New Releases - 10/12/18
Hitting The Racks
Here's your weekly rundown of what's hitting the new release racks at Grimey's.
Jump to… New Releases For the Holidaze Reissues & From The Vaults Compilations, Best Of's & Sundry Collections New on Vinyl Live & In Concert
New Releases
John Hiatt - The Eclipse Sessions CD/LP (New West)
Long celebrated as a skilled storyteller and keen observer of life's twists and turns, Hiatt can get at the heart of a knotty emotion or a moment in time with just a sharp, incisive lyric or witty turn of phrase. The 11 tracks presented on The Eclipse Sessions, from the breezy opener "Cry To Me", to the stark "Nothing In My Heart", the lost-love lamentation "Aces Up Your Sleeve" to the rollicking "Poor Imitation Of God", demonstrate that the singer-songwriter, now 66, is only getting better with age, his guitar playing more rugged and rootsy, his words wiser and more wry. There's a grit to these songs - a craggy, perfectly-imperfect quality that colors every aspect of the performances, right down to Hiatt's raw and expressive vocals. "They ain't pretty, that's for sure," he says about the creaks and cracks that punctuate his phrases in songs like "Poor Imitation Of God" and "One Stiff Breeze." "But I don't mind a bit. All the catches and the glitches and the gruffness, that sounds right to me. That sounds like who I am." Hiatt celebrates the release of his new album with a free, all ages in-store performance at Grimey's on Friday, October 12th, at 6PM!
Kurt Vile - Bottle It In CD/2xLP+MP3 (Matador)
Travel can inspire in surprising ways: Kurt Vile discovered as much making his first record in three years, the eclectic and electrifying Bottle It In, which he recorded at various studios around the country over two very busy years, during sessions that usually punctuated the ends of long tours or family road trips. Every song, whether it's a concise and catchy pop composition or a sprawling guitar epic, becomes a journey unto itself, taking unexpected detours, circuitous melodic avenues, or open-highway solos.
Elvis Costello & The Imposters - Look Now CD/CD+CDEP/LP/LP+12" (Concord)
Recorded in Hollywood, New York City and Vancouver, British Columbia, Look Now is beautiful in its simplicity, reflective in its lyrical vision, surrounded by melodies and orchestrations that are nothing short of heavenly. It's the first album Costello has made with The Imposters since the 2008 release of Momofuku and his first new album since the acclaimed 2013 Roots collaboration, Wise Up Ghost. Look Now is an outstanding 12-strong addition to his song catalogue. Most of the titles were written solely by Elvis Costello although, "Don't Look Now" and "Photographs Can Lie" were co-written with Burt Bacharach, who makes a guest appearance, leading The Imposters from the piano for those two ballads. Lead track "Under Lime" is a spry, heavily textured pop rocker with Beatles-esque harmonies and horn arrangements, while "Unwanted Number" has a low-key, soul-inflected groove and female backing vocals. Costello initially wrote the latter song for the 1996 Allison Anders movie Grace Of My Heart but never committed it to record until now. [Deluxe double-CD and double-vinyl editions include a bonus 4-track EP.]
Colter Wall - Songs Of The Plains CD/LP (Young Mary's Record Co.)
After two years of relentless touring, Colter Wall wanted to make an album about home. Drawing on the stories of Saskatchewan, Canada, the young songwriter's corner of the world takes shape throughout his second full-length album, Songs Of The Plains. Produced by Dave Cobb in Nashville's Studio A, the project combines striking original folk songs, well-chosen outside cuts, and a couple of traditional songs that reflect his roots growing up in the small city of Swift Current. Wall captures the spaciousness of the Canadian plains by relying on minimal production and his resonant baritone, which he's strengthened into a mighty instrument in its own right. It's a deep and knowing voice you wouldn't expect of a man who's not yet 24 years old. "I went into the studio and knew exactly the story I wanted to tell," Colter says of Songs Of The Plains. "That made it easier on a sonic level and a musical level, to be able to tell Dave that it's a record about my home. That changes it at the roots level because it's like having a mission statement, saying, 'All right, let's make a Western album.'"
The Watson Twins - DUO CD/LP (The Watson Twins)
The Watson Twins' release DUO, their latest full length and 6th Studio Album. This batch of songs comes with a new approach finding the sisters co-writing all the material for the first time and singing all parts together, creating one singular voice. Working with their longtime collaborator and producer Russ Pollard (Everest/Sebadoh), the album feels like a dynamic new chapter for the twins. Raised in Louisville, Kentucky identical twin sisters, Chandra and Leigh Watson, have always blended musical genres to tell their story. The twins moved to the thriving music scene of Silver Lake, Los Angeles, in the early 2000s where 'their sound developed a style of sweet, soulful indie-folk that does more than nod to alt-country influences' (NPR)
St. Vincent - MassEducation CD/LP (Loma Vista)
A stunning standalone work in its own right, MassEducation is in fact another dimension of St. Vincent's universally acclaimed 2017 album Masseduction. Recorded live in the studio over two nights in August 2017 while at Electric Lady Studio mixing the original album, MassEducation lays bare the exquisite songcraft of its other half. Performed entirely by Annie Clark on vocals and Thomas Bartlett on piano, the new album renders songs like "Young Lover" and "Fear The Future" and their subjects in vivid, vulnerable new light. Clark describes the refashioned versions as "two dear friends playing songs together with the kind of secret understanding one can only get through endless nights in New York City."
Ian Sweet - Crush Crusher CD/LP (Hardly Art)
In writing Crush Crusher, Ian Sweet's Jilian Medford committed herself to exploring her own issues with self-image, self-respect/worth, and the responsibility she has felt to others. Album opener "Hiding" was one of the first songs she wrote for the record while living in a frigid Brooklyn apartment during a winter break amidst her grueling tour schedule. In the song, Medford reflects on an interpersonal relationship that fell apart because of an inability to feel supreme comfort in sharing all the pieces of herself with someone. Nevertheless, a hopeful demeanor shines through on "Hiding" and in her writing across the album, with lyrics that embrace life's hurdles and make them feel a little less scary. Recorded at Rare Book Room studios with producer/engineer Gabe Wax (Deerhunter, The War on Drugs, Soccer Mommy), Crush Crusher is full of dissonant open chords and abnormal progressions, finding beauty in a level of conflict not seen on the trio's 2016 Shapeshifter. By the end of the recording process, Ian Sweet wound up with an unconventional assortment of songs featuring disparate elements of psych-rock, trip-hop, and shoegaze that together forged a sound uniquely Medford's own. This title is scheduled to arrive on Friday.
Young The Giant - Mirror Master CD (New Elektra)
Following 2016's critically-acclaimed Home Of The Strange, Mirror Master promises to continue ascending into consciousness, though this time with a heavy focus on personal self-awareness.
Tom Morello - The Atlas Underground CD/LP+MP3/LP+CD (Mom + Pop)
On his latest album Morello blends Marshall stack riff-rock with the digital wizardry of EDM and hip-hop. Includes collaborations with Marcus Mumford, Portugal. The Man, the Wu-Tang Clan's RZA and GZA, Vic Mensa, K.Flay, Big Boi, Gary Clark Jr., Pretty Lights, Killer Mike and Whethan, among others. [Deluxe Box set includes the vinyl LP, CD and coffee table book.]
Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians - Rocket CD (Verve Forecast)
Thirty years ago, Edie Brickell and New Bohemians exploded out of Dallas and became an international sensation with their double-platinum debut album, Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars, featuring the Top Ten hit, "What I Am". Now, the group returns with Rocket, their first new music in a dozen years. The band's music contains elements of rock, folk, blues, and jazz.
Graham Parker - Cloud Symbols CD/LP (100%)
The inimitable Graham Parker is back with a new album. With his Rumour packed away, Graham enlists a new gang, The Goldtops (Martin Belmont, Geraint Watkins, Simon Edwards and Roy Dodds), on this record (who, incidentally feature former Rumour member Martin Belmont). Additionally, The Rumour Brass also feature on six of the tracks.
The Bottle Rockets - Bit Logic CD/LP (Bloodshot)
Formed nearly 30 years ago, The Bottle Rockets helped forge a now popular subgenre-small-town, middle-class, Midwest American roots rock-part right-to-the-gut poetry, part rock 'n' roll, all truth. Bit Logic is a different sort of album for the St. Louis natives and shows them at their most self-aware, self-challenging, and socially alert. Recorded in St. Louis at Sawhorse Studios, engineered by Mario Viele and produced by longtime studio collaborator Eric "Roscoe" Ambel (The Del-Lords, Steve Earle), The Bottle Rockets' 13th album has them looking at their unique stylistic blend through a different lens. While one of the group's earmarks is constructing blue-collar anthems, Bit Logic has the quartet focusing outside themselves, at how change and adaptation affects the bigger picture.
Connan Mockasin - Jassbusters CD/LP (Mexican Summer)
Jassbusters is Connan Mockasin's third album and first in five years. An unclassifiable, unconventional record that neither picks up from nor abandons the modes of 2013's widely-embraced Caramel or its 2010 predecessor Forever Dolphin Love, Jassbusters foreshadows a five-part melodramic "absurdist" film titled Bostyn 'n Dobsyn, created by Mockasin. Jassbusters soundtracks the unpredictable narrative of the film in eclectic, electric ways. Whether bending genres or collaborating with artists like James Blake, MGMT, and Charlotte Gainsbourg, Connan Mockasin has always maneuvered in mysterious ways. After touring with the likes of Radiohead and Neil & Liam Finn (Crowded House), the R&B surrealist continues assembling a cult around his theater, nay spectacle of life.
The Dodos - Certainty Waves CD/LP (Polyvinyl)
Like the duo's breakout sophomore album Visiter, Certainty Waves finds The Dodos embracing the unlimited possibilities of a time when there were no preconceptions of what the band should sound like. Questions like whether the group needed to incorporate more than just "acoustic guitar and drums," and just what exactly the ratio should be of acoustic vs. electric guitar suddenly took a backseat to the realization that so much emphasis was mistakenly being put on form rather than spirit.
Winter & Triptides - Estrela Mágica CD/LP (OAR)
Estrela Mágica is a starcrossed collaboration between Samira Winter (Winter) and Glenn Brigman (Triptides). Sighting influences from Brazil's colorful tropicalia movement as well as the phased out sunshine psychedelia of the American 1960's, Winter & Triptides started blending together their favorite musical colors into a brand new sonic palette. Two years and a dozen home recording sessions later, they had crafted enough material to form Estrela Mágica.
Valley Maker - Rhododendron CD/LP (Frenchkiss)
On Valley Maker's second full-length album, Rhododendron, songwriter Austin Crane sings about movement - from one kind of belief to another, from place to place, through time. This new record from Crane, a Seattle-based musician and PhD student in Human Geography, reflects both the rootedness and rootlessness that shapes his songwriting on the precipice of his third decade. Like his noted inspirations Jason Molina, Bill Fay, and Gillian Welch before him, he speaks to the strange and transitory ways we mark time through our lives. Years pass and fold in his cosmic, open-hearted folk-based songs full of characters that move from place to place, traveling through time and over lines on maps, driven to encounter the mysteries of existence and glimpse shared humanity. From the streamlined indie rock of opener "A Couple Days" to the swirling psychedelia of "Be Born Today", from the soulful horns of "Rise Up" to the ambient touches of closer "River Bend My Mind", the album demonstrates Crane's distilled approach, his solidly built songs blooming with tasteful arrangements and touches. Rhododendron is an album about transition, about leaving, but also arriving, a document of the journeys in-between.
Sarah Borges And The Broken Singles - Love's Middle Name CD/LP (Blue Corn Music)
Sarah Borges's unbridled joy at making music two decades into a storied career comes through loud and clear in her latest long player, aptly titled Love's Middle Name. Her third studio record with the Broken Singles, it's a muscular 10-song cycle that pulses with gritty, unfettered emotion. On "House on a Hill", Sarah pines for a blue-eyed ex and the home they once shared. But instead of being a maudlin affair, the album's centerpiece track grabs you with raw vocals and a wring-out-your-heart chorus over a no-nonsense drumbeat and driving guitars.
Jimmie Allen - Mercury Lane CD (Stoney Creek)
Jimmie Allen was named one of CMT's 18 for 2018 Listen Up Artists as well as a member of Bobby Bones' Class Of 2018. In addition, he was included in Rolling Stone's 10 New Country Artists You Need To Know: January 2018. Allen is a native of Delaware and moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 2007. There, he worked as a songwriter, including a song that appeared in a Super Bowl commercial.
Morgan Evans - Things That We Drink To CD (Warner Music Nashville)
Debut US album from Australian star Morgan Evans - a brilliant collection of poignant ballads and fun up-tempo songs.
Lindsay Beaver - Tough As Love CD (Alligator)
Lindsay Beaver is a blues-rocking, soul-singing drummer, songwriter and bandleader, originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia and now residing in Austin, Texas. A uniquely talented musical spitfire, Lindsay is a jazz-trained drummer and a classically trained vocalist, writing and performing raw R&B, blues and old-school rock 'n' roll songs with punk rock fervor. Tough As Love is a refreshing slap across the face of roots music.
Daniel Brandt - Channels CD/LP+MP3 (Erased Tapes)
Co-founder of the German ensemble Brandt Brauer Frick, Daniel Brandt's new album Channels is his biggest statement yet, with the album's thrilling avant-garde framework interweaving chord-driven techno, orchestral flourishes, rich electronic textures and hints of dark cinematic pop.
Yves Tumor - Safe In The Hands Of Love CD/2xLP+MP3 (Warp)
Yves Tumor presents his highly anticipated Warp Records debut Safe In The Hands Of Love. Ever the sonic chameleon, the album sees Yves peeking out of the shadows with strong vocals and amped up production, channeling energy into deeply psychedelic and emotional compositions that manage to balance rampant experimentation with an idiosyncratic pop sensibility. From noise and industrial denizens to adventurous beat heads and a much wider field of adventurous music lovers of all kinds, Yves maintains a curiously wide appeal here and offers up an amazing ride.
Lupe Fiasco - Drogas Wave CD (1st And 15th Productions)
The sequel to Drogas Light features feature contributions from Damian Marley, Nikki Jean, Crystal Torres, Rosy Timms, Troi Irons, and others.
Travis Scott - Astroworld CD (Epic)
Astroworld is the critically acclaimed third studio effort from the Grammy-nominated rapper/producer. Named after a closed down amusement park in Houston, the sonically diverse collection matches its rollercoaster imagery (cover art by photographer David LaChapelle) with pulsating futuristic trap symphonies and wide-ranging guests like Stevie Wonder, Kid Cudi, Frank Ocean, Drake, The Weeknd, James Blake, Swae Lee, 21 Savage and Quavo. "...the project is Travis' best, most-progressive and most-well-rounded album to date. Hip-hop's token rager is becoming a truly unstoppable force" - XXL [Vinyl edition due November 9.]
Bobby Broom - Soul Fingers CD (MRI)
On Soul Fingers, guitarist Bobby Broom embraces the rhythm & blues core of jazz with his new group, the Organi-Sation, featuring organist Ben Paterson and drummer Kobie Watkins, playing interpretations of pop melodies from The Beatles to Motown. Combining his love of jazz, pop melodies he grew up with in the 1960s and 1970s and the funky, urban soul of his youth, for his 12th album as a leader Broom passionately extends the tradition of great jazz guitarists from Kenny Burrell and Wes Montgomery to Grant Green, George Benson and Pat Martino. Produced by legendary drummer Steve Jordan.
Ambrose Akinmusire - Origami Harvest CD (Blue Note)
Acclaimed trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire breaks new ground with his new album Origami Harvest, a surprisingly fluid study in contrasts that pits contemporary classical wilding against deconstructed hip-hop, with bursts of left-field jazz, funk, spoken work, and soul with help from the Mivos Quartet and art-rap expatriate Kool A.D. (Das Racist), along with pianist Sam Harris, drummer Marcus Gilmore, and saxophonist Walter Smith III.
Ben Wendell - The Seasons CD (Motema Music, LLC)
Ben Wendel, perhaps best known for his bold and forward-thinking group Kneebody, has been hard at work for the last two years on a project of ambitious scope. The Seasons is Wendel's tribute to twelve musical collaborators and friends, including such heavy-hitters as Jeff Ballard, Julian Lage, and Mark Turner. [Vinyl edition due November 2.]
Polyphia - New Levels New Devils CD/LP (Equal Vision)
No other act has managed to marry a masterful command of melody with hip-hop rhythms and dark and sinister tones in such an enticing way as genre-blending instrumental heavyweights Polyphia - and they've done so without the crutch of sing-along vocals. In challenging the generally accepted constant that dark and technical music has to be atonal and undanceable, the four members of Polyphia have done their part to advance the world of instrumental rock. On their new full-length, New Levels New Devils, Polyphia have taken yet another defiant leap forward. The virtuosic guitar work that has defined Polyphia is still present, but the band made a conscious effort to replace distorted guitars and epic breakdowns with a soundscape of bass-heavy trap music. [Indie exclusive colored vinyl pressing also available for special order.]
Justin Courtney Pierre - In The Drink CD (Epitaph)
It's been a couple of years since we heard from Justin Courtney Pierre. When we last left off, his celebrated rock band Motion City Soundtrack decided to take a hiatus following a victory lap in support of their sixth album, Panic Stations. This culminated with a Riot Fest performance and a sold-out, career-spanning show at The Metro in Chicago in September of 2016. In reality, what he's been doing lately hasn't been terribly exciting bio fodder: He's been in Minneapolis, mowing the lawn, cultivating tomatoes, taking care of his daughter and figuring out who he is if he isn't the guy fronting Motion City Soundtrack. "I guess the jumping off point for this album was that I wanted to see if I could just write everything myself and perform as much of it as I could," Pierre says of the impetus for his first solo album, In The Drink. The album sees Pierre evoking his usual influences like Pavement, Superchunk, The Flaming Lips, Jawbox, Fugazi, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Nirvana, Tom Waits, The Carpenters and Eddie Money, but through his own unique perspective and sung via his instantly recognizable tenor. [Vinyl due 10/26]
Basement - Beside Myself CD/LP (Fueled By Ramen)
Beside Myself is not a concept record, but themes of the album do often relate to the inability of being comfortable in one's skin. Being concerned about the future, troubled about the past, and how difficult it can be to exist in the moment. Co-produced with Colin Brittain and mixed by Rich Costey (At The Drive In, Muse, Biffy Clyro), Beside Myself marks Basement's Fueled By Ramen/Warner Bros debut and follows their 2016 breakthrough, Promise Everything. Beside Myself finds Basement's introspection unfolding over a collection of deeply-rich punk-charged alternative classics led by the likes of "Disconnect", "Be Here Now" and "Stigmata". [Limited translucent red colored vinyl pressing.]
Kinski - Accustomed To Your Face CD/LP (Kill Rock Stars)
As they near their 20th year as a band, Kinski shows no signs of slowing down. Their new record, Accustomed To Your Face, sounds as free and daring as their early forays, but with the luster of confidence that comes with two decades of playing together. Reflecting a multi-faceted approach, in the tracks "Guest Girl Vocalist" and "There Goes Hot Stamper", Kinski seems to have harnessed the power of early punk and wed it to their own tight and head-on approach to the genre. But then there is "Kinski 101", a celebratory nod to their quintessential style of dynamically structured instrumental pieces. Weaving it all together is the band's consistent command of their craft. The rhythm section is dialed in and the interplay between the guitars continues to be more than the sum of their parts.
The Smoking Popes - Into the Agony CD/LP (Asian Man Records)
The Smoking Popes have gone through the ebb and flow of being a band through the nearly 27 years since they started. Signing to Capitol Records, being deemed as the greatest american band by Morrissey. Touring with Jawbreaker on their original run through DEAR YOU. The band disbanded for 6 years from 1999-2005. The reunited popes featured all 3 Caterer brothers, but was missing original drummer Mike Felumlee. So here we are in 2018 and the original lineup is back. In the words of Josh Caterer "all the drummers we've played with are wonderful, but playing with Mike again brought back a magic that can't be explained. We are so proud of this new record and can't wait to share it with you".
Parcels - Parcels CD/LP+CD (Because Music)
Parcels, the young disco-pop breakthrough band hailing from Australia, now living in Berlin, offer up their self-titled debut album. The first emerging band ever to collaborate with the legendary Daft Punk (on the "Overnight" single - summer 2017), Parcels make immaculately polished MOR pop that would sound at home in the company of Chic or '70s-era Fleetwood Mac. "Our first album had to be self-produced and it had to be the truest representation of us, as people, as musicians and as a group that we had ever offered before," explains the band. "Parcels started for us as a new experimentation in image and sound but after the five of us moved across the world together, its initial ideas and boundaries quickly lost importance. We had always played in bands together but clearly this was our first real band in that it was inseparable from the experience we were living together. This was now our identity, we're a band in the older sense of the word. This suddenly gave direction to the initial recordings for our album and gave us something to play with for the imagery surrounding it."
Hands Like Houses - Anon. CD (Hopeless)
New album from the Canberra, Australia alt-rock quintet.
Sister Sparrow - Gold CD/LP (Party Flower)
Known far and wide as the impossibly big voiced leader of acclaimed soul collective Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds, singer Arleigh Kincheloe has made an astonishing leap forward with Sister Sparrow's new LP, Gold. Produced by Carter Matschullat (Chef'Special, Secret Weapons), the album sees Sister Sparrow taking the classic brass-fueled Dirty Birds sound and turning it into something altogether new: a soul-blasted contemporary pop sound both timeless yet utterly now. Recorded mere months after Kincheloe became a new mother, songs like the evocative first single, "Ghost", and the ebullient title track highlight Sister Sparrow's strikingly strong vocals while also showcasing her growing muscle as an individualistic, communicative songwriter. Rich with ingenuity, confidence, and deeply felt emotion, Gold represents both a career milestone and thrilling new beginning for Sister Sparrow. Though she has been making music for most of her life, Kincheloe is well aware that with Gold she has finally created something unique, universal, and altogether her own.
Outer Heaven - Realms Of Eternal Decay CD/LP (Relapse)
Across 10 tracks and 30+ minutes of grotesque, groove-laden death metal, Outer Heaven immediately raise the bar for the new generation of extreme bands. Beyond Creation - Algorythm CD/2xLP (Season Of Mist) Beyond Creation has established themselves as one of the worldwide leaders in modern technical death metal. On their long-awaited new album Algorythm, the Montreal quartet take yet another step forward. Incredibly intricate and subtle guitar and bass work weave through a fierce percussive onslaught in a dizzying display of mastery and instrumental interplay. Beyond Creation is at the apex of modern death metal, and Algorythm is a study in the forward motion of intelligent, progressive extremity. [Indie-exclusive deluxe LP is available for special order.]
For the Holidaze
Eric Clapton - Happy Xmas CD/LP (Surfdog)
Eric Clapton's first ever full-length studio holiday album mixes instantly recognizable holiday classics with lesser-known unique titles along with an original new song "For Love On Christmas Day".
Dailey & Vincent - The Sounds of Christmas CD (BMG)
The country/bluegrass duo delivers its first ever Christmas studio project that includes a duet with the legendary Dolly Parton and a score of Christmas classics that include "Frosty The Snowman", "Jingle Bells" and "Mr. Grinch".
Reissues & From The Vaults
David Bowie - Loving The Alien (1983-1988) 11xCD/15xLP (Rhino/Parlophone)
The fourth in a series of box sets spanning David Bowie's career following Five Years (1969-1973), Who Can I Be Now? (1974-1976) and A New Career In A New Town (1977-1982). The set is named after the opening track from the Tonight album and includes newly remastered versions of Bowie's most commercially successful period: Let's Dance, Tonight, Never Let Me Down (original and a new 2018 production of the LP), Glass Spider (Live Montreal '87), the previously unreleased Serious Moonlight live album, a collection of original remixes entitled Dance and the non-album/alternate version/B-sides and soundtrack music compilation Re:Call 4.
Peter Holsapple vs. Alex Chilton - The Death Of Rock CD/LP (Omnivore)
Newly discovered recordings of early solo Peter Holsapple and Like Flies On Sherbert-era Alex Chilton. The Death Of Rock is a fascinating pivot point with both artists moving past each other headed in distinctly different directions. Chilton moved toward punk/psychobilly as he began playing with Tav Falco's Panther Burns and produced The Cramps debut, Songs The Lord Taught Us, within a few months of these recordings. Holsapple was off to New York to audition for The dB's and enter the world of "sweet pop". Alex's tracks definitely line up with the chaos found on his his 1979 solo album Like Flies On Sherbert, while several of Peter's songs found homes on The dB's two 1981albums Stands For Decibels and Repercussion ("Bad Reputation" and "We Were Happy There") and on the The Troggs' 1992 album Athens Andover ("The Death Of Rock" retooled as "I'm In Control").
The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead [Reissue/2018] CD/2xLP+MP3 (Sub Pop)
A full remaster of The Helio Sequence's landmark 2008 album, plus a second album of demos, alternate versions, and outtakes from the same era. Magnet named Keep Your Eyes Ahead one of the "Top 25 Albums of 2008," and raved it "is a shining example of how to go retro while still moving forward." And Drowned in Sound, in its 8/10 review of the album, wrote, "And now, at last, the protracted silence is broken by the surging scream of Keep Your Eyes Ahead, an album that feels as vital as the first, gulping breath of the near drowned. What this record means to Summers and partner Benjamin Weikel is apparent in the intense force of feeling." This title is scheduled to arrive on Friday.
Vince Guaraldi - It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown [1966] CD (Craft Recordings)
One of the most desired soundtracks in the beloved collection of music from the iconic Peanuts animated TV specials, It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, is being made available for the first time ever on CD. Featuring music by Grammy-winning composer/performer Vince Guaraldi, the CD package offerings include a new introduction from the TV show's executive producer Lee Mendelson and insightful liner notes by Derrick Bang, Peanuts historian and author of Vince Guaraldi at the Piano. [Vinyl edition TBA.]
Compilations, Best Of's & Sundry Collections
Dave Davies - Decade CD/LP (Red River Entertainment)
Dave Davies is a musician who needs little introduction, as a founder member of legendary rock group The Kinks; his guitar sound, unique style and songwriting has shaped the landscape of rock and pop music across generations. Decade is a collection of unreleased songs he recorded from 1971-79. The collection can be considered to be a companion piece to 2011's Hidden Treasures, which spotlighted songs he wrote in the '60s. Although his brother Ray wrote the majority of the Kinks material, Dave penned several great songs, such as "Death Of A Clown" from Something Else and the Arthur-era outtakes "Mindless Child Of Motherhood" and "This Man He Weeps Tonight". As the press release notes, Dave's songs "had no apparent place" in the concept albums Ray was creating, so these tracks remained "under beds, in attics, in storage" until they were discovered by Dave's sons. Dave's first true solo album, AFL1-3603, came out in 1980.
Various Artists - New West Records 20th Anniversary CD/3xLP (New West)
New West Records 20th Anniversary is comprised of three stand-alone compilations: The Road Less Traveled is a historic overview of rarities chosen by George Fontaine; Sr. Friends features tracks chosen by fans of the label; and Family highlights favorite tracks chosen by New West recording artists past and present. The LP box set includes a 40-page book (CD book is 76-pages with perfect bound spine) complete with liner notes and essays from New West contemporaries and historic and many never before seen photographs.
New on Vinyl
Jeff The Brotherhood - Magick Songs 2xLP (Dine Alone)
Recently released on CD - now available on vinyl. Magick Songs marks a departure from Jeff The Brotherhood's previous sound. Elements of '80s Japanese experimental music meld with Indonesian Gamelan forms, clever improvisation and abundant hand percussion, and synthesizer. Later, it's dreamy and ethereal, evoking psychedelic rock and '90s indie styles.
Joe Strummer - 001 4xLP+7"+Cassette (Ignition)
Super Deluxe box set featuring four 180gm LPs, two CDs, a bonus 7", a cassette and a 64-page book. Punk pioneer, singer, songwriter, recording artist, activist, musical and political inspiration for a generation and mighty diamond Joe Strummer was the most charismatic and passionate frontman to emerge from the punk explosion of the late '70s. After Joe's untimely death in December 2002 it was discovered that he had been an archivist of his own work, having barns full of writings and tapes stored in his back garden. Joe Strummer 001 is the first compilation to span Strummer's career outside of his recordings with The Clash, collecting fan favorites from his recordings with the 101ers and The Mescaleros, his solo albums, soundtrack work plus an album of unreleased songs.
John Grant - Love Is Magic 2xLP+MP3 (Partisan)
"Each record I make is more of an amalgamation of who I truly am," declares John Grant. "The more I do this, the more I trust in myself, and the further along I go." Even when the Michigan-born musician released his debut solo album Queen Of Denmark in 2010, Grant laced sumptuous soft-rock ballads with an array of spacey, wistful synthesizer sounds, increasingly adding taut, fizzing sequencers, nu-synth-disco settings and icy soundscapes to the mix on 2012's Pale Green Ghosts and 2015's Grey Tickles, Black Pressure, the latter The Guardian described as, "variously agonizing, hilarious, uplifting and moving: another bravura display from a unique songwriting talent." Now, with his fourth solo album, Love Is Magic, Grant has continued evolving, creating his most electronic record yet, in collaboration with Benge (Ben Edwards), solo artist, analogue synth expert/collector and a member of electronica trio Wrangler. [Deluxe colored vinyl edition features gatefold sleeve packaging, a 24-page photo booklet and a 16-page hymn booklet. CD edition due October 19.]
Brian Owens - Soul of Cash LP (Soul Step Records)
This album reimagines Cash songs in new and soulful way. Co-produced by former Jack White drummer Daru Jones Official and featuring the skills of Robert Randolph & the Family Band, this album will show you where Soul and Country meet.
Amythyst Kiah & Her Chest of Glass - Amythyst Kiah & Her Chest of Glass LP (Soul Step Records)
A professed Southern Gothic songster based in Johnson City, TN, Amythyst Kiah's commanding stage presence is only matched by her raw and powerful vocals-a deeply moving, hypnotic sound that stirs echoes of a distant and restless past. Accoutered interchangeably with banjo, acoustic guitar, or a full band (Her Chest of Glass), Amythyst's toolbox is augmented by her scholarship of African-American roots music. Her eclectic influences span decades, drawing heavily on old time music (Mississippi Sheiks, Son House, Jimmie Rodgers, Olla Belle Reed, Carter Family), inspired by strong R&B and country music vocalists from the '50s-'70s (Big Mama Thornton, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Mahalia Jackson, Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn) and influenced by contemporary artists with powerful vocal integrity. Provocative and coolly fierce, Amythyst Kiah's ability to cross the boundaries of blues and old-time through reinterpretation is groundbreaking and simply unforgettable.
Preacherman - Universal Philosophy: Preacherman Plays T.J. Hustlers Greatest Hits LP (Luaka Bop)
Tim Jones, also known as Preacherman, recorded under Midi Man, Ironing Board Band and T.J. Hustler. He made one very rare LP (recently reissued), and two even rarer CD's. These tracks are from the CD's. He was a salesman for IBM in Las Vegas, where he sold Selectric Typewriters and then word processors during the day and at night he world perform in the Las Vegas lounges. He was somewhat of an engineer and adapted a Hammond B3 organ to play a moog synth with some of the organ keys, (some still played the organ), and he adapted the organ's foot-controlled bass levers to play two Moog synth bass pedals (a failed item Moog made for a few years.) Thinking he wasn't much of a live performer he had a wooden puppet made that he named T.J Hustler, and together with the puppet, he would engage in long philosophical soliloquies.
James Brown - Say It Live And Loud: Live In Dallas 08.26.68 2xLP (Polydor)
James Brown's blistering live album Say It Live And Loud: Live In Dallas 08.26.68 was recorded just as the Godfather of Soul's bold single "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud," was released. On the 50th anniversary of the anthem's release, Say It Live and Loud: Live in Dallas 08.26.68 makes its vinyl debut expanded with an additional 20 minutes of previously unheard material.
William Basinski & Lawrence English - Selva Oscura LP+MP3 (Temporary Residence)
For over half a decade, William Basinski and Lawrence English have been in regular contact with one another. During that time their paths have crossed repeatedly in various cities; Zagreb, Los Angeles, Hobart and more, in a variety of situations. It was from these chance encounters - and the strange familiar of lives lived in transit - that their first collaboration, Selva Oscura, was seeded. Each of the extended pieces on this record maps an acoustic topography that draws on the concept of drifting into the strange familiar. The works each dwell in an ever shifting, yet fundamentally constant state of unfolding. As one sound fades away, another is revealed in its place, creating a sense of an eternal reveal. [Limited colored vinyl pressing.]
Cypress Hill - Elephants On Acid 2xLP (BMG Rights Management)
Recently released on CD - now available on vinyl. Elephants On Acid is Cypress Hill's ninth studio album and was produced by DJ Muggs, making it the first album produced by Muggs since 2004's Til Death To Us Part. Reuniting with B Real and Sen Dog in Los Angeles to record the album, Muggs also traveled across the world to collect the vibe and sounds that make up much of what you'll hear from start to finish.
Action Bronson & Statik Selektah - Well Done 2LP (DCide)
Coming straight out of Flushing, Queens, NYC, Action Bronson personifies the golden era of East Coast, New York hip-hop. Repping Boston, New York & New Hampshire Statik Selektah is known as the "east coast boom bap ambassador" and holds down weekly radio slots on Eminem's Shade 45. He has produced & worked with Nas, Joey Bada$$, 2 Chainz, Mac Miller, 50 Cent, Jadakiss, John Legend, Wale, Bun B & many more.
Jabber - Forever LP (Asian Man Records)
These babes from the East Bay (Oakland, CA) have a knack for writing catchy pop songs. All veterans of the punk scene, these besties are looking to take over the world with their Ramones core meets new school pop punk flair. They love Green Day and doing Karaoke. What's not to love?
guerrer@ - aggressive healing music 12" (Akashik Records)
Debut project from New York based experimental producer guerrer@ on MNDSGN's Akashik Records. guerrer@ represents the revolution that must occur (and keep occurring) within oneself, so that it may also occur outside oneself. Of looking backwards and forwards, simultaneously and always. Of accounting for present and potential material makeup. Of accounting for the contemporary abhorrent and luminous actions of the flesh. A pledge towards infinitely malleating--and, thus, the necessary deliberate reconfiguration of--identity.
Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - The Difference Between Me & You LP (Black Joe Lewis)
Recently released on CD - now available on vinyl. Sonically inspired by the hill country blues of Junior Kimbrough, cowpunk style of The Gun Club, and the southern soul of Stax, The Difference Between Me & You charts new territory with a heavy stream of lyrical consciousness. Mining his first decade of experience on the road, the record is influenced by a deep repertoire of sounds: the heavy grooves of Albert King, punked-up blues of R.L. Burnside, the storytelling of Bobby "Blue" Bland, and the soulfully layered horns of the Stones, are all omnipresent throughout.
Blue October - I Hope You're Happy LP (Up Down)
Recently released on CD - now available on vinyl. Blue October, the San Marcos, TX-based band known for shimmering rock songs and haunting lyrics, returns with their ninth studio album, I Hope You're Happy which follows-up 2016's acclaimed Home. The first Blue October release produced solely by frontman Justin Furstenfeld, the affecting 12-track collection features eleven beautifully crafted and performed songs that showcase the band at its creative peak and is introduced by the infectious and upbeat love letter to a former love, "I Hope You're Happy".
Milo Greene - Adult Contemporary LP (Nettwerk)
Recently released on CD - now available on vinyl. The genre of "adult contemporary" is characterized by its exceptional euphony. In skill, it effortlessly mingles sounds. In intent, it envelops itself in harmonies. In spirit, it has the beguiling ability to disarm listeners. That's why L.A.'s Milo Greene, the always-evolving indie-pop band, chose the genre as its muse and namesake for their third album.
The Earls Of Leicester - Live At The CMA Theater In The Country Music Hall Of Fame 2xLP (Rounder)
Recently released on CD - now available on vinyl. Taped over two nights at Nashville's historic Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, this robust 23-song set features 14 new recordings and fan favorites from The Earls Of Leicester's two previous studio albums. The all-star outfit of Jerry Douglas, Shawn Camp, Barry Bales, Johnny Warren, Charlie Cushman, and Jeff White bring the Foggy Mountain Boys to life, bearing a boundless vitality that makes songs from over a half-century ago feel irresistibly fresh. The CD features two bonus tracks, "Little Maggie" and "I Don't Care Anymore".
The SteelDrivers - Reckless [Reissue/2010] LP (Rounder)
Available for the first time on vinyl, the SteelDrivers' Grammy-nominated sophomore record, Reckless, picks up where their eponymous 2008 debut left off. Originally released in 2010, it's the Nashville group's last album with singer/songwriter Chris Stapleton at the helm, who left the band later that same year to pursue his solo career. Reckless contains a riveting batch of songs by the ace songwriting team of Stapleton and Mike Henderson - songs where bad things keep happening to good people. Moonshiners, runaway slaves, and ghosts of Mississippi are just some of the characters you will encounter on this steel-driven journey from the Blue Ridge to the Delta.
Cécile McLorin Salvant - The Window 2xLP (Mack Avenue)
Recently released on CD - now available on vinyl. New release from the Grammy winning jazz vocalist, an album of duets with pianist Sullivan Fortner. Includes songs by Richard Rodgers & Stephen Sondheim, Stevie Wonder, French cabaret gems & early R'n'B classics plus original compositions.
Morphine - Yes [Expanded edition reissue/2000] 2xLP (Run Out Groove)
New expanded 2LP edition includes previously unreleased outtakes and live tracks from the Yes sessions. First time sourced from the original masters with lacquers cut at Sam Phillips Recording Studio and pressed on 180g vinyl at Record Industry in the Netherlands and comes in a deluxe gatefold tip-on Stoughton sleeve with additional artwork. Limited to 3500 copies worldwide
Fleetwood Mac - The Dance [Reissue/1997] 2xLP (Rhino)
Fleetwood Mac - Say You Will [Reissue/2003] 2xLP (Rhino)
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of Fleetwood Mac's landmark 1977 album Rumours, the powerhouse '70s Fleetwood Mac lineup - Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie and John McVie - reunited for a historic national tour and this extraordinary live album recorded for an MTV special at Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, CA. Fleetwood Mac's 2003 reunion album Say You Will served as the band's first studio effort since 1995's Time and currently stands as their final studio release to date. Although the majority of the classic '70s line-up returns to the fold here including Nicks, Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, Christine McVie opted out (she does appear as a guest on a few tracks but doesn't contribute as a songwriter).
Laura Veirs - Year Of Meteors [Reissue/2005] LP+MP3 (Raven Marching Band)
Laura Veirs - Saltbreakers [Reissue/2007] LP+MP3 (Raven Marching Band)
Limited colored vinyl reissues now available. With organic imagery and a sense of open-eyed, open-hearted wonder, Laura Veirs' songs seem to hover between the sea and the stars taking inspiration from each. On 2005's Year Of Meteors, familiar surroundings come into sharper focus as the lyrical themes of the sky and outer space now seem mysterious, magical and new. Laura Veirs' lyrical allusions to the natural world are disarmingly dreamlike yet scientifically precise. Using synergistic elements of contemporary folk, Americana, alternative rock and laptop style electronics, she creates an amalgam that remains her own.2007's Saltbreakers is by turns haunting, playful, tender, and fierce, embracing everything from machine-driven beats to angelic gospel choirs to fuzzed-out guitars.
The Fall - I Am Kurious Oranj [Reissue/1988] LP (Beggars Banquet)
Vinyl reissue of The Fall's eleventh studio album. Released by Beggars Banquet 30 years ago, in 1988, it contains some of their most loved songs including "Cab It Up!", "New Big Prinz" and "Jerusalem" which takes its lyrics from a poem by William Blake. The album was written as the soundtrack to an avant-garde ballet titled I Am Curious, Orange, produced by the experimental Michael Clark Company and performed in London with The Fall playing live. Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.
Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine [Reissue/19668] LP (Motown)
In the Groove was a quintessential '60s Motown and Marvin Gaye classic that originally yielded the impassioned hits, "You" and "Chained", but became immensely popular when the next-to-last track on Side One, the immortal "I Heard It Through The Grapevine", began getting airplay. This led to "Grapevine" becoming a massive No. 1 smash and Gaye's commercial breakthrough, the biggest hit single ever for Motown at the time (so much so that the label even reissued the album under the song's title which is represented here). The 1968 LP is rounded out by excellent covers of "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever" and "There Goes My Baby".
Linval Thompson - Look How Me Sexy [Reissue/1982] LP (Greensleeves)
One of the first reggae singers of his era to move into self-production, Linval Thompson was known initially as a roots and culture artist, recording for various producers including Bunny 'Striker' Lee before initiating his own studio sessions in 1978. In 1979, he mentored Henry 'Junjo' Lawes as a producer, who in turn would become one of the most successful producers of the early 1980s, eclipsing Thompson in terms of output. This 1982 LP features nine Linval Thompson productions while the hit title track, produced by Lawes, features one of the top reggae riddims of its time.
Upsetters - Rhythm Shower LP (Get On Down)
Between the twin pillars of "Cloak and Dagger" and "Blackboard Jungle Dub", the superlative, yet often overlooked, "Rhythm Shower" album was also released in '73. Originally issued in a very limited Jamaican pressing with no sleeve, it became better known when re-released by the Trojan label as part of its 3 LP, and later 2-CD set, The Upsetter Collection, first issued in 1986. Despite its obscurity, "Rhythm Shower" is a pivotal album in Perry's career as a producer and bandleader; it finds him beginning to experiment with dub and developing his singular studio sound that would come to full maturity in subsequent years.
The Kinks - Give The People What They Want [Reissue/1981] LP (Friday Music)
The Kinks - State Of Confusion [Reissue/1983] LP (Friday Music)
Limited audiophile 180gm colored vinyl reissues. With 1983's vital State Of Confusion and its hit single "Come Dancing" (their biggest since "Tired Of Waiting For You") The Kinks reached the climax of their second wave of success.
Phil Collins - The Singles [Reissue/2016] 2xLP (Rhino)
Double-vinyl reissue of Collins' 2016 career-spanning 19-track compilation.
Kansas - Kansas [Reissue/1974] LP (Friday Music)
Limited 180gm colored vinyl LP pressing housed in a gatefold sleeve. The first of seven consecutive releases to be certified gold or platinum, the band's signature progressive/boogie rock mix is ushered in with original singles "Can I Tell You" and "Lonely Wind" and the J.J. Cale cover "Bringing It Back".
Celine Dion - Falling Into You [Reissue/1995] 2xLP+MP3 (Sony)
Celine Dion - These Are Special Times [Reissue/1998] 2xLP+MP3 (Sony)
Vinyl reissues of the fourth English language album and 1998 Christmas album from the Canadian singer.
Bosse-de-Nage - Further Still LP (The Flenser)
Recently released on CD - now available on vinyl. Fifth album from the San Francisco-based post-black metal act. Further sees the band eschew the sprawling arrangements and hypnotic repetition of their previous efforts in favor of tight, propulsive song structures. It is deliberately succinct in approach while maintaining the band's unique lyrical style set to unpredictable melodies.
The Acacia Strain - Continent [Reissue/2008] LP (Prosthetic)
Limited vinyl reissues of the Massachusetts deathcore wrecking crew's 2008 album. Available in two colors: orange with blue & yellow splatter and blue with orange & yellow splatter.
Orange Goblin - The Big Black [Reissue/2000] 2xLP (Rise Above Limited)
Orange Goblin - Coup De Grace [Reissue/2002] 2xLP (Rise Above Limited)
Orange Goblin - Thieving From The House Of God [Reissue/2003] LP (Rise Above Limited)
Limited colored vinyl reissues. "In a world gone mad, there are few certainties to cling to. But one thing remains forever unwavering and true: Orange f**king Goblin. Diehard exponents of the noble art of heavy metal since 1995, the London-based quartet have spent the last two decades steadily but surely establishing themselves as one of the UK's most loved and respected bands."
System Of A Down - System Of A Down [Reissue/1998] LP (Sony Legacy)
System Of A Down - Toxicity [Reissue/2001] LP (Sony Legacy)
System Of A Down - Steal This Album! [Reissue/2002] 2xLP (Sony Legacy)
System Of A Down - Mezmerize [Reissue/2005] LP (Sony Legacy)
System Of A Down - Hypnotize [Reissue/2005] LP (Sony Legacy)
The intensity of metal, the social commentary of rap and a plethora of influences - ranging from the band's Armenian heritage to jazz to Middle Eastern melodies to the nightly news - has made System Of A Down an international powerhouse. The members' shared and diverse musical and personal experiences created such an explosive musical mine field of such volatile, incendiary ferocity that Rick Rubin elected to sign and produce the group as the first new act on American Recordings under a pact with Columbia Records. The Los Angeles, CA outfit delivers a thrilling mix of thrash metal, sharp lyrics and unusual melodies on their platinum certified eponymous 1998 debut. Their 2001 follow-up Toxicity features 15 ominous hard rock tracks with harsh beats and complex, roaring guitars, which fully embrace the band's unrivaled diversity.
Florentino - Contrabando 12" (Mixpak)
Heard in his DJ sets, his NTS radio show, and in the hands of tastemaker DJs from Bogota to Birmingham, now four of Florentino's most sought after club bootlegs are being released to the world. Contrabando takes a series of modern dancefloor classics and blends them with Florentino's signature mutant reggaeton. Iconic samples collide with double-time dembows, twisted vocal samples, fluttering synths, and heavyweight sub bass. A treatise on the recent history of global pop music that sounds best played loud in a dark club, Contrabando is true soundsystem music for the 23rd century.
Dur-Dur Band - Dur-Dur of Somalia: Volume 1, Volume 2 & Previously Unreleased Tracks 2CD/3LP (Analog Africa)
Dur-Dur, a young Somalian band from the '80s, climaxed as a band in April of 1987 with the release of Volume 2, their second album. The secrets to Dur-Dur's rapid success is inextricably linked to the vision of Isse Dahir, founder and keyboard player of the band. Isse's plan was to locate some of the most forward-thinking musicians of Mogadishu's buzzing scene and lure them into Dur-Dur. From the very beginning, Dur-Dur's doctrine was the fusion of traditional Somali music with whatever rhythms would make people dance: funk, reggae, soul, disco, and new wave were mixed effortlessly with Banaadiri beats, Dhaanto, and spiritual Saar music. This set reissues the band's first two albums -- the first installment in a three-part series dedicated to Dur-Dur Band -- representing the first fruit of Analog Africa's long labors to bring this extraordinary music to the wider world.
The Caretaker - Everywhere at the End of Time - Stage 5 (History Always Favours the Winners)
The penultimate release in the series, Stage 5 of The Caretaker's Everywhere At The End of Time charts severe levels of musical/mental deterioration and sensory detachment through four extended, smudged and hallucinatory side-long pieces. Nearing the end, Stage 5 sees our protagonist enter a near-permanent state of confusion and horror. Mirroring the endemic deterioration of dementia's latter phases, one is pulled through the most extreme entanglements in the series so far; repetition and ruptures, barely maintaining a connection to waking life and a sense of self. In the most classic sense, one becomes witness to an abandonment and dissolution of ego, as the mulch of bygone 78s totally loses itself in a way that connotes misfiring synapses failing to properly relay information at advanced levels of the disease.
Domenique Dumont - Miniatures de Auto Rhythm LP (Antinote)
Miniatures De Auto Rhythm is the brilliant Domenique Dumont's second long player for Antinote, shot through with a tongue-in-cheek attitude. Frantic but light drum programming backbones solar, slightly melancholic melodies, and pop-rock songs with Mediterranean guitar riffs are juxtaposed with toy instrumentals. It's quite pleasant to imagine these eight "miniatures" as field recordings from an enchanted world of pop music designed by some Pierre & Gilles disciples or being musical interpretations of half-mechanical, half-organic creations from a certain Otto Rhiesem (who might have inhabited the Locus Solus villa). There may be no definitive answers to this second set of riddles by Domenique Dumont.
Maoupa Mazzochetti - Gag Flag LP (Editions Gravats)
New Brussels transplant Maoupa Mazzocchetti finds good company among the oddballs on Editions Gravats for Gag Flag's blend of avant-dance music and absurdist experimental pop. Lurking behind his live persona "Snippet Boy," Mazzocchetti becomes an art-dance-pop puppeteer who yanks the listener's strings and takes popshots at industry overproduction, deflating egotism and hackneyed convention in a way that echoes the subversive approach of his heroes such as Devo and The Residents. Using a blend of plugged-in and acoustic instruments, Mazzocchetti conjures nine psychedelically misshapen and inexorably funked-up grooves, splashing from the lysergic swagger to Arabian electro-acid styles to demented yacht-boogie to what sounds like Depeche Mode doing knackered EBM.
Amaro Freitas - Rasif LP (Far Out Recordings)
Amaro Freitas is pioneering the new sound of Brazilian jazz. From the Afro-Brazilian maracatu born on the sugar plantations of slavery, to the high intensity carnival rhythms of frevo and baião, the young pianist's heavily percussive approach to jazz is as indebted to these Pernambuco traditions as it is to Coltrane, Parker, and Monk. A love letter to his native northeast, Amaro explores its traditional rhythms through the jazz idiom, employing complex mathematical patterns reminiscent of some of the most challenging works by fellow Brazilian masters Hermeto Pascoal, Egberto Gismonti, and Moacir Santos.
Attraktta - Echo Principle LP (Film)
Focusing on low-slung IDM, acid, and atmospheric electro with nods to krautrock and ambient sounds, Steve Hyland's Attraktta project Hyland explores vibrant synthesis and intricate drum programming, with the music arriving at a sweet spot between home listening material and club-ready workouts for more intelligent dancefloors. Eschewing straightforward synth sequences in favor of blissed-out, almost disharmonious sonics, Hyland transmits a curious psychedelia on Echo Principle, his debut LP. Sounds pitch and warp organically, buoyed up by saturated low-end and punchy drum machine percussion.
Doris Norton - Artificial Intelligence LP (Mannequin Records)
Mannequin Records concludes its trilogy of reissues from the avant-garde Italian-born producer Doris Norton with Artificial Intelligence (1985). Apple's first music "endorsement" and an early Roland affiliate, Doris Norton is one of the most important women pioneers in the use of synths and in early electro/computer music. While the beat-oriented style of Norton's music aligns her with such global fellow-travelers as Yellow Magic Orchestra and Kraftwerk, her championing of the personal computer as a tool for self-sufficient musical creativity also connects her to musicians such as Pietro Grossi, Laurie Spiegel, and the League of Automatic Music Composers.
Dengue Dengue Dengue - Semillero 12" (On the Corner Records)
Dengue Dengue Dengue are the Peruvian duo known for raising a tropical storm. Their electronic psychedelia and bass flows from their roots in Lima, Perú upstream to global dancefloors. In this six-tracker, Dengue Dengue Dengue team-up with label mates Penya. The band feature on the first track "Pua" that sets a rich scene for the sonic journey ahead. The flip is stormed with title track "Semillero" whilst hearts, minds and imaginations are set to be inspired with their versioning of "Habu Raminibu" which is a healing chant of the Huni Kuin people. Also features Mikongo and Joutro Mundo.
Francis Harris - Trivial Occupations 2LP (Scissor & Thread)
On Harris' third LP, the composer dives deep into a rich, melancholic sound palette, bringing the listener on a journey through various states within its hour runtime. The album was made over the course of four years in various studios with an array of notable players, bringing a diversity of perspectives and approaches encompassed within Harris's stunning artistic studio approach. It was mixed at Jack White's Third Man Studios with the help of long-time collaborator and friend, Bill Skibbe. Guest musicians include Dave Harrington ((One half of Darkside with Nicolas Jaar) guitar, bass), Will Shore (vibraphone), Greg Paulus ((No Regular Play), trumpet)), Emil Abramyan (cello), Léah Lazonick (piano), Genevieve Marentette (vocals), Rob Reddy(tenor sax), and Kaïssa (vocals).
Odd Beholder - All Reality is Virtual LP (Sinnbus)
Odd Beholder, the project of Zurich-based musician Daniela Weinmann, releases its full-length debut album All Reality Is Virtual. All Reality Is Virtual is an intelligent, tenderly flowing and weird pop album, colorful, assertive. It deals with the strange temptations of our time: from Tinder to AI, from offline loneliness to obsessive self-marketing. "I noticed that the main temptation of a digitalized life is the idea that everything can be measured, recorded and therefore known", says Weinmann. "But I yearn for surprise, for wonder. The unknown, the uncontrollable is appealing to me".
Mike Cooper - Tropical Gothic LP (Discrepant)
It's 2018 and it's time for some new discoveries into Mike Cooper's limitless exploration in his collection of guitars. The title itself, Tropical Gothic references Cooper's beloved areas of "the South" with a Gothic, dark, remote interplay... he explains: ''Tropical Gothic includes, but is by no means limited to, a reflection on a region where European colonial powers fought intensively against indigenous populations and against each other for control of land and resources.'' On each side, Mike Cooper studies different approaches to his method of uniting guitar and field recordings into a constant stream of sound, where he delivers chaos and melody -- not necessarily in that order. While Side A is composed of shorter pieces, each offering a myriad of images and sensations, side B is an extended 18-minute mix of ambient exotica music, silent film soundtrack and distorted rhythms that dance around Mike's guitar.
Live & In Concert
Foreigner With The 21st Century Symphony Orchestra & Chorus - Foreigner With The 21st Century Symphony Orchestra & Chorus 2xCD (earMUSIC)
Double-CD edition now available. This concert was recorded at KKL Luzern, Switzerland on May 20th and 21st 2017 and is the first Foreigner album recorded with orchestra and choir.
Evanescence - Synthesis Live CD+DVD/CD+Blu-ray (Eagle Records)
On November 3, 2017 Evanescence performed their 2017 album Synthesis-a reimagining of their best-known songs with orchestra & electronics-in front of a sold-out crowd at the Grand Theater at Foxwoods Casino in CT.