New Releases - 2/9/24

Hitting The Racks

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

New Releases

The Chisel – What A F*cking Nightmare CD/LP (Pure Noise)

The Chisel is back with more oi/punk/hardcore delivered by members of Chubby And The Gang, Violent Reaction, etc., bringing a whopping 16 songs to this sophomore full-length. [Indie store exclusive coke bottle green w/ black & white vinyl.]

Dead South – Chains & Stakes CD/LP (Six Shooter)

The story of Chains & Stakes is the story of a band that has grown more adventurous and assured with each album. To make their new collection, they met Sugar & Joy producer Jimmy Nutt at Panoram Studios in Mexico City, where the team convened to record 13 songs full of plot twists, family trees, grudges, insurance scams, bacon, burials, banjo riffs and more. Chains & Stakes is truly a "Dead South" collection in the balance of darkness and levity that has come to define their unmistakable sound. [Indie store exclusive ‘corona haze’ color vinyl.]

Madi Diaz – Weird Faith CD/LP+MP3 (ANTI-)

Madi Diaz has been making records and writing songs professionally since the mid-2000s, but it wasn't until she released 2021's History Of A Feeling that she felt the glare of wider notoriety. It wasn't her debut album, but it certainly felt like it. She made her daytime and nighttime television debuts, embarked on her first solo tour since 2012, and supported Waxahatchee and Angel Olsen on tour, and collaborated with them on record. Harry Styles handpicked Diaz to open for him in arenas and stadiums in North America, and was so taken by her captivating live show, he asked her to be a member of his touring band, to sing alongside him all over Europe and the UK, as well as continuing to open the show in various cities. After three months on the road touring internationally, Diaz is back in Nashville, and now releases her new album, Weird Faith. Featuring Kacey Musgraves and produced by Sam Cohen and Konrad Snyder, Weird Faith is expansive and exploratory, showcasing her growth as a songwriter and speaking earnestly about the fears that come from falling in love again. [Indie store exclusive opaque green vinyl. Pick up your copy at Grimey’s and you’ll get a wristband to go through the signing line and get your record or CD autographed by Madi at her in-store performance on Wed. Feb. 14 at 4pm!]

Tinsley Ellis – Naked Truth CD/LP (Alligator)

Tinsley Ellis unplugs and channels his masterful guitar skills and soul-baring vocals into a bracing collection of solo acoustic tracks steeped in the traditions of Muddy Waters, Skip James, Son House, Robert Johnson and even Leo Kottke. Nine newly written originals sit alongside reverent, yet spirited, versions of House's "Death Letter Blues", Willie Dixon's "Don't Go No Further", and Kottke's "Sailor's Grave On The Prairie".

Escape Artists - Around the Block LP (self-released)

A brand new local private press LP highly recommended for fans of Power Pop and artists like The Beatles, ELO, Ben Folds Five, Jellyfish and the like. David Schrader and Hal Stephens met in the early 90's while working at the The Great Escape in Nashville, where their love of Pop music made them quick friends. Years later they would reconnect and, during the Covid lockdown they began writing songs over Zoom. Hal, a child of the 70's, and David the 80’s, wanted to capture the sounds they grew up on. Pretty soon they would have enough songs for an album. So they went to work on getting them recorded. Unfortunately, David would pass away two weeks after being diagnosed with a brain tumor. Fortunately, Hal decided to see the project through in David's honor, and the result is an instant classic - "Around the Block." The 10 songs reflect their lives and capture the spirit of their favorite music, including "Record Store", "Beatles For Sale" and the title track, which is about writer's block. "Around the Block" is available on all major streaming services and is released on a very limited vinyl run, exclusively available at Grimey’s!

Glass Beach – Plastic Death LP (Run For Cover)

Plastic Death - the second album by Glass Beach - is a follow-up record almost five years in the making. The band's 2019 debut, aptly titled the first Glass Beach album, has over the years grown a cult fanbase for its unflinching depiction of queer life as mediated through social media, its oversized ambition, and it's scrappy yet adventurous production. And while it took some time to arrive, plastic death sounds like the logical expansion of all the things that made their first album so special. [Limited-edition orange vinyl.]

Dhani Harrison – Innerstanding CD/2xLP (BMG)

Grammy Award-winning British musician and composer, Dhani Harrison, releases Innerstanding, his first solo album in six years. He hails “here we are in a new world and here is the new album that has come forth from it.” [Limited-edition neon green vinyl.]

Helado Negro – Phasor CD/LP (4AD)

While Phasor feels loose and expansive, it's Lange's tightest collection-deep, atmospheric, meticulously executed. It's aligned with 2019's This Is How You Smile, which found him incorporating more upfront drums and bass and focused grooves. Sequentially, it follows the expansive hour-plus long Far In, whose title was inspired by new age legend Laraaji and created in lockdown, in Marfa, Texas - lyrically digging into connection and focused on being in quarantine. Phasor, in turn, is an homage to going outside again. It's a returning-to-life record, remembering what the sun feels like and letting it warm your skin.

Brittany Howard – What Now CD/LP (Island)

There's a double meaning to the title of What Now, the revelatory new album from Brittany Howard. "With the world we're living in now, it feels like we're all just trying to hang onto our souls," says the Nashville-based musician and frontwoman for four-time Grammy Award-winning Alabama Shakes. "Everything seems to be getting more extreme and everyone keeps wondering, 'What now? What's next?' By the same coin, the only constant on this record is you never know what's going to happen next..." [Limited-edition translucent yellow color vinyl pressing is available.]

Hulder – Verses In Oath CD/LP (20 Buck Spin)

The hauntingly grandiose new Hulder album Verses In Oath, created during the dreariest cold months of the Northwest winter, constitutes the most majestic, untamed manifestation thus far in the band's journey of conquest, as new territory is put to flame and conquered by sword and shield. [Limited-edition gold/bone color vinyl.]

Huron John – Indigo Jack & The New World Border LP (Acrophase)

Yellow vinyl. Huron John is a self-taught songwriter, producer, and visual artist hailing from Chicago. Born John Wallace Conradi, the 23-year-old strives for a direct and personal connection to his audience via a hands-on approach to all creative aspects of his work. Fusing a wide range of influences from artists he idolized growing up such as Daft Punk, Mac Miller, and The Smashing Pumpkins, John's mix of sonic flavors is something new for the internet age of music listeners.

Itasca – Imitation Of War LP (A Paradise Of Bachelors)

On Imitation Of War, songwriter and guitarist Kayla Cohen advances Itasca into rockier terrain, with a suite of smoky nocturnes and uneasy idylls surveying, with refreshing urgency, mythologies and psychologies both classical and personal. Co-produced by Robbie Cody (Wand, Behavior), these ten sturdy set-pieces represent the loosest, leanest, and most smolderingly electric guitar-forward recordings of Cohen's deepening catalog.

Zara Larsson – Venus LP (Epic)

The highly anticipated follow up to Zara Larsson's 2021 album Poster Girl, comes new album Venus. It includes singles "Can't Tame Her", and "On My Love" with David Guetta, both of which hit #1 at US Dance Radio. With its elevated sound, eclectic style and unifying visuals, Venus verifies Zara Larsson as one of modern pop's most essential stars. [Limited-edition ruby & black marble vinyl.]

Kali Malone – All Life Long CD/LP (Ideologic Organ)

Kali Malone's anticipated new album All Life Long is a collection of music for pipe organ, choir, and brass quintet composed by Kali Malone, 2020 - 2023. Choral music performed by Macadam Ensemble and conducted by Etienne Ferschaud at Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-L'Immaculée-Conception in Nantes. Brass quintet music performed by Anima Brass at The Bunker Studio in New York City. Organ music performed by Kali Malone and Stephen O'Malley on the historical meantone tempered pipe organs at Église Saint-François in Lausanne, Orgelpark in Amsterdam, and Malmö Konstmuseum in Sweden.

Declan McKenna – What Happened To The Beach? CD/LP (Tomplcated Inc)

Produced by Gianluca Buccellati (Lana Del Rey, Arlo Parks), What Happened To The Beach? marks Mckenna’s third studio album following 2020’s Zeros. The LP is an album that revels in both space and atmosphere and the tracks are much looser. [Two indie store exclusive color vinyl pressings are available: sun yellow; and deluxe “moo” eco-vinyl picture disc.]

David Nance – David Nance & Mowed Sound LP (Third Man)

A brief blurb on the release David Nance & Mowed Sound, the first album by Nance to be released on Third Man Records, cuts deep. Memories sprout back, like the sounds of a great rock song blasting from the neighbor’s truck as it revs away into the night. There is a definite connection to the past, but the swinging guitar boogie and snarled blues you might expect from Nance and company sounds leaner and completely hypnotic. What remains are 10 tracks from a well-oiled group so rhythmically together that the songs on the album seem as connected as links in a chain. [Indie store exclusive green vinyl.]

Orgōne – Chimera LP (Three Palms)

Orgōne is a pillar of West Coast soul music, maintaining an unmissable touring presence for more than a decade. The group's arresting intensity, impeccable playing style, and undeniable, irresistible chemistry have earned them the reputation as one of the tightest bands of the modern era. Fresh off of doubling as the studio band for discodelic sensation Say She She and circling the globe as the live band for their wildly successful world tour, Orgōne is back in California and coming in hot with Chimera, a fire-breathing spectacle of psychedelic Afro-soul. Produced by Sergio Rios (Neal Francis, Say She She), Chimera is an electrifying, dream-like odyssey, tripping through the hazy swamps of New Orleans, weaving textures of entrancing voodoo soul, thrumming Afro-funk, and stoney psych-rock. [Limited-edition yellow vinyl.]

Pylon Reenactment Society - Magnet Factory CD/LP (Strolling Bones)

"They say people change their cell structure every seven years, so I've totally regenerated several times since we started Pylon forty years ago, " says Vanessa Briscoe Hay, frontwoman for that iconic Athens band and now frontwoman for Pylon Reenactment Society. "Over the course of your life, you're going to learn new things. Your mind is going to change and expand. I'm a lot older now, and I can't be something I'm not anymore. Pylon is our guiding star, but we're not Pylon. We're Pylon Reenactment Society." It's easier to explain what Pylon Reenactment Society isn't than what it actually is. It's not a continuation or a reunion, because Vanessa is the only member in both groups. It's neither a tribute act nor a cover band, although they do perform Pylon songs. Instead, this new band draws inspiration from that old band, taps into it's motivating principles. Pylon Reenactment Society's Magnet Factory organically grew out of jams and writing sessions over several years. As the album took shape, the lyrics peeled away at the layers of time and shared spaces that make up a life. A pair of unrecorded songs by Pylon were brought in to round out this collective unspoken theme. All the music was recorded by the current four members of the band (Vanessa Briscoe Hay, Jason NeSmith, Kay Stanton, Gregory Sanders) with a stellar vocal duet with the incomparable Kate Pierson of The B-52's.

Tyler Ramsey – New Lost Ages CD/LP (Soundly Music, LLC)

Founding member of Band Of Horses, Tyler Ramsey, returns with his fourth solo, full length studio record New Lost Ages - finding him facing the harsh realities of the world as we know it. Fans of Ramsey's former projects, Father John Misty and Lord Huron will find New Lost Ages to be a relatable reprieve - one that feels both familiar and starkly new. Traversing genre-bending terrain, the new record from Ramsey is as indie and psych-rock as it is singer-songwriter, showcasing his talent and dedication to the craft. [Limited-edition silver vinyl.]

Jules Reidy - Trances LP (Shelter Press)

Jules Reidy's follow-up to the celebrated World in World (2022), takes place in between states, tracing a kind of restless movement in search of -- or is it away from? -- a center. Through its exploration of the cyclical movements of grief and emotional turbulence, Trances produces a sonic world as raw, absorbing, and surprising as anything Reidy has created to date. Trances' primary instrument is a custom hexaphonic electric guitar tuned in just intonation. Reidy's combination of fingerpicked phrases, open strums, and corrugated processing push on the grammar of guitar-driven experimentalism, locating expressive heft in open-ended harmonics and the odd angles formed by overlapping elements. Chords are slowed and stretched as if to examine their resonance, then overtaken by subterranean motion. The effect is that of oceanic depth, but the rippling that passes between the compositions' sedimentary layers often takes on a metallic edge. The addition of synthesizers, sampled 12-string guitar, field recordings, and half-submerged autotuned voice further denaturalize the compositions.

Joel Ross – Nublues CD/2xLP (Blue Note)

Acclaimed vibraphonist Joel Ross returns with the release of his remarkable album Nublues, a collection of ballads and blues as seen through the lens of one of the most creative modern jazz groups featuring Immanuel Wilkins, Jeremy Corren, Kanoa Mendenhall, and Jeremy Dutton, as well as special guest Gabrielle Garo. The band moves seamlessly across the blues-imbued musical terrain of this 10-track set which includes seven new Ross originals and pieces by John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk.

Spectral Voice – Sparagmos CD/LP (Dark Descent)

Spectral Voice's Sparagmos unfolds as a momentous second full-length offering under the banner of Dark Descent Records, marking the culmination of a period devoted to katabatic immersion into the material. The title itself, alluding to the Dionysian rite of being torn limb from limb, sets the stage for a profound exploration of life, death, and the untamed essence within. "The content of the album oscillates between lamentation and exaltation. An immersive, morbid atmosphere of funereality longs for the liberation of death and mourns the agony of life." [Limited-edition color vinyl.]

Split System – Vol. 2 LP (Goner)

Melbourne, Australia has been churning out reliable punk rock since the likes of The Chosen Few and Rowland S. Howard were kicking about in the late '70s. Split System is a band that carry on this tradition into the 21st century. Cooked up behind the scenes in the COVID lockdowns, they seemingly came out of nowhere but sounded like they'd been slamming beers to Saints and Radio Birdman records together and playing gigs for many years. Their Vol. 2 is unmistakable Aussie high voltage proto punk. In their short time on the scene they have demonstrated a knack for combining muscular street punk with classic rock hooks. Their debut album Vol. 1 and follow up 7” were described as ferocious and powerful records with amphetamine swagger. They're high energy and don't believe in muddy guitar tones. The band are in their element during their raw live shows. They have shared bills with the likes of Amyl & The Sniffers, Cosmic Psychos, Civic, Bad//Dreems, Hard-Ons, CLAMM, Cable Ties & C.O.F.F.I.N.

Usher – Coming Home CD/LP (mega/gamma)

Coming Home marks the creative reunion of Usher and L.A. Reid, who haven’t worked together since 2004’s Diamond certified Confessions. The album was mainly recorded in Atlanta, GA with many of Atlanta’s hottest producers including Sean Garrett, Lil John, The Avila Brothers, Mel & Mus, Tricky Stewart, Rico Love, The-Dream, Jermaine Dupri, D Mile among many others. [Indie store exclusive ‘peach sky’ color vinyl.]

Reissues, Comps, Live Recordings, Vault Excavations...

America – History: America’s Greatest Hits [Reissue/1976] LP (Friday Music)

The legendary rock superstars America burst onto the rock music scene in the early ‘70swith their much-revered classic debut America featuring "A Horse With No Name" which forever changed the fortunes of this very popular rock trio. After many successful albums and top charting pop and album rock singles, WB honored this legendary act with their first best of collection History: America's Greatest Hits. Produced by the legendary George Martin (The Beatles), this 1976 platter was filled with a generous helping of their most popular hit singles and album tracks from many smash albums like Homecoming, Hearts and, Holiday. The 12 track masterpiece is loaded with original hit tracks like "A Horse With No Name", "Ventura Highway", "Tin Man", "Sister Golden Hair", "I Need You", and even more classics like "Daisy Jane" and "Lonely People". [Limited edition ‘Sister Golden Hair’ color vinyl.]

American Analog Set – New Drifters 5xLP (Numero)

Limited-edition green with white spilt colorway. Gathered here are The Fun Of Watching Fireworks, From Our Living Room To Yours, and The Golden Band albums, garnished with period B-sides, outtakes, and demos. Remastered from the original analog tapes, this early-career spanning 5xLP box includes lyrics, photos, and ephemera from the before times.

Gary Bartz - Another Earth LP (Milestone/Vinyl Me Please)

Another Earth is Gary Bartz's galactic and elemental sophomore album. It's the VMP February 2024 Classics Record of the Month, pressed on 180g black vinyl with AAA lacquers cut from master tapes by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound.

Les Claypool – Adverse Yaw: The Prawn Song Years 7xLP (Prawn Song)

This five-album set spans Les' solo career over the course of various projects, encompassing the Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains, and The Fancy Band. Enjoy Live Frogs Sets 1 & 2, the long out of print Purple Onion, Of Whales & Woe, & Of Fungi & Foe, LPs, and for the first time ever, The Big Eyeball In the Sky with entirely remastered audio on limited edition color 180gm vinyl.

Coal Chamber – Coal Chamber [Reissue/1999] LP (Round Hill)
Coal Chamber – Chamber Music [Reissue/1999] LP (Round Hill)

Color vinyl reissues (transparent orange and transparent purple, respectively) of the American nu metal band’s first two albums.

Elkhorn & Mike Gangloff – Shackamaxon Concert LP (VHF)

Delicate and beautiful music from the combined force of the recently ubiquitous East-Coast psychedelic combo Elkhorn and Pelt's Mike Gangloff, laying down two epic raga-like performances captured on a 2022 collaborative tour.

Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (10th Anniversary Edition) 2xCD/4xLP (Interscope)

The 10th Anniversary Expanded Deluxe Edition of The Marshall Mathers LP2 features 11 bonus tracks, including B-sides and instrumentals. Originally released on November 5, 2013, the album serves as a sequel to The Marshall Mathers LP released in 2000. It features the singles "Berzerk", "Survival", "Rap God", "Headlights", and "The Monster, " which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album won Eminem a record sixth Grammy Award for Best Rap Album and is now certified 4x platinum.

Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac LP (Warner Records/Vinyl Me Please)

Fleetwood Mac's self-titled 1975 album, also known as "The White Album," is the VMP Essentials Record of the Month for February 2024, and it's here on 180g Black & White Quad vinyl with AAA lacquers cut from master tapes by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound.

Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand [Reissue/2004] LP (Domino)

Limited orange and black color vinyl pressing. Winner of the 2004 Mercury Music Prize, Franz Ferdinand's debut album was an instant hit. The Glasgow four-piece channeled throwback art-rock through an early noughties Britpop-revival prism. A must listen.

Futurebirds & Carl Broemel - …Thanks Y’all (Live) 3xLP (No Coincidence)

Rock juggernaut Futurebirds' newest release - a 22-track live compilation titled ...Thanks Y'all - is a benchmark that not only celebrates 14 years together, it's also a testament to the sheer iron will of a group of musicians hungry for the fruits of its labor. The Athens, Georgia-based group once again teamed up with storied My Morning Jacket guitarist/producer Carl Broemel for the latest chapter of a seamless, bountiful partnership that initially came to fruition with the 2021 EP, Bloomin', and was followed up with the 2022 EP, Bloomin' Too. Recorded over nine shows in February of 2023, the live compilation finds the "Carlbirds" firing on all cylinders, with the best highlights captured for posterity on ...Thanks Y'all. The album delivers the sound and energy of the live concert experience, as though the listener were standing dead center in the raucous crowd.

Eramus Hall – Your Love Is My Desire [Reissue/1984] CD/LP (Org Music)

Eramus Hall's 1980 debut album Your Love Is My Desire is among the most sought-after records of the modern soul era, coveted by DJs and record collectors alike, with rare copies of the original pressing selling for up to $900. The soul/funk group only recorded one album for Detroit's Westbound Records, home of funk heavyweights Funkadelic and Ohio Players, before moving to Capitol for their second and final LP in 1984. [A limited-edition sunkissed yellow color vinyl pressing is available.]

The Hold Steady – Stay Positive [Reissue/2008] 2xLP (Vagrant)

Vinyl reissue of the indie rock band’s fourth album.

Manchester Orchestra - I’m Like A Virgin Losing A Child LP (Favorite Gentlemen)
Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything to Nothing LP (Favorite Gentlemen)
Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math (Favorite Gentlemen)

Fresh color vinyl reissues of the first three LPs from Manchester Orchestra.

Mazzy Star - So Tonight That I Might See LP (Capitol)

RSD Essentials reissue on violet smoke w/ purple & black splatter vinyl. On this, the band's second album, the core emphasis remained a nexus point between country, folk, psych, and classic rock all shrouded in mystery, and Hope Sandoval's trademark drowsy drawl remained swathed in echo. The hit single "Fade Into You" brought Mazzy Star unprecedented success.

Meat Puppets – Meat Puppets II [Reissue/1984] CD/LP (Megaforce)

Meat Puppets have teamed up with Megaforce Records for remastered reissues of the band's classic SST Records output spanning 1981 through 1989. A reissue of their seminal 1984 album Meat Puppets II - featuring the well-known numbers "Lake of Fire" and "Plateau" – is now available.

Marissa Nadler – July [Reissue/2014] LP (Sacred Bones)

Tenth anniversary silver vinyl reissue. July has garnered praise from critics and listeners alike and continues to cast its spell, inviting new listeners to embark on a journey through its dreamlike corridors. The album's ethereal quality and haunting melodies have drawn comparisons to the works of music luminaries like Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, and Nick Drake. Nadler's voice, a transcendent instrument in itself, guides the listener through tales of love, loss, and life's ephemeral nature. Recorded at Seattle's Avast Studio, the album pairs Nadler for the first time with producer Randall Dunn (Earth, Sunn O))), Wolves in the Throne Room). Dunn matches Nadler's darkness by creating a multi-colored sonic palette that infuses new dimensions into her songs.

Negative Approach – Negative Approach [Reissue/1982] 7” (Touch & Go)

Back in 1981, Negative Approach (along with The Meatmen and the Necros) were one of the dominant forces in the Detroit underground. The ravages of the Motor City made it a perfect breeding ground for this cacophony, later termed "hardcore." Hordes of punks packed the legendary Freezer Theatre to hear John Brannon's jagged, gruff vocals, the McCulloch brothers' (Rob and Graham) guitar/bass gnash, and OP Moore's pounding fury. 10-songs on one 7”. Do the math.

O.C. - Word...Life (Wild Pitch/Vinyl Me Please

O.C.'s debut album Word...Life is the VMP Hip-Hop Record of the Month for February 2024. It's pressed on 2LP Black & Yellow A-Side/B-Side vinyl with lacquers cut by Cicely Balston at AIR Mastering.

The Pineapple Thief – It Leads To This 2xCD+Blu-ray+DVD/LP (Kscope)

Recorded September 2020 to July 2023, It Leads To This took shape slowly but surely as the band meticulously perfected their sound. Often guarded, It Leads To This keeps it's ace in the pack up its sleeve, biding its time until all the right pieces fall in place, giving way to a beautiful, cinematic experience on every track. Conceptually, the album represents band leaders Bruce Soord's efforts to better understand himself and the world around him. [Stand-alone vinyl LP – including indie store exclusive green vinyl – and stand-alone Blu-ray audio disc versions are available.]

The Replacements - Hootenanny LP (Twin Tone/Vinyl Me Please)

Hootenanny is The Replacements' authentic sophomore album, and it's here as the VMP Rock Record of the Month for February 2024. It's pressed on 180g Blue vinyl with lacquers cut by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound and features listening notes from acclaimed biographer Bob Mehr.

Maria Rita – Brasileira [Reissue/1988] LP (Brasileira)

Maria Rita is a musical pioneer that was ahead of her time. On first hearing her song, “Cântico Brasileiro No.3 (Kamaiurá)”, we thought it sounded like a contemporary remix that an artist such as Carl Craig could have produced. In fact, it came out in 1988 and was taken from Maria's 'Brasileira' album, released on the Brazilian, independent Acorde imprint. The song would go on to gain cult status with its inclusion on John Gomez's superb Outro Tempo compilation, released on the Music From Memory label in 2017. This cult classic fuses new-age electronics with indigenous vocals and Amazonian rhythms. It is beautiful and unique and takes you on a journey through different moods, textures, and ethereal planes. Through the sounds Maria created, you join her on a timeless voyage gazing into the future whilst embracing her powerful roots.

Billy Joe Shaver - Old Five and Dimers Like Me LP (Monument/Vinyl Me Please)

Old Five and Dimers Like Me is Billy Joe Shaver's debut album and the VMP Country Record of the Month for February 2024. It's pressed on 180g Brown Marble vinyl with AAA lacquers cut from tapes by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound.

Sonic Youth – Walls Have Ears [Reissue/1986] 2xLP (Goofin)

Culled from three 1985 gigs in the UK during a transitional and transcendent time in the band's story, Sonic Youth's The Walls Have Ears appeared / disappeared as a 2xLP set in 1986, not just a live album but an artful tapestry full of live experimentation with songs, between-song tape segues, darkness, humor, and audio verité. It's now issued for the first time officially under the band's auspices. [Limited-edition silver metallic vinyl.]

Sonic Youth – SYR 2: Slaapkamers Met Slagroom EP [Reissue/1997] LP (Sony Youth /SYR)

Unfettered by studio time limitations with their own home base of Echo Canyon, SYR 2 shows Sonic Youth chasing the shadows of predecessor SYR 1 and the series' distinct aesthetic: total exploration of freedom and further discovery. While the cover art evokes European contempo classical releases of yore, Sonic Youth distinctively reinvent their own personal output potential the way those kinds of records revolutionized a previously defined genre. Their ethos of utilizing the roots of the Ramones, Television, VU, Stooges, and no wave to shape their first decade now find the band in later years bullet-pointing fascination in AMM, MEV, improvised music, free jazz and other outer-limit/organic refractions of traditional rock. While Sonic Youth's spontaneous-creation moments had long been showcased in their recordings, Peel Sessions, and live, SYR 2 sums up the band's state in 1997: rolling lots of tape, fine-tuning ideas and presenting great moments of exciting new directions, allowing deep-listener type fans to gain better insight into their sound process. Add to that the alchemy of Jim O'Rourke's gradual entry into the core band which would soon be fully on display for SYR 3, and this series is an X-ray of evolution, dissection, and reconstruction.

Soundtrack – The Real Folk Blues Legends: Cowboy Bebop – All Composed By Yoko Kanno 2xLP (Milan)
Soundtrack –Cowboy Bebop: Songs For The Cosmic Sofa – All Composed By Yoko Kanno LP (Milan)

Color vinyl pressings. Originally aired in 1998, Cowboy Bebop became a critical and commercial success both in Japanese and international markets (most notably in the United States), garnered several major anime and science fiction awards upon its release, and received wide acclaim for its style, characters, story, voice acting, animation, and soundtrack. Seatbelts's repertoire covers not only jazz but also rock, electronic, funk, blues, heavy metal, country, and J- pop.

Various Artists – 200% Dynamite! [Reissue/1999] 2xLP/CD (Soul Jazz)

Carrying on perfectly from 100% Dynamite, this second compilation continues to trace the history of Jamaican reggae and the influence of American styles such as funk and jazz had on this music. Featured here are serious funk and rocksteady tunes from the likes of The Skatalites and Johnny Osbourne through to Jamaican jazz from masters such as Tommy McCook and Byron Lee, as well as some serious dub from the likes of Augustus Pablo, King Tubby, and Jackie Mittoo. New bonus tracks on this new 2023 edition include seminal dancehall party cuts Sister Nancy's “One Two” and Chaka Demus and Pliers' “Murder She Wrote”, alongside classic soul to reggae covers including cuts of Marlena Shaw's “Women Of The Ghetto'” and Odyssey's “Don't Tell Me Tell Her”.