New Releases - 10/2/20
Hitting The Racks
Here's your weekly rundown of what's hitting the new release racks at Grimey's
New Releases
Sufjan Stevens – The Ascension CD/2xLP (Asthmatic Kitty)
Enigmatic singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens makes his long-awaited follow-up to 2015's Carrie & Lowell with the 15-track double LP, The Ascension. The years-in-the-making collection's first single comes in the form of the sprawling closing track "America". Sufjan says the foundations of The Ascension are "a call for personal transformation and a refusal to play along with the systems around us." He adds, "my objective for this album was simple: Interrogate the world around you. Question anything that doesn't hold water. Exterminate all bullshit. Be part of the solution or get out of the way. Keep it real. Keep it true. Keep it simple. Keep it moving." The result is The Ascension, a "lush, editorial pop album," as Sufjan describes it, which finds us all at a "terrifying crossroad." [Limited brick and mortar indie store colored vinyl edition.]
Brent Cobb – Keep ‘Em On They Toes CD/LP (Ol’ Buddy)
For his fourth album, Keep ‘Em On They Toes, Brent Cobb is giving his songs the space they need to speak for themselves, a reflection of his own decision to write about the way he sees the world. "My last couple of albums have been about people and places, and I wanted this album to be about thoughts and feelings," he says. At his core, Cobb still writes country songs, so there's a continuity between Keep ‘Em On They Toes and past projects like 2016's Shine On Rainy Day (a Grammy nominee for Best Americana Album) and 2018's Providence Canyon. "To me, listening to this album feels like I'm sitting there with somebody, having a conversation," Cobb adds. "I would hope that it feels like sitting with an old friend you haven't seen in a while. There's nothing like being alone and listening to an album that is quiet and conversational – like those old records by Jerry Lee Lewis, Roger Miller, or Willie Nelson. I hope my music is that way to somebody now." [All copies at Grimey's are autographed by Brent Cobb and the vinyl comes with a custom slip mat! Stop in to snag your signed LP or order online.]
Dawes – Good Luck With Whatever CD/LP (Rounder)
Far from apathetic, Good Luck With Whatever is Dawes at their most unapologetic. It's sympathetic and magnetic, 50% genetic and highly kinetic. Songs like "Didn't Fix Me" and "Me Especially" showcase Taylor Goldsmith's poetic prowess perfectly; a historian of the human condition, transforming turmoil into motor oil. It's an unfiltered photograph of a band doing what they do best. A moment in the timeline of a 10 year old outfit who still possess the wonderment and fearlessness of when they started. "As a songwriter, this album is a relinquishing of my codependence...Not concerning myself with things that I shouldn't...witnessing life around me but trying to hold back judgement. It's also about stepping more firmly into adulthood, even if a few years later than expected," says Taylor. "As a band, this album is a celebration of each other and our closeness as a group. It's the four of us live in a room not hiding behind any sort of studio magic. This band has made us stronger and brought us closer through the years and we're recognizing that and are more proud of that than ever." [Limited brick and mortar indie store colored vinyl edition.]
Ace Of Cups – Sing Your Dreams CD (High Moon)
“Born from the psychedelic San Francisco music scene of the 1960s, Ace Of Cups is a pioneering rock group of all-female talent. Mixing stories of female empowerment with the angst of everyday life, Ace Of Cups place a new meaning on rock and roll her-story with their newest LP, Sing Your Dreams. Featuring collaborations with Jackson Browne, Bakithi Kumalo (bassist on Paul Simon’s Graceland), Steve Kimock, David Freiberg (Jefferson Starship) and Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna), this album packs a lot of music with one swift punch. ‘Dressed In Black’ marks the first track as a blues-rock interlude with sass. Lead guitarist, Mary Ellen Simpson, lays down the blues melodies of a previous era to push the song into this century. Similar in style is ‘Boy, What’ll You Do Then’, which combines the blues harmonica, courtesy of Denise Kaufman, with an upbeat rhythm circa the 1970s.” – Mxdwn [Vinyl edition due November 13.]
Anohni – It's All Over Now Baby Blue b/w Be My Husband 7” (Secretly Canadian)
A viscous embrace, a pulsating pouring out, Anohni's voice is above all else a vessel for political armament. Now sharing a dual cover set, she casts a subtler, but no less powerful incantation towards change. The original tracks dating to 1965, a year marked by the Selma marches, the Watts Rebellion, and the landmark Voting Rights Act, illuminate the eerily parallel struggles of this year.
Bear’s Den + Paul Frith – Fragments LP (Communion)
Recently released on CD – now available on clear vinyl. Fragments is a collaboration album between Bear's Den and Paul Frith, stemming from the handful of shows the band did in 2018 (Reeperbahn, London, Utrecht). The Fragments live shows saw acclaimed composer and arranger Paul Frith rework and arrange a number of songs from the Bear's Den catalogue with an orchestra; from adding orchestral flourishes to the originals to completely pulling apart and reimagining tracks.
Joachim Cooder – Over That Road I’m Bound CD/LP (Nonesuch)
Joachim Cooder has been a sought-after percussionist for two decades now, on now-legendary recordings with his father, Ry Cooder, like the landmark Buena Vista Social Club sessions and on his own with artists like Ali Farka Touré, who inspired Cooder to take up the mbira. He has produced albums for other artists, composed for film, and collaborated with choreographer Daniel Ezralow. On Over That Road I'm Bound, the songwriter and multi-instrumentalist uses the plain-spoken songs of country-music progenitor and banjo player Uncle Dave Macon as a jumping off point, playing with the lyrics and reworking melodies for his chosen instrument: an electric mbira (a variation on an African thumb piano).
Death Valley Girls – Under The Spell Of Joy LP (Suicide Squeeze)
New album from the Los Angeles dystopian punk/occult glam rockers. The initial inspiration for Under The Spell Of Joy came from the jubilant spirit of Ethiopian funk records the band had been listening to on tour, but once they began to channel the songs it seemed like the music came from somewhere not in the past but in the future. In the weeks leading up to recording, Death Valley Girls relied on their subconscious and effortlessly conjured Under The Spell Of Joy's eleven tracks as if they'd tapped into the Akashic Chronicle and pulled the music from the ether. [Limited gold colored vinyl pressing.]
Lana Del Ray – Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass CD/LP (Interscope)
The new spoken word recording, Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass, includes 14 poems performed by Lana Del Rey accompanied by music from Grammy Award-winning songwriter/producer Jack Antonoff.
Elder Brother – I Won’t Fade On You LP (Pure Noise)
Alternative rock band Elder Brother's highly anticipated new album, I Won't Fade On You is introduced by the brand new single, "I Get So Tired Of You". Dan Rose shares that it was a "song we had floating around for a while that we were nervous to pursue because of the prominent keyboard line. Kevin can play piano but we were always apprehensive to commit to any keys-driven tunes because we weren't as confident on the instrument. Once we added Evan to the lineup, who is a classically trained pianist as well as a drummer, we were more confident to start moving in that direction sonically I think the song is a product of us gaining more confidence in our instruments and as a band, in general."
Dmitry Evgrafov – Surrender LP (Fat Cat)
A broad and dramatic record that expands the Moscow-based artist's palette and reaches beyond the usual post-classical range.
Gabriel Garzón-Montano – Agüita CD/LP (Jagjaguwar)
Agüita is a sequence of impossibly diverse offerings ranging from trap anthems to string-drenched art pop ballads – a prismatic self-portrait, personal and universal all at once.
The Jaded Hearts Club – You’ve Always Been Here CD (BMG)
The Jaded Hearts Club is a new band featuring frontmen Miles Kane (The Last Shadow Puppets) and Nic Cester (Jet), guitarists Graham Coxon (Blur) and Jamie Davis, plus Matt Bellamy (Muse) on bass and drummer Sean Payne (The Zutons). The band formed in 2017 when Davis, a British guitarist living in Los Angeles, wanted to book a Beatles covers band to play at his birthday party. Instead of hiring a tribute act, he asked his friends if "they'd come together to form an early ‘60s Cavern-era Beatles band." The Jaded Hearts Club band’s motivation, states Davis, is simple: "It goes back to the purest point of why people started bands in the first place - a group of great musicians getting together to play for fun with no pressure. We're doing it because we have a bloody good time." With Kane on lead vocals, debut track "Nobody But Me" is a raucous rock 'n' roll take on The Isley Brothers' 1962 song, recorded in the spirit of The Human Beinz's version that followed in 1968. [Vinyl is available for special order.]
Nicolas Jaar - Cenizas 2xLP (Other People)
Nicolás Jaar is a Chilean sound maker born in 1990. He is known in the club world for his various dance 12" EPs and remixes he put out from 2008 to 2011, but has since branched out into many different areas of experimentation, including soundtrack work and site-specific installations. Following his raucous, more upbeat release 2017-2019, released under the name Against All Logic, Cenizas is a markedly somber, atmospheric work. Sitting somewhere between the worlds of ambient, jazz, electronic, and psychedelic music, Cenizas finds Jaar working through pent up negative emotions in isolation and finding a haunting catharsis, flecked with moments of ephemeral beauty.
Jónsi – Shiver CD/2xLP (Krunk)
Shiver is the exciting and boundary pushing second record from L.A.-based Icelandic musician Jónsi following the Sigur Rós frontman's 2010 solo debut, Go. Co-produced by A. G. Cook (PC Music, Charlie XCX) and recorded in Berlin, Reykjavik, London and Helsinki, the long awaited album features tracks with Liz Fraser (Cocteau Twins) and pop icon Robyn. Jónsi had made a career on sweeping music that plumbed the depths of the human experience and our connection to the natural world. Cook's production exists at the opposite end of the spectrum: synthetic, sometimes abrasive, and often on the cutting edge of experimentalism. On paper, their collaboration is surprising, but Shiver is a beautiful record that pushes Jónsi's otherworldly voice into startling new territories.
Jerry Joseph – The Beautiful Madness 2xLP (Jerry Joseph)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Jerry Joseph’s The Beautiful Madness was produced by Patterson Hood and features Drive-By Truckers as his backing band. The album contains 10 tracks which explore the territory Joseph understands best, the darker side of the human condition, calling attention to the toll politics take on humanity, the under-explored dynamics in relationships, and the truths about ourselves we'd rather not see. These songs include some of his most masterful yet and are all written with his trademark intelligence and courage, delivered with his powerful, raw passion. [Limited yellow colored vinyl pressing.]
Lany – Mama’s Boy CD/2xLP (Interscope)
Mama's Boy, Lany's third album, is an intentional return to the trio's Great Plain roots. After finishing the last leg of their world tour behind Malibu Nights, Paul Jason Klein – the band's primary songwriter, lyricist and producer who was born and raised in Oklahoma before moving with the band to L.A. – decamped to a studio in the country outside Nashville where he began working on an outline for the album. Thematically, Mama's Boy is a sweeping tribute to home, heritage and Americana filled with songs that highlight what's "symbolic of being an American kid" today. [Limited edition clear vinyl pressing.]
Masterpiece Machine – Rotting Fruit b/w Letting You In On A Secret 12” (Run For Cover)
Members of F**ked Up and Power Trip have coalesced to create the throbbing musical beast that is Masterpiece Machine. Imagine pounding the drum of Psalm-era Ministry with flashes of Nine Inch Nails, massive rock riffs, cinematic electronics, and post-hardcore influenced vocals.
Melanie C – Melanie C LP (Red Girl Media Ltd.)
The eighth studio album from Melanie C aka Sporty Spice of the iconic Spice Girls if full of pop with dance club attitude; album has a positive message combatting depression and embracing body positivity. [Deluxe double-CD edition includes bonus tracks.]
The Nude Party – Midnight Manor CD/LP (New West)
Midnight Manor is the much anticipated sophomore album from the six-piece rock outfit The Nude Party. Following two years of non-stop touring in support of their eponymous debut, the band returned to their farmhouse in New York's Catskill Mountains, where they live together under one roof. Like The Band's sacred home-recording habitat The Big Pink, The Nude Party's communal dwelling provided the landscape and proximity to focus on deepening their bonds through music. It was at the Manor that the band of childhood friends could shift their energies from the archetypical emotional journeys of mid-20-somethings towards rebuilding their road-worn relationships with one another, leading them to write Midnight Manor - an album that lead singer Patton Magee describes as "a stone skipping over troubled waters."
Elvis Perkins – Creation Myth LP (MIR)
Creation Myths is the first album in five years from Elvis Perkins. Produced by Sam Cohen, the album in many ways picks up where his debut Ash Wednesday left off. Pitchfork wrote of that album “Elvis Perkins has emerged as an assured, fully-formed cosmopolitan able to merge readily recognizable influences with a sense of theatre.” [CD edition due October 9.]
Rodrigo y Gabriela – Mettavolution Live 2xCD/2xLP (ATO)
Rodrigo y Gabriela's Mettavolution Live features recordings selected from the duo's 92 shows across cities and festivals in North America and Europe. The 13-song collection includes an epic live version of the Pink Floyd song "Echoes" from their Grammy-winning 2019 album Mettavolution plus new live recordings of the duo's classics "Hanuman" and "Tamacun". Rodrigo y Gabriela played the Mettavolution album in full every night as they felt its central theme of music connecting as a positive force for healing and inspiration in trying times. The new live set sees the virtuoso duo operating at the peak of their powers, the perfect balance of melody and metal, fire and finesse, which they have honed over their twenty-plus years of playing together.
Sa-Roc – The Sharecropper’s Daughter 2xLP (Rhymesayers)
The Sharecropper's Daughter album is entirely produced by a veteran renaissance man from the Atlanta hip-hop scene, Sol Messiah, with the exception of "Deliverance" produced by Evidence and co-produced by Al B Smoov. And, while Sa-Roc's crafty wordplay, razor-sharp delivery and exceptional writing are the prominent highlight, this undeniable quality is only further enhanced by stellar guest performances from a small, but formidable, all-star cast of guests, including Saul Williams, Styles P, Ledisi, Chronixx, and Black Thought.
Sean Nicholas Savage – Life Is Crazy LP (Arbutus)
Life Is Crazy, the accurately titled new record from Sean Nicholas Savage, is unlike anything you've heard from the cult balladeer. No drums or bass on the album, the accompaniment consists strictly of pure piano and lush strings, leaving Savage's songwriting bare to the listener like never before.
Skyzoo – Milestones 12” (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
Chris Smither – More From The Levy LP (Signature Sounds)
18th album from iconic bluesman. Reconnecting with his roots, Smither recorded the career-spanning More From The Levy in New Orleans at the fabled Music Shed. What resulted were 24 reimagined takes from Smither's vast career with help from guests including the legendary Allen Toussaint and Loudon Wainwright III.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith – The Mosaic Of Transformation LP+MP3 (Ghostly Int’l)
Released in May on CD – now available on vinyl! West coast composer, artist, and producer Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith has chartered a pioneering career with multiple critically-acclaimed albums since 2015. Following the release of The Kid in 2017, Smith focused her energy in several directions. She founded Touchtheplants, a multidisciplinary creative environment for projects including the first volumes in her instrumental Electronic Series and pocket-sized poetry books on the practice of listening within. She's continued to explore the endless possibilities of electronic instruments as well as the shapes, movements, and expressions found in the physical body's relationship to sound and color. It is this life-guiding interest that forms the foundational frequencies of her latest full-length, The Mosaic Of Transformation, a bright, sensorial glide through unbound wave phenomena and the radiant power discovered within oneself. [Limited clear vinyl pressing.]
Sumac – May You Be Held CD/2xLP+MP3 (Thrill Jockey)
May You Be Held follows the humanistic themes explored on Love In Shadow, partially informed by Aaron Turner's navigation of fatherhood and family life. This compassionate tone stands in stark contrast to the misanthropic and death-obsessed nature of most heavy metal music, and perhaps even seems diametric to the caustic and aggravated tone of May You Be Held. It may make more sense to approach the album as if it were a free jazz record or an abstract noise piece, where the emotional resonance isn't bound up in melody as much as it is in performance. Here, Turner's bellows and howls seem less threatening than wounded, primal, and mammalian. On guitar, his subversion of melody and penchant for noise seems less like aural punishment and more like an open horizon for frequencies and timbre.
Corey Taylor – CMFT CD/LP (Roadunner)
Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Corey Taylor (Slipknot, Stone Sour) delivers his widely anticipated debut solo album, CMFT. The songs illuminate the broad spectrum of this fiery and fearless rock 'n' roll opus, as Taylor touches on lifelong influences ranging from hard rock to classic rock, punk rock to hip-hop. On "Black Eyes Blue" Taylor's vocals soar with nostalgia, while on "CMFT Must Be Stopped" his rhymes recall his work on Slipknot's debut record and run alongside bulletproof bars from multi-platinum artist Tech N9ne and UK MC Kid Bookie. CMFTwas produced by Jay Ruston and features a backing band consisting of guitarists Christian Martucci (Stone Sour) and Zach Throne, bassist Jason Christopher, and drummer Dustin Robert [Limited brick and mortar indie store colored vinyl edition.]
Yung Lean – Stars CD/2xLP (001/AWAL)
“On ‘Violence’, the fourth song on Yung Lean’s seventh full-length Starz, the rapper paraphrases a mob boss from The Departed, played by Jack Nicholson: ‘You’re a product of your environment, my environment’s a product of me.’ It’s less of a flex than a statement of fact: Lean is a foundational figure in the pantheon of white, middle-class kids making divisive internet rap. But Jonatan Leandoer Håstad, now rebranded as a vulnerable creative polymath, seeks something deeper than a Yung Lean coronation on his new album: instead of sampling the quote in all its iconic gravitas, Lean mutters his version through a sonic fog, the words ash-choked and made into his own. On Starz, Yung Lean turns inward without losing his rare ear for speaker-shaking rap, and creates some of the most compelling music of his hip-hop career.” – The Fader [Green with black colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Reissues & From The Archives
Herb Alpert – Herb Alpert Is… 3xCD/5xLP (Herb Alpert Presents)
A legendary trumpet player and co-founder of A&M Records (the most successful independent record company in history), Herb Alpert's extraordinary musicianship has earned him five No. 1 hits, nine Grammy Awards, fifteen Gold albums, fourteen Platinum albums and has sold over 72 million records. Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass propelled his sound into the pop music limelight, at one point outselling the Beatles two to one. This new collection is the definitive retrospective on the illustrious career of this unique musical voice. Containing 63 tracks culled from six decades of the trumpeter's classic recordings, Herb Alpert Is... is the perfect companion piece to the new 2020 feature length documentary of the same name. [The 180gm vinyl edition is presented in a coffee table style LP record book containing 180-pages featuring vintage photos, extensive song credits, and a 7,500 word essay written by Bud Scoppa. The record book is housed in a custom slipcase with a screened printed smoked acrylic window.]
Billy Brooks - Windows of the Mind LP (Wewantsounds)
Originally released in 1974 on Ray Charles's Crossover Records. There's not a huge amount of information to be found about trumpet player Billy Brooks. A solid session musician who'd been around since the '50s, he played with the likes of Lionel Hampton, Cal Tjader, and of course Ray Charles. Brooks' only solo album, Windows of the Mind was recorded in Los Angeles and co-produced by Ray Charles himself. It is a skillful, brass-led mix of jazz and funk performed by such cult players as bassist Larry Gales (Thelonious Monk), drummer Clarence Johnston (Freddie Roach, James Moody), saxophonist Herman Riley (Side Effect, Pleasure, Earth Wind & Fire, Letta Mbulu), guitarists Jef Lee (Roy Ayers, Sylvia Striplin) and cult player Calvin Keys of Black Jazz Records fame. Windows of the Mind did reasonably well among the jazz circles when it came out but its fate would change fifteen years later when, in 1990, A Tribe Called Quest heavily sampled its closing track "Fourty Days" for their own "Luck of Lucien" featured on the group's debut album People's Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm (1990).
Mariah Carey – The Rarities 2xCD (Sony Legacy)
A compilation of fan favorites, rare songs and unreleased gems paired with never-before released full-length audio from Live At The Tokyo Dome, Mariah's first concert performance in Japan in support of her 1996 Daydream World Tour.
Stanley Clarke – School Days [Reissue/1976] LP (Friday Music)
Limited 180gm yellow and blue colored vinyl pressing in gatefold jacket. School Days was a game changer for the legendary Stanley Clarke in many ways. Not only did it forever etch the title superstar musician to his name all over the world, it also crossed his incredible music over to a whole new level of listeners, which to this day continue to flock to this album for the solid funk, rock, jazz and fusion release that only this master jam could achieve.
Ella Fitzgerald – Ella: The Lost Berlin Tapes CD/2xLP (Verve)
This newly-discovered recording from 1962 captures Ella Fitzgerald at the height of her career, performing for a spellbound audience at Berlin's Sportpalast. The complete concert, dubbed The Lost Berlin Tapes, took place on the evening of March 25, 1962. Accompanied by pianist Paul Smith, bassist Wilfred Middlebrooks, and drummer Stan Levey, Fitzgerald was at the top of her game – singing a variety of hits, in addition to lesser-known gems. Her longtime manager, Verve founder Norman Granz, regularly recorded her concerts for later release, radio broadcast, or, in the case of this performance, just to keep on hand. “I don't know what it is about Berlin in particular, but she's in great voice, and the band sounds amazing. It's an incredibly strong performance."
New Order – Confusion [Reissue/1983] 12” (WB)
New Order – Murder [Reissue/1984] 12” (WB)
New Order – Thieves Like Us [Reissue/1984] 12” (WB)
12” vinyl reissues of three EPs by the Manchester synth pop band formed after the demise of Joy Division. “Blue Monday” didn’t ship. Hopefully we’ll score some stock on that 12” soon.
NRBQ – In Frequencies CD/LP (Omnivore)
In Frequencies is the first-ever collection of NRBQ outtakes and rare tracks; a career-spanning deep dive and perfect compendium to their core studio albums. The set begins at the bands' beginning, with a sound check recording from October of 1968 and travels all the way to recent days, including the first physical appearance of their 2018 digital EP track, "April Showers" (recorded for the 2018 film Change In The Weather, with the late, great, Hal Willner as musical director). All but four tracks are previously unissued. Of the recordings that have been available, two made their debut on rare 45s.
Oasis – What’s The Story Morning Glory [Reissue/1995] 2xLP (Big Brother Recordings)
Double silver-colored vinyl LP pressing of this 25th anniversary edition of the British band's sophomore album.
Robert Plant – Digging Deep: Subterranea 2xCD (Rhino)
Digging Deep showcases landmark tracks from each of the 8x Grammy Award-winner's 11 masterful solo albums.
Queen + Adam Lambert – Live: Around The World CD+Blu-ray/2xLP (Hollywood)
Queen and Adam Lambert present their first live album together, Live: Around The World. The 20-track compilation of concert highlights was personally selected by Roger Taylor, Brian May and Lambert from over 200 shows they have performed with several featured here becoming available for the very first time. These cover concerts from Rock in Rio, Lisbon, to the UK's Isle of Wight Festival, Summer Sonic, Japan, selected UK and North America tour dates, and – from one of their very last performances before lockdown – the Fire Fight Australia benefit show. A highlight here is certainly the band's entire 22-minute Fire Fight Australia appearance in which they performed Queen's original history-making 1985 Live Aid set in full. Tin addition, the 20 tracks include other Queen fan favorites like "Don't Stop Me Now" and "I Want To Break Free" as well as rarities such as their versions of the Freddie Mercury penned "Love Kills" and "I Was Born To Love You".
Rascal Flatts – Twenty Years Of Rascal Flatts - The Greatest Hits 2xLP (Big Machine)
New best-of collection from the country music icons, celebrating their 20 years of hitmaking.
Various Artists - Cold Waves of Color Vol. 6 LP (Lion Productions)
The highly anticipated sixth volume of the well-received electronic compilation series of tracks drawn from the vaults of the Color Tapes label. As with the other volumes you can find great examples of cold wave, minimal wave, and synth electronics made by obscure British bands in the 1980s such as: Berserk In A Hayfield, Lives of Angels, Silicon Valley, Modern Art, Disintegrators, Echophase, The Lord, and Mystery Plane. As with all of the other volumes, this is a co-production between Lion Productions and Color Tapes.
Roger Waters – Us + Them 2xCD/3xLP (Legacy/Sony)
Roger Waters: Us + Them chronicles the acclaimed 2017-2018 tour of the iconic Pink Floyd artist. As the founding member, lyricist, composer and creative force behind Pink Floyd, Us + Them presents Waters powerful music in stunning form and highlights its message of human rights, liberty and love. The set features classic songs from The Dark Side Of The Moon, The Wall, Animals, Wish You Were Here as well as his most recent album, Is This The Life We Really Want?. [Stand-alone DVD and Blu-ray editions are also available.]
Roscoe Weathers - I'll Remember LP (Jazzman Records)
LP version. Tip-on sleeve. For every celebrated name in jazz, soul and related music, there are probably another 1000 musicians who had all the talent and potential but for whom widespread recognition remained elusive. Roscoe Weathers is one such figure, a jazzman who earned his chops the hard way, a sideman in smoky clubs from Memphis to Seattle, before finally settling in LA. He recorded a significant amount of music through the 1960s, but never found the slightest modicum of commercial acclaim nor the success that comes with it. Jazzman Records can lay claim to be the first outside label to release any of his music since the early 1960s. A multi-instrumentalist, Weathers mainly led on the flute in his recorded output. The music here spans the course of the 1960s, and moves from laid back beatnik jazz stylings through to percussion heavy Afro-Latin influenced workouts. As usual with Jazzman, the label has not only dug deep to unearth Weathers's music but also his background and biographical details, shining much deserved light on this enigmatic and largely unheralded figure for the first time.
Frank Zappa – Halloween 81: Live At The Palladium, New York City [Highlights] CD (UMe)
Halloween 81: Live At The Palladium, New York City, recorded in 1981 (two shows on Oct. 31st and one show on Nov. 1st), is the next in the iconic Frank Zappa Halloween sets. The six-CD box set features three complete concerts, all tracks newly mixed from original tapes, and 78 unreleased live tracks. The offering includes a Count Frankula mask and a red/black cape, plus 40-page booklet. The single-disc Highlights combines performances from all three shows along with an exclusive track “Strictly Genteel” from the November 1st show not on the six-CD boxset. [We have the highlights disc. 6-disc box set is available for special order.]