New Releases - 5/6/22
Hitting The Racks
Here's your weekly rundown of what's hitting the new release racks at Grimey's
New Releases
!!! [Chk Chk Chk]– Let It Blue CD/LP+MP3 (Warp)
Let It Be Blue contains 11 tracks that incorporate a multitude of styles and genres, easily becoming their most eclectic release yet. The band has taken a new approach to recording over the past two years, primarily working in the box to start, as opposed to their usual studio focused approach. The result, a prominent electronic / dance-leaning edge pervades the band's familiar sonic motifs and songwriting, pushing the towards new dynamic limits for the New York mainstays. [Indie store exclusive blue vinyl.]
The Americans – Stand True LP (Loose Music)
Every few years, musicians arrive on the scene with an undeniably fresh approach to a tried-and-true genre. Showcasing this with unparalleled proficiency is the acclaimed Los Angeles-based Americana band The Americans. Upon hearing their sophomore studio effort Stand True it's evident why revered producer T Bone Burnett raved, calling them, "genius twenty-first century musicians that are reinventing American heritage music for this century.’
Arcade Fire – WE CD/LP (Columbia/Sony)
WE is the new album from Canadian rock band Arcade Fire. This is the sixth Arcade Fire studio album and is made up of seven songs that speak to this moment with unique directness. Written, recorded, and released during a critical historical juncture, they are divided into two distinct sides, "I" and "WE." If the "I" side of the record evokes and embodies our holed-up anxiety and lack of physical connection, the "WE" side captures the excitement of new possibilities and the elevating thrill of committing to one another socially and personally. Produced by Nigel Godrich, Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, WE is a 40 minute epic as much about the forces that threaten to pull us away from the people we love, as it is inspired by the urgent need to overcome them. [Indie store exclusive white vinyl with alternate gray cover.]
Aurora – The Gods We Can Touch CD/2xLP (Glassnote)
Aurora's The Gods We Can Touch is an elegant and celestial but provocative album about shame, desire, and morality, all seen through the narrative prism of Greek mythology. In each of the album's 15 songs we meet a different God. On "Exist For Love", it's Aphrodite; We also meet Persephone, queen of the damned (on "Heathens"), Morpheus ("This Could Be A Dream") and Peitho, the personification of seduction and persuasion ("A Dangerous Thing"). "The Greeks had gods and goddesses for everything," Aurora notes. "For anxiety, for wine, for sex... Long ago when this concept of gods and goddesses started, they were more human, more relatable, and almost touchable. Most importantly, they had flaws."
Belle And Sebastian – A Bit Of Previous CD/LP+MP3 (Matador)
A Bit Of Previous is a classic Belle And Sebastian album preoccupied with songs and melodies that won't leave your head and lyrics that can make you smile and ponder and sometimes be melancholic. It's an album self-produced and recorded by Belle And Sebastian (with contributions from Brian McNeil, Matt Wiggins, Kevin Burleigh and Shawn Everett) and their most hands-on since The Boy With The Arab Strap. So, what is a A Bit Of Previous? It's a bit of everything, and a lot of what makes Belle And Sebastian so special and enduring. It's a band tackling the insight, experience and responsibility that come with getting older with humor and irreverence and lyrical exactitude and musical bravado. It's one of the UK's most beloved pop portraitists asserting themselves as an infallible source of energy and fun. [Indie exclusive alternate cover.]
Benny Sings – Beat Tape II LP (Stones Throw)
Benny Sings' latest release Beat Tape II is the successor to Benny's 2018 project Beat Tape, and follows his 2021 album, Music. Beat Tape II is a mixtape-style record with some of the best beats Benny has created over the years. It features wide variety of artists including JONES, Cola Boyy, Mocky, Marc Rebillet, St. Panther, Rae Khalil, Kenny Beats, GRAMMY nominee Cory Henry, the Koreatown Oddity and more.
The Black Crowes – 1972 CD/LP (Silver Arrow)
The Black Crowes return with a new collection of covers entitled 1972. The six-track set features takes on The Rolling Stones' "Rocks Off", Rod Stewart's "You Wear It Well", Little Feat's "Easy To Slip", T-Rex's "The Slider", David Bowie's "Moonage Daydream", and The Temptations' "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone".
Halestorm – Back From The Dead CD/LP (Atlantic)
Halestorm has grown from a childhood dream of siblings Lzzy and Arejay Hale into one of the most celebrated rock bands of the last two decades. Produced by Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Mastodon, Alice In Chains) with co-production by Scott Stevens (Shinedown, Daughtry, New Years Day), new album Back From The Dead quickly evolved from songwriting exercises into a matter of survival for Halestorm. Lead singer Lzzy Hale says: "We started writing this album about three months B.C. (Before COVID). Once we went into lockdown and were unable to perform and tour, I fell into a dark place and something of an identity crisis. This album is the story of me carving myself out of that abyss. It is a journey of navigating mental health, debauchery, survival, redemption, rediscovery, and still maintaining faith in humanity." [Indie store exclusive translucent red vinyl shipped late and will arrive early next week. Black vinyl is in stock now.]
The High Water Marks – Proclaimer Of Things LP (Minty Fresh)
The fourth album from The High Water Marks, a band comprised of Hilarie Sidney, co-founder of Elephant 6, one of the most influential musical collectives of the past 30 years and songwriter/drummer of The Apples In Stereo. Proclaimer of Things is a 39-minute blast of hook-laden numbers that careen and roll mightily away with jangling precision and indie rock smarts.
Ryan Hurd – Pelago LP (SME Nashville)
Released last October on CD – now available on vinyl. New release from the country music singer/songwriter.
Ibaraki – Rashomon CD/2xLP/Cassette (Nuclear Blast)
Ibaraki - the name for a terrifying Japanese demon taken from feudal legend - is more than a solo record for Trivium frontman, Matt Heafy. As he tells it, it's the end-result of a journey to find his voice. It's personal, it's deep, and as he explains, its inspirations include everything from an adoration for the extremes of black metal, to the exuberant storytelling of Gerard Way, to the adventuresome worldliness of tragic bon viveur Anthony Bourdain. It's a reflection of his multifaceted interests as well as a profound affirmation of his Japanese American identity, and one that led him to confront one of his family's most tragic moments. [Limited edition clear w/ red, white & black splatter color vinyl.]
Ibeyi – Spell 31 CD/LP+MP3 (XL Recordings)
Ibeyi features French Afro-Cuban twin sisters Lisa-Kainde and Naomi Diaz. Performing from a young age, the daughters of famed Cuban percussionist Ánga Diaz, have released two critically acclaimed albums, a self-titled debut in 2015 and Ash in 2017. Spell 31 is their boldest offering yet, an antidote to apathy in a divided world. Ethereal, crystalized signature Ibeyi harmonies are fused with gospel, persuasive percussion, momentous deeply resonant bass, and electronic neo soul expressions, transporting us into a sublime rawness that is refined by Richard Russell's precise hand and synthesized into astonishing clarity.
Jackson+Sellers – Breaking Point LP+MP3 (ANTI-)
Released last October on CD – now available on vinyl. Jackson+Sellers' (the collaborative creation of singer-songwriters Jade Jackson and Aubrie Sellers) L.A.-written, Nashville-recorded album, Breaking Point is a masterclass in unexpected vocal harmonic convergence, soundtracked by raw guitars, driving drums and a singular pop-rock sound that weaves a sonic thread between ‘70s rock, ‘90s raucous roots, and modern indie pop. They exchanged lead vocals, reflecting on their own experiences of vulnerability, isolation, sensitivity, and autonomy. They drew on changes in their personal relationships, intuitively capturing each other's personal experiences, often before they had even discussed them with each other. Jackson reflected, "This is an album that pays homage to unique, independent women who created their own path, wrote their own songs, and had their own sounds."
Joyfultalk – Familiar Science LP+MP3 (Constellation)
Another vibrantly divergent stylistic take on the analog materiality and sensibility of electronic composer-producer Jay Crocker. Familiar Science rallies contributions from a quintet of musicians into a cosmic recombinant combo-still shot through with Joyfultalk's singular mixing desk kinetics, but this time deep-diving into gnarled and twisted, sliced ,and diced out-jazz. Crocker draws inspiration from 1980s M-Base music, Ornette Coleman's harmolodic funk, and more recent touchstones like The Comet Is Coming, later Tortoise, or Squarepusher's Music Is Rotted One Note.
Mary LaRose – Out Here LP (Little (I) Music)
Forward looking jazz vocalese artist Mary LaRose leads a stellar ensemble including Jeff Lederer (clarinet), Tomeka Reid (cello), Patricia Brennan (vibes), Nick Dunston (bass) and Matt Wilson (drums) with special guests through her vocalese interpretations of the compositions of Eric Dolphy.
Brennen Leigh w/ Asleep At the Wheel – Obsessed With The West CD/LP (Signature Sounds)
On twelve all original songs, Leigh's supple winking voice and multi-instrument fluency, her interplay with Ray Benson, and the undeniable chops of the Wheel serve up a treat on Leigh's seventh album, Obsessed With The West. With cameos from Emily Gimble and Katie Shore, and all the players getting their moments in the sun, Leigh - a two-time winner of the Texas Music Awards Best Female Vocalist award - demonstrates on the terrific jump ‘40s rhythm and blues of “Comin' In Hot” and the lonesome cowboy musing of “Riding Off Onto Sunset Boulevard” why Rodney Crowell and Lee Ann Womack have recorded her songs.
Jim Lindberg – Songs From The Elkhorn Trail CD/LP+MP3 (Epitaph)
On his new solo acoustic debut, Songs From The Elkhorn Trail, Jim Lindberg takes a much more introspective turn, producing an album that is at once a personal reflection of life, a testament to family and friends, and a look at the fleeting nature of those relationships, and the resulting consequences of loneliness and alienation. With many of the songs being over 25 years in the making, the album is a heartfelt look at Lindberg's life story. His late father who passed away in 2018 of Alzheimer's Disease is a huge inspiration for the record, having encouraged him in many aspects of his life; from buying him his first guitar to supporting him quitting his job and going on tour with Pennywise.
Ella Mai – Heart On My Sleeve CD (Interscope)
Heart On My Sleeve, Ella Mai‘s sophomore album, is finally here. When speaking about the new album, Mai shared, “I poured my whole heart into this album, more so than ever before. I am overly excited for this sophomore journey. Let’s do it all over again!” she continued. Earlier this year, Mai released “DFMU”, which was her first single in two years. The artist’s last album debuted back in 2018. The eponymous project includes some of her chart-topping hits such as “Boo’d Up” and “Trip”. “It’s still me and it’s elevated,” Mai spoke to Billboard about Heart On My Sleeve. “Just in life, I’m a different woman. I’m more mature and I’ve experienced different things than I did when I was a 23-year-old. I’m surer of myself as an artist. I’ve been able to tour the world and I think that opens your eyes up a lot more.”
Leyla McCalla – Breaking The Thermometer CD (ANTI)
Haitian American artist Leyla McCalla draws upon her experience as a bilingual multi-instrumentalist and New Orleans resident to create distinctive music that reflects both her past and present. Her new album, Breaking The Thermometer, is captivating, fueled by rich, sophisticated melodic work and intoxicating Afro-Caribbean rhythms, and the juxtaposition of voices – English and Kreyòl, personal and political, anecdotal and journalistic – is similarly entrancing, raising the dead as it shines a light on the enduring spirit of the Haitian people. McCalla isn't just some detached observer here, though; she writes with great insight and introspection, examining her own personal journey of growth and self-discovery as she uncovers the Radio Haiti story as well as the broader understanding of what Democracy and unalienable human rights means to each of us, no matter where we're from. [Vinyl edition due June 24.]
Midland – The Last Resort: Greetings From CD (Big Machine)
Midland likes their music straight-up. Hardcore country, the kind you find in forgotten bars in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, wherever the neon's buzzing, but not quite dead. The Grammy-nominated trio plots a resurgence of their thick harmonies, tart lyrics, and steel guitar with The Last Resort: Greetings From. Unfiltered, they want their country 120 proof. Whether it's a cheating song, a heartbreak ballad, or a shoot-out-the-lights romper, they savor the emotions with a gusto unseen for decades. [Vinyl due 7/08.]
Mom Jeans. – Sweet Tooth LP (Mom Jeans)
Pink & black color vinyl pressing. Sweet Tooth feels like an eternal dessert-before-dinner, a rejection of the idea that we need to suffer before we get to the good stuff.
My Idea – Cry Mfer CD/LP (Hardly Art)
The closer you are to someone, the crueler you can treat them, but if they love you, they're inclined to forgive you. Lily Konigsberg and Nate Amos forgive each other now, but they were in a bad way when they recorded Cry Mfer – which is not to say their debut album is a sonic bum out. Cry Mfer proves you can still make pop music while spiraling. When not using the other party as an emotional punching bag, Nate and Lily used one another as a creative filter and sounding board – pushing, prodding and challenging themselves to "mess with different sounds," harkening to, Nate says, "songwriting duos who seem to have their own language that other people don't quite understand." In life, as in art, they share a language, a hive mind. Cry Mfer is, true to the band's vision, a beautiful mess of different sounds, completely and effortlessly genreless (though if pressed to label it, the band settles on "Truth Or Dare Pop"). While a milieu of myriad styles, from folk to dance, the album's main through line is truth, regardless of how much the expression thereof may hurt. [Loser edition color vinyl.]
Night Tempo – Ladies In The City CD/LP/Cassette (Hip-O)
Night Tempo, the South Korean producer/DJ, and instrumentalist in the recent international boom of City Pop, releases his first major-label album, Ladies In The City. It includes the preceding singles, "Love Actually (featuring Crystal Tea)", "Wonderland (featuring BONNIE PINK)", and "Night Light (featuring Sayumi Michishige)", as well as "Tokyo Rouge (featuring Maki Nomiya)". [Limited-edition clear vinyl.]
Jerry Paper – Free Time LP (Stones Throw)
Free Time by Jerry Paper is a synth-pop, weird-rock, bizarro-muzak masterpiece. This playful and joyous album captures Jerry Paper's unique persona and tells the story of their self-discovery as a nonbinary artist.
Aaron Raitiere – Single Wide Dreamer CD/LP (Dinner Time)
When a few friends offered to make a debut record on him, Nashville songwriter Aaron Raitiere simply agreed to go along with it. In the four years since that first session for what would become Single Wide Dreamer, the auspicious project has retained its casual charm even as its guest list gradually expanded. Anderson East and Miranda Lambert, who co-produced the album, now appear alongside Nashville musicians like Dave Cobb, Natalie Hemby, Ashley Monroe, and Waylon Payne, as well as Robert Randolph, Foy Vance, and Bob Weir. With a laid-back, speak-singing delivery, Single Wide Dreamer immediately conveys Raitiere's contentment in living a low-key life. And although every song on the album could be considered a love song in its own way, what really ties them together is his observant writing, which is sometimes reflective, sometimes irreverent, but always inspired by his own experiences.
Sadurn – Radiator LP (Run For Cover)
Coke bottle clear vinyl pressing. Intimacy is manifested in every moment of Radiator, the debut album from Philadelphia's Sadurn. This feeling of closeness, of being able to lend your every sense to one's confessions of internal conflict, is due in large part to the circumstances under which this album was created. Much of the world fell apart in 2020, but Sadurn tucked themselves away in a Pocono's cabin, creating and recording what would become their first full-length. Within the confines of their close quarters, passing animals as the only auditory witness to a makeshift recording studio created by moving furniture, Sadurn created an album that will break your heart and then slowly piece it back together.
Emeli Sandé – Let’s Say For Instance CD (Chrysalis)
Internationally renowned British singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé delivers the new album Let's Say For Instance. Her first release on an independent label, Let's Say For Instance marks a new era of Emeli's expansive artistry after a decade on stage and on the airwaves. Exploring new sonic territory through shades of classical, disco, nostalgic R&B and more, it sees Emeli freeing herself from the expectations of others, flexing her holistic skills as a songwriter, producer, and vocalist in new, versatile ways. In her words: "‘an ode to resilience, rebirth, and renewal." The album features the hit single "Brighter Days", alongside fellow singles "Look What You've Done", and "Family". [Vinyl due September 9.]
John Scofield – John Scofield CD (ECM)
With a career spanning over half a century, marked by influential collaborations with jazz greats like Miles Davis and Joe Henderson as well as several dozen genre-bending leader dates, it's striking that this is Scofield's first ever guitar-solo recording.
Silverstein – Misery Made Me CD (UNFD)
Filled with moments of relentless energy throwing back to their punk and hardcore roots to visionary moments of modern heavy, Silverstein's Misery Made Me fastens the group's status as torchbearers of the scene on all fronts. It's both intriguing and inspiring that a band - who could have merely rested on the impressive legacy they've already cemented - would continue to dig deep and find the inspiration to reach people in meaningful new ways. On Misery Made Me, Silverstein ultimately find themselves spring-boarding off the heights they've reached over the past handful of years. [Vinyl edition – including an indie store exclusive translucent blue color pressing – due July 22.]
Soft Cell – *Happiness Not Included CD/LP (BMG)
Soft Cell - legendary frontman Marc Almond and producer/instrumentalist Dave Ball - return with their fifth studio album *Happiness Not Included. It represents their first new album since they issued Cruelty Without Beauty back in 2002. One play of *Happiness Not Included reveals all the traits that fans first adored Soft Cell for: that distinctive and striking balance between light and shade, hope and despair, the personal and the universal. "In this album I wanted to look at us as a society: a place where we have chosen to put profits before people, money before morality and decency, food before the rights of animals, fanaticism before fairness and our own trivial comforts before the unspeakable agonies of others," Almond notes. "But in the album, there is also a belief that there is a utopia if we can peel back the layers and understand what really matters." Bell adds, "Recorded remotely during a world pandemic. Science fiction stories for the 21st century."
Stand Atlantic – F.E.A.R. CD/LP (Hopeless)
Australian four-piece, Stand Atlantic are back with their third album, F.E.A.R., which includes hit single "deathwish ft. Nothing, nowhere." and "pity party ft. Royal & The Serpent." F.E.A.R. was born out of chaos, frustration, and uncertainty. This album is for those who don't fit the narrative, who see the cracks and exist in-between. It serves as a reminder that when you feel expectations are walking you down the wrong path, F* Everything And Run. [Limited edition orange vinyl.]
Sunflower Bean – Headful Of Sugar CD/LP (Mom & Pop Music)
Marked by two vocalists who often take turns within a song, Sunflower Bean is an indie rock trio out of NYC. The band describes Headful Of Sugar as “an album about outsiders, searching for meaning in the desert of modern life, disillusioned but hopeful. All of the opulence we're surrounded by is just sugar, connection to others is the real sustenance." [Limited-edition ‘orange crush’ vinyl.]
Terror – Pain Into Power CD/LP (Pure Noise)
For two decades Terror has been relentless. The band has achieved a kind of longevity that's exceedingly rare, managing to stay both consistently active and consistently ferocious – a feat that's taken them from their underground roots to being one of the most legendary groups in hardcore. Now on their eighth studio album, Pain Into Power, the band have bridged the gap between their past and present, with original guitarist Todd Jones returning to the fold to produce an extraordinarily visceral record that proves Terror's future is looking as fast, heavy, and aggressive as ever. [Indie store exclusive translucent w/ black & silver color vinyl.]
Three Days Grace – Explosions CD/LP (RCA)
Canadian rockers Three Days Grace release their seventh studio album, Explosions. Of the album, singer Matt Walst states: "In these crazy and divided times, everyone needs something to take the edge off."
Sharon Van Etten – We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong CD/LP+MP3/Cassette (Jagjaguwar)
Sharon Van Etten has always been the kind of artist who helps people make sense of the world around them, and her sixth album, We've Been Going About This All Wrong, concerns itself with how we feel, mourn, and reclaim our agency when we think the world - or at least, our world - might be falling apart. [Limited-edition marbled smoke vinyl.]
Warpaint – Radiate Like This CD/LP (Virgin)
Radiate Like This – Warpaint's anticipated new record and their first in almost six years – arrives with its own very modern mythology intact, continuing the strange, brilliant, beautiful story of the band and quite neatly picking up where 2016's Heads Up left off. If the previous album was the coming of age, Radiate Like This presents Warpaint mk II in all their glory, a luminous coalescence of sound and vision, an album that pulsates with ideas, energy and – most crucially – gorgeous melodies. [Indie store exclusive translucent yellow vinyl.]
Waterboys – All Souls Hill CD (Cooking Vinyl)
After blazing a trail with 2020's critically acclaimed Good Luck Seeker, The Waterboys waste no time in delivering again with All Souls Hill. Lead track "The Liar" is a creeping, groove-laden masterpiece, taking a powerful, descriptive swipe at Trump and the lies and deceit that infest those in power. "’The Liar’ is a comment on recent and still-current events, and both the song and video speak for themselves," says frontman Mike Scott. "All Souls Hill is mysterious, otherworldly, tune-banging and emotional," he continues. "Its nine songs tell stories, explore dreamscapes, and cast a cold but hopeful eye on the human drama." [Vinyl edition – including an indie store exclusive color vinyl pressing – due June 24.]
Suki Waterhouse – I Can’t Let Go CD/LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)
Nowadays, voice memos, videos, and pictures chronicle our lives in real-time. We trace where we've been and reveal where we're going. However, Suki Waterhouse catalogs the most intimate, formative, and significant moments of her life through songs. You might recognize her name or her work as singer, songwriter, actress but you'll really get to know the multi-faceted artist through her music. Memories of unrequited love, fits of longing, instances of anxiety, and unfiltered snapshots interlock like puzzle pieces into a mosaic of well-worn country, ‘90s-style alternative, and unassuming pop. She writes the kind of tunes meant to be grafted onto dusty old vinyl from your favorite vintage record store, yet perfect for a sun-soaked festival stage. These compositions comprise her debut album, I Can't Let Go. [A limited-edition metallic gold color vinyl pressing is available.]
Your Old Droog - Time 2xLP (Nature Sounds)
The latest release from the acclaimed Brooklyn rapper, “TIME” features appearances by MF DOOM, Aesop Rock, Mick Jenkins, Elzhi, Blu, and Wiki. As the title indicates, the project is the culmination of years of work. "This is basically my debut album," Droog explains. "Some of this material was recorded back in 2017, but I suppose the universe felt it would make more sense if it was released at another point in the future. Hence the name, TIME."
Reissues, Compilations, Live Recordings & Vault Excavations...
Agressor – Arrival 2xCD (Season Of Mist)
Two CD set containing digitally remastered editions of Neverending Destiny (1990) and Towards Beyond (1992), both including re-recorded bonus tracks. Agressor became the first French metal act to be signed by an international label after recording the demo, Orbital Distortion in 1989. A year later, the band began cooperating with Philippe Druillet for the visuals of their debut album, Neverending Destiny, which received a warm welcome with its combination of brutal thrash riffing and what would now be considered an early form of technical death metal. Their sophomore full-length, Towards Beyond (1992) was produced by Börje "Boss" Forsberg of Bathory and Black Mark fame and came with ultra-heavy passages on top of their trademark technical riffing.
Terry Allen – Smokin The Dummy [Reissue/1980] CD/LP (Paradise Of Bachelors)
Terry Allen – Bloodlines [Reissue/1983] CD/LP (Paradise Of Bachelors)
Recorded exactly two years after acclaimed visual artist and songwriter Terry Allen's masterpiece Lubbock (on everything), the feral follow-up Smokin The Dummy is less conceptually focused but more sonically and stylistically unified than its predecessor - it's also rougher and rowdier, wilder and more wired, and altogether more menacingly rock & roll. Bloodlines compiles thematically related but disparate recordings from miscellaneous sources both theatrical and historical: two songs written for plays; two full-band reprises of selections from Juarez; the irreverent hellfire-hitchhiker-on-highway ballad "Gimme A Ride To Heaven Boy" (featuring Joe Ely); and the poignant eponymous ode to the arteries of ancestry and landscape (the debut recording of eight-year-old Natalie Maines, later covered by Lucinda Williams).
Les Baxter – The Soul Of The Drum [Reissue/1963] LP (Real Gone Music)
Green color vinyl repress. If Les Baxter's 1951 album Ritual Of The Savage invented exotica, his 1963 album The Soul Of The Drums perfected it.
Booka Shade - Movements 2xLP (Blaufield Music)
Originally released in 2006. First time on 180 gram vinyl and expanded with four tracks that have never been released on vinyl before, including the club hits "Mandarin Girl" and "Body Language (Interpretation)". Movements marked the international breakthrough for the Berlin duo, followed by a world tour of 150 shows in 20 months, support gigs for Depeche Mode and Röyksopp, and remixes for Yello, Hot Chip, Moby, Dave Gahan, and Roxy Music. Gatefold sleeve.
John Carpenter & Alan Howarth - They Live OST LP (Death Waltz)
RSD Essentials reissue of this classic film score. Celebrated designer and artist Alan Hynes has crafted a spectacular collectible package for the soundtrack befitting the film’s theme of subliminal communication, utilizing the iconic sunglasses to reveal hidden messages as you pull the disc sleeve from the slipcase.
Robert Cray Band – Nothin But Love [Reissue/2012] LP (Provogue)
Robert Cray Band – In My Soul [Reissue/2014] LP (Provogue)
Blue color vinyl reissues of a pair of albums from the iconic blues guitarist.
Sheryl Crow – Sheryl: Music From The Feature Documentary 2xCD (A&M)
Two CD companion piece to Sheryl Crow's documentary, Sheryl, featuring 35 songs spanning three decades of music from the nine-time Grammy Award winner. Three new songs are included with her hits "If It Makes You Happy", "Soak Up The Sun", "All I Wanna Do", "My Favorite Mistake", "Redemption Day", and many more.
Def Leppard – Pyromania [Reissue/1983] 2xLP (Mercury)
Def Leppard – Retro Active [Reissue/1993] 2xLP (Mercury)
Vinyl reissues. Pyromania is the third studio album by Def Leppard, originally released in 1983 and the first album to feature guitarist Phil Collen, who replaced founding member Pete Willis. Retro Active is a compilation album featuring touched-up versions of B-sides and previously unreleased recordings from the band's recording sessions spanning 1984 to 1993.
Desaparecidos – Read Music, Speak Spanish [Reissue/2002] CD (Saddle Creek)
2022 finds the 20th Anniversary Edition of Desaparecidos' Read Music, Speak Spanish into a world in which the dread and disenfranchisement detailed throughout the album feel as pertinent today as they did then. The characters and settings may have changed, but the startling narrative has not. In late 2001, Conor Oberst, Denver Dalley, Landon Hedges, Ian McElroy, and Matt Baum spent a week at Presto! Recording Studio in Lincoln, NE recording a punk album. That debut album, released in the post-9/11 fog of early 2002, screamed out observational commentary on urban development, the sacrifice of human value for the dollar bill, and the new American Dream in a way that felt distinctly out of sync with the hyper-patriotic atmosphere of peak G.W. Bush-era America. [Two color vinyl editions – including an indie store exclusive pressing – are due May 20.]
Doris Duke – I’m A Loser [Reissue/1970] LP (Trading Places)
Emotive soul singer Doris Duke got her start backing gospel artists and was a mainstay at the Apollo in the early 1960s, cutting some demos for Motown that remain unreleased. After a debut single that made little impact (credited to Doris Willingham), she became Doris Duke at the behest of Swamp Dogg, who produced this acclaimed solo debut, I'm A Loser, regarded by many as one of the best "deep soul" albums ever issued.
Bill Fay – Still Some Light: Part 2 CD/2xLP+MP3 (Dead Oceans)
Bill Fay has always sung about attempting to understand the most universal questions: those of nature, spirituality, humanity. His songs are "calming hymns for another chaotic time", he says. His influence can be traced through many artists’ works, and so it only seemed right to celebrate this with a collection of newer voices interpreting his timeless tracks. Originally released in 2010 by David Tibet (Current 93), Still Some Light was released as a double CD, made up of ‘70s album demos (Disc One) and 2009 home recordings (Disc Two). This year, for the first time, this collection of recordings will be pressed to vinyl and released digitally, presented alongside contemporary reimaginings of the tracks by Kevin Morby, Steve Gunn, Julia Jacklin and Mary Lattimore. Bill Fay's words and melodies remain unaffected by the passing of time and changing trends; and here alongside the original recordings, these reinvented versions still calmly guide us through another moment of chaos.
Ben Folds Five – Complete Sessions At West 54th [Reissue/1999] 2xLP (Real Gone Music)
Color vinyl reissue of the first live album to be released from the 'vintage' years of Ben Folds trio (consisting of Folds, drummer Darren Jessee and bassist Robert Sledge).
Girls Against Boys – House Of GVSB [Reissue/1996] 2xLP (Touch & Go)
Seminal post-hardcore band Girls Against Boys are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the 1996 release of their critically acclaimed album House Of GVSB with a double vinyl reissue of the album. Packaged in a full-color gatefold jacket, side A and B are the original album remastered by Bob Weston (Shellac). Side C and D feature odds and ends from the band's ‘90s era work including sought-after B-sides, singles, compilation tracks, and one previously unreleased recording [Indie store exclusive yellow vinyl.]
Wendell Harrison - Evening with the Devil LP (Now-Again)
The Tribe co-founder’s debut, remixed from the original mutli-track master tapes under the direction of its creator and lacquered by Bernie Grundman. The Tribe label, one of the brightest lights of America’s 1970s jazz underground, receives the Now-Again reissue treatment. This is your chance to indulge in the music and story of one of the most meaningful, local movements of the 20th Century Black American experience, one that expanded outwards towards the cosmos. In the words of the collective themselves, “Music is the healing force of the universe.”
Huntsmen – American Scrap [Reissue/2018] LP (Prosthetic)
Limited color vinyl pressing. Much like Dylan, Springsteen and Waits, Chicago's Americana metal outfit, Huntsmen, continue the long-standing tradition of storytelling in their music. Huntsmen just do it with volume higher and more metallic grit.
B.B. King – Completely Well [Reissue/1969] LP (Friday Music)
180gm audiophile color vinyl reissue of B.B. King’s 1969 commercial breakthrough. Over his towering career, B.B. King developed one of the world's most identifiable guitar styles. He borrowed from Blind Lemon Jefferson, T-Bone Walker, and others, integrating his precise and complex vocal-like string bends and his left-hand vibrato, both of which have become indispensable components of rock guitarist's vocabulary. His economy, his every-note-counts phrasing, has been a model for thousands of players, from Eric Clapton and George Harrison to Jeff Beck. B.B. has mixed traditional blues, jazz, swing, mainstream pop and jump into a unique sound.
Kishi Bashi – 151a [Reissue/2011] LP (Joyful Noise)
Clear vinyl pressing. They say that you spend your entire life writing your first album, piecing every formative moment, scribbled turn of phrase, and thematic epiphany into a fantastical collage. Multi-instrumentalist K. Ishibashi (aka Kishi Bashi) disproves that adage. The title of Kishi Bashi's 2011 debut album, 151a, is a riff on the Japanese phrase "ichi-go ichi-e," roughly translating to "one time, one place." That's exactly what this debut is: A singular time, an inimitable place, a launchpad for bigger and better things to come.
Lootpack - The Lost Tapes 2xLP (Crate Diggas Palace)
Before Madvillain, before Yesterday’s New Quintet and before Quasimoto or any other of
his several alter egos, Madlib perfected his craft as an MC/producer in the Lootpack. Along with DJ Romes, and fellow rhymer Wildchild, they released the dusty full-length, Soundpieces: Da Antidote back in 1999, that laid down the foundation for the unique and dusty sound now associated with Madlib. The loose, freeform recordings on this collection are circa 1996 when the group was managed by Madlib’s father, and they show the now-renowned maverick producer in comparatively restrained form. Madlib’s scope and imagination was clearly fixated on East coast jazzy hip-hop production from the early ’90s, laying down soundscapes for his hungry crew including the likes of Kazi, Declaime and Medaphoar, who have all become well known underground rap vets. Madlib’s own strong mic presence is noticeable given his now only-on-rare-occasion rhyming, but it’s his production that is the most fascinating element here. While a resolutely hip-hop project, the burgeoning jazzy flourishes and Madlib’s heavily accomplished ear for sound makes the record an important starting point for adherents of his more recent exploratory work.
Darlene Love – The Many Sides Of Love – The Complete Reprise Recordings Plus! CD (Real Gone Music)
50 years of criminally overlooked recordings by the great R&B and rock vocalist. Darlene Love's work for Phil Spector gets most of the ink, and understandably so, but this 15-track collection captures her rare singles for the Reprise label with the vocal groups The Blossoms and The Wildcats, plus her own solo work, all newly remastered by Mike Milchner at Sonic Vision.
Nick Lowe – The Impossible Bird [Reissue/1994] LP+MP3 (Yep Roc)
As a member of both Rockpile and Brinsley Schwarz, as a producer for Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, the Damned, and the Pretenders, and as a solo artist with his own Top 20 hit, Nick Lowe seemed to have his finger in every pub-rock pie there was. Unlike so many of their punk pals, the pub-rockers had a sense of craft and tradition which enabled them to outlive the moment, and that's why Lowe is still making strong, fascinating records nearly 20 years after the heady days of 1976 - '78. Lowe's 1994 album The Impossible Bird is a low-key, easy-going album which has a lot more to do with 1956 country music than with 1978 punk.
Melissa Manchester – Live ’77 2xCD (Real Gone Music)
21 joyful, sensual, romantic, optimistic, soulful, spellbinding, and ultimately empowering live tracks from the singer-songwriter.
Moon Duo – Occult Architecture Vol. 1 [Reissue/2017] LP (Sacred Bones)
Moon Duo – Occult Architecture Vol. 2 [Reissue/2017] LP (Sacred Bones)
Moon Duo – Stars Are The Light [Reissue/2019] LP (Sacred Bones)
Color vinyl reissues. Moon Duo is a side project of psychedelic-space-drone rock band Wooden Shjips.
Mt. Joy – Live At Red Rocks 2xLP (Dualtone Music Group)
Mt. Joy's climb into the musical stratosphere owes a great deal to their highly energetic and passionate live performances. They've sold out room after room across the country, have toured with arena acts like The Lumineers, among many others, and fans the world over flock to their shows. So, when the coronavirus pandemic sidelined the touring industry, Mt. Joy felt the effects in a significant way. Fast forward to May 22, 2021: artists and fans alike are finally emerging, and Mt. Joy steps on the stage at Red Rocks Amphitheater, playing the biggest show on record since live music began to open back up.
Graham Nash – Graham Nash: Live – Songs For Beginners / Wild Tales CD/2xLP (Proper)
Graham Nash: Live is the unique project on which Nash revisits his first two classic solo albums, Songs For Beginners and Wild Tales, recorded live in concert. The live albums were recorded in 2019, each in their entirety with their songs in familiar sequence. Nash was joined on stage by a seven-piece band led by his longtime collaborators, Shane Fontayne (guitar and vocals) and Todd Caldwell (keyboards and vocals).
Paradise Lost – Tragic Illusion 25 [Reissue/2013] 2xLP (Napalm)
Vinyl reissue of a compilation album of B-sides, covers, bonus tracks and three exclusive songs from the death/doom rockers.
Marty Robbins – Sings Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs [Reissue/1959] LP (Real Gone Music)
Limited black ‘gunsmoke swirl’ color vinyl pressing of the original mono version of what most folks consider to be the greatest postwar album of Western music.
Roots – Deeper Roots [Reissue/1975] LP (We Are Busy Bodies)
Produced by Almon Memela, the long out of print sophomore album by South Africa's Roots sees a proper vinyl resissu.e Originally released on the Highway Soul label in 1975, the album blends jazz and funk with signature South African motifs. Roots was led by the master saxophonist Barney Rachabane.
Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 2 2xLP (Mass Appeal)
RSD Essentials reissue of RTJ’s 2nd LP from 2014. Clear with red and teal splatter vinyl.
Saâda Bonaire – 1992 LP (Captured Tracks)
Recently recovered from a cellar in East Berlin, 1992 compiles the cult German studio project Saâda Bonaire's long-lost early nineties material. Produced between Bremen and New York City, the 12 songs presented here capture the group's attempts at steering their trademark fusion sound (reggae, Afro-funk, Eastern music, and sultry German female vocals) into uncharted nu jazz, trip-hop, and house territories.
Savage Republic – Tragic Figures [Reissue/1982] 2xCD/2xLP (Real Gone Music)
Remastered and expanded edition of the post-punk/industrial band’s debut album. While Savage Republic echoed krautrock legends Can, post-punkers Public Image Limited (Savage Republic opened for PiL on their 1982 West Coast dates), avant-garde guitar players like Glenn Branca and Rhys Chatham, scrap metal industrialists Einstürzende Neubauten, and Bay Area sludgecore nihilists Flipper, their unlikely product of (mostly) UCLA undergrads sound like no other record before or since. [Limited-edition red vinyl.]
The Sun Ra Arkestra Meets Salah Ragab Plus The Cairo Jazz Band – In Egypt [Reissue/1983] LP (Strut)
Strut present the final instalment in their series of reissues of Sun Ra's historic recordings in Egypt with The Sun Ra Arkestra Meets Salah Ragab In Egypt plus the Cairo Jazz Band, originally released on Greek label Praxis in 1983. [CD edition due June 10.]
Norma Tanega – I’m The Sky: Studio And Demo Recordings 1964-1971 CD/2xLP (Anthology Recordings)
I'm the Sky: Studio And Demo Recordings 1964-1971 compiles the enduring and unheard work of Norma Tanega, the musician, painter, activist, teacher, and dreamer. Tanega's lifelong pursuit of art and individualism was revolutionary in its implicit defiance of societal norms. I'm the Sky represents the unbridled spirit of her California homeland and exemplifies Tanega's exceptional song craft and lyricism. This double album edition includes an insert booklet containing liner notes and never-before-seen photos and ephemera.
Richard Thompson – Music From Grizzly Man CD (No Quarter)
Richard Thompson's score for Grizzly Man – Werner Herzog's 2005 documentary film of real life and death in the Alaskan wilderness – is one of the best-kept secrets in the British guitarist's epic canon: an instrumental masterpiece disguised as a movie soundtrack. Recorded over two days as Thompson played live in the studio to Herzog's footage – mostly alone, at times in chamber settings with cello, piano, and percussion – these tenderly detailed melodies and quietly visceral improvisations are cinema in their own right, rendered with pictorial instinct and the dazzling technique forged in Thompson's lifelong passage through traditional folk, psychedelia, North African modes and intensely personal songwriting. [Vinyl shipped late and should arrive next week.]
The Who – My Generation [Reissue/1965] LP (Geffen)
The Who – A Quick One [Reissue/1966] LP (Geffen)
Half-speed master vinyl reissues.
Various Artists - YERAZ (Past, Present, and Future Armenian Sounds From Los Angeles to Yerevan) 2LP (Critique)
Featuring virtuosos of "Contemporary Armenian" music such as Bei Ru, Lara Sarkissian and Armen Ra, as well as shedding a light on the independent music scene in Yerevan, "YERAZ" is an exercise in ethnomusicology. Classical songs and instruments collide with the full spectrum of electronic-based music from ambient to techno and everything in between, building a mosaic inside of a specific cultural context.
Neil Young – Royce Hall 1971 CD (Reprise)
During Neil Young's long and storied career, some of his concerts have gained mythic status, thanks to the practice of bootlegging. Recorded on January 30, 1971, this previously unreleased concert was performed at gorgeous Royce Hall on the campus of UCLA in Los Angeles, near the end of the singer/songwriter's 1971 solo tour. Young played 16 solo acoustic numbers that night, accompanying himself on guitar and harmonica. The track list features beloved classics like "Old Man", "Heart Of Gold", "Ohio", "Cowgirl In The Sand", "Don't Let It Bring You Down", and "Down By The River", plus the timeless version of "The Needle And The Damage Done" that appears on 1972's Harvest, one of the greatest albums of all time. [Vinyl edition due June 3.]
Neil Young – Dorothy Chandler Pavilion 1971 CD (Reprise)
A famous bootleg titled I'm happy that y'all came down. A live solo acoustic show recorded at Los Angeles Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on February 1, 1971. This was the last night of Neil's 1971 solo tour, that also featured the shows have been released as the much-loved albums Massey Hall and Young Shakespeare. The show was marked by the first time Neil played harmonica live. This album features 15 songs including "On The Way Home", "Heart of Gold", "The Needle And The Damage Done", and "A Man Needs A Maid". [Vinyl edition due June 3.]
Neil Young – Citizen Kane Jr. Blues CD (Reprise)
A fan favorite bootleg that is usually called Live At The Bottom Line. A surprise solo acoustic performance following a Ry Cooder show on May 16, 1974. Notably features songs that would be included on On The Beach. The album title comes from Neil introducing the opening song with that title; a song that later became "Push It Over The End". [Vinyl edition due May 20.]