New Releases - 9/2/22
Hitting The Racks
Here's your weekly rundown of what's hitting the new release racks at Grimey's
New Releases
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead – XI: Bleed Here Now CD (Quadrophonic)
Austin's art-rock punk band ... And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead return with their 11th album. XI: Bleed Here Now was recorded in quadraphonic sound, giving listeners an immersive listening experience that will take them through a listening journey from one track to the next. [Vinyl due 9/30.]
Blind Guardian – The God Machine CD/2xLP/Cassette (Nuclear Blast)
New album from the veteran German power metal band. [An indie store exclusive CD edition packaged in an old-school style longbox and a limited-edition clear w/ black marble vinyl pressing are available.]
Bodysync – Radio Active LP+MP3 (Secret Songs)
Limited yellow color vinyl pressing. Bodysync is the new collaboration between electronic producers Ryan Hemsworth and Giraffage, exploring bright, carefree dance music in all varieties, steeped in referential nods to the classics but firmly focused on pushing forward the sounds of today. Their debut album Radio Active features Tinashe, Nite Jewel, Devin Morrison and Daniela Andrade, with all creative direction by San Diego based Mortis Studio.
The Callous Daoboys – Celebrity Therapist CD/LP (MNRK Heavy)
"The Callous Daoboys are easily one of the catchiest and extraordinary hardcore bands of the last few years. [A] fresh young band giving hope that the mathcore scene won't die off." – Exclaim! [Limited-edition bone white w/ olive green swirl vinyl.]
Tom Chaplin – Midpoint CD (BMG)
Third solo studio album from the Keane frontman. Produced by Ethan Johns, Midpoint is an emotionally charged collection of thirteen brand new songs sung with beauty and grace. At 43, Chaplin now finds himself at an equilibrium. Or, in fact, a midpoint. On the title track, Tom's voice soars, painting a picture of a man who is both bemused and confused with thoughts of his midlife. [Vinyl edition due October 14.]
George Fitzgerald – Stellar Drifting LP+MP3 (Domino)
Stellar Drifting is 10 tracks of widescreen, futuristic electronic music. With features from the likes of SOAK, London Grammar and Domino's own Panda Bear, Stellar Drifting is George's most ambitious project to date. George keeps his roots deep within the electronic music scene, bringing in pop melodies, club rhythms and other UK dance music elements whilst pushing the boundaries of his sound.
GewGawly I and Thou – NORCO: Original Soundtrack 2xLP+MP3 (Sacred Bones)
The soundtrack to the critically acclaimed new videogame NORCO features in game score by composer GewGawly I and new music composed for the game by New Orleans sludge band Thou. [Limited edition red vinyl.]
Parker Gispert – Golden Years CD/LP (Normaltown)
Golden Years is the latest record from Whigs frontman, Parker Gispert and follow-up to 2018's critically acclaimed, Sunlight Tonight. Much like Sunlight Tonight, Golden Years finds Gispert embracing introspective, personal lyrics that also delve into the current social divide while at the same time writing lyrics meant to encourage the listener to get up, have fun and enjoy rock and roll. Musically, the nine-song effort finds Gispert embracing his roots with the familiar sound of the raw and jangly southern-garage rave-ups that The Whigs came to be known for. [Limited-edition autographed gold vinyl.]
Homeboy Sandman – There In Spirit LP (Mellow Music Group)
Homeboy Sandman's new album There In Spirit carries a powerful message of individuality and self-actualization. For Sand, making this project was about breaking away from the mold, letting go of mediocrity and fear, and holding himself to a higher standard. [Indie store exclusive salmon swirl color vinyl.]
JJULIUS – Vol. II LP (DFA)
Needle drop and a floaty, child-like piano line sucks you into the post-punk papier-mâché world of JJULIUS, where everyone speaks Swedish, listens to Young Marble Giants and eats nothing but Twizzlers.
King’s X – Three Sides Of One CD (Inside Out U.S.)
The legendary King's X, comprised of dUg Pinnick, Ty Tabor & Jerry Gaskill, return with their thirteenth studio album Three Sides of One. This is the band’s first new music in 14 years and sees them teaming up with producer Michael Parnin (Rage Against The Machine, Mark Lanegan) to record at his Blacksound Studio in California. [Vinyl, which includes the CD, shipped late and will arrive next week.]
Megadeth – The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! CD/2xLP+7”/Cassette (UMe)
Megadeth's explosive new album The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead! features twelve new songs from the titans of thrash metal. Produced by Dave Mustaine and Chris Rakestraw, the follow-up to the critically acclaimed, Grammy Award-winning album Dystopia will melt Megadeth fans' minds worldwide with songs like "We'll Be Back", the new radio hit "Soldier On!" and "Night Stalkers" – the latter of which features Ice-T. [An indie store exclusive CD featuring a sticker and a deluxe vinyl edition featuring a bonus 7” and lithograph are available.]
Gard Nilssen/Acoustic Unity – Elastic Wave CD (ECM)
Elastic Wave presents dummer Gard Nilssen's powerful trio with fellow Norwegian Andre Roligheten on reeds and Swedish bassist Petter Eldh (recently heard with Kit Downes). The group's dynamic interaction, dancing sense of pulse and boldly etched themes - all three players contribute compositions - make Acoustic Unity one of the most engaging bands on the circuit today, able to address fiery anthems and poignant ballads with equal panache and conviction.
Bill Orcutt – Music For Four Guitars LP (Palilalia)
In a trajectory full of about-faces, Music For Four Guitars splices the formal innovations of Bill Orcutt's software-based music into the lobe-frying, blown-out Fender hyperdrive of his most frenetic workouts with Corsano or Hoyos. And while the guitar tone here is resolutely treble-kicked - or, as Orcutt puts it, "a bridge pickup rather than a neck pickup record" - it still wades the same melodic streams as his previous LPs (yet, as Heraclitus taught us, that stream is utterly different the second time around). Although it's a true leftfield listen, Music For Four Guitars is bizarrely meditative, a Bill Orcutt Buddha Machine, a glimpse of the world of icy beauty haunting the latitudes high above the Delta (down where the climate suits your clothes).
Jon Pardi – Mr. Saturday Night CD (Capitol Nashville)
Fourth album from multiplatinum country music hitmaker. Jon says about the album, "A lot of time was spent living with the songs on this record. There is more life experience on Mr. Saturday Night than any album I've released before."
Pianos Become The Teeth – Drift LP+MP3 (Epitaph)
Released last week on CD – now available on vinyl (including an indie store exclusive red colorway). Baltimore/D.C. post-hardcore band Pianos Become The Teeth deliver their fifth studio album and follow up to 2018's Wait For Love, which Pitchfork praised for "nimble musicianship, inventive rhythms." Drift's lead single, the haunting and technical "Genevieve", epitomizes the craftmanship and creativity of the project. With ethereal finger picked guitar and layers of blooming harmonics, frontman Kyle Durfey questions his self-worth through poetic lyrics sung with a gentle vibrato. Innovation and experimentation are themes that Pianos Become The Teeth have embraced liberally since their inception in 2006, leading up to their most masterful work yet. Many of the tracks within Drift were recorded through to a 1960's Echoplex analog tape echo and at moments throughout the album, it was physically manipulated and warped to produce unique sonics that seamlessly elevates the listening experience.
Revelators Sound System – Revelators CD/LP+MP3 (Secretly/37d03d)
Revelators Sound System is the collaborative musical project of MC Taylor (Hiss Golden Messenger) and Cameron Ralston (Spacebomb House Band). A meditation on community that caroms from root-down avant-funk to solitary cosmic minimalism and twinkling dubby ambience. Most importantly it is a deeply emotional record, the running soundtrack to a world in confusion. 10% of the proceeds from the sale of Revelators will benefit Colin Kaepernick's Know Your Rights Camp. [Indie store exclusive opaque yellow vinyl.]
Rüfüs Du Sol – Surrender 2xLP (WB)
Double red vinyl pressing. The sonic tapestry of every Rüfüs Du Sol record is an exercise in world-building and fantasy; following up 2018's Grammy-nominated Solace is no different. Surrender represents a new chapter in the world the band has been shaping and nurturing since their inception. Built on their own terms as they travel down their own distinct sonic lane, they expertly bridge the gap between their electronic roots and prowess as live musicians. The record demonstrates a bolder and braver sound than they've created in the past.
Thou – A Primer Of Holy Words LP+MP3 (Sacred Bones)
Thou have a bit of a reputation for doing Nirvana covers, even releasing of a full album of them titled Blessings Of The Highest Order during the height of quarantine. The infamously ravenous Thou fans were stuck in their rooms, drinking every drop, and begging for more and just their luck the band decided to release a full-length compilation of their non-Nirvana covers they recorded and released from 2009-2022. [Limited edition trans-wavy gold vinyl.]
Mia Doi Todd – Ten Views Of Music Life LP (Org Music)
Mia Doi Todd follows up her acclaimed album Music Life with a set of stellar remixes. On Ten Views Of Music Life, her vocals and other elements from the original Music Life tracks find themselves enveloped in entirely new landscapes, from Dntel's quirky electro-pop, to Julia Holter and Tashi Wada's pensive and heartfelt orchestration, to the inimitable, free-form disco-boogie touch of Georgia Anne Muldrow. There's an Afrobeat contribution from LA's Jungle Fire and a cinematic kaleidoscope from Carlos Niño & Friends, featuring Jamael Dean and Sharada Shashidhar. Brazilian producer Kassin gives a fresh twist to Mia's version of Gregory Isaacs' classic "If I Don't Have You". Pianist Vardan Ovsepian's brooding yet hopeful arrangement of "Take Me To The Mountain" ventures into the hills and valleys of sound, cradling Mia's rich voice in subtle reharmonizations.
Mo Troper – MTV LP (Run For Cover)
Violet color vinyl pressing. Mo Troper is truly one of a kind, and that's never been more apparent than on his fifth full-length, the winkingly titled MTV. Arriving hot on the heels of his 2021 full-length, Dilettante, the album finds the Portland, OR-based power pop extraordinaire diving further into home-recorded immediacy to make a record that feels like a strikingly direct conduit to the world of Mo-where heartbreak, hilarity, and hooks all go together. MTV hurtles through 15 songs in just 31 minutes, with most of the tracks never even coming close to the three-minute mark.
Jane Weaver - Sunset Dreams EP (Fire)
A brand new six-track EP elevating the acclaimed new Jane Weaver album, ‘Flock’ to a new esoteric panorama of new pop. ‘Sunset Dreams’ features unreleased new tracks from the ‘Flock’ sessions and remixes from WH Lung and See Thru Hands.
Reissues & From The Archives
Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band – Season Of Changes [Reissue/2008] LP (Stoner Hill)
Season Of Changes is a studio album by free jazz/post-bop collective Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band, originally released in 2008.
R.L. Burnside – Long Distance Call: Europe, 1982 LP (Fat Possum)
For the first time, the 1982 recordings in Groningen, Netherlands with Leo Bruin have arrived on vinyl. Here you find RL Burnside, alone with only his guitar and his voice. Showing off his skills even in his younger days, in the vein of John Lee Hooker and Fred McDowell.
Calexico – Garden Ruin [Reissue/2006] LP (Quarter Stick)
Silver w/ white color vinyl reissue.Inspired by their surroundings, Calexico explored musical avenues that they had previously left untouched. "This album was a conscious decision to try something new and tap into strains in our musical fabric that haven't been highlighted in the past," commented Joey Burns. This is no doubt one reason why Garden Ruin seems a more accessible album. Where the open blue skies of the landscapes they chronicled before were normally tempered by the smoky dark blues of their jazz influences, Garden Ruin is musically brighter, though the skies are tempered by a darker lyrical content in which "Birds refuse to fly / No longer trust the sky."
Mel Carter – When A Boy Falls In Love [Reissue/1963] CD/LP (Abkco)
Mel Carter's 1963 debut album was released on Sam Cooke's SAR Records/Derby label. Carter performed "When A Boy Falls In Love" on Dick Clark's American Bandstand, the song spent 10 weeks on the pop chart and the album was originally awarded 4-stars by Billboard. Produced by Sam Cooke and J.W. Alexander When A Boy Falls in Love has been sought after by collectors since its initial release in 1963. R&B scholar Bill Dahl contributed liner notes to the otherwise faithfully restored original package.
Codeine – Dessau LP (Numero)
After the success of Codeine's Frigid Stars LP, the trio of Stephen Immerwahr, John Engle, and Chris Brokaw booked time at Harold Dessau Recording in June 1992 to track an eight-song sophomore album. A few days and a couple of unexplainable high-pitched frequencies later, the record was scrapped, shelved, and forgotten about. Brokaw left the band shortly after, and these songs were re-tracked in various iterations for Codeine's final LP. On its 30th anniversary, Numero has unearthed these original recordings, restoring the original White Birch to the band's exacting standards with producer Mike McMackin. A slowcore masterpiece hidden in plain sight. [Limited edition translucent green vinyl.]
The Heartless Bastards – Arrow [Reissue/2012] 2xLP (Partisan)
Limited gold and black color vinyl pressing. Heartless Bastards' career-defining album Arrow turned 10 this year, and Partisan is celebrating by re-releasing the LP on black and gold galaxy vinyl. Produced by Jim Eno from Spoon, Arrow features Erika Wennerstrom on guitar and vocals, Dave Colvin on drums, Jesse Ebaugh on bass, and Mark Nathan on guitar. This album showcases a band at the height of their powers. They are synthesizing the best of bar rock, alt-country, classic rock, and the blues into something vital, unfiltered and all their own.
Elton John – Single Man [Reissue/1978] LP (Mercury)
Elton John – Breaking Hearts [Reissue/1984] LP (Mercury)
Elton John – Love Ballads [Reissue/1995] 2xLP (Mercury)
Elton John – The Captain & The Kid [Reissue/2006] LP (Mercury)
Remastered vinyl reissues.
Rahsaan Roland Kirk – Live At Ronnie Scott’s 1963 CD/LP (Gearbox)
Previously unreleased recording from the legendary multi- instrumentalist Roland Kirk. Kirk's influence and following reaches far beyond Jazz. Hendrix idolized him and it's easy to see why. His appetite for ripping up the rulebook has brought kudos and admirers from all sides, giving him a status and respect that ensures an unearthed, never before released recording such as this has added importance.
Kris Kristofferson – Live At Gilley’s – Pasadena, TX September 15, 1981 CD/LP (New West)
Recorded live on September 15, 1981, Live At Gilley's captures Kris Kristofferson at a time in his career where he and his band were firing on all cylinders. Kristofferson was with a full band out on the road that featured Stephen Bruton, Donnie Fritts and Billy Swan. On this night, the band stopped by Gilley's Honkytonk in Pasadena, Texas to deliver a once in a lifetime performance featuring the hits, "Me And Bobby McGee", "The Pilgrim" and "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down". "Kris Kristofferson was such an amazing songwriter, a great performer, and was a good match for our crowd. It was totally jam-packed every night, but we'd have an especially big crowd whenever an artist like Kris would come to town." – Mickey Gilley [Indie store exclusive white marbled vinyl.]
Love Tractor – Themes From Venus [Reissue/1988] LP (Propeller Sound)
Indie store exclusive translucent yellow vinyl. This expanded edition includes six previously unreleased mixes and instrumental versions not included in the original release. Housed in fully redesigned artwork with a full-color insert. Love tractor is considered a founder of the Athens, Georgia alternative music scene along with The B-52"s, Pylon, and R.E.M.
NOFX – White Trash, Two Heebs And A Bean [Reissue/1992] LP+MP3 (Epitaph)
Limited “ghostly” sea blue and clear cloudy color vinyl pressing. White Trash, Two Heebs And A Bean is the fourth studio album by NOFX, originally released in 1992. It is the first NOFX album to feature El Hefe on guitar, replacing Steve Kidwiller, who left the band in 1991. The title is a reference to the eclectic ethnic identities of the band members: white "trash" (Erik Sandin), two Jews (Fat Mike and Eric Melvin), and a Hispanic man (El Hefe).
John Ondola – The Hypnotic Guitar Of John Ondolo LP (Mississippi)
John Ondolo spent his life traveling between Tanzania, where he was born, and Kenya, where he recorded a string of singles for independent labels in the late 1950s and early 60s. Unlike most guitarists from the region, Ondolo used open tuning (a favorite of American blues guitarists), creating a hypnotic drone over which he laid down endless rhythmic variations on his main themes. Inspired by the exploding pop music scene in Nairobi, the newest rock and roll imports from the US, and the Abakuria tribal music of his youth, Ondolo transposed traditional instruments and rhythms to his guitar, playing it more like a traditional harp at times, and inventing a sound totally unique in the recorded history of African guitar. This album brings together John Ondolo's rare early 78rpm recordings in the first overview of this innovative but overlooked artist.
Paradise Lost – Live Death LP (Peaceville)
Creators, pioneers & purveyors of the whole gothic doom metal scene which subsequently came to prominence in the early ‘90s, Britain's Paradise Lost rose from humble Northern roots to become one of the UK's leading artists in the metal genre throughout the decade and beyond, remaining as relevant and revered as ever to this day after a career spanning over three decades. Live Death features a band still in their formative years, with an early showcase of their raw potential from Bradford Queens Hall, 1989, in their home county of West Yorkshire, England.
Polvo – Shapes [Reissue/1997] LP (Touch & Go)
Emerald green vinyl pressing. Both alarming and charming, Polvo's eclectic sound and style is unmistakable. It could be said that Polvo was the guitar band of the nineties, and that sentiment still holds true today.
Peter Rehberg - Peter Rehberg at GRM LP (Portraits GRM)
Shelter Press and INA grm are pleased and moved to present two previously unreleased recordings of Peter Rehberg, two live performances given at the GRM which, each in their own way, vividly illustrate the extent of his sonic palette. The first concert, given on March 15, 2009 at the Maison de la Radio in Paris, marked the first collaboration between Peter Rehberg and the GRM and the beginning of a long and fruitful friendship, and the second concert took place on March 6, 2016. What is striking in these two concerts is how Peter Rehberg's unique musical sensitivity and "grammar" can be heard beyond the instruments. For while the first concert is pure laptop music, the second is extended to the field of modular synthesis. However, in both concerts, the elements that are so personal to Peter Rehberg's music are present and combine in a layering of sonic abrasions, raw sensations and a sensitivity that is as much about formal awareness as it is about the invocation of overwhelming emotions, even though a little hidden behind a radicality that is always a bit provocative.
Stereolab – Pulse Of The Early Brain (Switched On Volume 5) CD/2xCD/3xLP+MP3 (Warp)
The fifth and final volume in the classic Switched On series which compiles non-album tracks and sought-after deep cuts by the group Stereolab. This volume is unique in that it does not hone in one particular period but gathers together unavailable tracks across the band's career, from early EP Low-Fi, to the brain-scrambling mid- ‘90s Nurse With Wound remixes to unreleased installation tracks for sculptor Charles Long, culminating in a live version of fan favorites "Cybele's Reverie" captured at the Hollywood Bowl. [The triple-LP set comes in a custom gatefold sleeve, polylined inner sleeves and a 12” x 12” poster insert. Packed in polythene wallet. A deluxe double-CD version is also available.]
Sun Ra – Ra To The Rescue [Reissue/1983] LP (Modern Harmonic)
Limited edition translucent green vinyl. Digitally remastered edition. One of the rarer albums in the Sun Ra canon, RTTR originally entered our orbit in 1983, mystifying listeners and confounding Ra fanatics with the minimal info on the Saturn pressing. Recorded at several locations over several years (including legendary avant-garde arts enclave, the Squat Theater in NYC), the tracks here include everything from Ra's sci-fi synthesizer insanity, Marshall Allen's skronking sax, an excellent Arkestra vocal track 'They Plan To Leave,' and so much more.
Third Eye Blind – Third Eye Blind [Reissue/1997] 2xLP (Elektra)
Double vinyl LP pressing of the debut studio album by Third Eye Blind, originally released in 1997. Recorded in and around San Francisco at Toast Studios, Skywalker Ranch, and H.O.S., the album incorporates elements of alternative rock, post-grunge, and power pop.
Shania Twain – Not Just A Girl (The Highlights) CD (Mercury Nashville)
A career-spanning audio companion to the Netflix documentary produced by Mercury Studios and directed by Joss Crowley. Since the ’90s, Shania has led the way as a genre-defying, iconic, and empowered female, who has smashed records, amassed an enormous international fanbase, and generated a catalog of some of the biggest hits that have stood the test of time.
Unwound - Live Leaves 2xLP (Numero)
After recording their 2001 opus Leaves Turn Inside You at home, Unwound reconfigured as a quintet to tour this more ambitious repertoire. Added to the mix was original Unwound drummer Brandt Sandeno on keys, and David Scott Stone on guitar. Every feedback squeal, bass chug, and hi-hat sizzle of what would be their final 37 shows was taped, the most compelling bits of which have been edited into a cohesive snapshot of a band at the end of an incredible run. This 10th year anniversary edition adds two additional tracks to the original double album, mastered direct to metal, and otherwise replicated to the tiniest detail.
Zero – Naught Again 2xLP (Omnivore Recordings)
Live archive release. Zero was formed in the early 1980s by guitarist Steve Kimock and drummer Greg Anton after playing with Keith and Donna Godchaux's Heart Of Gold Band with Quicksliver Messenger Service's John Cipollina. Various San Francisco Bay and international artists including Nicky Hopkins (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who) Pete Sears (Jefferson Starship), Vince Welnick (The Tubes, Grateful Dead), John Kahn (Jerry Garcia Band), and more played with the band. It seemed inevitable considering the Zero family tree, that Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter added lyrics to their instrumentals, it was a magic ingredient and Zero took off.