March 22 street date. Fifteen years after American Football’s highly influential self-titled debut album (American Football), the band reunited (now as a four-piece, with the addition of Nate Kinsella) and recorded their long-anticipated second album, 2016’s American Football (LP2). The release was widely praised, but the band members still felt like their best work was yet to come. American Football (LP3) is contemplative, rich, expressive, yet with a queasy undercurrent. Featuring guest vocals from Paramore’s Hayley Williams, Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell, and Land of Talk’s Elizabeth Powell, the album is heavy with expectancy, revealing its ideas slowly, eliciting the hidden stories people carry around with them. There was a determination to let the songs breathe, to trust in ideas finding their own pace. “This modern iteration of American Football has one foot in Midwestern emo and another in lush dream pop.” - Rolling Stone
March 22 street date. Fifteen years after American Football’s highly influential self-titled debut album (American Football), the band reunited (now as a four-piece, with the addition of Nate Kinsella) and recorded their long-anticipated second album, 2016’s American Football (LP2). The release was widely praised, but the band members still felt like their best work was yet to come. American Football (LP3) is contemplative, rich, expressive, yet with a queasy undercurrent. Featuring guest vocals from Paramore’s Hayley Williams, Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell, and Land of Talk’s Elizabeth Powell, the album is heavy with expectancy, revealing its ideas slowly, eliciting the hidden stories people carry around with them. There was a determination to let the songs breathe, to trust in ideas finding their own pace. “This modern iteration of American Football has one foot in Midwestern emo and another in lush dream pop.” - Rolling Stone
March 22 street date. Fifteen years after American Football’s highly influential self-titled debut album (American Football), the band reunited (now as a four-piece, with the addition of Nate Kinsella) and recorded their long-anticipated second album, 2016’s American Football (LP2). The release was widely praised, but the band members still felt like their best work was yet to come. American Football (LP3) is contemplative, rich, expressive, yet with a queasy undercurrent. Featuring guest vocals from Paramore’s Hayley Williams, Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell, and Land of Talk’s Elizabeth Powell, the album is heavy with expectancy, revealing its ideas slowly, eliciting the hidden stories people carry around with them. There was a determination to let the songs breathe, to trust in ideas finding their own pace. “This modern iteration of American Football has one foot in Midwestern emo and another in lush dream pop.” - Rolling Stone
March 22 street date. Fifteen years after American Football’s highly influential self-titled debut album (American Football), the band reunited (now as a four-piece, with the addition of Nate Kinsella) and recorded their long-anticipated second album, 2016’s American Football (LP2). The release was widely praised, but the band members still felt like their best work was yet to come. American Football (LP3) is contemplative, rich, expressive, yet with a queasy undercurrent. Featuring guest vocals from Paramore’s Hayley Williams, Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell, and Land of Talk’s Elizabeth Powell, the album is heavy with expectancy, revealing its ideas slowly, eliciting the hidden stories people carry around with them. There was a determination to let the songs breathe, to trust in ideas finding their own pace. “This modern iteration of American Football has one foot in Midwestern emo and another in lush dream pop.” - Rolling Stone
March 22 street date. The third full-length from L.A. band Bad Suns, Mystic Truth gets its title from a piece of art that vocalist Christo Bowman stumbled upon while visiting London’s Tate Modern on tour. Created by Bruce Nauman in 1967, the neon-and-glass piece spells out a possibly paradoxical statement in blue spiraled cursive: “The True Artist Helps the World by Revealing Mystic Truths.” “I thought that connected back to the message of the record, which is about finding the extraordinary in very simple things, even though we’re living in a very dark time right now,” says Bowman, whose bandmates include guitarist Ray Libby, bassist Gavin Bennett, and drummer Miles Morris. “Instead of succumbing to that darkness, I think you’ve got to try to hold onto some optimism, and try to uncover those simple miracles so you don’t lose the plot of what’s really important.” Right from the album-opening “Away We Go,” Bad Suns reveal the timeless sensibilities at the heart of Mystic Truth. With its soaring vocals, majestic piano melodies, and fiery guitar tones, the song unfolds as a brightly anthemic battle cry. “‘Away We Go’ was mostly inspired by us growing up and really being adults for the first time, and trying to make sense of all that,” says Bowman, who co-founded Bad Suns at age 17. “It’s about learning how to make decisions for yourself, and sometimes just going for something and blindly trusting that it’s going to work out.”
March 22 street date. The third full-length from L.A. band Bad Suns, Mystic Truth gets its title from a piece of art that vocalist Christo Bowman stumbled upon while visiting London’s Tate Modern on tour. Created by Bruce Nauman in 1967, the neon-and-glass piece spells out a possibly paradoxical statement in blue spiraled cursive: “The True Artist Helps the World by Revealing Mystic Truths.” “I thought that connected back to the message of the record, which is about finding the extraordinary in very simple things, even though we’re living in a very dark time right now,” says Bowman, whose bandmates include guitarist Ray Libby, bassist Gavin Bennett, and drummer Miles Morris. “Instead of succumbing to that darkness, I think you’ve got to try to hold onto some optimism, and try to uncover those simple miracles so you don’t lose the plot of what’s really important.” Right from the album-opening “Away We Go,” Bad Suns reveal the timeless sensibilities at the heart of Mystic Truth. With its soaring vocals, majestic piano melodies, and fiery guitar tones, the song unfolds as a brightly anthemic battle cry. “‘Away We Go’ was mostly inspired by us growing up and really being adults for the first time, and trying to make sense of all that,” says Bowman, who co-founded Bad Suns at age 17. “It’s about learning how to make decisions for yourself, and sometimes just going for something and blindly trusting that it’s going to work out.”
March 22 street date. Brainiac began in 1992 as the basement experiments of Dayton, OH natives Tim Taylor (vocals, synth), and Juan Monasterio (bass), who first met playing cello in fifth grade. Upon completing the lineup, they released two full-lengths and toured vigorously, establishing themselves as the latest peg in Ohio's diverse musical timeline. After recording a 7" with Steve Albini for Sup Pop, the band recorded a handful of songs with Kim Deal, which became their Touch and Go debut single "Internationale". 1996 saw the release of their Touch and Go full-length debut, "Hissing Prigs in Static Couture", which saw the band use less Moog and more random electronic gadgets and noisemakers. Jim O"Rourke produced 1997's "Electroshock for President" EP, in which Brainiac continued their transition into a more electronic rock band. Only weeks after the EP's release, Tim lost his life in a car accident. A feature length documentary exploring Brainiac's music, legacy, and loss, is expected to be released in early 2019.
Touch and Go Records came into existence (sort of) in late 1980, when the Ohio punk band Necros decided they wanted to put out a 7" record. Being in high school at the time (ie: broke), they were aided in this project by their friends Tesco Vee and Dave Stimson, who were the geniuses behind a fanzine called Touch and Go (and who were a little older and had real jobs). The 7"s by the Necros and the Fix (a Michigan punk band) were recorded in late 1980 and released in early 1981, and Touch and Go Records was officially born. Corey Rusk was a member of the Necros, and for the first couple years of Touch and Go Records' life he ran the business part of it from his bedroom in his grandmother's house in Ohio, and Tesco Vee ran the promotional part of it from his apartment in Michigan. Then Tesco moved to Washington DC, leaving the label in Corey's hands. Early releases for Touch and Go consisted mainly of 7" vinyl singles by many of the early '80s Michigan / Ohio hardcore bands, including the Necros, the Meatmen, and Negative Approach. In 1983, Corey left the Necros, and together with his wife and partner in Touch and Go (Lisa Rusk), relocated the label to an apartment in Detroit, Michigan. Touch and Go began to move beyond the hardcore genre, while also increasing the frequency of its release schedule. Releases during this time period included albums from Die Kreuzen, Big Black, Butthole Surfers, Killdozer and many others. At the same time Touch and Go was expanding, Corey and Lisa also started an all ages club in Detroit called the Graystone. The club was financed by Russ Gibb, a generous and supportive school teacher who ran the infamous Grande Ballroom in Detroit in the late '60s. In its heyday, the Grande had been the Detroit home to the likes of the MC5, the Stooges, the Who, Jimi Hendrix, etc... In the mid '80s the Graystone hosted such bands such as Black Flag, Minutemen, Misfits, Big Boys, Big Black, Scratch Acid, Necros, Negative Approach, et al. After a few years in Detroit, Touch and Go moved to a house on the North side of Chicago, Illinois. Energized by its new environs, and by the increasing interest in the records they were releasing, Touch and Go entered a new and rewarding period in its existence, releasing albums by Slint, Scratch Acid, Rapeman, The Jesus Lizard, Didjits, Laughing Hyenas, Urge Overkill, and many others. In 1990, Touch and Go began to provide manufacturing and distribution services for other independent labels who shared similar ideals. Over the past 15 years, Touch and Go is proud to have provided manufacturing and distribution services for such influential labels as All Natural, All Tomorrow's Parties, Atavistic, Cold Crush, Dim Mak, Drag City, Emperor Jones, Estrus, 5RC, Invisible, Konkurrent, Kill Rock Stars, Le Tigre, Merge, Overcoat, Skin Graft, Suicide Squeeze, Thrill Jockey, Trance, Truckstop, and Warm. In keeping with 1990 being a pivotal year, Quarterstick Records, Touch and Go's "sister label," came into being, releasing albums by Henry Rollins, Pegboy, and Mekons. Since its inception, Quarterstick has developed its own individual, eclectic identity through the releases of groups such as the Bad Livers, Calexico, June Of 44, Mule, Rachel's, Rodan, Shannon Wright, Tara Jane O'Neil, The Shipping News, and others. Also around 1990, Corey and Lisa parted ways both personally and professionally. Just before the dawn of the '90s, T&G moved into a run down warehouse on the North side of Chicago. Its new digs provided lots of room to grow; an opportunity that was not wasted. Throughout the 90's, Touch and Go expanded its staff and capacities in an effort to always be the best it could be for the bands and labels it felt so privileged to be associated with. All the hard work paid off, and during the '90s, T&G had the good fortune to be involved with albums by Shellac, Blonde Redhead, The Black Heart Procession, Girls Against Boys, Arcwelder, Dirty Three, Don Caballero, Brick Layer Cake, Seam, Man...Or Astroman?, The Delta 72, Brainiac, Storm and Stress, and many others. Toward the end of the '90s, T&G had outgrown its space in the decrepit warehouse it had inhabited the prior 7 years. The staff had gotten soft and was demanding such outrageous luxuries as heat in the winter and bathrooms that worked. This revolt led to the move to a much better warehouse space a couple miles away. This move led to an even more organized and productive T&G. It was perfect timing, as the 2000s brought more great bands and labels to T&G. Bands such as CocoRosie, Enon, Nina Nastasia, Quasi, Pinback, Supersystem, The EX, The New Year, TV On The Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and !!!.
March 22 street date. Duster emerged from a cloud of lonely bong rips to take indie rock to the moon, and beyond. Scotch-taped guitars toggle between a chorus of brittle winter trees and a blanket of distorted fuzz. The low rumble of a cardboard box being kicked in a dead mall keeps pace in the background, as muffled, sung-spoken vocals ponder the great mysteries of modern mundanity. Three years of home recording accidents and blown-out 2AM studio experiments are spread across four LPs or three CDs, gathering the short-lived trio's "Stratosphere" (1998) and "Contemporary Movement" (2000) albums, "1975" EP (1999), singles, demos, and other miscellaneous debris into one escape pod, now free to drift in the endless void of space.
March 22 street date. Duster emerged from a cloud of lonely bong rips to take indie rock to the moon, and beyond. Scotch-taped guitars toggle between a chorus of brittle winter trees and a blanket of distorted fuzz. The low rumble of a cardboard box being kicked in a dead mall keeps pace in the background, as muffled, sung-spoken vocals ponder the great mysteries of modern mundanity. Three years of home recording accidents and blown-out 2AM studio experiments are spread across four LPs or three CDs, gathering the short-lived trio's "Stratosphere" (1998) and "Contemporary Movement" (2000) albums, "1975" EP (1999), singles, demos, and other miscellaneous debris into one escape pod, now free to drift in the endless void of space.
March 22 street date. On It's Real, the group's second album, Ex Hex's commitment to larger-than-life riffs and unforgettable hooks remains intact, but the garage-y, post-punk approach that defined their debut album Rips has grown in scale and ambition. What started as a reaction to the blown-out aesthetic of Rips would test the sonic limits of the power trio and lead the band on a quest for a more immersive and three-dimensional sound. Vocal harmonies are layered ten tracks deep, solos shimmer and modulate atop heaving power chords, and the codas linger and stretch toward new frontiers of sound. On first listen, you might think you've unearthed a long-lost LP carved from the space where crunch-minded art rock and glitter-covered hard rock converge, an event horizon at the intersection of towering choruses and swaggering guitars. Ex Hex were already one of America's best guitar bands-but on It's Real, their musical savvy has thrillingly combined with anything-goes curiosity, studio experimentation, and a dedication to refinement, resulting in an album that's ready to be played at maximum volume.
Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7" single. The vinyl 7" was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was released on CD, LP, and cassette. With this release Merge also forged a relationship with Touch and Go Records of Chicago, who have done an admirable job manufacturing and distributing the bulk of Merge's full-length releases since then. Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC. In 2004 Merge Records is celebrating its 15th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated and expanded over the last 15 years, the quality we look for in records as fans is still there in the music we put out on Merge. Thanks for listening!
March 22 street date. On It's Real, the group's second album, Ex Hex's commitment to larger-than-life riffs and unforgettable hooks remains intact, but the garage-y, post-punk approach that defined their debut album Rips has grown in scale and ambition. What started as a reaction to the blown-out aesthetic of Rips would test the sonic limits of the power trio and lead the band on a quest for a more immersive and three-dimensional sound. Vocal harmonies are layered ten tracks deep, solos shimmer and modulate atop heaving power chords, and the codas linger and stretch toward new frontiers of sound. On first listen, you might think you've unearthed a long-lost LP carved from the space where crunch-minded art rock and glitter-covered hard rock converge, an event horizon at the intersection of towering choruses and swaggering guitars. Ex Hex were already one of America's best guitar bands-but on It's Real, their musical savvy has thrillingly combined with anything-goes curiosity, studio experimentation, and a dedication to refinement, resulting in an album that's ready to be played at maximum volume.
Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7" single. The vinyl 7" was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was released on CD, LP, and cassette. With this release Merge also forged a relationship with Touch and Go Records of Chicago, who have done an admirable job manufacturing and distributing the bulk of Merge's full-length releases since then. Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC. In 2004 Merge Records is celebrating its 15th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated and expanded over the last 15 years, the quality we look for in records as fans is still there in the music we put out on Merge. Thanks for listening!
March 22 street date. On It's Real, the group's second album, Ex Hex's commitment to larger-than-life riffs and unforgettable hooks remains intact, but the garage-y, post-punk approach that defined their debut album Rips has grown in scale and ambition. What started as a reaction to the blown-out aesthetic of Rips would test the sonic limits of the power trio and lead the band on a quest for a more immersive and three-dimensional sound. Vocal harmonies are layered ten tracks deep, solos shimmer and modulate atop heaving power chords, and the codas linger and stretch toward new frontiers of sound. On first listen, you might think you've unearthed a long-lost LP carved from the space where crunch-minded art rock and glitter-covered hard rock converge, an event horizon at the intersection of towering choruses and swaggering guitars. Ex Hex were already one of America's best guitar bands-but on It's Real, their musical savvy has thrillingly combined with anything-goes curiosity, studio experimentation, and a dedication to refinement, resulting in an album that's ready to be played at maximum volume.
Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7" single. The vinyl 7" was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was released on CD, LP, and cassette. With this release Merge also forged a relationship with Touch and Go Records of Chicago, who have done an admirable job manufacturing and distributing the bulk of Merge's full-length releases since then. Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC. In 2004 Merge Records is celebrating its 15th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated and expanded over the last 15 years, the quality we look for in records as fans is still there in the music we put out on Merge. Thanks for listening!
March 22 street date. Music is a universal language, but spoken language can help you think about what makes you emotional, what makes you feel certain feelings, what you want to see in the world," says Eno Williams, frontwoman of Ibibio Sound Machine. When Williams uses both English and Ibibio-the Nigerian language from which her band's name is derived-on Doko Mien, the group somehow produces a world of both entrancing specificity and comforting universality, a language entirely of their own. In a glowing piece in the New York Times, the songs on their debut album Uyai were praised for following in the tradition of much African music, [making] themselves the conscience of a community." By pulsing the mystic shapes of Williams' lines through further inventive, glittering collages of genre on Doko Mien, Ibibio Sound Machine crack apart the horizon separating cultures, between nature and technology, between joy and pain, between tradition and future.
Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7" single. The vinyl 7" was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was released on CD, LP, and cassette. With this release Merge also forged a relationship with Touch and Go Records of Chicago, who have done an admirable job manufacturing and distributing the bulk of Merge's full-length releases since then. Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC. In 2004 Merge Records is celebrating its 15th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated and expanded over the last 15 years, the quality we look for in records as fans is still there in the music we put out on Merge. Thanks for listening!
March 22 street date. Music is a universal language, but spoken language can help you think about what makes you emotional, what makes you feel certain feelings, what you want to see in the world," says Eno Williams, frontwoman of Ibibio Sound Machine. When Williams uses both English and Ibibio-the Nigerian language from which her band's name is derived-on Doko Mien, the group somehow produces a world of both entrancing specificity and comforting universality, a language entirely of their own. In a glowing piece in the New York Times, the songs on their debut album Uyai were praised for following in the tradition of much African music, [making] themselves the conscience of a community." By pulsing the mystic shapes of Williams' lines through further inventive, glittering collages of genre on Doko Mien, Ibibio Sound Machine crack apart the horizon separating cultures, between nature and technology, between joy and pain, between tradition and future.
Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7" single. The vinyl 7" was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was released on CD, LP, and cassette. With this release Merge also forged a relationship with Touch and Go Records of Chicago, who have done an admirable job manufacturing and distributing the bulk of Merge's full-length releases since then. Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC. In 2004 Merge Records is celebrating its 15th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated and expanded over the last 15 years, the quality we look for in records as fans is still there in the music we put out on Merge. Thanks for listening!
March 22 street date. Music is a universal language, but spoken language can help you think about what makes you emotional, what makes you feel certain feelings, what you want to see in the world," says Eno Williams, frontwoman of Ibibio Sound Machine. When Williams uses both English and Ibibio-the Nigerian language from which her band's name is derived-on Doko Mien, the group somehow produces a world of both entrancing specificity and comforting universality, a language entirely of their own. In a glowing piece in the New York Times, the songs on their debut album Uyai were praised for following in the tradition of much African music, [making] themselves the conscience of a community." By pulsing the mystic shapes of Williams' lines through further inventive, glittering collages of genre on Doko Mien, Ibibio Sound Machine crack apart the horizon separating cultures, between nature and technology, between joy and pain, between tradition and future.
Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7" single. The vinyl 7" was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was released on CD, LP, and cassette. With this release Merge also forged a relationship with Touch and Go Records of Chicago, who have done an admirable job manufacturing and distributing the bulk of Merge's full-length releases since then. Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC. In 2004 Merge Records is celebrating its 15th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated and expanded over the last 15 years, the quality we look for in records as fans is still there in the music we put out on Merge. Thanks for listening!
March 22 street date. Panorama is the fourth full-length album from Michigan natives La Dispute and their first with Epitaph Records. It can be difficult for punk and hardcore bands in particular to evolve and maintain momentum simultaneously the longer they stay active. In spite of this, La Dispute has maintained the same attitude they started with. They are a band figuring out how to live meaningfully while also trying to make meaningful art without compromise. Panorama, is another chapter in a discography that tells everyday stories in a remarkable way. It takes you deep within the heart of the world we live in, which may not always be a comfortable or comforting place to be, but at the very least it’s a reminder that we’re not there alone. Panorama is in many ways a continuation on a theme. It’s a highly ambitious and deeply affecting body of work that filters narrative storytelling through a personal lens. It’s heavier and weirder than previous efforts, taking the intensity of Wildlife and the patience of Rooms of the House and using them as pillars upon which to build something new. And, in doing so, they have broken through their own ceiling and set a new one.
March 22 street date. Panorama is the fourth full-length album from Michigan natives La Dispute and their first with Epitaph Records. It can be difficult for punk and hardcore bands in particular to evolve and maintain momentum simultaneously the longer they stay active. In spite of this, La Dispute has maintained the same attitude they started with. They are a band figuring out how to live meaningfully while also trying to make meaningful art without compromise. Panorama, is another chapter in a discography that tells everyday stories in a remarkable way. It takes you deep within the heart of the world we live in, which may not always be a comfortable or comforting place to be, but at the very least it’s a reminder that we’re not there alone. Panorama is in many ways a continuation on a theme. It’s a highly ambitious and deeply affecting body of work that filters narrative storytelling through a personal lens. It’s heavier and weirder than previous efforts, taking the intensity of Wildlife and the patience of Rooms of the House and using them as pillars upon which to build something new. And, in doing so, they have broken through their own ceiling and set a new one.
March 22 street date. Panorama is the fourth full-length album from Michigan natives La Dispute and their first with Epitaph Records. It can be difficult for punk and hardcore bands in particular to evolve and maintain momentum simultaneously the longer they stay active. In spite of this, La Dispute has maintained the same attitude they started with. They are a band figuring out how to live meaningfully while also trying to make meaningful art without compromise. Panorama, is another chapter in a discography that tells everyday stories in a remarkable way. It takes you deep within the heart of the world we live in, which may not always be a comfortable or comforting place to be, but at the very least it’s a reminder that we’re not there alone. Panorama is in many ways a continuation on a theme. It’s a highly ambitious and deeply affecting body of work that filters narrative storytelling through a personal lens. It’s heavier and weirder than previous efforts, taking the intensity of Wildlife and the patience of Rooms of the House and using them as pillars upon which to build something new. And, in doing so, they have broken through their own ceiling and set a new one.
March 22 street date. As with 2012's engrossing Mr. M and 2016's staggering FLOTUS, Kurt Wagner's openness to unexpected collaborators to give his thoughts and feelings the shape they need was central to the creation of This (is what I wanted to tell you). In the summer of 2017, Wagner re-met Matthew McCaughan, who has spent the last decade drumming for the likes of Bon Iver and Hiss Golden Messenger. McCaughan told Wagner he had been adventuring inside the world of rack-mounted analogue synthesizers and asked if Wagner might send some vocals to which he could compose. They became instant musical pen pals, with Wagner sending him a cappella takes of new song ideas and McCaughan dispatching long-form synthesizer pieces for inspiration. McCaughan eventually headed to Nashville, where, together, they put a band behind the songs, using pedal steel and piano and the harmonica of Nashville legend Charlie McCoy to color in the spaces of these black-and-white sketches.
Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7" single. The vinyl 7" was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was released on CD, LP, and cassette. With this release Merge also forged a relationship with Touch and Go Records of Chicago, who have done an admirable job manufacturing and distributing the bulk of Merge's full-length releases since then. Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC. In 2004 Merge Records is celebrating its 15th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated and expanded over the last 15 years, the quality we look for in records as fans is still there in the music we put out on Merge. Thanks for listening!
March 22 street date. As with 2012's engrossing Mr. M and 2016's staggering FLOTUS, Kurt Wagner's openness to unexpected collaborators to give his thoughts and feelings the shape they need was central to the creation of This (is what I wanted to tell you). In the summer of 2017, Wagner re-met Matthew McCaughan, who has spent the last decade drumming for the likes of Bon Iver and Hiss Golden Messenger. McCaughan told Wagner he had been adventuring inside the world of rack-mounted analogue synthesizers and asked if Wagner might send some vocals to which he could compose. They became instant musical pen pals, with Wagner sending him a cappella takes of new song ideas and McCaughan dispatching long-form synthesizer pieces for inspiration. McCaughan eventually headed to Nashville, where, together, they put a band behind the songs, using pedal steel and piano and the harmonica of Nashville legend Charlie McCoy to color in the spaces of these black-and-white sketches.
Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7" single. The vinyl 7" was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was released on CD, LP, and cassette. With this release Merge also forged a relationship with Touch and Go Records of Chicago, who have done an admirable job manufacturing and distributing the bulk of Merge's full-length releases since then. Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC. In 2004 Merge Records is celebrating its 15th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated and expanded over the last 15 years, the quality we look for in records as fans is still there in the music we put out on Merge. Thanks for listening!
March 22 street date. As with 2012's engrossing Mr. M and 2016's staggering FLOTUS, Kurt Wagner's openness to unexpected collaborators to give his thoughts and feelings the shape they need was central to the creation of This (is what I wanted to tell you). In the summer of 2017, Wagner re-met Matthew McCaughan, who has spent the last decade drumming for the likes of Bon Iver and Hiss Golden Messenger. McCaughan told Wagner he had been adventuring inside the world of rack-mounted analogue synthesizers and asked if Wagner might send some vocals to which he could compose. They became instant musical pen pals, with Wagner sending him a cappella takes of new song ideas and McCaughan dispatching long-form synthesizer pieces for inspiration. McCaughan eventually headed to Nashville, where, together, they put a band behind the songs, using pedal steel and piano and the harmonica of Nashville legend Charlie McCoy to color in the spaces of these black-and-white sketches.
Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7" single. The vinyl 7" was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was released on CD, LP, and cassette. With this release Merge also forged a relationship with Touch and Go Records of Chicago, who have done an admirable job manufacturing and distributing the bulk of Merge's full-length releases since then. Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC. In 2004 Merge Records is celebrating its 15th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated and expanded over the last 15 years, the quality we look for in records as fans is still there in the music we put out on Merge. Thanks for listening!
March 22 street date. The definitive Unwound. All seven of their studio albums, nine singles, 24 compilation tracks, complete Peel Sessions, original demo tape, original "Fake Train" recorded with Tim Green, "Live Leaves", a disc of live rarities, and pre-Unwound band Giant Henry's complete recordings (plus 2001 reunion show), plus a 90-minute DVD filled with live footage, videos, and other detritus of the VHS era. Foil-wrapped hardcover book contains David Wilcox's complete 40,000 word liner notes, reflections by Justin Trosper, Sara Lund, and Brandt Sandeno, map of Olympia punk houses, dozens of previously unpublished photographs, a flyer gallery, and annotated discography. Strictly limited to 1000 copies.
March 22 street date. The first of ten incredible albums culled from the deepest, weirdest co-op of record enthusiasts ever gathered under one banner. There has been no expense spared packaging these, pairing the idea of the Art of Compilation with living and breathing art, creating little fortune cookies baked in a factory of forgotten dreams. Video games, pyramids, trading cards, matchbooks, a working planisphere, mazes, lottery tickets, film canisters, yearbooks, and various other exercises in design absurdity. "Escape From Synth City" is a hero's quest worth of staccato synths, crack house Casios, off-brand drum machines, minimal Morricone, four-track fantasia, and a variety of other speculations on what the 1980s thought the future would sound like. Packaged in a 12"x12" Nintendo Entertainment System-styled jacket, replete with game sticker, die-cut outer sleeve, debossed cartridge inner sleeve, and art from Numero's first video game, playable from the comfort of your PC.
March 22 street date. MUSCLE SHOALS, ALABAMA . . . Since the 1960s, the city has been known for music – developing the "Muscle Shoals Sound", as local recording studios (including FAME Studios in the late 1950s and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in 1969) produced hit records that shaped the history of popular music. This tribute to THOSE songs and THAT history reigns supreme with some of the most popular and influential artists participating in music history today. From Chris Stapleton, Willie Nelson, Lee Ann Womack and Jamey Johnson, to Demi Lovato, Steven Tyler, Keb’ Mo, Grace Potter and Aloe Blacc, an absolute cavalcade of stars lend their own personal embellishment to these classic songs.
March 29 street date. "Pedal Steal + Four Corners" collects, for the first time, Terry Allen's radio plays and long-form narrative audio works - two and a half hours of cinematic songs, stories, and country-concrète sound collage - in a deluxe gatefold edition, including one LP, three CDs, a DL code, and an exhaustive 28pp. color booklet boasting the first in-depth essay to explore this body of work; dozens of images of Allen's related visual art; and full scripts and credits for all five pieces. "Pedal Steal" (1985), originally composed as a soundtrack to a dance performance, appears on vinyl for the first time, as well as on CD. "Torso Hell" (1986), "Bleeder" (1990), "Reunion (a return to Juarez)" (1992), and "Dugout" (1993) comprise the "Four Corners" suite, radio plays broadcast on NPR and never before released, now spanning two CDs. Fans of Allen's masterpiece "Juarez" will find much to love in these haunting desert dramas, which feature Jo Harvey Allen, Lloyd Maines, Butch Hancock, Rolling Stones saxophonist Bobby Keys, and many others. Roger Corman tried to option the film rights; Jesse Helms tried to ban them; now you can own them!
March 29 street date. Bad Brains "Black Dots" is the first official studio recording for the seminal punk rock artists. This is its first official reissue in over 20 years, pressed in a limited edition of 1500 copies on white vinyl. Surfacing out of nowhere in 1996, "Black Dots" turned out to be an archival release of the best kind, something truly rare and unheard that also captured a band at its best. Nearly all the legendary early hits are here, including "Pay to Cum," "Don't Need It," "Regulator," "Banned in D.C.," "How Low Can a Punk Get?" and "Attitude," while a number of otherwise unheard or never-recorded elsewhere numbers make "Black Dots" easily the equal of the ROIR cassette.
March 29 street date. Chris Cohen's songs initially sound easy. They're each tiny jewels that unfurl at a leisurely pace, but dig a little deeper and you'll reach a melancholy core. His previous two albums - 2012's "Overgrown Path" and 2016's "As If Apart" - were built from lush, blurry tracks that embedded themselves in your subconscious, like they'd always been there. "Chris Cohen", his third solo album, is a thoughtful, accomplished meditation on life and family, backed by dusky instrumentation influenced by the late evening beauty of Pat Metheny's "Falcon and the Snowman" soundtrack, and Thomas Dolby's "Golden Age of Wireless". It's beautiful, but it's also unflinching in its depiction of emotional turmoil.
March 29 street date. Chris Cohen's songs initially sound easy. They're each tiny jewels that unfurl at a leisurely pace, but dig a little deeper and you'll reach a melancholy core. His previous two albums - 2012's "Overgrown Path" and 2016's "As If Apart" - were built from lush, blurry tracks that embedded themselves in your subconscious, like they'd always been there. "Chris Cohen", his third solo album, is a thoughtful, accomplished meditation on life and family, backed by dusky instrumentation influenced by the late evening beauty of Pat Metheny's "Falcon and the Snowman" soundtrack, and Thomas Dolby's "Golden Age of Wireless". It's beautiful, but it's also unflinching in its depiction of emotional turmoil.
March 29 street date. By August 2006, Myspace had over a hundred million member accounts, and, in October of that year, it decided to launch its first-ever webcast. The artist chosen for this epochal event? Ben Folds. The hour-long program featured Folds in front of a small audience housed in a custom set built right in Folds’ home studio in Tennessee, performing songs from his third and latest solo album, Supersunnyspeedgraphic, as well as a couple of tunes from his previous group, Ben Folds Five. As the first concert offered in real-time by the social networking site, Folds and his band (bassist Jared Reynolds and drummer Lindsay Jamieson) were arguably positioning themselves on the leading edge of entertainment-meets-technology. Real Gone Music is bringing this superlative show to CD and LP for the first time with its release of Ben Folds: Live at Myspace, a single CD/double vinyl package featuring all 12 songs from Folds’ Myspace performance along with five bonus tracks from the digital-only iTunes Originals series. Featuring pictures from the Myspace gig and liner notes by Bill Kopp offering Ben Folds’ reminiscences about the concert, this is as close as you can get to being there, and the studio-quality sound may just convince you that you are there if you just shut your eyes. We’ve also created custom gatefold jacket art for the vinyl release, which is being pressed in white vinyl limited to 1000 copies.
March 29 street date. By August 2006, Myspace had over a hundred million member accounts, and, in October of that year, it decided to launch its first-ever webcast. The artist chosen for this epochal event? Ben Folds. The hour-long program featured Folds in front of a small audience housed in a custom set built right in Folds’ home studio in Tennessee, performing songs from his third and latest solo album, Supersunnyspeedgraphic, as well as a couple of tunes from his previous group, Ben Folds Five. As the first concert offered in real-time by the social networking site, Folds and his band (bassist Jared Reynolds and drummer Lindsay Jamieson) were arguably positioning themselves on the leading edge of entertainment-meets-technology. Real Gone Music is bringing this superlative show to CD and LP for the first time with its release of Ben Folds: Live at Myspace, a single CD/double vinyl package featuring all 12 songs from Folds’ Myspace performance along with five bonus tracks from the digital-only iTunes Originals series. Featuring pictures from the Myspace gig and liner notes by Bill Kopp offering Ben Folds’ reminiscences about the concert, this is as close as you can get to being there, and the studio-quality sound may just convince you that you are there if you just shut your eyes. We’ve also created custom gatefold jacket art for the vinyl release, which is being pressed in white vinyl limited to 1000 copies.
March 29 street date. "Mise En Abyme" is the second full-length by Joni Void, the avant-electronica project of France/Canada producer Jean Cousin, following his acutely accomplished and acclaimed 2017 debut album "Selfless" (#8 Experimental Album of 2017 at Pitchfork, among other accolades). Consistent with "Selfless", the primary raw material for the sample-based cut-up songcraft on "Mise En Abyme" is Cousin's recordings of the voices of various friends. His self-professed body/voice dysmorphia and search for the disembodied-yet-emotional transcendent subject continues to mandate the use of other (mostly wordless) voices in the construction of his sublimely affecting electronic-minimalist compositions. But where Selfless was a restless, kinetic and visceral work of outer projection, "Mise En Abyme" is markedly more introspective and meditative - explicitly in search of intimacy and recuperative beauty. The 180g vinyl edition includes art print poster and MP3 download.
March 29 street date. "Mise En Abyme" is the second full-length by Joni Void, the avant-electronica project of France/Canada producer Jean Cousin, following his acutely accomplished and acclaimed 2017 debut album "Selfless" (#8 Experimental Album of 2017 at Pitchfork, among other accolades). Consistent with "Selfless", the primary raw material for the sample-based cut-up songcraft on "Mise En Abyme" is Cousin's recordings of the voices of various friends. His self-professed body/voice dysmorphia and search for the disembodied-yet-emotional transcendent subject continues to mandate the use of other (mostly wordless) voices in the construction of his sublimely affecting electronic-minimalist compositions. But where Selfless was a restless, kinetic and visceral work of outer projection, "Mise En Abyme" is markedly more introspective and meditative - explicitly in search of intimacy and recuperative beauty. The 180g vinyl edition includes art print poster and MP3 download.
March 29 street date. Originally released in 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "Wedding Album" was the couple's third experimental, album-length record, and one of the most remarkable of the duo's testaments to an intense romantic and artistic partnership that would last fourteen years, until Lennon's tragic passing in 1980. On March 20, 1969, John and Yoko were married in a civil service in Gibraltar. To celebrate the event, in lieu of a conventional honeymoon, the newlyweds spent a week in bed at the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam, inviting members of the press into their room for interviews and photo sessions, and using their fame and the publicity generated by their "Bed-in" to call attention to their campaign for world peace. With "Wedding Album", John and Yoko created an enduring snapshot of a vibrant pop-cultural moment, with the hostilities of the Vietnam War as its bracing backdrop. It captures the humor, earnestness, and spontaneity that marked the early years of the "Ballad of John and Yoko" era. Now, with a faithful recreation of Wedding Album in limited-edition, white-vinyl LP; compact disc; and digital-download formats, Secretly Canadian and Chimera Music are making one of the most unusual and emblematic recordings of the Sixties available again to mark the golden wedding anniversary of two of the 20th century's most emblematic cultural figures.
March 29 street date. Light Conductor is the twilight slow-burn modular synthesis duo of Young Galaxy's Stephen Ramsay and Jace Lasek of The Besnard Lakes. "Sequence One" is their first album: a warm shimmering sonic hug of enveloping drone and hypnotic arpeggiation flowing along buoyant filter-sweeping eddies and waves. Gently immersive like a saltwater bath under a starry sky, Light Conductor make nighttime/sunrise music in widescreen high-fidelity at their vintage-equipped Breakglass Studios in Montréal, pinning the pre-amps with stately, slowly shifting synth tones, stereophonic squelches and pink noises. First pressing of 500 copies on 180 gram vinyl at Optimal (Germany) in jacket and with art print poster spot printed in blue and metallic gold ink. Inside of jacket also spot printed in metallic gold.
March 29 street date. Reissue of long out-of-print 2006 album from band during their early psych-skewed pop period. The denizens of Castle Face are not afraid to get their shins dirty mucking around in the stacks and they’re well aware of an out-of-press gap of Oh Sees releases right before 2006 when they started the label with Sucks Blood. They’re rectifying that and first among these is The Cool Death of Island Raiders, a particularly dusty gem that merits another look. Kicking off the record with what should have been the hit of the summer that year but for the hard C in the title, “The Gilded Cunt” seems to clearly preface Oh Sees’ later psych-skewed pop sensibilities. Chirping birds, gently lapping tempos and the nascent harmonization of Bridgid Dawson and John Dwyer detail a definitive highlight of their early quiet period of the band. The tree hangs heavy with Patrick Mullins’ handiwork, manning the musical saw, drums, and an assortment of home made electronics. It seemed a bit radical to be so quiet about it, but the tunes are total ear-worms among the assorted drones, cut-up bits of tape noise, and mellow front porch-vibes, and the whole thing hangs together in a lovely hand-made way, helped in no small part by Dave Sitek’s production (he would later work on Master’s Bedroom as well). “We flew Brigid out a fresh woman and literally sent her home on a plane with a trash bag of her clothes” says Dwyer. Evidently the whole record was accidentally erased at some point right around when the photo on the back of the jacket was taken, which makes it all the more remarkable that the result sounds so casually and confidently careworn.
March 29 street date. Reissue of long out-of-print 2006 album from band during their early psych-skewed pop period. The denizens of Castle Face are not afraid to get their shins dirty mucking around in the stacks and they’re well aware of an out-of-press gap of Oh Sees releases right before 2006 when they started the label with Sucks Blood. They’re rectifying that and first among these is The Cool Death of Island Raiders, a particularly dusty gem that merits another look. Kicking off the record with what should have been the hit of the summer that year but for the hard C in the title, “The Gilded Cunt” seems to clearly preface Oh Sees’ later psych-skewed pop sensibilities. Chirping birds, gently lapping tempos and the nascent harmonization of Bridgid Dawson and John Dwyer detail a definitive highlight of their early quiet period of the band. The tree hangs heavy with Patrick Mullins’ handiwork, manning the musical saw, drums, and an assortment of home made electronics. It seemed a bit radical to be so quiet about it, but the tunes are total ear-worms among the assorted drones, cut-up bits of tape noise, and mellow front porch-vibes, and the whole thing hangs together in a lovely hand-made way, helped in no small part by Dave Sitek’s production (he would later work on Master’s Bedroom as well). “We flew Brigid out a fresh woman and literally sent her home on a plane with a trash bag of her clothes” says Dwyer. Evidently the whole record was accidentally erased at some point right around when the photo on the back of the jacket was taken, which makes it all the more remarkable that the result sounds so casually and confidently careworn.
March 29 street date (date change). The Old Firm Casuals’ sound, message, and passion will not be limited by genre labels. They are simply a true force to be reckoned with. Lars Frederiksen (Rancid) and his band of crusaders continue to push the boundaries of songwriting with this album, showcasing an ever-evolving sound, as one would expect from such seasoned musicians. With “Holger Danske,” The Old Firm Casuals bring an intensity and focus not seen before in the band’s previous releases. “Motherland” is an infectous anthem, inspired by his mother, a Danish immigrant. “Casual Rock -N- Roll” channels classic AC/DC, and the epic “Zombie” feels like a long-lost Motorhead song. By weaving this treasure trove of thematic and musical influences with Frederiksen’s own signature sound and highly outspoken and unfiltered lyrics, TOFC have delivered an album that will certainly turn heads fast, and likely warrant itself as an early contender for record of the year. It’s tough as nails, and shows a very talented band truly at their best; breaking barriers and stereotypes, and exemplifying the hooks and licks that cause so many people to love them.
March 29 street date (date change). The Old Firm Casuals’ sound, message, and passion will not be limited by genre labels. They are simply a true force to be reckoned with. Lars Frederiksen (Rancid) and his band of crusaders continue to push the boundaries of songwriting with this album, showcasing an ever-evolving sound, as one would expect from such seasoned musicians. With “Holger Danske,” The Old Firm Casuals bring an intensity and focus not seen before in the band’s previous releases. “Motherland” is an infectous anthem, inspired by his mother, a Danish immigrant. “Casual Rock -N- Roll” channels classic AC/DC, and the epic “Zombie” feels like a long-lost Motorhead song. By weaving this treasure trove of thematic and musical influences with Frederiksen’s own signature sound and highly outspoken and unfiltered lyrics, TOFC have delivered an album that will certainly turn heads fast, and likely warrant itself as an early contender for record of the year. It’s tough as nails, and shows a very talented band truly at their best; breaking barriers and stereotypes, and exemplifying the hooks and licks that cause so many people to love them.
March 29 street date (date change). The Old Firm Casuals’ sound, message, and passion will not be limited by genre labels. They are simply a true force to be reckoned with. Lars Frederiksen (Rancid) and his band of crusaders continue to push the boundaries of songwriting with this album, showcasing an ever-evolving sound, as one would expect from such seasoned musicians. With “Holger Danske,” The Old Firm Casuals bring an intensity and focus not seen before in the band’s previous releases. “Motherland” is an infectous anthem, inspired by his mother, a Danish immigrant. “Casual Rock -N- Roll” channels classic AC/DC, and the epic “Zombie” feels like a long-lost Motorhead song. By weaving this treasure trove of thematic and musical influences with Frederiksen’s own signature sound and highly outspoken and unfiltered lyrics, TOFC have delivered an album that will certainly turn heads fast, and likely warrant itself as an early contender for record of the year. It’s tough as nails, and shows a very talented band truly at their best; breaking barriers and stereotypes, and exemplifying the hooks and licks that cause so many people to love them.
March 29 street date. An all analog production, recorded live on stage at Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles by Steve Albini (via mobile unit onto two-inch tape!) and mixed with Steve in Chicago at Electrical Audio, "Deforming Lobes" witnesses the blunt-force traumpact of The Freedom Band in full effect, updating (and upending) numbers from "Melted", "Emotional Mugger", "Twins", "Manipulator", "$ingle$ 2" and "Self-Titled". The feeling between audience and band at Los Angeles' Teragram Ballroom on those January nights was its own special thing; here, the band is somehow even more front and center, making "Deforming Lobes" the first wholly original statement from The Freedom Band and bookending the Goblin experience with a huge exclamation point.
March 29 street date. An all analog production, recorded live on stage at Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles by Steve Albini (via mobile unit onto two-inch tape!) and mixed with Steve in Chicago at Electrical Audio, "Deforming Lobes" witnesses the blunt-force traumpact of The Freedom Band in full effect, updating (and upending) numbers from "Melted", "Emotional Mugger", "Twins", "Manipulator", "$ingle$ 2" and "Self-Titled". The feeling between audience and band at Los Angeles' Teragram Ballroom on those January nights was its own special thing; here, the band is somehow even more front and center, making "Deforming Lobes" the first wholly original statement from The Freedom Band and bookending the Goblin experience with a huge exclamation point.
March 29 street date. An all analog production, recorded live on stage at Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles by Steve Albini (via mobile unit onto two-inch tape!) and mixed with Steve in Chicago at Electrical Audio, "Deforming Lobes" witnesses the blunt-force traumpact of The Freedom Band in full effect, updating (and upending) numbers from "Melted", "Emotional Mugger", "Twins", "Manipulator", "$ingle$ 2" and "Self-Titled". The feeling between audience and band at Los Angeles' Teragram Ballroom on those January nights was its own special thing; here, the band is somehow even more front and center, making "Deforming Lobes" the first wholly original statement from The Freedom Band and bookending the Goblin experience with a huge exclamation point.
March 29 street date. Leading off with standout track "Weird Ways" and his powerful declaration of "I don’t feel it anymore," "Eraserland" traces Tim Showalter's evolution from apprehension to creative awakening, carving out a new and compelling future for Strand of Oaks. In February 2018, he spent two weeks alone writing and demoing all of the songs that would eventually comprise "Eraserland". And in April, he went into the studio to record with his band. Jason Isbell also contributed his Hendrix-esque guitar work to the album while singer/songwriter Emma Ruth Rundle provided gorgeous vocals. Every song was recorded live, with all musicians playing together in one room and working to bring Showalter's ideas to fruition.
March 29 street date. Leading off with standout track "Weird Ways" and his powerful declaration of "I don’t feel it anymore," "Eraserland" traces Tim Showalter's evolution from apprehension to creative awakening, carving out a new and compelling future for Strand of Oaks. In February 2018, he spent two weeks alone writing and demoing all of the songs that would eventually comprise "Eraserland". And in April, he went into the studio to record with his band. Jason Isbell also contributed his Hendrix-esque guitar work to the album while singer/songwriter Emma Ruth Rundle provided gorgeous vocals. Every song was recorded live, with all musicians playing together in one room and working to bring Showalter's ideas to fruition.
March 29 street date. A startling collection charting the C86 generation’s brazen raid on the second half of the 60s, from their fashion sense to their music to their drugs of choice. Taking The Velvets, The Doors, The Byrds and a plethora of psych originals found on the "Nuggets" and "Pebbles" compilations as inspiration, the latter half of the 1980s saw bands across the UK replace their angular post-punk sound with a gentler, weirder direction, fusing jangly guitars and bowl haircuts, paisley
heavy wardrobes and the remnants of the glam, goth and garage revival scenes with a new positivity and enlightenment offered by the ecstasy and LSD that began to reach every suburb and estate in the land. From the shoegaze movement to Madchester, the Mods to the out and out revivalists and beyond, all of these disparate but intertwined scenes collide in wonderful harmony again on "Losing Touch With My Mind". 60 tracks from artists such as Spacemen 3, The Stone Roses, Boo Radleys, The Telescopes, Cleaners From Venus, Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians, Sun Dial, and many more.
April 5 CD street date / May 10 LP street date. (Collection of never released demos, rare tracks and early singles from Canada’s punk pioneers.) Sudden Death is excited to announce the release of the D.O.A. album 1978. It’s a 21-track collection of never released demos, rare tracks and early singles from Canada’s punk pioneers. Joey Shithead went deep into the vault and came up with some super exciting and raw punk rock. The album title and art concept is a spike-haired nod of the head to that early, dynamic era ofthe band and to the seven great former members who have since passed on. Their spirit and talent played a huge role into launching the band into worldwide prominence. The two constants on the album are Joey and Chuck Biscuits, who play on every track. From the start of 1978 begins their wild, “I don’t give a shit” approach to punk rock. Now some forty years later one can hear it all, starting with the never-seen-the-light-of-day demo version of “The Enemy”. This demo has a different set of lyrics that speaks to fighting Nazis—strange, what is old is new and vital again. There’s a ton of exciting tracks that range from the never heard before, such as “Bored And Suicidal”, “The Mutant”, “No God No War”, “Rip Dis Joint”, “No Way Out” and “Rent-A-Riot”, to classic early singles like “Fucked Up Ronnie”, “Disco Sucks”, “World War 3”, “The Prisoner” and “13”. Also included are demo versions of “America The Beautiful” and “Liar For Hire” with Biscuits drumming, which are wildly different than the classic versions you hear on War On 45. On this collection are the origins of hardcore and a full blast of D.O.A’s politics and raucous humour.
April 5 street date. Brutalism is quite possibly the best collection of songs in The Drums’ ten-year career. The album is defined by growth, transformation and questions, but it doesn’t provide all the answers. Brutalism is a form of simplistic architecture defined by blocks of raw concrete. Brutalism is rooted in an emotional rawness but its layers are soft, intricate and warm, full of frivolous and exquisitely crafted pop songs that blast sunlight and high energy in the face of anxiety, solitude and crippling self-doubt. Even the fact that Brutalism sounds intentional, focused and efficient is a symbol of how Pierce’s prioritizing of his own health and well being has bled into how he makes music. For the making of this album, between his lake house in Upstate New York and a studio in Stinson Beach, California, Pierce was more open than ever, keeping his control freakery at bay, working with others to produce and record the album. He brought in Chris Coady (Beach House, Future Islands, Amen Dunes) to mix it. If there was a guitar part he wanted to write but couldn’t play, he brought in a guitarist. It’s also the first Drums record with a live drummer. Delegating freed up Pierce’s time to produce a more specific vision. Brutalism is the fifth studio album from The Drums. Vinyl LP include one bonus track. For Fans of Real Estate, Wild Nothings and Best Coast.
April 5 street date. Brutalism is quite possibly the best collection of songs in The Drums’ ten-year career. The album is defined by growth, transformation and questions, but it doesn’t provide all the answers. Brutalism is a form of simplistic architecture defined by blocks of raw concrete. Brutalism is rooted in an emotional rawness but its layers are soft, intricate and warm, full of frivolous and exquisitely crafted pop songs that blast sunlight and high energy in the face of anxiety, solitude and crippling self-doubt. Even the fact that Brutalism sounds intentional, focused and efficient is a symbol of how Pierce’s prioritizing of his own health and well being has bled into how he makes music. For the making of this album, between his lake house in Upstate New York and a studio in Stinson Beach, California, Pierce was more open than ever, keeping his control freakery at bay, working with others to produce and record the album. He brought in Chris Coady (Beach House, Future Islands, Amen Dunes) to mix it. If there was a guitar part he wanted to write but couldn’t play, he brought in a guitarist. It’s also the first Drums record with a live drummer. Delegating freed up Pierce’s time to produce a more specific vision. Brutalism is the fifth studio album from The Drums. Vinyl LP include one bonus track. For Fans of Real Estate, Wild Nothings and Best Coast.
April 5 street date. Brutalism is quite possibly the best collection of songs in The Drums’ ten-year career. The album is defined by growth, transformation and questions, but it doesn’t provide all the answers. Brutalism is a form of simplistic architecture defined by blocks of raw concrete. Brutalism is rooted in an emotional rawness but its layers are soft, intricate and warm, full of frivolous and exquisitely crafted pop songs that blast sunlight and high energy in the face of anxiety, solitude and crippling self-doubt. Even the fact that Brutalism sounds intentional, focused and efficient is a symbol of how Pierce’s prioritizing of his own health and well being has bled into how he makes music. For the making of this album, between his lake house in Upstate New York and a studio in Stinson Beach, California, Pierce was more open than ever, keeping his control freakery at bay, working with others to produce and record the album. He brought in Chris Coady (Beach House, Future Islands, Amen Dunes) to mix it. If there was a guitar part he wanted to write but couldn’t play, he brought in a guitarist. It’s also the first Drums record with a live drummer. Delegating freed up Pierce’s time to produce a more specific vision. Brutalism is the fifth studio album from The Drums. Vinyl LP include one bonus track. For Fans of Real Estate, Wild Nothings and Best Coast.
April 5 street date. Legendary former lead guitarist and songwriter of the Eagles, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, and New York Times bestselling author DON FELDER, announces his highly anticipated all-new album AMERICAN ROCK 'N' ROLL. The album features some of the biggest names in music including Sammy Hagar, Slash, Richie Sambora, Orianthi, Peter Frampton, Joe Satriani, Mick Fleetwood, Chad Smith, Bob Weir, David Paich, Steve Porcaro, Alex Lifeson and more. The album was mixed by Bob Clearmountain and mastered by Bernie Grundman. The leadoff single and title track "American Rock 'N' Roll", featuring performances by Slash, Mick Fleetwood, and Chad Smith, is out now. Available on LP or CD.
April 5 street date. Legendary former lead guitarist and songwriter of the Eagles, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, and New York Times bestselling author DON FELDER, announces his highly anticipated all-new album AMERICAN ROCK 'N' ROLL. The album features some of the biggest names in music including Sammy Hagar, Slash, Richie Sambora, Orianthi, Peter Frampton, Joe Satriani, Mick Fleetwood, Chad Smith, Bob Weir, David Paich, Steve Porcaro, Alex Lifeson and more. The album was mixed by Bob Clearmountain and mastered by Bernie Grundman. The leadoff single and title track "American Rock 'N' Roll", featuring performances by Slash, Mick Fleetwood, and Chad Smith, is out now. Available on LP or CD.
April 5 street date. "It Rains Love" is the second album by Lee Fields & The Expressions on Big Crown Records (and fifth overall) and gives us yet another masterclass in soul. Teaming up again with frequent collaborator and producer Leon Michels and his devoted band, The Expressions, they have managed again to take a classic approach and update it. Traditional soul sensibilities are mixed with a hip-hop tinged, sample ready sound that is as much an homage to the old as to the new. Some of the songs sound like they could belong to any of the last 4 decades without it feeling like a throwback, while others are 60s soul through and through. Lyrically, Lee runs the gamut from gushing admonishments of love to politically charged calls to action, from proclamations of God's existence to love letters written to his wife.
April 5 street date. "It Rains Love" is the second album by Lee Fields & The Expressions on Big Crown Records (and fifth overall) and gives us yet another masterclass in soul. Teaming up again with frequent collaborator and producer Leon Michels and his devoted band, The Expressions, they have managed again to take a classic approach and update it. Traditional soul sensibilities are mixed with a hip-hop tinged, sample ready sound that is as much an homage to the old as to the new. Some of the songs sound like they could belong to any of the last 4 decades without it feeling like a throwback, while others are 60s soul through and through. Lyrically, Lee runs the gamut from gushing admonishments of love to politically charged calls to action, from proclamations of God's existence to love letters written to his wife.
April 5 street date. With fireworks of noise and arresting melodies, Priests' 2017 debut LP Nothing Feels Natural was heralded as a modern classic of "post-punk", but Priests feel urgently present. If NFN felt like an album-length ode to possibility, then The Seduction of Kansas exists within the adventurous world its predecessor pried open. If NFN was the reach and conviction of a band pushing beyond itself, willing itself into existence on its own terms, then Kansas stands boldly in the self-possessed space it carved, an immediate and cohesive album. Bred in punk, Priests play rock'n'roll that is as intellectually sharp as it is focused on pop's thrilling pleasure centers, that is politically galvanizing without sloganeering. The high-wire physicality of their live shows and their commitment to cultural, political, and aesthetic critique have all made Priests one of the most exciting bands of their generation.
April 5 street date. Ryan Lott's first two releases as Son Lux, "At War With Walls & Mazes" and "We Are Rising", document one of the most compelling musicians of the 21st century finding a distinctive creative voice, while making strikingly original music along the way. Eleven years after his debut as Son Lux, Joyful Noise Recordings is reissuing the works on vinyl. In the last few years, Son Lux has shifted from Lott's singular vision into a three-piece ensemble featuring virtuoso musicians Ian Chang on drums, and Rafiq Bhatia on guitar. But Lott's initial Son Lux recordings still point toward an exciting musical future that contemporary pop music has yet to realize.
April 5 street date. Ryan Lott's first two releases as Son Lux, "At War With Walls & Mazes" and "We Are Rising", document one of the most compelling musicians of the 21st century finding a distinctive creative voice, while making strikingly original music along the way. Eleven years after his debut as Son Lux, Joyful Noise Recordings is reissuing the works on vinyl. In the last few years, Son Lux has shifted from Lott's singular vision into a three-piece ensemble featuring virtuoso musicians Ian Chang on drums, and Rafiq Bhatia on guitar. But Lott's initial Son Lux recordings still point toward an exciting musical future that contemporary pop music has yet to realize.
April 5 street date. Ryan Lott's first two releases as Son Lux, "At War With Walls & Mazes" and "We Are Rising", document one of the most compelling musicians of the 21st century finding a distinctive creative voice, while making strikingly original music along the way. Eleven years after his debut as Son Lux, Joyful Noise Recordings is reissuing the works on vinyl. In the last few years, Son Lux has shifted from Lott's singular vision into a three-piece ensemble featuring virtuoso musicians Ian Chang on drums, and Rafiq Bhatia on guitar. But Lott's initial Son Lux recordings still point toward an exciting musical future that contemporary pop music has yet to realize.
April 5 street date. Vinyl reissue of 2007's "Dressed Up For The Letdown", the third album from the late Richard Swift. The album is another original masterpiece; employing an archaic attitude of tempered restraint on a fresh collection of ten songs, without appearing shamelessly retro or kitschy. Playing a vast majority of the instruments on "Dressed Up" himself, by virtue Swift created something that is characteristically his. And considering his rough-around-the-edges exterior, one could rightly assume that Swift desires the listener to accept him as an ordinary honest man with some honest songs - unmasked blemishes and all. Yet when one engages with Swift on this narrow-road-less-traveled, one immediately ignores the subtle imperfections shadowed by the all-consuming white light of well-crafted pop songs in an analog heaven.
April 5 street date. Vinyl reissue of 2008's "The Atlantic Ocean", the fourth release from the late American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Richard Swift. With a methodical approach and help from engineer Chris Colbert (The Walkmen) and mulit-instrumentalist Casey Foubert (Sufjan Stevens, Crystal Skulls), Swift's vintage mixtures on "Ocean" are seamless and bright. A collaboration with producer Mark Ronson on track "Ballad of Old What's His Name" features the talents of Ryan Adams, Mark Ronson, Sean Lennon and Pat Sansone of Wilco, a strange pairing of musicians, producing beautiful results. With a balanced mix of dry, minimal rock and roll, and futuristic synthesizer stabs, Swift himself referred to the album's sound as "Prince sitting in on John Lennon's Plastic Ono sessions".
April 5 street date. It was a great Swiftian irony that the shining moment of realization that is "Ground Trouble Jaw" first saw its release as a modest, digital-only EP in 2008. That wrong is now righted as it is paired with 2011s "Walt Wolfman" EP, very much a spiritual twin of "Ground Trouble Jaw". "Ground Trouble Jaw" was the first release that folded the tireless, vying personalities of Richard Swift's art into a singular, succinct artistic statement. Here is a man discovering at once his own capacity for timelessness. Swift was an outsider-pop wanderkind who could do more with one worn, old mic than most men could with a high-end studio, taking "the holy moment" and making it eternal.
April 5 street date. This new release in Ace Records' long-running and highly regarded Songwriters series comprises hand-picked recordings of works by Montreal's much-missed poet laureate Leonard Cohen, including two songs the great man himself never recorded. Here's your chance to experience that excellence via 18 eclectic recordings of Cohen compositions by a diverse array of performers from a five-decade time span. "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye" is heard in a 1967 version by folk queen Judy Collins, the first-ever artist to record a Cohen song, while Marissa Nadler's spellbinding interpretation of "Famous Blue Raincoat" dates from 2007. Also included are tracks by Jeff Buckley, Ron Sexsmith, Nick Cave, Nina Simone, k.d. Lang, and many others. The accompanying 24-page booklet includes a Cohen biography by Ian Johnston and an in-depth track commentary by compiler Mick Patrick featuring illuminating quotes from Cohen on many of the songs.
April 12 street date. April 12 street date. "The Beast You Are", the new album from L.A.'s Big Business, delivers 10 doses of uncategorizably heavy rock music. There are hints of Melvins, Torche, and Tad, but drummer Coady Willis (Murder City Devils) and bassist/vocalist Jared Warren (Karp) bring their own off-kilter sensibilities to the genre. The two formed Big Business in 2004, and their idiosyncrasies soon caught the attention of The Melvins. Together they recorded three albums, an EP, and various songs between 2006 and 2016, all while maintaining their own identity as Big Business. They also picked up guitarists Toshi Kasai and Scott Martin along the way, but on 2016's "Command Your Weather", they returned to their core duo format. They remain in that lineup for this, their sixth full length album.
April 12 street date. Bone coloured vinyl edition. "The Beast You Are", the new album from L.A.'s Big Business, delivers 10 doses of uncategorizably heavy rock music. There are hints of Melvins, Torche, and Tad, but drummer Coady Willis (Murder City Devils) and bassist/vocalist Jared Warren (Karp) bring their own off-kilter sensibilities to the genre. The two formed Big Business in 2004, and their idiosyncrasies soon caught the attention of The Melvins. Together they recorded three albums, an EP, and various songs between 2006 and 2016, all while maintaining their own identity as Big Business. They also picked up guitarists Toshi Kasai and Scott Martin along the way, but on 2016's "Command Your Weather", they returned to their core duo format. They remain in that lineup for this, their sixth full length album.
April 12 street date. Melbourne punks Clowns have never been ones to conform. The five-piece started life in 2010 as a more-or-less straightforward hardcore punk act, but over the course of their first three albums they have steadily evolved and mutated their sound in whatever direction they felt like. It has always been loud but has become more nuanced over the years. The upcoming album (and FAT debut!) "Nature/Nurture" continues down this snaking path - its 11 songs swerving right and left abruptly, veering from frenetic punk to slower more psychedelic-tinged rock, all while remaining a cohesive amalgamation of their three previous albums.
April 12 street date. Melbourne punks Clowns have never been ones to conform. The five-piece started life in 2010 as a more-or-less straightforward hardcore punk act, but over the course of their first three albums they have steadily evolved and mutated their sound in whatever direction they felt like. It has always been loud but has become more nuanced over the years. The upcoming album (and FAT debut!) "Nature/Nurture" continues down this snaking path - its 11 songs swerving right and left abruptly, veering from frenetic punk to slower more psychedelic-tinged rock, all while remaining a cohesive amalgamation of their three previous albums.
April 12 street date. (Alice Coltrane’s first album for Warner Bros., originally released in 1976 • Featuring bassist Charlie Haden and large orchestra • Includes adaptation of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. New fully liscensed pressing.) Released in 1976, Eternity was Alice Coltrane’s first album for Warner Bros. after eight wondrous records on Impulse! Combining the drones and textures of India, the gospel and R&B of her Detroit youth and the dissonance of modern classical composition, Coltrane’s music in the ‘70s would become increasingly difficult to categorize. Having moved a few years earlier to California (where she founded the Vedantic Center, an Ashram for spiritual studies), Coltrane stretches out on Eternity—incorporating various musical styles, including a stirring adaptation of Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring—and the results are dazzling, both in sonic scope and emotional range. Opener “Spiritual Eternal” sways between Alice’s exploratory organ and the dramatic swell of lush strings. A meditative solo piece for harp, “Wisdom Eye,” precedes the rollicking rhythms of “Los Caballos,” which showcases some of her finest soloing. “Om Supreme” is the album’s first track to be built around bhajans (Hindu devotional songs). Featuring graceful keyboards backed by an angelic choir, this piece hints at the ecstatic devotional music that she would later make with members of her Ashram. While Coltrane would delve deeper into her spiritual journeys and continue to expand her musical interests on subsequent LPs, Eternity remains a vivid and compelling display of her unique vision, myriad talents and passions.
April 12 street date. (First-time vinyl reissue of her second album for Warner Bros., originally released in 1977 • Featuring devotional chants sung by Coltrane’s students. New fully liscensed pressing.) Radha-Krsna Nama Sankirtana was the first of two albums Alice Coltrane released in 1977 (the other being Transcendence). Coltrane’s music during this period grew out of an epiphany in which she would renounce secular life and don the orange robes of a swamini (spiritual teacher in the Hindu tradition). Musically, this meant leaving jazz behind (at least partially) and embracing the chants and rhythms of devotional music. The first half of Radha-Krsna is mostly filled with simple arrangements of bhajans (Hindu devotional songs) and features the singing of students from the Vedantic Center, the Ashram that Coltrane founded in 1975. The group bounces with the joy of a gospel choir (not coincidentally, some had backgrounds in Southern Baptist churches). A rapturous aura permeates opener “Govinda Jai Jai” with Alice leading on Fender Rhodes. On “Prema Muditha,” she returns to acoustic piano (her main instrument in the early part of her career) to deliver a powerful and poignant theme. Sidelong “Om Namah Sivaya” beams with probing organ improvisations accompanied by the drumming of her 13-year-old son Aruna John Coltrane, Jr. This closing track offers a strong indication that even if Alice Coltrane was turning toward new traditions for inspiration, her music was still something that only she could make.
April 12 street date. (Her third album for Warner Bros., originally released in 1977 • First-time vinyl reissue • Featuring uplifting chants, light handclaps and bluesy organ. New fully liscensed pressing.) Transcendence was not only Alice Coltrane’s last studio album for Warner Bros., it would also be her last studio work for nearly three decades. While Eternity and Radha-Krsna Nama Sankirtana followed the composer’s muse through an exciting range of musical styles and influences, Transcendence is perhaps the most fully realized of the three LPs, synthesizing the best elements of each into a monumental whole. Side one consists of intimate compositions with Alice’s pointillist harp enhanced by intricate string arrangements. At times, the emotional climaxes in “Radhe Shyam” and the title track sound like the score to an epic film. This would be the closest Coltrane ever came to chamber music, yet rendered with her uniquely spiritual tint. Side two moves into celestial territory with uplifting chants, light handclaps and bluesy organ. These call-and-response chants, featuring members from her Ashram, completely embody both African-American gospel and Hindu devotional traditions, an uncanny fusion that is transformed through Alice’s pure spirit. What runs through the album’s two musical halves is a powerful sense of devotion and discovery. At this point in her life, Coltrane was on a journey toward truth through sound, and Transcendence gives the listener a front row seat to this quest.
April 12 street date. (Alice Coltrane’s first and only live album • Originally released in 1978 on Warner Bros.• Featuring Roy Haynes and Reggie Workman. New fully liscensed pressing.) By the late ’70s, Alice Coltrane had largely gravitated away from jazz, incorporating Hindu chants and hymns into her music to reflect a newfound sense of creative omnipotence. However, in April 1978, she would return to her roots, performing at University of California, Los Angeles to make her first and only live album. Transfiguration, featuring drummer Roy Haynes and bassist Reggie Workman, showcases Alice’s many compositional talents and fierce improvisatory abilities. Throughout this double LP set, her playing evokes the time spent in her late husband John Coltrane’s band and the avant-garde music of her earlier years. As biographer Franya J. Berkman writes, “Her up-tempo keyboard work here is the most exciting of her commercial career. With its rapid-fire transpositions of short figures; its long modal passages, rhythmic play, and timbral inventiveness; its sustained energy and burning pace; and the unrelenting support of Haynes and Workman, she takes leave of the jazz business with a truly breathtaking swan song.” Alice Coltrane would not revisit jazz on record for another 26 years, turning instead to spiritual music made with students at her Vedantic Center and self-releasing a series of cassettes under her Sanskrit name, Turiyasangitananda. It is hard to imagine a better farewell than the intense and spellbinding Transfiguration.
April 12 CD street date // May 10 LP street date. Live At The Observatory was recorded on 9/8/18 at the sold out kick-off show for the band’s Hypochondriac album tour. The San Diego based band will be supporting the live album with performances at the Coachella Music & Arts Festival (Indio, CA) in April, and additional tour dates to follow. The live record features tracks from the band’s entire catalog including five tracks from their 2018 album Hypochondriac. A must have any fan of The Frights!
April 12 street date. This Wild Willing is Glen Hansard’s fourth solo album. Written and created in Paris, France with a band of brothers; new friends and old, more than 24 musicians collaborating on the album. From his partners in The Frames (Joe Doyle) and Swell Season (Marketa Irglova & Joe Doyle), to his touring family of players , to three Iranian brothers he met in Paris (the Kroshravesh brothers) , Glen brought together a group of global talents who each left an indelible mark on this recording. “It became quickly apparent in the studio we were onto something interesting. I was finding new ways into the existing songs and we were improvising new ideas every day. When you surround yourself with great musicians and do your best to keep up, stay loose, give little direction, and allow everyone to bring what they bring, something transformative may happen. This collection of songs is mainly made up of those that came through while improvising and following the melodic lines and threads. Sometimes when you take a small musical fragment and you care for it, follow it, and build it up slowly, it can become a thing of wonder. In this sense, some of these songs weren’t written in the traditional form; they were ideas followed to a conclusion. I want to thank all these great musicians for coming and giving these songs their best. All a song wants is to be heard. I hope something in this music can be of use to you. I know it’s been of great use to me to make it. Beauty is in the ear of the behearer.” – Glen Hansard / Oct. 2018
April 12 street date. This Wild Willing is Glen Hansard’s fourth solo album. Written and created in Paris, France with a band of brothers; new friends and old, more than 24 musicians collaborating on the album. From his partners in The Frames (Joe Doyle) and Swell Season (Marketa Irglova & Joe Doyle), to his touring family of players , to three Iranian brothers he met in Paris (the Kroshravesh brothers) , Glen brought together a group of global talents who each left an indelible mark on this recording. “It became quickly apparent in the studio we were onto something interesting. I was finding new ways into the existing songs and we were improvising new ideas every day. When you surround yourself with great musicians and do your best to keep up, stay loose, give little direction, and allow everyone to bring what they bring, something transformative may happen. This collection of songs is mainly made up of those that came through while improvising and following the melodic lines and threads. Sometimes when you take a small musical fragment and you care for it, follow it, and build it up slowly, it can become a thing of wonder. In this sense, some of these songs weren’t written in the traditional form; they were ideas followed to a conclusion. I want to thank all these great musicians for coming and giving these songs their best. All a song wants is to be heard. I hope something in this music can be of use to you. I know it’s been of great use to me to make it. Beauty is in the ear of the behearer.” – Glen Hansard / Oct. 2018
April 12 street date. French-born Canadian pianist and composer Alain Lefèvre makes his Warner Classics debut with My Paris Years. The album brings together a collection of classic piano pieces written by some of the most beloved French composers: Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Erik Satie, and César Franck. My Paris Years is, in essence, a hymn to the city where Lefèvre spent some of his most precious years of learning. From the rolling waters of the Seine to its calm banks above, from the subdued mood of the streets to their sometimes intense flurries of movement – every piece plays its part in depicting the scene that is Paris and recreating the multifaceted spirit of this city in music.
April 12 street date. Shovels & Rope is one of the hardest-working bands out there today. Throughout their career, Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent have constantly been touring, and all the while they’ve made music wherever they can, and recently they’ve taken on two giant new challenges; raising a (growing) family, and helming a successful music festival, Charleston’s High Water Festival. Their new album By Blood is a gritty, powerful look into their lives and the world around them, with tender songs commenting on their relationship, and human stories weaving throughout. (NEARLY 100 MILLION ARTIST STREAMS ON SPOTIFY & APPLE MUSIC. OVER 200,000 ALBUMS SOLD to date) Expect coverage from Rolling Stone, Billboard, American Songwriter, NPR Music, Paste, Garden and Gun, CMT, and many more, as well as national late night TV looks.
April 12 street date. Shovels & Rope is one of the hardest-working bands out there today. Throughout their career, Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent have constantly been touring, and all the while they’ve made music wherever they can, and recently they’ve taken on two giant new challenges; raising a (growing) family, and helming a successful music festival, Charleston’s High Water Festival. Their new album By Blood is a gritty, powerful look into their lives and the world around them, with tender songs commenting on their relationship, and human stories weaving throughout. (NEARLY 100 MILLION ARTIST STREAMS ON SPOTIFY & APPLE MUSIC. OVER 200,000 ALBUMS SOLD to date) Expect coverage from Rolling Stone, Billboard, American Songwriter, NPR Music, Paste, Garden and Gun, CMT, and many more, as well as national late night TV looks.
April 13 street date. Pink Vinyl, Animated Etching, remastered, first time on vinyl, limited to 1000, indie-retail exclusive. 'FIRST TIME ON VINYL. 20 year anniversary of AxCx's safest album ever! Beautiful acoustic guitar ballads with lovely falsetto singing. “Sensitive'' Seth Putnam serenades you with heart warming ditties such as “I Wanna Grow Old With You'', “My Woman, My Lover, My Friend'', and “In My Heart There's A Star Named After You''. Available on colored vinyl with animated etchings on both sides. STREAM ALBUM: https://youtu.be/qgCiW56Srd8
April 13 street date. BAD RELIGION are back with two new tracks on 7” vinyl for the first time as an RSD 2019 exclusive. These two tracks come from the band’s LA sessions with producer Carlos de la Garza.
April 13 street date. (2xLP, 180g vinyl, gatefold Stoughton tip-on jacket, booklet insert) Trout Mask Replica is a touchstone in the history of recorded music. The mix of dada absurdist blues and previously unexplored experimental avenues has long been praised as one of the greatest albums of all time. As so eloquently put by John Peel, "If there has been anything in the history of popular music which could be described as a work of art in a way that people who are involved in other areas of art would understand, then Trout Mask Replica is probably that work.” In full partnership with the Zappa Family Trust and to celebrate the relaunch of the seminal Bizarre label imprint, Third Man Records is proud to announce Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band's Trout Mask Replica. Out of print on vinyl for nearly ten years, this remaster was helmed by industry legend Bob Ludwig and cut by the estimable Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. Utilizing crystalline-quality safety masters kept in the Zappa family vault for decades by the trustworthy Joe Travers, the audio here is positively glorious. Every last skronk breathes full life into the room. Every twisted guitar figure uncurls onto paths previously unpaved. Every last bark and howl shines resolute through the vast emptiness of your mind. Previous countless Trout Mask Replica repressings used scans of scans of scans of the cover image, but the original Cal Schenkel cover photo has been tracked down and reproduced here at its clearest — its resolution from the original release in 1969. If you’ve only ever seen a jpg online or fuzzy, smeared-looking CD issues from the 90’s, be prepared to be wowed by the fully engaging spectrum this iconic image casts. This 2xLP is pressed on heavyweight 180-gram black vinyl for that full-on frenetic feeling.
April 13 street date. JUSTIN COURTNEY PIERRE (frontman of Motion City Soundtrack) is back with three new songs plus one cover of a Jesus & Mary Chain classic. The players on these recordings include Justin Courtney Pierre – Vocals, Guitar, Bass , Dani Barstad – Drums, Heidi Brink – Vocals and Thomas Rehbein – Percussion, Loops, Vocals. Dubbed Open Mic at the Lo-Fi: Vol 1, these tracks were produced and engineered by Thomas Rehbein. This RSD 2019 exclusive vinyl features four tracks on Side A and an etching on Side B.
April 13 street date. 7 Track EP from Reggae Legend Culture. Includes 4 Previously Unissued Tracks. Omnivore Recordings is proud to present these historic recordings (on three different vinyl colors) to honor the legacy of Culture on this Record Store Day! Liner Notes From Nighthawk Founder / Producer Leroy Jodie Pierson. Culture began recording in 1976 with an early cut of This Time which was only released on an obscure Jamaican single. Composed in response to the state of emergency declared by the Jamaican government in that year, the early recording is a tame and lyrically altered version of the original song as finally presented on this album. During the late 1970s Culture recorded seven fine albums, three for Joe Gibbs, three for Sonia Pottinger, and one issued in America by April Records, which Joseph Hill regarded as a bootleg. Culture was truly in their prime when they recorded the material included on this album. The first three tracks were recorded in 1981 with backing by the Roots Radics. The remaining tracks were taped in 1983 with backup by The Wailers band. Calling Rastafari, Dem A Payaka, and This Time were all originally included on the 1982 Nighthawk compilation album, Calling Rastafari. Most of the tracks released on the classic, roots reggae compilation, were recorded during a three-day session in 1981 at the Harry J studio in Jamaica. The Culture songs appeared alongside tracks by Gladiators, Mighty Diamonds, Wailing Souls and others, with most of the songs being unique to the album including those by Culture. Can They Run and Mister Music and their respective Versions were recorded two years after Calling Rastafari was issued and languished in the Nighthawk vaults until the release of this special, limited-edition EP.
April 13 street date. Join the heroic Czarfce for a double dose of danger on Record Store Day 2019! Fresh off of full length collaborations with MF Doom and Ghostface Killah, Czarface's powerhouse producer 7L scores the soundtrack to a "Double Dose Of Danger", a 20 page giant-sized comic book and LP set, inspired by the legendary Power Records collection from the 70s. Written by Marvel Comics contributor and Czarface's own Esoteric, our hero leaps off the pages and into dastardly danger! With cover art by Czarface co-creator Lamour Supreme, this LP is guaranteed to stand out in your Czarface vinyl collection.
April 13 street date. Clear w/Glow-In-The-Dark Splatter Vinyl, first time reissued, includes hit 'Three Little Pigs'', gatefold, limited to 1500, indie-retail exclusive. 'The album that inspired the Kraft Foods lawsuit is back! The video for Three Little Pigs (featuring Maynard James Keenan of Tool, Les Claypool of Primus, and Pauly Shore on backup vocals) helped make this album certified Gold in 1993 and this is the first time it's been available on vinyl since. Major cult hit in the early 90s. Long out-of-print. Green Jelly ''Three Little Pigs'' video (>13M views!!): https://youtu.be/Gtffv9bpB-U
April 13 street date. (Matte direct-to-board LP jacket, standard weight black/white splatter Liquid Darkness vinyl) Griot Galaxy is a “secret” jewel of Detroit’s avant-garde jazz history – until now. That is to say, they will always be a jewel of Detroit’s avant-garde jazz history, their deeply passionate music a testament to experimentation, freedom, and blackness. But with the long-awaited reissue of their first album, the hard-to-find Kins, the secret is out. Griot Galaxy doesn’t strictly begin with Kins. It begins with visionary bandleader and saxophonist Faruq Z. Bey’s musical and political awakening in the late ‘60s, when the 1967 Detroit Rebellion was tearing Detroit apart and Coltrane’s untimely death was devastating the jazz community. Kins, recorded in 1981 and originally released in 1982, is a masterstroke of creative Detroit jazz. The freeness of the playing is anchored by a serious propensity for rhythm, evident in the way its members layered their collective backgrounds in bebop, funk, reggae, and other styles within the expansive possibility of sonic expression. And all but 200 or so copies of the original 2000 pressed were unintentionally trashed. Griot Galaxy’s willingness to push boundaries was as affectionate as it was fearless. Kins is Detroit's post-Coltrane, high-on-Sun-Ra bridge into the ‘80s. They certainly weren’t the first to experiment with polyrhythms, odd meters, and tonal scales beyond the traditional concepts, but it was in part the combination of Shahid and Tabbal’s previous experience with Sun Ra, as well as Tabbal’s experience with one-time Arkestra trumpeter Phil Cohran, that allowed the group to blossom. Donning silver face paint and spouting poetry on stage, the group gained notoriety for both impressive musicianship and theatrical proto-Afrofuturist flourishes as they played all over town, including Cobb’s Corner, a jazz bar in the Cass Corridor. We’re lucky that lead engineer Ron DeCorte saved the original master tapes, from which these recordings came. Although most of the wider world didn’t get a chance to experience the wonder of Griot Galaxy at the time, we will gloriously, happily, gratefully take what we can get now.
April 13 street date. A unique and momentous obscurity of Herbie Hancock's catalog, "Dedication" has never seen a vinyl release outside of Japan prior to now. Nearly 30 years later, Get On Down has sought to allay that, with a premium-grade Record Store Day reissue worthy of any jazz collector's archives, or any crate digger's armament. The album was recorded over the course of a single day, in the middle of a tour of Japan at Koseinekin Hall in Tokyo, and for years would be available exclusively in Japan. Produced a month ahead of his 1974 studio album "Thrust", the follow-up to his career-defining album "Head Hunters", "Dedication"'s tracks were noteworthy for how drastically different they were from the material that followed. Gone was the dangerously funked-out rhythm section goodness of the Headhunters; instead Hancock is alone, performing four solo pieces on grand piano, electric keys, and synthesizer.
April 13 street date. First ever reissue of very rare Texas blues album - any Hopkins collector's dream! Direct-to-board LP jacket, 180g vinyl pressed at Third Man Pressing (Detroit, MI). Features stunning new album art by visual artist/musician Tim Kerr (Big Boys, Poison 13).
April 13 street date. Multi-Etched Vinyl including Playable & Animated Etching, Parallel Multi-Groove, download, limited to 2000, indie-retail exclusive. Kool Keith is Dr. Octagon, Black Elvis, and Dr. Dooom. 3 personas on a road trip together from Miami to Reno. Inner conflict makes the ride a schizophrenic battle for the attention of their riding partner, Lucy. Musical backing provided by psychotic hardcore bass/drum duo THETAN. Multiple etchings across both sides of the vinyl, including a playable etching, and a moving animation etched around the circumference of the record. All this plus the A side is a multi-groove cut, meaning that when you drop the needle, you have a 50/50 chance of hearing the song or the instrumental. Comes with a download card.
April 13 street date. RSD Exclusive 7” featuring two brand new tracks from THE MENZINGERS, recorded during the sessions for their 2017 After the Party album. Produced by Will Yip (Say Anything, Turnstile, Code Orange) and recorded at Studio 4 in Conshocken, PA.
April 13 street date. Deeper Wells- EP includes four new unreleased tracks, recorded during the sessions for their 2018 album, Palms. Produced by Eric Palmquist and Thrice and mixed by John Congelton. This RSD 2019 exclusive is pressed on white vinyl.
April 13 street date. Following up the release of their latest album, The Canyon, rock trio The Used is dropping a Record Store Day exclusive vinyl. The exclusive contains live recordings from the band’s Maida Vale performance in 2018. The recordings feature one song from The Canyon, one song from their self titled album, and two cover songs of legendary bands Linkin Park and Nirvana.
April 13 street date. Six piece Philadelphia natives The Wonder Years are following up their latest album Sister Cities with an exclusive Record Store Day vinyl. This 10” vinyl features live recordings from their 2018 Maida Vale Session. All songs originate from Sister Cities, a collection of testimonials on love, loss, and finding commonalities in the human experience despite cultural differences. (For Fans Of: The Story So Far, Modern Baseball, The Menzingers).
April 19 street date. Almost two years on from 2017's Plum, Californian scrap polymorphs Wand are prepared to launch their fifth, and newest long-playing record, Laughing Matter. By now, Wand is the shifting but unmistakable collaboration between Sofia Arreguin (keys, vocals), Cory Hanson (guitar, vocals), Robert Cody (guitar), Lee Landey (bass) and Evan Burrows (drums). Laughing Matter is marked by the confidence and exuberance of a band that has lived, feuded, thrived and grown together through years of dedicated jamming, touring and recording, across western and eastern states, continents and mind-sets. In this world that insists we must increasingly rely upon ourselves, Wand listen to each other, and this is the sound.
April 19 street date. Almost two years on from 2017's Plum, Californian scrap polymorphs Wand are prepared to launch their fifth, and newest long-playing record, Laughing Matter. By now, Wand is the shifting but unmistakable collaboration between Sofia Arreguin (keys, vocals), Cory Hanson (guitar, vocals), Robert Cody (guitar), Lee Landey (bass) and Evan Burrows (drums). Laughing Matter is marked by the confidence and exuberance of a band that has lived, feuded, thrived and grown together through years of dedicated jamming, touring and recording, across western and eastern states, continents and mind-sets. In this world that insists we must increasingly rely upon ourselves, Wand listen to each other, and this is the sound.
April 19 street date. Almost two years on from 2017's Plum, Californian scrap polymorphs Wand are prepared to launch their fifth, and newest long-playing record, Laughing Matter. By now, Wand is the shifting but unmistakable collaboration between Sofia Arreguin (keys, vocals), Cory Hanson (guitar, vocals), Robert Cody (guitar), Lee Landey (bass) and Evan Burrows (drums). Laughing Matter is marked by the confidence and exuberance of a band that has lived, feuded, thrived and grown together through years of dedicated jamming, touring and recording, across western and eastern states, continents and mind-sets. In this world that insists we must increasingly rely upon ourselves, Wand listen to each other, and this is the sound.
April 26 street date. Fat Mike, the infamous front-man from the most successful independent punk rock band in the world, has never been one to mince words. NOFX fans have come to expect a certain filter level (or lack there-of) when it comes to what travels through Mike's brain and out his mouth. But back in 2010, Fat Mike surprised even his most ardent fans with the debut performance of his grimy alter ego Cokie The Clown at SXSW in Austin, TX. The live set involved a series of brutally heartbreaking true stories from Mike's past mixed in with a stripped-down acoustic set, and a suspect bottle of tequila that landed the singer on TMZ. Now, nine years later we are finally ready to unveil what so many have been eagerly awaiting (or bracing themselves for). the release of Cokie's debut album! "You're Welcome" is a 10-song, 38-minuite quest into the darkest depths of Fatty's psyche. But he didn't have to do it alone. The album's liner notes read like a ‘who's who’ of A-list rock talent. Produced by Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails), drums by Travis Barker (Blink-182), and keyboards by Dizzy Reed (Guns N’ Roses) to name a few. Musically, "You're Welcome" is compelling and dynamic, with haunting vocal melodies laid atop string sections and elaborate piano parts. Lyrically, it is designed to make the listener squirm in their seat. Fat Mike is determined to
speak his truth on "You're Welcome", no matter how ugly it may get.
April 26 street date. Fat Mike, the infamous front-man from the most successful independent punk rock band in the world, has never been one to mince words. NOFX fans have come to expect a certain filter level (or lack there-of) when it comes to what travels through Mike's brain and out his mouth. But back in 2010, Fat Mike surprised even his most ardent fans with the debut performance of his grimy alter ego Cokie The Clown at SXSW in Austin, TX. The live set involved a series of brutally heartbreaking true stories from Mike's past mixed in with a stripped-down acoustic set, and a suspect bottle of tequila that landed the singer on TMZ. Now, nine years later we are finally ready to unveil what so many have been eagerly awaiting (or bracing themselves for). the release of Cokie's debut album! "You're Welcome" is a 10-song, 38-minuite quest into the darkest depths of Fatty's psyche. But he didn't have to do it alone. The album's liner notes read like a ‘who's who’ of A-list rock talent. Produced by Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails), drums by Travis Barker (Blink-182), and keyboards by Dizzy Reed (Guns N’ Roses) to name a few. Musically, "You're Welcome" is compelling and dynamic, with haunting vocal melodies laid atop string sections and elaborate piano parts. Lyrically, it is designed to make the listener squirm in their seat. Fat Mike is determined to
speak his truth on "You're Welcome", no matter how ugly it may get.
April 26 street date. "Trinity Thirty" is a reinterpretation of the beloved Cowboy Junkies classic "The Trinity Session", on the occasion of the album's 30th anniversary. Berlin-based Canadian producers Deadbeat and Fatima Camara bonded over a shared love of this iconic album (and their shared small-town Ontario roots) and embarked on their first-ever collaboration. While Deadbeat and Camara couldn't entirely replicate the original album's approach as a duo, they similarly re-recorded everything with single mics in a big open space at Berlin's Chez Cherie studio, relying heavily on natural room acoustics, committed to raw first takes, guided by an overriding strategy of slowing down the tempos as far as they could while continuing to channel the warm asceticism of the original album. The result is a gorgeously somnambulant acoustic-meets-electronic collection of "covers of covers", where the reference point is always the Junkies' original approach, stretched to new and beguiling limits of deceleration and dubby narcotized spaciousness - a sensibility further reinforced by the mastering treatment of minimalist dub-techno legend Stefan Betke (~scape, Pole).
April 26 street date. "Trinity Thirty" is a reinterpretation of the beloved Cowboy Junkies classic "The Trinity Session", on the occasion of the album's 30th anniversary. Berlin-based Canadian producers Deadbeat and Fatima Camara bonded over a shared love of this iconic album (and their shared small-town Ontario roots) and embarked on their first-ever collaboration. While Deadbeat and Camara couldn't entirely replicate the original album's approach as a duo, they similarly re-recorded everything with single mics in a big open space at Berlin's Chez Cherie studio, relying heavily on natural room acoustics, committed to raw first takes, guided by an overriding strategy of slowing down the tempos as far as they could while continuing to channel the warm asceticism of the original album. The result is a gorgeously somnambulant acoustic-meets-electronic collection of "covers of covers", where the reference point is always the Junkies' original approach, stretched to new and beguiling limits of deceleration and dubby narcotized spaciousness - a sensibility further reinforced by the mastering treatment of minimalist dub-techno legend Stefan Betke (~scape, Pole).
April 26 street date. Kelly Finnigan's debut solo album for Colemine Records represents the culmination of his 15 years of experience - in the studio as a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, engineer, producer - and touring the US and Europe as a singer, musician, and band-leader. The content within reflects his dedication to expression through the rich American music traditions of soul, gospel, doo-wop, and R&B. The subject is love. Its ecstasies and heartaches. Love sought, found, betrayed, lost, and rediscovered. The result is a marvelous collection of songs and performances that run the gamut from whispering tenderness to roaring appeals; from lean and mean to lush and lovely. With Finnigan guiding these songs from their conception all the way to the record pressing plant, the new release provides the singular voice missing from soul music: a visionary that writes, records, performs and produces his own material.
April 26 street date. Kelly Finnigan's debut solo album for Colemine Records represents the culmination of his 15 years of experience - in the studio as a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, engineer, producer - and touring the US and Europe as a singer, musician, and band-leader. The content within reflects his dedication to expression through the rich American music traditions of soul, gospel, doo-wop, and R&B. The subject is love. Its ecstasies and heartaches. Love sought, found, betrayed, lost, and rediscovered. The result is a marvelous collection of songs and performances that run the gamut from whispering tenderness to roaring appeals; from lean and mean to lush and lovely. With Finnigan guiding these songs from their conception all the way to the record pressing plant, the new release provides the singular voice missing from soul music: a visionary that writes, records, performs and produces his own material.
April 26 street date. Kelly Finnigan's debut solo album for Colemine Records represents the culmination of his 15 years of experience - in the studio as a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, engineer, producer - and touring the US and Europe as a singer, musician, and band-leader. The content within reflects his dedication to expression through the rich American music traditions of soul, gospel, doo-wop, and R&B. The subject is love. Its ecstasies and heartaches. Love sought, found, betrayed, lost, and rediscovered. The result is a marvelous collection of songs and performances that run the gamut from whispering tenderness to roaring appeals; from lean and mean to lush and lovely. With Finnigan guiding these songs from their conception all the way to the record pressing plant, the new release provides the singular voice missing from soul music: a visionary that writes, records, performs and produces his own material.
April 26 street date. "Seeing Other People" is curiously positioned as Foxygen's most recent last-ever album. With every album the band dies; with every album the band is reborn. But unlike the last-ever Foxygen albums before it, this one seems to have a self-effacing bittersweetness to it that signifies some sort of passing; some sort of white flag. But it SOUNDS in no way like a band giving up. It has experiments in tone and genre the likes of which we've not heard on a Foxygen record since "Starpower"?; since "21st Century"?; since "Take The Kids"?
April 26 street date. "Seeing Other People" is curiously positioned as Foxygen's most recent last-ever album. With every album the band dies; with every album the band is reborn. But unlike the last-ever Foxygen albums before it, this one seems to have a self-effacing bittersweetness to it that signifies some sort of passing; some sort of white flag. But it SOUNDS in no way like a band giving up. It has experiments in tone and genre the likes of which we've not heard on a Foxygen record since "Starpower"?; since "21st Century"?; since "Take The Kids"?
April 26 street date. "Seeing Other People" is curiously positioned as Foxygen's most recent last-ever album. With every album the band dies; with every album the band is reborn. But unlike the last-ever Foxygen albums before it, this one seems to have a self-effacing bittersweetness to it that signifies some sort of passing; some sort of white flag. But it SOUNDS in no way like a band giving up. It has experiments in tone and genre the likes of which we've not heard on a Foxygen record since "Starpower"?; since "21st Century"?; since "Take The Kids"?
April 29 street date. Chrysalis Records are proud to release a deluxe edition of Generation X's debut album from 1978. Formed in late 1976 by Billy Idol, Tony James and Derwood Andrews with Mark Laff joining in early 1977. They signed to Chrysalis in the Summer of 1977, with their first single ?Your Generation? being released in the September. Incidentally, they were one of the first punk bands to appear on the BBC TV's Top of The Pops, followed closely with subsequent singles 'Wild Youth' and 'Ready Steady Go'. Their debut album 'Generation X' produced by Martin Rushent (The Stranglers, Buzzcocks, Human League), was released in February 1978, reaching number 29 in the UK charts. This expanded deluxe edition vinyl box set has been newly remastered and cut from the original production tapes and includes 11 previously unreleased recordings. LP1 contains the original UK 11 track album, LP2 includes all the A and B-sides of their singles from the period and LP3 contains 11 previously unreleased outtakes, a single mix and several mixes made by engineer Alan Winstanley (Madness, Elvis Costello, Morrissey). Housed in a rigid slipcase with previously unseen photos and newly commissioned sleeve notes by journalist Adrian Thrills.
April 26 street date. Following Guided By Voice’s sprawling double-album Zeppelin Over China, Robert Pollard has written and recorded another full-length in record-breaking time. It’s Warp And Woof, exuberantly barreling through twenty-four songs in just thirty-seven minutes with a brevity similar to mid-90s GBV albums Alien Lanes and Vampire On Titus. GBV kicked this one out in a flash, recorded in studios, club soundchecks, hotel rooms and even in the tour van. After completing Zeppelin, Pollard felt the itch to record a few EPs. Just as GBV had done back in 1994, he would use them to channel his everflowing ideas to an outlet. But when a magical boombox writing session produced six fully formed songs in under half an hour, Pollard realized he had an album on his hands. What to do? With a band so formidable they’ve been dubbed the Golden Age of GBV, they completed much of the recording on the road. The 2018 Space Gun Tour provided impromptu recording venues. Pollard recorded vocals in hotel rooms, complimentary condominiums, and small studios. Doug Gillard cut guitar tracks for “End It With Light” through his Mesa Boogie rig at the soundcheck at the Ottobar in Baltimore. Bobby Bare Jr. recorded his spacey main rhythm guitars for album closer, “Time Remains in Central Position” at the same show, but in the backstage green room. Kevin March added drum tracks in a studio in his hometown Montclair, New Jersey. Gillard played guitar on “Bury the Mouse” in a van hurtling at 60-plus m.p.h., and Mark Shue laid bass on “Angelic Weirdness” as he balanced on the speeding van’s bench seat…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i90ybISTMLw
April 26 street date. Following Guided By Voice’s sprawling double-album Zeppelin Over China, Robert Pollard has written and recorded another full-length in record-breaking time. It’s Warp And Woof, exuberantly barreling through twenty-four songs in just thirty-seven minutes with a brevity similar to mid-90s GBV albums Alien Lanes and Vampire On Titus. GBV kicked this one out in a flash, recorded in studios, club soundchecks, hotel rooms and even in the tour van. After completing Zeppelin, Pollard felt the itch to record a few EPs. Just as GBV had done back in 1994, he would use them to channel his everflowing ideas to an outlet. But when a magical boombox writing session produced six fully formed songs in under half an hour, Pollard realized he had an album on his hands. What to do? With a band so formidable they’ve been dubbed the Golden Age of GBV, they completed much of the recording on the road. The 2018 Space Gun Tour provided impromptu recording venues. Pollard recorded vocals in hotel rooms, complimentary condominiums, and small studios. Doug Gillard cut guitar tracks for “End It With Light” through his Mesa Boogie rig at the soundcheck at the Ottobar in Baltimore. Bobby Bare Jr. recorded his spacey main rhythm guitars for album closer, “Time Remains in Central Position” at the same show, but in the backstage green room. Kevin March added drum tracks in a studio in his hometown Montclair, New Jersey. Gillard played guitar on “Bury the Mouse” in a van hurtling at 60-plus m.p.h., and Mark Shue laid bass on “Angelic Weirdness” as he balanced on the speeding van’s bench seat…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i90ybISTMLw
April 26 street date. Throughout his four solo albums and myriad records of various collaboration, Kevin Morby has recognized in his work the ubiquity of an apparent religious theme. Though not identifying as "religious" in the slightest, Morby recognizes in himself a somewhat spiritual being with a secular attitude towards the soulful. And so, in an effort to tackle that notion head-on and once-and-for-all, he sat down in his form of church - on planes and in beds - and wrote what would become his first true concept-album: the lavish, resplendent, career-best double LP "Oh My God".
April 26 street date. Throughout his four solo albums and myriad records of various collaboration, Kevin Morby has recognized in his work the ubiquity of an apparent religious theme. Though not identifying as "religious" in the slightest, Morby recognizes in himself a somewhat spiritual being with a secular attitude towards the soulful. And so, in an effort to tackle that notion head-on and once-and-for-all, he sat down in his form of church - on planes and in beds - and wrote what would become his first true concept-album: the lavish, resplendent, career-best double LP "Oh My God".
April 26 street date. Throughout his four solo albums and myriad records of various collaboration, Kevin Morby has recognized in his work the ubiquity of an apparent religious theme. Though not identifying as "religious" in the slightest, Morby recognizes in himself a somewhat spiritual being with a secular attitude towards the soulful. And so, in an effort to tackle that notion head-on and once-and-for-all, he sat down in his form of church - on planes and in beds - and wrote what would become his first true concept-album: the lavish, resplendent, career-best double LP "Oh My God".
April 26 street date. (Limited-edition green peak vinyl - Gatefold jacket with full lyrics - Exclusive black vinyl 7-inch featuring two non-album tracks) THE MOUNTAIN GOATS ARE JOHN DARNIELLE, PETER HUGHES, JON WURSTER, AND MATT DOUGLAS. THEY HAVE BEEN MAKING MUSIC TOGETHER AS A QUARTET FOR SEVERAL YEARS. THREE OF THEM LIVE IN NORTH CAROLINA AND ONE HAS MOVED BACK TO ROCHESTER. THEIR SONGS OFTEN SEEK OUT DARK LAIRS WITHIN WHICH TERRIBLE MONSTERS DWELL, BUT THEIR MISSION IS TO RETRIEVE THE TREASURE FROM THE DARK LAIR & PERSUADE THE TERRIBLE MONSTERS INSIDE TO SEEK OUT THE PATH OF REDEMPTION. AS AXL ROSE ONCE MEMORABLY ASKED, IN THE SONG “TERRIBLE MONSTER”: “WHAT’S SO TERRIBLE ABOUT MONSTERS, ANYWAY?” THIS IS THE QUESTION THE MOUNTAIN GOATS HAVE BEEN DOGGEDLY PURSUING SINCE 1991. THEY WILL NEVER LEAVE OFF THIS QUEST UNTIL EVERY OPTION HAS BEEN EXHAUSTED. THANK YOU.
Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7" single. The vinyl 7" was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was released on CD, LP, and cassette. With this release Merge also forged a relationship with Touch and Go Records of Chicago, who have done an admirable job manufacturing and distributing the bulk of Merge's full-length releases since then. Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC. In 2004 Merge Records is celebrating its 15th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated and expanded over the last 15 years, the quality we look for in records as fans is still there in the music we put out on Merge. Thanks for listening!
April 26 street date. THE MOUNTAIN GOATS ARE JOHN DARNIELLE, PETER HUGHES, JON WURSTER, AND MATT DOUGLAS. THEY HAVE BEEN MAKING MUSIC TOGETHER AS A QUARTET FOR SEVERAL YEARS. THREE OF THEM LIVE IN NORTH CAROLINA AND ONE HAS MOVED BACK TO ROCHESTER. THEIR SONGS OFTEN SEEK OUT DARK LAIRS WITHIN WHICH TERRIBLE MONSTERS DWELL, BUT THEIR MISSION IS TO RETRIEVE THE TREASURE FROM THE DARK LAIR & PERSUADE THE TERRIBLE MONSTERS INSIDE TO SEEK OUT THE PATH OF REDEMPTION. AS AXL ROSE ONCE MEMORABLY ASKED, IN THE SONG “TERRIBLE MONSTER”: “WHAT’S SO TERRIBLE ABOUT MONSTERS, ANYWAY?” THIS IS THE QUESTION THE MOUNTAIN GOATS HAVE BEEN DOGGEDLY PURSUING SINCE 1991. THEY WILL NEVER LEAVE OFF THIS QUEST UNTIL EVERY OPTION HAS BEEN EXHAUSTED. THANK YOU.
Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7" single. The vinyl 7" was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was released on CD, LP, and cassette. With this release Merge also forged a relationship with Touch and Go Records of Chicago, who have done an admirable job manufacturing and distributing the bulk of Merge's full-length releases since then. Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC. In 2004 Merge Records is celebrating its 15th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated and expanded over the last 15 years, the quality we look for in records as fans is still there in the music we put out on Merge. Thanks for listening!
April 26 street date. THE MOUNTAIN GOATS ARE JOHN DARNIELLE, PETER HUGHES, JON WURSTER, AND MATT DOUGLAS. THEY HAVE BEEN MAKING MUSIC TOGETHER AS A QUARTET FOR SEVERAL YEARS. THREE OF THEM LIVE IN NORTH CAROLINA AND ONE HAS MOVED BACK TO ROCHESTER. THEIR SONGS OFTEN SEEK OUT DARK LAIRS WITHIN WHICH TERRIBLE MONSTERS DWELL, BUT THEIR MISSION IS TO RETRIEVE THE TREASURE FROM THE DARK LAIR & PERSUADE THE TERRIBLE MONSTERS INSIDE TO SEEK OUT THE PATH OF REDEMPTION. AS AXL ROSE ONCE MEMORABLY ASKED, IN THE SONG “TERRIBLE MONSTER”: “WHAT’S SO TERRIBLE ABOUT MONSTERS, ANYWAY?” THIS IS THE QUESTION THE MOUNTAIN GOATS HAVE BEEN DOGGEDLY PURSUING SINCE 1991. THEY WILL NEVER LEAVE OFF THIS QUEST UNTIL EVERY OPTION HAS BEEN EXHAUSTED. THANK YOU.
Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7" single. The vinyl 7" was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was released on CD, LP, and cassette. With this release Merge also forged a relationship with Touch and Go Records of Chicago, who have done an admirable job manufacturing and distributing the bulk of Merge's full-length releases since then. Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC. In 2004 Merge Records is celebrating its 15th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated and expanded over the last 15 years, the quality we look for in records as fans is still there in the music we put out on Merge. Thanks for listening!
April 26 street date. ("Hardcore Version" comes in Slipcase with debossed dragon scale pattern, on Limited-edition yellow and green marbled vinyl. Gatefold jacket with full lyrics - Exclusive black vinyl 7-inch featuring two non-album tracks - Collectible Dragon League membership card.) THE MOUNTAIN GOATS ARE JOHN DARNIELLE, PETER HUGHES, JON WURSTER, AND MATT DOUGLAS. THEY HAVE BEEN MAKING MUSIC TOGETHER AS A QUARTET FOR SEVERAL YEARS. THREE OF THEM LIVE IN NORTH CAROLINA AND ONE HAS MOVED BACK TO ROCHESTER. THEIR SONGS OFTEN SEEK OUT DARK LAIRS WITHIN WHICH TERRIBLE MONSTERS DWELL, BUT THEIR MISSION IS TO RETRIEVE THE TREASURE FROM THE DARK LAIR & PERSUADE THE TERRIBLE MONSTERS INSIDE TO SEEK OUT THE PATH OF REDEMPTION. AS AXL ROSE ONCE MEMORABLY ASKED, IN THE SONG “TERRIBLE MONSTER”: “WHAT’S SO TERRIBLE ABOUT MONSTERS, ANYWAY?” THIS IS THE QUESTION THE MOUNTAIN GOATS HAVE BEEN DOGGEDLY PURSUING SINCE 1991. THEY WILL NEVER LEAVE OFF THIS QUEST UNTIL EVERY OPTION HAS BEEN EXHAUSTED. THANK YOU.
Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7" single. The vinyl 7" was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was released on CD, LP, and cassette. With this release Merge also forged a relationship with Touch and Go Records of Chicago, who have done an admirable job manufacturing and distributing the bulk of Merge's full-length releases since then. Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC. In 2004 Merge Records is celebrating its 15th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated and expanded over the last 15 years, the quality we look for in records as fans is still there in the music we put out on Merge. Thanks for listening!
April 26 street date. "Droneflower" is in bloom. The new collaboration between Marissa Nadler and Stephen Brodsky (Cave In, Mutoid Man), is a sprawling and expansive exercise in contrasts. It is the sound of the war between the brutal and the ethereal, the dark and the light, the past and the present, and the real and imagined. Brodsky met Nadler for the first time in 2014 and they quickly became friends. Both of them had been wanting to explore songwriting that didn't fit into their existing projects, and they soon became energized by the prospect of working together. One of the first ideas they discussed was a horror movie soundtrack, and while "Droneflower" isn't that, it is a richly cinematic album. It's easy to imagine much of the record set to images, though it wasn't composed that way.
April 26 street date. Clear/black marbled vinyl edition. "Droneflower" is in bloom. The new collaboration between Marissa Nadler and Stephen Brodsky (Cave In, Mutoid Man), is a sprawling and expansive exercise in contrasts. It is the sound of the war between the brutal and the ethereal, the dark and the light, the past and the present, and the real and imagined. Brodsky met Nadler for the first time in 2014 and they quickly became friends. Both of them had been wanting to explore songwriting that didn't fit into their existing projects, and they soon became energized by the prospect of working together. One of the first ideas they discussed was a horror movie soundtrack, and while "Droneflower" isn't that, it is a richly cinematic album. It's easy to imagine much of the record set to images, though it wasn't composed that way.
April 26 street date. “There I was, twiddling my thumbs in a Nashville studio, the clock ticking, with no band. On a long shot, I phoned Brooklyn and made a Hail Mary pass to The Jay Vons—and they said yes. I called Scion and asked for three plane tickets and hotel rooms, and in a matter of hours, the band were on their way to Nashville. In two days, we cut five songs. I paired these five with three outtakes from the previous Reigning Sound LP Love and Curses which featured Lance Wille on drums and Dave Gay on bass,” recounts Cartwright, adding, “The Greg + Jay Vons line-up of Reigning Sound continues to this day.” After the release of Abdication…, Reigning Sound put out the much-loved Shattered LP in 2014. Cartwright has also been touring extensively with The Oblivians since they re-formed.
Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7" single. The vinyl 7" was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was released on CD, LP, and cassette. With this release Merge also forged a relationship with Touch and Go Records of Chicago, who have done an admirable job manufacturing and distributing the bulk of Merge's full-length releases since then. Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC. In 2004 Merge Records is celebrating its 15th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated and expanded over the last 15 years, the quality we look for in records as fans is still there in the music we put out on Merge. Thanks for listening!
April 26 street date. “There I was, twiddling my thumbs in a Nashville studio, the clock ticking, with no band. On a long shot, I phoned Brooklyn and made a Hail Mary pass to The Jay Vons—and they said yes. I called Scion and asked for three plane tickets and hotel rooms, and in a matter of hours, the band were on their way to Nashville. In two days, we cut five songs. I paired these five with three outtakes from the previous Reigning Sound LP Love and Curses which featured Lance Wille on drums and Dave Gay on bass,” recounts Cartwright, adding, “The Greg + Jay Vons line-up of Reigning Sound continues to this day.” After the release of Abdication…, Reigning Sound put out the much-loved Shattered LP in 2014. Cartwright has also been touring extensively with The Oblivians since they re-formed.
Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7" single. The vinyl 7" was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was released on CD, LP, and cassette. With this release Merge also forged a relationship with Touch and Go Records of Chicago, who have done an admirable job manufacturing and distributing the bulk of Merge's full-length releases since then. Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC. In 2004 Merge Records is celebrating its 15th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated and expanded over the last 15 years, the quality we look for in records as fans is still there in the music we put out on Merge. Thanks for listening!
April 29 street date. Chrysalis Records are proud to release a deluxe edition of Generation X's debut album from 1978. Formed in late 1976 by Billy Idol, Tony James and Derwood Andrews with Mark Laff joining in early 1977. They signed to Chrysalis in the Summer of 1977, with their first single ?Your Generation? being released in the September. Incidentally, they were one of the first punk bands to appear on the BBC TV's Top of The Pops, followed closely with subsequent singles 'Wild Youth' and 'Ready Steady Go'. Their debut album 'Generation X' produced by Martin Rushent (The Stranglers, Buzzcocks, Human League), was released in February 1978, reaching number 29 in the UK charts. This expanded deluxe edition vinyl box set has been newly remastered and cut from the original production tapes and includes 11 previously unreleased recordings. LP1 contains the original UK 11 track album, LP2 includes all the A and B-sides of their singles from the period and LP3 contains 11 previously unreleased outtakes, a single mix and several mixes made by engineer Alan Winstanley (Madness, Elvis Costello, Morrissey). Housed in a rigid slipcase with previously unseen photos and newly commissioned sleeve notes by journalist Adrian Thrills.
May 5 CD street date / June 14 LP street date. BAD RELIGION began in the sprawling suburbs surrounding Los Angeles, with the teenage punks offering an impassioned counterpoint to a culture of consumerism and anti-intellectualism. Founding members Greg Graffin, Brett Gurewitz, and Jay Bentley were eventually joined by guitarists Brian Baker of Minor Threat, Mike Dimkich of The Cult, and drummer Jamie Miller of …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. Bad Religion have been highly influential force in modern punk, producing beloved international hits like “Infected,” “21st Century (Digital Boy),” and “Sorrow,” and building a devoted worldwide following. BAD RELIGION are set to release their new album Age of Unreason, which can be described as “a musical manifesto on the current political landscape.” In a world still brimming with rampant anti-intellectualism, inequality and oppression, the band’s signature brand of sonically charged humanist dissent seems as relevant as ever.
May 3 street date. Inclusivity is at the heart of Barrie, the Brooklyn five-piece made of Barrie Lindsay, Dominic Apa, Spurge Carter, Sabine Holler and Noah Prebish. And on their debut LP "Happy To Be Here", their multidimensional take on classic pop sounds awake and present, like a group that's daydreaming but firmly there with one another. Barrie, the band, is primarily her project; on the record, which she co-produced with Jake Aron (Snail Mail, Solange, Grizzly Bear), Lindsay plays guitar, piano, synth and bass. But still, Barrie is distinctly not a solo project, and this is very much a full band record.
May 3 street date. Inclusivity is at the heart of Barrie, the Brooklyn five-piece made of Barrie Lindsay, Dominic Apa, Spurge Carter, Sabine Holler and Noah Prebish. And on their debut LP "Happy To Be Here", their multidimensional take on classic pop sounds awake and present, like a group that's daydreaming but firmly there with one another. Barrie, the band, is primarily her project; on the record, which she co-produced with Jake Aron (Snail Mail, Solange, Grizzly Bear), Lindsay plays guitar, piano, synth and bass. But still, Barrie is distinctly not a solo project, and this is very much a full band record.
May 3 street date. Inclusivity is at the heart of Barrie, the Brooklyn five-piece made of Barrie Lindsay, Dominic Apa, Spurge Carter, Sabine Holler and Noah Prebish. And on their debut LP "Happy To Be Here", their multidimensional take on classic pop sounds awake and present, like a group that's daydreaming but firmly there with one another. Barrie, the band, is primarily her project; on the record, which she co-produced with Jake Aron (Snail Mail, Solange, Grizzly Bear), Lindsay plays guitar, piano, synth and bass. But still, Barrie is distinctly not a solo project, and this is very much a full band record.
May 3 street date. Through her folkloric mystique, otherworldly psychedelia, and a dash of enigmatic punk, Ahomale by Combo Chimbita catapults the sacred knowledge of our forebears into the future. Their second studio album and Anti- Records debut sees the visionary quartet drawing from ancestral mythologies and musical enlightenment to unearth the awareness of Ahomale, the album’s cosmic muse. Comprised of Carolina Oliveros’ mesmeric contralto, illuminating storytelling and fierce guacaracha rhythms, Prince of Queens’ hypnotic synth stabs and grooving bass lines, Niño Lento’s imaginative guitar licks, and Dilemastronauta’s powerful drumming, the lure and lore of Combo Chimbita comes into existence. Rooted in Colombia and based in New York, Combo Chimbita lives in the future. After playing together for years, these first-generation New Yorkers began experimenting with different traditional musical styles during their late night residencies at Barbès in Brooklyn. Exploring the connections between visual identity and improvisational long-form trips, Combo Chimbita came together as a four-piece band after they started encouraging more vocals by Carolina Oliveros, who tightens the rhythm with her guacharaca.
May 3 street date. Through her folkloric mystique, otherworldly psychedelia, and a dash of enigmatic punk, Ahomale by Combo Chimbita catapults the sacred knowledge of our forebears into the future. Their second studio album and Anti- Records debut sees the visionary quartet drawing from ancestral mythologies and musical enlightenment to unearth the awareness of Ahomale, the album’s cosmic muse. Comprised of Carolina Oliveros’ mesmeric contralto, illuminating storytelling and fierce guacaracha rhythms, Prince of Queens’ hypnotic synth stabs and grooving bass lines, Niño Lento’s imaginative guitar licks, and Dilemastronauta’s powerful drumming, the lure and lore of Combo Chimbita comes into existence. Rooted in Colombia and based in New York, Combo Chimbita lives in the future. After playing together for years, these first-generation New Yorkers began experimenting with different traditional musical styles during their late night residencies at Barbès in Brooklyn. Exploring the connections between visual identity and improvisational long-form trips, Combo Chimbita came together as a four-piece band after they started encouraging more vocals by Carolina Oliveros, who tightens the rhythm with her guacharaca.
May 3 street date. There are two phases of The Dream Syndicate. There was the band with revolving lineups that existed from 1982 to 1988 and made four albums including The Days of Wine and Roses and have influenced bands and delighted fans in the years since. And then there’s the band that reunited in 2012 and is closing in on its seventh year with nary a lineup change. This 21st Century version of the Dream Syndicate released How Did I Find Myself Here in 2017 to universal acclaim, no small feat for a band reuniting after almost three decades. With that reintroduction and a full year of touring behind them, the Dream Syndicate had the freedom to take it all somewhere new, to dig a little deeper, get outside of themselves a little bit. Their new album ‘These Times’ feels like a late-night radio show that you might have heard as a kid, drifting off into dreams and wondering the next morning if any of it was real. So, what does it sound like? If How Did I Find Myself Here was a 10 pm record, all swagger and cathartic explosion, then These Times is the 2 am sibling, moodier and more mercurial, the band acting as DJs of their own overnight radio station, riffing on an idea of what a Dream Syndicate album could be at this moment in time. It is Radio DS19. So, what’s it all about? Founder and singer/guitarist/songwriter Steve Wynn says, “These Times. That’s it. It’s all we’re talking about, all we’re thinking about. There’s no avoiding the existential panic of a world that’s hurtling somewhere quickly and evolving and shifting course by the hour. It seems like a lie to not address or reflect the things that we can’t stop thinking about—the whole world’s watching indeed.”
May 3 street date. There are two phases of The Dream Syndicate. There was the band with revolving lineups that existed from 1982 to 1988 and made four albums including The Days of Wine and Roses and have influenced bands and delighted fans in the years since. And then there’s the band that reunited in 2012 and is closing in on its seventh year with nary a lineup change. This 21st Century version of the Dream Syndicate released How Did I Find Myself Here in 2017 to universal acclaim, no small feat for a band reuniting after almost three decades. With that reintroduction and a full year of touring behind them, the Dream Syndicate had the freedom to take it all somewhere new, to dig a little deeper, get outside of themselves a little bit. Their new album ‘These Times’ feels like a late-night radio show that you might have heard as a kid, drifting off into dreams and wondering the next morning if any of it was real. So, what does it sound like? If How Did I Find Myself Here was a 10 pm record, all swagger and cathartic explosion, then These Times is the 2 am sibling, moodier and more mercurial, the band acting as DJs of their own overnight radio station, riffing on an idea of what a Dream Syndicate album could be at this moment in time. It is Radio DS19. So, what’s it all about? Founder and singer/guitarist/songwriter Steve Wynn says, “These Times. That’s it. It’s all we’re talking about, all we’re thinking about. There’s no avoiding the existential panic of a world that’s hurtling somewhere quickly and evolving and shifting course by the hour. It seems like a lie to not address or reflect the things that we can’t stop thinking about—the whole world’s watching indeed.”
May 3 street date. There are two phases of The Dream Syndicate. There was the band with revolving lineups that existed from 1982 to 1988 and made four albums including The Days of Wine and Roses and have influenced bands and delighted fans in the years since. And then there’s the band that reunited in 2012 and is closing in on its seventh year with nary a lineup change. This 21st Century version of the Dream Syndicate released How Did I Find Myself Here in 2017 to universal acclaim, no small feat for a band reuniting after almost three decades. With that reintroduction and a full year of touring behind them, the Dream Syndicate had the freedom to take it all somewhere new, to dig a little deeper, get outside of themselves a little bit. Their new album ‘These Times’ feels like a late-night radio show that you might have heard as a kid, drifting off into dreams and wondering the next morning if any of it was real. So, what does it sound like? If How Did I Find Myself Here was a 10 pm record, all swagger and cathartic explosion, then These Times is the 2 am sibling, moodier and more mercurial, the band acting as DJs of their own overnight radio station, riffing on an idea of what a Dream Syndicate album could be at this moment in time. It is Radio DS19. So, what’s it all about? Founder and singer/guitarist/songwriter Steve Wynn says, “These Times. That’s it. It’s all we’re talking about, all we’re thinking about. There’s no avoiding the existential panic of a world that’s hurtling somewhere quickly and evolving and shifting course by the hour. It seems like a lie to not address or reflect the things that we can’t stop thinking about—the whole world’s watching indeed.”
May 3 street date. Roxanne Clifford’s (Veronica Falls) new project. Features Todd Edwards (Daft Punk / UK Garage fame), Lewis Cook (Free Love / Happy Meals), Misha Hering (Virginia Wing), and Marion Herbain (Veronica Falls). Patience began as bedroom synth project for songwriter Roxanne Clifford after the break up of her acclaimed indie pop band Veronica Falls. Born out of a desire to experiment with a new sound and analogue synthesizers, the project has since grown to become an all-encompassing persona and serves as the main vehicle for the full emotional spectrum always latent in Clifford’s songwriting. From her first long-sold-out 7-inch singles on Night School, her knack for melodic hooks and oblique emotional stances already contained a glistening sheen of promise. Dizzy Spells serves as an intimate portrait of Clifford’s creative adventure, almost diaristic, conceived and recorded in her home studio, as well as with collaborators Todd Edwards (Daft Punk / UK Garage fame), Lewis Cook (Free Love / Happy Meals) and engineer Misha Hering (Virginia Wing). Dizzy Spells delivers a debut album that twists Clifford’s songwriting into new shapes and ecstasies. The album dances around melancholy, thrown to the floor like a bad dream to be circled, emerging bright-eyed into the early morning full of hope.
May 3 street date. Roxanne Clifford’s (Veronica Falls) new project. Features Todd Edwards (Daft Punk / UK Garage fame), Lewis Cook (Free Love / Happy Meals), Misha Hering (Virginia Wing), and Marion Herbain (Veronica Falls). Patience began as bedroom synth project for songwriter Roxanne Clifford after the break up of her acclaimed indie pop band Veronica Falls. Born out of a desire to experiment with a new sound and analogue synthesizers, the project has since grown to become an all-encompassing persona and serves as the main vehicle for the full emotional spectrum always latent in Clifford’s songwriting. From her first long-sold-out 7-inch singles on Night School, her knack for melodic hooks and oblique emotional stances already contained a glistening sheen of promise. Dizzy Spells serves as an intimate portrait of Clifford’s creative adventure, almost diaristic, conceived and recorded in her home studio, as well as with collaborators Todd Edwards (Daft Punk / UK Garage fame), Lewis Cook (Free Love / Happy Meals) and engineer Misha Hering (Virginia Wing). Dizzy Spells delivers a debut album that twists Clifford’s songwriting into new shapes and ecstasies. The album dances around melancholy, thrown to the floor like a bad dream to be circled, emerging bright-eyed into the early morning full of hope.
May 3 street date. He was a singer, a rebel, and a voice of the people. With a banjo and a selfless dedication to justice and the transformative power of music, he inspired all of humanity to question the status quo, to sing out and speak up against oppression wherever they witnessed it. His body of work reflects a deep reverence for the earth and all of those who walk on it; you can hear it in his voice and in the voices of the thousands of people who sang and continue to sing with him every day. Pete Seeger: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection is a career-spanning anthology of one of America’s most quintessential, celebrated, and influential musicians. Featuring classic recordings, 20 previously unreleased tracks, historic live performances, and special collaborations, this set encompasses over 60 years of Pete’s Folkways catalog, released on the occasion of his 100th birthday.
May 10 street date. Lydia Ainsworth is a composer, producer and singer based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She has released two albums, the Juno-nominated Right From Real and Darling of the Afterglow. Her Third album Phantom Forest is slated to be released in early May of 2019. On ‘Phantom Forest’ Lydia Ainsworth introduces a lush, complex dream world that she created and inhabits largely on her own. It’s a beautiful, vast collection of art pop with hooks about the search for personal connections in the midst of apocalypse and technology. It’s a journey that holds up to close listening (and lyric reading) and to dance floors, but can also exist on a purely emotional plane. In all cases, it asks that you listen, and take some kind of action.
May 10 street date. Lydia Ainsworth is a composer, producer and singer based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She has released two albums, the Juno-nominated Right From Real and Darling of the Afterglow. Her Third album Phantom Forest is slated to be released in early May of 2019. On ‘Phantom Forest’ Lydia Ainsworth introduces a lush, complex dream world that she created and inhabits largely on her own. It’s a beautiful, vast collection of art pop with hooks about the search for personal connections in the midst of apocalypse and technology. It’s a journey that holds up to close listening (and lyric reading) and to dance floors, but can also exist on a purely emotional plane. In all cases, it asks that you listen, and take some kind of action.
April 5 CD street date / May 10 LP street date. (Collection of never released demos, rare tracks and early singles from Canada’s punk pioneers.) Sudden Death is excited to announce the release of the D.O.A. album 1978. It’s a 21-track collection of never released demos, rare tracks and early singles from Canada’s punk pioneers. Joey Shithead went deep into the vault and came up with some super exciting and raw punk rock. The album title and art concept is a spike-haired nod of the head to that early, dynamic era ofthe band and to the seven great former members who have since passed on. Their spirit and talent played a huge role into launching the band into worldwide prominence. The two constants on the album are Joey and Chuck Biscuits, who play on every track. From the start of 1978 begins their wild, “I don’t give a shit” approach to punk rock. Now some forty years later one can hear it all, starting with the never-seen-the-light-of-day demo version of “The Enemy”. This demo has a different set of lyrics that speaks to fighting Nazis—strange, what is old is new and vital again. There’s a ton of exciting tracks that range from the never heard before, such as “Bored And Suicidal”, “The Mutant”, “No God No War”, “Rip Dis Joint”, “No Way Out” and “Rent-A-Riot”, to classic early singles like “Fucked Up Ronnie”, “Disco Sucks”, “World War 3”, “The Prisoner” and “13”. Also included are demo versions of “America The Beautiful” and “Liar For Hire” with Biscuits drumming, which are wildly different than the classic versions you hear on War On 45. On this collection are the origins of hardcore and a full blast of D.O.A’s politics and raucous humour.
May 3 street date. Since their inception in 2008, Defeater have stood apart as storytellers in the world of hardcore. Hailing from Boston, Massachusetts, the band’s lineup consists of Derek Archambault (vocals), Adam Crowe (guitar), Jake Woodruff (guitar), Joe Longobardi (drums) and Mike Poulin (bass). They have toured with the likes of La Dispute, Comeback Kid, and August Burns Red. Defeater will be the band’s fifth studio album. (For Fans of Touche’ Amore’, La Dispute and Title Fight).
May 3 street date. Since their inception in 2008, Defeater have stood apart as storytellers in the world of hardcore. Hailing from Boston, Massachusetts, the band’s lineup consists of Derek Archambault (vocals), Adam Crowe (guitar), Jake Woodruff (guitar), Joe Longobardi (drums) and Mike Poulin (bass). They have toured with the likes of La Dispute, Comeback Kid, and August Burns Red. Defeater will be the band’s fifth studio album. (For Fans of Touche’ Amore’, La Dispute and Title Fight).
May 3 street date. Since their inception in 2008, Defeater have stood apart as storytellers in the world of hardcore. Hailing from Boston, Massachusetts, the band’s lineup consists of Derek Archambault (vocals), Adam Crowe (guitar), Jake Woodruff (guitar), Joe Longobardi (drums) and Mike Poulin (bass). They have toured with the likes of La Dispute, Comeback Kid, and August Burns Red. Defeater will be the band’s fifth studio album. (For Fans of Touche’ Amore’, La Dispute and Title Fight).
April 12 CD street date // May 10 LP street date. Live At The Observatory was recorded on 9/8/18 at the sold out kick-off show for the band’s Hypochondriac album tour. The San Diego based band will be supporting the live album with performances at the Coachella Music & Arts Festival (Indio, CA) in April, and additional tour dates to follow. The live record features tracks from the band’s entire catalog including five tracks from their 2018 album Hypochondriac. A must have any fan of The Frights!
May 10 street date. Montreal's Tim Hecker returns with "Anoyo", which draws from the same sessions with members of Tokyo Gakuso which led to the 2018 work "Konoyo", but rendered starker, solemn, and stripped back, with more of a naturalist tint. Hecker's processing here moves in veiled ways, soft refractions and whispered shrouds woven within improvisational sessions of traditional gagaku interplay, evoking a sense of vaulted space, temples at dawn, shredded silk fluttering in the rafters. This is boldly barren music, skeletal and sculptural, shaped from wood, wind, strings, and mist. Modern yet ancient, delicate and desolate, "Anoyo" inverts its predecessor to compellingly conjure a parallel world of illusion, solitude, and eternal return.
May 10 street date. Montreal's Tim Hecker returns with "Anoyo", which draws from the same sessions with members of Tokyo Gakuso which led to the 2018 work "Konoyo", but rendered starker, solemn, and stripped back, with more of a naturalist tint. Hecker's processing here moves in veiled ways, soft refractions and whispered shrouds woven within improvisational sessions of traditional gagaku interplay, evoking a sense of vaulted space, temples at dawn, shredded silk fluttering in the rafters. This is boldly barren music, skeletal and sculptural, shaped from wood, wind, strings, and mist. Modern yet ancient, delicate and desolate, "Anoyo" inverts its predecessor to compellingly conjure a parallel world of illusion, solitude, and eternal return.
Please note new street date: May 10. Originally released in 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "Wedding Album" was the couple's third experimental, album-length record, and one of the most remarkable of the duo's testaments to an intense romantic and artistic partnership that would last fourteen years, until Lennon's tragic passing in 1980. On March 20, 1969, John and Yoko were married in a civil service in Gibraltar. To celebrate the event, in lieu of a conventional honeymoon, the newlyweds spent a week in bed at the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam, inviting members of the press into their room for interviews and photo sessions, and using their fame and the publicity generated by their "Bed-in" to call attention to their campaign for world peace. With "Wedding Album", John and Yoko created an enduring snapshot of a vibrant pop-cultural moment, with the hostilities of the Vietnam War as its bracing backdrop. It captures the humor, earnestness, and spontaneity that marked the early years of the "Ballad of John and Yoko" era. Now, with a faithful recreation of Wedding Album in limited-edition, white-vinyl LP; compact disc; and digital-download formats, Secretly Canadian and Chimera Music are making one of the most unusual and emblematic recordings of the Sixties available again to mark the golden wedding anniversary of two of the 20th century's most emblematic cultural figures.
May 10 street date. Craig Leon revisits the extraterrestrial origins of civilization in "Anthology of Interplanetary Folk Music Vol. 2: The Canon". Picking up where the pioneering electronic albums "Nommos" and "Visiting (Anthology of Interplanetary Folk Music Vol. 1)" left off, "The Canon" traces the imparted knowledge of alien visitors as it spread from Africa across the ancient world. Co-produced and featuring vocals by Cassell Webb, the pair engage a sonic pallet familiar from Vol. 1, updated with ecstatic contemporary sound and synthesis, creating a propulsive, exploratory album of cosmic lore and speculative anthropology.
May 10 street date. Craig Leon revisits the extraterrestrial origins of civilization in "Anthology of Interplanetary Folk Music Vol. 2: The Canon". Picking up where the pioneering electronic albums "Nommos" and "Visiting (Anthology of Interplanetary Folk Music Vol. 1)" left off, "The Canon" traces the imparted knowledge of alien visitors as it spread from Africa across the ancient world. Co-produced and featuring vocals by Cassell Webb, the pair engage a sonic pallet familiar from Vol. 1, updated with ecstatic contemporary sound and synthesis, creating a propulsive, exploratory album of cosmic lore and speculative anthropology.
May 10 street date. Love & Work: The Lioness Sessions is the latest reissue in the Songs: Ohia canon. The CD reissue includes the original, classic album, The Lioness, as well as never-before-heard recordings from The Lioness sessions. The Lioness is the first Jason Molina project to fully turn away from the battlefield folk and deconstructed Americana of earlier Songs: Ohia recordings. At the dawn of the 21st century, the album felt modern. It aligned Molina with a new set of peers - Low, Gastr del Sol, Red House Painters and, most importantly, the influential Scottish band Arab Strap, whose producer and members were crucial in the creation of The Lioness. The avant-garde tones and arrangements of Arab Strap are absorbed here into Molina's songwriting to create what would become, for many acolytes, the archetypal Songs: Ohia sound. Love & Work: The Lioness Sessions will serve as the seminal log of the era, complete with lost songs, photos, drawings, and essays from those who knew Molina best.
May 10 street date. Mavis Staples returns with a brand new studio album produced and written by Ben Harper. Backed by Mavis’ critically acclaimed live band, We Get By features 10 songs of longing, strength, and spirituality, presented with simplicity, grit and sublime beauty. Highlights include the buoyant, “Anytime”, the cathartic, “Change”, and the title track, an uplifting duet with Ben Harper.
May 10 street date. Mavis Staples returns with a brand new studio album produced and written by Ben Harper. Backed by Mavis’ critically acclaimed live band, We Get By features 10 songs of longing, strength, and spirituality, presented with simplicity, grit and sublime beauty. Highlights include the buoyant, “Anytime”, the cathartic, “Change”, and the title track, an uplifting duet with Ben Harper.
May 10 street date. Jamila Woods has a voice and lyrical sensibility that transcends generations, and so it makes sense to have this lush and layered album that bounces seamlessly from one sonic aesthetic to another. This was the case on 2016's "HEAVN", which found Woods hopeful and exploratory, looking along the edges resilience and exhaustion for some measures of joy. Her new album, "LEGACY! LEGACY!" is the logical conclusion to that looking. From the airy boom-bap of "Giovanni" to the psychedelic flourishes of "Sonia," the instrument which ties the musical threads together is the ability of Woods to find her pockets in the waves of instrumentation, stretching syllables and vowels over the harmony of noise until each puzzle piece has a home. Jamila Woods is a singular soul singer who, in voice, holds the rhetorical demand. The knowing that there is no compromise for someone with vision this endless.
May 10 street date. Jamila Woods has a voice and lyrical sensibility that transcends generations, and so it makes sense to have this lush and layered album that bounces seamlessly from one sonic aesthetic to another. This was the case on 2016's "HEAVN", which found Woods hopeful and exploratory, looking along the edges resilience and exhaustion for some measures of joy. Her new album, "LEGACY! LEGACY!" is the logical conclusion to that looking. From the airy boom-bap of "Giovanni" to the psychedelic flourishes of "Sonia," the instrument which ties the musical threads together is the ability of Woods to find her pockets in the waves of instrumentation, stretching syllables and vowels over the harmony of noise until each puzzle piece has a home. Jamila Woods is a singular soul singer who, in voice, holds the rhetorical demand. The knowing that there is no compromise for someone with vision this endless.
May 17 street date. Inspired by the warm, inviting sounds of ‘70s singer-songwriters like Jackson Browne and Graham Nash, Ryan Pollie wanted to make the most personal music of his career. He had released two albums as Los Angeles Police Department, and now he was ready to shed the protective barrier of his old band name — to make music, simply, as himself. Bolder and crisper than the albums he’s made as Los Angeles Police Department, his self-titled record emerges from a deeply collaborative place. He invited many of his closest friends over to his home to record the album, and a feeling of warm camaraderie shines through the music. “When somebody plays on a song, their character is in it,” he says. “I like to think all my friends are on this record. Their personality is in it. That was really important to me. I’m able to do what I do, mentally and emotionally, because of the people around me.”
May 17 street date. Inspired by the warm, inviting sounds of ‘70s singer-songwriters like Jackson Browne and Graham Nash, Ryan Pollie wanted to make the most personal music of his career. He had released two albums as Los Angeles Police Department, and now he was ready to shed the protective barrier of his old band name — to make music, simply, as himself. Bolder and crisper than the albums he’s made as Los Angeles Police Department, his self-titled record emerges from a deeply collaborative place. He invited many of his closest friends over to his home to record the album, and a feeling of warm camaraderie shines through the music. “When somebody plays on a song, their character is in it,” he says. “I like to think all my friends are on this record. Their personality is in it. That was really important to me. I’m able to do what I do, mentally and emotionally, because of the people around me.”
June 7 street date. Plague Vendor are a fierce live band and the foursome have spent the last five years playing endless live shows. A fearless our-way-is-the-hard-way work ethic and famously physical live shows won the band a ferocious fan base. At the heart of every show is the frenetic performances by front man Brandon Blaine, guitarist Jay Rogers, bassist Michael Perez, drummer Luke Perine. That combined with the musicians’ energy and spirit, the band evokes a foreboding, and very rock ‘n’ roll presence. Plague Vendor are ready to release their third album, entitled By Night, a record that captures feelings of ruin and regeneration, of charisma and catastrophe and of slashing at the night with nothing but pure electricity. Where 2016’s BLOODSWEAT ended with a to-be-continued moment and Blaine shouting “Romance!” into the silence, By Night ends with a second of feedback and noise. It’s a perfectly spent finish to an adrenaline rush of a record that asks, “What just happened?” The band spent eleven days locked in at Hollywood’s legendary EastWest Studios (Brian Wilson, Ozzy Osbourne, Iggy Pop) with St Vincent producer John Congleton, with all visitors banned and all distraction eliminated. When they met Congleton they connected intensely and instantly, more like co-conspirators than colleagues. With Congleton’s precision production, they found their own way between the powerful-but-too-polished sound of right now and the engaging-but-aging reinterpretations of classic punk/rock albums of the 60s and 70s.
June 7 street date. Plague Vendor are a fierce live band and the foursome have spent the last five years playing endless live shows. A fearless our-way-is-the-hard-way work ethic and famously physical live shows won the band a ferocious fan base. At the heart of every show is the frenetic performances by front man Brandon Blaine, guitarist Jay Rogers, bassist Michael Perez, drummer Luke Perine. That combined with the musicians’ energy and spirit, the band evokes a foreboding, and very rock ‘n’ roll presence. Plague Vendor are ready to release their third album, entitled By Night, a record that captures feelings of ruin and regeneration, of charisma and catastrophe and of slashing at the night with nothing but pure electricity. Where 2016’s BLOODSWEAT ended with a to-be-continued moment and Blaine shouting “Romance!” into the silence, By Night ends with a second of feedback and noise. It’s a perfectly spent finish to an adrenaline rush of a record that asks, “What just happened?” The band spent eleven days locked in at Hollywood’s legendary EastWest Studios (Brian Wilson, Ozzy Osbourne, Iggy Pop) with St Vincent producer John Congleton, with all visitors banned and all distraction eliminated. When they met Congleton they connected intensely and instantly, more like co-conspirators than colleagues. With Congleton’s precision production, they found their own way between the powerful-but-too-polished sound of right now and the engaging-but-aging reinterpretations of classic punk/rock albums of the 60s and 70s.
May 5 CD street date / June 14 LP street date. BAD RELIGION began in the sprawling suburbs surrounding Los Angeles, with the teenage punks offering an impassioned counterpoint to a culture of consumerism and anti-intellectualism. Founding members Greg Graffin, Brett Gurewitz, and Jay Bentley were eventually joined by guitarists Brian Baker of Minor Threat, Mike Dimkich of The Cult, and drummer Jamie Miller of …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. Bad Religion have been highly influential force in modern punk, producing beloved international hits like “Infected,” “21st Century (Digital Boy),” and “Sorrow,” and building a devoted worldwide following. BAD RELIGION are set to release their new album Age of Unreason, which can be described as “a musical manifesto on the current political landscape.” In a world still brimming with rampant anti-intellectualism, inequality and oppression, the band’s signature brand of sonically charged humanist dissent seems as relevant as ever.
February 15 street date. The one-man hurricane known as Bloodshot Bill started in his hometown of Montreal around 1998, with just a guitar and a stomp board. Since then, he’s had over 35 releases throughout Europe and North America. He keeps a jam-packed calendar, juggling insane live shows all over the world with the requisite studio time, where the magic often happens with a star-studded stack of cohorts including The 5.6.7.8.’s, Jon Spencer, King Khan, Beat Poet Charles Plymell, Mark Sultan, Deke Dickerson and Shannon Shaw of Shannon & The Clams. Although this pistol plays well with others, there’s a reason he’s known as the greatest living one-man band. Artist Joe Coleman once called him “a cross between Jimmie Rodgers and Popeye,” and director John Waters says he’s “like Roy Orbison with a head wound.” There have been some movie roles (usually playing himself), and accolades, too—he has won FME’s Coup De Coeur, and has been a nominee three times for an Ameripolitan Music Award. Bloodshot Bill’s whacked-out take on rockabilly stroll and early R & B begins where Charlie Feathers’ cryptic mumble meets Bobby Lee Trammell’s uninhibited beat and then goes scampering down dark alleys beyond genres—plus, it’s catchy as hell! Come Get Your Love Right Now is his seventh album, and first for Goner, after several with the great purveyors of forgotten sounds, Norton Records. Dig the unhinged howl, that loose-stringed strum, his unique beat. Go bang your head on a bongo—come and get it!
February 15 street date. The one-man hurricane known as Bloodshot Bill started in his hometown of Montreal around 1998, with just a guitar and a stomp board. Since then, he’s had over 35 releases throughout Europe and North America. He keeps a jam-packed calendar, juggling insane live shows all over the world with the requisite studio time, where the magic often happens with a star-studded stack of cohorts including The 5.6.7.8.’s, Jon Spencer, King Khan, Beat Poet Charles Plymell, Mark Sultan, Deke Dickerson and Shannon Shaw of Shannon & The Clams. Although this pistol plays well with others, there’s a reason he’s known as the greatest living one-man band. Artist Joe Coleman once called him “a cross between Jimmie Rodgers and Popeye,” and director John Waters says he’s “like Roy Orbison with a head wound.” There have been some movie roles (usually playing himself), and accolades, too—he has won FME’s Coup De Coeur, and has been a nominee three times for an Ameripolitan Music Award. Bloodshot Bill’s whacked-out take on rockabilly stroll and early R & B begins where Charlie Feathers’ cryptic mumble meets Bobby Lee Trammell’s uninhibited beat and then goes scampering down dark alleys beyond genres—plus, it’s catchy as hell! Come Get Your Love Right Now is his seventh album, and first for Goner, after several with the great purveyors of forgotten sounds, Norton Records. Dig the unhinged howl, that loose-stringed strum, his unique beat. Go bang your head on a bongo—come and get it!
March 15 street date. You can count the number of bands who've stayed together for 30 years on two hands, and you can use just one to count those who've consistently released quality material for the duration of those three decades. The Bouncing Souls are a part of this esteemed category, and in keeping with their D.I.Y. punk roots, they've done it without a major label, corporate radio, or MTV. The Bouncing Souls are nothing short of a legacy, and with their new release "Crucial Moments" they're showing just why they've become one of the most respected and appreciated punk bands of all time.The Bouncing Souls will embark on a worldwide headline tour to support this release, and to celebrate their 30 year anniversary.
March 15 street date. You can count the number of bands who've stayed together for 30 years on two hands, and you can use just one to count those who've consistently released quality material for the duration of those three decades. The Bouncing Souls are a part of this esteemed category, and in keeping with their D.I.Y. punk roots, they've done it without a major label, corporate radio, or MTV. The Bouncing Souls are nothing short of a legacy, and with their new release "Crucial Moments" they're showing just why they've become one of the most respected and appreciated punk bands of all time.The Bouncing Souls will embark on a worldwide headline tour to support this release, and to celebrate their 30 year anniversary.
March 15 street date. Superb deluxe packaging heavy board 180g clear vinyl and printed plastic sleeve. Brian Jonestown Massacre burst into 2019 with the release of their 18th full-length album, just 7 months after their last one. It was recorded and produced at Anton’s Cobra Studio in Berlin.The album was originally going to be released in September, but due to a hugely successful global tour – taking in USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe the release was delayed. Recorded this time last year, the album features Sara Neidorf on drums, Heike Marie Radeker (LeVent) on bass, Hakon Adalsteinsson (BJM / Third Sound & Gunman & Holy Ghost) on guitar and Anton Newcombe on multiple instruments. Also making a guest vocal appearance on ‘Tombes Oubliées’ is Rike Bienert who has sung on previous BJM albums.
February 15 street date. The chorus to the title track on the new Hayes Carll album, What It Is, is a manifesto. What it was is gone forever / What it could be God only knows. What it is, is right here in front of me / and I'm not letting go. He's embracing the moment. Leaving the past where it belongs, accepting there's no way to know what's ahead, and challenging himself to be present in both love and life. It's heady stuff. It also rocks. With a career full of critical acclaim and popular success, Carll could've played it safe on this, his sixth record, but he didn't. The result is a musically ambitious and lyrically deep statement of an artist in his creative prime.
February 15 street date. The chorus to the title track on the new Hayes Carll album, What It Is, is a manifesto. What it was is gone forever / What it could be God only knows. What it is, is right here in front of me / and I'm not letting go. He's embracing the moment. Leaving the past where it belongs, accepting there's no way to know what's ahead, and challenging himself to be present in both love and life. It's heady stuff. It also rocks. With a career full of critical acclaim and popular success, Carll could've played it safe on this, his sixth record, but he didn't. The result is a musically ambitious and lyrically deep statement of an artist in his creative prime.
March 8 street date. Elizabeth Cotten's 1958 debut album on Folkways is best known for containing the earliest recording of her classic "Freight Train." The breadth of her repertoire and her endearing style have captivated generations of guitarists and fans of traditional American music. Cotten's self-taught, upside-down, left-handed playing style on the guitar and banjo made her a true original. Many of her deeply personal compositions, such as the immortal "Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie," are included. This reissue is part of Smithsonian Folkways Vinyl Reissue Series revisiting some of the most iconic and influential albums released on the record label, continuing with Mary Lou Williams (FWLP02843), and Lucinda Williams (FWLP31067) and features Mike Seeger's updated notes with comments on Cotten's life, musical style, and song lyrics.
February 15 street date. Fresh off 2018's collaborative LP with the enigmatic MF Doom, "Czarface Meets Metal Face", the
adventure continues as Czarface now faces off with Wu-Tang Clan's Ghostface Killah. "Czarface meets Ghostface" brings strictly mind melting beats and bars as 3 emcees clash like villains and heroes in the Savage Land. Czarface, a hip-hop and comics force comprised of Wu-Tang Clan General Inspectah Deck, Esoteric (who recently penned an X-Men comic for Marvel) and super producer 7L team up with Ghostface aka Iron-Man aka Tony Starks for murderous mayhem!
February 15 street date. Fresh off 2018's collaborative LP with the enigmatic MF Doom, "Czarface Meets Metal Face", the
adventure continues as Czarface now faces off with Wu-Tang Clan's Ghostface Killah. "Czarface meets Ghostface" brings strictly mind melting beats and bars as 3 emcees clash like villains and heroes in the Savage Land. Czarface, a hip-hop and comics force comprised of Wu-Tang Clan General Inspectah Deck, Esoteric (who recently penned an X-Men comic for Marvel) and super producer 7L team up with Ghostface aka Iron-Man aka Tony Starks for murderous mayhem!
February 15 street date. Fresh off 2018's collaborative LP with the enigmatic MF Doom, "Czarface Meets Metal Face", the adventure continues as Czarface now faces off with Wu-Tang Clan's Ghostface Killah. "Czarface meets Ghostface" brings strictly mind melting beats and bars as 3 emcees clash like villains and heroes in the Savage Land. Czarface, a hip-hop and comics force comprised of Wu-Tang Clan General Inspectah Deck, Esoteric (who recently penned an X-Men comic for Marvel) and super producer 7L team up with Ghostface aka Iron-Man aka Tony Starks for murderous mayhem!
March 1 street date. Delicate Steve is back with his 5th studio album, Till I Burn Up. A critically acclaimed guitarist beloved by music critics and his peers, Steve has played on the albums of artists from Paul Simon to Yeasayer, and toured with artists from Tame Impala to The Growlers. Check out what the critics have to say about Delicate Steve. “Steve Marion..this fierce and lyrical guitar player, who performs as Delicate Steve, writes playful instrumental music led by hooky vocals — but there is no voice. His electric guitar is often played with a glass slide, mimicking a human being and bringing a palpable personality to his songs. “ - BOB BOILAND , NPR MUSIC “Steve Marion has become something you didn’t know you even needed in this day and age: a guitar hero. And just as contemporary superhero franchise reboots tend to focus less on their protagonists’ powers and more on their flaws, Marion wields his ample talent with the humility of a mortal. On the (mostly) instrumental albums he’s released as Delicate Steve, Marion’s guitar playing is always in the spotlight, but never hogging it—rather, his luminous leads form the emotional undercurrent around which everything else flows. What makes Marion a guitar hero isn’t just his technical wizardry, but his music’s mission to help you through dark times.” - STUART BERMAN, PITCHFORK
March 1 street date. Delicate Steve is back with his 5th studio album, Till I Burn Up. A critically acclaimed guitarist beloved by music critics and his peers, Steve has played on the albums of artists from Paul Simon to Yeasayer, and toured with artists from Tame Impala to The Growlers. Check out what the critics have to say about Delicate Steve. “Steve Marion..this fierce and lyrical guitar player, who performs as Delicate Steve, writes playful instrumental music led by hooky vocals — but there is no voice. His electric guitar is often played with a glass slide, mimicking a human being and bringing a palpable personality to his songs. “ - BOB BOILAND , NPR MUSIC “Steve Marion has become something you didn’t know you even needed in this day and age: a guitar hero. And just as contemporary superhero franchise reboots tend to focus less on their protagonists’ powers and more on their flaws, Marion wields his ample talent with the humility of a mortal. On the (mostly) instrumental albums he’s released as Delicate Steve, Marion’s guitar playing is always in the spotlight, but never hogging it—rather, his luminous leads form the emotional undercurrent around which everything else flows. What makes Marion a guitar hero isn’t just his technical wizardry, but his music’s mission to help you through dark times.” - STUART BERMAN, PITCHFORK
February 15 street date. Elliott and the Audio Kings, from Waterloo Ontario, are a new voice in the Blues coming at you with an old school approach. Standing on the bedrock of the blues recorded by the post-war masters, Elliott and the Audio kings are building on that foundation, with their own brand of shuffles, boogies and swings. Semi-finalists at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis 2019 !
February 22 street date. Martin Frawley is co-leader of Melbourne Australia’s Twerps, formed in 2008 & shortly thereafter named Best New Band in Australia via Uncut Magazine. Undone at 31 is Martin Frawley’s solo debut. Named for the year in his life when the bottom fell out following a long-term romantic partnership, Melbourne’s Martin Frawley (Twerps) sequenced Undone at 31 chronologically to emphasize his journey. He took time off from drinking after mistakes and missteps in his Australian pubs, as chronicled on “End of the Bar,” an early standout that’s equal parts Velvet Underground cool and outlaw country. While visiting Brooklyn during that period, Frawley found a collaborator in Stewart Bronaugh (Angel Olsen, Lionlimb) who, as he says, “gave me confidence and strength when I needed it the most,” and after bonding over albums by John Cale, Anna Domino, and Frank Ocean, “knew where I needed to take the music.” Those familiar with Frawley’s time as co-leader of Twerps will take comfort in hearing his deceptively simple songwriting is still intact, but the big reveal here is how new instrumentation and influences seamlessly expand Frawley’s playground. It might take several listens for one to realize Frawley is singing “Something About Me” over just violin, Moog, and a Graceland-esque bassline, or to appreciate the PB+J pairing of Fender Rhodes and lap steel on “Where the Heart Is,” which serves as Undone at 31’s twist ending. Frawley’s album does not shy away from morbid musings and raw emotions that come with a breakup, and like Shoot Out the Lights or Sea Change, Undone at 31’s tunefulness and exploration combined are what elevate the music above the melancholy subject matter.
Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7" single. The vinyl 7" was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was released on CD, LP, and cassette. With this release Merge also forged a relationship with Touch and Go Records of Chicago, who have done an admirable job manufacturing and distributing the bulk of Merge's full-length releases since then. Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC. In 2004 Merge Records is celebrating its 15th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated and expanded over the last 15 years, the quality we look for in records as fans is still there in the music we put out on Merge. Thanks for listening!
February 22 street date. Martin Frawley is co-leader of Melbourne Australia’s Twerps, formed in 2008 & shortly thereafter named Best New Band in Australia via Uncut Magazine. Undone at 31 is Martin Frawley’s solo debut. Named for the year in his life when the bottom fell out following a long-term romantic partnership, Melbourne’s Martin Frawley (Twerps) sequenced Undone at 31 chronologically to emphasize his journey. He took time off from drinking after mistakes and missteps in his Australian pubs, as chronicled on “End of the Bar,” an early standout that’s equal parts Velvet Underground cool and outlaw country. While visiting Brooklyn during that period, Frawley found a collaborator in Stewart Bronaugh (Angel Olsen, Lionlimb) who, as he says, “gave me confidence and strength when I needed it the most,” and after bonding over albums by John Cale, Anna Domino, and Frank Ocean, “knew where I needed to take the music.” Those familiar with Frawley’s time as co-leader of Twerps will take comfort in hearing his deceptively simple songwriting is still intact, but the big reveal here is how new instrumentation and influences seamlessly expand Frawley’s playground. It might take several listens for one to realize Frawley is singing “Something About Me” over just violin, Moog, and a Graceland-esque bassline, or to appreciate the PB+J pairing of Fender Rhodes and lap steel on “Where the Heart Is,” which serves as Undone at 31’s twist ending. Frawley’s album does not shy away from morbid musings and raw emotions that come with a breakup, and like Shoot Out the Lights or Sea Change, Undone at 31’s tunefulness and exploration combined are what elevate the music above the melancholy subject matter.
Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7" single. The vinyl 7" was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was released on CD, LP, and cassette. With this release Merge also forged a relationship with Touch and Go Records of Chicago, who have done an admirable job manufacturing and distributing the bulk of Merge's full-length releases since then. Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC. In 2004 Merge Records is celebrating its 15th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated and expanded over the last 15 years, the quality we look for in records as fans is still there in the music we put out on Merge. Thanks for listening!
February 22 street date. Martin Frawley is co-leader of Melbourne Australia’s Twerps, formed in 2008 & shortly thereafter named Best New Band in Australia via Uncut Magazine. Undone at 31 is Martin Frawley’s solo debut. Named for the year in his life when the bottom fell out following a long-term romantic partnership, Melbourne’s Martin Frawley (Twerps) sequenced Undone at 31 chronologically to emphasize his journey. He took time off from drinking after mistakes and missteps in his Australian pubs, as chronicled on “End of the Bar,” an early standout that’s equal parts Velvet Underground cool and outlaw country. While visiting Brooklyn during that period, Frawley found a collaborator in Stewart Bronaugh (Angel Olsen, Lionlimb) who, as he says, “gave me confidence and strength when I needed it the most,” and after bonding over albums by John Cale, Anna Domino, and Frank Ocean, “knew where I needed to take the music.” Those familiar with Frawley’s time as co-leader of Twerps will take comfort in hearing his deceptively simple songwriting is still intact, but the big reveal here is how new instrumentation and influences seamlessly expand Frawley’s playground. It might take several listens for one to realize Frawley is singing “Something About Me” over just violin, Moog, and a Graceland-esque bassline, or to appreciate the PB+J pairing of Fender Rhodes and lap steel on “Where the Heart Is,” which serves as Undone at 31’s twist ending. Frawley’s album does not shy away from morbid musings and raw emotions that come with a breakup, and like Shoot Out the Lights or Sea Change, Undone at 31’s tunefulness and exploration combined are what elevate the music above the melancholy subject matter.
Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7" single. The vinyl 7" was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was released on CD, LP, and cassette. With this release Merge also forged a relationship with Touch and Go Records of Chicago, who have done an admirable job manufacturing and distributing the bulk of Merge's full-length releases since then. Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC. In 2004 Merge Records is celebrating its 15th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated and expanded over the last 15 years, the quality we look for in records as fans is still there in the music we put out on Merge. Thanks for listening!
February 15 street date. Although they are recently known to the mainstream from the opening theme song on True Detective Season 1 (Far From Any Road), The Handsome Family have been around since 1993 and have a deep discography that goes back just as long. 2018 marked 20 years since the release of their third album Through The Trees. Following its release, Uncut declared it to be the year’s “Best New Country Album”, and Mojo named it one of the “10 Essential Americana Records Of All Time.” The band is marking the occasion with a 20th Anniversary edition of the record. The sky-blue vinyl comes with an exclusive ‘Invisible Trees’ bonus CD, comprising of 15 tracks of “out-takes, live performances and bickering.” Also contains two essays, photos. First essay tells the story behind Through The Trees, written by Rennie Sparks. Second essay is by Andrew Bird. 1998 was when Andrew Bird discovered The Handsome Family. As he says, “There’s a lot more going on here than the alt-goth-country descriptive blurbs in the show listings; this is truly beautiful songwriting of the rarest order. If you really listen to what’s going on in these songs, beware, you may find yourself expecting more from music.”
March 15 street date. In 2019, Hot Water Music will be celebrating their 25th anniversary as a band and touring the world performing tracks from their entire catalog. Epitaph Records will be repressing three of the band’s albums for re-release in 2019: 2001’s A Flight and A Crash, 2002’s Caution and 2004’s The New What Next.
March 15 street date. In 2019, Hot Water Music will be celebrating their 25th anniversary as a band and touring the world performing tracks from their entire catalog. Epitaph Records will be repressing three of the band’s albums for re-release in 2019: 2001’s A Flight and A Crash, 2002’s Caution and 2004’s The New What Next.
February 15 street date. In 2019, Hot Water Music will be celebrating their 25th anniversary as a band and touring the world performing tracks from their entire catalog. Epitaph Records will be repressing three of the band’s albums on colored vinyl for re-release in 2019: 2001’s A Flight and A Crash, 2002’s Caution and 2004’s The New What Next.
February 15 street date. In 2019, Hot Water Music will be celebrating their 25th anniversary as a band and touring the world performing tracks from their entire catalog. Epitaph Records will be repressing three of the band’s albums on colored vinyl for re-release in 2019: 2001’s A Flight and A Crash, 2002’s Caution and 2004’s The New What Next.
February 15 street date. In 2019, Hot Water Music will be celebrating their 25th anniversary as a band and touring the world
performing tracks from their entire catalog. Epitaph Records will be repressing three of the band’s albums on colored vinyl for re-release in 2019: 2001’s A Flight and A Crash, 2002’s Caution and 2004’s The New What Next.
February 15 street date. In 2019, Hot Water Music will be celebrating their 25th anniversary as a band and touring the world performing tracks from their entire catalog. Epitaph Records will be repressing three of the band’s albums on colored vinyl for re-release in 2019: 2001’s A Flight and A Crash, 2002’s Caution and 2004’s The New What Next.
February 15 street date. Swedish punk quartet Millencolin return with their new album, SOS. It’s clear the band members are just as unified as they were when they formed Millencolin, roughly 26 years, eight albums and 2,000 live shows ago. “We’re a band truly formed from respect and understanding for each other and our passion for rock music,” explains vocalist/bassist Nikola Sarcevic. “If you ask us, this is the best job in the world!” SOS IS THEIR NINTH STUDIO ALBUM, THE FOLLOW UP TO 2015’S TRUE BREW / MILLENCOLIN WILL TOUR THE WORLD IN SUPPORT OF SOS / FOR FANS OF DESCENDENTS, PENNYWISE & ANTI-FLAG
February 15 street date. Swedish punk quartet Millencolin return with their new album, SOS. It’s clear the band members are just as unified as they were when they formed Millencolin, roughly 26 years, eight albums and 2,000 live shows ago. “We’re a band truly formed from respect and understanding for each other and our passion for rock music,” explains vocalist/bassist Nikola Sarcevic. “If you ask us, this is the best job in the world!” SOS IS THEIR NINTH STUDIO ALBUM, THE FOLLOW UP TO 2015’S TRUE BREW / MILLENCOLIN WILL TOUR THE WORLD IN SUPPORT OF SOS / FOR FANS OF DESCENDENTS, PENNYWISE & ANTI-FLAG
March 1 street date. Who Else is the new album by Modeselektor. It has been in the works for two years and was made within a month. It's a record offering essential Modeselektor, a record formed by experience, self-confidence, and the usual madness. Technical knowledge and craftsmanship have improved their creative process, but in the studio they are driven by the same old things. It's the quest for the beat they haven't made yet, the eternal hunt for the perfect mix. No bass drum sounds like the other on this record, no snare repeats itself in a different track. Each hi-hat is tailor-made, no synth sound recycled on another occasion. This isn't one of those predictable techno records, and that's what makes it such an effort: the endless search for new sounds while always bearing in mind that less is more. Lead single "Wealth" is a hip-hop track featuring London grime artist Flohio. Estonian rapper Tommy Cash parties on the crunchy and playful "Who", Otto von Schirach lends his screams to the dark industrial techno of "I Am Your God". And there's many other tracks that show Modeselektor rambling, raving, experimenting, or just enjoying themselves. Who Else is a record freed from outside pressure, only driven by a personal ambition to once more put out a great album. CD version comes in sixpanel, digisleeve and printed inner sleeve. Standard LP version comes in a printed inner sleeve. Deluxe picture disc version comes in printed inner sleeve; gatefold sleeve; includes inlay poster and download code.
March 1 street date. Who Else is the new album by Modeselektor. It has been in the works for two years and was made within a month. It's a record offering essential Modeselektor, a record formed by experience, self-confidence, and the usual madness. Technical knowledge and craftsmanship have improved their creative process, but in the studio they are driven by the same old things. It's the quest for the beat they haven't made yet, the eternal hunt for the perfect mix. No bass drum sounds like the other on this record, no snare repeats itself in a different track. Each hi-hat is tailor-made, no synth sound recycled on another occasion. This isn't one of those predictable techno records, and that's what makes it such an effort: the endless search for new sounds while always bearing in mind that less is more. Lead single "Wealth" is a hip-hop track featuring London grime artist Flohio. Estonian rapper Tommy Cash parties on the crunchy and playful "Who", Otto von Schirach lends his screams to the dark industrial techno of "I Am Your God". And there's many other tracks that show Modeselektor rambling, raving, experimenting, or just enjoying themselves. Who Else is a record freed from outside pressure, only driven by a personal ambition to once more put out a great album. CD version comes in sixpanel, digisleeve and printed inner sleeve. Standard LP version comes in a printed inner sleeve. Deluxe picture disc version comes in printed inner sleeve; gatefold sleeve; includes inlay poster and download code. (12" Single available Feb.1: MONKEY095EP)
March 1 street date. Who Else is the new album by Modeselektor. It has been in the works for two years and was made within a month. It's a record offering essential Modeselektor, a record formed by experience, self-confidence, and the usual madness. Technical knowledge and craftsmanship have improved their creative process, but in the studio they are driven by the same old things. It's the quest for the beat they haven't made yet, the eternal hunt for the perfect mix. No bass drum sounds like the other on this record, no snare repeats itself in a different track. Each hi-hat is tailor-made, no synth sound recycled on another occasion. This isn't one of those predictable techno records, and that's what makes it such an effort: the endless search for new sounds while always bearing in mind that less is more. Lead single "Wealth" is a hip-hop track featuring London grime artist Flohio. Estonian rapper Tommy Cash parties on the crunchy and playful "Who", Otto von Schirach lends his screams to the dark industrial techno of "I Am Your God". And there's many other tracks that show Modeselektor rambling, raving, experimenting, or just enjoying themselves. Who Else is a record freed from outside pressure, only driven by a personal ambition to once more put out a great album. CD version comes in sixpanel, digisleeve and printed inner sleeve. Standard LP version comes in a printed inner sleeve. Deluxe picture disc version comes in printed inner sleeve; gatefold sleeve; includes inlay poster and download code.
March 8 street date. Songs of Our Native Daughters gathers together kindred musicians Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah, Leyla McCalla, and Allison Russell in song and sisterhood to communicate with their forebears. Drawing on and reclaiming early minstrelsy and banjo music, these musicians reclaim, recast, and spotlight the often unheard and untold history of their ancestors, whose stories remain vital and alive today. The material on Songs of Our Native Daughters -- written and sung in various combinations -- is inspired by New World slave narratives, discrimination and how it has shaped our American experience, as well as musicians such as Haitian troubadour Althiery Dorval and Mississippi Hill Country string player Sid Hemphill, and more. Co-producer Rhiannon Giddens is the GRAMMY-award winning co-founder of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, a recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” Grant, and current host of The Metropolitan Opera & WQXR’s newest podcast “Aria Code.” “A restoration of narrative, to render in song the pain and resilience of black women over the course of American history.” – NPR Music // "A peerless and powerful voice in roots music" - Pitchfork (on Rhiannon Giddens)
March 8 street date. “Nestled between the emotionally terse 30 Degrees Everywhere and the pop explosion of Nothing Feels Good, this singles and unreleased songs compilation sees the Promise Ring in a number of different musical phases. The earliest material on the record, including ‘Watertown Plank’ and the emo classic ‘A Picture Postcard,’ showcase the raw origins of the band and their early tendencies to couple meandering guitar notes with unbridled and distorted rock. ‘E. Texas Ave.,’ a fan favorite from the group’s split 7” with Texas Is the Reason, is also a noteworthy inclusion, not to mention the toughest song the band has ever recorded. Horse Latitudes is a must for the group’s fans, and is also a pretty good listen for anyone looking for solid emotional rock that is just as good at keeping quiet as it is at blasting out the speakers.” – PETER J. D’ANGELO (ALL MUSIC.COM)
March 8 street date. “Nestled between the emotionally terse 30 Degrees Everywhere and the pop explosion of Nothing Feels Good, this singles and unreleased songs compilation sees the Promise Ring in a number of different musical phases. The earliest material on the record, including ‘Watertown Plank’ and the emo classic ‘A Picture Postcard,’ showcase the raw origins of the band and their early tendencies to couple meandering guitar notes with unbridled and distorted rock. ‘E. Texas Ave.,’ a fan favorite from the group’s split 7” with Texas Is the Reason, is also a noteworthy inclusion, not to mention the toughest song the band has ever recorded. Horse Latitudes is a must for the group’s fans, and is also a pretty good listen for anyone looking for solid emotional rock that is just as good at keeping quiet as it is at blasting out the speakers.” – PETER J. D’ANGELO (ALL MUSIC.COM)
February 22 street date. Blue vinyl edition. Rhapsody of Fire hold a special position in the exciting and multi-faceted world of heavy metal: Like few other acts, the band from Italy stands for anthemnic symphonic metal presented with lots of speed, great pathos and technical refinement. Their latest studio recording "The Eighth Mountain" combines spirited songs and epic chorus parts with lavish orchestra arrangements. To dress the new material in appropriately lavish sounds to suit its extravagant songwriting, Rhapsody of Fire have worked with a major orchestra again. This time the musicians of the acclaimed Bulgarian National Symphony Orchestra in Sofia, were instrumental in recording the album'ss sublime, atmospherically dense overall sound. Two choirs featuring more than 20 vocalists, as well as a number of soloists playing medieval instruments, also deserve to be mentioned. Also available: AFM 59511 - clear vinyl; AFM5959 - CD digipak
February 22 street date. Clear vinyl edition. Rhapsody of Fire hold a special position in the exciting and multi-faceted world of heavy metal: Like few other acts, the band from Italy stands for anthemnic symphonic metal presented with lots of speed, great pathos and technical refinement. Their latest studio recording "The Eighth Mountain" combines spirited songs and epic chorus parts with lavish orchestra arrangements. To dress the new material in appropriately lavish sounds to suit its extravagant songwriting, Rhapsody of Fire have worked with a major orchestra again. This time the musicians of the acclaimed Bulgarian National Symphony Orchestra in Sofia, were instrumental in recording the album'ss sublime, atmospherically dense overall sound. Two choirs featuring more than 20 vocalists, as well as a number of soloists playing medieval instruments, also deserve to be mentioned. Also available: AFM5959 - CD digipak
February 22 street date. Limited edition box set including digipak CD, large t-shirt, poster, sticker, a written story concept, and a certificate of authenticity. Rhapsody of Fire hold a special position in the exciting and multi-faceted world of heavy metal: Like few other acts, the band from Italy stands for anthemnic symphonic metal presented with lots of speed, great pathos and technical refinement. Their latest studio recording "The Eighth Mountain" combines spirited songs and epic chorus parts with lavish orchestra arrangements. To dress the new material in appropriately lavish sounds to suit its extravagant songwriting, Rhapsody of Fire have worked with a major orchestra again. This time the musicians of the acclaimed Bulgarian National Symphony Orchestra in Sofia, were instrumental in recording the album'ss sublime, atmospherically dense overall sound. Two choirs featuring more than 20 vocalists, as well as a number of soloists playing medieval instruments, also deserve to be mentioned. Also available: AFM5956M (medium), AFM5956XL (X-Large)
February 22 street date. Limited edition box set including digipak CD, medium t-shirt, poster, sticker, a written story concept, and a certificate of authenticity. Rhapsody of Fire hold a special position in the exciting and multi-faceted world of heavy metal: Like few other acts, the band from Italy stands for anthemnic symphonic metal presented with lots of speed, great pathos and technical refinement. Their latest studio recording "The Eighth Mountain" combines spirited songs and epic chorus parts with lavish orchestra arrangements. To dress the new material in appropriately lavish sounds to suit its extravagant songwriting, Rhapsody of Fire have worked with a major orchestra again. This time the musicians of the acclaimed Bulgarian National Symphony Orchestra in Sofia, were instrumental in recording the album'ss sublime, atmospherically dense overall sound. Two choirs featuring more than 20 vocalists, as well as a number of soloists playing medieval instruments, also deserve to be mentioned.
February 22 street date. Limited edition box set including digipak CD, extra arge t-shirt, poster, sticker, a written story concept, and a certificate of authenticity. Rhapsody of Fire hold a special position in the exciting and multi-faceted world of heavy metal: Like few other acts, the band from Italy stands for anthemnic symphonic metal presented with lots of speed, great pathos and technical refinement. Their latest studio recording "The Eighth Mountain" combines spirited songs and epic chorus parts with lavish orchestra arrangements. To dress the new material in appropriately lavish sounds to suit its extravagant songwriting, Rhapsody of Fire have worked with a major orchestra again. This time the musicians of the acclaimed Bulgarian National Symphony Orchestra in Sofia, were instrumental in recording the album'ss sublime, atmospherically dense overall sound. Two choirs featuring more than 20 vocalists, as well as a number of soloists playing medieval instruments, also deserve to be mentioned.
February 22 street date. Rhapsody of Fire hold a special position in the exciting and multi-faceted world of heavy metal: Like few other acts, the band from Italy stands for anthemnic symphonic metal presented with lots of speed, great pathos and technical refinement. Their latest studio recording "The Eighth Mountain" combines spirited songs and epic chorus parts with lavish orchestra arrangements. To dress the new material in appropriately lavish sounds to suit its extravagant songwriting, Rhapsody of Fire have worked with a major orchestra again. This time the musicians of the acclaimed Bulgarian National Symphony Orchestra in Sofia, were instrumental in recording the album'ss sublime, atmospherically dense overall sound. Two choirs featuring more than 20 vocalists, as well as a number of soloists playing medieval instruments, also deserve to be mentioned.
February 22 street date. Sleaford Mods are one of the most important, politically charged and thought-provoking duos currently making their mark on the UK music scene and beyond. They are now poised to release their fifth studio album entitled ‘Eton Alive’ in February 2019. The new album, which features 12 new tracks from the prolific artists, was recorded in Nottingham. The record will be the first release on Jason and Andrew’s newly formed label ‘Extreme Eating’ and their first album since parting ways with Rough Trade Records. “Eton Alive speaks for itself really. Here we are once again in the middle of another elitist plan being digested slowly as we wait to be turned into faeces once more. Some already are, some are dead and the rest of us erode in the belly of prehistoric ideology which depending on our abilities and willingness, assigns to each of us varying levels of comfort that range from horrible to reasonably acceptable, based on contribution. So after the digestive system of the Nobles rejects our inedible bones we exit the Arse of Rule, we fall into the toilet again and at the mercy of whatever policies are holding order in the shit pipe of this tatty civilisation. It is here our flesh regenerates as we rattle into another form, ready, and ripe for order”. – Jason Williamson ‘Eton Alive’
February 22 street date. Sleaford Mods are one of the most important, politically charged and thought-provoking duos currently making their mark on the UK music scene and beyond. They are now poised to release their fifth studio album entitled ‘Eton Alive’ in February 2019. The new album, which features 12 new tracks from the prolific artists, was recorded in Nottingham. The record will be the first release on Jason and Andrew’s newly formed label ‘Extreme Eating’ and their first album since parting ways with Rough Trade Records. “Eton Alive speaks for itself really. Here we are once again in the middle of another elitist plan being digested slowly as we wait to be turned into faeces once more. Some already are, some are dead and the rest of us erode in the belly of prehistoric ideology which depending on our abilities and willingness, assigns to each of us varying levels of comfort that range from horrible to reasonably acceptable, based on contribution. So after the digestive system of the Nobles rejects our inedible bones we exit the Arse of Rule, we fall into the toilet again and at the mercy of whatever policies are holding order in the shit pipe of this tatty civilisation. It is here our flesh regenerates as we rattle into another form, ready, and ripe for order”. – Jason Williamson ‘Eton Alive’
February 22 street date. Sleaford Mods are one of the most important, politically charged and thought-provoking duos currently making their mark on the UK music scene and beyond. They are now poised to release their fifth studio album entitled ‘Eton Alive’ in February 2019. The new album, which features 12 new tracks from the prolific artists, was recorded in Nottingham. The record will be the first release on Jason and Andrew’s newly formed label ‘Extreme Eating’ and their first album since parting ways with Rough Trade Records. “Eton Alive speaks for itself really. Here we are once again in the middle of another elitist plan being digested slowly as we wait to be turned into faeces once more. Some already are, some are dead and the rest of us erode in the belly of prehistoric ideology which depending on our abilities and willingness, assigns to each of us varying levels of comfort that range from horrible to reasonably acceptable, based on contribution. So after the digestive system of the Nobles rejects our inedible bones we exit the Arse of Rule, we fall into the toilet again and at the mercy of whatever policies are holding order in the shit pipe of this tatty civilisation. It is here our flesh regenerates as we rattle into another form, ready, and ripe for order”. – Jason Williamson ‘Eton Alive’
February 8 street date. Mavis Staples has been a soul and gospel music legend for more than 50 years. Her work fronting the legendary Staples Singers defined the sound of politically-committed soul and influenced generations of musicians. As a solo artist in her own right, she has helped to define much of what is righteous and soulful in American music. There are few people who can claim to have been per- forming as long as Mavis Staples, let alone to her standards. This album captures her live at the Union Chapel in London with her band performing some of the greatest songs from her musical catalog, while celebrating her 79th birthday. GRAMMY LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNER, ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAMER, KENNEDY CENTER HONOREE, NATIONAL HERITAGE FELLOWSHIP AWARD RECIPIENT- TO NAME A FEW OF HER HONORS. MAVIS HAS BEEN AS A FEATURED VOCALIST THIS YEAR ON SONGS BY HOZIER, ARCADE FIRE, GORILLAZ AND MORE.
February 15 street date. “I have always thought orchestra. I play that way, even when playing the piano.” – Sun Ra... Considering the monumental depth of Sun Ra’s recorded oeuvre, there are surprisingly few solo piano albums. Monorails and Satellites Volumes 1 and 2 were the first commercial LPs of the artist’s solo keyboard excursions. Recorded in 1966 and released on his Saturn imprint in 1968, Volume 1 featured seven idiosyncratic originals and one standard (“Easy Street”) delivered in Sunny’s singular manner. Volume 2 was released the following year, and contains five compositions, all originals. A third volume was prepped but shelved, and this deluxe edition marks its premiere release. As with all Cosmic Myth releases these volumes are superbly mastered, and are available as a deluxe 2xCD or 3xLP tri-gatefold cover with copious liners notes by renown American jazz pianist Vijay Iyer, and additional overviews by jazz historian Ben Young and producer Irwin Chusid.
February 15 street date. “I have always thought orchestra. I play that way, even when playing the piano.” – Sun Ra... Considering the monumental depth of Sun Ra’s recorded oeuvre, there are surprisingly few solo piano albums. Monorails and Satellites Volumes 1 and 2 were the first commercial LPs of the artist’s solo keyboard excursions. Recorded in 1966 and released on his Saturn imprint in 1968, Volume 1 featured seven idiosyncratic originals and one standard (“Easy Street”) delivered in Sunny’s singular manner. Volume 2 was released the following year, and contains five compositions, all originals. A third volume was prepped but shelved, and this deluxe edition marks its premiere release. As with all Cosmic Myth releases these volumes are superbly mastered, and are available as a deluxe 2xCD or 3xLP tri-gatefold cover with copious liners notes by renown American jazz pianist Vijay Iyer, and additional overviews by jazz historian Ben Young and producer Irwin Chusid.
February 15 street date. INDIE EXCLUSIVE: Transparent Orange Vinyl. Remastered for Vinyl at Infrasonic Mastering. Pressed On Audiophile-Grade Vinyl At Pallas Group In Germany. Critically Acclaimed Live Performance, Perfect For Jazz Vinyl Collectors. Cecil Taylor’s solo piano set at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1974 drew critical acclaim, earning fi ve star reviews from the Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide and AllMusic’s Scott Yanow. The set features Taylor’s fi ve-movement work “Silent Tongues”, along with two encores. After being out of print for nearly four decades, the classic live album has been remastered at Infrasonic Mastering and pressed on audiophile-grade vinyl at Pallas Group in Germany. Silent Tongues is a must-have for fans of Taylor and collectors of free jazz.
March 15 street date. It's hard to believe fresh faced pogo-punks Teenage Bottlerocket formed almost two decades ago. Since their inception in 2000 and over the course of their 8 full-length albums, there has been one word to describe them: RAD. So, it's fitting that their new album (their first original full-length since returning to Fat Wreck Chords) is entitled "Stay Rad!". The new album shows a slightly different direction for Teenage Bottlerocket, putting their songwriting progression and personal growth on full display, while still remaining a quintessential TBR album - complete with enthralling melodies, perfect harmonies, and their trademark breakneck down strumming.
March 15 street date. It's hard to believe fresh faced pogo-punks Teenage Bottlerocket formed almost two decades ago. Since their inception in 2000 and over the course of their 8 full-length albums, there has been one word to describe them: RAD. So, it's fitting that their new album (their first original full-length since returning to Fat Wreck Chords) is entitled "Stay Rad!". The new album shows a slightly different direction for Teenage Bottlerocket, putting their songwriting progression and personal growth on full display, while still remaining a quintessential TBR album - complete with enthralling melodies, perfect harmonies, and their trademark breakneck down strumming.
February 22 street date. The fifth full length album he’s recorded as Telekinesis is perfect, unfussy power pop— romantic and hopeful and skittish and fresh and familiar, with hooks in all the right places. He called the album Effluxion because he too found the word a little alien when he first heard it in passing, but it also captured the spirit in which the album was made. After Lerner largely traded guitars and drums for moodier synthesizers and drum machines on 2015’s Ad Infinitum—more OMD than GBV—Scottish indie-pop gods Teenage Fanclub invited Lerner on board as a touring member in 2017. In addition to this being genie-lamp wish fulfillment for a devoted acolyte, playing those songs every night with his heroes brought him back to known pleasures. Effluxion is a back-to-basics album—not just in its reaffirmation of the sound and style that made Lerner an indie wunderkind a decade ago at age 22, but in the way it was created. Using the same now-discontinued MacBook microphone he used to record his earliest tracks, he holed up in the basement of his West Seattle home and put the album together piece by piece over the past two years, playing every instrument. While previous albums had former Death Cab for Cutie guitarist Chris Walla—who discovered and championed Telekinesis’ demos—and Spoon’s Jim Eno serving as producers and sounding boards and sidemen and general voices of authority and experience, Lerner wanted to do this one entirely on his own. Telekinesis has internalized the science of catchiness and understands what makes certain kinds of songs evoke certain kinds of chemical reactions. Hooks flow in, hooks flow out.
Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7" single. The vinyl 7" was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was released on CD, LP, and cassette. With this release Merge also forged a relationship with Touch and Go Records of Chicago, who have done an admirable job manufacturing and distributing the bulk of Merge's full-length releases since then. Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC. In 2004 Merge Records is celebrating its 15th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated and expanded over the last 15 years, the quality we look for in records as fans is still there in the music we put out on Merge. Thanks for listening!
February 22 street date. The fifth full length album he’s recorded as Telekinesis is perfect, unfussy power pop— romantic and hopeful and skittish and fresh and familiar, with hooks in all the right places. He called the album Effluxion because he too found the word a little alien when he first heard it in passing, but it also captured the spirit in which the album was made. After Lerner largely traded guitars and drums for moodier synthesizers and drum machines on 2015’s Ad Infinitum—more OMD than GBV—Scottish indie-pop gods Teenage Fanclub invited Lerner on board as a touring member in 2017. In addition to this being genie-lamp wish fulfillment for a devoted acolyte, playing those songs every night with his heroes brought him back to known pleasures. Effluxion is a back-to-basics album—not just in its reaffirmation of the sound and style that made Lerner an indie wunderkind a decade ago at age 22, but in the way it was created. Using the same now-discontinued MacBook microphone he used to record his earliest tracks, he holed up in the basement of his West Seattle home and put the album together piece by piece over the past two years, playing every instrument. While previous albums had former Death Cab for Cutie guitarist Chris Walla—who discovered and championed Telekinesis’ demos—and Spoon’s Jim Eno serving as producers and sounding boards and sidemen and general voices of authority and experience, Lerner wanted to do this one entirely on his own. Telekinesis has internalized the science of catchiness and understands what makes certain kinds of songs evoke certain kinds of chemical reactions. Hooks flow in, hooks flow out.
Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7" single. The vinyl 7" was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was released on CD, LP, and cassette. With this release Merge also forged a relationship with Touch and Go Records of Chicago, who have done an admirable job manufacturing and distributing the bulk of Merge's full-length releases since then. Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC. In 2004 Merge Records is celebrating its 15th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated and expanded over the last 15 years, the quality we look for in records as fans is still there in the music we put out on Merge. Thanks for listening!
February 22 street date. The fifth full length album he’s recorded as Telekinesis is perfect, unfussy power pop— romantic and hopeful and skittish and fresh and familiar, with hooks in all the right places. He called the album Effluxion because he too found the word a little alien when he first heard it in passing, but it also captured the spirit in which the album was made. After Lerner largely traded guitars and drums for moodier synthesizers and drum machines on 2015’s Ad Infinitum—more OMD than GBV—Scottish indie-pop gods Teenage Fanclub invited Lerner on board as a touring member in 2017. In addition to this being genie-lamp wish fulfillment for a devoted acolyte, playing those songs every night with his heroes brought him back to known pleasures. Effluxion is a back-to-basics album—not just in its reaffirmation of the sound and style that made Lerner an indie wunderkind a decade ago at age 22, but in the way it was created. Using the same now-discontinued MacBook microphone he used to record his earliest tracks, he holed up in the basement of his West Seattle home and put the album together piece by piece over the past two years, playing every instrument. While previous albums had former Death Cab for Cutie guitarist Chris Walla—who discovered and championed Telekinesis’ demos—and Spoon’s Jim Eno serving as producers and sounding boards and sidemen and general voices of authority and experience, Lerner wanted to do this one entirely on his own. Telekinesis has internalized the science of catchiness and understands what makes certain kinds of songs evoke certain kinds of chemical reactions. Hooks flow in, hooks flow out.
Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7" single. The vinyl 7" was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was released on CD, LP, and cassette. With this release Merge also forged a relationship with Touch and Go Records of Chicago, who have done an admirable job manufacturing and distributing the bulk of Merge's full-length releases since then. Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC. In 2004 Merge Records is celebrating its 15th birthday, and while our roster has changed, rotated, permutated and expanded over the last 15 years, the quality we look for in records as fans is still there in the music we put out on Merge. Thanks for listening!
February 22 street date. Featuring Mike Watt And George Hurley Of The Minutemen And J Mascis Of Dinosaur Jr. Pressed On Audiophile-Grade Vinyl At Pallas Group In Germany. Fourth album from Unknown Instructors project; this one featuring the original rhythm section from the Minutemen (Mike Watt & George Hurley) with J Mascis (of Dinosaur Jr.) on guitar and poet Dan McGuire performing spoken word.
February 22 street date. INDIE EXCLUSIVE Color Vinyl Edition. Featuring Mike Watt And George Hurley Of The Minutemen And J Mascis Of Dinosaur Jr. Pressed On Audiophile-Grade Vinyl At Pallas Group In Germany. Fourth album from Unknown Instructors project; this one featuring the original rhythm section from the Minutemen (Mike Watt & George Hurley) with J Mascis (of Dinosaur Jr.) on guitar and poet Dan McGuire performing spoken word.
February 22 street date. Featuring Mike Watt And George Hurley Of The Minutemen And J Mascis Of Dinosaur Jr. Pressed On Audiophile-Grade Vinyl At Pallas Group In Germany. Fourth album from Unknown Instructors project; this one featuring the original rhythm section from the Minutemen (Mike Watt & George Hurley) with J Mascis (of Dinosaur Jr.) on guitar and poet Dan McGuire performing spoken word.
February 22 street date. "Big Gold Dreams" documents the vibrant independent music scene to emerge in Scotland across the late 70s and 80s. Initially ignited by punk, labels sprang up inGlasgow, Edinburgh and elsewhere to give a voice to the explosion of new acts across the country. Named after Fire Engines' memorable single and Grant McPhee's recent TV and DVD documentary, "Big Gold Dreams" includes many of the Scottish music scene's most important names as well as countless obscurities. Includes landmark tracks by The Rezillos, Simple Minds, Skids, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Primal Scream, The Waterboys, Cocteau Twins, Aztec Camera, The Shamen, Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie and many others. Includes recordings from key labels such as Zoom, Postcard, 53rd & 3rd, Rational, Fast Product/Pop:Aural, Supreme International Editions, Creation, Egg, Sarah, etc. Boasts lengthy essays and band histories by Grant McPhee, Neil Cooper and Tim Barr, within a lavishly illustrated 70-page booklet.
March 8 street date. Pressed at Third Man Pressing (Detroit, MI). Stoughton tip-on LP jacket, 180g vinyl. Caetano Veloso’s self-titled debut solo album is one of the most important and influential Brazilian (and, dare we say, South American) albums of all time. With the release of this seminal album, Veloso would become the leading voice of the racially diverse, psychedelic and politically-charged Tropica´lia art movement. Believe it or not, this is the first authorized North American vinyl issue of Caetano Veloso's 1968 solo debut album in partnership with Universal Special Markets. Whether you’re a longtime fan or first-time listener, we could not be more proud to spread the compelling story of this album, this artist and the Tropica´lia movement.
March 8 street date. Lucinda Williams, whose musical style defies easy categorization, recorded her first album of original songs in 1980, supported by a six-member band. Her songs are a mix of traditional and alternative country, folk, and blues that reflect her Louisiana roots. The Village Voice music critic Robert Christgau gave Happy Woman Blues an "A–" and described Williams as a "guileless throwback to the days of the acoustic blues mamas" who "means what she says and says what she means." The vinyl reissue of Happy Woman Blues, which includes a liner notes booklet with the song lyrics, is part of the Smithsonian Folkways Vinyl Reissue Series, revisiting some of the most iconic and influential albums in our collection.
March 8 street date. Composer, arranger, and pianist Mary Lou Williams’ musical career reflected the history of American jazz from the late 1920s through the 1970s. Described by Duke Ellington as being “beyond category,” Williams was conversant in jazz styles ranging from stride through swing and be-bop to the avant-garde, yet her music was always rooted in spirituals and the blues. This self-produced recording, originally recorded in 1962 and 1963, contains a mix of standards and originals including four original compositions reflecting her devout interest in religious music. The vinyl reissue of Mary Lou Williams, which includes a liner notes booklet, is part of the Smithsonian Folkways Vinyl Reissue Series, revisiting some of the most iconic and influential albums in our collection, continuing with Elizabeth Cotten (FWLP03526), and Lucinda Williams (FWLP31067).
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Bad Suns
