New Releases - 9/11/20

Hitting The Racks

Here's your weekly rundown of what's hitting the new release racks at Grimey's

New Releases

Flaming Lips - American Head CD/2xLP (WB/Bella Union)

American Head is the best and most consistent studio album from The Flaming Lips since the release of their most successful brace of albums The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots. Similar to those records, the 13 cinematic songs on American Head are classically structured and feature the same sonic and production qualities. Kacey Musgraves (a fan who covers "Do You Realize" in her live set) is a guest on three tracks - "Watching The Lightbugs Glow" as well as the focus tracks "Flowers Of Neptune 6" and "God And The Policeman". "Flowers of Neptune 6" serves as the first new music from The Lips since 2019's internationally acclaimed King's Mouth Music And Songs. Produced by Dave Fridmann and The Flaming Lips, it reflects the gentler side of the band's paisley oeuvre and melodically flows downstream into a welcoming wormhole of wistful summer pop. [Standard black vinyl is out today. Limited indie store exclusive vinyl pressing is out 9/18.]

Elizabeth Cook - Aftermath CD/2xLP (Agent Love)

A fixture of Nashville's singer-songwriter circles, Elizabeth Cook channels a season of divorce, addiction, and misdiagnosed mental health into her latest album Aftermath. She enlisted the talents of producer Butch Walker (Greenday, Weezer, Avril Lavigne) to record the album in January of 2019 at Walker's Ruby Red Studios in Santa Monica, California. Aftermath is Cook's seventh full-length album, and musically, it is her most adventurous and rock-influenced. The collection echoes the southern rock of Tom Petty, the Allman Brothers, and Lynyrd Synyrd that Cook grew up on.

Artemis - Artemis CD (Blue Note)

Artemis - the jazz supergroup comprised of pianist and musical director Renee Rosnes, clarinetist Anat Cohen, tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, bassist Noriko Ueda, drummer Allison Miller, and featured vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant - release their self-titled debut album on Blue Note Records. The group is distinctive not only for bringing together seven singular artists, each renowned for their own remarkable solo career; but for its multi-generational and globe-spanning line-up with members hailing from the US, Canada, France, Chile, Israel, and Japan. Artemis conjures a powerful collective voice from seven of the most acclaimed musicians in modern jazz.Artemis is a superb nine-song set that features material composed and/or arranged by each of the band's six instrumentalists. Artemis unfurls with a dynamic flow, stunningly eclectic yet entirely cohesive. [Vinyl edition due September 25.]

Blackbear - Everything Means Nothing LP (Alamo)

Multi-platinum selling singer, songwriter and producer Blackbear drops the new album Everything Means Nothing, a fine blend of smooth R&B/hip-hop and pumping dance-pop with features from Lauv and Trevor Daniels, as well as a Marshmello produced track. The 29-year-old artist, who recently became a father, introduces the collection with the propulsive cuts "Queen Of Broken Hearts", "Hot Girl Bummer" and "Me & Ur Ghost". In his unflinching honesty about his own demons and depression, Blackbear creates a powerful sense of solidarity - ultimately moving forward with his longtime mission of "inspiring everyone to be more unapologetic about who they are."

Clear Channel - Hell LP (self-released)

The Washington, DC punk band featuring Awad Bilal (Too Free), Mary Regalado (Downtown Boys, Gauche), Carson Cox (Merchandise), and Don Godwin follows up their Hot Fruit EP with their debut full-length. Songs from the frontline of urban survival, amplifying the everyday struggles of identity and existence, channeling everything from Maximum Joy to Rare Essence and ESG. Black vinyl, hand-numbered and screen printed jacket with four-page foldout lyric insert.  

Chick Corea - Plays 2xCD (Concord)

Plays is a captivating and intimate double album of solo performances. Showcasing his charming rapport with enthusiastic audiences in these spirited renditions, he's in good company throughout, engaging with a list of icons represents a wide swath of musical history, from the classical repertoire of Mozart and Chopin to jazz influences like Bill Evans and modern pop sensibility of Stevie Wonder. Several pieces are reprisals or spontaneously improvised. [Vinyl edition due October 16.]

Delta Spirt - What Is There CD/LP (New West)

"The fourth studio album from Delta Spirit is a lush, epic foray into arena-ready rock, more so than anything they've done before. Into The Wide, as it's so aptly titled, feels grand and big, like it's ready to move mountains. They've always had a knack for creating pop rock head bangers, but on Into The Wide they're honing in on it with each and every last-night-of-our-lives chorus. There's urgency here, and it shines through in almost every song like bursting fireworks on the fourth of July.This collection of songs does feel more pop heavy than anything Delta Spirit has done previously, but the record is cohesive and they never lose themselves in any of it. Lead vocalist Matthew Vasquez has always had a gorgeous voice, but it's showcased more than ever on Into The Wide. The record almost serves as a reminder that he's such a great singer and we're thankful for it. Wide is full of more radio-ready songs than we're used to hearing from Delta Spirit, but it never feels like a sellout. In fact, it feels like it's going to make a killer tour with live shows that are energetic and electrifying." - Glide Magazine [Limited colored vinyl pressing.]

The Heliocentrics - Telemetric Sounds CD/LP (Madlib Invazion)

Drawing equally from the funk universe of James Brown, the disorienting asymmetry of Sun Ra, the cinematic scope of Ennio Morricone, the sublime fusion of David Axelrod, Pierre Henry's turned-on musique concrète, and Can's beat-heavy Krautrock, The Heliocentrics have - regardless of the label on which they've released their music - pointed the way towards a brand new kind of psychedelia, one that could only come from a band of accomplished musicians who were also obsessive music fans. The Heliocentrics search for their voice in an alternate galaxy where the orbits of funk, jazz, psychedelic, electronic, avant-garde and "ethnic" music all revolve around "The One." With Madilb's label Madlib Invazion for Telemetric Sounds, the Heliocentrics have returned to develop their epic vision of psychedelic funk, while exploring the possibilities created by their myriad influences - Latin, African, and more.

Logic - No Pressure CD (Def Jam)

Logic, 6ix and No I.D. come full circle for a sequel to his debut album, Under Pressure, with the first new music since Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind.

Marilyn Manson - We Are Chaos CD/LP (Loma Vista)

As chaos envelopes the world, Marilyn Manson penned the perfect prescription with the aptly titled concept album, We Are Chaos. Co-produced by Manson and Grammy Award winner Shooter Jennings (Brandi Carlile, Tanya Tucker), the ten-track opus was written, recorded, and finished before the pandemic blanketed us all. Manson's painting, Infinite Darkness, which can be seen on the album cover, was specifically created to accompany the music. Manson on working with Shooter Jennings: "When Shooter and I decided to start making this album almost two years ago, we were both doing tours so we had to work around our schedules. Shooter and I had a shared love for Bowie's era with Brian Eno. And I wasn't afraid to try new things with him writing the music. He also helped me to be unafraid to try old things. As a producer he really pushed me to be both new and still true to what the core of Marilyn Manson is. His perspective added the trans-dimensional element that I was always looking to tap into." [Limited indie store exclusive vinyl pressing shipped late and will arrive next Tuesday.]

The Pineapple Thief - Versions Of The Truth LP (Kscope)

Over the last half-decade, The Pineapple Thief - led by musical polymath Bruce Soord and bolstered by the involvement of master drummer Gavin Harrison - has rapidly ascended to the upper echelons of Europe's alternative rock scene. Versions Of The Truth is the latest installment in the band's rise to success. The band's anthemic 2018 release Dissolution garnered worldwide acclaim.Versions Of The Truth represents a conceptual progression from Dissolution (a contemplation on our 'post truth' world) and lyrically tackles similar themes, but from a more personal perspective. Reflecting on how there can be more than one 'version of the truth', the album's songs revolve around the impact the media can have on our lives and the people we love.

Sam Prekop - Comma CD/LP+MP3 (Thrill Jockey)

Sam Prekop's boundless imagination is guided by his strong sense of melody. For more than 25 years, as a solo artist or as part of The Sea and Cake, Prekop creates a singular sound inventive and warm. His distinctive vocals, guitar playing and work on modular analog synthesizers are inventive, delicate, and always bear his signature sense of melody. Comma finds Prekop for the first time working extensively with beat programming, focusing his enveloping synthesizer pieces around a newfound rhythmic pulse. [Limited edition white colored vinyl pressing also available.]

Rival Consoles - Articulation LP (Erased Tapes)

London producer and electronic music humanizer Ryan Lee West aka Rival Consoles returns with his highly anticipated, compelling and cohesive new record Articulation. Following 2018's acclaimed double-album Persona, on which Ryan experimented with ambient soundscapes using an improvisational and spontaneous approach to his compositions that explored the extent to which electronic music can mimic our feelings and help better understand them, Articulation conversely was conceived using a very visual way of thinking.

Reissues & From The Archives

Paul Collins/The Beat - Another World: The Best Of The Archives LP (Alive)

Culled from Paul Collins' personal archives Another World: The Best Of The Archives compiles previously unreleased material going back to 1978 and the early days of the Paul Collins' Beat. None of the songs have been released before in any form and all have been carefully remastered. 

The Crests - The Best Of The Crests Featuring Johnny Mastro: 16 Fabulous Hits CD (Omnivore)

Though there were other integrated '50s vocal groups, The Crests demonstrated that musical and racial harmony went hand in hand. Several integrated 1950s vocal groups preceded them, notably The Meadowlarks and Dell-Vikings, but this young quartet from the lower East Side of Manhattan took the concept to the ultimate; they found heavenly unity by crooning sweet doo-wop.

The Duprees - The Coed Albums: You Belong To Me / Have You Heard CD (Omnivore)

Signed to Coed in 1962 from a demo tape left at the label, The Duprees, some of them still teenagers upon signing, combined the sounds of big band orchestrations with harmony-heavy vocals. The Coed Albums collects You Belong To Me (1962) and Have You Heard (1963).

PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love: Demos CD/LP (Island)

PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love [Reissue/1995] LP (Island)

PJ Harvey's third album To Bring You My Love, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2020, receives a heavyweight vinyl LP reissue alongside an album of previously unreleased demos. The 10 track collection To Bring You My Love: Demos includes early versions of the singles "Down By The Water", "C'mon Billy", and "Send His Love To Me". The audio has been mastered by Jason Mitchell at Loud Mastering under the guidance of longtime PJ Harvey collaborator John Parish. The release also features new artwork with previously unseen photos by original photographer and designer Maria Mochnacz.

Mastodon - Medium Rarities CD (WB)

Medium Rarities is the first rarities collection from Mastodon covering their entire career. The compilation features one brand new song - "Fallen Torches". It also includes a bevy of classic covers, soundtrack contributions, instrumentals, B-sides, and live recordings on one complete package for the very first time. Among an eclectic array of covers, the musicians tackle "A Commotion" by Feist, "A Spoonful Weighs A Ton" by The Flaming Lips, "Atlanta" by Butthole Surfers, and "Orion" by Metallica. It also features soundtrack cuts such as "White Walker" (from the Game Of Thrones inspired mix tape) and the soundtrack song "Cut You Up With A Linoleum Knife" (Aqua Teen Hunger Force). Meanwhile, they get under the hood with instrumental versions of "Asleep In The Deep", "Toe To Toes", "Jaguar God", and "Halloween". [Vinyl edition due October 16.]

Reba McEntire - Rumor Has It [Reissue/1990] CD/LP (MCA Nashville)

The modern Queen of Country Reba McEntire releases a 30th Anniversary Edition reissue of her seminal 1990 album Rumor Has It which yielded the signature hits "Fancy" and "You Lie". Co-produced with Tony Brown (Vince Gill, George Strait, Steve Earle), the triple platinum affair peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country albums chart and became Reba's first album to enter the mainstream Top 40. The release features the album's original ten songs plus a live acoustic version of "Fancy" that McEntire recorded at the Ryman Auditorium.

Ayalew Mesfin - Good Aderegechegn CD/LP (Now Again)

Ayalew Mesfin stands aside the likes of Mulatu Astake, Mahmoud Ahmed, Hailu Mergia and Alemayehu Eshete as a legend of 1970s Ethiopia. Mesfin's music is some of the funkiest to arise from this unconquerable East African nation. Mesfin's recording career, captured in nearly two dozen 7" singles and numerous reel-to-reel tapes, shows the strata of the most fertile decade in Ethiopia's 20th century recording industry, when records were pressed constantly by both independent upstarts and corporate behemoths, even if they were only distributed within the confines of this East African nation. Though Mesfin was forced underground by the Derg regime that took control of Ethiopia in 1974, he has returned almost 50 years later with this triumphant set of albums - the first time that his music has been presented in this form. Good Aderegechegn gives us a chance to discover a rare & beautiful moment in music history, in an anthology built from his uber-rare 7" single releases. LP version contains an oversized 11" x 11" 16 page book that tells the story of modern Ethiopian music and Mesfin's role within it.

Minor Threat - First 2 7"s color LP (Dischord)

A new re-pressing of this compilation of the first releases from the influential DC hardcore punk band. Pressed on blue vinyl with a reworked blue sleeve.

Suzanne Vega - An Evening Of New York Songs And Stories CD/2xLP (Cooking Vinyl)

An Evening Of New York Songs And Stories finds Suzanne Vega revisiting some of her most New York-centric repertoire in a stunning live recording on which she is backed by longtime guitarist, Gerry Leonard, bassist Jeff Allen and keyboardist Jamie Edwards. Recorded at New York City's famed Café Carlyle in early 2019, the album includes both familiar songs like "Luka" and "Tom's Diner" and deep cuts from her catalog like "Frank and Ava" and "Ludlow Street".

Venom Prison - Animus [Reissue/2016] LP (Prosthetic)

Venom Prison delivers a punishing blend of death metal that makes most landslides look lightweight. [Limited multi-colored vinyl pressing.]

Adam Wade - The Coed Albums: And Then Came Adam / Adam And Evening CD (Omnivore)

From his debut album, And Then Came Adam (1960), funk/soul/pop artist Wade sent two songs up the charts: "Tell Her For Me" made it to #66, and "Ruby" fared a little better at #58. His follow up album, Adam And Evening (1961), saw the song "Gloria's Theme" check in on the charts at #74. Though his single releases fared far better than album cuts, Wade's albums were lush affairs with ornate arrangements and harmony-laden choruses courtesy of The Bel-Aire Singers. Unfortunately for Wade, towards the end of 1961, his most successful year, the principals at Coed dissolved their partnership necessitating a label switch by the singer.