New Releases - 12/4/20
Hitting The Racks
Here's your weekly rundown of what's hitting the new release racks at Grimey's
New Releases
Margo Price – Perfectly Imperfect At The Ryman CD/2xLP (Loma Vista)
In 2018, Margo Price claimed her rock star status at the Mother Church of Country Music. She was headlining the Ryman Auditorium for the first time ever, in a sold-out run of three nights that she had admittedly spent more time planning than her wedding. Now, Margo revisits the career-changing residency with the release of the live album, Perfectly Imperfect at The Ryman. With special guest appearances from Jack White, Emmylou Harris and Sturgill Simpson.
Andy Bell - The View from Halfway Down LP (Sonic Cathedral)
Blue vinyl. The debut solo album from the Ride guitarist/singer. The product of a gradual, four-year process, the album was entirely written and recorded by Andy, engineered by Gem Archer and mastered by Heba Kadry. From the ecstatic psych pop of "Love Comes In Waves", to the heady loops of "Indica" and deeply groove-led "Skywalker", the eight tracks here mix summery melodies with soundscapes and studio experimentation. The end result sits neatly between Ride's widescreen shoegaze and GLOK's textured electronics, variously inspired by The Stone Roses, Spacemen 3, The Beatles, The Byrds, The Beta Band, Stereolab, Neu!, Can, John Fahey, The Kinks, The La's, The Who, and the United States Of America.
Toni Braxton – Spell My Name LP (Island)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. New album from the multi-platinum, Grammy-winning megastar.
Jamie Cullum – The Pianoman At Christmas CD (Capitol)
Multi-platinum, Ivor Novello Award-winning musician Jamie Cullum delivers the holiday big band album The Pianoman At Christmas featuring ten original songs boasting a total of no fewer than 57 musicians. The festive set was recorded over five days at Abbey Road Studios, with producer Greg Wells, known for his work with Adele, Dua Lipa, and on the soundtrack for The Greatest Showman. It's introduced by the first single "Turn On The Lights", a joyful celebration of the season that sets Cullum's keyboard work against a symphony of strings, horns, and expansive orchestral percussion. [Vinyl edition TBD.]
Russell Dickerson – Southern Symphony CD (Triple Tigers)
Co-produced alongside frequent collaborator Casey Brown and a first-time collaboration with legendary producer Dann Huff, Southern Symphony is the sophomore album from multi-platinum recording artist Russell Dickerson and follow-up to 2017's Gold-certified Yours. "Southern Symphony is hands down the best work I've created," said Dickerson, "It's the best songs I've written. It's sonically the best we've created. This album is ten honest and true tracks that tell the story of how I've grown as an artist and a man. I could not be more proud of every song on this album." Southern Symphony is packed with humble and heartfelt ballads about love and nostalgia matched with his signature "RD party" anthems, including one of Russell's biggest collaborations to date on "It's About Time"’ featuring multi-platinum recording artists, Florida Georgia Line. Also includes the singles "Love You Like I Used To" and "Never Get Old". [Vinyl edition due February 12.]
Grand River - Blink a Few Times to Clear Your Eyes LP (Editions Mego)
Two years since her debut full-length release, Grand River presents her sophomore album. The eight track LP shows an evolution towards a more experimental side of the Dutch-Italian composer, superbly combined with her melodic chops, and expresses how acoustic instruments can be perfectly merged with electronic and analog synthesizers to become one new organic whole.The listener is carried from extended panoramic sound design and cinematic ambiences, back and forth to synthetic melodies, field recordings, strings and for the first time ever, Aimée's own modified voice in the closing track, "All There Now". Grand River's music is pure, magnificent and elegant which documents a solemn atemporal story where her experiences are translated into another language.
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard – K.G. CD (KGLW)
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard return with new album K.G., their sixteenth since forming in 2010. In the wake of a global pandemic, it's a collection of songs composed and recorded remotely after the six members of the band retreated to their own homes scattered around Melbourne. K.G. is a pure distillation of the King Gizzard sound, one that cherry picks the best aspects of previous albums and contorts them into new shapes via defiantly non-western rock scales. K.G. is the second volume in the band's "microtonal" series that began with 2017's Flying Microtonal Banana. "FMB was one of the purest and most enjoyable recording experiences we've had, and the ideas just kept coming," explains de facto bandleader/multi-instrumentalist Stu Mackenzie. "It's almost like an album that normal people make." [Vinyl edition due December 11.]
Logic – No Pressure 2xLP (Def Jam)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Logic returns with No Pressure, reuniting with legendary super-producer No I.D. Logic, 6ix and No I.D. come full circle for a sequel to his debut album, Under Pressure, with the first new music since Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind.
Moe. – This Is Not, We Are CD 2xCD (ATO)
Hailed by American Songwriter for their "mind-bending musicality," Moe. is treasured for their mesmerizing musical synergy, unfettered showmanship, and smart, resonant songcraft. For three decades, the band has corralled myriad musical forms on a truly original journey rich with crafty, clever songwriting and astonishing resourcefulness. This Is Not, We Are – which marks the twelfth studio album from Moe. and first since 2014's acclaimed No Guts, No Glory – includes eight new songs written by members Chuck Garvey, Alan Schnier, Rob Derhak, Jim Loughlin, and Vinnie Amico, most of which have been fine-tuned over the past two years while the band has spent time on the road. "We kind of went back to our roots a bit," Derhak says. "We just wanted to do something that made us feel inspired like we had felt when the band first started. But it also has everything that we've picked up along the way, all the good baggage – and maybe some of the bad – that we've dragged along for the past 30 years." [Limited blue colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Róisín Murphy – Roisin Machine LP (Skint)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The alt-pop icon’s new album Róisín Machine is a career best - a collection of shimmering nu-disco gems she’s been perfecting with long-time collaborator Richard Barratt, aka DJ Parrot, for the last decade.
Ocean Moon - Crystal Harmonies (KPM) LP (Be With Records)
Ocean Moon is a solo project from Jon Tye of Seahawks. A long-time explorer of the sounds of spaciousness, having released the ambient classic LP iO in 1994 as MLO, Crystal Harmonics is a document of Jon's latest discoveries and features some of today's most visionary musicians: Jon Brooks (The Advisory Circle, Ghostbox) for his intuitive melodic mastery, Seaming To (Graham Massey's Toolshed) for her extraordinary vocal talents, Steve Moore (Zombi) for his sophisticated and inventive rhythmic sensibility, and Richard Norris (The Grid) for his sensitive and deeply resonant ambience. Atmospheres range from serene electronic flute and bells, to synth drones and billows of electric piano, to spacious pads and light electronic beats, to synth-space-surf haze, to dreamy Solina strings and percussive modular electronics.
Katy J Pearson – Return LP (Heavenly)
Recently released on CD – now available on limited colored vinyl. Ten songs which slide effortlessly between lovelorn country, lo-fi folk and glistening, unforgettable pop.
Refused – The Malignant Fire 12” (Spinefarm)
New from the Swedish hardcore legends.
Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou – May Our Chambers Be Full CD/LP (Sacred Bones)
Stemming out of an offer from Roadburn Festival organizer Walter Hoeijmakers, mutual acquaintances, and a shared love of each other's output, May Our Chambers Be Full is the first recorded document of collaboration between Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou. While their solo material seems on its face to be quite disparate, both groups have spent their respective careers lurking at the outer boundaries of the heavy metal scene, the artists having more in common with DIY punk and it's spiritual successor, grunge. [Limited dark purple colored vinyl pressing also available.]
WL - ADHD LP (Beacon Sound)
Fusing spacious electronic minimalism, shimmering guitars, and the empyrean voice of Misty Mary, Portland's WL (pronounced "well") arrive with an album of lustrous, crystalline Left Coast pop. Listening to the album from start to finish is like taking an autumnal walk across one of the city's iconic bridges, a cinematic embrace that feels both protective and expansive. The album's alchemical magic is revealed through the depth of its deceptively simple song structures, with each song blooming into its own mini-cosmos. Ruminative, self-assured, and spun through with warmth, ADHD reveals WL to be in a class of their own. And if "Water's On My Side" isn't the most Portland of songs, we don't know what is. RIYL: Still Corners, Chromatics, Broadcast, The XX.
Reissues, Compilations, Live Recordings, & Vault Excavations
Tori Amos – Live At Montreux 1991 & 1992 [Reissue/2007] 2xLP (earMUSIC)
Live At Montreux 1991 & 1992 captures two live performances by the provocative pianist and singer Tori Amos at the famous Montreux Jazz Festival. The first performance was recorded before and the second after the release of her first solo album.
Arctic Monkeys – Arctic Monkeys Live At The Royal Albert Hall 2xCD/2xLP+MP3 (Domino)
Recorded at the start of the band's Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino tour, Arctic Monkeys Live At The Royal Albert Hall features 20 of the band's finest moments to date. "On June 7, 2018 we played a very special show at London's Royal Albert Hall," notes the band. "All the proceeds from that memorable night were donated to War Child UK in support of the vital work they do protecting, educating and rehabilitating children who have experienced the trauma of conflict and the horror of war. The situation that was bad in 2018 is now desperate and those children and their families need our help more than ever. To enable War Child UK to reduce their funding deficit and continue their valuable work, we are happy to be able to release a live album, recorded that evening at The Royal Albert Hall. All proceeds will go direct to the charity. We thank all our fans in advance for their support of this release and in turn for their support of War Child UK." [Indie exclusive clear vinyl.]
Atmosphere – To All My Friends, Blood Makes The Blade Holy: The Atmosphere EP's [Reissue/2010] 2xLP (Rhymesayers)
Similar to their now-legendary Lucy Ford release, Atmosphere had originally conceived To All My Friends, Blood Makes The Blade Holy as two separate EP's (To All My Friends and, of course, Blood Makes The Blade Holy). Much like Lucy Ford, the desire to simplify the concept for the sake of tour merchandising and retail distribution led them to join the two EP's together, packaged onto one CD. However, unlike Lucy Ford, neither of these individual EP's were ever made available for purchase on vinyl.
Beyoncé – Homecoming: The Live Album 4xLP (Columbia)
Homecoming: The Live Album features Beyoncé's historic headlining Coachella performance on two weekends in April 2018. Includes 52-page booklet.
Blondie – Live LP/LP+CD (earMUSIC)
Limited pink and purple colored vinyl pressing. Blondie's first concert in 17 years took place on February 10, 1999, at the New York's town hall, was an emotional one. This live album features the founding members Debbie Harry, Chris Stein, Jimmy Destri and Clem Burke and includes highlights of their earlier career as well as songs of their hit album No Exit.
Bonobo – Black Sands [Reissue/2010] 2xLP (Ninja Tune)
Limited double red colored vinyl pressing in gatefold jacket. Influenced by the divergent, bass-driven strands of the UK electronic music scene at that time, multi-instrumentalist Simon Green artfully fitted those evolving sounds into his own wider vision on Black Sands. Ten years on, the record stands as the launch pad for Green's stealthy but unstoppable rise to being one of the biggest electronic artists of our times.
S. Carey – All We Grow [Reissue/2010] LP+MP3 (Saddle Creek)
All We Grow was and is a convergence of S. Carey's young lifetime spent immersed in music: his Waltz For Debby-era Bill Evans inflected jazz tendencies; his performance degree in classical percussion from the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire; his central role in the gale force power of the Bon Iver live show; his hints of Mark Hollis' Talk Talk.
Com Truise – In Decay, Too 2xLP+MP3 (Ghostly Int’l)
In Decay is a compilation album by American electronic musician Seth Haley's project Com Truise, originally released in 2012. The record is a collection of tracks that, before its release, were only available as demos found on Haley's internet mixtape series Komputer Kasts and his SoundCloud account. These early tracks, some of which were produced before the release of Cyanide Sisters (2010), showcase Haley exploring an electropop funk music sound that would later come to define the Com Truise project.
Deafheaven – 10 Years Gone CD/2xLP+MP3 (Sargent House)
Deafheaven are celebrating the first decade of their illustrious career with a new studio-recorded live album, 10 Years Gone. There is no denying the absolute power of Deafheaven’s live show. Since the days of their now-legendary 2010 demo, the band put on raw performances that combined the sonic assault of black metal with an uplifting emotional quality. The latter comes through in frontman George Clarke’s throat-shredding vocals, which are even more visceral and affecting in person. [Limited double green and yellow colored vinyl.]
Deep Purple – Total Abandon - Australia '99 [Reissue/1999] 2xLP/2xLP+2xCD (earMUSIC)
Total Abandon was recorded in April 1999 in Melbourne while the mighty Deep Purple was touring Australia. With the Mk VII power line-up consisting of Ian Gillan (vocals), Roger Glover (bass), Ian Paice (drums), Jon Lord (keyboard) and Steve Morse (guitar) the band hit the stage in top form. [Limited yellow and green colored vinyl.]
Brian Eno with Jon Hopkins & Leo Abrahams – Small Craft On A Milk Sea [Reissue/2010] 2xLP+MP3 (Warp)
Small Craft On A Milk Sea is a 2010 album by British musician and record producer Brian Eno. The album was recorded with collaborators Jon Hopkins and Leo Abrahams in 2009 and 2010.
Bill Evans – Live At Ronnie Scott's (with Eddie Gomez & Jack DeJohnette) 2xCD (Resonance)
Live At Ronnie Scott's is the third official Resonance release of previously-unissued recordings of the Bill Evans trio with Eddie Gomez and Jack DeJohnette. The nearly two hours of music has been remastered from the original tape reels. Live At Ronnie Scott's was captured in July of 1968. On the cover of this deluxe double-CD set is a never-before-published drawing by artist and illustrator David Stone Martin. Package includes an extensive booklet with rare photos, essays and interviews.
Family Fodder - Savoir Faire: The Best of Family Fodder LP (Jungle Records)
First time on vinyl; limited transparent pale blue pressing. A 'best of' collection of their series of eccentric post-punk singles and albums between 1979 and 1982. Described as 'entertaining idiosyncratic experimentalism' ('Who's Who of Indie and New Wave'), but they also have very evident pop sensibilities. Best known for their indie-chart hits such as 'Debbie Harry', 'Playing Golf With My Flesh Crawling' and 'Savoir Faire', today they sound like a forerunner of Stereolab. They've had their songs covered by a number of their many artist admirers, including Unrest (who turned Family Fodder's 'Debbie Harry' into 'Winona Ryder') and YACHT (who created internet waves with 'I Wanna F*** You Till I'm Dead')."
Jerry Garcia & Merl Saunders – GarciaLive Volume 15: May 21st, 1971 Keystone Korner 2xCD (ATO)
GarciaLive Vol. 15 showcases a free-spirited performance from Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders and drummer Bill Vitt at the celebrated and cozy San Francisco jazz club Keystone Korner. The trio, aided by saxophonist Martin Fierro on five songs, fuses R&B, jazz and rock across two adventurous sets. Extended takes on Saunders's own “Man-Child” and “Save Mother Earth” punctuate the performance alongside rare gems including David Crosby's “The Wall Song” and Stevie Wonder's “I Was Made to Love Her”.
Marvin Gaye – Live In Montreux 1980 [Reissue/2003] 2xLP/2xLP+CD (earMUSIC)
Recorded live at the Montreux Casino on July 7, 1980 during the Montreux Jazz Festival, this album includes moving renditions of such classics as “Let's Get It On”, “Ain't That Peculiar”, “Inner City Blues”, “Ain't No Mountain High Enough”, “What's Going On” and of course “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”.
Etta James – Live At Montreux 1975 – 1993 2xLP/2xLP+CD (earMUSIC)
Etta James made many appearances at the Montreux Jazz Festival across her long and distinguished career, from her first concert in 1975 through to her last one in 2008. This album assembles the best performances from the first 20 years of her alliance with the festival, when she was at her absolute peak. [Limited edition red colored vinyl.]
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard – Live In San Francisco ’16 CD/2xLP (ATO)
Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. Just under a month after delivering their award-winning 2016 album Nonagon Infinity, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard took the stage at San Francisco's The Independent for a set both wildly frenetic and meticulously executed. In one of their final club gigs before bursting onto the international scene – soon selling out amphitheaters and headlining festivals – the Melbourne septet laid down a breakneck performance that, in the words of SF Weekly, "made every organ ache just right." Multi-tracked and impeccably mixed, Live in San Francisco '16 simultaneously channels the massive energy of King Gizzard's set while echoing the sweaty intimacy of the 500-capacity venue. The set captures an extraordinary moment in the band's increasingly storied history, a 13-song spectacular likely to leave every listener awestruck and adrenalized. [A deluxe colored vinyl pressing housed in a mirror board jacket is also available.]
Gun Club – Miami [Reissue/1982] 2xCD/2xLP (Extra Term Audio)
Digitally remastered and expanded edition of the L.A. rock bands sophomore record, expanded with a bonus disc of demo tracks.
Bob Marley & The Wailers – The Complete Island Recordings 11xCD (Island)
The Complete Island Recordings includes all nine Bob Marley & The Wailers studio albums recorded for Island Records, featuring their most celebrated releases, including Catch A Fire, their 1973 label debut, and Rastaman Vibration, their 1976 breakthrough album in the United States, along with two live albums, Live! and Babylon By Bus.
Lee Morgan – The Sidewinder [Reissue/1964] LP (Blue Note)
Limited 180gm pressing. Lee Morgan's magnum opus comeback, The Sidewinder, was a coronation. The prodigious trumpeter debuted on Blue Note in 1956 at the age of 18, but personal problems in the early-60s forced him off the scene temporarily. His rebound recording was an assured, energetic set of 5 indelible originals with Joe Henderson (tenor sax), Barry Harris (piano), Bob Cranshaw (bass), and Billy Higgins (drums).
Alanis Morissette – Live At Montreux 2012 [Reissue/2013] 2xLP/2xLP+CD (earMUSIC0
On July 2, 2012 Morissette returned to Montreux as part of her Guardian Angel Tour to support her album Havoc And Bright Lights. It was her third appearance at the festival. [Limited orange colored vinyl.]
Nelly – Country Grammar [Reissue/2000] 2xLP (Motown)
Double translucent blue vinyl pressing. The 20th-anniversary edition of Country Grammar includes bonus tracks “Icey”, “Come Over”, “Country Grammar” (Instrumental), and “Ride Wit Me” (Instrumental).
N*E*R*D – Nothing [Reissue/2010] 2xLP (Interscope)
Tenth anniversary vinyl reissue. Sonically, Nothing was inspired by the late ‘60s and early
‘70s and features production from Daft Punk, and The Neptunes.
Sonny Rollins – Rollins In Holland: The 1967 Studio & Live Recordings 2xCD (Resonance)
Rollins In Holland: The 1967 Studio & Live Recordings is Resonance Records' first archival release from the Saxophone Colossus, Sonny Rollins. This deluxe set officially sanctioned by Rollins includes three different previously unissued 1967 performances with bassist Ruud Jacobs (bass) and Han Bennink (drums). With extensive booklet of unseen photos and essays by Aidan Levy and Frank Jochemsen, plus interviews with Sonny Rollins and Han Bennink, a remembrance of Ruud Jacobs, and more.
Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band – Straight To You: Live 2xLP (Mascot Label Group)
Released last week as CD+DVD and CD+Blu-ray combo editions – now available on vinyl. It's been a decade since the Grammy-nominated Live In Chicago, when the ferocity of Kenny Wayne Shepherd and his band was last captured live. Since then the multi-platinum selling Shepherd has gone from strength to strength, releasing four studio albums and touring the world over several times - from Brazil to Europe, India to Canada and the US to Australia and beyond. The band were only weeks into The Traveler World Tour when the Covid-19 pandemic broke, and the world came to a standstill. This show took place at the famous Leverkusen Jazzstage for the iconic German TV show, Rockpalast on November 25, 2019.
Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators – Live At The Roxy 25.9.14 [Reissue/2015] 2xLP/2xLP+CD (earMUSIC)
On September 25, 2014, shortly after the release of their World On Fire album, Slash together with Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators hit the stage at the legendary Roxy Theatre on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. The atmospheric venue, steeped in rock history, gave fans a brilliant opportunity to see the band up close and personal as they delivered a set that covered recent solo tracks, including several from the new album, and classics from Slash's career with Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver. [Limited gold colored vinyl.]
Spacehog – The Chinese Album [Reissue/1997] LP (Real Gone Music)
Instead of merely playing at being a glam-rock band, Spacehog here crafts a fully-realized sound and aesthetic, with nods to such artists as Queen, Badfinger, The Kinks, and even R.E.M. (Michael Stipe makes an appearance on the mellow “Almond Kisses”). And the songwriting (e.g. “Lucy's Shoe”) is consistently strong, making The Chinese Album one of the late '90s' great lost records.
Various Artists - Tokyo Dreaming CD/2LP (Wewantsounds)
A superb selection picked from the highly collectible Nippon Columbia label and its Better Days sub-label, mixing electro, synth-pop, funk, and ambient and including many sought-after rarities and hidden gems which have never been released outside of Japan. In the 1970s, the Better Days sub-label became a hotbed for Tokyo's new generation of pop artists, armed with a string of new Japanese-made synthesizers and drum machines and eager to experiment with ambient, electro, and funk. Tokyo Dreaming superbly showcases the breadth of '80s Japanese music and the way electro pop was a playing ground for musicians to experiment with many styles, turning the city into a giant sonic lab restlessly inventing the music of the future. Features Ryuichi Sakamoto, Mariah, Jun Fukamachi, Yasuaki Shimizu, and many more.
The White Stripes – The White Stripes Greatest Hits CD/2xLP (Third Man)
The first-ever official anthology of recordings from the iconic rock duo, Jack and Meg White, is an essential career-spanning collection highlighting 26 previously released songs – from late ‘90s flashes of brilliance through early 2000s underground anthems, masterful MTV Moon Man moments, Grammy-grabbing greatness, and worldwide stadium chants...the songs here are as wide-ranging as you can imagine. In an era of streaming where the idea of a "Greatest Hits" album may seem irrelevant – that an act's most streamed songs are considered their de facto "hits" – we wholeheartedly believe that great bands deserve "Greatest Hits" and that a large part of Third Man Records' and The White Stripes' successes have been built on zigging when the rest of the music business is zagging. Thus, for a great band with great fans, a greatest hits compilation for The White Stripes is not only appropriate, but absolutely necessary.
Yusuf (Cat Stevens) – Tea For The Tillerman [Reissue/1970] CD/2xCD/LP/5xCD+2xLP+Blu-ray (A&M)
Digitally remastered editions. Deluxe edition adds a CD of demos and live tracks. Super Deluxe adds Yusuf's new interpretations, Tea For The Tillermaný, a CD of demos/outtakes/alternate versions including two previously unreleased tracks, a CD of 25 live performances including previously unreleased tracks recorded at the Troubadour, hi-def Blu-ray audio including previously unreleased live TV performances, including tracks performed live at KCNET.
Yusuf (Cat Stevens) – Mona Bone Jakon [Reissue/1970] 2xCD/LP/2xLP+4xCD+Blu-ray (A&M)
Deluxe two CD 50th anniversary edition including bonus disc. Digitally remastered with 2020 mix. With the original release of Mona Bone Jakon came a new sound that forged Cat Stevens' signature style. Produced by Paul Samwell-Smith, the album features Lady D'Arbanville as well as fan favorites “I Wish, I Wish” and “Maybe You're Right”. “Katmandu” features Peter Gabriel on flute. [Super Deluxe double-LP + four-CD + Blu-ray box set features the new 2020 remix and remaster, previously unreleased demos and 1970-1971 live performances plus the 2020 mix in hi-def Blu-ray audio.]
ZZ Top – Live In Germany 1980 [Reissue/2009] 2xLP+CD (earMUSIC)
With their 1973 album Tres Hombres, ZZ Top achieved their well-deserved breakthrough in the US. Their success in Europe is mainly accredited to their brilliant live album recorded as part of the Rockpalast Night in the Essen Grugahalle, Germany.