fi textures and hi-def emotions led to a hook up with Tyler, The Creator who asked the teenager born Alex O’Connor to come to Los Angeles, where he wrote and sang on two tracks on the album that became Flower Boy.
Screams For Tina – Screams For Tina [Reissue/1993] LP (Cleopatra)
Two limited colored vinyl pressings (red and white) of the 1993 self-titled full-length album from the goth band.
Sepultura – Quadra 2xLP (Nuclear Blast)
Released earlier this year on CD – now available on vinyl. Recent album from the Brazilian thrash metal icons.
Melvin Sparks – I’m Funky Now LP (Tidal Waves Music)
On this first-time vinyl archive release, Melvin Sparks (1946-2011) and his band flit seamlessly between soul-jazz, proto-boogie, disco and funk. Recorded in the early ‘70s.
Thimbault – Or Not Thimbault LP (Chapter Music
Pink and black colored vinyl pressing. Thibault is the long-awaited new project for Melbourne, Australia musician Nicole Thibault. Her drily-titled debut album Or Not Thibault is full of harmonic invention, unexpected arrangements, and atmospheres so lush they make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. It moves seamlessly from humor to genuine pathos, from spacious mystery tokinetic energy.
Yo La Tengo – Electr-O-Pura [Reissue/1995] 2xLP+MP3 (Matador)
For Electr-O-Pura‘s 25th anniversary, the 58 minute master has been expanded into a 2xLP edition for the highest quality audio. Now in a gatefold sleeve. Reuniting with Painful producer and engineer Roger Moutenot, Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley and James McNew set up shop at Alex the Great studios in Nashville, TN to record their seventh studio album Electr-O-Pura. Chock full with moments of pop gold like “Tom Courtenay”, melancholic ballads such as the gorgeous, Hubley-fronted “Don’t Say A Word (Hot Chicken #2)”, and sweeping, feedback-laden jams like the show-stopping “Blue Line Swinger”, Electr-O-Pura expands on the venturous songwriting established on Painful with stunning craft and a deepened exploration of contrasting textures, moods and atmospherics.
Leave a Reply