New Releases - 2/28/25
Hitting The Racks
Here's your weekly rundown of what's hitting the new release racks at Grimey's
New Releases
Amulets - Not Around but Through LP (Beacon Sound)
On Not Around But Through, Portland-based experimental musician and tape wizard Amulets navigates the process of acceptance and the tumultuous journey of looking within. The Asian-American artist is one of the most gifted alchemists working at the intersection of experimental and heavy music today, and this riveting album represents his most direct and immediate work yet. Infusing his trademark ambient soundscapes with ambitious blends of post-hardcore, emo, and metal, Not Around But Through connects the dots between personal and social dislocation, leaving listeners with a taste of the fragmented and fallen future they are all steeling themselves for. Amulets' second album for Beacon Sound and his first new music in four years; his 2021 album The Blooming was released by The Flenser.
Banks - Off With Her Head LP (Her Name Is Banks)
California-bred singer-songwriter, Jillian Rose Banks, aka BANKS, crafts moody, alternative pop with shades of contemporary R&B. Emerging in the early 2010s with a handful of downtempo, alt-R&B tracks, BANKS created a signature sound that helped build a cross-genre audience. BANKS' fifth studio album, Off With Her Head, includes singles "Best Friends" and "I Hate Your Ex-Girlfriend." BANKS describes the album as a "big sister" album to her 2014 debut Goddess, as she reunites with the core musicians and producers who helped shape that album.
Aloe Blacc - Stand Together CD (Grand Scheme Productions)
Stand Together is Aloe Blacc's powerful exploration of unity, connection, and humanity. Known for his breakout hits like "I Need a Dollar" and the chart-topping "Wake Me Up" with Avicii, Aloe brings his signature soulful sound to this compelling collection. Each song is dedicated to a different organization or cause for social change while weaving themes of love, empowerment, and togetherness. With Stand Together, Aloe Blacc delivers a record that uplifts and inspires both new listeners and lifelong fans while driving meaningful action.
Charli XCX - Brat and it's completely different 2LP (Atlantic)
Remix album of the critically acclaimed 2024 album, featuring Robyn, Ariana Grande, the 1975, Addison Rae, Caroline Polachek, Lorde, Tinashe, Bon Iver, Shygirl, Billie Eilish, and more. Brat green double vinyl. Gatefold with inner and outer die cut hole on both sleeves. Lyric book. New gatefold image. Sticker inside shrink wrap.
Kelly Clarkson - Piece by Piece LP (Legacy)
The seventh studio album by former American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson. Piece By Piece is the follow-up to her first Christmas album, Wrapped in Red (2013) and is her first studio album to completely contain original material since Stronger (2011). Piece by Piece includes the single "Heartbeat Song", which became a Top Forty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
JD Clayton - Blue Sky Sundays CD/LP (Rounder)
A native son of Arkansas, Jd Clayton delivers a timeless form of country rock that's wholly the product of his environment. After years in Nashville, touring alongside Dwight Yoakam, Old Crow Medicine Show, and more, the Fort Smith singer/songwriter returned to his hometown and immersed himself in making an adventurous new album. With equal parts soulful self-reflection and wildly colorful storytelling, Blue Sky Sundays ultimately reveals an artist of hard-won character and singular authenticity. [Limited blue colored vinyl LP pressing.]
Cloakroom - Last Leg of the Human Table LP (Closed Casket Activities)
Cloakroom released their last album “Dissolution Wave” into the world on January 28th, 2022, commemorating their 10th anniversary as a band. By their own standards, their new album ‘Last Leg of the Human Table’ is a couple of years early. After an upstate New York evening spent with Closed Casket Activities owner Justin Louden, the group agreed on a deal to work together with the label on their next LP. Initially setting out to test the waters with a four-song EP, Cloakroom booked three days at the famed Electrical Audio studio in Chicago in December of 2023 and set out to write a batch of new material, but ended up deciding to track an entire LP in just 72 hours with engineer Zac Montez.
Cordae - The Crossroads LP (Cordae)
Limited silver colored vinyl LP pressing of the 2024 album, featuring guest appearances from Anderson .Paak, Joey Badass, Jordan Ward, Juicy J, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Ravyn Lenae, and Ty Dolla Sign.
Darkside - Nothing CD/LP (Matador)
'Nothing' is the third album from DARKSIDE: nine transmissions of negative space, telepathic seance, and spectral improvisation. It fittingly started from scratch. On their first two reinventions, Nicolás Jaar and Dave Harrington entered the studio with a clutch of scattered ideas and loose melodic fragments to mold into what became the revered 'Psychic' (2013) and 'Spiral' (2021). But 'Nothing' reflected a search for form borne out of spontaneous elliptical jams, acoustic riffing, and digital levitations. Jaar and Harrington also recruited their longtime friend and collaborator, the drummer and instrument designer Tlacael Esparza, to become a full-time member. This album slips through the cracks of convention with serpentine guitars, extraterrestrial static, and cavernous drums. Haunted rhythms, distorted vocals, and uncanny beauty. [Indie exclusive red vinyl pressing.]
Deep Sea Diver - Billboard Heart CD/LP (Sub Pop)
Billboard Heart, the new album by Deep Sea Diver, immediately puts the Seattle band in the company of St. Vincent, TV on the Radio, and Flock of Dimes, bands that have found newly ornate and magnetic ways to make indie rock by discarding notions of how it must sound or what it must say. It's their fourth album and first for Sub Pop, and it is a coup, a triumph over self-doubt, transforming failure into an opportunity to find new freedom, belief, and strength. Billboard Heart emerged when Dobson trusted her instincts, a personal breakthrough that prompted an artistic one. It is, in turn, the best Deep Sea Diver album yet, a defiant and brilliant exclamation mark at the end of a long period of wandering. [Loser Edition pink vinyl.]
The Devil Makes Three - Spirits CD/LP (New West Records)
The beauty of The Devil Makes Three is the way they take an old-time musical genre and, by putting their own imprint on it, turn it into something that lives and breathes anew, passing the torch to a new generation, just as stateside rock fans learned about the likes of pioneers Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly from the first wave of British Invasion bands. With their latest album, Spirits, the band continues this tradition by incorporating their signature punk, folk and bluegrass sound along with country and singer-songwriter leanings.
Everything is Recorded - Temporary LP (XL Recordings)
Richard Russell has introduced the world to several generation’s worth of era-defining musicians. But since 2017, the XL Recordings founder has used the Everything Is Recorded project to prove he’s not merely a visionary record producer, or the founder of the most consequential independent record label of the past 35 years. Everything Is Recorded albums are feasts of collaboration, and his soul-enriching new album, Temporary, is no exception. The guest list overflows with incandescent talent: Florence Welch, Sampha, Bill Callahan, Jah Wobble, Kamasi Washington, Nourished by Time, Alabaster DePlume, Noah Cyrus. His music dissolves the borders between sampled and recorded, between modernity and antiquity, life and death, now and forever.. He grasps the true meaning of his album’s title: We may be, in fact, temporary. But our longing – for each other, for peace, for love and communion – goes on forever. [Red vinyl pressing.]
Piers Faccini & Ballaké Sissoko - Our Calling LP (No Format)
Two decades after their very first collaboration, British-Italian folk songwriter Piers Faccini and Malian kora virtuoso Ballaké Sissoko return with a mesmerizing album: Our Calling. This fascinating dialogue between a virtuoso instrumentalist at the peak of his powers and an inspired songwriter and wordsmith succeeds in creating new song forms with a lightness of touch that bridges continents and plays with tradition. Recorded by Frédéric Soulard (Shapes of the Fall), the album unites an extraordinary cast of musicians, including Vincent Segal, Badjé Tounkara, and Malik Ziad.
Tera Lynne Fister - Flowers from the Ground LP (Tera Lynne Fister)
Debut album from the Nashville-based singer songwriter. Fister was joined by an all-star team of producers including Jason Kott (Randy Houser, Robert Randolph & The Family Band), Grammy award winning vocal producer and engineer, Mike Fahey (Chris Stapleton, Phish, The Raconteurs) of Starbird Sound, and Grammy nominated John Baldwin (Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Margo Price ) of Infrasonic Sound who mastered the project. Fister says, "I can’t say I purposely set out with the intentions of what was birthed, but listening to the album as whole, I can hear the influences of those I love – Nat King Cole orchestration, Alanis Morisette grunge, Kacey Musgraves sincerity, Wilie Nelson honesty, The Band swag, but I digress. What I am most proud of is that this musical concoction came together to sound like ME." [Sunflower yellow vinyl pressing.]
Nina Garcia - Bye Bye Bird LP (Ideologic Organ)
After a decade of performing concerts under the Mariachi guise, guitarist Nina Garcia has finally unveiled her unique approach in Bye Bye Bird, her first album under her name. With no pretence or demonstration, the album is a captivating blend of chiaroscuro, melodies, and raw emotion. As a common feature of almost all these pieces (all but one, the last), Nina Garcia explores a new technique. She adds to her instrumentation, reduced to the essentials (a guitar, a pedal and an amp), an electromagnetic microphone which, when held in hand, makes it possible to listen in on the exact zones where the vibration of the string creates a sound amid vast spaces of silence. In this series of variations, you can get caught up in masses of noise seen from very, very close up, evocations of melodies in the making, feedback on ridgelines, pulsations that hold their own, modulations weakened by exhaustion and harmonic bursts that hint at better days to come.
Gunn-Truscinski Duo - Flam LP (Three-Lobed Recordings)
The 5th album from the ever-triumphant duo of Steve Gunn (guitar) and John Truscinski (drums, synths). They have spent the better part of the last 15 years assembling a singular and expressive discography representing their unique and sympathetic interplay. "Flam" sees the duo branch out and get a little more atmospheric than the prior LPs - track after track washes over you. There's slow burners here ("Fin"), fiery explosions ("Conviction") & journeys to the drift ("Felt"). [Indie exclusive transparent pink vinyl.]
Hope Tala - Hope Handwritten 2LP (PMR Records)
On her long-awaited debut album, West-London artist, producer and songstress Hope Tala crafts an intimate musical language that feels equal parts romantic and philosophical - cementing her growing reputation as one of the most exciting voices in the R&B/neo-soul space. The album features the recent singles 'I Can't Even Cry', 'Thank Goodness', 'Shiver' and 'Bad Love God', that have already gained her firm praise from the likes of Hunger, who describe her as "an intriguing and unique talent, melding styles with confidence and ease", and cemented fans including Barack Obama who added one of her tracks for the third time to his annual summer playlist. Handwritten sees Hope seamlessly weaving together organic, live musical textures and musings on heartbreak, newfound love, ancestry, introspection, humanity and community.
Les Cris de Paris - Strana Armonia D'Amore CD (Harmonia Mundi)
What can our ears really perceive when music deviates from a norm whose codes are no longer our own? Geoffroy Jourdain explores the 'strange harmonies' characteristic of the late Renaissance, as in the microtonal pieces of Nicola Vicentino (which divides the octave into 31 notes in a nod to Ancient Greek music). In her new work VicentinoOo, Francesca Verunelli pays tribute to him by following his example.
Lisa - Alter Ego CD
Solo album from Lisa, the world-renowned rapper, singer, dancer and Blackpink member. With "Alter Ego", Lisa emulates five unique characters, showcasing her versatility and edge. The album will include previously released singles, "Rockstar", "New Woman" ft. Rosalia, and "Moonlit Floor (Kiss Me)", which have a combined 1.2B global streams.
Mae Martin - I'm a TV CD/LP (Republic Records)
Mae Martin is an award-winning comedian, actor, writer and producer who hosts the hit comedy podcast, Handsome, alongside Tig Notaro and Fortune Feimster. I’m a TV marks a new chapter in Mae’s creative endeavors. The album, written entirely by Mae, is an indie rock expression of hazy, millennial nostalgia. The music feels like a good dream - vivid with coming-of-age emotions and memories of high school basements. A self-proclaimed “chronic over-sharer”, Mae has delivered a body of work that is earnest and exposed. An authentic extension of their artistry in a new creative medium, I’m A TV allows Mae to share their experiences and perspective without the pressure to find a punchline.
Maruja - Tir na nÓg LP (Sony)
"Tir na nÓg" is a fully improvised piece recorded live on 12th September 2024 at the New Adelphi Recording Studios in Salford University. Manchester based four-piece combining the working-class footings of jazz and punk, whilst splicing in aggressions of post-punk and hardcore. Debut EP 'Knocknarea' ended last year as the number 1 rated EP on RateYourMusic. Selected by Anthony Fantano amongst his top 3 EPs in 2023.
Sean McConnell - Skin LP (Independent)
Celebrated singer/songwriter Sean McConnell returns with his new album SKIN (via Metropolitan Groove Merchants), an 11-song collection that finds the acclaimed Nashville-based artist arriving at a new plateau, both personally and creatively. SKIN is composed of deeply introspective and observational songs that questions many of life's paradoxes with a new-found wisdom that can only come from personal growth and lived experiences.
The Men - Buyer Beware LP (Fuzz Club)
‘Buyer Beware’ marks The Men’s fifth collaboration with recording engineer Travis Harrison (Guided by Voices, Built to Spill) who, at this point, is finely attuned to the nuances of the group’s dynamics—Nick Chiericozzi (guitar/vocals), Kevin Faulkner (bass), Mark Perro (guitar/vocals), and Rich Samis (drums). Recording direct to tape, Harrison captures the raw, confrontational fever of their stage shows without sacrificing their introspective undercurrents. The result is undoubtedly their most aggressive album since ‘Leave Home’ (2011), and their most psychedelic since ‘Immaculada’ (2010). But ‘Buyer Beware’ is no mere return to their roots—The Men have always moved forward while remaining true to themselves. A clarion call for troubled times signaled by its title, ‘Buyer Beware’ finds The Men tackling questions both personal and political, their sound and vision never more primal or apocalyptic.
Michi - Dirty Talk LP (Stones Throw)
Michi, a Latinx artist from California, releases her debut album Dirty Talk on Stones Throw, produced entirely with Blake Rhein of Durand Jones & the Indications and close collaborator Paul Cherry. Dirty Talk blends eras into a singular sound, mixing early-aughts inspired R&B vocals with 70s funk & soul-inspired instrumentation and production. [Opaque cream colored vinyl pressing.]
Mdou Moctar - Tears of Injustice CD/LP (Matador)
Tears for Injustice is a new recording of Mdou Moctar’s 2024 album Funeral for Justice performed entirely on acoustic instruments. Sessions took place at Brooklyn’s Bunker Studio in the summer of 2023 — booked as a way to make use of downtime while the band was briefly stranded in the United Sates in the wake of Niger’s recent military coup. The arrangements give new dimension to the songs, swapping Funeral’s blistering volume for a more intimate and meditative tone.
Kip Moore - Solitary Tracks 2CD/2LP (Kip Moore)
Kip Moore's sixth album Solitary Tracks, featuring 32 songs, proves Moore's internal compass is as strong as ever. An album of intensity on all levels - vocally, lyrically, and sonically - Moore focuses his incisive pen inward, writing or co-writing all but one song and wrapping a defiant sense of personal growth in a raw, roots-and-soul package. Co-produced with Jaren Johnston, Oscar Charles, and Jay Joyce.
Oklou - Choke Enough CD (True Panther)
choke enough, the full-length studio debut from French artist Oklou, is a patient, masterful execution of ephemeral soft club electronic and texturally alluring indie pop. Features Bladee, underscores, with production from Danny L Harle, A. G. Cook, Nick León, and more. Her critically acclaimed mixtape, Galore, led her on tours with Caroline Polachek, Oneohtrix Point Never, and Sampha, before being coined "a taste of the future of pop music" by NME. [Vinyl edition due out 3/14.]
Okonski - Entrance Music LP (Colemine Records)
After nearly two years, Okonski returns with Entrance Music - an album that finds the trio at the height of their improvisational prowess and celebrating the spontaneous and meditative. The energy and sound created with Colemine label head Terry Cole at the helm makes for a listening experience equally at home with ECM or Stones Throw catalogs. From the rippling notes of the pastoral opener, "October," Entrance Music is lush with anticipation, both band and listener feeling the tension in the tranquility - where the interplay of jazz improvisation and boom bap beats never shortchanges the musicianship but the talent is ever in service of the song.
Panda Bear - Sinister Grift CD/LP/indie LP (Domino Records)
On Sinister Grift, Panda Bear’s first solo album in five years, he has returned with another statement that feels equally cumulative and unprecedented in his catalog. While his solo records have ranged from starkly intimate expressions of grief to colorful, electronic opuses, his music has never before sounded so warm and immediate. Working in his Lisbon, Portugal home studio with Animal Collective bandmate Josh “Deakin” Dibb, Lennox transforms Panda Bear into something resembling an old-school rock ensemble, playing nearly all the instruments himself and inviting kindred spirits into the process such as Cindy Lee, Spirit of the Beehive’s Rivka Ravede, and—for the first time on a Panda Bear solo album—each of his Animal Collective bandmates.
Sorrows - Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow LP (Big Stir Records)
The never-before-heard third and final studio album from 1980s NYC power pop pioneers Sorrows is finally here to cement the band’s reputation as one of the most powerful acts of the scene.
Will Stewart - Moon Winx LP (Earth Libraries)
Taking cues from everyone from Big Star and R.E.M., to Phosphorescent and the Drive-By Truckers, and even classic Southern literary figures like Eudora Welty and Barry Hannah, Birmingham-based songwriter Will Stewart has managed to carve out a place for himself as a conjurer of time, place and characters— and the stories that swirl around them— in a way that’s simultaneously reflective, empathetic and unapologetic in their presentation. Now on his fourth solo LP, over his past three studio efforts Stewart has shown a deft touch for not just engaging character arcs and succinct studies in the human condition, but also a range of musical modes that span everything from quiet dissertations on love and loss, to brash rockers and moody explorations of the complicated nature of modern Southern living.
Venamoris - To Cross Or To Burn CD (Ipecac)
The sophomore release of soulful dark pop from legendary drummer Dave Lombardo and singer-songwriter Paula Lombardo.
Yetsuby - b_b LP (All My Thoughts)
Yetsuby is the solo project of South Korean artist Yejin Jang, one half of electronic duo Salamanda, whose work has been featured in Pitchfork, Crack Magazine, and DJ Mag. Since 2019 Yetsuby has carved out a reputation as something of a prolific visionary, with six albums, seven EPs and a flurry of singles between her two projects to date. Released in 2024, this six-track release effortlessly chimes into the deeper, inner emotions whilst providing a window into her abundant breadth of skills through tantalizing themes of sonic alchemy. The resulting effect is a release that feels sincere and deeply personal but has a celestial magic about it that feels both kaleidoscopic and transcendent.
Lola Young - This Wasn't Meant for You Anyway LP (Island)
This Wasn't Meant For You Anyway marks a remarkable shift in Lola's sound as an artist. Recorded in LA and produced by friend and collaborator Solomonophic (Remi Wolf, BROCKHAMPTON, Dominic Fike), This Wasn't Meant For You Anyway is a multi-faceted, fearless concept. As irresistible as it is unexpected, Lola's album is crackling with kinetic energy and lyrically fueled by rage, passion, narrative flair and comedy derision. A contemporary break-up album, This Wasn't Meant For You Anyway encapsulates the sound of what it means to be young and in constant romantic chaos. Released in June 2024, the album is now available on clear vinyl.
Reissues, Comps, Live Recordings, Vault Excavations...
The Beckies - Good to Know: The Beckies Story 2CD (Omnivore Recordings)
The debut album from the Michael Brown led project (The Left Banke, Stories). Contains a bonus disc featuring 13 previously unissued demos from the band. Freshly remastered with new liner notes from set co-producer Daniel Coston, featuring new interviews with original band members. When the lone album by The Beckies was released in 1976, what should have been a beginning quickly became the end of the band's story. Sadly, as happens, the lack of live performances and promotions saw their debut sink without a trace, but those who heard it loved the power pop and lush Brown and Hodgden compositions. A bit of a holy grail for those in the know, the album found folks scouring the used bins for a copy of The Beckies. Now, nearly 40 years after its original release, the original album (and more!) returns on Good To Know: The Beckies Story.
Peter Broggs - Rastafari Liveth LP (Diggers Factory)
Recorded at Channel One in February 1982, this masterpiece features the legendary Roots Radics as the backing band: Style Scott on drums, Flabba Holt on bass, Bingy Bunny on rhythm guitar, Dwight Pickney on lead guitar, Steely on piano, and Bongo Herman & Eberton on percussion instrument, he makes electronic music from unexpected elements, with rhythms that ranged from funk to acid techno, improvising with keyboards, effects pedals and the theremin which has become emblematic of his project. Mezerg merges the electronic with the acoustic to create an impressive and unique live performance that you can't take your eyes off. Somewhere between house music and an acoustic performance, this nightlife one-man band pays homage to both the jazz bars and the nightclubs of this world with a whirlwind of energy and irresistible sounds.
Charles Owens' Mother Lode - I Stand Alone LP (Vault)
Most avid music listeners will never discover this record from a true pioneer of spiritual jazz. Charles Owens, one of the 80s' most in-demand saxophonists, arranged this masterpiece and plays solos on flute, tenor and soprano. The band's chemistry is instantly apparent as they float between genres, maintaining a groove the whole way through. Heavyweight yellow vinyl.
The Chills - Spring Board: The Early Unrecorded Songs CD/2LP (Fire Records)
‘Spring Board: The Early Unrecorded Songs’ is a Martin Phillipps passion project. A dedicated reimagining of his earlier unreleased songs that became his artistic farewell, a lasting legacy, and a reminder of his huge, underappreciated talent. As the subject of an undulating life and times movie, the Chills’ singer, songwriter and main motivator spent the last decade releasing studio and live albums while careering into his sixtieth year with typical gusto. Amid such momentum, Martin was still digging through old tapes, searching for the foundations that resulted in global rapture in 1987, an overnight success that took a mere seven years to ignite. These early songs and musings were revisited, revised and finally put to record. ‘Spring Board: The Early Unrecorded Songs’ is alarming, personal, brittle and at times hopelessly upbeat. This is a man casting his mind back on an esoteric career that led to nothing short of cult status; someone rediscovering his roots, his innermost thoughts, hopes and fears. [Indie exclusive gold vinyl pressing.]
Gene Clark & Carla Olson - So Rebellious a Lover CD (Sunset Blvd Records)
The Americana album that started it all. Newly remastered with 8 bonus tracks. An exquisite pairing of talent, the duo of Carla Olson and Gene Clark apparently came out of casual living room sessions while Clark was preparing for another project. The feeling of spontaneity and closeness of spirit engulfs all of the cuts here. Olson's strident and powerful vocals mesh beautifully with Clark's slightly world-weary, soulful performances. The only sad thing is that So Rebellious a Lover was to be the only studio effort by the duo before Clark passed away in 1991. This record is important not only for what it is, but for what it could have become.
Drop Nineteens - 1991 CD/LP (Wharf Cat Records)
Archival release following the release of Drop Nineteens' first album in 30 years, Hard Light and the re-issue of their 1992 shoegaze masterwork Delaware. 1991 comprises the band's first two demo sessions, which were mailed out via cassette to labels in 1991, finding their way to the UK music press and generating instant buzz and an ensuing feeding frenzy to sign the band. After signing with Caroline Records, Drop Nineteens decided to write an entirely new record, Delaware, for their first official release, leaving the songs on 1991 behind, frozen in time. Swells of layered guitars and buried vocal harmonies adorn these tracks, displaying Drop Nineteens when the comparison to their UK contemporaries like Slowdive and Ride were most apt. 1991's songs, recorded with a low fi charm, show an ambitious young band capable of writing songs filled with texture and hooks, on the eve of their breakthrough with Delaware. [Gray vinyl pressing.]
Omar El Shariyi - Music from the East LP (1976) (Wewantsounds)
A reissue of Omar El Shariyi's sought-after instrumental album. Here, the iconic Egyptian musician and composer revisits seven classic compositions by another Egyptian legend, Mohamed Abdel Wahab, in his own hypnotic way. Mixing Arabic music with funky arrangements and electric keyboard experimentations, the album is a perfect showcase for El Shariyi's artistry. Curated and annotated by Lebanese-born Arabic music expert Mario Choueiry from Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, this reissue has been newly remastered and comes with original Soutelphan artwork.
Electric Six - Fire 21st Anniversary Remaster LP (Beggars Banquet)
Fire, the debut album by Detroit’s Electric Six, exploded onto the scene in 2003 and broke dancefloors everywhere. Containing the hit singles “Danger! High Voltage!” with rumored backing vocals by Jack White, and the iconic “Gay Bar”, the album celebrates its 21st anniversary this year. Fire was recorded in 2002 and 2003 at White Room Studios and Ghetto Recorders in Michigan with additional work at Abbey Road and Olympic Studios in London. The first single from the album, “Danger! High Voltage” received glowing reviews and Pitchfork said it “drops a hard beat, announcing itself with taut wah-wah guitars before exploding into fuzztone and horns while singer Dick Valentine duets with the White Stripes’ Jack White”. The next single was “Gay Bar”, and the video was awarded Video Of The Year from both Q and Kerrang which helped it rise to #5 on the UK charts.
Ella Fitzgerald - The Moment of Truth: Ella at the Coliseum CD/LP (Verve)
Ella Fitzgerald virtually invented the live album. Her performances were so consistently great that almost any live show was special enough to release as a record. For Ella Fitzgerald, every night was The Moment of Truth. In the summer of 1967, Ella Fitzgerald was in the middle of a three-year touring and recording collaboration with Duke Ellington and was incorporating hit pop songs of the late-60s into her concert repertoire - two of which are presented here for the first time on record.
Roberta Flack - Lost Takes 2LP (Brownswood)
A collection of tracks recorded by Roberta Flack in the sessions leading up to the recording of her seminal debut album 'First Take'. The music has never been released on wax before and is presented here as a double LP in a beautiful midnight blue gatefold sleeve and pressed on heavy-weight 180g black vinyl with sleeve-notes from Harmony Holiday. This album marks the third instalment of the series of special reissues from the storied archives of the Atlantic Jazz archive and personally curated by DJ and Broadcaster Gilles Peterson. Hear Roberta's take on a number of Jazz classic's including Peterson favourite Afro Blue at one of her creative peaks.
John Lee Hooker - The Standard School Broadcast Recordings CD/LP (BMG)
Once considered a long-lost studio recording from John Lee Hooker, The Standard School Broadcast Recordings is the first commercial release of a rare 1973 fully electric blues band recording. Performed direct-to-tape at Coast Recorders in San Francisco, the session captures Hooker at a tumultuous and deeply transformative time of his career, accompanied by his reliable standby rhythm section of bassist Gino Skaggs and drummer Ken Swank, plus Hooker's pianist son Robert. Siphoned off to feature only a brief interview and snippets of songs in its initial scholastic run, this collection showcases the entire recording session, including expanded liner notes from the preeminent Hooker scholar Charles Shaar Murray. It's a wildly intimate and scorchingly beautiful collection of Hooker at his most raw - the blues as high art.
Etta James - The Second Time Around LP (Jackpot Records)
A smash of jazz and rock, Second Time Around spawned two top 20 R&B singles but more importantly, landed Etta James on the Pop charts with three separate singles: the devastating lead-off track "Don't Cry Baby," the slow burn of "Fool That I Am" and the swing from the rafters/twist until you hurt of "Seven Day Fool". The beauty of this album is in the contradiction of these two stylistic worlds: heart-on-your-sleeve ballads sitting next to all-out rockers. Like her debut, this follow-up record was produced by Phil and Leonard Chess, who added orchestral backing to create a sound that was as spectacular as the best of Frank Sinatra or Ray Charles. [Orange marble vinyl pressing.]
Carole King - Really Rosie LP (Legacy)
Originally released in February 1975, celebrate 50 years of Martin Sendak’s musical Really Rosie with lyrics and performances by Carole King on black vinyl.
Knocked Loose - Laugh Tracks LP (Pure Noise)
Knocked Loose - You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To LP (Pure Noise)
Reissues of the metalcore band's 2016 and 2024 albums.
Mayhem - Command for Blood, Command for War LP (Peaceville)
Mayhem, the Norwegian pioneers responsible for invigorating a global scene alongside originators such as Venom, Celtic Frost & Bathory, formed in 1984 & with a long history of tragedy, intrigue & infamy have become truly revered legends of black metal, with a large part of their legacy established in the late 80's & early 90's, notably when guitarist Euronymous & bassist Necrobutcher welcomed Hellhammer on drums & Dead on vocals, to help shape a new & inspired era of darkness. 'Command For Blood, Command For War', initially included in the recent 'Pure F***ing Armageddon' vinyl boxset, contains two early Mayhem rehearsals from Necrobutcher's own archive in all of their raw glory from back in 1986, recorded on the lead up to the eventual 'Pure F***ing Armageddon' demo sessions. The release features early versions of tracks which would remain a staple of Mayhem's live set throughout the years, such as 'Pure F***ing Armageddon' itself & 'Carnage'. The title also includes cover songs of tracks originally written & performed by genre godfathers, Venom.
Wes Montgomery - The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery LP (Craft Recordings)
Considered the pinnacle of Wes Montgomery's career, The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery is a classic of the jazz genre, and since 2017 has been included in the National Library of Congress' National Recording Registry. This new edition of the album is released as part of the Original Jazz Classics Series and is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI with all-analog mastering from the original tapes at Cohearent Audio and presented in a Stoughton Tip-On Jacket.
Motorhead - Ace of Spades LP (BMG)
Motorhead - Bomber LP (BMG)
Anniversary color vinyl pressings of the heavy metal band's 1979 and 1980 albums.
Oasis - Standing on the Shoulder of Giants LP (Big Brother Recordings)
Reissue of the band's fourth studio album from 2000. A pivotal moment in Oasis' storied history, 'Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants' marked the start of a new era for the band. Noel Gallagher took a broader and more experimental approach to recording, resulting in a departure from their earlier sounds towards a modern psychedelic rock influenced record. This experimentation and richer sonic palette was in part due to Noel taking more time to craft this record than he had previously enjoyed. New instruments and techniques were utilised, including drum loops, samples, electric sitar, Mellotron, synthesisers and backward guitars, all contributing to a progression in Oasis' output.
Max Roach - Members, Don't Get Weary LP (Brownswood)
The pioneering jazz drummer's legendary 1968 album. Roach recorded the album during a deeply turbulent time in US history, in the aftermath of the assassinations of US attorney General Robert Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The record sees the bebop originator lean into the tumult, embracing a broiling churn of modal and post-bop sounds that prefigures the afro-conscious spiritual jazz that would evolve further across the next decade. Roach is joined on this endeavour by a new generation of young future heavyweights; Gary Bartz on sax, Charles Tolliver on trumpet, Stanley Cowell on piano, Jymie Merritt on electric bass, and vocalist Andy Bey on the title track. Tolliver and Cowell would go on to form the seminal Strata-East and in many ways this record embodies the template of that sound. This record marks a pivotal moment in not only Roach's career but the course of jazz in general.
The Sex Pistols - Live In The U.S.A. 1978 - South East Music Hall, Atlanta (UMe)
40-plus years on from The Sex Pistols' original creative period together (forged amidst times of poor leadership and economic turmoil), the band continues to resonate in ways most could have never imagined - not least those Stateside who witnessed the performances that make up this vital, primal and compelling release. A document of the last days of the band left to run adrift by absent management on a label that didn't really understand them, in a country that arguably felt more threatened than it did excited by the group. Until their return as a live entity in 1996, everything that followed their short, fateful tour of America in January 1978 was simply a parody of what had been. With concerts finally released in full and correctly sequenced for the very first time, Live In The U.S.A. 1978, takes us back to the moment the creative force that was Sex Pistols imploded. Recorded on January 5, 1978 at South East Music Hall, Atlanta. [Red vinyl pressing.]
Stereolab - Transient Random Noise Bursts with Announcements 2LP (Duophonic)
Stereolab - Mars Audiac Quintet 2LP (Duophonic)
Stereolab - Emperor Tomato Ketchup 2LP (Duophonic)
Stereolab - Dots and Loops 2LP (Duophonic)
Stereolab - Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night 2LP (Duophonic)
Stereolab - Margerine Eclipse 2LP (Duophonic)
Stereolab - Sound-Dust 2LP (Duophonic)
Stereolab are making seven of their studio albums available again as 2LP editions. These utilise the same remasters as the 2019 expanded album editions, cut from the original 1/2" tapes by Bo Kondren at Calyx Mastering and overseen by Tim Gane, but without any of the bonus material from the 3LP versions (which have now been discontinued), the idea being to make more cost-effective versions of these sought-after titles available to fans and shops. Each record comes housed in a single 5mm printed sleeve with printed inner sleeves, and a protective PVC outer bag.
Supertramp - Live In Paris 1979 2CD/3LP
Supertramp's "Breakfast In America" was the biggest selling album in the world in 1979. It spawned several hit singles and went on to win two Grammy Awards and sell over 20 million copies. Following the album's release, Supertramp embarked on a 10-month world tour which arrived in Paris at the end of November. This show from the Pavillon de Paris was both filmed and recorded in December 1979, and this 2 live set is the soundtrack to the concert film. Supertramp's classic lineup (Rick Davies, Roger Hodgson, John Helliwell, Dougie Thomson & Bob Siebenberg) perform all their iconic tracks including, "The Logical Song," "Crime Of The Century," "Give A Little Bit," "Take The Long Way Home," and many more.
Testament - The Legacy LP (Nuclear Blast)
Originally released in 1987, 'The Legacy' is the debut record from thrash metal legends Testament. Album tracks "Over the Wall", "Burnt Offering", and "Alone in the Dark" remain fan favorites and are still part of the band's live show. [Purple, blue, red marble vinyl pressing.]
Wings - Wings & Paul McCartney LP (Blueline)
Wings was the project of Paul McCartney (The Beatles), Denny Laine (The Moody Blues), Linda McCartney and others. This LP, pressed in clear wax, features legendary radio broadcast recordings from 1972 and 1978 including many classics.
Various Artists - If Music Presents: You Need This A Journey Into Deep Jazz 4 Compiled By Jean-Claude 2LP (BBE)
Deep Jazz volume 4 continues to meet the high quality bar set by the previous releases in the series and the If Music presents… catalogue. Its global diversity of artists is represented in the tracklisting. This nine track offering ranges from the slow, lush Bobby Hutchersonesque, never repressed ‘Process of a Cloud’ from Japanese Drummer George Hirota to Oakland artist Phavia Kujichagulia’s Congolese themed, black consciousness Fancy Footwork and the mighty combination of Ginger Baker and Ransome Kuti on their co-written N’Kon Kini N’Kon N’Kon, a chunky, Lo-Slung Afro-Beat celebration of Fela Kuti’s Kalakuta Republic.
Various Artists - Just Like Heaven - A Tribute to the Cure 2LP (American Laundromat)
Transparent Colored Swirl Vinyl, High-Profile Callout Sticker. "Indie darlings past and present come together to repaint the mood swinging lyrics and remix the eternal sunshine of The Cure hits." - Rolling Stone. Features Tanya Donnelly, Dean & Britta, the Submarines, the Wedding present, and a dozen other artists.
Various Artists - Stax Volt Vol. 3 - The Complete Singles 1959 - 1968 3LP (Atlantic)
Various Artists - Stax Volt Vol. 4 - The Complete Singles 1959 - 1968 3LP (Atlantic)
Continuing the vinyl release of The Complete Stax/Volt Singles 1959-1968, Volumes 3 & 4 are here! Available as a 3LP set pressed on 140g black vinyl with all new original artwork, these volumes cover the period from 1964 to 1966 and are newly remastered from the original Stax/Volt mono single masters using equipment specifically chosen to recreate the Stax sound.
Yo La Tengo - Old Joy O.S.T. LP (Mississippi)
For the first time on vinyl, Yo La Tengo's understated, lonesome score to Kelly Reichardt's classic "Old Joy." The six instrumental tracks, created in collaboration with legendary guitarist Smokey Hormel, carry that unmistakable YLT sound-but delivered in service of another great work of art. The music, like so much of Reichardt's film work, is low-key yet arresting, stripped down to the essentials, warm and unpretentious. The record includes two variations on the beloved "Leaving Home" theme, released for the first time on vinyl after years traveling in YLT fan circles. Originally released on They Shoot, We Score, a CD compiling several of the band's soundtracks, Old Joy stands as a cohesive whole here, blooming and rewarding repeat listens. [Pink vinyl pressing.]