New Releases - 2/25/22

Hitting The Racks

Here's your weekly rundown of what's hitting the new release racks at Grimey's

New Releases

Alanna Royale - So Bad You Can Taste It LP (Soul Step)

Come drop the needle on this Kelly Finnigan produced album from Nashville soul vets Alanna Royale. Alanna's voice takes center stage while being supported by blaring horns and a thumping rhythm section. Everything you could want in a soul record, you will find on this LP. Pick it up, drop the needle, and discover one of Soul music's emerging talents. For fans of Sharon Jones, Lady Wray and the Monophonics.

Allegaeon – Damnum CD/2xLP (Metal Blade)

Over the past fifteen years, Colorado's Allegaeon has built themselves a unique place in the musical landscape, forcing both technicality and melody to the forefront as they create tumultuous and riveting death metal. [Limited edition gold & white vinyl.]

Blood Incantation – Timewave Zero CD/CD+Blu-ray/2xLP+MP3 (Century Media)

Spawned in 2011, Blood Incantation has spent the past decade establishing a reputation for creating powerful atmospheric death metal with progressive elements, while gradually incorporating more psychedelic and ambient components with each new release. Epitomizing their cosmic essence and experimental nature, Timewave Zero reveals an alternate dimension for experiencing the mind-bending songwriting of Blood Incantation´s dense otherworldly sonic landscapes - beyond the limitations of genre and free to travel among the stars. Echoes of Tangerine Dream, Pink Floyd, Lustmord, Popol Vuh and Dead Can Dance synthesize in an archaic planetarium soundtrack, taking the listener on a cinematic journey. [Limited edition clear/orange 2xLP set due 3/25.]

Avishai Cohen, Yonathan Avishai, Barak Mori, Ziv Ravitz – Naked Truth CD (ECM)

There is a searching, yearning quality to Naked Truth, and a raw beauty and vulnerability in Avishai Cohen's trumpet sound on his most improvisational ECM recording to date. Very much music-of-the-moment, found and shaped during a remarkable recording session in the South of France, Naked Truth takes the form of an extemporaneous suite.

Ryan Culwell – Run Like A Bull LP (Missing Piece)

Limited-edition orange, green, and clear vinyl edition. Run Like a Bull is the third album from singer/songwriter Ryan Culwell and his first new album in over three years. His 2018 album, The Last American, was praised by the Associated Press, NPR, Wide Open Country, and Rolling Stone who said, “It took three years for this Texas-born singer/songwriter to follow up his bleak but marvelous LP Flatlands - and this 180 from that 2015 release's spare sound was worth the wait.”

Dashboard Confessional – All The Truth That I Can Tell CD/LP/Cassette (Hidden Note)

Dashboard Confessional's ninth studio album, All The Truth That I Can Tell, is both a remarkable renewal and fortunate step forward for the band's songwriter, front man, and founder, Chris Carrabba. All The Truth That I Can Tell stands among Carrabba's finest - a strikingly potent musical look at himself through a rediscovered keyhole, both an achievement of vision and a vital burst of artistic clarity; less like reading someone's diary and more like reading their eyes. [A limited-edition indie store exclusive ‘cold night’ transparent blue vinyl. While supplies last, we have copies of All The Truth That I Can Tell on CD that have been signed by the band! These are limited to one per customer and are available in the record shop and on our webstore.]

Jameal Dean – Primordial Waters 2xLP (Stones Throw)

Primordial Waters sees the prodigiously talented young musician take his explorations in jazz and hip-hop to new heights. Inspired by Orisha stories and Jamael's Los Angeles roots, the album is heavily infused with Yoruba spirituality and celestial themes. Several of the tracks interpolate traditional Yoruba songs and feature vocals from frequent collaborator Sharada Shashidhar.

Deerhoof – Actually You Can LP (Joyful Noise)

Released last October on CD – now available on olive green color vinyl. Over eighteen boundless albums as experimental as they are pop, Deerhoof has continuously quested for radical sounds and daring storytelling. 2020's Future Teenage Cave Artists explored fairytale visions of post-apocalypse, welding intrinsic melodies with absurdist digital recording methods. It's sequel Love-Lore, a live covers medley, channeled futurist mid-century artists - Parliament, Sun Ra and Stockhausen, to name a handful - into a patchwork love letter to the anti-authoritarian expressions that inspire the band. Galvanized by the challenge of unifying many styles of music, Deerhoof landed on their next record's concept: baroque gone DIY. Actually, You Can is a genre-abundant record that uses technicolor vibrancy and arpeggiated muscularity to offer a vital shock from capitalism's purgatorial hold.

Early Eyes – Look Alive! CD/LP+MP3 (Epitaph)

It's a foreboding time to make pop music. But like a sunbeam peering through a haze of wildfire smoke, Early Eyes have somehow persevered through dashed dreams, fractured relationships, historic social justice uprisings in their own hometown, and a society tearing apart at the seams to make an album that is both responsive to the chaos and wearily optimistic. Look Alive! vibrates with angst, punctuated by computerized glitches and disintegrating threads of abandoned melodies that echo in the distance before roaring back to life.

JW Francis – WANDERKID LP (Sunday Best)

Released last October on CD – now available on vinyl. WANDERKID is the sophomore album from New York’s next lo-fi legend, JW Francis and in an appropriately maverick move, has been released whilst its creator is in the middle of trekking 2000 miles along the Appalachian Trail. With support for JW’s debut album flooding in from BBC 6Music, DIY Magazine, The Line of Best Fit, Wonderland, NME, The Independent, HMV to name a few, JW is fast making a name for himself as one of the most exciting new artists around. Musically, he takes his lead from the greats of the Downtown scene - Patti Smith, The Velvet Underground, Television, Talking Heads, The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs - and is fast emerging at the forefront of the next generation of New York greats.

Gang Of Youths – angel in realtime. CD (WB)

Gang Of Youth's new music fuses their knack of soaring melodies, indelible hooks, and dynamic rock uplifts with a love of neoclassical, minimalist composers and experimental sampling. They're embarking on the most vital phase of their career so far. Although the album is eclectic – influences range from American minimalism and contemporary classical, to drawing upon the legacy of Britain's alternative/indie scenes, from drum ‘n' bass to the most transcendent moments of Britpop – it's equally rooted in David Le'aupepe's Samoan heritage, with most tracks featuring samples from David Fanshawe's recordings of indigenous music from the Polynesian islands and the wider South Pacific. [A limited-edition indie store exclusive pink color vinyl pressing is due March 18.]

The Ghost Inside – Rise From The Ashes: Live At The Shrine CD/2xLP+MP3 (Epitaph)

The Ghost Inside's new live record was taken from the metalcore band's 2019 sold-out comeback show in Los Angeles, CA in the parking lot of The Shrine. Originally meant to take place at the historic Shrine Auditorium, tickets sold out so quick that the gig had to be moved to the parking lot. On an early morning in November 2015, The Ghost Inside was involved in a head-on collision that took the life of their bus driver as well as the driver of the other vehicle. Jonathan Vigil (vocals) suffered a fractured back, ligament damage, and two broken ankles. Zach Johnson (guitar) had 13 surgeries for a femur injury and Andrew Tkaczyk (drums) lost his right leg above the knee. The future of the band was completely unknown throughout 2016, as everyone struggled to heal their extensive injuries. The road to recovery was both mentally and physically extensive but the band determined to get back to doing what they love. Nearly four years later, they did just that, returning to the stage July 2019, 1,333 days after their bus accident. [Limited-edition indie store exclusive orange vinyl.]

Robert Glasper – Black Radio III CD/2xLP (Loma Vista Recordings)

Four-time Grammy Award-winning artist and producer Robert Glasper delivers his highly anticipated third installment to the Black Radio album series. Black Radio III, much like both of its predecessors (2012's Black Radio and 2013's Black Radio 2), is a cultural moment that celebrates black love and resilience, features an eclectic group of talented collaborators, and is composed by Glasper who the New York Times proclaims is "probably the most prominent jazz musician of his generation." [Limited-edition indie store exclusive chartreuse color vinyl.]

Beth Hart – A Tribute To Led Zeppelin CD/2xLP (Provogue)

The A Tribute To Led Zeppelin setlist is a perfectly-curated sampling of the band's majesty. The 9-track album features a mix of Zep essentials and fan favorites. Beth musters empathic emotionality on the album's elegant version of "Stairway To Heaven", conjuring the aching beauty of the timeless tune with her own dramatic flair. "I wanted to connect to the feeling of the original track. For me, I started thinking of a woman who lost her way, and was in a horrible loveless place," Beth recalls. Reflecting back on the album and its epiphanic recording sessions, Beth says "I was able to exorcise a lot of demons making this record. [A limited-edition indie store exclusive translucent orange color vinyl pressing is available.]

Duquette Johnston – The Social Animals LP (Single Lock)

For more than twenty years, Duquette Johnston has been amongst the vanguard of Alabama music. From the founding of the seminal indie-rock band Verbena, his work in Cutgrass and the Gum Creek Killers, to his acclaimed solo releases Etowah and Rabbit Runs A Destiny, Johnston has consistently pushed the boundaries of what Southern American music can sound-and feel-like. On his latest, The Social Animals, Johnston partnered with producer John Agnello and an all-star cast of players including Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley to create his boldest and most powerful music to date. In a career that's taken him from stages with Pavement, Foo Fighters and The Strokes, to the Etowah County Correctional Facility.

Avril Lavigne – Love Sux CD (New Elektra)

Lavigne’s seventh studio album marks a return to her return to her pop-punk roots after 2019’s Head Above Water. “While her previous ballad-heavy album certainly had its moments and offered an impressive showcase of Lavigne’s power-house vocals, at its worst it was something Lavigne’s music up until that point had never been: boring. You can say what you want about Lavigne’s follow-up Love Sux, but boring it certainly is not. Buoyed by classic pop-punk deference to power chords and the exhilarating drumming of Travis Barker, Love Sux brings the energy up to a 10 almost immediately and rarely turns it down across the album’s 33 minutes.” – The Line Of Best Fit

Lo Moon – A Modern Life CD/LP (STRNGER Recordings)

Like pausing a VHS tape, music freezes the frenetic motion of daily existence. Even if just for an instant, it calms the feedback loop of routine, engages respite, and provides perspective. Siphoning guitar transmissions and a dynamic vocal push-and-pull through a lens of cinematic production, Lo Moon deftly balance expansive soundscapes and eloquent songcraft. The Los Angeles based quartet ultimately use music to make sense of each day on their sophomore offering, A Modern Life. Following a tour with CHVRCHES, the musicians entered the studio with producer Yves Rothman (Yves Tumor, Miya Folick) to record what would become their next body of work. Their old friend Chris Walla (Death Cab For Cutie), who co-produced their debut, eventually joined them for some of the finishing touches on the album A Modern Life. [Limited-edition indie store exclusive clear/smoky vinyl.]

Lonely Guest – Lonely Guest CD/LP+MP3 (!K7)

Lonely Guest was conceived and put together over the last 18 months by one of British music's true innovators: Tricky. But as he's keen to make clear: this ain't no Tricky album. Rather it's a thrilling meeting of musical mavericks, with the likes of Lee "Scratch" Perry and Idles' Joe Talbot all pitting their unique approaches to songwriting against Tricky's otherworldly production. From an unsettling tale of isolation courtesy of Maxïmo Park's Paul Smith “Christmas Trees” to the grunge stylings of Marta's “Move Me”, via the tense storytelling of London rapper Kway's “On A Move”, these diverse statements come together as a bold artistic statement of their own. [Limited-edition white vinyl.]

Mannequin Pussy – Perfect EP 12”+MP3 (Epitaph)

Mannequin Pussy's new EP bursts forth from the sprawling months of social isolation and internet-fueled anxiety. The band rages about the practice of condensing your daily life into a manicured stream of images for social media. Right up your alley. [Indie exclusive yellow & black vinyl.]

Johnny Marr – Fever Dreams Pts 1 – 4 CD/2xLP (BMG)

In the wake of his time leading The Healers, Johnny Marr's solo career has given rise to three UK Top Ten albums - The Messenger (2013), Playland (2014) and 2018's Call The Comet. He now returns with his most expansive work to date, Fever Dreams Pts 1 – 4. It was created during the long, uncertain period that followed the arrival of the UK's first lockdown, when his focus was pushed into both his interior life and evoking the emotional states of others. "It's an inspired record, and I couldn't wait to get in and record every day," he says. "But I had to go inwards." The new album reflects his multi-faceted past but takes his music somewhere startlingly new. "There's a set of influences and a very broad sound that I've been developing - really since getting out of The Smiths," he says. "And I hear it in this record. There are so many strands of music in it. I think it's the most ambitious solo record I've done." [Limited-edition indie store exclusive turquoise vinyl.]

Mass Worship – Portal Tombs CD/LP (Century Media)

Emerging from Scandinavian shadows like an unstoppable, shape-shifting bulldozer, Mass Worship has swiftly become one of the most praised and talked-about bands in the metal underground.

Carson McHone – Still Life CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)

Carson McHone’s new album, Still Life, quivers like a tightrope, with songs about existing within the tension of the in between and surviving beyond the breaking point. These are stories of sabotage, confusion, and surrender. The album is a testament to the effort of reaching, sometimes flailing, for understanding and for balance. Still Life invites us to gasp at our own reflection and acknowledge the unsettling beauty in this breath. McHone wrote the songs of Still Life in quiet moments between tours in her hometown of Austin, then recorded in Ontario with Canadian musician and producer Daniel Romano. The phrasing and tones recall John Cale, The Kinks, Richard and Linda Thompson – like-minded artists of the late '60s and early '70s, another era of transition and innovation. [Limited-edition indie store exclusive purple ‘peak’ vinyl.]

Napalm Death – Resentment Is Always Seismic: A Final Throw Of Throes LP (Century Media)

Limited red color vinyl pressing. Continuing the fearless exploration of their legendary sound's outer limits, UK's grindcore pioneers Napalm Death return with Resentment Is Always Seismic: A Final Throw of Throes, a partner recording to their much-acclaimed Throes Of Joy In The Jaws Of Defeatism album from 2020. Concluding matters through vital, tumultuous grindcore and shockwave ambience, this 8-track mini-album with all previously unreleased material - including Bad Brains and Slab. Cover versions - clocks in at a concise 29 minutes.

Pike vs. The Automaton – Pike vs. The Automaton LP/2xLP (MNRK Music Group)

Released last week on CD – now available on vinyl (including a limited-edition indie store exclusive opaque orchid color double-LP edition). Matt Pike: "The album title, Pike vs. The Automaton, wasn't an ego thing for me. Billy and Jon said, ‘Dude, you should use your name in this. This is your solo project.’ I said, "I don't want to do that." The Automaton, in Greek mythology, is the big robot that's the guardian of the Gods, basically. It's a soulless, big machine named Talos. The big machine that's working against mankind at this moment. In Jason and The Argonauts, Jason and The Argonauts must battle this big machine guy that protects the island. Basically, what the album title is saying, metaphorically, is 'Pike against the World.'" "I made a psychedelic rock record that Sleep and High on Fire fans would like," Pike says when asked for a CliffsNotes description of Pike vs. The Automaton. "And maybe if you're not a Sleep or High on Fire fan, you might like it too. I think it's interesting; it has d-beat punk, two-step. It's got everything and it still works together, it doesn't sound odd. It's just an off-the-wall psychedelic rock record.

Sasami – Squeeze CD/LP+MP3 (Domino)

Sasami (Sasami Ashworth) releases her second studio album. Squeeze hammers home a sentiment of 'anti-toxic positivity' and showcases her vicious honesty and brutally uncompromising vision, partially inspired by the Japanese y'kai folk spirit called Nure-onna (translation: wet woman), a vampiric deity that has the head of a woman and the body of a snake. [Indie store exclusive clear vinyl.]

Scorpions – Rock Believer CD/2xCD/LP/2xLP/Cassette (Spinefarm)

Legendary rockers Scorpions return with their new album, Rock Believer, which was created in the studio during the lockdown in their home base Hannover. "The album was written and recorded in the style of the classic Scorpions DNA with core Schenker/Meine compositions. We really went back to the essence of what defined us in the first place," says front-man Klaus Meine. He goes on to explain how the new songs came to have such incredible, fresh energy and fervor: "We recorded the album as a band, live, in one room, like we did back in the ‘80s." The sound of the new album has massive energy, delivers a real adrenaline rush, and shows uncompromising quality. [Limited deluxe double-CD and double-LP editions featuring five bonus tracks are available. All editions include a value-added enamel pin (while supplies last).]

Sturgill Simpson – The Ballad Of Dood & Juanita LP (High Top Mountain)

Released last August on CD – now available on vinyl. Inspired by such classic concept albums as Willie Nelson's Red-Headed Stranger, Sturgill Simpson's The Ballad of Dood & Juanita is the Grammy-winning singer/songwriter's third album in twelve months, and his most ambitious project to date. Written and recorded in less than a week and featuring the same ace musicians who played on 2020's Cuttin' Grass albums, the record tells a classic American story of a Civil War-era couple torn apart by violence and reunited by love – what Sturgill calls "a simple tale of either redemption or revenge." The Ballad Of Dood & Juanita is Simpson's first album of all new original music since the release of 2019's Grammy-nominated Sound & Fury. Special guest Willie Nelson is the featured lead guitarist on the track "Juanita." [Indie exclusive natural color vinyl available in the shop and in the Grimey's.]

Starset – Horizons 2xLP (Fearless)

Released last October on CD – now available on indie store exclusive red vinyl. A continued voyage through a captivating science fiction narrative, Horizons is a cinematic soundscape that accompanies the listener through pain, love, descent, and triumph. The world has been consumed by synthetic methods of escaping reality, and it is with this technology that we are able to explore life through other users' experiences - finally, the ability to be someone else.

Superchunk – Wild Loneliness CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)

Like every record Superchunk has made over the last thirty-some years, Wild Loneliness is unskippably excellent and infectious. It's a blend of stripped-down and lush, electric and acoustic, highs and lows. On Wild Loneliness you'll hear echoes of Come Pick Me Up, Here's To Shutting Up, and Majesty Shredding. After the justifiable anger of What A Time to Be Alive, this new record is less about what we've lost in these harrowing times and more about what we have to be thankful for. It feels like the band is refocusing on possibility here, and possibility is built into the songs themselves, in the sweet surprises tucked inside them. The "secret ingredient" – is always surprise. [Limited-edition indie store exclusive green and yellow vinyl. Available in the shop and in the Grimey's webstore.]

Swamp Dogg – I Need A Job...So I Can Buy More Auto-Tune CD/LP (Don Giovanni)

At 78, Swamp Dogg is as sharp of a singer and songwriter as ever. His raunchy yet charismatic sense of humor takes a more forward role on I Need a Job… So I Can Buy More Autotune, with earnestly delivered lyrics about all day sex and an entire song dedicated to the perils of “Cheating in the Daylight.” [Limited-edition pink vinyl.]

Tears For Fears – The Tipping Point CD/LP/Cassette (Concord)

Some forty years into one of music's most impactful partnerships, Tears For Fears has arrived together at The Tipping Point – the group's ambitious, accomplished and surprising first new studio album in nearly two decades. An inspired song cycle that vividly recalls the depth and emotional force of the group's earliest triumphs, The Tipping Point is the bold, beautiful and powerful sound of Tears For Fears finding themselves together all over again. The Tipping Point sees Orzabal and Smith joined by longtime collaborator Charlton Pettus, along with producers and songwriters Sacha Skarbek and Florian Reutter. "Before everything went so right with this album, everything first had to go wrong," says Roland Orzabal. "It took years, but something happens when we put our heads together. We've got this balance, this push-me-pull-you thing – and it works really well." [Indie store exclusive editions of the CD (digipak), vinyl (green color) and cassette are available. The CD and vinyl editions include a lithograph.]

Voivod – Synchro Anarchy LP (Century Media)

Recently released on CD – now available on green vinyl. Closing in on 40 eventful years of existence, Canada's progressive sci-fi metal innovators Voivod introduce their 15th studio album Synchro Anarchy. Following 2018's highly praised and Juno Award winning The Wake album and 2020's stellar Lost Machine - Live release, Synchro Anarchy reaffirm Voivod as one of the most fervently creative bands on the planet.

White Lies – As I Try Not To Fall Apart LP (PIAS America)

Released last week on vinyl – now available on CD. Arguably one of the biggest guitar bands in the UK, it's been well over a decade since the White Lies's breakthrough single “Death” introduced a group for whom the fragility of human existence has been a constant touchstone. Now in his 30s, chief lyricist Cave's outlook on the great unknown has evolved. "I think the side of death or mortality that I always find interesting is the fact we all know it's going to happen," he says, "and how different people navigate that." As I Try Not To Fall Apart is their most expansive record to date, taking in explosive rock, electro-pop bangers, prog-inspired invention, funk-tinged grooves and some of their most indelible hooks yet. [Indie store exclusive cream color vinyl.]

Yonder Mountain String Band – Get Yourself Outside CD/LP (Frog Pad)

Pioneers. Innovators. These are but a few of the monikers that Yonder Mountain String Band has worn since their inception. From the first Yonder shows in the fall of 1998 to their drive-in tour of 2020, this touring force has brought their adventurous musical spirit to countless venues for nearly a quarter century. Yonder's early success was fueled by their desire to make a sound distinctly their own, whether performed on crowded stages or selling out the hallowed Red Rocks Amphitheater. Their traditional take on bluegrass sound was fused with their diverse musical influences ranging anywhere from punk rock to the Grateful Dead. Get Yourself Outside is Yonder's ninth studio album.

Yes – The Quest 3xLP+CD (Inside Out U.S.)

The Quest is the latest studio album from the legendary progressive rock band. Produced by Steve Howe, and featuring the line-up of Howe, Alan White, Geoff Downes, Jon Davison & Billy Sherwood, this stunning new record sees the band demonstrating why they are still such a revered group of musicians. [A limited-edition blue color vinyl pressing is available.]

Reissues, Compilations, Live Recordings & Vault Excavations...

The 8th Wonders Of The World – The 8th Wonders Of The World CD/LP (Beatrocket)

With space-age psychedelia, a toe dipped into surf rock, some distortion-drenched garage grit, and even some Fab-Four feels, this platter will leave you wondering how in the hell only six minutes of it was ever released. For a band that only released one 7” single, The 8th Wonders Of The World had a heavy history. It's documented here sonically in a story that shifts between British Invasion-style stompers and bewitching psychedelic rock that expertly split the difference between the prefixes of 'pop' and 'garage,' employing some trailblazing techniques along the way. [Limited orange color vinyl.]

Erykah Badu – Worldwide Underground [Reissue/2003] LP (Motown)

Limited purple color vinyl pressing of the third studio album from Erykah Badu. Worldwide Underground features the singles "Love Of My Life Worldwide" and "Danger".

Bio Ritmo – Piragüero b/w Asia Minor [Reissue/1996] 7”+MP3 (Merge)

The pioneers of indie salsa celebrate nearly 30 years of their career with this reissue of their 1996 single.

Luke Bryan – Born Here Live Here Die Here [Deluxe Edition] 2xLP (Capitol Nashville)

Double blue color vinyl pressing. Includes six new tracks in addition to the 10 tracks from the standard version of the 2020 album.

Christine And The Queens – Chaleur Humaine LP (Because Music)

A huge star in her native France, Christine And The Queens partially rerecorded her radiant debut album in English. The language shift has diluted nothing from the LP's allure.

Corrosion Of Conformity – Deliverance [Reissue/1994] 2xLP (Red Music Legacy)

More than 25 years after its anticipated release in 1994, Deliverance, the classic ‘90s masterpiece of heavy metal legends Corrosion Of Conformity is available again as an exclusive vinyl version featuring three bonus tracks, expanded artwork and photos as well as an extensive oral history documenting the making of the album. [An indie store exclusive tangerine colored vinyl pressing is available.]

Killing Joke – Killing Joke [Reissue/2003] CD (Spinefarm)

Killing Joke is the eleventh studio album by English rock band, Killing Joke, originally released in 2003. The album was produced by Gang of Four guitarist Andy Gill, and features Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl on drums. [A limited-edition purple color double vinyl pressing was released last month.]

King Curtis – The Best Of King Curtis [Reissue/1968] LP (Friday Music)

180gm vinyl pressing. King Curtis was one of the greatest R&B instrumentalists of all time. The saxophonist played on hundreds of the most hallowed recording sessions of all time, everything from the Coasters' "Yakety Yak" to John Lennon's Imagine album. But Curtis wasn't just a superstar sideman; he also was responsible for some of the greatest Pop/R&B instrumental albums of all time.

Ben E. King ‎– Ben E. King's Greatest Hits [Reissue/1964] LP (Friday Music)

Two color vinyl pressings: blue and red. Singer/songwriter Ben E. King personified artistic excellence. In the words of Ahmet Ertegun, "Ben E. King is one of the greatest singers in the history of rock and roll and rhythm and blues. His style and the tempo of his voice have a magic all their own." As a solo artist King created some of the most memorable recordings in popular music: "Spanish Harlem", "Don't Play That Song", "I (Who Have Nothing)", and the iconic, international anthem "Stand By Me" (which King co-wrote). 1964's Ben E. King's Greatest Hits collects all the aforementioned evergreens and more.

Fela Ransome-Kuti and The Africa ’70 with Ginger Baker – Live! [Reissue/1971] 2xLP (Knitting Factory)

Limited double red color vinyl pressing. It's impossible to go wrong with Fela Kuti's work from the 1970s, and Live! With Ginger Baker, which features the Afrobeat innovator backed by his powerhouse band Africa '70 and ex-Cream drummer Ginger Baker, is no exception. Every cut crackles from beginning to end with its mixture of funk, jazz, and traditional Nigerian music, underscoring once again Fela's revolutionary, indelible contribution to world music.

The Left Banke – Strangers On A Train CD (Omnivore)

The Left Banke arrived in 1966 with their hit singles "Walk Away Renee" and "Pretty Ballerina", which placed them on the forefront of the genre now known as baroque pop. Founder Michael Brown left the band before their second album (The Left Banke Too featuring "There's Gonna Be A Storm"), going on to involvement in other influential groups including Montage, Stories, and The Beckies. In 1978, original members Steve Martin Caro, Tom Finn, and George Cameron reunited to record tracks for Finn's new publishing deal. The tracks would emerge nearly a decade later in the US as Strangers On A Train (they also appeared in the UK under the title Voices Calling). For the first time, that release is available again on CD, expanded with six bonus tracks recorded in 2001 during a brief reunion.

The Moldy Peaches – Origin Story: 1994–1999 CD/LP/Cassette (ORG Music)

Adam Green and Kimya Dawson originally crossed paths at an open mic night in Mount Kisco, New York in the early ‘90s. From there they went on to record a surplus of home recordings with various friends under the moniker The Moldy Peaches, and eventually became staples in the NYC anti-folk scene of the late ‘90s/early 2000s. After releasing several albums that gained traction in the US and UK, the group broke into the mainstream when their song "Anyone Else But You" appeared in the hit indie film Juno (2007). Origin Story: 1994–1999 is a collection of songs, unreleased demos, live tracks, and poems from the early years of The Moldy Peaches and outline the tale of how the band came to be. Liner notes written by Adam and Kimya detail the stories behind each track and rare photos included in the packaging help to illustrate the life and times of the duo when they were young.

Mom Jeans. – Puppy Love [Reissue/2018] LP (Counter Intuitive)

Limited edition color vinyl LP pressing. Mom Jeans is an effortlessly likeable group of friends who proudly embrace their love for sad punk and emo. The Berkeley, CA quartet is lauded for stream-of-consciousness lyrics and energetic performances that prompt audiences to shred their worries and simply bounce along. By trading the sappy for heartfelt and the melodramic for truthful, Mom Jeans have created a brand of emo that's self-aware but not self-indulgent. 2018's Puppy Love follows up 2016's Best Buds and offers up more of that sweet noise that fans of bands like Modern Baseball and The Front Bottoms, will love.

Morning Reign – Taking Cover CD/LP (Sundazed)

Unsung heroes Morning Reign combined the butt-shaking rumble of their '60s PNW brethren with sophisticated songwriting chops, a big bag of influences from folk to soul, and the sweetest four-part vocal harmonies east of San Francisco. A downpour of originals holds their own alongside Motown, pop, and & blues covers, almost all of which are previously unissued. [Limited-edition blue vinyl.]

Necrophobic – Hrimthursum [Reissue/2006] LP (Century Media)

With thirty years of active, nefarious service under their bulletbelts, Necrophobic are undisputed legends of the death and black metal underground. With 2006's Hrimthursum, their fifth full-length album, Necrophobic injected its blasphemous attack metal with melody and atmospherics, not to mention a great attention to instrumental detail. [CD edition due March 11.]

Roy Orbison – The Original Sound [Reissue/1969] LP (Sun)

Limited 180gm vinyl pressing. Celebrate the man to whom Elvis Presley once said, "I love what you do but we'll never play together because I'll never follow that." Originally released in 1969, Sun Records is pleased to share a remastered edition of Roy Orbison's The Original Sound. This gem includes classic Sun masters "Ooby Dooby" and "Mean Little Mama", alternate versions of original Sam Phillips recordings, reworked by Shelby Singleton, and featuring an unreleased recording of "Problem Child".

Portugal. The Man – In The Mountain In The Cloud [Reissue/2011] LP (Atlantic)

The sixth studio album by psychedelic rock band Portugal. The Man was recorded over a period of eight months, and produced by John Hill, the band's frontman John Gourley, and Casey Bates. Originally released on July 19, 2011, through Atlantic Records, In The Mountain In The Cloud is Portugal. The Man's major-label debut.

Preachers – Stay Out Of My World CD/LP (Beatrocket)

Things happened fast in the ‘60s, especially in the up-tempo world of rock 'n' roll. The Preachers were together for less than eighteen months, but they packed a hell of a lot of action into that brief lifespan, racking up three terrific 7” single releases in the space of five months, making TV appearances, and playing countless live gigs in the Los Angeles area and as far afield as Tucson and Las Vegas. In the short time they were together, the Preachers did better than all right. Decades later, "Who Do You Love" and "Stay Out of My World" were hailed as outstanding examples of pure, visceral ‘60s garage punk. A sonic leap forward on their known repertoire fortified with previously unissued tracks making their punkin' debut right here. [Limited white vinyl.]

Puscifer – Existential Reckoning: Live At Arcosanti 2xLP (BMG)

On October 30, 2020, Puscifer held a limited streaming event of a pre-recorded, pre-edited concert film featuring the band performing their newest album Existential Reckoning in its entirety at Arcosanti, Arizona. Here is a recording of that release.

Slave – Stellar Fungk: The Best Of Slave Featuring Steve Arrington [Reissue/1978] LP (Atlantic)

Limited red color vinyl pressing. Slave featuring Steve Arrington is reissued on vinyl for the first time since its 1978 release. A vital addition for any funk collector.

Percy Sledge – Best Of Percy Sledge [Reissue/1969] LP (Friday Music)

Two color vinyl pressings: gold and blue. The legendary soul king Percy Sledge began his career singing in Alabama in the ‘60s and soon got the attention of producers Marlin Greene and Quin Ivy who brought him on board at Atlantic Records. In record time, the immortal "When A Man Loves A Woman" burst into the soul charts and quickly hit No. 1. More big hits followed with the likes of "Warm And Tender Love", "Take Time To Know Her", and "Cover Me" among others. Percy's angelic voice is about as sad and soulful as it gets as 1969's The Best Of Percy Sledge fully showcases.

Tanya Tucker – Church Street Station Presents: Tanya Tucker Live In Concert LP (Dualtone Music Group)

A live record from country music legend Tanya Tucker, including her hit song "Delta Dawn" and her takes on The Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", and Billy Preston's "You Are So Beautiful", among other crowd favorites.

Uriah Heep – Demons And Wizards [Reissue/1972] LP (Sanctuary)
Uriah Heep – The Magician’s Birthday [Reissue/1972] LP (Sanctuary)

Picture disc vinyl editions of the British rock band’s fourth and fifth albums.

Alan Vega – Invasion b/w Murder One 12” (Sacred Bones)

Transparent red color vinyl. Two tracks from the Vega Vault. One of Alan Vega's greatest talents was his ability to bring the past and the future together into a suspended place of timelessness. His groundbreaking duo Suicide was often seen as future primitivism and most of his musical output has exemplified this blending of the primordial human condition and visionary thinking. With Invasion b/w Murder One, the next release from the now infamous Vega Vault following 2021's Mutator, we see this innate power in full effect. The two tracks "Invasion" and "Murder One" were recorded two decades apart from one another in New York City. "Invasion" was recorded toward the end of the 2012-2015 studio sessions for the posthumous album IT and was one of his last recordings, while "Murder One" was recorded in 1997-1998, (after the Mutator sessions) and is part of a cluster of material that was recorded but never mixed prior to the sessions for his album 2007, released in 1999.