May 17 street date. Record Kicks presents the new album by Juno Award and Polaris Music Prize-nominated Canadian soul star Tanika Charles, produced by a stable of some of Canada's finest musical minds including DJ Kemo (The Rascalz, Kardinal Offishall), Chin Injeti (DJ Khalil, Eminem, Drake) and Daniel Lee (Hooded Fang, Phedre). "The Gumption" picks up where "Soul Run" left off, continuing her tradition of marrying classic soul with modern production styles. Across a dozen songs spanning 38 minutes, Tanika addresses moments of vulnerability, vindication, uncertain love, forbidden fruit and the state of the world today. Predominately guitar-driven mid-tempo soul, with a handful of dance floor friendly tunes and some psychedelic leanings, "The Gumption" was indirectly influenced by the likes of Alabama Shakes, The Supremes, Khruangbin, D'Angelo, and Moses Sumney. It is sonically moody at times, but with consistent silver-lining arcs.
May 17 street date. Record Kicks presents the new album by Juno Award and Polaris Music Prize-nominated Canadian soul star Tanika Charles, produced by a stable of some of Canada's finest musical minds including DJ Kemo (The Rascalz, Kardinal Offishall), Chin Injeti (DJ Khalil, Eminem, Drake) and Daniel Lee (Hooded Fang, Phedre). "The Gumption" picks up where "Soul Run" left off, continuing her tradition of marrying classic soul with modern production styles. Across a dozen songs spanning 38 minutes, Tanika addresses moments of vulnerability, vindication, uncertain love, forbidden fruit and the state of the world today. Predominately guitar-driven mid-tempo soul, with a handful of dance floor friendly tunes and some psychedelic leanings, "The Gumption" was indirectly influenced by the likes of Alabama Shakes, The Supremes, Khruangbin, D'Angelo, and Moses Sumney. It is sonically moody at times, but with consistent silver-lining arcs.
May 17 street date. For nearly a decade the story of Com Truise has relied on science fiction and abstract fact. Seth Haley's singular style of melodic beat music subsists as hazy machinist nostalgia, a mainframe downloaded cosmology. Yet with each release, alongside sonic refinement, comes an increasingly visible vapor trail to Haley's own ontology. His long-awaited 2017 LP Iteration brought to completion a conceptual space saga while also reflecting seismic life changes for the producer and designer. With mini-LP Persuasion System, Haley leaves the past narrative behind, settling into a new period marked by change - on this planet, in the present - putting forth his most grounded and visceral work to date.
May 17 street date. For nearly a decade the story of Com Truise has relied on science fiction and abstract fact. Seth Haley's singular style of melodic beat music subsists as hazy machinist nostalgia, a mainframe downloaded cosmology. Yet with each release, alongside sonic refinement, comes an increasingly visible vapor trail to Haley's own ontology. His long-awaited 2017 LP Iteration brought to completion a conceptual space saga while also reflecting seismic life changes for the producer and designer. With mini-LP Persuasion System, Haley leaves the past narrative behind, settling into a new period marked by change - on this planet, in the present - putting forth his most grounded and visceral work to date.
May 17 street date. It was never intended to get this far. Endless Boogie had been a band for six years when they were invited by Slint to play the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in the UK. Up to that point, they had been perfectly content existing only at their weekly Lower East Side rehearsals (and the occasional New York City show). They figured if they were leaving the country to play a show, they should have something to sell, so they pulled some recordings from their rehearsal tape archive, ran two small pressings, hand stamped some sleeves, and the Endless Boogie story officially began. The records (often referred to as "black" and "white") have long fetched high prices on the secondary market. They're back in print here and packaged together as a double CD / double LP set. Vinyl comes in an debossed gatefold jacket. CDs come packaged in a gatefold wallet.
May 17 street date. It was never intended to get this far. Endless Boogie had been a band for six years when they were invited by Slint to play the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in the UK. Up to that point, they had been perfectly content existing only at their weekly Lower East Side rehearsals (and the occasional New York City show). They figured if they were leaving the country to play a show, they should have something to sell, so they pulled some recordings from their rehearsal tape archive, ran two small pressings, hand stamped some sleeves, and the Endless Boogie story officially began. The records (often referred to as "black" and "white") have long fetched high prices on the secondary market. They're back in print here and packaged together as a double CD / double LP set. Vinyl comes in an debossed gatefold jacket. CDs come packaged in a gatefold wallet.
May 17 street date. Godzilla’s/Eatin’ Dust is the most popular release in Fu Manchu’s 29 year recorded history. It is the combination of what were originally 2 distinct 10” releases: Godzilla (1997) and Eatin’ Dust (1999). Last year, Scott Hill (vocals/guitar) found the original tapes from the Godzilla recording sessions produced by Josh Homme and unearthed a secret that had been in his garage since 1996...The band had recorded 4 songs that had never been released. These extra songs are early versions of "Grendel, Snowman," "Strolling Astronomer" and "Urethane” (whose final versions appeared on 1997’s The Action Is Go) and a cover of Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak" (which is a different version than the one which was released on 7” in 1998). The songs line up perfectly with the original tracklist, which includes the band’s crowd pleasing cover of Blue Oyster Cult’s “Godzilla” and fan favourites “Eatin’ Dust” and “Mongoose”. The vinyl packaging is comprised of 3 10” records (in a nod to the original 10” releases) with each of the three pressed on a different custom colour in a limited run of 2000. The vinyl is housed in a triple gatefold package with never before seen photos of the band. The CD version of the album has also been remastered for maximum fidelity.
May 17 street date. Godzilla’s/Eatin’ Dust is the most popular release in Fu Manchu’s 29 year recorded history. It is the combination of what were originally 2 distinct 10” releases: Godzilla (1997) and Eatin’ Dust (1999). Last year, Scott Hill (vocals/guitar) found the original tapes from the Godzilla recording sessions produced by Josh Homme and unearthed a secret that had been in his garage since 1996...The band had recorded 4 songs that had never been released. These extra songs are early versions of "Grendel, Snowman," "Strolling Astronomer" and "Urethane” (whose final versions appeared on 1997’s The Action Is Go) and a cover of Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak" (which is a different version than the one which was released on 7” in 1998). The songs line up perfectly with the original tracklist, which includes the band’s crowd pleasing cover of Blue Oyster Cult’s “Godzilla” and fan favourites “Eatin’ Dust” and “Mongoose”. The vinyl packaging is comprised of 3 10” records (in a nod to the original 10” releases) with each of the three pressed on a different custom colour in a limited run of 2000. The vinyl is housed in a triple gatefold package with never before seen photos of the band. The CD version of the album has also been remastered for maximum fidelity.
May 17 street date. THE HEAVY are the music industry’s worst kept secret. They make blazing, urgent, infectious rock-soul with a strong dose of hip-hop. You’ve heard their songs in a lot of different places, and it’s likely that you loved them. Their breakthrough single “How You Like Me Now?” reached Gold status in the United States—a stunning achievement for an English, independent artist. A heady mix of impassioned, incandescent vocal, gargantuan riff and boom-bap drums conjured up a triumph-inadversity sentiment that struck a chord across the globe. Forming in the fertile swamps of England’s West Country in the mid-noughties, around the axis of Dan Taylor (guitarist and songwriter) and Kelvin Swaby (vocalist and songwriter), THE HEAVY immediately astounded. Jaw dropping, freshly minted riffs, funk-ridden bass and Swaby’s startling, Mayfield-esque vocals blew minds and won hearts. THE HEAVY’s most recent album Hurt & The Merciless was released in 2016.
May 17 street date. THE HEAVY are the music industry’s worst kept secret. They make blazing, urgent, infectious rock-soul with a strong dose of hip-hop. You’ve heard their songs in a lot of different places, and it’s likely that you loved them. Their breakthrough single “How You Like Me Now?” reached Gold status in the United States—a stunning achievement for an English, independent artist. A heady mix of impassioned, incandescent vocal, gargantuan riff and boom-bap drums conjured up a triumph-inadversity sentiment that struck a chord across the globe. Forming in the fertile swamps of England’s West Country in the mid-noughties, around the axis of Dan Taylor (guitarist and songwriter) and Kelvin Swaby (vocalist and songwriter), THE HEAVY immediately astounded. Jaw dropping, freshly minted riffs, funk-ridden bass and Swaby’s startling, Mayfield-esque vocals blew minds and won hearts. THE HEAVY’s most recent album Hurt & The Merciless was released in 2016.
May 17 street date. On her sophomore LP, "The Best Of Luck Club", 26-year-old Australian Alex Lahey navigates the pangs of generational ennui with the pint half-full and a spot cleared on the bar stool next to her. Self-doubt, burn out, break-ups, mental health, moving in with her girlfriend, vibrators: "The Best of Luck Club" showcases the universal language of Lahey's sharp songwriting, her propensity for taking the minute details of the personal and ipping it public through anthemic pop-punk. "The Best Of Luck Club" dives head first into a broader spectrum of both emotion and sound through polished, arena pop-punk in the vein of Paramore with the introspective sheen of Alvvays or Tegan & Sara.
May 17 street date. On her sophomore LP, "The Best Of Luck Club", 26-year-old Australian Alex Lahey navigates the pangs of generational ennui with the pint half-full and a spot cleared on the bar stool next to her. Self-doubt, burn out, break-ups, mental health, moving in with her girlfriend, vibrators: "The Best of Luck Club" showcases the universal language of Lahey's sharp songwriting, her propensity for taking the minute details of the personal and ipping it public through anthemic pop-punk. "The Best Of Luck Club" dives head first into a broader spectrum of both emotion and sound through polished, arena pop-punk in the vein of Paramore with the introspective sheen of Alvvays or Tegan & Sara.
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.”
May 17 street date. Siskiyou returns from a four-year hiatus with "Not Somewhere", an album that finds band leader Colin Huebert (ex-Great Lake Swimmers) essentially in solo artist mode, writing and self-recording this new collection of tunes on his own, playing all the guitar, bass, keyboard and drum parts himself. "Not Somewhere" harkens back to Siskiyou's magical and understated 2010 self-titled debut in this and other ways: the album's production rekindles a homespun intimacy, where plain-spoken lyrics grapple with portraits of quiet quotidian despair, fragile existential horizon lines separating perseverance and defeatism, honest and unremarkable lives trapped in cultures of false consciousness, impossible desire, self-analysis and self-medication.
May 24 street date. You can’t keep a good band down. With ceaseless, unwavering fan support, The Aggrolites reconvened in late 2015 to lay down three songs, “Aggro Reggae Party,” “Help Man” and “Western Taipan,” which reminded them that, hey, they’re still pretty damn good at this. They never gave up, thankfully! That one-off recording session was the spark that eventually created this album, certainly their best to date. REGGAE NOW! is the Aggrolites’ sixth full-length, and first with Pirates Press Records. Written and recorded throughout 2018, the album finds these architects of “Dirty Reggae” reestablishing their signature sound, re-recording those three songs from 2015 as well as adding on 11 more originals that snap, crackle and pop just as much as your favorite Aggro songs from back in the day. “Their tunes perfectly echo the human chemistry you can hear in those early Jamaican productions,” says reggae icon Don Letts. “The band’s old-school analog sound totally captures the spirit of the music I grew up on.” “The Aggrolites have stretched out, and gotten it even more right, at exactly the right time,” agrees Lynval Golding, vocalist/guitarist for Two-Tone legends the Specials. “This is THE album.”
May 24 street date. You can’t keep a good band down. With ceaseless, unwavering fan support, The Aggrolites reconvened in late 2015 to lay down three songs, “Aggro Reggae Party,” “Help Man” and “Western Taipan,” which reminded them that, hey, they’re still pretty damn good at this. They never gave up, thankfully! That one-off recording session was the spark that eventually created this album, certainly their best to date. REGGAE NOW! is the Aggrolites’ sixth full-length, and first with Pirates Press Records. Written and recorded throughout 2018, the album finds these architects of “Dirty Reggae” reestablishing their signature sound, re-recording those three songs from 2015 as well as adding on 11 more originals that snap, crackle and pop just as much as your favorite Aggro songs from back in the day. “Their tunes perfectly echo the human chemistry you can hear in those early Jamaican productions,” says reggae icon Don Letts. “The band’s old-school analog sound totally captures the spirit of the music I grew up on.” “The Aggrolites have stretched out, and gotten it even more right, at exactly the right time,” agrees Lynval Golding, vocalist/guitarist for Two-Tone legends the Specials. “This is THE album.”
May 24 street date. Earning singer-songwriter Jon Brooks his first Canadian Folk Music Award nomination (of four), Ours and the Shepherds examines the full costs of war at home. Bookended by songs inspired by Canadian Jim Loney’s forgiveness of the Iraqi captors that murdered a colleague and held him and two others hostage for 118 days in 2005/2006, Brooks tours us from WWI to Afghanistan. Songs span across Canada from Quesnel, BC to New Waterford, Nova Scotia. Thirteen songs inspired by Roméo Dallaire, Chaplain William Davis, Sgt. Tommy Prince and John McCrae, among many other Bosnian, Rwandan and Afghanistan war veterans interviewed over the course of two years’ research. With accompaniments from Suzie Vinnick, Joe Phillips, producer Pat Simmonds, and the late James Gray (Blue Rodeo). "One of the best albums I have heard ever." ~ Penguin Eggs. On Ours and the Shepherds singer-songwriter Jon Brooks examines the cost of Canada's war experience at home. Thirteen songs inspired by Roméo Dallaire, Jim Loney, Frank P. Dixon, Chaplain William Davis, Sgt. Tommy Prince and John McCrae among others. "Neither a cry of protest nor saccharine patriotic hoopla." ~ Toronto Star
May 24 street date. A few years have passed since their last album for DAIS, but Los Angeles-based Cold Showers steadily returns to the label’s roster with their third album, "Motionless", wielding a more developed pop sound that is familiar to followers, yet more sophisticated and evolved than their previous works. Having traversed the realm of synth-laced post punk expertly for close to a decade, their return with "Motionless" is a process-based album that reaches into the band's collective quiver, melding their familiar anthem infused post-punk and lush, grand pop influences.
May 24 street date. A few years have passed since their last album for DAIS, but Los Angeles-based Cold Showers steadily returns to the label’s roster with their third album, "Motionless", wielding a more developed pop sound that is familiar to followers, yet more sophisticated and evolved than their previous works. Having traversed the realm of synth-laced post punk expertly for close to a decade, their return with "Motionless" is a process-based album that reaches into the band's collective quiver, melding their familiar anthem infused post-punk and lush, grand pop influences.
May 24 street date. Diamond Head – the Stourbridge, England born New Wave of British Heavy Metal pioneers – return to the world stage with a new album. The Coffin Train is at once fresh and exuberant while also being a stone-cold classic slice of old school heavy metal excellence. Formed in 1976 under the riff-rolling leadership of guitarist Brian Tatler, Diamond Head would quickly establish themselves as a vanguard of the exploding New Wave of British Heavy Metal scene. With their genre-defining debut album Lightning To The Nations, Diamond Head became the band who influenced and opened gates for many metal bands. The Coffin Train, Diamond Head’s eighth studio album, is a glorious testimony to Brian Tatler and Rasmus Bom Andersen’ masterful ability to create the flavours necessary for prime Diamond Head music. Look no further than “Belly of the Beast” for a ripping signal of intent, the huge, catchy, crunchy riff coupled with Ras’ fiery vocals and married to a steam-engine old school tempo which will have headbangers gleefully reaching for their air guitars and aspirin. It is both furious and thickly intense. Diamond Head have not only managed to create an album of pure heavy metal intensity, they have created a timeless aural statement which feels destined to see them delivering both The Coffin Train and DH 2.0 to more fans than ever.
May 24 street date. Diamond Head – the Stourbridge, England born New Wave of British Heavy Metal pioneers – return to the world stage with a new album. The Coffin Train is at once fresh and exuberant while also being a stone-cold classic slice of old school heavy metal excellence. Formed in 1976 under the riff-rolling leadership of guitarist Brian Tatler, Diamond Head would quickly establish themselves as a vanguard of the exploding New Wave of British Heavy Metal scene. With their genre-defining debut album Lightning To The Nations, Diamond Head became the band who influenced and opened gates for many metal bands. The Coffin Train, Diamond Head’s eighth studio album, is a glorious testimony to Brian Tatler and Rasmus Bom Andersen’ masterful ability to create the flavours necessary for prime Diamond Head music. Look no further than “Belly of the Beast” for a ripping signal of intent, the huge, catchy, crunchy riff coupled with Ras’ fiery vocals and married to a steam-engine old school tempo which will have headbangers gleefully reaching for their air guitars and aspirin. It is both furious and thickly intense. Diamond Head have not only managed to create an album of pure heavy metal intensity, they have created a timeless aural statement which feels destined to see them delivering both The Coffin Train and DH 2.0 to more fans than ever.
May 24 street date. The Fall's second studio album, reissued here as a limited edition 180 gram black and white splatter vinyl LP with a 7" single replica of their ‘Rowche Rumble’ single.
May 24 street date. Limited edition (1000 copies) red vinyl 40th anniversary reissue of The Fall's first studio album. Founded by its only constant member, Mark E. Smith, The Fall formed in Manchester in 1976 and were one of the most prominent post-punk groups in the world. Musically, there may have been several stylistic changes over the years, but it was often characterised by an abrasive guitar-driven sound and frequent use of repetition, always underpinned by Smith's distinctive vocals and often cryptic lyrics.
May 24 street date. The first release in Cherry Red's new series of deluxe Fall reissues is a 3CD expanded edition of their first studio album, originally released in 1979. Alongside the full album is a disc of single a and b-sides and session tracks and a live show from Mr. Pickwick's in Liverpool 1978. The box set also features a booklet of new sleeve notes by Daryl Easlea and has been remastered by long-term Fall engineer Andy Pearce.
May 24 street date. 3CD expanded edition of The Fall's second studio album, originally released in October 1979. Housed in a clamshell box, this edition includes the original album along with several single a and b-sides and alternative takes plus live shows from Retford in 1979 and Los Angeles in 1979. The box set also features a booklet of new sleeve notes by Daryl Easlea and has been remastered by long-term Fall engineer Andy Pearce.
May 24 street date. Back with their 13th studio album, Guitar Wolf's newest LOVE&JETT is full of the group's sweet, sweet love songs, all recorded in Japan. The energy explodes on the scene with the title track’s opening 1-2 bass-snare piston-fire and truly does not let up at any point on the full album. The band shines especially bright on Sex Jaguar, barely clocking in just over 2 minutes with chorus catchphrases and feline roars. While each song’s words (apart from a handful of song titles, 1-2-3-4s plus a clever cover of Spencer Davis Group's Gimme Some Lovin’) punch out in their native Japanese, the adoring English-speaking public will be granted an insert enclosed in each LP and CD with all lyrics translated to English. So with your heart flying high and faster than Mach speed, the untouchable legends Guitar Wolf are back to rush you away into another dimension.
May 24 street date. Back with their 13th studio album, Guitar Wolf's newest LOVE&JETT is full of the group's sweet, sweet love songs, all recorded in Japan. The energy explodes on the scene with the title track’s opening 1-2 bass-snare piston-fire and truly does not let up at any point on the full album. The band shines especially bright on Sex Jaguar, barely clocking in just over 2 minutes with chorus catchphrases and feline roars. While each song’s words (apart from a handful of song titles, 1-2-3-4s plus a clever cover of Spencer Davis Group's Gimme Some Lovin’) punch out in their native Japanese, the adoring English-speaking public will be granted an insert enclosed in each LP and CD with all lyrics translated to English. So with your heart flying high and faster than Mach speed, the untouchable legends Guitar Wolf are back to rush you away into another dimension.
Please note new street date May 24. 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 for CD / May 24 for LP (date change). 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 24 street date. It was on a mountainside in Cumbria that the first whispers of Cate Le Bon’s fifth studio album poked their buds above the earth. “There’s a strange romanticism to going a little bit crazy and playing the piano to yourself and singing into the night,” she says, recounting the year living solitarily in the Lake District which gave way to Reward. By day, ever the polymath, Le Bon painstakingly learnt to make solid wood tables, stools and chairs from scratch; by night she looked to a second-hand Meers — the first piano she had ever owned — for company, “windows closed to absolutely everyone”, and accidentally poured her heart out. The result is an album every bit as stylistically varied, surrealistically-inclined and tactile as those in the enduring outsider’s back catalogue, but one that is also intensely introspective and profound; her most personal to date. Over this extended period a cast of trusted and loved musicians joined Le Bon, Khouja and fellow co-producer Josiah Steinbrick —Stella Mozgawa (of Warpaint) on drums and percussion; Stephen Black (aka Sweet Baboo) on bass and saxophone and longtime collaborators Huw Evans (aka H.Hawkline) and Josh Klinghoffer on guitars — and were added to the album, “one by one, one on one”. Be it on her more minimalist, acoustic-leaning 2009 debut album Me Oh My or critically acclaimed, liquid-riffed 2013 LP Mug Museum as well as 2016s Crab Day, Cate LeBon’s solo work — and indeed also her production work, such as that carried out on recent Deerhunter album Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared? (4AD, January 2019) — has always resisted pigeonholing, walking the tightrope between krautrock aloofness and heartbreaking tenderness; deadpan served with a twinkle in the eye, a flick of the fringe and a lick of the Telecaster.
May 24 street date. It was on a mountainside in Cumbria that the first whispers of Cate Le Bon’s fifth studio album poked their buds above the earth. “There’s a strange romanticism to going a little bit crazy and playing the piano to yourself and singing into the night,” she says, recounting the year living solitarily in the Lake District which gave way to Reward. By day, ever the polymath, Le Bon painstakingly learnt to make solid wood tables, stools and chairs from scratch; by night she looked to a second-hand Meers — the first piano she had ever owned — for company, “windows closed to absolutely everyone”, and accidentally poured her heart out. The result is an album every bit as stylistically varied, surrealistically-inclined and tactile as those in the enduring outsider’s back catalogue, but one that is also intensely introspective and profound; her most personal to date. Over this extended period a cast of trusted and loved musicians joined Le Bon, Khouja and fellow co-producer Josiah Steinbrick —Stella Mozgawa (of Warpaint) on drums and percussion; Stephen Black (aka Sweet Baboo) on bass and saxophone and longtime collaborators Huw Evans (aka H.Hawkline) and Josh Klinghoffer on guitars — and were added to the album, “one by one, one on one”. Be it on her more minimalist, acoustic-leaning 2009 debut album Me Oh My or critically acclaimed, liquid-riffed 2013 LP Mug Museum as well as 2016s Crab Day, Cate LeBon’s solo work — and indeed also her production work, such as that carried out on recent Deerhunter album Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared? (4AD, January 2019) — has always resisted pigeonholing, walking the tightrope between krautrock aloofness and heartbreaking tenderness; deadpan served with a twinkle in the eye, a flick of the fringe and a lick of the Telecaster.
May 24 street date. It was on a mountainside in Cumbria that the first whispers of Cate Le Bon’s fifth studio album poked their buds above the earth. “There’s a strange romanticism to going a little bit crazy and playing the piano to yourself and singing into the night,” she says, recounting the year living solitarily in the Lake District which gave way to Reward. By day, ever the polymath, Le Bon painstakingly learnt to make solid wood tables, stools and chairs from scratch; by night she looked to a second-hand Meers — the first piano she had ever owned — for company, “windows closed to absolutely everyone”, and accidentally poured her heart out. The result is an album every bit as stylistically varied, surrealistically-inclined and tactile as those in the enduring outsider’s back catalogue, but one that is also intensely introspective and profound; her most personal to date. Over this extended period a cast of trusted and loved musicians joined Le Bon, Khouja and fellow co-producer Josiah Steinbrick —Stella Mozgawa (of Warpaint) on drums and percussion; Stephen Black (aka Sweet Baboo) on bass and saxophone and longtime collaborators Huw Evans (aka H.Hawkline) and Josh Klinghoffer on guitars — and were added to the album, “one by one, one on one”. Be it on her more minimalist, acoustic-leaning 2009 debut album Me Oh My or critically acclaimed, liquid-riffed 2013 LP Mug Museum as well as 2016s Crab Day, Cate LeBon’s solo work — and indeed also her production work, such as that carried out on recent Deerhunter album Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared? (4AD, January 2019) — has always resisted pigeonholing, walking the tightrope between krautrock aloofness and heartbreaking tenderness; deadpan served with a twinkle in the eye, a flick of the fringe and a lick of the Telecaster.
May 24 street date. Resurrected from the ashes of one of the most influential death metal bands of all time—Nocturnus—Nocturnus AD was initiated by founder / mastermind / death metal legend Mike Browning (also co-founder of Morbid Angel) to continue the path that was laid down, twenty-eight years later, by the legendary Florida death metal band’s seminal 1990 album The Key, an album recognized as one of the most important death metal albums of all time. Entitled Paradox, this debut album is the direct and proper follow-up to that album, musically and thematically, with the story and themes vocalist / drummer Browning laid out then continuing on through the lens of the occult. The story follows the journey of Dr. Allen William Magus (aka Dr. Magus), a scientist who got ravaged by a war plague disease and kept what was left of himself alive by creating a bio suit. Musically, the album’s otherworldly, technical dark atmospheric occult death metal blueprint harnesses and carries on the energy of the original album as well as the overall cult death metal vibe of the early ’90s in the singular forward-thinking that Nocturnus exhibited back then. With Browning commanding the craft alongside a lineup that also forms his other band, After Death, the Nocturnus legacy continues through guitarists Demian Heftel and Belial Koblack, bassist Daniel Tucker (ex-Obituary), and keyboardist Josh Holdren. With the blazing and fervent guitar work and the carefully orchestrated keyboards being the most developed out of any Nocturnus-related release, these integral components solidify the calculated pummeling rhythm section and resurrect their classic sound. And of course Browning’s distinct vocals spewing the incantations contain the classic vocal traits from the original album as well as Morbid Angel’s classic Abominations Of Desolation, which Browning was the co-writer of. Paradox will see Nocturnus AD reclaim and continue to properly carry the torch of the legacy Nocturnus’ laid down with The Key, finally, after twenty-eight years.
May 24 street date. Resurrected from the ashes of one of the most influential death metal bands of all time—Nocturnus—Nocturnus AD was initiated by founder / mastermind / death metal legend Mike Browning (also co-founder of Morbid Angel) to continue the path that was laid down, twenty-eight years later, by the legendary Florida death metal band’s seminal 1990 album The Key, an album recognized as one of the most important death metal albums of all time. Entitled Paradox, this debut album is the direct and proper follow-up to that album, musically and thematically, with the story and themes vocalist / drummer Browning laid out then continuing on through the lens of the occult. The story follows the journey of Dr. Allen William Magus (aka Dr. Magus), a scientist who got ravaged by a war plague disease and kept what was left of himself alive by creating a bio suit. Musically, the album’s otherworldly, technical dark atmospheric occult death metal blueprint harnesses and carries on the energy of the original album as well as the overall cult death metal vibe of the early ’90s in the singular forward-thinking that Nocturnus exhibited back then. With Browning commanding the craft alongside a lineup that also forms his other band, After Death, the Nocturnus legacy continues through guitarists Demian Heftel and Belial Koblack, bassist Daniel Tucker (ex-Obituary), and keyboardist Josh Holdren. With the blazing and fervent guitar work and the carefully orchestrated keyboards being the most developed out of any Nocturnus-related release, these integral components solidify the calculated pummeling rhythm section and resurrect their classic sound. And of course Browning’s distinct vocals spewing the incantations contain the classic vocal traits from the original album as well as Morbid Angel’s classic Abominations Of Desolation, which Browning was the co-writer of. Paradox will see Nocturnus AD reclaim and continue to properly carry the torch of the legacy Nocturnus’ laid down with The Key, finally, after twenty-eight years.
May 24 street date. Third Man is ecstatic to induct into the standard catalog Consolers of the Lonely, the critically-lauded, fan-adored, Grammy Award-winning sophomore LP from the beloved quartet known as the Raconteurs. Before surprise releases were common, the Raconteurs ambushed the world with the sudden, unannounced release of Consolers of the Lonely on March 25th, 2008, a time when coordinating a worldwide physical and digital surprise release was even less easily accomplished than it is today. Consolers finds the Raconteurs at their mightiest, exploring what it means to be a contemporary rock band in a classic sense, full-on bombastic horn arrangements and gut-wrenching murder ballads sit side-by-side while the swagger and confidence of riffs and licks for days firmly establish this album as one of the pre-eminent releases of the 2000s.
May 24 street date (date change). (Please Note: RSD edition is out of print. This is the "wide" release edition, available to ALL customers. Lower price than RSD version. It is NOT signed, and does NOT include the special edition RSD Prom Night 7") Hardbound 240pg Coffee Table Book by Aaron Lupton & Jeff Szpirglas - - - Are you obsessed with John Carpenter's iconic music for the Halloween series? Do you thrill to the unforgettable stabs of Bernard Herrmann's Psycho score, or the pounding synth of Goblin's soundtrack to Suspiria? Do you find yourself being pulled into the hair-raising modern scores for the likes of Get Out, Hereditary, and The Witch? You're not alone. Blood on Black Wax is a defining horror soundtrack volume that spotlights iconic franchises such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Jaws, The Exorcist, and George A. Romero's Dead films, highlighting both the music and the amazing – often rare – artwork that graces the record sleeves. It also tells the stories behind the soundtrack, from the mouths of the musicians who made them, including John Carpenter, Fabio Frizzi, Christopher Young, Harry Manfredini, Charles Bernstein, Pino Donaggio, John Harrison, Denny Zeitlin, and more. Aaron Lupton and Jeff Szpirglas, both of Rue Morgue magazine, have curated Blood on Black Wax to reflect their own passion for the darkest slabs of soundtrack music. Their journey into the fascinating history of horror movie scores contains reviews, release details, and wild stories about both renown and unusual releases - everything from the orchestral sounds of Hammer and Universal horror, to the truly experimental albums for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Eraserhead, to the outlandish punk and metal songs of '80s soundtrack albums like The Return of the Living Dead and Shocker.
May 24 street date. On 21-year-old Atlanta native Faye Webster's new album, the omnipresence of pedal steel eschews bluegrass trappings, flexible under Webster's genre-bending direction. Webster didn't set out to make it sound like any artist in particular, but she cites Aaliyah as her main musical inspiration for how she uses sound. Pulling from a familial lineage of folk storytelling and time spent in Atlanta's hip-hop scene, Webster's work is a study of duality, weaving through her own introversion and heartbreak; it's an idiosyncratic sadness punctuated by fleeting observations and an unexpected, sly sense of humor. And like the way Webster takes the traditional instrumentation of Americana and flips it into something else, she uses her own calm, laid-back demeanor to say you can be boldly and unapologetically yourself in a quiet way, too.
May 24 street date. On 21-year-old Atlanta native Faye Webster's new album, the omnipresence of pedal steel eschews bluegrass trappings, flexible under Webster's genre-bending direction. Webster didn't set out to make it sound like any artist in particular, but she cites Aaliyah as her main musical inspiration for how she uses sound. Pulling from a familial lineage of folk storytelling and time spent in Atlanta's hip-hop scene, Webster's work is a study of duality, weaving through her own introversion and heartbreak; it's an idiosyncratic sadness punctuated by fleeting observations and an unexpected, sly sense of humor. And like the way Webster takes the traditional instrumentation of Americana and flips it into something else, she uses her own calm, laid-back demeanor to say you can be boldly and unapologetically yourself in a quiet way, too.
May 31 street date. Requiring less than two weeks of studio time to complete, it's accurate to say that Apex Manor's Heartbreak City was captured more than it was recorded due to the "everybody in the same room" live sessions featuring songwriter Ross Flournoy on guitar and vocals, Dan Allaire (The Brian Jonestown Massacre) on drums, and Rob Barbato on bass and production duties. The raucous result is a sonic spectacle that cleverly balances aggressive Dinosaur Jr.-esque guitars with dreamy synth work that's reminiscent of The Cure, all mixed together with spirited instrumental performances, nuanced melodicism, and lyrics that swing wildly between being cryptic and being profound. In short, it's everything there is to love about early '90s pre-commercialized alternative rock but with a refreshingly modern absence of pretense or nostalgia.
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!
May 31 street date. Requiring less than two weeks of studio time to complete, it's accurate to say that Apex Manor's Heartbreak City was captured more than it was recorded due to the "everybody in the same room" live sessions featuring songwriter Ross Flournoy on guitar and vocals, Dan Allaire (The Brian Jonestown Massacre) on drums, and Rob Barbato on bass and production duties. The raucous result is a sonic spectacle that cleverly balances aggressive Dinosaur Jr.-esque guitars with dreamy synth work that's reminiscent of The Cure, all mixed together with spirited instrumental performances, nuanced melodicism, and lyrics that swing wildly between being cryptic and being profound. In short, it's everything there is to love about early '90s pre-commercialized alternative rock but with a refreshingly modern absence of pretense or nostalgia.
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!
May 31 street date. Originally released in 1993 and out-of-print the last seven years, "Pussy Whipped" is Bikini Kill's debut full-length. Bikini Kill was a feminist punk band based in Olympia, WA and Washington, D.C., forming in 1990 and breaking up in 1997. Kathleen Hanna sang, Tobi Vail played drums, Billy Karren (aka Billy Boredom) played guitar and Kathi Wilcox played bass. Bikini Kill is credited with instigating the Riot Grrrl movement in the early 90s via their political lyrics, zines, and confrontational live performances.
May 31 street date. Originally released in 1993 and out-of-print the last seven years, "Pussy Whipped" is Bikini Kill's debut full-length. Bikini Kill was a feminist punk band based in Olympia, WA and Washington, D.C., forming in 1990 and breaking up in 1997. Kathleen Hanna sang, Tobi Vail played drums, Billy Karren (aka Billy Boredom) played guitar and Kathi Wilcox played bass. Bikini Kill is credited with instigating the Riot Grrrl movement in the early 90s via their political lyrics, zines, and confrontational live performances.
May 31 street date. Originally released in 1996 and out-of-print the last seven years, "Reject All American" is Bikini Kill's second and final full-length. Bikini Kill was a feminist punk band based in Olympia, WA and Washington, D.C., forming in 1990 and breaking up in 1997. Kathleen Hanna sang, Tobi Vail played drums, Billy Karren (aka Billy Boredom) played guitar and Kathi Wilcox played bass. Bikini Kill is credited with instigating the Riot Grrrl movement in the early 90s via their political lyrics, zines, and confrontational live performances.
May 31 street date. Originally released in 1996 and out-of-print the last seven years, "Reject All American" is Bikini Kill's second and final full-length. Bikini Kill was a feminist punk band based in Olympia, WA and Washington, D.C., forming in 1990 and breaking up in 1997. Kathleen Hanna sang, Tobi Vail played drums, Billy Karren (aka Billy Boredom) played guitar and Kathi Wilcox played bass. Bikini Kill is credited with instigating the Riot Grrrl movement in the early 90s via their political lyrics, zines, and confrontational live performances.
May 31 street date. 2019 sees Fat Wreck and Bracket reunited at last with the release of their first new album together in nearly two decades! "Too Old to Die Young" is a return to form for the band, distilling the Bracket sound stretching back to when "2rak005" first hooked listeners in 1994. The album finds Bracket still indulging their love for Beach Boys harmonies, but also taking a more straightforward songwriting approach. Self-recorded over the period of a couple years, "Too Old to Die Young" shows Bracket at their most collaborative to date. Everything was written together, including the lyrics. The album wrestles with the themes implied by its title, including the wariness that comes from making music for such a long time.
May 31 street date. 2019 sees Fat Wreck and Bracket reunited at last with the release of their first new album together in nearly two decades! "Too Old to Die Young" is a return to form for the band, distilling the Bracket sound stretching back to when "2rak005" first hooked listeners in 1994. The album finds Bracket still indulging their love for Beach Boys harmonies, but also taking a more straightforward songwriting approach. Self-recorded over the period of a couple years, "Too Old to Die Young" shows Bracket at their most collaborative to date. Everything was written together, including the lyrics. The album wrestles with the themes implied by its title, including the wariness that comes from making music for such a long time.
May 31 street date. "Pianoworks" is Eluvium's first solo piano album since his sophomore album, "An Accidental Memory In The Case Of Death" (2004). Inspired by the quiet thoughts and solitary observations of children - and the evolution/dissolution of that ephemeral, uncorrupted wander of simple joy - "Pianoworks" begins with a song about children's piano lessons, and culminates with an etude driven by the struggle to hold onto innocence and imagination as adulthood settles in. The record's dramatic simplicity in both execution and expression is with purpose: Cooper wants the music to be simple enough to inspire children and novices to play, and the concept simple enough to resonate regardless of age or experience.
May 31 street date. "Pianoworks" is Eluvium's first solo piano album since his sophomore album, "An Accidental Memory In The Case Of Death" (2004). Inspired by the quiet thoughts and solitary observations of children - and the evolution/dissolution of that ephemeral, uncorrupted wander of simple joy - "Pianoworks" begins with a song about children's piano lessons, and culminates with an etude driven by the struggle to hold onto innocence and imagination as adulthood settles in. The record's dramatic simplicity in both execution and expression is with purpose: Cooper wants the music to be simple enough to inspire children and novices to play, and the concept simple enough to resonate regardless of age or experience.
May 31 street date. Limited edition (2000 copies) 2xCD set includes bonus album featuring new recordings of every Eluvium solo piano work ever released.
May 31 street date. Limited edition (1000 copies) 3xLP set includes bonus album featuring new recordings of every Eluvium solo piano work ever released. All 3 records are pressed onto a unique, custom-mixed Iridescent Mother of Pearl coloured vinyl.
May 31 street date. Channeling the hard-learned lessons of history, Kishi Bashi's fourht album "Omoiyari" reflects the turbulent socio-political atmosphere of present day America. Kishi Bashi recognized parallels between the current U.S. administration's constant talk of walls and bans, and the xenophobic anxieties that led to the forced internment of Japanese-Americans in the months following the attack on Pearl Harbor. So he immersed himself in that period, visiting former prison sites and listening to the stories of survivors, while developing musical concepts along the way. The strong conceptual elements of "Omoiyari" are driven by Kishi Bashi's captivating musical score. Stepping away from his past loop-based production model, he embraced a more collaborative approach when recording, and for the first time included contributions from other musicians. Kishi Bashi’s spectacular trademark violin soundscapes are still an essential component of his sound, but the focus of Omoiyari is centered squarely on its songs.
May 31 street date. Channeling the hard-learned lessons of history, Kishi Bashi's fourht album "Omoiyari" reflects the turbulent socio-political atmosphere of present day America. Kishi Bashi recognized parallels between the current U.S. administration's constant talk of walls and bans, and the xenophobic anxieties that led to the forced internment of Japanese-Americans in the months following the attack on Pearl Harbor. So he immersed himself in that period, visiting former prison sites and listening to the stories of survivors, while developing musical concepts along the way. The strong conceptual elements of "Omoiyari" are driven by Kishi Bashi's captivating musical score. Stepping away from his past loop-based production model, he embraced a more collaborative approach when recording, and for the first time included contributions from other musicians. Kishi Bashi’s spectacular trademark violin soundscapes are still an essential component of his sound, but the focus of Omoiyari is centered squarely on its songs.
May 31 street date. The debut LP from Montréal art-punk/sludge-rock trio Lungbutter, who've built a strong local and regional following since 2013, alongside support slots for Psychic TV, Suuns, Perfect Pussy, Yamantaka//Sonic Titan and more. Lungbutter's minimal guitar-drums-voice configuration is rooted in a visceral, ascetic punk idiom, refracted variously by free-noise, sludge rock and slowcore. Kaity Zozula marshals chaotic motifs of full-spectrum distorto-guitar, occupying a huge tonal space from low-end bass to paint-peeling treble, redolent of blown-out Melvins/Flipper fuzz and equally indebted to the frenetic dissonance of Keiji Haino or Merzbow. Song structures coalesce around guitar riffs of shifting tempos and the backbone of Joni Sadler's muscular, deliberate drums, while Ky Brooks' voice - at once mantric and declarative - deconstructs one brilliant lyrical theme after another, dancing along the knife-edge of dispassionate acerbic examination and wide-eyed cathartic revelation. Deluxe vinyl features a commissioned painting by celebrated artist and graphic novelist Tommi Parrish, including art poster and insert prints sourced therefrom.
May 31 street date. Sacred Paws have a natural inclination not to take things too seriously. You can hear it all the way through a conversation with it's two members, guitarist Rachel Aggs and drummer Eilidh Rodgers, punctuated by rolls of giggles and thoughtful pauses, and you can hear it in the light touch they bring to their music, a jangly blend of indie pop full of fizzing world rhythms and bright horns. Run Around the Sun brims with upbeat reflections on growing up and looking back. Shimmering guitar riffs dance between snappy beats and swooning melodies that will have crowds committing to far more than a simple head-bob. "I think we'd get bored if it was too slow," Eilidh says. "We'd never want to play something live that people couldn't dance to. It would feel really strange to us. It's kind of the whole point."
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!
May 31 street date. Sacred Paws have a natural inclination not to take things too seriously. You can hear it all the way through a conversation with it's two members, guitarist Rachel Aggs and drummer Eilidh Rodgers, punctuated by rolls of giggles and thoughtful pauses, and you can hear it in the light touch they bring to their music, a jangly blend of indie pop full of fizzing world rhythms and bright horns. Run Around the Sun brims with upbeat reflections on growing up and looking back. Shimmering guitar riffs dance between snappy beats and swooning melodies that will have crowds committing to far more than a simple head-bob. "I think we'd get bored if it was too slow," Eilidh says. "We'd never want to play something live that people couldn't dance to. It would feel really strange to us. It's kind of the whole point."
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!
May 31 street date. The year - 1978. The mood - revolution. The latest addition to the musician's sound palette - the synthesiser. And so a new sound was born, and one which would free pop music from its guitar dominated tradition into something with a bright new future which would write itself. Almost overnight, via a handful of key single releases, the big bang of punk produced something the kids called ‘synth-pop’. Cherry Red presents "Electrical Language" - a 4CD/80 track set exploring the independent side of the UK's post-punk synth-pop boom. From household names and scene legends to underground outsiders and bedroom experimenters. Packaged in hardback book format, including over 12,000 words of sleevenotes (including artist-written pieces), introductory essay by Dave Henderson and period imagery. With key tracks and hidden gems from Mute Records, Rough Trade, 4AD, Survival Records, Cherry Red and a host of essential independent players.
May 31 street date. After ERIC'S TRIP, ELEVATOR TO HELL, ELEVATOR, his UNINTENDED project with the SADIES, a trio of solo albums as RICK WHITE ALBUM, and producing albums for JULIE DOIRON, 100 DOLLARS, and many more, in 2011, Rick White decided to take a step back from making music. His hiatus lasted over seven years, but now he's back at it and he's teamed up with a like-minded soul named EIYN SOF. Singing in harmony together for all the vocals, the songs float within creepy mellotron melodies, echo guitars, dizzying synths and deep rolling bass and drum rhythms. It's a brand new heavy spacey psychedelic fairytale of an album, and we’re very proud to bring it to life here. Limited vinyl run on blue fog coloured vinyl.
June 7 street date. On his third and most finely wrought album yet, guitarist, singer, and master interpreter Jake Xerxes Fussell is joined for the first time by a full band featuring Nathan Bowles (drums), Casey Toll (bass), Nathan Golub (pedal steel), Libby Rodenbough (violin, vocals), and James Anthony Wallace (piano, organ). An utterly transporting selection of traditional narrative folksongs addressing the troubles and delights of love, work, and wine (i.e. the things that matter), collected from a myriad of obscure sources and deftly metamorphosed, "Out Of Sight" contains, among other moving curiosities, a fishmonger's cry that sounds like an astral lament ("The River St. Johns"); a cotton mill tune that humorously explores the unknown terrain of death and memory ("Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues"); and a fishermen's shanty/gospel song equally concerned with terrestrial boozing and heavenly transcendence ("Drinking of the Wine").
June 7 street date. On his third and most finely wrought album yet, guitarist, singer, and master interpreter Jake Xerxes Fussell is joined for the first time by a full band featuring Nathan Bowles (drums), Casey Toll (bass), Nathan Golub (pedal steel), Libby Rodenbough (violin, vocals), and James Anthony Wallace (piano, organ). An utterly transporting selection of traditional narrative folksongs addressing the troubles and delights of love, work, and wine (i.e. the things that matter), collected from a myriad of obscure sources and deftly metamorphosed, "Out Of Sight" contains, among other moving curiosities, a fishmonger's cry that sounds like an astral lament ("The River St. Johns"); a cotton mill tune that humorously explores the unknown terrain of death and memory ("Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues"); and a fishermen's shanty/gospel song equally concerned with terrestrial boozing and heavenly transcendence ("Drinking of the Wine").
June 7 street date. As far as we know, Tim Heidecker remains a happily married man with two delightful children. But we wouldn't blame you if you hear his latest collection of songs nd worry for the fella! For the last three years, Heidecker has been waging a hellish war of upon the current presidential administration and its shady minions. Whether because of his unrelenting Twitter prodding of Trump, his spot-on impersonation of Info Wars' Alex Jones or his well of caustic Trump protest songs, Heidecker has found himself in the crosshairs of the online alt-right community. At some point, one of those Incel or QAnon trolls started a vicious rumour that Tim's wife had, in fact, left him and the rumor caught fire across certain social channels. Instead of getting pissed off, our protagonist (antagonist?) Tim Heidecker got inspired. He knows full well that here in the music biz nothing breeds good tunes like utter heartbreak. From "Blood On The Tracks" to "Shoot Out The Lights", it's a nearly universal truth: divorce is a hit factory. So he imagined himself an awful divorce and let the hits flow.
June 7 street date. As far as we know, Tim Heidecker remains a happily married man with two delightful children. But we wouldn't blame you if you hear his latest collection of songs nd worry for the fella! For the last three years, Heidecker has been waging a hellish war of upon the current presidential administration and its shady minions. Whether because of his unrelenting Twitter prodding of Trump, his spot-on impersonation of Info Wars' Alex Jones or his well of caustic Trump protest songs, Heidecker has found himself in the crosshairs of the online alt-right community. At some point, one of those Incel or QAnon trolls started a vicious rumour that Tim's wife had, in fact, left him and the rumor caught fire across certain social channels. Instead of getting pissed off, our protagonist (antagonist?) Tim Heidecker got inspired. He knows full well that here in the music biz nothing breeds good tunes like utter heartbreak. From "Blood On The Tracks" to "Shoot Out The Lights", it's a nearly universal truth: divorce is a hit factory. So he imagined himself an awful divorce and let the hits flow.
June 7 street date. Pirouetting on decadence, meeting eyes with a dizzy sensation, falling and flying at the same time - Lust For Youth have continually held poise through the most vitalising of times. Their new album, a self-titled collection of eight songs, is sure-footed where they had earlier feared to tread, and light-headed for a new set of reasons. The album is driven by a dance-pop agenda, hustling its way through upbeat peaks that level out into reflective ballads. While still taking clear cues from a crop of austere synth-pop, Lust For Youth sound brighter than they ever have before, taking tips from some of the flirtiest Eurobeat to aid their new direction.
June 7 street date. Pirouetting on decadence, meeting eyes with a dizzy sensation, falling and flying at the same time - Lust For Youth have continually held poise through the most vitalising of times. Their new album, a self-titled collection of eight songs, is sure-footed where they had earlier feared to tread, and light-headed for a new set of reasons. The album is driven by a dance-pop agenda, hustling its way through upbeat peaks that level out into reflective ballads. While still taking clear cues from a crop of austere synth-pop, Lust For Youth sound brighter than they ever have before, taking tips from some of the flirtiest Eurobeat to aid their new direction.
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.
June 7 street date. (Deluxe reissue, Pressed on colored vinyl with bonus 7", SPOT UV Gatefold jacket. Includes download.) Originally released on Hellcat in 2006, "Peculiar” has remained timeless, continuously heralded as a true testament to their energy on stage and what makes them such a treasured band by fans across the globe. Alternative Nation called it “protest music made for dim, sweaty basements - The Slackers would sound at home supporting Rancid just as well as some grizzled New Orleans electric blues trio.” While “Peculiar” isn't a proper live album, the band managed to turn a club into their studio and truly strike a balance between their incredible live show and their equally impassioned studio work. The rhythm parts of the album were laid down during a live performance at reknowned Dutch ska club Ernesto’s (in Sittard, Holland), with vocal overdubs added later in the studio. In addition to many soon to be favorites, the setlist also includes tracks from their previous War Criminal EP, reinterpreted, reframed and played quite differently from their original release. “Peculiar” ranks right up there with Redlight and The Question as one of the Slackers' best - certainly one of the most played and cherished albums in their arsenal. Pirates Press Records is proud to have teamed up with the band to bring you this incredible expanded gatefold version of “Peculiar”, including a bonus 45 carrying two additional tracks from the project not offered with the original Hellcat release. Hope you’ve got your dancin’ shoes on!!!
June 7 street date. Long time Vancouver, Canada favorites The Vicious Cycles play hook-heavy singalong moto-anthems. They are punk rockers born in the garage, delivering songs straight from a rock-n-roll heart! There is chaos. Sometimes there is fire. Things get burnt. Everyone has a good time. TARGET MARKETS: ALL major punk & motorcycle related outlets, especially Vancouver (Hometown). (FOR FANS OF: THE CLASH / THE CRAMPS / THE HIVES / STIFF LITTLE FINGERS / THE WHO / EVIL KNIEVEL | STEVE / MCQUEEN / PINBALL)
June 14 LP street date / May 3 for CD. 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.
June 14 LP street date / May 3 for CD. 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.
June 14 street date. As you listen to "Shepherd In a Sheepskin Vest", a feeling of totality, of completeness, steals over you, like a thief in broad daylight. Of course it does - you're listening to a new Bill Callahan record! The first one in almost six years! For Bill, it's a different kind of record. He's now writing from somewhere beyond his Eagle-Apocalypse-River headspace, and "Shepherd In a Sheepskin Vest" is very much its own beast. The songs are, by and large, shorter, and there are more of them. It took almost all of the previous three albums to add up to that many. Plus, twenty's a lot of songs! But again, it goes a lot deeper than that. After "Dream River", Bill's life went through some changes. Good changes - marriage and a kid - but afterwards, it was suddenly harder for him to find the place where the songs came, to make him and these new experiences over again into something to sing. While sorting it all out, he worked on songs every day - which meant that for a while, there were lots of days simply confronting the void, as he measured this new life against the ones he'd previously known. "Shepherd In a Sheepskin Vest" glows incandescent - an entirely acoustic arrangement, sounds and stories shifting seamlessly, almost like one big song made of a bunch of new stories - the kind that only Bill Callahan thinks to sing.
June 14 street date. As you listen to "Shepherd In a Sheepskin Vest", a feeling of totality, of completeness, steals over you, like a thief in broad daylight. Of course it does - you're listening to a new Bill Callahan record! The first one in almost six years! For Bill, it's a different kind of record. He's now writing from somewhere beyond his Eagle-Apocalypse-River headspace, and "Shepherd In a Sheepskin Vest" is very much its own beast. The songs are, by and large, shorter, and there are more of them. It took almost all of the previous three albums to add up to that many. Plus, twenty's a lot of songs! But again, it goes a lot deeper than that. After "Dream River", Bill's life went through some changes. Good changes - marriage and a kid - but afterwards, it was suddenly harder for him to find the place where the songs came, to make him and these new experiences over again into something to sing. While sorting it all out, he worked on songs every day - which meant that for a while, there were lots of days simply confronting the void, as he measured this new life against the ones he'd previously known. "Shepherd In a Sheepskin Vest" glows incandescent - an entirely acoustic arrangement, sounds and stories shifting seamlessly, almost like one big song made of a bunch of new stories - the kind that only Bill Callahan thinks to sing.
June 14 street date. As you listen to "Shepherd In a Sheepskin Vest", a feeling of totality, of completeness, steals over you, like a thief in broad daylight. Of course it does - you're listening to a new Bill Callahan record! The first one in almost six years! For Bill, it's a different kind of record. He's now writing from somewhere beyond his Eagle-Apocalypse-River headspace, and "Shepherd In a Sheepskin Vest" is very much its own beast. The songs are, by and large, shorter, and there are more of them. It took almost all of the previous three albums to add up to that many. Plus, twenty's a lot of songs! But again, it goes a lot deeper than that. After "Dream River", Bill's life went through some changes. Good changes - marriage and a kid - but afterwards, it was suddenly harder for him to find the place where the songs came, to make him and these new experiences over again into something to sing. While sorting it all out, he worked on songs every day - which meant that for a while, there were lots of days simply confronting the void, as he measured this new life against the ones he'd previously known. "Shepherd In a Sheepskin Vest" glows incandescent - an entirely acoustic arrangement, sounds and stories shifting seamlessly, almost like one big song made of a bunch of new stories - the kind that only Bill Callahan thinks to sing.
June 14 street date. The Dangerous Summer's Mother Nature is their most personal album to date. Following their successful 2018 comeback after a five-year hiatus, the band is getting more raw and real than ever. With lyrics outlining painful breakups, feeling isolated, and trying to rebuild - Mother Nature propels The Dangerous Summer forward again - with no hiatus in sight. For Fans Of: Silverstein, The Wonder Years, Have Mercy.
June 14 street date. The Dangerous Summer's Mother Nature is their most personal album to date. Following their successful 2018 comeback after a five-year hiatus, the band is getting more raw and real than ever. With lyrics outlining painful breakups, feeling isolated, and trying to rebuild - Mother Nature propels The Dangerous Summer forward again - with no hiatus in sight. For Fans Of: Silverstein, The Wonder Years, Have Mercy.
June 14 street date. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of MONO, and the 10th anniversary of their most iconic album, Temporary Residence Ltd. proudly presents "Hymn to the Immortal Wind" - anniversary edition. Beautifully remastered from the original analog master tapes by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service, this super deluxe reissue sounds, looks, and feels more pure and powerful than ever before. The CD format has been repackaged in a gorgeous full-colour gatefold jacket with metallic gold inks, matte varnish, and custom inner sleeve. The 2xLP vinyl format is packaged in a mind-blowing full-color, custom die-cut jacket with metallic gold foil stamping, matte varnish, and 7 interchangeable full-colour cover inserts. The vinyl is pressed onto 100% virgin, audiophile-quality vinyl. No expense was spared in properly honoring what has become MONO's most beloved album!
June 14 street date. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of MONO, and the 10th anniversary of their most iconic album, Temporary Residence Ltd. proudly presents "Hymn to the Immortal Wind" - anniversary edition. Beautifully remastered from the original analog master tapes by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service, this super deluxe reissue sounds, looks, and feels more pure and powerful than ever before. The CD format has been repackaged in a gorgeous full-colour gatefold jacket with metallic gold inks, matte varnish, and custom inner sleeve. The 2xLP vinyl format is packaged in a mind-blowing full-color, custom die-cut jacket with metallic gold foil stamping, matte varnish, and 7 interchangeable full-colour cover inserts. The vinyl is pressed onto 100% virgin, audiophile-quality vinyl. No expense was spared in properly honoring what has become MONO's most beloved album!
June 14 street date. Pearlescent blue-green coloured vinyl edition, limited to 1000 copies. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of MONO, and the 10th anniversary of their most iconic album, Temporary Residence Ltd. proudly presents "Hymn to the Immortal Wind" - anniversary edition. Beautifully remastered from the original analog master tapes by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service, this super deluxe reissue sounds, looks, and feels more pure and powerful than ever before. The 2xLP vinyl format is packaged in a mind-blowing full-color, custom die-cut jacket with metallic gold foil stamping, matte varnish, and 7 interchangeable full-colour cover inserts. The vinyl is pressed onto 100% virgin, audiophile-quality vinyl.
June 14 street date. Remo Drive, the indie rock band conceived in suburban Minnesota by brothers Erik and Stephen
Paulson, are back with their 2nd studio album Natural, Everyday Degradation. On this follow-up to their highly
acclaimed 2017 release Greatest Hits, the band continue to evolve their sound, drawing on influences from such artists
as Pedro The Lion, Arctic Monkeys, and Queens of the Stone Age. The band?s signature sound which features high
energy guitars and Erik?s unique vocal style, along with thoughtful and clever lyrics have helped Remo Drive grow an
avid following. The band will be touring extensively in support of Natural, Everyday Degradation.
June 14 street date. Remo Drive, the indie rock band conceived in suburban Minnesota by brothers Erik and Stephen
Paulson, are back with their 2nd studio album Natural, Everyday Degradation. On this follow-up to their highly
acclaimed 2017 release Greatest Hits, the band continue to evolve their sound, drawing on influences from such artists
as Pedro The Lion, Arctic Monkeys, and Queens of the Stone Age. The band?s signature sound which features high
energy guitars and Erik?s unique vocal style, along with thoughtful and clever lyrics have helped Remo Drive grow an
avid following. The band will be touring extensively in support of Natural, Everyday Degradation.
June 14 street date. Shellac's sixth album is a collection of 1994 and 2004 sessions recorded for the late John Peel. Both formats of this collection of Peel Sessions are packaged in a top-load single pocket wide-spine jacket with two printed inner sleeves. The vinyl edition includes a CD of the full album.
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 !!!.
June 14 street date. Shellac's sixth album is a collection of 1994 and 2004 sessions recorded for the late John Peel. Both formats of this collection of Peel Sessions are packaged in a top-load single pocket wide-spine jacket with two printed inner sleeves. The vinyl edition includes a CD of the full album.
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 !!!.
June 21 street date. Gold Past Life marks both an end and a beginning for Fruit Bats. It's the end of an unintentional thematic trilogy of records that began with 2014's EDJ (a solo record by name, but a Fruit Bats release in spirit) and hit an emotional peak with 2016's Absolute Loser. They encompassed years of loss, displacement, and the persistent, low-level anxiety of the current political climate. They were written in the wake of friends who left these earthly confines and families that could have been. But these salves, these songs on Gold Past Life, also represent new beginnings-the journeys that await after making it through troubled times. Gold Past Life is about rejecting notions of idealized nostalgia ("Gold Past Life") and the process of grounding oneself in the present, both geographically ("A Lingering Love," "Ocean") and spiritually ("Drawn Away"). With Gold Past Life, Eric Johnson of Fruit B hopes to bring more immediacy to the music and share positivity, hope, and motivation to keep on keepin' on with a wider audience.
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!
June 21 street date. Gold Past Life marks both an end and a beginning for Fruit Bats. It's the end of an unintentional thematic trilogy of records that began with 2014's EDJ (a solo record by name, but a Fruit Bats release in spirit) and hit an emotional peak with 2016's Absolute Loser. They encompassed years of loss, displacement, and the persistent, low-level anxiety of the current political climate. They were written in the wake of friends who left these earthly confines and families that could have been. But these salves, these songs on Gold Past Life, also represent new beginnings-the journeys that await after making it through troubled times. Gold Past Life is about rejecting notions of idealized nostalgia ("Gold Past Life") and the process of grounding oneself in the present, both geographically ("A Lingering Love," "Ocean") and spiritually ("Drawn Away"). With Gold Past Life, Eric Johnson of Fruit B hopes to bring more immediacy to the music and share positivity, hope, and motivation to keep on keepin' on with a wider audience.
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!
June 21 street date. Gold Past Life marks both an end and a beginning for Fruit Bats. It's the end of an unintentional thematic trilogy of records that began with 2014's EDJ (a solo record by name, but a Fruit Bats release in spirit) and hit an emotional peak with 2016's Absolute Loser. They encompassed years of loss, displacement, and the persistent, low-level anxiety of the current political climate. They were written in the wake of friends who left these earthly confines and families that could have been. But these salves, these songs on Gold Past Life, also represent new beginnings-the journeys that await after making it through troubled times. Gold Past Life is about rejecting notions of idealized nostalgia ("Gold Past Life") and the process of grounding oneself in the present, both geographically ("A Lingering Love," "Ocean") and spiritually ("Drawn Away"). With Gold Past Life, Eric Johnson of Fruit B hopes to bring more immediacy to the music and share positivity, hope, and motivation to keep on keepin' on with a wider audience.
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!
June 21 street date. If you purchased a snake plant, asparagus fern, peace lily, or what have you from Mother Earth on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles (or bought a Simmons mattress from Sears) in 1976, you also took home "Plantasia", an album recorded especially for plants. Subtitled "warm earth music for plants and the people that love them," it was full of bucolic, charming, stoner-friendly, decidedly unscientific tunes enacted on the new-fangled device called the Moog. Few characters in early electronic music can be both fearless pioneers and cheesy trend-chasers, but Garson embraced both extremes, and has been unheralded as a result. Well before Brian Eno did it, Garson was making discreet music, both the man and his music as inconspicuous as a Chlorophytum comosum.
June 21 street date. If you purchased a snake plant, asparagus fern, peace lily, or what have you from Mother Earth on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles (or bought a Simmons mattress from Sears) in 1976, you also took home "Plantasia", an album recorded especially for plants. Subtitled "warm earth music for plants and the people that love them," it was full of bucolic, charming, stoner-friendly, decidedly unscientific tunes enacted on the new-fangled device called the Moog. Few characters in early electronic music can be both fearless pioneers and cheesy trend-chasers, but Garson embraced both extremes, and has been unheralded as a result. Well before Brian Eno did it, Garson was making discreet music, both the man and his music as inconspicuous as a Chlorophytum comosum.
June 21 street date. 2LP clear vinyl edition. Shafiq Husayn is a talented musician, producer, songwriter, and recording artist who has worked with some of the top artists in R&B, hip-hop, soul, funk, and beyond. Perhaps best known as one third of innovative Los Angeles musical collective Sa Ra Creative Partners, Husayn has produced for the likes of Erykah Badu, Andre 3000, John Legend, Kanye West, Jurassic 5, Bilal, and many more. In recent years, Shafiq has helped launch the careers of some of the most influential new artists to emerge from L.A., serving as a mentor to Anderson .Paak and working with Ty Dolla $ign before his rise to fame. His solo debut "Shafiq En A-Free-Ka" drew widespread critical acclaim, and he earned a Grammy for his work on Robert Glasper's breakthrough album "Black Radio". His new album "The Loop" includes several high-profile guest appearances, including Erykah Badu, Anderson .Paak, Robert Glasper, Bilal, Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Hiatus Kaiyote, Jimetta Rose, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Coultrain, and more. Vinyl includes download card giving access to album plus all instrumentals and the physical-only bonus track "Jungle Madness".
June 21 street date. The third full-length from Mannequin Pussy, Patience is an album fascinated with the physical experience of the body, its songs tracking the movements of mouths and hands and racing hearts, skin and spit and teeth and blood. Deeply attuned to the power of their own physicality, the Philadelphia-based band channels complex emotion in blistering riffs, thrashing rhythms, vocals that feel as immediate and untamed as a gut reaction. But throughout Patience, the Philadelphia-based band contrasts that raw vitality with intricate melodies and finely detailed arrangements, building a strange and potent tension that makes the album all the more cathartic. The follow-up to Romantic—a 2016 release praised by Pitchfork for “combin[ing] punk, shoegaze, death metal, and more, with the ferocious push-pull energy of a mosh pit”—Patience came to life at Studio 4 in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. In creating the album, Mannequin Pussy worked with producer/engineer Will Yip (Quicksand, The Menzingers), shaping an explosive sound that never overshadows the subtlety of their songwriting. “In the past there’s been a chaotic feeling to the recording process, but working with Will put us in a different headspace,” says Dabice. “It helped us show our progression over the past few years and make a very crisp-sounding record, without losing the dirtiness of what Mannequin Pussy really is.” For fans of Downtown Boys, Joyce Manor and Cherry Glazer.
June 21 street date. The third full-length from Mannequin Pussy, Patience is an album fascinated with the physical experience of the body, its songs tracking the movements of mouths and hands and racing hearts, skin and spit and teeth and blood. Deeply attuned to the power of their own physicality, the Philadelphia-based band channels complex emotion in blistering riffs, thrashing rhythms, vocals that feel as immediate and untamed as a gut reaction. But throughout Patience, the Philadelphia-based band contrasts that raw vitality with intricate melodies and finely detailed arrangements, building a strange and potent tension that makes the album all the more cathartic. The follow-up to Romantic—a 2016 release praised by Pitchfork for “combin[ing] punk, shoegaze, death metal, and more, with the ferocious push-pull energy of a mosh pit”—Patience came to life at Studio 4 in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. In creating the album, Mannequin Pussy worked with producer/engineer Will Yip (Quicksand, The Menzingers), shaping an explosive sound that never overshadows the subtlety of their songwriting. “In the past there’s been a chaotic feeling to the recording process, but working with Will put us in a different headspace,” says Dabice. “It helped us show our progression over the past few years and make a very crisp-sounding record, without losing the dirtiness of what Mannequin Pussy really is.” For fans of Downtown Boys, Joyce Manor and Cherry Glazer.
June 21 street date. The third full-length from Mannequin Pussy, Patience is an album fascinated with the physical experience of the body, its songs tracking the movements of mouths and hands and racing hearts, skin and spit and teeth and blood. Deeply attuned to the power of their own physicality, the Philadelphia-based band channels complex emotion in blistering riffs, thrashing rhythms, vocals that feel as immediate and untamed as a gut reaction. But throughout Patience, the Philadelphia-based band contrasts that raw vitality with intricate melodies and finely detailed arrangements, building a strange and potent tension that makes the album all the more cathartic. The follow-up to Romantic—a 2016 release praised by Pitchfork for “combin[ing] punk, shoegaze, death metal, and more, with the ferocious push-pull energy of a mosh pit”—Patience came to life at Studio 4 in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. In creating the album, Mannequin Pussy worked with producer/engineer Will Yip (Quicksand, The Menzingers), shaping an explosive sound that never overshadows the subtlety of their songwriting. “In the past there’s been a chaotic feeling to the recording process, but working with Will put us in a different headspace,” says Dabice. “It helped us show our progression over the past few years and make a very crisp-sounding record, without losing the dirtiness of what Mannequin Pussy really is.” For fans of Downtown Boys, Joyce Manor and Cherry Glazer.
June 21 street date. An Obelisk is the sixth album from Titus Andronicus, which finds the noted rock band under the stewardship of producer and legendary rocker Bob Mould (Hüsker Dü, Sugar, et al.). This trans-generational meeting of the minds has yielded the most immediate, intense, and unadorned Titus Andronicus record to date. Clocking in it a brisk 38 minutes and change, it is also the shortest. Recorded over six breathless days at Steve Albini's world-renowned Electrical Audio studio in Chicago, An Obelisk presents the sound of Titus Andronicus, rock band, at it's most irreducible, as monolithic as the album's titular monument.
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!
June 21 street date. An Obelisk is the sixth album from Titus Andronicus, which finds the noted rock band under the stewardship of producer and legendary rocker Bob Mould (Hüsker Dü, Sugar, et al.). This trans-generational meeting of the minds has yielded the most immediate, intense, and unadorned Titus Andronicus record to date. Clocking in it a brisk 38 minutes and change, it is also the shortest. Recorded over six breathless days at Steve Albini's world-renowned Electrical Audio studio in Chicago, An Obelisk presents the sound of Titus Andronicus, rock band, at it's most irreducible, as monolithic as the album's titular monument.
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!
June 21 street date. An Obelisk is the sixth album from Titus Andronicus, which finds the noted rock band under the stewardship of producer and legendary rocker Bob Mould (Hüsker Dü, Sugar, et al.). This trans-generational meeting of the minds has yielded the most immediate, intense, and unadorned Titus Andronicus record to date. Clocking in it a brisk 38 minutes and change, it is also the shortest. Recorded over six breathless days at Steve Albini's world-renowned Electrical Audio studio in Chicago, An Obelisk presents the sound of Titus Andronicus, rock band, at it's most irreducible, as monolithic as the album's titular monument.
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!
June 21 street date. Since Fat Wreck Chords began nearly 30 years ago, people have associated the label with a certain sound, and it's safe to say it bears little resemblance to Tommy and June. The self-titled debut from the mysterious duo lacks the aggressive, overdriven power of the bands on Fat Wreck's Mount Rushmore. The album's 10 tracks stick mostly to acoustic guitars, breathy vocal harmonies, and a spirit indebted to Pete Seeger as much as Pete Shelley. This isn't power chords on acoustic guitars, or punks unplugging for novelty's sake. Listeners who pay attention to the lyrics will hear enough clues to guess something about Tommy and June's lives. But label co-founder Fat Mike - who assembled the duo like an impresario from rock 'n' roll's past - wants to maintain the mystery.
June 21 street date. Since Fat Wreck Chords began nearly 30 years ago, people have associated the label with a certain sound, and it's safe to say it bears little resemblance to Tommy and June. The self-titled debut from the mysterious duo lacks the aggressive, overdriven power of the bands on Fat Wreck's Mount Rushmore. The album's 10 tracks stick mostly to acoustic guitars, breathy vocal harmonies, and a spirit indebted to Pete Seeger as much as Pete Shelley. This isn't power chords on acoustic guitars, or punks unplugging for novelty's sake. Listeners who pay attention to the lyrics will hear enough clues to guess something about Tommy and June's lives. But label co-founder Fat Mike - who assembled the duo like an impresario from rock 'n' roll's past - wants to maintain the mystery.
June 28 street date. Wilderness is a powerhouse of a record by Jade Jackson, a follow-up to her 2017 debut, Gilded. Her new work deals heavily with the in-betweens and stepping stones we dwell in and leap across while coming to terms with our sense of self, and how melancholy can be a powerful weapon to wield, especially in the form of a roots-rock or country song. Wilderness, like Gilded, was produced by Mike Ness, the SoCal punk rock legend who essentially plucked Jackson from obscurity several years ago and helped hone her craft and sound. Jackson calls Ness “a master of feel and rhythm” and credits him with showing her how to invoke more of those calling cards in her new work, in addition to those countless tools now in her arsenal that they developed together over time. As the pair’s master-pupil relationship continues to evolve, Jackson recognizes that Ness has become more open to her input while she herself has gotten more hands-on in the studio, a process that ultimately resulted in delivering the sound for which both parties were striving. “The message of ‘Wilderness’ is in how to get through tough situations—if you visualize yourself somewhere, all that good energy and intention can get you where you want to go.” – Jade Jackson. Produced by Mike Ness ( Social Distortion). For Fans of Margo Price, Lucinda Williams and Sturgill Simpson
June 28 street date. Wilderness is a powerhouse of a record by Jade Jackson, a follow-up to her 2017 debut, Gilded. Her new work deals heavily with the in-betweens and stepping stones we dwell in and leap across while coming to terms with our sense of self, and how melancholy can be a powerful weapon to wield, especially in the form of a roots-rock or country song. Wilderness, like Gilded, was produced by Mike Ness, the SoCal punk rock legend who essentially plucked Jackson from obscurity several years ago and helped hone her craft and sound. Jackson calls Ness “a master of feel and rhythm” and credits him with showing her how to invoke more of those calling cards in her new work, in addition to those countless tools now in her arsenal that they developed together over time. As the pair’s master-pupil relationship continues to evolve, Jackson recognizes that Ness has become more open to her input while she herself has gotten more hands-on in the studio, a process that ultimately resulted in delivering the sound for which both parties were striving. “The message of ‘Wilderness’ is in how to get through tough situations—if you visualize yourself somewhere, all that good energy and intention can get you where you want to go.” – Jade Jackson. Produced by Mike Ness ( Social Distortion). For Fans of Margo Price, Lucinda Williams and Sturgill Simpson
June 28 street date. Mega Bog is the fluid musical moniker of songwriter Erin Elizabeth Birgy, who has spent the last ten years channeling, capturing, and releasing her unique bouquet of fragrant, sci-fi pop experiments with a handful of bicoastal collaborators. She is joined on her fifth and finest album (and first for Paradise of Bachelors) by members of Big Thief, Hand Habits, and iji, who help her spin a manic web of emotions into beautiful, abstract future poems and thrilling genre perversions.
June 28 street date. Mega Bog is the fluid musical moniker of songwriter Erin Elizabeth Birgy, who has spent the last ten years channeling, capturing, and releasing her unique bouquet of fragrant, sci-fi pop experiments with a handful of bicoastal collaborators. She is joined on her fifth and finest album (and first for Paradise of Bachelors) by members of Big Thief, Hand Habits, and iji, who help her spin a manic web of emotions into beautiful, abstract future poems and thrilling genre perversions.
June 28 street date. Punk's Year Zero was 1976. But very few Punk records were actually released that year. The most significant musical developments happened in 1977, with a burgeoning, self-supporting network of clubs, performers, fanzines, indie labels and distributors creating an unstoppable groundswell that would revolutionise UK music and have an enduring impact on pop culture. "1977: The Year Punk Broke" reflects how a thrilling, controversial scene developed over those tumultuous twelve months. Many of the year's major breakthrough acts and cult favourites are included, including The Jam, The Damned, The Boomtown Rats, Buzzcocks, The Stranglers, Generation X, Sham 69, The Only Ones, The Rezillos, Ultravox!, 999, X-Ray Spex, ATV, The Boys and The Vibrators. The older guard - variously labelled Pub Rock, New Wave or Art Rock - are represented by Doctors Of Madness, Eddie & The Hot Rods, Deaf School, The Tyla Gang, Graham Parker & The Rumour, The Gorillas, The Count Bishops, Radio Stars, Spider and Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias. Other key names include Motorhead and The Heartbreakers, Johnny Thunders' band who recorded in London. Also present are a host of obscure indie Punk 45s and other rarities.
July 12 street date. "Don't You Think You've Had Enough?" is what Jennifer Clavin asked herself when she hit a turning point in her life. It's also the title of the new record from Bleached, Jessie and Jennifer Clavin's first LP written from a place of sobriety. That newfound perspective serves as the guiding force, yielding a courageous, honest, and sonically ambitious album. It's a record about fighting both literally and figuratively for your life - and the clarity born from that struggle. Producer Shane Stoneback (Vampire Weekend, Sleigh Bells) helped open every door to experimentation, wanting to be exploratory while keeping the sound singularly Bleached. The resulting LP is explosive, grappling with the past; its twelve tracks mark some of the sisters' most visceral, rawest songwriting to date - and some of their best. The work glimmers with inspiration found in touring with the likes of The Damned and Paramore. That arena-ready pop, incisively catchy, was a palpable influence helping to push Bleached's sound in a new direction.
July 12 street date. "Don't You Think You've Had Enough?" is what Jennifer Clavin asked herself when she hit a turning point in her life. It's also the title of the new record from Bleached, Jessie and Jennifer Clavin's first LP written from a place of sobriety. That newfound perspective serves as the guiding force, yielding a courageous, honest, and sonically ambitious album. It's a record about fighting both literally and figuratively for your life - and the clarity born from that struggle. Producer Shane Stoneback (Vampire Weekend, Sleigh Bells) helped open every door to experimentation, wanting to be exploratory while keeping the sound singularly Bleached. The resulting LP is explosive, grappling with the past; its twelve tracks mark some of the sisters' most visceral, rawest songwriting to date - and some of their best. The work glimmers with inspiration found in touring with the likes of The Damned and Paramore. That arena-ready pop, incisively catchy, was a palpable influence helping to push Bleached's sound in a new direction.
July 12 street date. "Don't You Think You've Had Enough?" is what Jennifer Clavin asked herself when she hit a turning point in her life. It's also the title of the new record from Bleached, Jessie and Jennifer Clavin's first LP written from a place of sobriety. That newfound perspective serves as the guiding force, yielding a courageous, honest, and sonically ambitious album. It's a record about fighting both literally and figuratively for your life - and the clarity born from that struggle. Producer Shane Stoneback (Vampire Weekend, Sleigh Bells) helped open every door to experimentation, wanting to be exploratory while keeping the sound singularly Bleached. The resulting LP is explosive, grappling with the past; its twelve tracks mark some of the sisters' most visceral, rawest songwriting to date - and some of their best. The work glimmers with inspiration found in touring with the likes of The Damned and Paramore. That arena-ready pop, incisively catchy, was a palpable influence helping to push Bleached's sound in a new direction.
July 12 street date. Drab Majesty's third album, "Modern Mirror", is a journey of self-reflection, nostalgia, love, beauty, and heartbreak told across eight addictive and emotional synth pop anthems - a seemingly classic tale delivered unblinkingly through the frame of the modern world. Elements of classic tragedy weigh heavily in the reflection of Modern Mirror in songs like "The Other Side", possessing a fundamental sound that is energetic, luminous and hopeful. Fusing the sonic aesthetics of predecessors like New Order and The Cure within the cautious instruction of Greek mythology and modern science fiction, Drab Majesty has birthed a hybrid of dreamy malaise, captured for a future moment.
July 12 street date. Drab Majesty's third album, "Modern Mirror", is a journey of self-reflection, nostalgia, love, beauty, and heartbreak told across eight addictive and emotional synth pop anthems - a seemingly classic tale delivered unblinkingly through the frame of the modern world. Elements of classic tragedy weigh heavily in the reflection of Modern Mirror in songs like "The Other Side", possessing a fundamental sound that is energetic, luminous and hopeful. Fusing the sonic aesthetics of predecessors like New Order and The Cure within the cautious instruction of Greek mythology and modern science fiction, Drab Majesty has birthed a hybrid of dreamy malaise, captured for a future moment.
July 12 street date. Looking Through The Shades, is Glitterer’s debut full-length album, featuring Ned Russin, bassist/vocalist of Title Fight. This is Glitterer all glown up. Now there are live drums (twin-brother Ben did the honours) and dopamine-releasing fuzzy guitars to go with the synths, the bass, and the voice. Now there’s a full 14-song tracklist to luxuriate in. Produced by Alex Giannascoli and Arthur Rizk (Code Orange, Power Trip, Sumerlands) the album delivers Glitterer’s best-yet sonics and songs. The lyrics are still insouciantly tortured, in a reluctant-college-boy kind of way, the choruses are still obscenely catchy, and the arrangements still carry not so much as an ounce of excess fat. From the saturated distortion of the opener, “The Race” (“I wish I could look at your life and know it’s mine”), through the road-weary “1001” (“I sang 1,000 songs / didn’t want to sing again”) and the vox-and-bass-only Side B outlier “The News” (“I used to be original”), the listener is simultaneously satiated and left wanting more. For Fans of Title Fight, Touche’ Amore’ & Balance and Composure
July 12 street date. Looking Through The Shades, is Glitterer’s debut full-length album, featuring Ned Russin, bassist/vocalist of Title Fight. This is Glitterer all glown up. Now there are live drums (twin-brother Ben did the honours) and dopamine-releasing fuzzy guitars to go with the synths, the bass, and the voice. Now there’s a full 14-song tracklist to luxuriate in. Produced by Alex Giannascoli and Arthur Rizk (Code Orange, Power Trip, Sumerlands) the album delivers Glitterer’s best-yet sonics and songs. The lyrics are still insouciantly tortured, in a reluctant-college-boy kind of way, the choruses are still obscenely catchy, and the arrangements still carry not so much as an ounce of excess fat. From the saturated distortion of the opener, “The Race” (“I wish I could look at your life and know it’s mine”), through the road-weary “1001” (“I sang 1,000 songs / didn’t want to sing again”) and the vox-and-bass-only Side B outlier “The News” (“I used to be original”), the listener is simultaneously satiated and left wanting more. For Fans of Title Fight, Touche’ Amore’ & Balance and Composure
July 12 street date. Limited vinyl edition of Pere Ubu's new album. Named after Raymond Chandler's novel, "The Long Goodbye" is the end of a road. Front man David Thomas has long talked of their journey to Satisfied City: "this wraps up every song and story that Pere Ubu has been telling in different ways for the past forty plus years". This Pere Ubu album sounds like no other. It boasts a large expanse of synths due to Thomas writing and arranging the songs alone with his collection of drum machines, synthesizers and a melodeon before sending to the other musicians to complete this unique fusion of techno meets trad rock meets the avant garage. Limited to just 1000 copies, this beautiful vinyl edition is housed in a splendid gatefold sleeve reflecting the film noir-ish artwork, the perfect packaging for the inspiration behind the album's title.
July 12 street date. Named after Raymond Chandler's novel, Pere Ubu's new album "The Long Goodbye" is the end of a road. Front man David Thomas has long talked of their journey to Satisfied City: "this wraps up every song and story that Pere Ubu has been telling in different ways for the past forty plus years". This Pere Ubu album sounds like no other. It boasts a large expanse of synths due to Thomas writing and arranging the songs alone with his collection of drum machines, synthesizers and a melodeon before sending to the other musicians to complete this unique fusion of techno meets trad rock meets the avant garage. The CD edition boasts a live bonus disc, recorded in December 2018. Former member Chris Cutler rejoined David Thomas, Gagarin and Keith Moliné to play the entire album to a packed theatre in Montreuil, Paris. The show also included the seminal Pere Ubu classic ‘Heart Of Darkness’ and Neil Young's ‘Running Dry’.
July 12 street date. Ten years have come and gone since David Berman's Silver Jews ended their classic run and Berman announced his retirement from music. Now Berman returns with Purple Mountains, his new nom-de-rock. "Purple Mountains" is also the name of what will be known as one of his greatest albums - full of double-jointed wit and wisdom, up to the neck in his special recipe of handcrafted country-rock joys and sorrows that sing legendary in cracked and broken hearts. The songs of "Purple Mountains" are a potent brew, stitched together from lifetimes, knitting the drift of the years with the tightest lyric construction Berman's ever attempted. Honesty is archly in the air, but lines of incredible bleakness somehow give way to playful distraction and the hiding of surprises for close listeners.
July 12 street date. Ten years have come and gone since David Berman's Silver Jews ended their classic run and Berman announced his retirement from music. Now Berman returns with Purple Mountains, his new nom-de-rock. "Purple Mountains" is also the name of what will be known as one of his greatest albums - full of double-jointed wit and wisdom, up to the neck in his special recipe of handcrafted country-rock joys and sorrows that sing legendary in cracked and broken hearts. The songs of "Purple Mountains" are a potent brew, stitched together from lifetimes, knitting the drift of the years with the tightest lyric construction Berman's ever attempted. Honesty is archly in the air, but lines of incredible bleakness somehow give way to playful distraction and the hiding of surprises for close listeners.
July 12 street date. Ten years have come and gone since David Berman's Silver Jews ended their classic run and Berman announced his retirement from music. Now Berman returns with Purple Mountains, his new nom-de-rock. "Purple Mountains" is also the name of what will be known as one of his greatest albums - full of double-jointed wit and wisdom, up to the neck in his special recipe of handcrafted country-rock joys and sorrows that sing legendary in cracked and broken hearts. The songs of "Purple Mountains" are a potent brew, stitched together from lifetimes, knitting the drift of the years with the tightest lyric construction Berman's ever attempted. Honesty is archly in the air, but lines of incredible bleakness somehow give way to playful distraction and the hiding of surprises for close listeners.
July 19 street date. HUNNY is a band from Newbury Park, CA who first made a name for themselves in early 2015 after releasing their debut single “Cry for Me”. They have since released 3 Eps, including 2018’s Windows II. Tastemakers and fans alike found the Southern California group to be a perfect mix of post-punk tinged pop and their childhood influences like Prince and The Cure. The result is a sound that feels uniquely them. With a few more years and more material under their belt, HUNNY has gained fans across the globe by touring with the likes of The Neighbourhood, Beach Slang, The Frights and more. This is just the start of a long and promising career for HUNNY. HUNNY is front man Jason Yarger, guitarist Jake Goldstein, bassist/keyboardist Kevin Grimmett, and drummer Joey Anderson. “HUNNY blends sterling pop hooks with melodies and arrangements influenced by ‘80s alternative rock (especially the Cure) and lyrics that put an upbeat spin on heartache” - Mark Demming /AllMusic.com
July 19 street date. Grammy nominated rock band Sum 41 is back and bigger than ever with their seventh studio album Order In Decline. Written, produced, mixed, and engineered by frontman Deryck Whibley, Order In Decline is a burst of uninhibited feeling, a page out of his journal, a window into his soul that reflects on extremely personal and vulnerable events. The album is undoubtedly Sum 41’s heaviest and most aggressive album in their storied career, while also being its most dynamic and raw. For Fans Of: The Used, The Offspring, Blink 182, Good Charlotte Touring Highlights: Headlining the “No Personal Space” tour from April to May of 2019. Also on the Rockstar Energy Disrupt Festival lineup from June to July of 2019. Playing Toronto, headlining at Echo Beach on August 08th and playing Rock La Cauze Festival in Victoriaville, QC on August 10th. First single “Out For Blood” being worked on by RPM Promotions in Canada for Radio at Active Rock and Alternative stations.
July 19 street date. Grammy nominated rock band Sum 41 is back and bigger than ever with their seventh studio album Order In Decline. Written, produced, mixed, and engineered by frontman Deryck Whibley, Order In Decline is a burst of uninhibited feeling, a page out of his journal, a window into his soul that reflects on extremely personal and vulnerable events. The album is undoubtedly Sum 41’s heaviest and most aggressive album in their storied career, while also being its most dynamic and raw. For Fans Of: The Used, The Offspring, Blink 182, Good Charlotte Touring Highlights: Headlining the “No Personal Space” tour from April to May of 2019. Also on the Rockstar Energy Disrupt Festival lineup from June to July of 2019. Playing Toronto, headlining at Echo Beach on August 08th and playing Rock La Cauze Festival in Victoriaville, QC on August 10th. First single “Out For Blood” being worked on by RPM Promotions in Canada for Radio at Active Rock and Alternative stations.
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.
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.
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.
June 14 LP street date / May 3 for CD. 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.
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 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 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.
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.
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.
May 10 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.
May 10 street date (date change). (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.
May 10 street date (date change). (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.
May 10 street date (date change). (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.
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.
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.
May 10 LP street date (April 5 for CD). (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 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).
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).
May 10 street date. ‘Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres’ will be available on Vinyl in a gatefold sleeve with inner bag (SOLP1), CD Digi (SOCD1) and Cassette (SOCASS1). The Deluxe CD (SOCD1X) & Deluxe clear vinyl (SOLP1X) include a live and demos CD and DVD film. The deluxe vinyl (SOLP1X) is for Indie stores only. ‘Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres’ was recorded live to beautifully capture the essence and spirit of the Puta Madres at a family home overlooking a fishing village in Étretat Normandy, over 4 days last summer and mixed at Urchin Studios (East London). The album is engineered by Dan Cox (Laura Marling, Thurston Moore, Florence & The Machine)and produced by Jai Stanley. It is a devastatingly intimate portrait of love, loss, being lost, happiness, tragedy, addiction and the power of the human soul to transcend its darker levels. All the songs from the album were road tested over the last 18 months across Europe at Festivals and headline shows. Songs include the reflective ‘All At Sea,’ the raw ‘Punk Buck Bonafide,’ the upbeat and playful ‘Shoreleave,’ the joyous hymn of liberation ‘Paradise Is Under Your Nose,’ ‘Someone Else To Be’ Peter’s re-imagining of the Velvet Underground’s ‘Ride Into The Sun’ and Oasis’ ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger and ‘Who’s Been Having You Over’ with dialogue from the 1948 film adaption of Graham Greene ‘Brighton Rock’ and the cheeky poke at his own notoriety, “You’re so rock’n’roll.” As previously announced Pete has just finished a sold out solo tour of the UK, followed by six full band shows. The band are back out on the road in May. Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres are: Peter Doherty (Vocals/Guitar), Miggles (bass), Miki Beavis (violin), Katia DeVidas (Piano/keyboards), Jack Jones (lead guitar), Rafa (drums).
May 10 street date. ‘Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres’ will be available on Vinyl in a gatefold sleeve with inner bag (SOLP1), CD Digi (SOCD1) and Cassette (SOCASS1). The Deluxe CD (SOCD1X) & Deluxe clear vinyl (SOLP1X) include a live and demos CD and DVD film. The deluxe vinyl (SOLP1X) is for Indie stores only. ‘Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres’ was recorded live to beautifully capture the essence and spirit of the Puta Madres at a family home overlooking a fishing village in Étretat Normandy, over 4 days last summer and mixed at Urchin Studios (East London). The album is engineered by Dan Cox (Laura Marling, Thurston Moore, Florence & The Machine)and produced by Jai Stanley. It is a devastatingly intimate portrait of love, loss, being lost, happiness, tragedy, addiction and the power of the human soul to transcend its darker levels. All the songs from the album were road tested over the last 18 months across Europe at Festivals and headline shows. Songs include the reflective ‘All At Sea,’ the raw ‘Punk Buck Bonafide,’ the upbeat and playful ‘Shoreleave,’ the joyous hymn of liberation ‘Paradise Is Under Your Nose,’ ‘Someone Else To Be’ Peter’s re-imagining of the Velvet Underground’s ‘Ride Into The Sun’ and Oasis’ ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger and ‘Who’s Been Having You Over’ with dialogue from the 1948 film adaption of Graham Greene ‘Brighton Rock’ and the cheeky poke at his own notoriety, “You’re so rock’n’roll.” As previously announced Pete has just finished a sold out solo tour of the UK, followed by six full band shows. The band are back out on the road in May. Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres are: Peter Doherty (Vocals/Guitar), Miggles (bass), Miki Beavis (violin), Katia DeVidas (Piano/keyboards), Jack Jones (lead guitar), Rafa (drums).
May 10 street date. ‘Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres’ will be available on Vinyl in a gatefold sleeve with inner bag (SOLP1), CD Digi (SOCD1) and Cassette (SOCASS1). The Deluxe CD (SOCD1X) & Deluxe clear vinyl (SOLP1X) include a live and demos CD and DVD film. The deluxe vinyl (SOLP1X) is for Indie stores only. ‘Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres’ was recorded live to beautifully capture the essence and spirit of the Puta Madres at a family home overlooking a fishing village in Étretat Normandy, over 4 days last summer and mixed at Urchin Studios (East London). The album is engineered by Dan Cox (Laura Marling, Thurston Moore, Florence & The Machine)and produced by Jai Stanley. It is a devastatingly intimate portrait of love, loss, being lost, happiness, tragedy, addiction and the power of the human soul to transcend its darker levels. All the songs from the album were road tested over the last 18 months across Europe at Festivals and headline shows. Songs include the reflective ‘All At Sea,’ the raw ‘Punk Buck Bonafide,’ the upbeat and playful ‘Shoreleave,’ the joyous hymn of liberation ‘Paradise Is Under Your Nose,’ ‘Someone Else To Be’ Peter’s re-imagining of the Velvet Underground’s ‘Ride Into The Sun’ and Oasis’ ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger and ‘Who’s Been Having You Over’ with dialogue from the 1948 film adaption of Graham Greene ‘Brighton Rock’ and the cheeky poke at his own notoriety, “You’re so rock’n’roll.” As previously announced Pete has just finished a sold out solo tour of the UK, followed by six full band shows. The band are back out on the road in May. Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres are: Peter Doherty (Vocals/Guitar), Miggles (bass), Miki Beavis (violin), Katia DeVidas (Piano/keyboards), Jack Jones (lead guitar), Rafa (drums).
May 10 street date. ‘Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres’ will be available on Vinyl in a gatefold sleeve with inner bag (SOLP1), CD Digi (SOCD1) and Cassette (SOCASS1). The Deluxe CD (SOCD1X) & Deluxe clear vinyl (SOLP1X) include a live and demos CD and DVD film. The deluxe vinyl (SOLP1X) is for Indie stores only. ‘Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres’ was recorded live to beautifully capture the essence and spirit of the Puta Madres at a family home overlooking a fishing village in Étretat Normandy, over 4 days last summer and mixed at Urchin Studios (East London). The album is engineered by Dan Cox (Laura Marling, Thurston Moore, Florence & The Machine)and produced by Jai Stanley. It is a devastatingly intimate portrait of love, loss, being lost, happiness, tragedy, addiction and the power of the human soul to transcend its darker levels. All the songs from the album were road tested over the last 18 months across Europe at Festivals and headline shows. Songs include the reflective ‘All At Sea,’ the raw ‘Punk Buck Bonafide,’ the upbeat and playful ‘Shoreleave,’ the joyous hymn of liberation ‘Paradise Is Under Your Nose,’ ‘Someone Else To Be’ Peter’s re-imagining of the Velvet Underground’s ‘Ride Into The Sun’ and Oasis’ ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger and ‘Who’s Been Having You Over’ with dialogue from the 1948 film adaption of Graham Greene ‘Brighton Rock’ and the cheeky poke at his own notoriety, “You’re so rock’n’roll.” As previously announced Pete has just finished a sold out solo tour of the UK, followed by six full band shows. The band are back out on the road in May. Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres are: Peter Doherty (Vocals/Guitar), Miggles (bass), Miki Beavis (violin), Katia DeVidas (Piano/keyboards), Jack Jones (lead guitar), Rafa (drums).
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.”
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 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.
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.
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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).
May 10 street date / June 21 for LP. Shafiq Husayn is a talented musician, producer, songwriter, and recording artist who has worked with some of the top artists in R&B, hip-hop, soul, funk, and beyond. Perhaps best known as one third of innovative Los Angeles musical collective Sa Ra Creative Partners, Husayn has produced for the likes of Erykah Badu, Andre 3000, John Legend, Kanye West, Jurassic 5, Bilal, and many more. In recent years, Shafiq has helped launch the careers of some of the most influential new artists to emerge from L.A., serving as a mentor to Anderson .Paak and working with Ty Dolla $ign before his rise to fame. His solo debut "Shafiq En A-Free-Ka" drew widespread critical acclaim, and he earned a Grammy for his work on Robert Glasper's breakthrough album "Black Radio". His new album "The Loop" includes several high-profile guest appearances, including Erykah Badu, Anderson .Paak, Robert Glasper, Bilal, Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Hiatus Kaiyote, Jimetta Rose, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Coultrain, and more. Vinyl includes download card giving access to album plus all instrumentals and the physical-only bonus track "Jungle Madness".
May 10 street date / June 21 for LP. Shafiq Husayn is a talented musician, producer, songwriter, and recording artist who has worked with some of the top artists in R&B, hip-hop, soul, funk, and beyond. Perhaps best known as one third of innovative Los Angeles musical collective Sa Ra Creative Partners, Husayn has produced for the likes of Erykah Badu, Andre 3000, John Legend, Kanye West, Jurassic 5, Bilal, and many more. In recent years, Shafiq has helped launch the careers of some of the most influential new artists to emerge from L.A., serving as a mentor to Anderson .Paak and working with Ty Dolla $ign before his rise to fame. His solo debut "Shafiq En A-Free-Ka" drew widespread critical acclaim, and he earned a Grammy for his work on Robert Glasper's breakthrough album "Black Radio". His new album "The Loop" includes several high-profile guest appearances, including Erykah Badu, Anderson .Paak, Robert Glasper, Bilal, Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Hiatus Kaiyote, Jimetta Rose, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Coultrain, and more. Vinyl includes download card giving access to album plus all instrumentals and the physical-only bonus track "Jungle Madness".
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
May 10 street date. Efrim Manuel Menuck (founding member of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Thee Silver Mt. Zion) and Kevin Doria (Growing, Total Life) are now officially a duo. Menuck recruited Doria to help him translate his acclaimed 2018 album Pissing Stars from the studio to the stage, and the pair have been touring under the Efrim Manuel Menuck moniker for the past year (often with Doria's latest solo project KGD opening the proceedings). They've also been co-writing piles of new material, diving deeper into whirling maximalist electronics, still shot through with Menuck's incantatory singing awash in plaintive distortion and hope. Efrim Manuel Menuck & Kevin Doria are SING SINCK, SING presents the first volume of songs forged from this febrile and fertile merger: an antifa poetics of sound that unspools across five crushing, keening tracks driven by thick sweeping drones and ostinatos, battered by inscrutably searching, ricocheting vocals. Anguish, yearning, and desperate conviction combine in these saturated survivalist electro-hymns, for as long as the power stays on to overload the amplifiers.
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 19 street date. Even inside Genesis, Mike Rutherford’s forte has always been his melodic songwriting. With the successful side project MIKE + THE MECHANICS, the artist managed to find a further way to express himself working with other composers and different teams. Since 1985, Mechanics became a brand in their own, releasing seven albums, selling more than 10 million records, launching many hit singles and touring worldwide with a two frontmen led band. The sudden death of one of the original singers, Paul Young, needed a period of adjustment but, after one experimental album with Paul Carrack as the only vocalist, Rutherford changed the face to the band recruiting two new singers, Andrew Roachford and Tim Howar. While the album including their most famous song, “The Living Years,” celebrates its 25th anniversary, Mike + The Mechanics are still hitting the road, to the pleasure of the fans worldwide.
April 19 street date. Even inside Genesis, Mike Rutherford’s forte has always been his melodic songwriting. With the successful side project MIKE + THE MECHANICS, the artist managed to find a further way to express himself working with other composers and different teams. Since 1985, Mechanics became a brand in their own, releasing seven albums, selling more than 10 million records, launching many hit singles and touring worldwide with a two frontmen led band. The sudden death of one of the original singers, Paul Young, needed a period of adjustment but, after one experimental album with Paul Carrack as the only vocalist, Rutherford changed the face to the band recruiting two new singers, Andrew Roachford and Tim Howar. While the album including their most famous song, “The Living Years,” celebrates its 25th anniversary, Mike + The Mechanics are still hitting the road, to the pleasure of the fans worldwide.
April 19 street date. Even inside Genesis, Mike Rutherford’s forte has always been his melodic songwriting. With the successful side project MIKE + THE MECHANICS, the artist managed to find a further way to express himself working with other composers and different teams. Since 1985, Mechanics became a brand in their own, releasing seven albums, selling more than 10 million records, launching many hit singles and touring worldwide with a two frontmen led band. The sudden death of one of the original singers, Paul Young, needed a period of adjustment but, after one experimental album with Paul Carrack as the only vocalist, Rutherford changed the face to the band recruiting two new singers, Andrew Roachford and Tim Howar. While the album including their most famous song, “The Living Years,” celebrates its 25th anniversary, Mike + The Mechanics are still hitting the road, to the pleasure of the fans worldwide.
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. 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.
May 3 street date. Pop-punk all-stars New Found Glory are reviving their love for the big screen with their upcoming album From The Screen To Your Stereo 3. This will be the third installment of their fan-favorite nostalgic movie cover records. Featuring songs from blockbuster movies such as Frozen, Back To The Future, and Rocky 3, this album has been long awaited since the release of the last installment in 2007. For Fans Of: Sum 41, Good Charlotte, The Wonder Years First single “The Power Of Love” added to Spotify, Google Play, Deezer and Apple Music playlist’s world wide!
May 3 street date. Pop-punk all-stars New Found Glory are reviving their love for the big screen with their upcoming album From The Screen To Your Stereo 3. This will be the third installment of their fan-favorite nostalgic movie cover records. Featuring songs from blockbuster movies such as Frozen, Back To The Future, and Rocky 3, this album has been long awaited since the release of the last installment in 2007. For Fans Of: Sum 41, Good Charlotte, The Wonder Years First single “The Power Of Love” added to Spotify, Google Play, Deezer and Apple Music playlist’s world wide!
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.
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.
May 10 street date. CJ Ramone made his name as a member of the greatest punk band of all time. Nearly 25 years after that experience, it'd be understandable if CJ now spent his days resting on his legacy. However, since 1996 he has continued to make music. CJ celebrates his continued undiminishing love of music with the release of his newest (and strongest) album, aptly titled "The Holy Spell". The album is full of fist-pumping punk, but not limited to it. The first half continues the hook-laden pop punk that fans expect from the Ramone name. "Hands of Mine" gives the album a country ting around the halfway point. Classic covers of "Crawling from the Wreckage" and "There Stands the Glass" harken to CJ's musical influences as a child. "The Holy Spell" closes strong with "Rock On", a heartfelt tribute to CJ's former bandmate, friend, and collaborator Steve Soto.
May 10 street date. CJ Ramone made his name as a member of the greatest punk band of all time. Nearly 25 years after that experience, it'd be understandable if CJ now spent his days resting on his legacy. However, since 1996 he has continued to make music. CJ celebrates his continued undiminishing love of music with the release of his newest (and strongest) album, aptly titled "The Holy Spell". The album is full of fist-pumping punk, but not limited to it. The first half continues the hook-laden pop punk that fans expect from the Ramone name. "Hands of Mine" gives the album a country ting around the halfway point. Classic covers of "Crawling from the Wreckage" and "There Stands the Glass" harken to CJ's musical influences as a child. "The Holy Spell" closes strong with "Rock On", a heartfelt tribute to CJ's former bandmate, friend, and collaborator Steve Soto.
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!
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.
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.
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 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. 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.
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.
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.
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 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.
May 3 street date. "Fear In A Handful Of Dust" is Amon Tobin's first album in eight years - the first since his triumphant "ISAM". Tobin's role in electronic music innovation cannot be understated. In a career spanning over 20 years, the Brazilian-born UK-raised producer has released of some of the most important, era-defining records of his time, setting a pace of sonic exploration and musical adventurism that has helped to shape much of what has come since.
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 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.
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.
May 10 street date. 5 discs, over 300 minutes of music, 136-page book. Few music festivals are as rich, profound, and joyous as the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, now entering its 50th year. With 50 tracks recorded live, Jazz Fest captures the festival’s ecstatic spontaneity, which defines the essence and vitality of American popular music. Ever since its inception a half century ago, Jazz Fest has exuberantly expressed the unique confluence in New Orleans of Native American, African, Caribbean, European, Hispanic, and Asian communities. With essays and annotations by Keith Spera, Karen Celestan, Robert Cataliotti, Jeff Place, Rachel Lyons, and Jon Pareles, plus photos spanning the festival’s history, this box set delivers the sights and sounds of being at Jazz Fest for those who have not yet been there, and rekindles memories for the hundreds of thousands who return to New Orleans year after year.
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.
May 10 street date. Aaron West and The Roaring Twenties is the brainchild of The Wonder Years’ frontman Dan “Soupy” Campbell. Following up We Don’t Have Each Other which sold over 13k copies in the US, Routine Maintenance is the next full length installment in the story of Aaron West. Routine Maintenance offers up a more stripped down approach with Campbell’s signature story telling lyrics. For Fans Of: Sorority Noise, Modern Baseball, Microwave.
May 10 street date. Aaron West and The Roaring Twenties is the brainchild of The Wonder Years’ frontman Dan “Soupy” Campbell. Following up We Don’t Have Each Other which sold over 13k copies in the US, Routine Maintenance is the next full length installment in the story of Aaron West. Routine Maintenance offers up a more stripped down approach with Campbell’s signature story telling lyrics. For Fans Of: Sorority Noise, Modern Baseball, Microwave.
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).
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.
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Garson, Mort
