New Releases - 12/14/18
Hitting The Racks
Here's your weekly rundown of what's hitting the new release racks at Grimey's
Jump to… New Releases Reissues & From The Vaults Compilations, Best Of's & Sundry Collections New on Vinyl
New Releases
Bruce Springsteen - Springsteen On Broadway 2xCD (Columbia)
Springsteen on Broadway is the new album of music and stories by Bruce Springsteen, and the soundtrack to the Netflix film of the same name. The album is the complete live performance of the show. Based on his worldwide best-selling autobiography Born To Run, Springsteen On Broadway is a unique evening with Bruce, his guitar, a piano, and his very personal stories. [Vinyl edition due January 25.]
The Decemberists - Traveling On CD/10" (Capitol)
Veteran indie rockers The Decemberists returned earlier this year with their album, I'll Be Your Girl, which saw the band pushing outside their comfort zone and experimenting with a new wave palette of sounds. Now, a few months after the album's release, the band releases Traveling On, an EP featuring five tracks originally intended for inclusion on I'll Be Your Girl. Traveling On continues on the path that was laid by the band's eight studio effort, with Colin Meloy and co. Shifting their sonic influences in the direction of New Order and Roxy Music.
Clean Bandit - What Is Love? CD (Atlantic)
Long-awaited sophomore studio album from the British electronic outfit. Featured as one of Billboard's Fall 2018 Albums to Watch, What Is Love? includes the singles "Tears" (featuring Louisa Johnson), "Rockabye" (featuring Sean Paul and Anne-Marie), "Symphony" (featuring Zara Larsson), "I Miss You" (featuring Julia Michaels), "Solo" (featuring Demi Lovato) and "Baby" (featuring Marina and the Diamonds and Luis Fonsi). The album also features collaborations with Ellie Goulding, Rita Ora, Charli XCX and Tove Styrke. [Vinyl due 12/21]
Selling - On Reflection CD/LP (City Slang)
A unique collaborative venture by two giants of the electronic music world, Selling is comprised of Gold Panda and Jas Shaw, one half of techno titans Simian Mobile Disco. The two met a decade ago, and their musical alliance was initially forged when Shaw mixed Pandas 2010 opus Lucky Shiner. Recorded at Jas studio in Kent, the duo's debut album On Reflection embraces the warmth, melody and emotion that is infused in Gold Panda records and adds in a dizzying array of techno and synth styles.
Gringo Star - Back To The City CD (Nevado Music)
"No premeditation, posturing, or overthinking required, Gringo Star pick up their instruments and go. It's how the Atlanta quartet-brothers Peter [vocals, guitar, keys, percussion] and Nick Furgiule [vocals, bass, guitar, percussion], Josh Longino [guitar, bass], and Mario Colangelo [drums]-quietly turned into intriguing indie outliers. That purity doubles as a linchpin for their adventurous musical necromancy as they seamlessly fuse dynamically dusty garage rock, doo-wop harmonies straight from a '50s jukebox, and surfed-up alternative riding its own wave." - New Noise [Vinyl is available for special order]
Outrageous Cherry - Meet You In The Shadows CD (Burger)
Outrageous Cherry combined psychedelia, folk rock, art rock, and bubblegum music across more than 12 albums and nearly three decades. They attracted an international cult following and were a longstanding fixture in the Detroit rock and roll scene since their first gigs in 1991. Meet You In The Shadows is their final studio album, completed before the passing of founding lead guitarist Larry Ray. [Vinyl due 1/11/19]
Sun K - Bleeding Hearts CD/LP (Nevado Music)
Rock 'n' roll, if it serves one direct purpose, is to articulate life lived to the fullest - be it messy, beautiful, or a complete disaster. For more than half a century, rock 'n' roll musicians have been able to show us the contours of lived human experiences, scrambling to make sense of it all through screaming guitar riffs and rhythmic drum beats, hypnotic as they are soothing. This is what Sun K try to do on their thunderous sophomore record, Bleeding Hearts, which contains the whole spectrum of emotion in its 12 songs.
Mitchell Tenpenny - Telling All My Secrets CD/LP (Sony)
Sophomore album from the country singer/songwriter.
John Zorn - Salem 1692 CD (Tzadik)
The second studio CD by Zorn's incendiary new instrumental quartet presents a remarkable suite inspired by the tragic reign of terror in the Early American settlement of the Massachusetts Bay Colony commonly known as The Salem Witch Trials. The music is intense and hauntingly beautiful, touching upon aspects of Possession, Magic, Witchcraft, Hysteria and Transformation. Tighter than ever, the quartet performs brilliantly in this spellbinding follow-up to their eponymous first release Insurrection. An evocative collection of shredding guitar fireworks and bizarre magical spells, Salem 1692 is truly a musical reign of terror.
Silent Servant - Shadows of Death and Desire CD/LP (Hospital Productions)
After capturing the youth-driven mutation of crossover electronics and dark parties churning in the American underground on his previous full-length, Silent Servant has evolved to more aggressive and stripped-down acid punk electro dance brutalism on his second album. Stereo-panned dusty snares drag along concrete and break apart with without a past or future. Cold drum machine rolls that recall early Ministry are offset with a vocal delivery not felt in techno since Suicide. Also a student of cinematic deconstruction, Silent Servant looks inward from the exterior of LA's untold stories in the netherworlds on the edge of the city, a rapid crash course in confidence games and subsequent letdowns.
Compilations, Best Of's & Sundry Collections
Tom Brumley And The Buckaroos - Steelin' The Show CD (Omnivore)
There are many reasons Buck Owens and his Buckaroos were the hottest band in the world in the 1960s, but one is certainly Tom Brumley's magically graceful touch on the pedal steel guitar. And as you'll hear on this album, he's also a fine Dobro picker. Steelin' The Show showcases Brumley's skill and innovative playing by collecting 17 tracks from nine releases from Buck and The Buckaroos, including "Together Again" that features Tom's peerless solo-one of the most famous pedal steel guitar breaks ever recorded.
Brown Sugar - Soul Jazz Records Presents Brown Sugar: I'm In Love With A Dreadlocks Brown Sugar And The Birth Of Lovers Rock 1977-80 CD/LP+MP3 (Soul Jazz)
13-track Soul Jazz compilation from the UK female vocal trio led by Caron Wheeler, later of Soul II Soul. Contains rare singles, dubs and extended mixes, spanning 1977 to 1980.
Reissues & From The Archives
Chicano Batman - Cycles Of Existential Rhyme/Joven Navegante [2014/2012] 2xCD (ATO)
Chicano Batman - Joven Navegante [Reissue/2012] 12" (ATO)
Chicano Batman - Cycles Of Existential Rhyme [Reissue/2014] LP (ATO)
They came out of L.A., four young men in vintage formal wear, playing songs that blended Brazilian Tropicália with early '70s psychedelic soul and the romantic pop of bands like Los Ángeles Negros. It was an immediately addictive sonic brew, and their reputation grew fast. Since forming in 2008, Chicano Batman has released three full-length albums and a pair of EPs. Out of print for years, the band's 2012 EP Joven Navegante and their 2014 effort, Cycles Of Existential Rhyme are back in-print on CD and vinyl. Soulful, psychedelic and groovy in all the right places.
Henry Townsend - Mule [Reissue/1980] CD (Omnivore)
Legendary St. Louis blues vocalist, guitarist and pianist, Henry Jesse Mule Townsend made his first recordings for Columbia Records in 1929. His history incorporates much of the St. Louis blues story and provides insight into the development of the ensemble style of postwar Chicago blues. He was born Shelby Mississippi in 1909 and moved to St. Louis circa 1921 and began playing guitar a few years later under the tutelage of pioneer figures Dudlow Joe, Son Ryan, and Henry Spaulding. "We at Nighthawk have become convinced that Henry is perhaps the greatest living country bluesman. This reissue follows those same sentiments and goals, and enhances the original release with eight previously unissued bonus tracks from the album sessions."
New on Vinyl
Neil Young - Songs For Judy 2xLP (WB)
Recently released on CD - now available on vinyl. Recorded during Neil Young's fabled November 1976 solo acoustic tour of the US, the archival 23-track live collection Songs For Judy includes performances of all-time classics like "Heart Of Gold", "After The Gold Rush" and "The Needle And The Damage Done", along with a number of rarer selections, including one song, "No One Seems To Know", that has not appeared on any previous official release. "Campaigner", recorded on November 22nd, 1976 at Boston's Music Hall, serves as the album's first "single". Curated by director Cameron Crowe and producer/photographer Joel Bernstein, both of whom contribute to the fascinating liner notes, Songs For Judy marks the debut release from Young's Reprise Records imprint, Shakey Pictures Records. "The tour had been so satisfying, and so different from all that rock would become in the ensuing years, something indelible was captured in our humble collection," explains Crowe. "Listening to it today is a little like discovering postcards from home. It was a precious time in Neil Young's journey, a breath of oxygen in between some of his biggest adventures."
Robyn - Honey LP (Interscope)
Recently released on CD - now available on vinyl. Honey is the eighth studio album by Robyn, and her first since Body Talk (2010). The album features the lead single "Missing U" and second single "Honey", a version of which featured in the final season of the HBO series Girls in 2017 before being released in full in 2018. The album features collaborations with Joseph Mount of Metronomy, Klas Åhlund, Adam Bainbridge, Mr. Tophat, and Zhala.
Lucius - Christmas Is Here b/w Keep Me Hanging On 7" (Mom + Pop)
The Fug Yep Soundation is a new 7" series created in loving memory of producer, songwriter and musician - Richard Swift. Through this special release, Lucius is raising awareness for addiction and offer community to those suffering. This series will directly benefit both MusiCares and Music Support UK foundations. The first 7" in the series is a two-song cover single by Lucius, produced by Richard Swift. The A-side features a re-imagined take on "Christmas Time Is Here" and the B-side is a cover of The Supremes song "Keep Me Hanging On".
CJ Ramone - Christmas Lullabye 7" (Fat Wreck Chords)
Limited 7" holiday single from the former Ramones member.
Rick and Morty - The Rick and Morty Soundtrack 2xLP+7"+MP3 (Sub Pop)
Deluxe box set now available - Includes the double-LP pressed on exclusive "Portal" colored vinyl along with a custom poster, a patch, a sticker, and a bonus 7" clear vinyl single, all housed in an extravagant box featuring a plexiglass window cover which reveals a glowing design when lit by its integrated LED lights. Rick and Morty is the critically acclaimed, half-hour animated hit comedy series on Adult Swim that follows a sociopathic genius scientist who drags his timid grandson on insanely dangerous adventures across the universe. The Rick and Morty Soundtrack is the first official collection of music from the show. The album includes songs by Mazzy Star, Chaos Chaos, Blonde Redhead, and Belly, all of which have been featured in the show, as well as two new tunes from Chad VanGaalen and Clipping.
The Killers - Day & Age [Reissue/2008] 2xLP (Island)
Deluxe 10th Anniversary pressing of The Killers' third album. Includes three bonus tracks.
Depeche Mode - Construction Time Again | The 12" Singles 6x12" (WB)
Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward | The 12" Singles 6x12" (WB)
Construction Time Again (1983) marked the first time that Depeche Mode released limited edition versions of an album's 12" singles, each containing the original mix of each track. Construction Time Again | The 12" Singles includes three reproductions of limited singles which each feature four bonus live performances recorded at London's Hammersmith Odeon on October 25, 1982. Depeche Mode's commitment to the 12" single vinyl format as a distinct art form became even more evident with 1984's Some Great Reward. Some Great Reward | The 12" Singles includes select live recordings from the Liverpool Empire Theatre, recorded September 29, 1984. Both sets feature audiophile-quality vinyl, with audio mastered from the original tapes at the legendary Abbey Road Studios.
Mission Of Burma - Forget [Reissue/1988] LP (Taang!)
Playing a bracing mix of punk, pop, art rock, and avant-garde experimentation, Mission Of Burma's vocal/guitar/bass/drums/tape manipulation lineup was relentlessly intense and dynamic. As adept at playing strident, angular blasts as they were at powerful, pretty instrumentals, the Boston quartet were integral in laying the foundation for a movement in postpunk rock which remains vital today. Forget is a 12-track collection of pre-Vs. demos and outtakes recorded from 1979 to 1982 and issued on Taang! Records in 1988. The sessions from 1979 are all included here (some of the band's earliest work) as well as the lost tracks from 1982 with producer Lou Giordano.
Primus - Rhinoplasty [Reissue/1998] 12" (Interscope)
Primus - Antipop [Reissue/1999] 2xLP (Interscope)
Primus - Animals Should Not Try To Act Like People [Reissue/2003] 12"+MP3 (Interscope)
Vinyl reissues of Primus' sixth studio album Antipop and a pair of EPs.
Fall Out Boy - Save Rock And Roll [Reissue/2013] 2xLP (Island)
Expanded vinyl reissue featuring the Pax AM Days EP which was recorded shortly after God Save Rock And Roll.
The Beta Band - Heroes to Zeros LP+CD (Because Music)
Arguably one of the most acclaimed and loved bands of the past 20 years, by both fans and their musical peers alike. Heroes To Zeros is the third and final studio album by The Beta Band, released in 2004. It was mixed by famed producer Nigel Godrich, known for his work with Radiohead, and rose to number 18 in the UK charts.
Atmosphere - When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Sh*t Gold [Reissue/2008] 2xLP (Rhymesayers)
By 2008, Atmosphere had already grown into one of the most accomplished MC/producer duos in independent hip-hop, with a half-dozen official full-length albums under their belt, along with a dozen more limited tour albums, EPs, and various side projects. While Ant's ASR-born beats had grown increasingly melodic and musical, Slug's name had become synonymous with introspective raps, and together, they'd galvanized a faithful following. [Both the standard anniversary edition and the limited deluxe anniversary edition-each of which feature custom packaging details and bonus track-are pressed on colored vinyl.]
6lack - East Atlanta Love Letter LP (LVRN)
Recently released on CD - now available on vinyl. The Atlanta singer, songwriter, and rapper's second album features guest appearances from Future, J. Cole, Offset and Khalid.
Doomtree - False Hopes [Reissue/2007] LP (Doomtree)
Doomtree - Doomtree [Reissue/2008] LP (Doomtree)
Doomtree is a hip-hop collective and record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The collective has seven members: Dessa, Cecil Otter, P.O.S, Sims, Mike Mictlan, Paper Tiger, and Lazerbeak. They are known for incorporating a wide range of musical influences into their work with lyrical complexity and wordplay.
Wu-Tang Clan - C.R.E.A.M. b/w Da Mystery Of Chessboxin' 7" (Sony Legacy)
Limited edition Wu-Tang logo-shaped yellow colored vinyl single.
Brockhampton - Iridescence 2xLP (RCA)
Iridescence is the fourth studio album by collective Brockhampton. The album is their major-label debut and the first installment of their The Best Years Of Our Lives trilogy. "On their major label debut, the hip-hop boy band is a rap variety pack." - Consequence Of Sound
Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians - Rocket LP (Verve Forecast)
Recently released on CD - now available on vinyl. 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.
James Taylor - October Road [Reissue/2002] 2xLP (Analog Sparks)
Double 180gm vinyl LP reissue of James Taylor's fifteenth studio album, housed in a Stoughton old style tip-on gatefold jacket. Includes guest performances from Mark Knopfler, Yo-Yo Ma, Michael Brecker, Ry Cooder and John Pizzarelli.
Pearls Before Swine - Balaklava [Reissue/1968] LP (Drag City)
Released in late 1968, the second Pearls Before Swine record continued to deliver music with a preternatural sense of what the youth of America wanted to hear. The music of Balaklava strips away the manic, post-garage band diversity of the first album, instead grounding the production around Tom Rapp's guitar and singing, with the touches of instrumental color all the more dramatic and striking.
Free - Free LP (Lilith)
Lilith present a reissue of Free's self-titled 1969 album. The second album by the UK hard rockers, Free is released here with two bonus tracks, "The Worm [Single Version]" and "Sugar For Mr. Morrison [Single Version]." Color vinyl.
Caetano Veloso - Caetano Veloso (Irene) LP (Lilith)
Originally issued in 1969. Although Veloso had already been thrown in jail once for his criticism of Brazil's military regime, he continued to speak out against it on Caetano Veloso (Irene), with tracks like "Irene", which describes a machine gun-toting outlaw celebrated by the left. No wonder he would soon find himself in political exile in the UK. The general tone of the album is in keeping with its dire message and actually, Veloso felt it was important for his voice of protest to be heard around the world.
Caetano Veloso - Caetano Veloso (Aracá Azul) LP (Lilith)
Originally issued in 1972. While this album confused fans upon its initial release, critics raved, and many now consider Araçá Azul to be one of Veloso's great creative moments. A stark departure from his decidedly more pop releases, and colored by his recent political exile in the UK, Veloso made this album "without taking the time to think," referring to the album's "insolent experimentalism" and calling it a kind of "last stand." Clear vinyl.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Gospel Train LP (Rumble Records)
Originally issued in 1956. Tharpe is often referred to as "the godmother of rock and roll" for her pioneering guitar technique, use of distortion/reverb, and a 1963 UK tour with Muddy Waters that has been cited as a major influence by Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, and Jeff Beck. Gospel Train is one of her finest albums and great introduction into her rocking gospel guitar style and powerful voice. Featuring the floor-filling album opener "Jericho" and book-ended by the stomping closer "99 1/2 Won't Do" this is a gospel album sure to get your body moving in a nearly sacrilegious way.
The Moments - On Top LP (Be With Records)
A perfect slice of symphonic soul, originally issued in 1971. Alongside contemporaneous acts from the early 70s, The Moments exuded all that was compelling about deep, harmony-drenched, string-laden soul. The standout here is "To You with Love", a floating, tender ballad sung by Harry Ray that features the group's patented handclap-tambourine combo, serene guitar, and gentle piano, and which was famously sampled by J Dilla for "Last Donut Of The Night", the gut-wrenching finale to his seminal Donuts.
Demdike Stare - Passion 2xLP (Modern Love)
An asymmetric re-imagining of UK club styles taking in frenzied drum trax, shortwave jungle, pinging dancehall and clipped, post-punk riddims. RIYL: Errorsmith, Príncipe, Dem 2, Jon E Cash, Wiley, Joy Division, DJ Scud, Equiknoxx, Anthony 'Shake' Shakir, Bernard Parmegiani.
Denis Wise - Wize Music LP (Finder's Keepers)
This English-born Jamaican-raised sound designer, artist and existentialist furrowed his own unblinkered path through lesser-charted electronic fields for many moons before eventually teaming up with Bill Laswell (with Material) and Daevid Allen in New York to bring self-taught synthesis to Gong during their most oblique periods. Creating two impossibly rare self-pressed vinyl LPs of conceptual inner-visionary outer-galactic angular tonal-dronal alien-art soundscapes in the process, the man known under figure shifting guises such as Dennis Wise/Denis Weise/Dr. Wise combined a culture of sound system circuitry and radiophonic trickery adding teapot poetry and sci-fidelity future-folk to his magnetic mesh.
Amnesia Scanner - Another Life LP (PAN)
The debut album from Amnesia Scanner, the Berlin-based music duo, performing arts group, experience design studio, and production house, created by Finnish-born Ville Haimala and Martti Kalliala. Their approach is informed by a unique perspective on technology and the way it mediates contemporary experience: system vulnerabilities, information overload, and sensory excess inform their work, which has found a home in both clubs and galleries. Peppered with human and inhuman voices, and coupled with the pop song structures that Amnesia Scanner employs for the first time, the avant-EDM productions of Another Life evocatively explore a schizophrenic present marked by narratives of a slow apocalypse or salvation via technology.
Christoph de Babalon - Exquisite Angst LP (A Colourful Storm)
A collection of Christoph de Babalon's most hardcore, abyssal and mutant creations of his haunting past. A blown-apart, mangled depiction of muck, grime and breakbeat-drone, its tracks parallel the timespan and isolated madness of the 1997 If You're Into It, I'm Out Of It sessions. Bleeding, darkside breakcore/jungle reconstructions that draw no comparison; there's a reason why Thom Yorke plucked him to tour with Radiohead, only to never speak to him again. Includes two previously unreleased tracks.
Hans Otte - The Book of Sounds 2xLP (Beacon Sound)
Originally released in 1984. Hans Otte was a multifaceted artist, poet, pianist, composer, and promoter who synthesized the strands of minimalism, Eastern spirituality, and radical art into his own unique and protean vision. The Book Of Sounds is considered to be his masterwork: a collection of 12 "chapters" partly inspired by John Cage's desire to liberate sound from the weight of expectation and tradition and to view all sound as a manifestation of nature. It might be tempting to label The Book Of Sounds as minimalism; however, it is a deceptively sophisticated collection of pieces that unfolds slowly over repeated listens with shifting harmonics and unusual structural touches that keep it firmly on the side of "avant-garde".
Elsa Hewitt - Becoming Real Trilogy Compilation I LP (ERH)
A collection of 13 of the most popular tracks from Hewitt's three albums of 2017: Cameras From Mars, Dum Spiro Spero and Peng Variations. From ambient, to hip hop, to downtempo, to lo-fi techno, garage and house, all shades of Hewitt's early days of diverse beatwork is represented. With a natural ear for texture, subtlety and rhythm, her personal yet scholarly approach to blending electronic production with many years of experience as a songwriter and lyricist is the magic potion that culminated in this unique and beautiful brand of music.
Various Artists - Nouvelle Ambiance: Sounds from the Pan-African Paris Underground 2xLP (Nouvelle Ambiance)
Paris - Brazzaville - Kinshasa - Abidjan - Douala. A celebration of the underground Pan-African music scene centered around Paris in the '80s featuring dance floor sure-shots taking in new forms of groove-ready Rumba, Bikutsi, Soukous, Boogie and more. In the early '80s a perfect storm of social, technological, political and cultural developments brought about a unique music scene centered around Paris, away from the major labels and pop charts. Musicians, ideas and styles flew between the small independent studios and labels of the French capital and Francophone Africa and the Caribbean, experimenting with new technology and drawing in a dizzying array of influences to soundtrack clubs, bars and radio stations. Comes with 28-page magazine format booklet featuring photos from the archives and interviews with major players in the scene.
Herb Alpert - Music Volume 3: Herb Alpert Reimagines The Tijuana Brass LP (Herb Alpert)
Recently released on CD - now available on vinyl. On his new album, Music Volume 3: Herb Alpert Reimagines The Tijuana Brass, the beloved and prolific trumpeter Herb Alpert returns to some of his most iconic songs and transforms them with brand new arrangements, recordings, and modern production. Alpert takes material he made famous in the 1960s and infuses it with the style and musicianship that is still earning him accolades after decades of recording and performing. Includes "A Taste Of Honey", "Whipped Cream", "The Lonely Bull", and many more.
Toby Keith - Should've Been A Cowboy [Reissue/1993] LP (Mercury Nashville)
Recently released on CD - now available on vinyl. Digitally remastered and expanded 25th Anniversary edition. The album that started it all for Toby Keith, his self-titled 1993 debut featuring four hit singles, is celebrated with a special anniversary release retitled Should've Been A Cowboy. The album has been remastered from the original analog tapes and includes a commemorative cover, liner notes from Keith and three rare tracks from Keith's personal vault.
Soundtrack - Music From Vanilla Sky [Reissue/2001] 2xLP (Real Gone Music)
As a former music journalist (for Creem and Rolling Stone among other periodicals), director Cameron Crowe has always put his heart and soul into the soundtracks of his films. So, it's no wonder that the most ambitious of all his films, Vanilla Sky, sported the most far-ranging and masterful of all his scores. Features songs by R.E.M., Radiohead, Paul McCartney, Jeff Buckley, Bob Dylan, and more. [Limited "blue cloud" colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Soundtrack - Orange County [Reissue/2001] 2xLP (Real Gone Music)
Limited orange colored vinyl pressing. This 2002 tale of an Orange County kid (Colin Hanks) who wangles admission to Stanford despite the best efforts of his stoner brother (Jack Black) and then turns his back on academia to be with his girlfriend and buds down by the beach won hearts both with its amiable humor (the great Mike White penned the screenplay) and with its Top Ten soundtrack, which featured new releases by Foo Fighters ("The One") and Orange County legends The Offspring ("Defy Yo"u) among other great tunes.