New Releases for February 19, 2016
CDs + Vinyl:
Adept – Sleepless CD (Napalm)
These Swedes have been around since 2004, creating a diverse brand of post hardcore/metalcore.
After The Burial – Dig Deep CD (Sumerian)
Fifth studio album by the deathcore/prog metal band.
Aluk Todolo – Voix CD (Ajna Offensive)
This rhythmic, dissonant instrumental trio burrow into dark avenues of occult rock. They began working on Voix after the release of their previous album in 2012. It’s one piece divided in six parts, composed as a multi-directional labyrinth with a constantly changing map. The focus this time is on precision, the space between the notes and beats, articulations, pulse, breath and resonances.
Animal Collective – Painting With CD/LP+MP3 (Domino)
“Animal Collective’s tenth album, Painting With, reunites the Merriweather lineup of Lennox, Portner, and Weitz, with Josh Dibb (a.k.a. Deakin) sitting this one out for a side project of his own. Built around modular synths and eccentric percussion instruments, it’s definitely in line with the group’s style. But one reference point tending to crop up in interviews now is the Ramones; stripping away any husk of reverb or ambient interludes for the very first time, the 12-song, 41-minute set distills Animal Collective’s sound to a potent, hypercolor dose. It’s poppier, in a characteristically warped way, than even Merriweather, the group’s most popular album to date. That’s down to the record’s rarely wavering energy; subtle details abound in the interplay between Lennox and Portner’s near-indistinguishably overlapping yawps, or in the giddy, ping-ponging sonic backdrops, but that’s all a bonus when the songs bounce along like Tigger in a 5 Hour Energy ad.” – SPIN
BJ The Chicago Kid – In My Mind CD (Motown)
In My Mind’s 15 tracks spin a cinematic narrative of sex, drugs, love, and Chi-Town soul. His croon cruises from a sexy come-hither on “The Resume” to the swaggering, yet guilty confession “I got church in the morning” of “Church” (feat. Chance The Rapper). The funkified gospel swoon and scratching of “The New Cupid” sees BJ reunite with longtime collaborator Kendrick Lamar for a different kind of love song declaring, “Cupid’s too busy in the club.” The snappy beat of “Man Down” [feat. Buddy & Constantine] tempers a strut through the hood with organ swells and a haunting chant. The delicate piano of “Shine” gives way to a heavenly refrain, and “Turnin’ Me Up” leaves off with victorious hands in the air.
Seth Bogart – Seth Bogart CD/LP+MP3/Cassette (Burger)
Debut solo album (under his given name) from the L.A. renaissance man features a guest appearance by Katherine Hannah on the track “Eating Makeup”. Other guests include Tavi Gevinson, Cherry Glazerr, and Chela. “Seth Bogart used to be a hairdresser. He spent close to a decade working on clients in the Oakland area. Even after he moved to Los Angeles about four years ago, he traveled back to the Bay Area for occasional appointments. Eventually, he was able to put down the scissors, but memories of the salon have stayed with the musician and artist better known as Hunx, from his bands Gravy Train!!! and Hunx And His Punx. As Hunx, he made a 2012 solo album called Hairdresser Blues that was accompanied by a commercial featuring lots of hair and hand-decorated cans of cream and goop. In Bogart’s work, the remnants of salon life mix with objects of musical obsession.” – L.A. Weekly
David Bragger – Big Fancy CD (Old Time Tiki Parlour)
21 tunes played on a variety of instruments including fiddle, banjo, guitar, bagpipes & pump organ.
Tracey Bryant – Subterranean CD/Cassette (Burger)
“Tracy Bryant, frontman and founder of L.A.’s post-punk experimentalists Corners, debuted his first solo effort in 2014, the split cassette with Billy Changer, appropriately called 2 In 1. Since then, Bryant has been busy mastering and touring with Corners, or so we thought. In January of 2015, Bryant escaped to the Arizona desert to start working on his next album Subterranean with a little help from The Resonars’ Matt Rendon. Cut live with Froth’s Joo-Joo Ashworth and Jeremy Katz, and drummer Cameron Gartung of Mystic Braves, the album was his way of exploring musical boundaries and elaborating on his own prolific style” – What Youth. Vinyl edition due April 15.
Carcass – Surgical Steel & Surgical Remission/Surplus Steel 2xCD (Nuclear Blast)
This double-CD set contains a pair of releases from extreme metal icons Carcass. Surgical Steel is Carcass’s 2013 studio that featured the first songs they recorded since reforming in 2007. The Surgical Remission/Surplus Steel EP contains songs that were recorded during the Surgical Steel sessions.
The Cave Singers – Banshee CD/LP+MP3 (Jagjaguwar)
Banshee brings The Cave Singers back to their original three-piece lineup and also their approach to songwriting: an exchange of Derek Fudesco sending lead vocalist Pete Quirk a riff and Pete responding with vocal ideas. From there, the songs come together. Driving guitars, foot-tapping percussion, and Quirk’s powerful vocals make an intricate quilt that blankets the audience in comfort, aggressively communicating a gentle reminder: we are soft bodies trying to survive with one another.
Cavern Of Anti-Matter – Void Beats/Invocation Trex CD/3xLP+MP3 (Duophonic)
Cavern Of Anti-Matter is the new band from Stereolab mainman Tim Gane, now Berlin-based and collaborating with original Stereolab drummer Joe Dilworth, and synth wizard Holger Zapf. Void Beats/Invocation Trex features contributions from Bradford Cox (Deerhunter/Atlas Sound), Sonic Boom (Spacemen 3), and Jan St. Werner (Mouse On Mars/Lithops).
Cemetery Filth/Ectovoid/Sabbatory/Trenchrot – 4 Doors To Death CD (Unspeakable Axe/Dark Decent)
“I love a good split release. They’re a short, usually inexpensive way to discover new music and support your favorite artists in between bigger releases, and sometimes you strike gold. Unspeakable Axe’s upcoming 4 Doors To Death full-length split offers an excellent collection of modern death metal, and fans of both Horrendous and Chthe’ilist will find something to satisfy (though those seeking singalong choruses or In Flames worship would do well to look elsewhere). There are no weak links or disposable tracks, which says quite a lot about the quality of bands herein.” – Noisey (Music By Vice)
Choir Of Young Believers – Grasque CD/LP+MP3 (Ghostly Int’l)
Having been inspired by everything from experimental electronic music to Danish ’80s and ’90s pop, to modern hip-hop and R&B to techno and Westcoast slow jams, Choir Of Young Believers’ Jannis Noya Makgrigiannis had made a new, imaginary band in his head called Grasque to reflect those influences.
Cortijo – 1969-1971: The Ansonia Years CD/LP (Vampisoul)
The best recordings from a trio of albums by the the famous Puerto Rican/Afro-Cuban percussionist and bandleader – a leading ambassador of bomba and Plena music since the ’50s until his death in 1982.
Robert Crumb/Eden Browler/John Henehgan – John’s Old Time Radio Show 2xCD/3xLP (East River Music)
John’s Old Time Radio Show is a compilation of John Heneghan’s podcast of the same title. This never before released episode features legendary comic artist/record collector Robert Crumb and East River String Band front woman Eden Brower. Robert Crumb and John Heneghan play 78 rpm blues, country, Hawaiian and pop records from their fabulous collections and then along with Eden discuss music, philosophy and the state of the modern world. The record contains some of the greatest forgotten music of the early 20th century including songs by Frank Stokes, Beans Hambone, Piper’s Gap Ramblers, Bukka White, Nelstone’s Hawaiians, Pigmeat Pete & Catjuice Charlie and many others.
Miles Davis – Live In San Juan ’89 CD (Hi Hat)
By the late ’80s Miles Davis had radically overhauled his style yet again, incorporating prominent synthesizers and using an ever-changing cast of young backing musicians. This remarkable set took place in the intimate setting of the Coach House Concert Hall in San Juan Capistrano, California, on June 15, 1989, and was broadcast on American Public Radio. It features just two tracks, a tribute to Jaco Pastorius from Davis’s 1989 Amandla album and the title-track from 1986’s Tutu.
Delain – Lunar Prelude CD (Napalm)
New album from the Dutch symphonic metal band.
DJ Katapila – Troto CD/LP (Awesome Tapes From Africa)
DJ Katapila makes Ga traditional music using electronic sounds instead of live percussion to create his own kind of what he calls house music. In the context of Ghana’s pop music landscape, Katapila’s music is singular. The uptempo, bass-heavy, Roland 808-rooted sounds echo early 1990’s Detroit techno and Chicago acid house more than the contemporary hiplife productions blasting across Ghanaian airwaves currently.
