CDs + Vinyl:
The Acacia Strain – Gravebloom CD/LP+MP3 (Rise)
The Acacia Strain are pioneers of the deathcore genre, and for the past sixteen years they’ve been releasing albums that have managed to stand the test of time and become staples in the metalcore community. [Limited color vinyl pressing also available.]
Lee Bains III + The Glory Fires – Youth Detention CD/LP (Don Giovanni)
Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee at Battletapes with engineer Jeremy Ferguson and producer Tim Kerr, Lee Bains III + The Glory Fires’ Youth Detention captures the band in raw form. Each song was cut live to tape, with the four performing in the same room without headphones or baffling. The result is thoroughly human, Lynn Bridges’ mix retaining the band’s live energy and looseness at the expense of a few out of tune strings. The Glory Fires music draws deeply from punk, but also soul, power pop, country, and gospel. [Limited edition color vinyl pressing also available.]
Amina Baraka & The Red Microphone – Amina Baraka & The Red Microphone CD (ESP Disk)
Powerful inside/outside jazz, created in the moment, but occasionally building on a composition by group member Rocco John Iacovone, the cadences of Baraka’s words intertwining with the rhythms of the music to become more than the sum of its parts.
The Beach Boys – 1967: Sunshine Tomorrow 2xCD (Capitol)
This unique double-CD compilation pulls together a slew of previously unreleased material from The Beach Boys. The collection includes the new stereo remix of Wild Honey, as well as unreleased outtakes from the session recordings. Also included are unreleased session tracks from the Smiley Smile sessions and live tracks from Hawaii, Washington, DC and Boston.
Beach House – B-sides And Rarities CD/LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)
B-sides And Rarities contains every song Beach House – aka Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand – has made that does not exist on one of their albums. The band explains: “When we announced that we were releasing a B-sides and rarities album, someone on Twitter asked, ‘B-sides record? Why would Beach House put out a B-sides record? Their A-sides are like B-sides.’ This random person has a point. Our goal has never been to make music that is explicitly commercial. Over the years, as we have worked on our six LPs, it wasn’t the ‘best’ or most catchy songs that made the records, just the ones that fit together to make a cohesive work. Accordingly, our B-sides are not songs that we didn’t like as much, just ones that didn’t have a place on the records we were making.”
The Beau Brummels – The Very Best Of The Beau Brummels: The Complete Singles CD (Varese Sarabande)
This new hits collection celebrates The Beau Brummels’ (one of the first bands to come out of the San Francisco scene in the ‘60s) original mono singles.
William C. Beeley – Gallivantin’ [Reissue/1971] CD/LP (Tompkins Square)
William C. Beeley – Passing Dream [Reissue/1979] CD/LP (Tompkins Square)
Tompkins Square reissues two albums by Texas singer/songwriter Will Beely—the self-released mega-rare (only 200 copies) private press LP Gallivantin’ from 1971, and Passing Dream, originally released by Malaco Records in 1979. Recorded in San Antonio, Gallivantin’ shows Beeley’s heartfelt, folky side—a wistful set of original tunes.
Blackout – The Horse CD/LP (Riding Easy)
NYC trio Blackout’s take on doom and stoner rock is filled with a gritty, mechanistic heft unlike bands of their ilk from anywhere else. Subsumed within the greasy grooves of sophomore effort The Horse are echoes of NYC heavy legends like Helmet, Cro-Mags, Judge, Prong and others – not as an intentional homage, but rather a vibe that permeates and inadvertently gives it a unique power few can match.
Bola – D.E.G. CD/2xLP (Skam)
Skam Records’ most elusive artist returns with an enticing new album – the first movement from Darrell Fitton’s near mythical project since his Kroungrine LP bowled us over a decade ago. The end result is an album ripe with an incredibly vivid vision of the future, a set of tracks that no matter how much of a gear-head you are, makes sure you arent’ going to be able to figure out what machines have sculpted these sounds.
Alan Broadbent and The London Metropolitan Orchestra – Developing Story CD/2xLP (Eden River)
Working with the London Metropolitan Orchestra on Developing Story is a dream come true for two-time Grammy winning Alan Broadbent – who regularly arranges and conducts for Sir Paul McCartney, Diana Krall, Pat Metheny, Michael Bublé and Natalie Cole. This time he was able to write and record his own original compositions for jazz trio and orchestra and pieces of the Great American Songbook. Featuring Peter Erskine on drums and Harvie S on bass.
Brutus – Burst CD/LP+MP3 (Sargent House)
Hailing from Leuven, Belgium, Brutus create a pummeling, meteor-shower of sound. Vocalist/drummer Stefanie Mannaerts mixes black-metal blast beats with math-rock flourishes whilst belting out the most impassioned vocals that shift from deceptively melodic to outright larynx-punishing in the blink of an eye. Meanwhile, guitarist Stijn Vanhoegaerden takes ethereal post-rock tones to hardcore punk levels of speed and energy alongside Peter Mulders’ powerful sub-frequency shift. The three conspire to make a sound as monolithic and frantic as it is emotive.
Burning Ghosts – Reclamation CD (Tzadik)
A politically motivated quartet at the forefront of the jazz-metal underground featuring four of the most acclaimed musicians in the L.A. experimental music scene. Playing scorching instrumentals that touch on heavy metal and jazz, the music is uncompromising and intense, filled with precise rhythmic complexity and textural power.
