CDs:
Alesana – Decade CDEP (Artery)New 6-song EP from the North Carolina post-hardcore band.
Keith Allison – In Action: The Complete Columbia Sides Plus CD (Real Gone Music)
Keith Allison took listeners where the action is on his 1967 Columbia Records debut LP In Action, packing its grooves with tunes from Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart (including “Action, Action, Action,” the theme to ABC-TV s Where The Action Is, which featured Allison), Donovan, Neil Diamond, Ray Charles, and his future bandmates Paul Revere and the Raiders. This reissue adds twelve original mono single bonus tracks to the original eleven stereo pop nuggets.
Matt Andersen – Weightless CD (True North)
Hailing from the blue-collar community of Perth Andover, New Brunswick, Andersen has been steadily building his sizable following in Canada and around the world through word of mouth about his electrifying live shows. Weightless, the new album, is infused with Andersen’s unparalleled dexterity on the guitar and his command of the blues with a distinctive soulful voice. Vinyl version due April 15.
Horace Andy – Get Wise [Reissue/1975] CD/LP (Pressure Sounds)
The musical relationship between Phil Pratt and one of reggae’s most distinctive voices Horace Andy began with the song “Black Mans Country” produced by Pratt for the Caltone label. Get Wise was their follow up together, released only in Jamaica in 1975, it was pressed in very limited quantities. This reissue is expanded with six bonus tracks.
Arche – First Cause CD (Psychonavigation)
Arche is a dark ambient drone group. “The goal with this album was to keep the tracks as minimally edited as possible. They’re meant to evoke different states of mind, and as the music is largely improvised I can only assume this means the tunes grow from that mindset as a seedbed. There is a large sense of emotion here, though: they’re mostly woozy. It’s distinctly uneasy – though not unpleasant – listening. Throughout there’s nothing invoked so much as the feel of ritual – of grand gestures and things one cannot know or understand. Sound sources remain uncertain, mostly, which aids this goal.” — Cyclic Defrost
Arc Iris – Arc Iris CD/LP+CD (Anti)
Arc Iris is the orchestral pop project of Jocie Adams, a former core member of The Low Anthem. The singer and multi-instrumentalist formed the collective to present her ambitious new songs. The band includes a collective of four musicians plus Jocie with additional players frequently joining to expand the sound further, to create their wild exploration of all kinds of musical styles – jazz, prog rock, blues, country, folk, and classical.
Austrian Death Machine – Triple Brutal CD (Artery)
New album from the Arnold Schwarzenegger-inspired side-project from As I Lay Dying vocalist Tim Lambesis. Austrian Death Machine is (you guessed it) a tribute/parody of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s action films.
The Bamboos – Fever In The Road CD (Nettwerk)
The Bamboos is a nine-piece funk soul band from Melbourne, Australia.
Band Of Skulls – Himalayan CD/2xLP (Electric Blues)
“The UK’s answer to The Black Keys veers towards an evolved sound for this record. They’re not reinventing themselves – don’t expect any Mariachi-trance or doom-hop – but there is grandeur, a largeness that they parade around on their escapades – is that their newfound knob-twiddler Nick Launay (Arcade Fire, Nick Cave, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) making himself known? Everything’s firm, confident and collected – it may lumber, but each kick beat and chord strum is definitely defiant. This is an album that struts with a dead-eyed glint; it’s an album that keeps a sinister streak simmering near the surface.” – The Line Of Best Fit
Big Elf – Into The Maelstrom CD (Inside Out)
Melodic prog-doom.
Black Pistol Howl – Hush Or Fire CD/LP (Modern Outsider)
Black Pistol Fire is a Canadian rock & roll duo that splits time between Toronto, Ontario and Austin, Texas. Their wild and energetic rock-and-roll sound has been described as a mix of classic southern rock and garage punk, garnering comparisons to early Kings Of Leon, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The White Stripes, and Clutch.
The Blue Nile – Peace At Last [Reissue/1996] 2xCD (EMI)
Digitally remastered reissue of the Scottish pop-soul perfectionists’ third album, expanded with a bonus CD of rarities.
The Body – I Shall Die Here CD/LP (RVNG, Intl)
Sharing their moribund vision with The Haxan Cloak, The Body’s tried and true sound is cut to pieces, mutilated by process and re-animated in a spectral state for their fourth full-length. I Shall Die Here sonically serrates the remains of metal’s already unidentifiable corpse and splays it amid tormented voices in shadow.
The Brothers & Sisters – Dylan’s Gospel [Reissue/1969] CD/LP (Light In The Attic)
Originally released in 1969 on Ode Records, this rare and sought-after album finds the California collective covering a clutch of Dylan classics in the era’s revolutionary gospel style. Produced by Lou Adler, soon to work his magic on Carole King’s mega-successful Tapestry, and arranged by Gene Page, noted for his work for Motown, the performers were largely unknown, but many went on to find great acclaim. Merry Clayton, the powerhouse singer best known for sparring with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” (and star of the recent documentary 20 Feet from Stardom), appears here, as does Edna Wright of The Honeycones and Gloria Jones, who recorded the original version of “Tainted Love” in 1965.
Busman’s Holiday – A Long Goodbye CD/LP (Joyful Noise)
Lewis and Addison Rogers are brothers who make pop-music together. When they do this, they go by the name Busman’s Holiday. Lewis plays guitar, and Addison plays his modest drum kit, complete with suitcase-bass-drum. Independently, the brothers have performed with artists such as Jens Lekman and Sleeping Bag. A Long Goodbye, the first proper album from Busman’s Holiday was recorded by Mark Lawson (Arcade Fire) and mixed by Drew Vandenberg (Toro Y Moi, Kishi Bashi). The band has been featured on WNYC’s Radiolab. RIYL: Kishi Bashi, Paul Simon, Randy Newman, Van Dyke Parks.
