New Releases - 8/23/24
Hitting The Racks
Here's your weekly rundown of what's hitting the new release racks at Grimey's
New Releases
Colby Acuff – American Son CD/LP (SME Nashville)
New album by the lyrical maverick and unrelenting vocalist. [Limited edition white vinyl.]
Jon Anderson – True CD/2xLP (Frontiers)
The Yes lead vocalist’s new nine-song album harkens back to the sound of classic Yes and features compositions of all lengths with the centerpiece being the 16-minute song "Once Upon a Dream". [Indie store exclusive orange vinyl.]
Maggie Antone – Rhinestoned CD/LP (Love Big)
Maggie Antone's voice has always won people over. Antone's Rhinestoned offers ten songs worth of compelling evidence that this Virginia native just might be country's next big thing. The album only builds on the runaway success of her debut original single "Suburban Outlaw" - a song Holler praised for "lyrics that land like zippy teen movie one-liners." But for all the hard-partying lyrics and self-deprecating jokes, Antone's biggest strength on Rhinestoned may be her willingness to show weakness.
Body Meat – Starchris CD/2xLP (Partisan)
On Starchris, Body Meat (real name: Christopher Taylor) puts the distinctive musical language he has spent years perfecting to the test. Across 13 tracks, he explores the roughest edges of R&B, IDM, club music, experimental pop, trap, footwork, and metal, only to soften them into something remarkably warm and welcoming, finding catharsis amongst chaos.
Sabrina Carpenter – Short n’ Sweet CD/LP/Cassette (Island)
Short n' Sweet showcases the scintillating spirit of Sabrina Carpenter, the pocket-sized popstar with a larger-than-life artistic presence. One gold album and multiple platinum singles later, it's no wonder that "Espresso," the debut single from Short n' Sweet, has it all: lyrics that make you giggle and blush and songwriting that makes you wish you'd thought of it first. [A color vinyl pressing is available along with an indie store exclusive cassette version featuring an alternate cover. [Limited edition light sky-blue vinyl.]
Cimafunk – Pa’ Tu Cuerpa CD/LP (Terapia Productions)
“This album is a result of my surroundings, fortunately being surrounded by beautiful people and things. It’s a reminder to live day by day with positivity and happiness. Each song is a story; an experience that was lived and that’s what I like the most. The sounds, rhythms and musical details transport you to the emotions of that moment. The collaborating and learning and sharing with other artists is special. And, of course, having the Funk and Afrocuban in the veins and find the right blend and expression of Funk and Afrocuban in each groove. It’s a new sound with new grooves, but the same spirit. This album represents the animal, the flesh, the nakedness, the skin, and the melanin returning to the mountains. The album is a journey as animals thru each song, sometimes in captivity and sometimes as a predator. Cimafunk’s previous albums Terapia (Therapy) and El Alimento (The Nutrient) also represented what’s essential and this album does as well: Basic Instincts.”
Coastal Club – All The Things You Said LP (Colemine)
Coastal Club are back with another set of infectious melodies and upbeat rhythms on All The Things You Said. Locked in these grooves are glistening guitar parts, bright and sunny vocals, along with impeccable indie pop/rock arrangements and production, this is a record that is going to make you feel good. [ Limited edition blue w/ black swirl vinyl.]
Ivan Cornejo – Mirada CD (Zaragoza/Interscope)
“With two albums under his belt, Cornejo makes his major label debut with Mirada.. The album features the wistful, sad sierreño sound that made Cornejo famous three years ago with "Está Dañada," a heart-wrenching ballad from his first LP, Alma Vacía (2021). In Mirada, the Música Mexicana breakout star presents 12 solo songs inspired by summer nights, including singles "Aquí te Espero," "Donde Estás," "Baby Please," and "Intercambio Injusto." As with his previous productions, Cornejo makes heartbreak the central theme of his album while guitars and melodies reminiscent of alternative rock take center stage.” – Marysabel Huston, Grammy.com
Steve Cropper & The Midnight Hour – Friendlytown CD/LP (Provogue)
New album by the Stax guitar legend. Not many people start new bands in their 80s, but legendary guitarist, producer, and songwriter Steve Cropper isn’t slowing down any time soon. The triple-threat musician was recently nominated for his first solo GRAMMY for the debut from his tight and tuneful rock n’ soul quintet, Steve Cropper & The Midnight Hour. Cropper has wasted no time in following up this success with the sophomore album, Friendlytown, out august 23rd on Mascot Label Group/Provogue. Always pushing ahead and never repeating himself, Cropper has brought in the talents of Billy F. Gibbons from ZZ Top to play on the record along with Queen guitarist extraordinaire Brian May and country-rock singer-songwriter and guitarist Tim Montana. Limited edition green smoke vinyl.] Don’t miss your chance to meet Steve Cropper and get to know him through our in-store Q&A with the guitar legend at Grimey’s next Friday, August 30th, at 5PM! Order your copy of Friendlytown now to secure your wristband to go through the signing line following the Q&A. Wristbands also guarantee entry. There is limited space. Hope to see you next Friday![
Falcon Jane – Legacy LP (Darling)
Sara May grew up on a dirt road just outside a small Ontario town known for its Honda plant and Potato Festival. Over the course of ten indie-leaning, alt-country tracks on Legacy, her latest album as Falcon Jane, she expounds on that origin story through the great archetypes of country music: the drinker, the vagabond, the absent father. [Limited edition ‘outlaw pink’ vinyl.]
Fontaines D.C. – Romance CD/LP (XL Recordings)
Irish indie rock sensation Fontaines D.C. return with new album ROMANCE, their debut on XL Recordings. Recorded shortly after their tour supporting Arctic Monkeys, it seizes on the momentum of 2022's Skinty Fia, which firmly established them as one of today's most exciting rock bands. Romance represents a bold sonic and stylistic evolution for the band and lead single "Starburster" shows the band at their most electrifying to date, as Chatten's swaggering stream of consciousness collides with explosive production. [Indie store exclusive pink vinyl.]
Geneva Jacuzzi – Triple Fire LP (Dais)
Since first splashing on to the Southern California circuit in the mid-aughts, Geneva Jacuzzi (née Garvin) quickly cemented herself as the queen of the Los Angeles underground. Her immersive and unhinged multimedia performances are the stuff of legend, a psychotropic gallery of masks, costumes, confrontation, and massive art installations. Jacuzzi’s recordings are equally revered, catchy hooks and cryptic moods dusted in 4-track grit. [Limited edition black/white splatter vinyl.]
Gift – Illuminator CD/LP (Captured Tracks)
Illuminator, Gift's sophomore album, is the long-awaited payoff of the artist's ever-growing musical and human chemistry. Nods are apparent to label forerunners such as Beach Fossils, DIIV and Wild Nothing, but Gift are shepherding those elements into wondrous new vessels for the present moment - sleek, often danceable and frequently mesmerizing. [Limited edition white w/ black vinyl.]
Gunna – One Of Wun CD/2xLP (300 Entertainment)
One Of Wun is the fifth studio album by rapper Gunna. The album features guest appearances from Offset, Normani, Leon Bridges, and Roddy Ricch. Production was handled by a variety of record producers, including Turbo, Teddy Walton, and Larrance Dopson, among others. It serves as the follow-up to Gunna's previous album, A Gift & A Curse (2023), in which he embarked on the Bittersweet Tour to support both albums. [Indie store exclusive clear vinyl.]
The Harlem Gospel Travelers – Rhapsody CD/LP (Colemine)
With their new album Rhapsody, the extraordinary vocalists Ifedayo Gatling, Dennis Bailey, and George Marage fully explore the entire range of music that influenced them. The follow-up to their acclaimed 2021 release Look Up!, the record is a dive into a lesser-known but hugely important era in the evolution of gospel music. [Limited edition midnight blue vinyl.]
Joe P – Garden State Vampire LP (Atlantic)
Blue vinyl. Alternative artist/producer Joe P is back with his newest single, “Birthday Baby”. The track heralds the arrival of Garden State Vampire—his debut album.
Kilo Kish – Reflection In Real Time 2xLP (Groove Diggers)
Cream color vinyl pressing. Kilo Kish has always been in a league of her own. Constructing herself from the ground up, Kish's career in music began over a decade ago, when she was relatively well-known for providing breathy, uninhibited guest appearances on songs with Childish Gambino, Vince Staples, and more. Since then, she's been equipped with creating her own multi-dimensional worlds.
Kishi Bashi – Kantos CD/LP (Joyful Noise)
The latest full-length from Kishi Bashi, Kantos is a work of exquisite duality: a party album about the possible end of humanity as we know it, at turns deeply unsettling and sublimely joyful. In a sonic departure from the symphonic folk of his critically lauded 2019 LP Omoiyari - a career-defining body of work born from his intensive meditation on the mass incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II - the Seattle-born singer/songwriter/producer's fifth studio album encompasses everything from Brazilian jazz and '70s funk to orchestral rock and city pop (a Japanese genre that peaked in the mid-'80s). [Limited edition purple vinyl.]
Little Hag – Now That’s What I Call Little Hag LP (Bar/None)
Little Hag aptly showcases the wide-ranging songwriting of Avery Mandeville, whose biting and relatable songs paint a world that's as complicated as the one we live in. Using eight producers and studios, from friends' apartments in the tri-state area to Headroom Studios in Philly, she delivers punk rock bangers, deep disco dives, torch songs, folk ballads and much more. The band members have been friends since they were teenagers and together have matured into a fierce rock band.
Magdalena Bay – Imaginal Disk CD/2xLP (Mom + Pop)
Magdalena Bay, the Los Angeles-based duo of Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin, create magical pop music that floats in the ether of our collective social cosmos. While they call California home, their essence lies in the clouds, emitting unique yet familiar frequencies of synthesized nostalgia, kitschy catchiness, and warped neo-hooks. Suited for the times, Magdalena Bay blends the known and felt with innovative sonic landscapes. [Indie store exclusive white vinyl.]
Malice K – Avanti CD/LP (Jagjaguwar)
There are ghosts all across Avanti, the debut album from Malice K. At points it's howling and unhinged, a grungy layer atop a lush foundation of melodic capital-s Songwriting, but in other moments it dissolves into a gentle, wistful haunting. Malice K's songs are blunt, uncomplicated and unflinching as he probes the interiority of memories, of mistakes - saturated with an innate intensity that sucks you into his gnarled and visceral world, so barbed it could draw blood. [Limited edition gold vinyl.]
Melt Banana – 3+5 CD/LP (Azap)
3+5 showcases the duo's visionary musical approach and extraordinary abilities as performers: Yasuko Onuki's giddy, hyperactive vocalizing and Ichiro Agata's glitchy, cyberpunk guitar, delivered at dizzying speed, bathed in aggressive electronic sounds. Their aesthetic approach is exultantly experimental, fusing diverse genres imbued with chaotic energy. As on their previous works, the music on 3+5 is unpredictable, always filled with surprises and excitement. 3+5 synthesizes elements of a variety of extreme musics, hyper-pop, classic punk, vintage metal, and noise. [Limited edition silver vinyl.]
Nile – The Underworld Awaits Us All 2xLP (Napalm)
Tenth album by the world-renowned death metal icons. [Indie store exclusive clear vinyl.]
Jerry Phillips – For The Universe CD (Omnivore Recordings)
Debut album by the songwriter/producer (John Prine, Dale Watson) and the son of Sun Records founder Sam Phillips. [A gold color vinyl pressing is available for special order.]
Thomas Rhett – About A Woman CD/LP (Valory)
One of the most engaging and consistent country chart-toppers of the last 10 years, Thomas Rhett has emerged as a superstar with as much songwriting prowess as stadium-rocking charisma. Marking the start of a fresh creative chapter, his seventh studio album About A Woman is full of heart-pounding country with a progressive edge, high-energy anthems and quick-hitting lyrics amid lush soundscape, proving why Thomas Rhett once again leads the evolving genre without forgetting its roots. [Indie store exclusive white.] Don’t miss your chance to meet Thomas Rhett and get your copy of About A Woman signed when Rhett joins us next Tuesday, August 27th, at 12 noon for an in-person signing at Grimey’s! Order your copy of the exclusive white vinyl or CD now to secure your wristband to go through the signing line!
Porter Robinson – Smile! :D CD/2xLP (Mom & Pop Music)
New album by the North Carolina-based electro-house producer and songwriter. [Limited edition opaque pink vinyl.]
Sofi Tukker – Bread CD/LP/Cassette (Virgin)
Sofi Tukker, the Grammy-nominated duo comprised of Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern return with their ambitious new album, Bread. Bread's acronym, "Be Really Energetic and Dance," encapsulates the full album experience, inviting listeners into the duo's pleasure-filled, immersive world. [Limited edition bone white vinyl.]
The Softies – The Bed I Made LP (Father/Daughter)
The Softies, comprised of Rose Melberg and Jen Sbragia, embody timeless themes of friendship and self-discovery through their minimalist pop soundworld. Since their formation in 1994, they've created uncluttered and fearlessly vulnerable music, contrasting with prevailing trends. The Bed I Made, The Softies' first new studio album in 24 years, showcases growth while reflecting on life's complexities with lyrics drawn from real experiences.
Spectral Wound – Songs Of Blood & Mire CD (Profound Lore)
Spectral Wound play black metal. Furious and visceral, untrammeled by esoteric posture or grasping idealism. It is music for the poisoned, the futile, the debauched and profane. The blooming of a flower of corruption, torn by cold winds. [A splatter color vinyl.]
Speed Dealer Moms – Birth Control Pill 12” (Evar)
Color vinyl pressing. Speed Dealer Moms, the combustible live electronics duo comprising John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Aaron Funk (Venetian Snares) is over a decade into their idiosyncratic run. On "Birth Control Pill," the duo's third release, the parameters of the chaotic and elegant project come into focus. If there are virtuosos patching modular synthesizers and slicing up breakbeats, then they were in the room when these two tracks were recorded.
Spirit Of The Beehive – You’ll Have To Lose Something CD/LP/Cassette (Saddle Creek)
For the past decade, Spirit of the Beehive has honed an aesthetic like no other. They've chopped up samples, chewed them up, spit them back out again, baby birded it. Across four albums and a smattering of EPs, Zack Schwartz, Corey Wichlin, and Rivka Ravede have fully solidified their stance as some of rock's weirdest and best deconstructionists. Their last release, 2023's i'm so lucky, explored the breakup between Schwartz and Ravede, setting the stage and emotional territory for the band's fifth record, You’ll Have To Lose Something. This latest offering is the most crystallized version of the band's aesthetic, a continued meditation on the end of relationships and the unsteadiness that follows. It is a meticulous, beautiful, and quietly heartbreaking collection of songs. [Indie store exclusive clear w/ red & white splatter vinyl.]
Thee Heart Tones – Forever & Ever CD/LP/Cassette (Big Crown)
Hailing from Hawthorne, California, Thee Heart Tones are both carrying on a tradition and pushing the boundaries with their music. “Growing up in L.A., you get influenced by the city, the artwork, the music. Dad didn't own a lowrider car, but other members of our family did. Impalas. El Caminos. We were influenced by the culture, particularly the Chicano culture. And oldies and soul music played a big part. The style. The culture. The nod to the past. That's what we're going.” [Limited edition translucent orange vinyl.]
Linval Thompson – Ganja Man LP (Diggers Factory)
With a career spanning over 50 years, Linval Thompson is one of the last living legends of Jamaican reggae. Singer and producer on the famous Thompson Sound label, he has crossed the decades, leaving his indelible mark on roots reggae with numerous hits such as "I Love Marijuana", "Jah Jah The Conqueror" and "Don't Cut Off Your Dreadlocks", as well as albums and singles he has produced with the biggest names in the game, including Barrington Levy, Eek A Mouse, Johnny Osbourne, Freddie McGregor, Horace Andy and Freddie McKay.
Louis Tomlinson – Live 2xCD (BMG)
Following the release of his chart-topping album Faith In The Future, and documentary All Of Those Voices, Louis Tomlinson returns with his debut live album Live, a record that showcases his love for live performance and was recorded at various shows spanning the past three years across Louis's global Faith In The Future World Tour and Louis Tomlinson World Tour.
Lauren Watkins – The Heartbroken Record 2xLP (Big Loud)
Drenched in authenticity and rife with barstool charm, with an addictive, Tennessee limestone gravel in her voice, Nashville-born and bred songbird Lauren Watkins writes, breathes and lives country music. The 24-year-old original grew up on the outskirts of Guitar Town, mesmerized by a jukebox rotation of country music, from outlaws like Willie Nelson and Sheryl Crow to chart-toppers Eric Church, Miranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton.
Lainey Wilson – Whirlwind CD/2xLP (Broken Bow)
Multi-platinum Grammy award-winning artist, Lainey Wilson delivers Whirlwind, a daringly honest look into the singer’s life and journey through Nashville. The 14-track album produced by Jay Joyce follows on the heels of Wilson’s seven Country Music Association (CMA) awards including “Entertainer of The Year,” six Academy of Country Music (ACM) awards, and Grammy for “Best Country Album.” [Indie store exclusive tan vinyl.]
Yogi & Woof – Let Tha Dopeness Begin LP (King Underground)
Yogisoul returns with his first album in eight years, a timeless throwback offering and an instant classic that will leave you wondering if you somehow missed this record reminiscent of ‘90s West Coast Rap.
Zeal & Ardor – Greif CD/LP (Redacted)
Zeal & Ardor isn't just a band; it's a living and breathing entity. Like any other sentient being, it consumes, evolves, and transforms from one season to the next. Its shape may change though its spirit remains the same. Founded and fronted by Manuel Gagneux, it has only sharpened its claws, lengthened its teeth, and steeled its nerves over the years, growing more undeniable and unpredictable in the process. After gathering tens of millions of streams and earning widespread critical acclaim, this beast proves as dynamic and dangerous as ever on its fourth full-length album, Greif. [Limited edition clear vinyl.]
Reissues, Comps, Live Recordings, Vault Excavations...
311 – Grassroots [Reissue/1994] 2xLP (Sony Legacy)
311's second studio album, Grassroots, celebrates its 30th Anniversary with an expanded 2xLP edition containing five bonus tracks on clear vinyl with brown swirl.
Built To Spill – There’s Nothing Wrong With Love [Reissue/1994] LP (Sub Pop/Up)
Jade blue vinyl. There's Nothing Wrong with Love is the second full-length album released by legendary indie rock band Built to Spill. It was originally released September 13, 1994, on the Up Records label. The line-up for the album was Doug Martsch, bassist Brett Nelson, and drummer Andy Capps, with Phil Ek producing. The album features the enduring singles "Car" and "Distopian Dream Girl. " Pitchfork. Com ranked There's Nothing Wrong with Love at #24 on it's "Top 100 Albums of the 90s" list.
Sandy Bull – Still Valentine’s Day 1969 LP (No Quarter)
Sandy Bull was an American folk musician who rose to prominence with a series of albums on the Vanguard label in the 1960's and 70's. Still Valentine's Day 1969 is a comprised of two live shows recorded at The Matrix in San Francisco in 1969 with Bull playing shimmering electric guitar and oud, accompanied by tape loops. Previously available on CD, this is the first ever vinyl pressing and includes the original liner notes from Byron Coley. Patti Smith declared that Bull was "no minor player. He influenced, however subtly, an entire generation. His reinvention of classic pieces paved the way for my own experiments."
Cocteau Twins / Harold Budd – The Moon And The Melodies [Reissue/1986] LP (4AD)
Vinyl reissue of the Cocteau Twins 1986 collaboration with late pianist/composer Harold Budd.
Jim Croce – Photographs & Memories: His Greatest Hits [Reissue/1974] LP (BMG)
2023 remix of this classic collection from the late, great singer-songwriter. Includes his best loved songs including "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," "Time in a Bottle," "You Don't Mess Around with Jim," and "Operator (That's Not the Way it Feels)."
Death Cab For Cutie – The Photo Album [Reissue/2001] LP (Barsuk)
The João Carvalho remaster of Death Cab For Cutie's The Photo Album, cut for vinyl by Joe Nino-Hernes at Sterling Sound, and pressed on regular weight black vinyl. Includes an 11.5" 12-page booklet featuring all the photos from the original 1st pressing 2001 double-CD artwork.
Gas – Gas [Reissue/1996] 3xLP (Kompakt)
Wolfgang Voigt, born in 1961 in Cologne, Germany, is an artist, music producer, label owner and one of the co-founders of the Cologne-based electronica and techno label Kompakt. His project Gas, an intoxicatingly sinister work of sound art based on highly condensed classical sound sources, thrills a global audience far beyond the traditional electronica and techno music scenes for over 20 years. By combining abstract nature sounds with strings and brass alongside Gas's minimalist cover designs incorporating photographs he took in the forest, Voigt shows his strong affinity for Romanticism and portrays the forest as a mysterious or melancholic place.
Margo Guryan – Take A Picture LP (Numero)
Take A Picture is Margo Guryan's one and done classic - one of record collecting's real unheralded masterpieces - bright, breezy, lightly psychedelic, and utterly cosmopolitan, recorded in New York City no less. Newly restored by JessicaThompson from the original two-track safety masters, this beguilingly melodic1968 pop tour-de-force has never sounded better. [Limited edition ‘sun gold’ vinyl.]
Derrick Harriott – The Sensational Derrick Harriott Sings Jamaica Reggae [Reissue/1969] (Dub Store)
In 1966, following his debut album the previous year, Derrick Harriott opened his own record shop and distribution at 125 King Street in downtown Kingston. Like so many other Jamaican vocalists, he began to come into his own artistically with the gentler, more reflective rocksteady beat. Heavily influenced by the music then emanating from America rocksteady proved to be an exciting and authentically new wholly Jamaican style and Derrick proved to be one its greatest exponents. A perfectionist who was never satisfied to accept the first, second or third take, he became well known as a painstaking task master in the studio in the nicest possible way. He closed the decade with Sings Jamaican Reggae.
Michael Hutchence – One Way b/w Save My Life 10” (Deko Music)
Picture disc. Michael Kelland Hutchence was the co-founder, lead singer, and lyricist of the rock band INXS from 1977 until his death in 1997. In 2006, several unreleased song ideas had surfaced in a tape locker in London. This was material Michael's IP company had financed and that he had been developing for his solo endeavor.
Diana Krall – When I Look IN Your Eyes [Reissue/1999] 2xLP (Verve)
When I Look in Your Eyes is the fifth studio album by Canadian singer Diana Krall, released on June 8, 1999, by Verve Records. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year, the first time in 25 years that a jazz album was nominated in that category and won two awards for Best Jazz Vocal and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical at the 42nd Grammy Awards. The album also won the Juno Award for Best Vocal Jazz Album in 2000.
Mark Lanegan – Bubblegum XX (Extended Version] 3xCD/4xLP (Beggars Banquet)
Beggars Arkive in conjunction with the Estate of Mark Lanegan, are honored to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Mark Lanegan’s acclaimed 2004 album Bubblegum. Bubblegum XX - a set of releases that include a remastered double LP edition of the original album and a 3xCD/4xLP release containing 40 remastered tracks, 12 of which are previously unreleased.
Hecto Lavoe – Reventó [Reissue/1985] CD (Craft Recordings)
Reventó is iconic salsa singer Hector Lavoe's eighth solo album released on Fania Records. The classic New York salsa album was critically acclaimed and very popular among fans, with hits like "¿De Que Tamaño Es Tu Amor?," "La Fama" and "Déjala Que Siga."
Lydia Loveless – Something Else LP (Bloodshot)
10 years after its release, Lydia Loveless sits down at the piano for an intimate reimagining of her landmark album, Somewhere Else. Title track features guest vocals by Jason Isbell.
The Prodigy – Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned [Reissue/2004] 2xLP (XL Recordings)
After spending years out of print, The Prodigy have repressed their fourth album in time for its 20th anniversary. It features guest spots from Liam Gallagher, Kool Keith, Jenny Lewis and more.
Patrice Rushen – Prelusion [Reissue/1974] LP (Craft Recordings)
Prelusion is the debut album from iconic recording artist Patrice Rushen, originally released on Prestige Records in 1974. The album effortlessly zigzags between post-bop and jazz fusion, and features contributions from legendary saxophonist Joe Henderson.
Janett Silvera – When I Need You [Reissue/1977] LP (Dub Store)
Released by Federal Records subsidiary Wild Flower/RCA in Jamaica, Silvera’s only release was inspired by the metropolitan soulful sounds coming out of the US, with mellow versions of recognizable hits of the day by Patti Austin, Barbara Streisand, Bob Marley, and Albert Hammond amongst others.
Sun Ra & His Astro Infinity Arkestra – Strange Strings – Expanded Edition LP (Cosmic Myth)
For this album, Sun Ra collected an arsenal of exotic string instruments and handed them out to his Arkestra on the precept that "strings could touch people in a special way." That the Arkestrans didn't know how to play or tune these instruments was not beside the point - it was the point. Ra framed it "a study in ignorance." The result was primitive, yet sophisticated; brutal, yet highly sensitive. In his essay for this expanded edition of the 1967 Saturn LP, musician-curator David Toop calls Strange Strings "saturated in mystery."
Thievery Corporation – It Takes A Thief. The Very Best Of Thievery Corporation [Reissue/2010] 2xLP (Virgin)
It Takes A Thief, the 2010 compilation from Thievery Corporation, is a collection of tracks specially selected by Rob Garza and Eric Hilton for longtime fans and music lovers who have heard of Thievery Corporation but may have never listened to the band. Featuring "Lebanese Blonde," the beautiful track used on the Grammy Award-winning Garden State soundtrack, as well as "Sound the Alarm," the funk-infused track that has become a staple opening track for their live shows.
Throbbing Gristle – The Third Mind Movements [Reissue/2009] CD/LP (Mute)
Reissue. The Third Mind Movements is the final album released by British industrial group Throbbing Gristle in April 2009 from recordings made at the 2007 Desertshore Installation at the Institute of Contemporary Art on 1 to 3 June 2007 - all the original line-up were present.
Various Artists – Illinoise: A New Musical (Original Cast Recording) 2xLP (Nonesuch)
This is the Original Cast Recording for the 4-time Tony Award-nominated (including Best Musical) hit Broadway show Illinoise. The album features music and lyrics by Sufjan Stevens based on the album Illinois.
Various Artists – The Indestructible Beat Of Soweto [Reissue/1985] LP (Shanachie)
In South Africa, long-standing racial segregation, codified by apartheid, accelerated the growth of new musical styles in the black townships where black workers sought some release from the daily grind in music and dance. The resultant township music styles, known collectively as mbaqanga, had the raw urgency of postwar Chicago blues in the United States. With accordions, guitars, fiddles, percussion (and ultimately electric bass and guitar), mbaqanga was rollicking party music inspired by traditional Zulu and Sotho styles in collision with Afro-American rhythm 'n blues, jazz, blues and, later, reggae. Full-throated singing, often harmonized, rode jumpy rhythms and countermelodies with joyous results; no wonder singer/songwriter extraordinaire Paul Simon used township musicians to recreate their sound on his acclaimed Graceland album. The Indestructible Beat Of Soweto collects some of the greatest mbaqanga tracks recorded during 1981-1984. [This title shipped late and will arrive next week.]
Faron Young – All-Time Greatest Hits LP (Curb)
This Greatest Hits collection features original recordings from the Country Music Hall of Fame artist Faron Young. Featuring the #1 hits "Alone With You", "Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young", "Country Girl", and "Hello Walls".