New Releases - 5/3/19

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 Books

New Releases

Vampire Weekend - Father Of The Bride CD/2xLP (Columbia) 

Vampire Weekend's highly anticipated fourth album, Father Of The Bride closes a six-year gap since 2013's Modern Vampires Of The City. Produced by Koenig and Ariel Rechtshaid (Adele, Madonna, Charli XCX, Usher, HAIM, Solange), the 18-track double album Father Of The Bride features the fresh yet familiar sounding numbers "Sunflower", "Big Blue", "Harmony Hall" and "2021", and includes collaborations with Jenny Lewis, David Longstreth (Dirty Projectors), Steve Lacy (The Internet), Rostam Batmanglij (Vampire Weekend co-founder who left the band in 2016) and Haruomi Hosono, among others. Father Of The Bride's title is something Koenig chose years back, well before recent significant developments in his life. In typical Vampire Weekend fashion, the title has multiple layers of meaning, expressing the band's signature paradox: creating songs that easily find a home on any playlist - or car radio, TV show, film soundtrack, airport PA, etc. - but reveal their complexities upon closer listening. Free autographed LP jacket with purchase of the vinyl! Free button pack with purchase of vinyl or CD. While supplies last, naturally.

Big Thief - U.F.O.F. CD/LP (4AD) 

The New York-based Big Thief's songs represent an emotional bravery and realness that weaves intimate relationships with the listener, a phenomenon that has made them one of the most widely-respected bands of the current era. Their first two back-to-back releases, Masterpiece (2016) and Capacity (2017), have been analyzed, wept to, danced to, critically applauded, imitated, hummed idly, and shouted out loud. They have soundtracked crowded restaurants, difficult conversations, cowboy bars, yoga classes, night drives, and lonely bedrooms. "Big Thief get weird on U.F.O.F., to great effect. On Masterpiece and Capacity, they were making folksy rock songs that would absolutely play in a Pilates studio or at a cafe or on one of Spotify's many "chillax" playlists. U.F.O.F. isn't an outlier, not exactly, but it isn't as conventional, and it's exciting to consider the directions Big Thief might go in from here." - Stereogum

Judah & The Lion - Pep Talks CD/2xLP (Judah & The Lion) 

For Judah & The Lion, the last two years should've been the best of their lives as the Nashville band toured behind a powerful single and a genre-upending album, sharing stages with heroes and playing to oceans of fans. But as everything was coming together for them, singer-guitarist Judah Akers' family was falling apart in a hail of alcoholism and affairs, death and divorce. From that tension comes Pep Talks, the trio's third LP and a hard left turn into deeply personal terrain. Knowing they had something new on their hands, Judah, Brian Macdonald (mandolin), and Nate Zuercher (banjo) took their time crafting a set of songs that not only shores up their one-of-a-kind sound - a heart-pounding whirl of folk, bluegrass, rock, hip-hop and electronic production - but takes the listener on a bracingly candid, surprisingly anthemic journey from the kind of pain that tears your whole world apart to the sort of hard-won hope that can bridge the deepest of rifts. [Limited colored vinyl pressing.] Judah & The Lion will perform at Grimey's this Sunday, May 5th, at 1PM! Secure your spot by buying the vinyl or CD at Grimey's for a wristband that guarantees you get in for the show and get your record signed by the band.

Caroline Spence - Mint Condition CD (Rounder) 

Hailing from Charlottesville, VA, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Caroline Spence plays directly to the heart of Americana: unmistakably-authentic and emotionally resonating; both engaging and disarming. Her lyrics are raw and confessional, delivered through an ethereal songbird's voice. Don't miss her free in-store performance this Saturday. Vinyl was delayed and bumped to a later release date but we have been assured we'll get stock on it tomorrow, in time for Caroline's in-store performance this Saturday, May 4th, at 5PM!

Joy Williams - Front Porch CD/LP (Sensibility Recordings) 

Formerly of four-time Grammy Award-winning folk, country and Americana duo The Civil Wars (from 2009 until 2014), Joy Williams presents her fifth solo full-length album, Front Porch. It represents a new chapter in her career, recorded in Nashville during the pregnancy of her second child. Rolling Stone states Williams' new music "...is both familiar and new, and explicitly clear that there's nothing missing when she goes it alone." Two songs from the record - "Canary" and "The Trouble With Wanting" - have already been released to critical acclaim. Of "Canary", Rolling Stone proclaims, "As usual, her voice stills the spotlight, with everything building toward Williams' ringing, crystal-clear glory note in each chorus," and the Houston Chronicle furthers, "Williams' vocal on the song reflects the assertiveness of its subject. A moment in its refrain finds her reaching high for a note and finding it."

Rhiannon Giddens - There Is No Other CD (Nonesuch) 

Rhiannon Giddens' new album was recorded with Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi. Produced by Joe Henry and tracked over an intensely productive five-day period in Dublin, Ireland, There Is No Other is at once a condemnation of othering and a celebration of the spread of ideas, connectivity, and shared experience.

Jessy Wilson - Phase CD/LP (May 3rd) 

Years before she toured the world alongside Alicia Keys, wrote songs with John Legend, belted the Southern rhythm and blues with Muddy Magnolias and kicked off a solo career, Jessy Wilson grew up in Brooklyn, listening to the diverse sounds that filled her family's apartment. Aretha Franklin and Curtis Mayfield were on the stereo. Lauryn Hill and Biggie were on the radio. It was a mix of soul and hip-hop, and she expanded that soundtrack after moving to Nashville, where she discovered an equal love for rock & roll, blues, and roots music. Those influences come together on Phase, the Grammy-nominated songwriter's first release as a solo artist. Written and recorded with producer Patrick Carney (Black Keys) Phase brews up its own storm of soulful sound. Jessy just lit up Grimey's with a fire-y in-store performance! Don't miss her set this Sunday, May 5th, at 3rd & Lindsley.

Tank and The Bangas - Green Balloon CD/2xLP (Verve) 

Breakout New Orleans-based five-piece Tank and The Bangas return with their highly anticipated new album, Green Balloon. Following-up the band's 2013 debut, Think Tank, Green Balloon represents a musical evolution for the group who called upon producers Jack Splash, Mark Batson, Zaytoven, Louie Lastic and Robert Glasper to help capture their vision. "There's no record quite like Green Balloon, and no band quite like Tank and The Bangas. Green Balloon is 17 songs, featuring 75 minutes of roughly 30 creative souls, recorded in nearly 10 studios. They make music without boundary on instruments ranging from sax, flute, cello, vocal scratches, keyboards, synths, real drums, fake drums, a djembe and, of course, the poetry, philosophy, comedy and voice that is Tarriona 'Tank' Ball. This stuff is serious fun!" - NPR [Limited green colored vinyl pressing.]

TacocaT - This Mess Is A Place CD/LP+MP3 (Sub Pop) 

TacocaT's fourth full-length finds the Seattle punk band waking up the morning after the 2016 election and figuring out how to respond to a new reality where evil isn't hiding under the surface - it's front and center, with new tragedies and civil rights assaults filling up the scroll of the newsfeed every day. Despite current realities being depressing enough to make anyone want to crawl under the covers and sleep for a thousand years, TacocaT are doing what they've always done so well: mingling brightness, energy, and hope with political critique. This Mess Is A Place is charged with a hopefulness that stands in stark contrast to music that celebrates apathy, despair, and numbness. TacocaT feels it all and cares, a lot, whether they're singing odes to the magical connections we feel with our pets ("Little Friend"), imagining what a better Earth might look like ("New World"), or trying to find humor in a wholly unfunny world ("The Joke Of Life"). It's a delightfully cathartic moment and the cornerstone of the record when they exclaim, in "Grains of Salt": "Don't forget to remember who the f**k you are!" Our Sup Pop order is scheduled to arrive on Friday.

The Felice Brothers - Undress CD/LP+MP3 (Yep Roc) 

Cut live to tape with very little overdubbing, The Felice Brothers' first album in three years is their most personal and reflective album to date. "Many of the songs on the new album are motivated by a shift from private to public concerns," says Ian. "It isn't hard to find worthwhile things to write about these days; there are a lot of storms blooming on the horizon and a lot of chaos that permeates our lives. The hard part is finding simple and direct ways to address them." Undress follows the band's 2016 album Life In The Dark, and finds the group in a very different place. Between personnel changes, families growing and the political landscape, the result is a tighter, more-paired down release. "Every song is a story," adds James. "On this album everything was a bit more thoughtful, including the arrangements, the sonic quality and the harmonies." [Limited colored vinyl pressing.]

Filthy Friends - Emerald Valley CD/LP (Kill Rock Stars)

The first releases from Filthy Friends, the scorchingly melodic rock group whose membership consists of some of the most original musical voices of the past three decades, came as a small, delightful shock to the system. Not only because of the names associated with the project, including Sleater-Kinney co-founder Corin Tucker, R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck and indie stalwarts Scott McCaughey and Kurt Bloch, but also because of how ably they were able to mesh their individual sounds into a crackling melodic whole on their 2017 debut album, Invitation. Now, with their follow-up Emerald Valley, the Friends have proven their collective mettle, crafting a thematic suite of songs that finds the quintet digging deeper into their bag of musical tricks and giving Tucker room to rage about and mourn the fate of our planet and the people who inhabit it. As proven here, when a group of like-minded people gather their individual strengths together and point them toward a singular goal, there's no telling how powerful they can become and what an impact they can make on the world at large.

The Dream Syndicate - These Times CD/LP+MP3 (ANTI-) 

There are two phases of The Dream Syndicate. There was the band with revolving lineups that existed from 1982 to 1988 and made four albums, including The Days Of Wine And Roses. And then there's the band that reunited in 2012 and is closing in on its seventh year with nary a lineup change. Their new album These Times feels like a late-night radio show that you might have heard as a kid, drifting off into dreams and wondering the next morning if any of it was real. If 2017's How Did I Find Myself Here was a 10:00pm record, all swagger and cathartic explosion, then These Times is the 2:00am sibling, moodier and more mercurial, the band acting as DJs of their own overnight radio station, riffing on an idea of what a Dream Syndicate album could be at this moment in time. Founder and singer/guitarist/songwriter Steve Wynn says, "These Times. That's it. It's all we're talking about; all we're thinking about. There's no avoiding the existential panic of a world that's hurtling somewhere quickly and evolving and shifting course by the hour. It seems like a lie to not address or reflect the things that we can't stop thinking about - the whole world's watching indeed." [Limited opaque blue colored vinyl pressing.] 

Bad Religion - Age Of Unreason CD (Epitaph) 

Since Bad Religion's formative years, the acclaimed Los Angeles, CA punk rock band has steadfastly advocated for humanism, reason, and individualism. Now, when these values are in decline and nationalism and bigotry are on the rise, the group's message has never been more essential. The songs on Age Of Unreason are both furious and meticulously crafted. There are references to contemporary events; racist rallies, Trump's election, the erosion of the middle class, Colin Kaepernick's protest, alternative facts, conspiracy theories, as well as homages to the literary and philosophical works that have long inspired the band. This record is both a dire warning and testament to resilience. The overall message being - seek truth about the world and oneself. [Vinyl edition due June 13.]

Little Steven and The Disciples Of Soul - Summer Of Sorcery CD/2xLP (UMe) 

Summer Of Sorcery, the follow up to the critically acclaimed Soulfire is Steven Van Zandt's first album of original material in 20 years. All 12 songs are original SVZ compositions, one recut from his 1988 album Revolution, one outtake from the Lilyhammer score, and 10 new songs. The album was recorded with the same members of The Disciples Of Soul that have been touring this past year.

Pile - Green And Gray CD/2xLP (Exploding In Sound) 

Since Pile's original formation eight years ago, the Boston rock band has released over five critically acclaimed albums, a compilation of rarities and live record. New album Green And Gray reveals just how heavy and soft they can get within the span of an album. 

Versing - 10000 CD/LP (Hardly Art) 

Seattle quartet Versing got their start in college radio - Tacoma's KUPS. The group's main songwriter/guitarist/vocalist Daniel Salas served as alternative music director there when he met guitarist Graham Baker, drummer Max Keyes, and bassist Kirby Lochner. Brandishing a coolly combustible brand of rock, the group has risen through Seattle's competitive rock ecosphere with nonchalant élan. They cheekily titled a previous album Nirvana, but Versing isn't emulating Sub Pop's most famous artist. Rather, they're forging an exciting sound that finds a golden mean between lustrous noise and ebullient melody. The band's songwriting is obviously crucial, but much of the pleasure in 10000 comes from their guitar textures - swarming yet spiky and agile. It's an engrossing album that's impossible to feel ambivalent about.

SYML - SYML CD (Nettwerk) 

From his basement recording studio in the small town of Issaquah, WA outside Seattle, Brian Fennell (of the indie band Barcelona) began to write and record songs under the name SYML, which means "simple" in Welsh. Adopted and not knowing his history or connection to his Welsh roots, many of these songs are influenced by the complex feelings that come from unknown lineage. After having his inbox flooded with fan messages upon the use of his song "Where's My Love" in the hit TV show Teen Wolf, Fennell was overwhelmed with the support behind his solo project. Creating music that hones in on simplicity and sensitivity, SYML released the EP In My Body in 2018 and follows with his self-titled debut album, a collection of straightforwardly heartwarming, sweetly engaging folk-pop songs, softening each with a voice that embodies comfort and kindness. [Limited colored vinyl pressing also available.] 

Barrie - Happy To Be Here CD/LP (Winspear) 

Inclusivity is at the heart of Barrie, the Brooklyn five-piece made of Barrie Lindsay, Dominic Apa, Spurge Carter, Sabine Holler and Noah Prebish. And on their debut album, Happy To Be Here, their multidimensional take on classic pop sounds awake and present, like a group that's daydreaming but firmly there with one another. [Limited transparent red colored vinyl pressing.]

Bobby Oroza - This Love CD/LP (Big Crown) 

Bobby was born in Helsinki, Finland into a family of musicians and artists where he would be exposed to a wide range of music. Frequent family parties at Bobby's were thrown to the sounds of his grandfather playing Latin and Cuban classics on his guitar or to his parent's record collection which was full of early jazz and blues, Motown, gospel hits, and doo-wop. The soul records were balanced out by Brazilian, African, North and South American folk songs, and Nuyorican Salsa albums. All of these influences make appearances in Bobby's music. On This Love, he pushes the borders of soul and rock balladry and creates a sound distinctly his own.

Combo Chimbita - Ahomale CD/LP+MP3 (ANTI-) 

Through her folkloric mystique, otherworldly psychedelia, and a dash of enigmatic punk, Ahomale by Combo Chimbita catapults the sacred knowledge of our forebears into the future. Their second studio album sees the visionary quartet drawing from ancestral mythologies and musical enlightenment to unearth the awareness of Ahomale, the album's cosmic muse. Comprised of Carolina Oliveros' mesmeric contralto, illuminating storytelling and fierce guacaracha rhythms, Prince Of Queens' hypnotic synth stabs and grooving bass lines, Niño Lento's imaginative guitar licks, and Dilemastronauta's powerful drumming, the lure and lore of Combo Chimbita comes into existence. On Ahomale the New York-by-way-of-Colombia troupe fuse the perennial rhythms of the Afro-Latinx diaspora with a modern-day consciousness, while tracing the prophetic traditions of our ancestry.

Xeno & Oaklander - Hypnos CD/LP (Dais) 

Eight new songs of sparkling electronics from duo Liz Wendelbo and Sean McBride (Martial Canterel) blur the lines between '60s French pop, '80s wave and contemporary modular synth pop. 

Joel Ross - Kingmaker CD (Blue Note) 

Debut album from an incredible young artist who has been omnipresent on acclaimed recent albums by Makaya McCraven (Universal Beings), Walter Smith III (In Common), Marquis Hill (Modern Flows, Vol. 2), and James Francies (Flight). Milt Jackson was a formative influence, Bobby Hutcherson passed him some sage advice, and Stefon Harris was his mentor and teacher. Now Joel carries the Blue Note vibraphone legacy into the future on an album that finds him exploring the formative stuff.

Ringworm - Death Becomes My Voice CD/LP (Relapse) 

30 into their storied career, Cleveland, OH's metallic hardcore legends Ringworm return with their eighth studio offering. Death Becomes My Voice sees the band ascend to new levels of hostility with 35+ minutes and 11 tracks of no-holds-barred aggression.

Amon Amarth - Berserker CD/2xLP (Metal Blade) 

Comprising twelve monstrous Viking metal anthems that bulge with irresistible melodic hooks, bursts of thrilling savagery and moments of spine-tingling dynamic drama, Amon Amarth's aptly titled eleventh studio album, Berserker, is the result of a huge surge of creativity for Sweden's celebrated Viking overlords and undisputed modern masters of epic heavy metal. From the disarming melodrama and explosive riffing of opener "Fafner's Gold" and the brutish simplicity of the rampaging "Crack The Sky" to the epic fury of "Raven's Flight" and the grim, gritty storytelling of "Ironside" and "Skoll and Hati", Berserker is full of trademark Amon Amarth bluster and bite. [Indie store exclusive colored vinyl edition.]

Compilations, Best Of's & Sundry Collections

Various Artists - Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976-1986CD/2xLP (Light In The Attic) 

An expertly compiled collection of choice cuts that range from silky smooth grooves to innovative techno pop bangers and everything in between. Long-revered by crate diggers and adventurous music heads, this music has never been released outside of Japan until now.

Pete Seeger - Pete Seeger: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection 6xCD (Smithsonian Folkways) 

A career-spanning anthology of one of America's most quintessential, celebrated, and influential musicians. Featuring classic recordings, 20 previously unreleased tracks, historic live performances, and special collaborations, this set encompasses over 60 years of Pete's Folkways catalog, released on the occasion of his 100th birthday. Includes a 200-page extensively annotated and illustrated book. 

Simon Bonney - Past, Present, Future CD/LP (Mute) 

Past, Present, Future includes songs from Bonney's last two albums Forever (1992) and Everyman (1994) as well as six previously unreleased tracks, including his cover of Scott Walker's "Duchess".

New on Vinyl

Outer Spaces - Teapot #1 b/w Children Love To Run 7" (Saddle Creek) 

Baltimore, MD's Outer Spaces is the name of the electric guitar based indie singer/songwriter project of Cara Beth Satalino.

Jim Sauter & Kid Millions - Safe & Sane LP (Family Vineyard) 

New collaboration between Borbetomagus saxophonist Jim Sauter and Oneida/Man Forever drummer Kid Millions. The duo's prior albums were built of tightly, clustered bursts and barbed assaults. On Safe & Sane, Sauter and Millions eschew brevity for ultra-endurance.

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes - End Of Suffering LP (Int'l Death Cult) 

End Of Suffering (named after the Buddhist term for enlightenment) is the sound of a band entering an entirely new realm of the senses, a forty minute rock 'n' rollercoaster of molten-hot bangers, scorched-soul ballads and grunge lullabies laced through with a lacerating lyrical honesty.

People Under The Stairs - Sincerely, The P 2xLP (Piecelock 70) 

Recently released on CD - now available on vinyl. With a career spanning two decades and 11 releases, L.A. hip-hop duo People Under The Stairs bid farewell with their final LP. Their unique style is on full display; lyrically dense spliced with vintage boom bap. Self-produced, self-recorded and no features but with multiple instrumentalists to supplement their trademark dusty breaks.

LCD Soundsystem/Paperclip People - Throw [Reissue/2010] 12" (DFA) 

"Throw" by Paperclip People has been reissued on 12" vinyl, and features LCD Soundsystem's sublime and inventive cover on the flipside.

Qasim Naqvi - Teenages LP (Erased Tapes) 

The debut album from the Pakistani-American composer, Teenages captures the sound of electronics living, breathing and mutating of their own accord almost autonomously with only subtle, sparing but perfectly-judged and masterful guidance. This album is one singular synergy between Qasim and his machine within a broader milieu of sound, also explored by contemporaries Sarah Davachi, Alessandro Cortini, Caterina Barbieri and also the forefather, Morton Subotnick.

Various Artists - Tokyo Flashback Psychedelic Speed Freaks 4xLP (Black Editions) 

A kaleidoscopic collection of previously unreleased gems from the Japanese underground.

Simple Creatures - Strange Love LP (BMG) 

Recently released on CD - now available on vinyl. Simple Creatures is a new side project from Mark Hoppus (Blink-182) and Alex Gaskarth (All Time Low).

Fury - Failed Entertainment LP (Run For Cover) 

Second full-length effort from Orange County's Fury. Failed Entertainment takes the band's talent for soundtracking the human condition to a new, elevated plane - examining vast, philosophical inquiries throughout its eleven tracks. [CD edition due May 17.]

Syl Johnson - Is It Because I'm Black [Reissue/1970] LP (Numero) 

Coming hot on the heels of his first full length, the self-proclaimed most sampled artist of all time released the groundbreaking black concept LP Is It Because I'm Black a full 13 months before Marvin Gaye asked "What's Going On?" Rumbling hard past any notion of a sophomore jinx, Syl delivered a bracing, inspiring, and politically charged R&B document. 

Joe Henderson - The State Of The Tenor 2 LP (Blue Note) 

Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone, Ron Carter on bass, and Al Foster on drums captured live in 1985 playing at the peak of their respective powers at NYC's historic jazz shrine, The Village Vanguard.

The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man [Reissue/1965] LP (Sundazed) 

Red colored vinyl reissue of The Byrds' debut album.

Michael Bolton - A Symphony Of Hits LP (Montaigne) 

To commemorate his 50th year in the entertainment industry, multiple Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Michael Bolton releases a collection of greatest hits newly recorded with a symphony orchestra.

Nitai Dasgupta - Songs Of India [Reissue/1972] LP (Manufactured Records) 

Nitai Dasgupta was one of the most talented Indian classical singers in Great Britain. His sweetness and flexibility created a unique style complemented by his melodious voice and composing abilities. Songs Of India pleases the lovers of Indian classical and semi-classical music while enticing pop and folk lovers.

Caterina Barbieri - Ecstatic Computation LP (Editions Mego)
Caterina Barbieri is an Italian composer who explores themes related to machine intelligence and object-oriented perception in sound through a focus on minimalism with modular synthesizers. Her latest album revolves around the creative use of complex sequencing techniques and pattern-based operations to explore the artefacts of human perception and memory processes by ultimately inducing a sense of ecstasy and contemplation. Computation is turned from being a formal, automatic writing technique into a creative, psychedelic practice to generate temporal hallucinations. A state of trance and wonder where the perception of time is distorted and challenged. Equally nervous and ecstatic, the fast permutation of patterns can create a state where time stands still whilst simultaneously being in motion. 

Hoodna Orchestra - Ofel LP (Agogo Records)
The Hoodna Orchestra is a 12-member orchestra who studies and investigates the African origins of western popular music; Ofel is their second full-length. The Orchestra was formed in 2012, in the south side of Tel Aviv, by a group of musicians, and it functions as a collective and a record label. The cultural and musical environment that surrounds the group has a great effect on its creative process. Exposure to Ethiopian, Eritrean and Arabic musical traditions, coupled with an ongoing study and exploration of different jazz styles, creates a unique blend which has made The Hoodna Orchestra one of the most appreciated and sought-after live shows in Israel.

Sage Caswell - Evil Twin LP (2MR)
Shape-shifting left coast producer Sage Caswell likens his latest full-length to a surrealist architectural space: "I walk up to a building and Evil Twin is playing. A copy of me is at the door and I let myself in. Inside the house is inside my head; each room is a different song and emotion." A distinct dream sequence logic threads together these nine nuanced tracks, which swerve from vaporous melancholy to ecstatic motion to nocturnal wanderlust, alternately lucid and opaque. Evil Twin captures Caswell at his most fluid and dualistic, mapping a multi-hued maze of twisted rhythms and refracted textures, fluctuating between beatific expanse and amniotic bangers.

Various Artists - Bollywood Bloodbath: The B-Music of the Indian Horror Film Industry 2xLP (Finders Keepers)
After what seems like a thousand years of blood, sweat, tears, and a lot more blood, the zombified disc-disciples at Finders Keepers unveil one of their most exquisite, exhumed, ectoplasmic, and existentially essential collections yet. This musical mausoleum of malformed freak funk and dreadful discothèque pop has been resurrected from the maligned cinematic subculture of Bombay's bloodthirsty horror film industry and witnesses the cognoscenti of the Bollywood pop scene at their most creative, destructive, and experimentally effective. Bollywood Bloodbath features India's finest composers, such as Bappi Lahiri, R. D. Burman, Sapan Jagmohan, and Laxmikant-Pyarelal, making the kind of radical risk-rock that would, under normal circumstances, have studio security escorting these overworked maestros off-set for a well-earned break or a relaxing exorcism.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul - Metaphors: Selected Soundworks from the Cinema of Apichatpong Weerasethakul LP (Sub Rosa)
Weerasethakul is recognized as one of the most original voices in contemporary cinema today. His works have won him widespread international recognition and numerous awards, including the Cannes Palme d'Or in 2010 with Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. The compilation album Metaphors contains 14 sound works carefully selected from his past cinema and other visual works since 2003. Weerasethakul has always given importance to the personality of on-location sounds that give his films a sense of continuity; in post-production, he's fascinated by the manipulation of these "live" sounds in order to express "reality". This reality doesn't necessary represent the actual sound of the places, it's more of a representation of the world in layered memories. 

Martin Bartlett - Anecdotal Electronics: Live Experiments & Other Recordings LP (Arc Light Editions)
Martin Bartlett was an inspiring and original thinker, composer, writer, performer, and organizer. His preoccupation with building aleatoric elements into electronic music distinguishes his work. He devised elegant and open interactions for instrumental performers and computer-controlled synthesizers which included building his own electronic devices and extensive work on the Buchla 400. He worked with or studied under Pauline Oliveros and John Cage, and collaborated extensively with Don Buchla, and some of their live performances are included on the LP Anecdotal Electronics. He also wrote the incandescent manifesto-like piece "Electronic Recalcitrant" (which forms the cover artwork for Anecdotal Electronics), in which he hoped that electronic music would be imbued with "organic codes of growth and metamorphosis" so that he could "pluck elegant and fleshy electronic sound fish from the frothy algorithmic sea of possibilities". 

Lamb Of God - Ashes Of The Wake [Reissue/2004] 2xLP (Sony) 

To commemorate the 15th Anniversary of Lamb of God's Ashes Of The Wake, the album is now being released on double-vinyl with four non-LP tracks, including the B-Side Another Nail For Your Coffin and previously unreleased demos. 

Reissues & From The Archives

Stereolab - Transient Random Noise-Bursts With Announcements [Reissue/1993] 2xCD/3xLP (Duophonic/Warp) 

Stereolab - Mars Audiac Quintet [Reissue/1994] 2xCD/3xLP (Duophonic/Warp) 

The first two in Stereolab's seven album reissue campaign, expanded and re-mastered. Bonus material includes alternate takes, 4-track demos and unreleased mixes. [Limited clear vinyl pressings are also available.]

Protomartyr - No Passion All Technique [Reissue/2012] CD/LP (Domino) 

Sold out and out of print shortly after its original release on Urinal Cake Records in 2012, No Passion All Technique is a sometimes messy look at one of rock's most magnetic bands-and lyricists-just as they were coming to life. Primal, cerebral, heartbreaking, funny-it's an accidental tour de force that's also become an unlikely collector's item.

Doyle Bramhall II & Smokestack - Welcome [Reissue/2001] 2xCD/2xLP (RCA) 

Reissue of the third solo studio album by the blues rock guitarist, the first to feature his band Smokestack. The album was produced by Benmont Tench of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers.

Johnny Shines - The Blues Came Falling Down: Live 1973 CD (Omnivore) 

Not many musicians of the 20th century could boast of a career that included touring with Robert Johnson, recording for Columbia, Vanguard and Chess Records and playing with blues luminaries like Little Walter, Robert Lockwood, Jr., Mississippi Fred McDowell and Willie Dixon among others. Maybe there is only one, and that artist was Johnny Shines. In 1973 though, he was at the height of his powers as demonstrated by this largely solo performance at Washington University's Graham Chapel in St. Louis.

Editors - The Blanck Mass Sessions CD/LP (PIAS America) 

Seven songs from the Editor's Violence album, originally produced and more recently mixed and finished by Blanck Mass. It includes the unreleased track "Barricades" from the Violence sessions, which is a full Blanck Mass production mixed by Alan Moulder as per the rest of the original album.

Books

Paul Stanley - Backstage Pass BK (HarperOne)
In this follow-up to his popular bestseller Face the Music, the Starchild takes us behind the scenes, revealing what he's learned from a lifetime as the driving force of KISS, and how he brings his unique sensibility not only to his music career but to every area of his life-from business to parenting to health and happiness. Divulging more true stories of the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer's relationships, hardships, and pivotal moments, it also contains intimate four-color, never-before-seen photos from Paul's personal collection, and offers surprising lessons on the discipline and hard work that have made him one of the healthiest and most successful rock 'n' roll icons in history.

Danny Goldberg - Serving the Servant: Remembering Kurt Cobain BK (Ecco)
In early 1991, top music manager Danny Goldberg agreed to take on Nirvana, a critically acclaimed new band from the underground music scene in Seattle. He had no idea that the band's leader, Kurt Cobain, would become a pop-culture icon with a legacy arguably at the level of that of John Lennon, Michael Jackson, or Elvis Presley. Danny worked with Kurt from 1990 to 1994, the most impactful period of Kurt's life. Drawing on Goldberg's own memories of Kurt, files that previously have not been made public, and interviews with, among others, Kurt's close family, friends, and former bandmates, Serving the Servants sheds an entirely new light on these critical years. Casting aside the common obsession with the angst and depression that seemingly drove Kurt, Serving the Servants is an exploration of his brilliance in every aspect of rock and roll, his compassion, his ambition, and the legacy he wrought. Danny Goldberg explores what it is about Kurt Cobain that still resonates today, even with a generation who wasn't alive until after Kurt's death. In the process, he provides a portrait of an icon unlike any that has come before.