New Releases - 9/3/21

Hitting The Racks

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

New Releases

Fatima Al Qadiri ‎– Medieval Femme LP+MP3 (Hyperdub)

Inspired by the classical poems of Arab women, Medieval Femme invokes a daydream through the metaphor of an Islamic garden, at the border between depression and desire, where the present temporarily dissolves, leaving only past and future. Mixing neon drones and the faint outlines of Arabesque melody, Medieval Femme reveals a fully realized, dreamlike setting, shaded with color and subtle friction.

Lauren Alaina – Sitting Pretty On Top Of The World CD (Mercury Nashville)

Lauren Alaina releases her third studio album. The 15 tracks include the Top 40 Country hit “Getting Over Him”, which features Jon Pardi and her signature powerhouse vocals, as well as “Run” which addresses the rat race of life.

Robert Ames – Change Rising LP (Modern Recordings)

As a conductor, curator and arranger, Robert Ames is an important mediator between classical tradition and contemporary music.

Nik Bartsch – Entendre 2xLP (ECM)

A fascinating solo album from the Swiss pianist, composer and conceptualist best known as leader of the bands Ronin and Mobile, Entendre offers deeper insight into Nik Bartch's musical thinking. As the album title implies, Entendre is about hearing as a creative process, referencing the patient unfolding of Bartch's modular polymetric pieces, with alertness to the dynamics of touch, finding freedom in aesthetic restriction, serving each piece's development while also taking the music to new places.

Martin Brugger - Music for Video Stores LP (Squama)

On his debut album, producer and Squama co-founder (and member of jazz outfit Fazer) Martin Brugger hovers through ambient, (upbeat) downbeat, and unfulfilled build-ups. Conceptualized as a blank soundtrack, the music was sent to fellow artists who shared their visual and verbal associations which became the source for the artwork and track titles, effectively making the album a collective effort. The only audio sources in the process of making the album were his record player and a Dave Smith Prophet 08 synthesizer. In an antithesis to most sample-based music, Brugger takes the more ephemeral moments of recorded music and uses pitching tools as a magnifying glass to dive deeper into the sound and bare layers that normally remain unheard.

Chubby and The Gang – The Mutt’s Nuts CD (Partisan)

West London five-piece Chubby and The Gang are balanced by two energies – a casual "f**k it" on one side, an active "f**k off" on the other. For every moment of punk imperfection, there's an intricate flurry of detail. For every enraged statement about modern life as war, there's a lyric like "Hello heartbreak, my old friend" that catches you off guard. Made up of musicians from across the consistently thriving and criminally overlooked UK hardcore scene (ft. The Chisel, Big Cheese and more), Chubby and The Gang marinate its characteristic speed and sick-of-it-all energy in a mixture of ‘50s pop sounds. The result is a prickly take on the older, more melodic genres that punk derives from, chewing them up and spitting them out into something mangled but revitalized. [Vinyl edition due September 24.]

Liz Cooper – Hot Sass CD/2xLP (Sleepyhead)

Liz Cooper's sophomore album Hot Sass marks multiple departures – from her 9-year home of Nashville, from her band addendum of The Stampede, and from the genre-based expectations she's accumulated throughout her career. With these 12 new songs, Cooper comes into her own – both musically and as a person – embracing a newfound sense of independence, honesty, maturity and creativity. Hot Sass also features Cooper's longtime bandmates and collaborators Joe Bisirri (bass), Ryan Usher (drums, percussion) and Michael Libramento (guitar, synthesizer). Cooper shares, "It's me learning about what kind of woman I am and it's not pretty all the time...I'm still processing these songs. Still reflecting. And I think that's the thing – Hot Sass is just a stamp in time of what was happening in my life. I just want to continue making art that displays myself, the moments, and the people around me." [A limited-edition grey color vinyl pressing is also available.]

Tim Easton – You Really Don’t Know Me LP (Black Mesa)

Released last week on CD - now on vinyl. A mainstay of American roots music for more than 20 years, Tim Easton crafts songs that blur the lines between folk, blues, and workingman’s rock ‘n’ roll. Make no mistake, though ― Tim Easton is done running in circles. Rejuvenated by sobriety and solace, he’s moving forward with conviction, punctuating his personal music with universal messages. You Don’t Really Know Me finds him making peace with the past and focusing on the present. “Gone are the wistful, drunken wanderer tunes of the past,” he explains. “These are songs for today.” And today, Easton is feeling good.

David Ferguson – Nashville No More CD/LP (Fat Possum)

With a music career spanning more than 40 years, David Ferguson has engineered landmark albums for Johnny Cash, opened a recording studio with John Prine, and shared a Grammy win with Sturgill Simpson. Now the Nashville native has become a compelling recording artist in his own right with Nashville No More. The self-produced project gathers an exceptional cast of friends from the city's Americana and bluegrass community, while the track listing is simply a reflection of songs he likes. [Limited-edition chardonnay color vinyl & CDs are all signed by David Ferguson! Available in the shop and in the Grimey’s webstore.]

Fishdoll - Noonsense LP (Paxico Records)

A cosmic offering of iridescent electro-soul. The debut from Beijing’s rising singer / songwriter / producer, Fishdoll, released on Paxico Records in 2018 and now available on vinyl. Noonsense embodies the liminal state wrought by technology, the sensation of warm static lulling you to sleep. It's drifting off with the flicker of a screen following you into the unconscious, the inception of a digital stillness.

Goose – Shenanigans Nite Club LP (No Coincidence)

White color vinyl pressing. Connecticut-based quartet Goose shimmy through the cracks between jam, funk, alternative, and rock with head-spinning hooks, technical fireworks, and the kind of chemistry only possible among small-town and long-time friends.

Imagine Dragons – Mercury – Act 1 CD/LP/Cassette (KIDinaKORNER/Interscope)

Mercury – Act 1 is the fifth studio album from Grammy Award-winning Imagine Dragons, the best-selling rock band of the last decade. Executive produced by Rick Rubin, the follow-up to 2018's Origins features the singles "Wrecked", "Follow You" and "Cutthroat", and explores themes of love, faith, pain, passion and loss. "Wrecked" was produced by the group and was inspired by singer Dan Reynolds’ late sister-in-law who died from cancer. Reynolds said in a statement about Alisha Durtschi Reynolds: “She was the brightest light. A beacon of joy and strength for everyone she met. Her sudden passing has shaken me in ways that I still am unable to express.” Reynolds continued: “This song was my way of dealing with it all, as music has always been my refuge. No longer being a man of fervent faith, I can only hope that she hears it somewhere in a place where she is healed and no longer in pain. This song is my wish for an eternity with those that I love.”

Iron Maiden – Sensjutsu 2xCD/3xLP/2xCD+Blu-ray (BMG)

Iron Maiden's 17th studio album, Senjutsu, was recorded in Paris with longstanding producer Kevin Shirley and co-produced by Steve Harris. For Senjutsu – loosely translated as ‘tactics & strategy', the band once again enlisted the services of Mark Wilkinson to create the spectacular samurai themed cover artwork, based on an idea by Harris. Harris says, "We chose to record at Guillaume Tell Studio in France again as the place has such a relaxed vibe. The setup there is perfect for our needs; the building used to be a cinema and has a high ceiling so there's a great acoustic sound. We recorded this album in the same way we did The Book Of Souls in that we'd write a song, rehearse it and then put it down together straight away while it was all fresh in our minds. There's some very complex songs on this album which took a lot of hard work to get them exactly as we wanted them to sound, so the process was at times very challenging, but Kevin is great at capturing the essence of the band and I think it was worth the effort." [The limited Super Deluxe edition adds a Blu-ray of The Writing On The Wall including making of, special notes from Bruce Dickinson and a 20-page booklet, The Writing On The Wall movie-style poster, a set of three art cards, a 3D Senjutsu Eddie lenticular printed origami sheet (make Eddie's helmet!)]

Molly Lewis – The Forgotten Edge 12” (Jagjaguwar)

In the most literal sense, globally renowned whistler Molly Lewis makes her gorgeous and curious compositions out of thin air. New entrees into the exotica canon; sprawling, would-be Spaghetti Western scores; and a dash of Old Hollywood glamour - the whistle-led songs on her debut EP The Forgotten Edge are as complex, delicate and indelible as anything performed with viola or piano.

Little Simz – Sometimes I Might Be Introvert CD/2xLP (Age 101)

Over the course of her lush, expansive, defiantly sprawling album, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, the Ivor Novello-Award-winning, Mercury Prize nominated Little Simz delivers an undeniable modern classic, effortlessly condensing any number of disparate styles and genres into music which thrillingly broaches the gap between urgent modern treatise and hip-hop. [Red & yellow mixed vinyl.]

Los Pirañas - Infame Golpazo en Keroxen LP (Keroxen)

Los Pirañas' "Greatest Hits", with an added brass section, in a disused kerosene tank, what else! Following their last studio album Historia Natural, the Colombian trio return with an echo blast to make their way through the psychedelic tunnel visions of cumbia, champeta, psych surf rock, and everything else in between. Made up of Bogota natives, Eblis Alvarez (Meridian Brothers, Chupame El Dedo), Pedro Ojeda (Romperayo, Chupame El Dedo) and Mario Galeano (Frente Cumbiero, Ondatropica), the trio have been playing their own brand of tropical music for over two decades now. Infame Golpazo en Keroxen reunites the trio's subversive way of making music as they re-configure and re-record their sound live in a disused gasoline tank situated in the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands. As that wasn't enough, they met with local brass players Pablo Arocha on trumpet, Pablo González on trombone, and Eduardo Martín on tuba to mash up the already tropical humid vibe into a unique gasoline implosion of tropical fervor.

Desire Marea – Desire LP+MP3 (Mute)

Limited white color vinyl pressing. Desire Marea's solo self-released debut, Desire, is a skillful stylistic departure from their previous Gqom inspired work. It's an exploration of loss, displacement, and the terrifying manifestations of love in the contemporary world. Epic, eerie, regal: a good summation of South African Desire Marea's debut album, which pushes the boundaries of club music to the limit… “so raw, so scattershot, and still so intentional,” wrote PopMatters.

Nite Jewel – No Sun LP (Gloriette)

Born out of personal loss, the tradition of lament, and a Moog sequencer, Nite Jewel's No Sun is a feat of unguarded electronic music. The album is grounded in Gonzalez's electronic oeuvre and academic research but is also a sonic expulsion of pain.

Papiro - La Finestra Dentata LP (Marionette)

La Finestra Dentata (The Toothed Window) includes both studio and concert recordings from 2016-2020. The sounds on this album appear infinite and full of marvels, ingenious in portraying imaginary creatures and environments. Papiro likes to describe his performances as therapeutic, as these swirly symphonies are specifically intended as immersive deep-listening experiences for concert venues. Imagine the younger cousins of Laurie Spiegel's Concerto Generator performance, or Terry Riley's Shri Camel. However, those who know Papiro only from the stage might be unaware of a different side to his oeuvre; starry-eyed miniatures that may appear frivolous in comparison to the more heady stuff, but are nonetheless well worth discovering. Each piece adds a chapter to a phantasmagoric world populated by such characters as 'Giant Duckling', 'King Hard-Beard', or the 'Bodulator'.

Twin Shadow - Twin Shadow LP (Cheree Cheree)

The fifth album under George Lewis’s musical moniker of Twin Shadow brims with joy. These ten songs are imbued with the same energy and curiosity that compels someone to first pick up an instrument and noodle around, not because they harbor aspirations to write a hit but rather for the thrill of hearing — and feeling — what’s capable of happening when a string is plucked or a hand brushes over a snare.(It’s no wonder that Lewis employs the first instrument he ever played, the saxophone, to electrifying effect on this album.) Recorded both at FAMA Studios in the Dominican Republic and Los Angeles’s Shady Acres, Twin Shadow’s songs are distillations of beautiful memories and stories both real and imagined.

Xinxin - Xinxin LP (Preference Records)

A deep groove runs central throughout Xinxin’s self-titled debut record. The band is always in conversation, emphatically exploring the space around the pocket as the songs slowly bloom. In more ecstatic numbers like “Star Spell” or the lightly-serrated lead single “Trust,” the group still finds room to stretch out and tastefully flex. The band’s collective artistry combined makes for a jazzy, 90s-R&B indebted sound that captures the feelings of exploration, discovery, and freedom found in childhood. Xinxin is well-known in their stomping grounds and those who see them live usually become cult fans.

Reissues, Compilations, Live Recordings & Vault Excavations...

Booker T. & The MG’s – The Complete Stax Singles Vol. 2 (1968-1974) 2xLP (Real Gone Music)

Red color vinyl pressing. The Complete Stax Singles Vol. 2 (1968-1974) is one incredible listen, featuring such classic songs as “Time Is Tight”, “Soul-Limbo”, “Melting Pot”, their versions of Domenic Frontiere's “Hang 'Em High”, The Beatles' “Something”, and Simon & Garfunkel's “Mrs. Robinson”, and a bunch of hard-to-find B-sides, and more.

Directions – Echoes [Reissue/1997] 12”+MP3 (Temporary Residence)

In a musical history that spans nearly four decades, Ken Brown (aka Bundy K. Brown) was a member of noise-rock trio Bastro (along with David Grubbs and John McEntire) and a founding member of that group's evolution into Gastr del Sol, before departing to form the iconic Chicago band, Tortoise. In 1995 Brown exited Tortoise to pursue several projects, including the group, Directions. After releasing one album on Thrill Jockey, the band went inactive, with Brown completing one final Directions release on his own before retiring the moniker. That record - a scarcely limited 12” called Echoes - would resonate with a diverse array of artists and producers, most notably Kieran Hebden (Four Tet).

Einstürzende Neubaten - Haus Der Lüge LP (Potomak)

The fifth album by Einstürzende Neubauten, originally released in 1989, now remastered and repressed on vinyl. Highly energetic and possessed of a certain level of danceability, Haus Der Lüge was perhaps the most accessible for the band so far in terms of straightforward industrial-rock, with less grinding experimentation. However, this album is far from any sort of mainstream convention, featuring the striking alchemy of the best of the group's sonic clang, combined with some of the most captivating singing by Blixa Bargeld yet. This album showcases all the best aspects of the band's musique concrète experimentation reigned in by impressive song-structure that doesn't diminish any of Einstürzende Neubauten's conceptual or ear-bashing impact.

CeeLo Green – The Lady Killer [Reissue/2010] LP (Real Gone Music)

Hot pink color vinyl pressing. Green's 2010 album The Lady Killer was something of a love letter to old school R&B, complete with strings, horns, and a meaty bottom end.

Grizzly Bear – Yellow House (15th Anniversary Edition) 2xLP+MP3 (Warp)

Limited clear vinyl pressing. Grizzly Bear has come a long way. From its original incarnation as a one-man band of acoustic guitar, field tapes, and a drum machine to its current state as a full band complete with drums, multiple guitars, bass, woodwinds, effects pedals, all cradled by four-part harmonies, Grizzly Bear's music has made the leap from charming lo-fi folk rock to breathtaking, experimental cinematic pop. Grizzly Bear is remarkable not just for its attention to detail but for the concern for how a song feels. Flush with heart and melancholy, the music is seductive and intimate, deep with hazy-eyed choruses, whistles, piano and banjo. The group's 2006 Warp Records debut, Yellow House, melded the possibility of the digital age with the classic American songbook. "It's one of those more timeless works, the ones that years down the line may linger and appear as if they could've come from any handful of eras at once." - Stereogum

Emmylou Harris & The Nash Ramblers – Ramble In Music City: The Lost Concert (1990) CD/2xLP (Nonesuch)

After fifteen years of touring with the beloved Hot Band, Emmylou Harris formed The Nash Ramblers, a new acoustic all-star group, in 1990, featuring Sam Bush (fiddle, mandolin, vocals), Roy Huskey Jr. (bass), Larry Atamanuik (drums), Al Perkins (dobro, banjo, vocals), and Jon Randall Stewart (acoustic guitar, mandolin, vocals). The band played on the road for several months before making their Nashville debut at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) on September 28, 1990. That concert was recorded and shelved, while another live run at the Ryman Auditorium the following spring was released as At The Ryman to great acclaim, winning a Grammy and spurring public interest in saving the beloved music hall.

Tim Hecker - Norberg / Apondalifa LP (Room40)

Two works created in conjunction with Hecker's visits to Australia and originally released in limited quantities on 3" CD and 7" respectively; pressed onto a single record as part of Room40's 15th anniversary reissue campaign. Room40's original description of Norberg reads, "Recorded at the Norberg Festival in Sweden amidst the mineshafts and cluttered buildings strewn throughout parts of the city, this 21 minute live piece summarises much of what makes Tim Hecker's music so vital and compelling. Adept at counter-pointing the most ferocious of distorted platters with smooth beds of ambient sound and potent melodic overtones, Tim Hecker creates music with a vast depth. On Norberg, this depth seems almost endless, as layer upon layer of sound are compiled into a swelling and altogether visceral oceanic sound wave."

Ill Niño ‎– Revolution Revolución [Reissue/2001] LP (Real Gone Music)

Limited green and yellow splatter vinyl pressing. Includes inner sleeve with lyrics. Founded by ex-Pro-Pain drummer Dave Chavarri, this Latin nu-metal band out of Union City, New Jersey launched what is now a seven-album, 20-year career with this 2001 LP debut.

Junkyard – Junkyard [Reissue/1989] LP (Real Gone Music)

Limited edition opaque yellow color vinyl pressing. This set of self-described 'blooze-rock' has an edge all its own as it simultaneously sends up and celebrates the dissolute Hollywood rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. Some folks compared Junkyard to Geffen label-mates Guns 'N Roses, and some compared them to AC/DC, but the Southern rock touches married to punk rock attitude carve out a nasty niche all their own.

Karate – Karate [Reisssue/1996] LP (Numero)

Underground rock festered and splintered as it spread through the U.S. in the mid-'90s, the alternative boom giving rise to microcosmic regional scenes singularly focused on feral power violence or screamo songs about breakfast. Boston's Karate emerged as a force that could grip a national youth movement whose disparate tastes still commingled in the inky pages of fanzines overflowing with florid prose and on concert calendars for volunteer-run DIY spaces, community centers, and bowling alleys. In this world, Karate's music was an enigma, one equally inviting to sneering punks and highfalutin indie-rock aficionados. Their 1996 self-titled debut, issued on Southern Records, set the standard. Lassoing together white-knuckle post-hardcore tension, sharply focused slowcore serenity, and resplendent jazz complexity, Karate eschewed settling in any one definable style.

Lady Gaga – Born This Way (Tenth Anniversary Edition) 2xCD (Interscope)

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Lady Gaga's iconic album Born This Way, this Tenth Annivesary Edition adds six new versions of songs reimagined by artists representing and advocating for the LGBTQIA+ community. [Vinyl edition due December 10.]

Laraaji - Ambient 3: Day of Radiance LP+CD (Glitterbeat)

Limited restock of the 2015 remastered reissue. Laraaji's glistening 1980 debut Ambient 3: Day of Radiance has from the beginning been considered an outlier. Though widely celebrated at the time of its original release (as the third installment in Brian Eno's emerging ambient music series), the album also brought with it an aura of mystification. An uncharted synthesis of resonating zither textures, interlocking hammered rhythms, and 3-D sound treatments courtesy of Eno, Day of Radiance seemed to push open many doors at once, ambient music being only one of them. The album also mines the ethereal spiritualism of late-'70s new age music (of which Laraaji is considered a pioneer), the harmonic and rhythmic repetitions of American minimalists Terry Riley and Steve Reich, and traditional global sounds from India and Java, particularly gamelan music.

Bob Marley and The Wailers – The Capitol Session ’73 CD/CD+DVD/2xLP (Mercury Studios)

In 1973, Bob Marley & The Wailers found themselves stranded on the West Coast after being asked to leave the Sly & The Family Stone tour for outperforming them every night. To make the best of the situation, the band made their way to Los Angeles where they performed this recording session at the famed Capitol Studios. Available now for the first time, this intimate performance has been fully restored and remastered. [Green marble vinyl pressing shipped late and will arrive next week.]

My Morning Jacket – Live 2015 3xLP (ATO)

Limited white vinyl pressing. Widely considered one of the greatest live bands of their generation, My Morning Jacket has emerged as one of the most vital and reliably thrilling forces in American rock and roll. On Live 2015, their first live album in 15 years, MMJ showcase 16 hand-picked, explosive live performances recorded over the course of 2015's The Waterfall Tour. [Available in the shop or online.]

The Necks – Mindset [Reissue/2011] LP (ReR Vinyl)

Mindset is the 11th album by Australian improvised music trio The Necks, first released on the Fish Of Milk label in 2011 in Australia and on the ReR label internationally. The album consists of two contrasting pieces titled “Rum Jungle” and “Daylights”, the former propulsive and jangling and the latter more ambient in nature.

Slade – Slayed? [Reissue/1972] LP (BMG)

By the time that Slayed? arrived in September 1972, Slade had scored their third British No.1 single with "Mama Weer All Crazee Now". Slayed? has been called "music to wreck concert halls to," and it's a description that few familiar with it would choose to refute.

Super Furry Animals - Rings Around the World: 20th Anniversary Edition 2xLP (BMG)

The fifth studio album from Welsh quintet Super Furry Animals is their most commercially successful to date. A musically eclectic record, incorporating pop, prog, punk, jungle, electronica, techno and death metal, Rings Around The World was shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize in 2001 and named Mojo's best album of the year.

Supershine – Supershine [Reissue/2000] LP (Svarte)

Limited supernova splatter vinyl pressing. King's X bassist/vocalist Doug Pinnick joined forces with guitarist Bruce Franklin and drummer Jeff Olson (both formerly of cult-legend doom band Trouble), drummer Jerry Gaskill (King's X), Wall Farkas (Galactic Cowboys) on Hammond organ, and Heather Crow on backing vocals, for this one-off side project. 2000's Supershine is an uplifting sermon of groove-based ‘70s rock with touches of psychedelia and ferocious metal outbursts.

Richard Thompson ‎– Mirror Blue [Reissue/1994] 2xLP (Real Gone Music)

Double clear vinyl pressing in gatefold jacket. Mirror Blue is the seventh studio album by Richard Thompson, originally released in 1994. The follow-up to 1991's successful Rumor And Sigh was recorded in January 1993 with Mitchell Froom once again in the producer's chair.

Various Artists – Exit Wounds: The Album [Reissue/2000] CD (Empire)

Exit Wounds: The Album is the soundtrack to the Andrzej Bartkowiak 2001 film, Exit Wounds. Executive produced by Barry and Jomo Hankerson, the album features production from a variety of producers including Dame Grease, Irv Gotti, Bud'da, Eric Seats, DJ Paul, Juicy J, The Beat Bullies, & Timbaland. Appearances include Black Child, Drag-On, Ja Rule, Lady Luck, Mack 10, Memphis Bleek, Nas, Redman, Sheek Louch, Styles P, Three 6 Mafia, Trick Daddy, Trina & WC, as well as the film's star, DMX. The album features the hit single, "No Sunshine".

Various Artists - This Is Tehran? LP (30M Records)

In Tehran, Iran's cultural melting pot with a population of 15 million, there is a broad and lively music scene, about which little is known in the West. Traditional music from Baluchistan in the south or Kurdistan in the west meets the hip trends of the metropolis. This Is Tehran? presents the many facets of the diverse Tehranian scene, from contemporary classical sounds with Saba Alizadeh on the Iranian spiked fiddle called kamanche, or Siavash Molaeian together with Kasra Faridi on the piano, to the well-known experimental electronic musician Ata "Sote" Ebtekar. The electronic beats of a collaboration between Ehsan Abdipour and Andreas Spechtl stand naturally next to the almost jazzy sounds of Parastoo Ahmadi or Mina Momeni. The Otagh Band invites you to the dark, trip-hop laden "Rotenburg 2020", which they wrote about the cannibal of Rotenburg.

Various Artists – Romeo Must Die [Reissue/2000] CD (Empire)

Named by Q Magazine as one of the "5 Best Compilations of 2000," Romeo Must Die: The Album is the soundtrack to the Andrzej Bartkowiak 2000 film, Romeo Must Die. The album was executive produced by Timbaland, Barry Hankerson, Jomo Hankerson and Aaliyah, the film's star. It features production from Irv Gotti, Rapture Stewart, Ant Banks, Eric Seats, Mannie Fresh and J Dub. Appearances include B.G., Chanté Moore, Dave Hollister, Destiny's Child, Ginuwine, Joe, Lil' Mo, Mack 10, Playa, Stanley Clarke, and Aaliyah, who appears on four songs.

Various Artists – True Romance • Motion Picture Soundtrack [Reissue/1993] LP (Real Gone Music)

Limited blue and magenta color vinyl pressing. Though it was directed by Tony Scott, the 1993 film True Romance displayed all the signature themes and images of its writer, Quentin Tarantino, from its grisly violence to its B-movie homages to its gleeful amorality. And the same could be said of the soundtrack; alongside composer Hans Zimmer's riff on Carl Orff (which itself was an homage to another violent road movie, Badlands), True Romance offered a playlist that smacked of Tarantino in its embrace of rockabilly (Charlie Sexton, Chris Isaak), grunge (Soundgarden), honky-tonk (Shelby Lynne), and romantic machismo (Robert Palmer's take on “[Love Is] The Tender Trap”).

Barney Wilen – La Note Bleue [Reissue/1957] 2xCD (Anagram Music)

Saxophonist Barney Wilen's career was boosted in 1957 when he joined Miles Davis on the soundtrack of Louis Malle's film noir classic, La Note Bleue. This set presents the complete album remastered from the original analog tapes, plus four bonus tracks and a 28-page booklet with new liner notes and rare photos. Also included is a previously unreleased 1989 Radio France broadcast of the Barney Wilen Quartet, with Jacky Terrasson on piano, playing music from La Note Bleue.

O. V. Wright ‎– A Nickel And A Nail And Ace Of Spades [Reissue/1972] LP (Real Gone Music)

Limited 180gm vinyl pressing. Sometimes great things come in humble packages. The ramshackle cover art for this 1972 album makes it look like a bootleg, and the rampant misspellings and inconsistencies in the album and song titles make it clear that whoever oversaw proofreading at the Back Beat label must have taken the day off when the art was circulated. But no matter - seldom has the secular met the sacred with as much emotional force as on O.V. Wright's southern soul classic A Nickel And A Nail And Ace Of Spades.