July 10 street date. The debut collaboration album from doom metal giants Bell Witch and Aerial Ruin (the solo folk project of singer/songwriter Erik Moggridge), under the moniker of Stygian Bough is a culmination of the work of both artists as witnessed previously on Bell Witch's three full length albums, where Moggrdige has contributed guest vocals. With each succeeding Bell Witch release, one has seen Moggridge's involvement with the band developing, growing and getting more elaborate. This release, produced by Randall Dunn (Sunn O))), Wolves In The Throne Room, Anna Von Hausswolff), follows up Bell Witch's colossal "Mirror Reaper" opus with Moggrdige actually being involved in the creative and writing process with the band duo of Dylan Desmond (bass/vocals) and Jesse Shreibman (drums/synthesizers/vocals). Not only does Stygian Bough expand and broaden this alliance between the artists, but with Aerial Ruin contributing to the songwriting of this dedicated collaboration and incorporating his signature and alluring style of emotionally-driven folk, along with taking the lead vocal position, adding to the band's caliber of unearthly towering doom, this album becomes its own singular, unparalleled doom metal entity.
July 10 street date. The debut collaboration album from doom metal giants Bell Witch and Aerial Ruin (the solo folk project of singer/songwriter Erik Moggridge), under the moniker of Stygian Bough is a culmination of the work of both artists as witnessed previously on Bell Witch's three full length albums, where Moggrdige has contributed guest vocals. With each succeeding Bell Witch release, one has seen Moggridge's involvement with the band developing, growing and getting more elaborate. This release, produced by Randall Dunn (Sunn O))), Wolves In The Throne Room, Anna Von Hausswolff), follows up Bell Witch's colossal "Mirror Reaper" opus with Moggrdige actually being involved in the creative and writing process with the band duo of Dylan Desmond (bass/vocals) and Jesse Shreibman (drums/synthesizers/vocals). Not only does Stygian Bough expand and broaden this alliance between the artists, but with Aerial Ruin contributing to the songwriting of this dedicated collaboration and incorporating his signature and alluring style of emotionally-driven folk, along with taking the lead vocal position, adding to the band's caliber of unearthly towering doom, this album becomes its own singular, unparalleled doom metal entity.
Available now. Each time Firewind released an album over the last 20 years, it wasn't just the brilliancy of exceptional guitarist Gus G (Ozzy Osbourne, Arch Enemy, Dream Evil) that fans were in awe of, but also the skills of every one of the band's vocalists. In that respect nothing has changed in their newest self-titled album, quite the contrary: with his charismatic voice new member Herbie Langhans (Avantasia, Radiant, Seventh Avenue, amongst others) refines each and every last one of the ten new songs and infuses them with an expressive force that is remarkable. Gus G and Herbie Langhans got to know each other back in the autumn of 2019, when the Firewind leader was looking for a suitable replacement for Henning Basse after the tour with Queensrÿche. Just a few weeks later the recordings for "Firewind" were a done deal, ready for Swedish sound engineer Tobias Lindell (Europe, Avatar, H.E.A.T.) to mix them in Lindell Audio Studios. The result is impressive indeed. "Firewind" boasts 11 prime examples of Melodic Metal songs. The skill, craftsmanship and power bleeds through every note, a passion you can almost taste, with hymnal melodies as a particularly outstanding feature.
Available now. Limited orange vinyl edition. Each time Firewind released an album over the last 20 years, it wasn't just the brilliancy of exceptional guitarist Gus G (Ozzy Osbourne, Arch Enemy, Dream Evil) that fans were in awe of, but also the skills of every one of the band's vocalists. In that respect nothing has changed in their newest self-titled album, quite the contrary: with his charismatic voice new member Herbie Langhans (Avantasia, Radiant, Seventh Avenue, amongst others) refines each and every last one of the ten new songs and infuses them with an expressive force that is remarkable. Gus G and Herbie Langhans got to know each other back in the autumn of 2019, when the Firewind leader was looking for a suitable replacement for Henning Basse after the tour with Queensrÿche. Just a few weeks later the recordings for "Firewind" were a done deal, ready for Swedish sound engineer Tobias Lindell (Europe, Avatar, H.E.A.T.) to mix them in Lindell Audio Studios. The result is impressive indeed. "Firewind" boasts 11 prime examples of Melodic Metal songs. The skill, craftsmanship and power bleeds through every note, a passion you can almost taste, with hymnal melodies as a particularly outstanding feature.
July 10 street date. Having first made his mark as a songwriter and guitarist for Los Angeles' Allah-Las, Pedrum Siadatian has etched out a place of his own with his solo work as PAINT. What started as modest 4-track experiments quickly took on a life of their own as Pedrum began distilling his musical and lyrical inspirations into something both timeless and new. His miniature menagerie of light-psych and proto-punk gems had outgrown their cassette cage and were now ready to be heard. This year sees PAINT returning with the release of the ambitious "Spiritual Vegas". While Ray Davies-smirks and Kevin Ayers-wit abound, Siadatian's singular touch is unmistakable. Here we find an emboldened artist coloring outside the lines, unleashing an opus both idiosyncratic and focused - cohesion through diversity.
July 10 street date. Having first made his mark as a songwriter and guitarist for Los Angeles' Allah-Las, Pedrum Siadatian has etched out a place of his own with his solo work as PAINT. What started as modest 4-track experiments quickly took on a life of their own as Pedrum began distilling his musical and lyrical inspirations into something both timeless and new. His miniature menagerie of light-psych and proto-punk gems had outgrown their cassette cage and were now ready to be heard. This year sees PAINT returning with the release of the ambitious "Spiritual Vegas". While Ray Davies-smirks and Kevin Ayers-wit abound, Siadatian's singular touch is unmistakable. Here we find an emboldened artist coloring outside the lines, unleashing an opus both idiosyncratic and focused - cohesion through diversity.
Please note: street date is now TBA. Sparks present their 24th studio album ‘A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip’. "Over the years, fans have come to expect dizzyingly witty lyrics and dazzling, ever-changing sonics from the Mael brothers. Their 24th album offers plenty of both, as well as a more pointed outlook and a slightly more down-to-earth sound than the duo's last outing, 2017's "Hippopotamus". Throughout "A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip", Ron and Russel Mael riff on their history deftly, and the results are both timely and quintessentially Sparks" -allmusic.com.
July 17 street date. Produced and recorded by Arca, "KiCk I" defines a new era of multiplex harmony for the Venezuelan artist, singer, DJ, performer and experimental music composer. With appearances from Björk, Rosalía, Shygirl and SOPHIE, this is the first time Arca has invited collaborators into her world, previously having lent her sound to some of the decades most avant-pop artists. "KiCk I" is a celebration not only of the joy Arca's been able to find in her life, but the sometimes arduous journey it took for her to find it. Her struggles to reconcile her Venezuelan heritage and her trans Latinx identity emerge as reggaetón and pop en Español. But "KiCk I" isn't just a pop record, or an experimental record, or even simply a mix between the two, but rather all of them at once- and so much more. Depending on where you drop the needle you'll find bubblegum, harsh noise, electronic psychedelia, balladry, bangers, laughter, tears, passion, and expressions of faith - sounds and ideas that don't simply blend together, but coexist simultaneously in quantum superposition made possible inside the sonic worlds Arca builds in her music.
July 17 street date. Bing & Ruth, the ever-evolving project helmed by New York composer David Moore, has announced the release of "Species", which will be released on 17 July. "Species" is an exploration of the sonic possibilities of the Farfisa organ, aided only by a clarinet and double bass. "I suppose what interested me the most in putting this together was the concept of trance and what can happen to the listener by submitting to the wave of the thing," Moore explains. "Species", and the transcendental state it embodies, was inspired by two recent loves of Moore's: the desert and long-distance running. Bing & Ruth have had to postpone their previously scheduled Spring/Summer tour. Canadian dates will now take place on September 1st (Toronto - Brothers Dressler) and September 2nd (Montreal - La Sala Rossa).
July 17 street date. Bing & Ruth, the ever-evolving project helmed by New York composer David Moore, has announced the release of "Species", which will be released on 17 July. "Species" is an exploration of the sonic possibilities of the Farfisa organ, aided only by a clarinet and double bass. "I suppose what interested me the most in putting this together was the concept of trance and what can happen to the listener by submitting to the wave of the thing," Moore explains. "Species", and the transcendental state it embodies, was inspired by two recent loves of Moore's: the desert and long-distance running. Bing & Ruth have had to postpone their previously scheduled Spring/Summer tour. Canadian dates will now take place on September 1st (Toronto - Brothers Dressler) and September 2nd (Montreal - La Sala Rossa).
July 17 street date. London-based band black midi follow their debut album, "Schlagenheim" ("the most intense and invigorating debut of 2019" - MOJO), with a new 12" featuring "Sweater" and "7-eleven". Both tracks were recorded with Speedy Wunderground's Dan Carey during the same period that resulted in "Schlagenheim", and "Sweater" was the last of the tracks recorded during those sessions. Available for the first time on 12".
July 17 street date. Jarv Is are pleased to announce their debut album "Beyond The Pale". Jarv Is is a band featuring Jarvis Cocker (vocals, guitar, percussion), Serafina Steer (harp, keyboards, vocals), Emma Smith (violin, guitar vocals), Andrew McKinney (bass, vocals), Jason Buckle (synthesiser & electronic treatments) & Adam Betts (drums, percussion, vocals). Jarv Is was conceived as a way of writing songs in collaboration with an audience. As the material they were playing was in a state of flux, the band decided to record their live shows so that they could monitor how the songs were developing. After an appearance at the Desert Daze festival in California, Geoff Barrow (Portishead, Beak>) suggested that these recordings could be used as the basis for an album. Jarv Is an ongoing live experience because life is an ongoing live experience. Or, to put it another way: THIS IS NOT A LIVE ALBUM - it's an ALIVE ALBUM.
July 17 street date. Jarv Is are pleased to announce their debut album "Beyond The Pale". Jarv Is is a band featuring Jarvis Cocker (vocals, guitar, percussion), Serafina Steer (harp, keyboards, vocals), Emma Smith (violin, guitar vocals), Andrew McKinney (bass, vocals), Jason Buckle (synthesiser & electronic treatments) & Adam Betts (drums, percussion, vocals). Jarv Is was conceived as a way of writing songs in collaboration with an audience. As the material they were playing was in a state of flux, the band decided to record their live shows so that they could monitor how the songs were developing. After an appearance at the Desert Daze festival in California, Geoff Barrow (Portishead, Beak>) suggested that these recordings could be used as the basis for an album. Jarv Is an ongoing live experience because life is an ongoing live experience. Or, to put it another way: THIS IS NOT A LIVE ALBUM - it's an ALIVE ALBUM.
July 17 street date. Jarv Is are pleased to announce their debut album "Beyond The Pale". Jarv Is is a band featuring Jarvis Cocker (vocals, guitar, percussion), Serafina Steer (harp, keyboards, vocals), Emma Smith (violin, guitar vocals), Andrew McKinney (bass, vocals), Jason Buckle (synthesiser & electronic treatments) & Adam Betts (drums, percussion, vocals). Jarv Is was conceived as a way of writing songs in collaboration with an audience. As the material they were playing was in a state of flux, the band decided to record their live shows so that they could monitor how the songs were developing. After an appearance at the Desert Daze festival in California, Geoff Barrow (Portishead, Beak>) suggested that these recordings could be used as the basis for an album. Jarv Is an ongoing live experience because life is an ongoing live experience. Or, to put it another way: THIS IS NOT A LIVE ALBUM - it's an ALIVE ALBUM.
July 17 street date. Jarv Is are pleased to announce their debut album "Beyond The Pale". Jarv Is is a band featuring Jarvis Cocker (vocals, guitar, percussion), Serafina Steer (harp, keyboards, vocals), Emma Smith (violin, guitar vocals), Andrew McKinney (bass, vocals), Jason Buckle (synthesiser & electronic treatments) & Adam Betts (drums, percussion, vocals). Jarv Is was conceived as a way of writing songs in collaboration with an audience. As the material they were playing was in a state of flux, the band decided to record their live shows so that they could monitor how the songs were developing. After an appearance at the Desert Daze festival in California, Geoff Barrow (Portishead, Beak>) suggested that these recordings could be used as the basis for an album. Jarv Is an ongoing live experience because life is an ongoing live experience. Or, to put it another way: THIS IS NOT A LIVE ALBUM - it's an ALIVE ALBUM.
July 17 street date. The Lawrence Arms are a lot of things but predictable isn't one of them. Since forming in Chicago in 1999, the trio of bassist/vocalist Brendan Kelly, guitarist/vocalist Chris McCaughan and drummer Neil Hennessy have never broken up or become a nostalgia act, choosing instead to make albums that continually challenge the boundaries of their sound. In the process they've carved out a distinctive identity in the punk community that's simultaneously gritty, beautiful, melodic and mutinous. Although it was written and recorded before the Coronavirus upended the world, the band's seventh full-length "Skeleton Coast" sounds eerily prescient as it imagines an apocalyptic future where coyotes croon and wolf packs roam free. "For a band who has been around as long as us, this is about as urgent of a record as we could make," Kelly explains. "It may be kind of dark but it's really about searching for light in the darkness and finding it, as small as those moments may seem. That's sort of where we're at: collecting the scraps of things that could make for a bearable existence in dark times."
July 17 street date. The Lawrence Arms are a lot of things but predictable isn't one of them. Since forming in Chicago in 1999, the trio of bassist/vocalist Brendan Kelly, guitarist/vocalist Chris McCaughan and drummer Neil Hennessy have never broken up or become a nostalgia act, choosing instead to make albums that continually challenge the boundaries of their sound. In the process they've carved out a distinctive identity in the punk community that's simultaneously gritty, beautiful, melodic and mutinous. Although it was written and recorded before the Coronavirus upended the world, the band's seventh full-length "Skeleton Coast" sounds eerily prescient as it imagines an apocalyptic future where coyotes croon and wolf packs roam free. "For a band who has been around as long as us, this is about as urgent of a record as we could make," Kelly explains. "It may be kind of dark but it's really about searching for light in the darkness and finding it, as small as those moments may seem. That's sort of where we're at: collecting the scraps of things that could make for a bearable existence in dark times."
July 17 street date. Limited opaque sunburst vinyl edition, exclusively available to independent shops. The Lawrence Arms are a lot of things but predictable isn't one of them. Since forming in Chicago in 1999, the trio of bassist/vocalist Brendan Kelly, guitarist/vocalist Chris McCaughan and drummer Neil Hennessy have never broken up or become a nostalgia act, choosing instead to make albums that continually challenge the boundaries of their sound. In the process they've carved out a distinctive identity in the punk community that's simultaneously gritty, beautiful, melodic and mutinous. Although it was written and recorded before the Coronavirus upended the world, the band's seventh full-length "Skeleton Coast" sounds eerily prescient as it imagines an apocalyptic future where coyotes croon and wolf packs roam free. "For a band who has been around as long as us, this is about as urgent of a record as we could make," Kelly explains. "It may be kind of dark but it's really about searching for light in the darkness and finding it, as small as those moments may seem. That's sort of where we're at: collecting the scraps of things that could make for a bearable existence in dark times."
July 17 street date. After completing his previous projects "Postcards" and "Ghostwriting", Jens Lekman came up with a new idea. He asked fellow Swedish songwriter Annika Norlin (Hello Saferide, Säkert!) to join him. The idea was that throughout the year of 2018, the two of them would correspond through music. Each month, one of them would write a song and the next month, the other one would reply. The rules were simple - one letter each month throughout the year - in total, six songs for Jens and six for Annika. Only one instrument could be used for each song. This was TO help them focus on the songs/letters instead of the production. "Correspondence" gave Jens and Annika an outlet for more spontaneous ideas, and they decided to stay under the radar by only releasing the songs on the "Correspondence" website, and a Spotify playlist. Most of the time they forgot that anyone else could hear the songs, and they turned out very personal. As the project came to an end, Jens and Annika listened through the songs and felt pleased with the results. An epistolary novel in the form of twelve folk songs. Jens wrote string arrangements for half of the songs and brought in violinist Ellen Hjalmarsson and cellist Petra Lundin. For the first time since the digital release, their correspondence will be released on vinyl.
July 17 street date. Clear with black smoke coloured vinyl reissues. Strike Anywhere blend the sounds of fast melodic punk rock with a taste of that classic hardcore edge. The band musicianship is outstanding and has catchy and thought-provoking lyrics. The band emerged in 1999 from Richmond, VA. Vocalist Thomas Barnett (ex-Inquisition), guitarists Matt Smith and Matt Sherwood, bassist Garth Petrie (ex-Count Me Out), and drummer Eric Kane took a staunchly political and activism-minded approach to hardcore and punk traditionalism, drawing comparisons in both sound and vision to such stalwart acts as Avail and 7 Seconds.
July 17 street date. Limited silver vinyl edition. "We Are One" is one of the most elaborate concept albums the market has ever seen, combining U.D.O.'s hard rocking sound with a 60 piece orchestra, creating a wholly unique worldwide musical project! The album was written in collaboration with the official Concert Band of the German Armed Forces (Musikkorps der Bundeswehr) under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Christoph Scheibling and is a wholly unique worldwide musical project. The album contains 15 new songs that have been developed and arranged by U.D.O. together with Christoph Scheibling. The two former Accept musicians Stefan Kaufmann and Peter Baltes have been part of the songwriting too - as well as the German Armed Forces' composers Guido Rennert and Alexander Reuber. Not to be compared with the 'rock band meets orchestra' collaborations that already exist in the music world, the hard rocking sound of U.D.O. has not only been intensified by a 60 piece orchestra, but contains some unique arrangements that underline how characteristic yet versatile U.D.O. is. :We Are One" is a critical reflection of a world in which we all leave our mark, and in which we all have to show responsibility. Udo Dirkschneider about the message behind the songs: "We all live on this planet. No matter who we are or what we do, we all just have this one planet!"
July 17 street date. Limited clear red vinyl edition. "We Are One" is one of the most elaborate concept albums the market has ever seen, combining U.D.O.'s hard rocking sound with a 60 piece orchestra, creating a wholly unique worldwide musical project! The album was written in collaboration with the official Concert Band of the German Armed Forces (Musikkorps der Bundeswehr) under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Christoph Scheibling and is a wholly unique worldwide musical project. The album contains 15 new songs that have been developed and arranged by U.D.O. together with Christoph Scheibling. The two former Accept musicians Stefan Kaufmann and Peter Baltes have been part of the songwriting too - as well as the German Armed Forces' composers Guido Rennert and Alexander Reuber. Not to be compared with the 'rock band meets orchestra' collaborations that already exist in the music world, the hard rocking sound of U.D.O. has not only been intensified by a 60 piece orchestra, but contains some unique arrangements that underline how characteristic yet versatile U.D.O. is. :We Are One" is a critical reflection of a world in which we all leave our mark, and in which we all have to show responsibility. Udo Dirkschneider about the message behind the songs: "We all live on this planet. No matter who we are or what we do, we all just have this one planet!"
July 17 street date. Limited fanbox edition, including a CD along with a book and a blu-ray. "We Are One" is one of the most elaborate concept albums the market has ever seen, combining U.D.O.'s hard rocking sound with a 60 piece orchestra, creating a wholly unique worldwide musical project! The album was written in collaboration with the official Concert Band of the German Armed Forces (Musikkorps der Bundeswehr) under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Christoph Scheibling and is a wholly unique worldwide musical project. The album contains 15 new songs that have been developed and arranged by U.D.O. together with Christoph Scheibling. The two former Accept musicians Stefan Kaufmann and Peter Baltes have been part of the songwriting too - as well as the German Armed Forces' composers Guido Rennert and Alexander Reuber. Not to be compared with the 'rock band meets orchestra' collaborations that already exist in the music world, the hard rocking sound of U.D.O. has not only been intensified by a 60 piece orchestra, but contains some unique arrangements that underline how characteristic yet versatile U.D.O. is. :We Are One" is a critical reflection of a world in which we all leave our mark, and in which we all have to show responsibility. Udo Dirkschneider about the message behind the songs: "We all live on this planet. No matter who we are or what we do, we all just have this one planet!"
July 17 street date. "We Are One" is one of the most elaborate concept albums the market has ever seen, combining U.D.O.'s hard rocking sound with a 60 piece orchestra, creating a wholly unique worldwide musical project! The album was written in collaboration with the official Concert Band of the German Armed Forces (Musikkorps der Bundeswehr) under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Christoph Scheibling and is a wholly unique worldwide musical project. The album contains 15 new songs that have been developed and arranged by U.D.O. together with Christoph Scheibling. The two former Accept musicians Stefan Kaufmann and Peter Baltes have been part of the songwriting too - as well as the German Armed Forces' composers Guido Rennert and Alexander Reuber. Not to be compared with the 'rock band meets orchestra' collaborations that already exist in the music world, the hard rocking sound of U.D.O. has not only been intensified by a 60 piece orchestra, but contains some unique arrangements that underline how characteristic yet versatile U.D.O. is. :We Are One" is a critical reflection of a world in which we all leave our mark, and in which we all have to show responsibility. Udo Dirkschneider about the message behind the songs: "We all live on this planet. No matter who we are or what we do, we all just have this one planet!"
July 17 street date. Yaeji has announced a vinyl release for her new mixtape "What We Drew". This latest project, which was released digitally in April, is the first full-length body of work from the NYC-via-Seoul based electronic producer, DJ, and vocalist. It is available on limited edition transparent yellow vinyl with obi strip wrap-around and translated lyric sheet. "What We Drew", which is produced and written entirely by Yaeji, draws on her appreciation for her community, family, friends and the support she's felt through a period of growth that displays her newfound laser-focused creative vision. An artist who many pegged as the one to watch, Yaeji now aims beyond expectations, with an eye toward the worlds of music production, visual art, game design and more. And as Pitchfork exclaimed Yaeji has found, "clarity in vulnerability, in the pendulum swing of her humanity".
July 24 street date. Epitaph Records is proud to announce the re-issue of Greg Graffin's long-out-of-print solo album from 1997. "American Lesion", which has been newly remastered, will be available on black vinyl. "Around the time of Bad Religion's "Gray Race" (1996), I was undergoing some unusual stress. A crisis of trust, friendship, and love beset my creative world. A divorce coincided with a trusted partner and friend leaving the band. I retreated to songwriting as an expression of some of my complicated emotions at the time," explains Greg Graffin. "This album, recorded and mixed in my home studio, was entirely my own creation, almost like an emotional experiment. I'm grateful to anyone who finds interest in the result and hope that maybe it will inspire others to value the healing properties of music during times of need."
July 31 street date. ‘All The Time’, Jessy Lanza's first album since 2016's ‘Oh No’, is the most pure set of pop songs that she and creative partner Jeremy Greenspan have recorded, reflective and finessed over time and distance. Innovative juxtapositions sound natural, like rigid 808s rubbing against delicate chords in ‘Anyone Around’, subtle footwork flutter giving a nervous energy to ‘Face’, unusual underwater rushes underpinning ‘Baby Love’. The songs also sound more "live" than ever before. Jessy's voice is treated, re-pitched and edited on songs like ‘Ice Creamy’ and gestural sounds seem to respond to her lyrics in songs such as ‘Like Fire’, which reward the listener on repeated plays. More than previous albums, the lyrics on ‘All The Time’ became an important focus for Jessy too, channelling the negativity of anger and frustration arising from some significant changes in her personal situation into the text. These lyrics sometimes process raw feelings, which aren't obvious to begin with, but are soon felt, standing in stark contrast to the cushioned settings of the music. ‘All The Time’ has ended as a triumph and an abstracted diary of a sometimes difficult, but enduring friendship and creative relationship, and it's their best work yet.
July 31 street date. ‘All The Time’, Jessy Lanza's first album since 2016's ‘Oh No’, is the most pure set of pop songs that she and creative partner Jeremy Greenspan have recorded, reflective and finessed over time and distance. Innovative juxtapositions sound natural, like rigid 808s rubbing against delicate chords in ‘Anyone Around’, subtle footwork flutter giving a nervous energy to ‘Face’, unusual underwater rushes underpinning ‘Baby Love’. The songs also sound more "live" than ever before. Jessy's voice is treated, re-pitched and edited on songs like ‘Ice Creamy’ and gestural sounds seem to respond to her lyrics in songs such as ‘Like Fire’, which reward the listener on repeated plays. More than previous albums, the lyrics on ‘All The Time’ became an important focus for Jessy too, channelling the negativity of anger and frustration arising from some significant changes in her personal situation into the text. These lyrics sometimes process raw feelings, which aren't obvious to begin with, but are soon felt, standing in stark contrast to the cushioned settings of the music. ‘All The Time’ has ended as a triumph and an abstracted diary of a sometimes difficult, but enduring friendship and creative relationship, and it's their best work yet.
July 24 street date. With their new album "All Distortions Are Intentional", Neck Deep wants to continue carving out their own unique space within rock, punk, and alternative music. They have no delusions of "saving rock" or being the biggest rock band out there. They just want to remain Neck Deep and be an even bigger, better Neck Deep than before. They understand their roots are in pop punk, but want to expand on their sound in their own way, taking inspiration from artists like The Beatles and Nirvana who did things their own way and still were able to be massive.
July 24 street date. With their new album "All Distortions Are Intentional", Neck Deep wants to continue carving out their own unique space within rock, punk, and alternative music. They have no delusions of "saving rock" or being the biggest rock band out there. They just want to remain Neck Deep and be an even bigger, better Neck Deep than before. They understand their roots are in pop punk, but want to expand on their sound in their own way, taking inspiration from artists like The Beatles and Nirvana who did things their own way and still were able to be massive.
July 24 street date. Spoon have confirmed their celebrated back catalog will be returning fully to print and become widely available worldwide for the first time on vinyl and CD in 2020 on Matador Records. The "Slay On Cue" series will see the reissue of the band's first eight records in original editions. Some of these albums haven't been available on vinyl or CD in years. Kicking off the reissue series are raucous debut album "Telephono" and the watershed "Soft Effects" EP, available individually on vinyl and CD for the first time since their original 1996-1997 small run on Matador. The opening salvo of major releases trace the fledgling rock heroes' mercurial evolution, from the raw sonics and jagged dynamics of "Telephono", to the sharp and sophisticated songwriting found on "Soft Effects", pointing towards the bright and adventurous future ahead with subsequent Spoon records.
July 24 street date. Spoon have confirmed their celebrated back catalog will be returning fully to print and become widely available worldwide for the first time on vinyl and CD in 2020 on Matador Records. The "Slay On Cue" series will see the reissue of the band's first eight records in original editions. Some of these albums haven't been available on vinyl or CD in years. Kicking off the reissue series are raucous debut album "Telephono" and the watershed "Soft Effects" EP, available individually on vinyl and CD for the first time since their original 1996-1997 small run on Matador. The opening salvo of major releases trace the fledgling rock heroes' mercurial evolution, from the raw sonics and jagged dynamics of "Telephono", to the sharp and sophisticated songwriting found on "Soft Effects", pointing towards the bright and adventurous future ahead with subsequent Spoon records.
July 24 street date. Spoon have confirmed their celebrated back catalog will be returning fully to print and become widely available worldwide for the first time on vinyl and CD in 2020 on Matador Records. The "Slay On Cue" series will see the reissue of the band's first eight records in original editions. Some of these albums haven't been available on vinyl or CD in years. Kicking off the reissue series are raucous debut album "Telephono" and the watershed "Soft Effects" EP, available individually on vinyl and CD for the first time since their original 1996-1997 small run on Matador. The opening salvo of major releases trace the fledgling rock heroes' mercurial evolution, from the raw sonics and jagged dynamics of "Telephono", to the sharp and sophisticated songwriting found on "Soft Effects", pointing towards the bright and adventurous future ahead with subsequent Spoon records.
July 24 street date. Spoon have confirmed their celebrated back catalog will be returning fully to print and become widely available worldwide for the first time on vinyl and CD in 2020 on Matador Records. The "Slay On Cue" series will see the reissue of the band's first eight records in original editions. Some of these albums haven't been available on vinyl or CD in years. Kicking off the reissue series are raucous debut album "Telephono" and the watershed "Soft Effects" EP, available individually on vinyl and CD for the first time since their original 1996-1997 small run on Matador. The opening salvo of major releases trace the fledgling rock heroes' mercurial evolution, from the raw sonics and jagged dynamics of "Telephono", to the sharp and sophisticated songwriting found on "Soft Effects", pointing towards the bright and adventurous future ahead with subsequent Spoon records.
July 24 street date. STRFKR has always been a constantly evolving entity, growing over the years from rambunctious beginnings into the manicured electro-pop perfection they exhibited on their last studio album, 2016's pristine "Being No One, Going Nowhere". New album "Future Past Life" breaks new ground, dialing back some of the high-gloss production they're known for to craft songs that are stripped down, spaced out and somehow as visceral as they are dream-like. The immaculate but danceable pop that has long been STRFKR's calling card is pushed into exciting new places on "Future Past Life". It's a strange and beautiful sonic environment, one that finds STRFKR growing as they embrace the chance and spontaneity that brought these songs about in the first place.
July 24 street date. STRFKR has always been a constantly evolving entity, growing over the years from rambunctious beginnings into the manicured electro-pop perfection they exhibited on their last studio album, 2016's pristine "Being No One, Going Nowhere". New album "Future Past Life" breaks new ground, dialing back some of the high-gloss production they're known for to craft songs that are stripped down, spaced out and somehow as visceral as they are dream-like. The immaculate but danceable pop that has long been STRFKR's calling card is pushed into exciting new places on "Future Past Life". It's a strange and beautiful sonic environment, one that finds STRFKR growing as they embrace the chance and spontaneity that brought these songs about in the first place.
July 24 street date. STRFKR has always been a constantly evolving entity, growing over the years from rambunctious beginnings into the manicured electro-pop perfection they exhibited on their last studio album, 2016's pristine "Being No One, Going Nowhere". New album "Future Past Life" breaks new ground, dialing back some of the high-gloss production they're known for to craft songs that are stripped down, spaced out and somehow as visceral as they are dream-like. The immaculate but danceable pop that has long been STRFKR's calling card is pushed into exciting new places on "Future Past Life". It's a strange and beautiful sonic environment, one that finds STRFKR growing as they embrace the chance and spontaneity that brought these songs about in the first place.
July 31 street date. Vinyl reissue of Lou Barlow's 2005 solo album "EMOH", previously only briefly available on vinyl in the UK upon release. "Emoh is primarily an acoustic LP with live performances at its core, and that was a personal achievement for me. I'm still very pleased with it. Though my follow-up, Goodnight Unknown, went back inward and is, lyrically, more evasive, with Emoh I realigned myself with my craft. I had embraced songwriting in a high-profile way and made myself solely responsible for the results. The fact that it coincided with becoming a father for the first time makes it a time marker and game changer that has been invaluable to me, serving to keep me focused and on track personally and creatively ever since" - Lou Barlow.
Please note street date is July 31. (Legendary Montreal-based wildman of rock and roll and R & B has worked with Jon Spencer, King Khan, the 5678’s and Deke Dickerson!!) For nearly twenty years, Bloodshot Bill has shouted, snorted, cooed and crooned his way through the wild shadowland of primitive rock and roll, touring the world and collaborated with heavyweights like Jon Spencer, King Khan, the 5678’s and Deke Dickerson. Seventeen albums and over two dozen singles later, this unstoppable Montrealeño has not slowed his manic touring and recording schedule one whit. He’s a seminal punk, a true wildman who blazes his own path to honky tonk hell with a bottomless repertoire of desperate rock and roll and insatiable R&B. That means he knows a lotta songs—not that he doesn’t wear pants. But on the right night, who knows! This spring, Bloodshot Bill will release his eighteenth album, Get Loose Or Get Lost, his second for Memphis’ Goner Records. He will be touring everywhere, continuing his twenty-year rampage with a new record and a new slew of shows—do not miss it!
Please note street date is July 31. (Legendary Montreal-based wildman of rock and roll and R & B has worked with Jon Spencer, King Khan, the 5678’s and Deke Dickerson!!) For nearly twenty years, Bloodshot Bill has shouted, snorted, cooed and crooned his way through the wild shadowland of primitive rock and roll, touring the world and collaborated with heavyweights like Jon Spencer, King Khan, the 5678’s and Deke Dickerson. Seventeen albums and over two dozen singles later, this unstoppable Montrealeño has not slowed his manic touring and recording schedule one whit. He’s a seminal punk, a true wildman who blazes his own path to honky tonk hell with a bottomless repertoire of desperate rock and roll and insatiable R&B. That means he knows a lotta songs—not that he doesn’t wear pants. But on the right night, who knows! This spring, Bloodshot Bill will release his eighteenth album, Get Loose Or Get Lost, his second for Memphis’ Goner Records. He will be touring everywhere, continuing his twenty-year rampage with a new record and a new slew of shows—do not miss it!
Please note street date is July 31. Joey Shithead Keithley, Canada's Godfather of Punk, has been getting sick of the dismaying news coming out of world capitals like Washington, Moscow, Beijing, Tehran, Pyongyang etc., so he decided to come up with D.O.A.'s musical reaction to this crap. So here it is: "Treason" - the band's eighteenth album. It takes off in full frenzy with "All The President"s Men" - "it's time to put them in the pen". Then the band quickly launches into a modern punk anthem, "Wait Till Tomorrow", a look at the brutal treatment of refugees. But never lost on D.O.A. is that part of their mantra that is punk rock humour, hence they have spawned: "It Was D.O.A.", an uproarious piss-take on unsuspecting musicians that will soon learn the tough lessons of the road: the D.O.A. members themselves. And of course with an album named "Treason", one would expect some comment on President Donald Trump. There's also an absolutely ripping version of fellow Canadian Neil Young's "Hey Hey, My My". On "Treason", D.O.A. pulls no punches, and nor should they. This is an uncontrollable punk rock riot that seems to breathe fire, the way punk was meant to be.
Please note street date is July 31. Joey Shithead Keithley, Canada's Godfather of Punk, has been getting sick of the dismaying news coming out of world capitals like Washington, Moscow, Beijing, Tehran, Pyongyang etc., so he decided to come up with D.O.A.'s musical reaction to this crap. So here it is: "Treason" - the band's eighteenth album. It takes off in full frenzy with "All The President"s Men" - "it's time to put them in the pen". Then the band quickly launches into a modern punk anthem, "Wait Till Tomorrow", a look at the brutal treatment of refugees. But never lost on D.O.A. is that part of their mantra that is punk rock humour, hence they have spawned: "It Was D.O.A.", an uproarious piss-take on unsuspecting musicians that will soon learn the tough lessons of the road: the D.O.A. members themselves. And of course with an album named "Treason", one would expect some comment on President Donald Trump. There's also an absolutely ripping version of fellow Canadian Neil Young's "Hey Hey, My My". On "Treason", D.O.A. pulls no punches, and nor should they. This is an uncontrollable punk rock riot that seems to breathe fire, the way punk was meant to be.
July 31 Street date (date change). Please note: this will no longer be a Record Store Day release. We are pleased to announce a new vinyl pressing of the classic Guided By Voices album, Vampire on Titus. Although there were several different pressings in the 1990s, this is the first since 1998. This edition features a new master cut at Golden, is packaged in a sturdy tip-on jacket, and includes Bob's original insert, now enlarged to a more readable size. A limited RSD quantity will be available on gold vinyl (colour change) (with a standard black edition forthcoming). Originally released in 1993, Vampire was not unique at that time in its 4 track recording methodology, but it was perhaps the first to garner major media attention. Many minds were blown, and a few were baffled enough to return the album to the store, believing the crude sound meant their copy was defective.
Please note street date is now July 31. "Goons Be Gone", No Age's number 2 record for Drag City, kicks into gear, takes you out west and gets some dirt on it, with what's possibly their most honed in and direct record yet. A guitar/drums duo with a penchant for self-recorded samples, No Age are mostly unconcerned with things like space or pause. "Goons Be Gone" is gorgeously thick - a hazy, delirious expanse that's both comforting and disorienting. Some fans might pine - at least at first - for the (vaguely) more experimental, less riff-driven muck of "An Object", but "Goons Be Gone" is a more thoughtful, coherent (and still plenty dirty) version of what No Age began building with all those EPs. "Goons Be Gone" is so cacophonous, so fertile, and so ripe with sound that parsing out the samples and effects and various layers of guitar is nearly impossible; besides, it's way more satisfying to just close your eyes and just enjoy it.
Please note street date is now July 31. "Goons Be Gone", No Age's number 2 record for Drag City, kicks into gear, takes you out west and gets some dirt on it, with what's possibly their most honed in and direct record yet. A guitar/drums duo with a penchant for self-recorded samples, No Age are mostly unconcerned with things like space or pause. "Goons Be Gone" is gorgeously thick - a hazy, delirious expanse that's both comforting and disorienting. Some fans might pine - at least at first - for the (vaguely) more experimental, less riff-driven muck of "An Object", but "Goons Be Gone" is a more thoughtful, coherent (and still plenty dirty) version of what No Age began building with all those EPs. "Goons Be Gone" is so cacophonous, so fertile, and so ripe with sound that parsing out the samples and effects and various layers of guitar is nearly impossible; besides, it's way more satisfying to just close your eyes and just enjoy it.
Please note street date is now July 31. "Goons Be Gone", No Age's number 2 record for Drag City, kicks into gear, takes you out west and gets some dirt on it, with what's possibly their most honed in and direct record yet. A guitar/drums duo with a penchant for self-recorded samples, No Age are mostly unconcerned with things like space or pause. "Goons Be Gone" is gorgeously thick - a hazy, delirious expanse that's both comforting and disorienting. Some fans might pine - at least at first - for the (vaguely) more experimental, less riff-driven muck of "An Object", but "Goons Be Gone" is a more thoughtful, coherent (and still plenty dirty) version of what No Age began building with all those EPs. "Goons Be Gone" is so cacophonous, so fertile, and so ripe with sound that parsing out the samples and effects and various layers of guitar is nearly impossible; besides, it's way more satisfying to just close your eyes and just enjoy it.
July 31 street date. How often does the leader of one of your favorite bands ask you to do a split album? Where his band covers your songs? Singer-songwriter Frank Turner found himself in that situation last year, when Fat Mike of NOFX asked if he wanted to do a split covers album. "West Coast vs. Wessex" shows NOFX filtering five of Frank Turner's songs through their singular sensibility, with Turner doing the same on five NOFX songs. But these aren’t simply double-time versions of Turner's folk-punk tunes or slow, acoustic reworkings of NOFX's iconic SoCal punk anthems. Both NOFX and Frank Turner took time to play with the possibilities each other's music presented. They also put a lot of thought into the songs they chose to cover. Both groups really wanted to songs that presented an opportunity to create something unique, and bring something to the song that really made it their own. The Frank Turner-Fat Mike Mutual Admiration Society has produced 10 hooky reimaginings of each other's music. The novelty may pique listeners' curiosity, but the songs will keep them coming back.
July 31 street date. How often does the leader of one of your favorite bands ask you to do a split album? Where his band covers your songs? Singer-songwriter Frank Turner found himself in that situation last year, when Fat Mike of NOFX asked if he wanted to do a split covers album. "West Coast vs. Wessex" shows NOFX filtering five of Frank Turner's songs through their singular sensibility, with Turner doing the same on five NOFX songs. But these aren’t simply double-time versions of Turner's folk-punk tunes or slow, acoustic reworkings of NOFX's iconic SoCal punk anthems. Both NOFX and Frank Turner took time to play with the possibilities each other's music presented. They also put a lot of thought into the songs they chose to cover. Both groups really wanted to songs that presented an opportunity to create something unique, and bring something to the song that really made it their own. The Frank Turner-Fat Mike Mutual Admiration Society has produced 10 hooky reimaginings of each other's music. The novelty may pique listeners' curiosity, but the songs will keep them coming back.
July 31 street date. William Tyler composed the music for "First Cow", the new A24 film directed by Kelly Reichardt, almost entirely on several of his guitars and a dulcimer. In "First Cow", Reichardt once again trains her perceptive and patient eye on the Pacific Northwest, this time evoking an authentically hardscrabble early 19th century way of life. A taciturn loner and skilled cook (John Magaro) has traveled west and joined a group of fur trappers in Oregon Territory, though he only finds true connection with a Chinese immigrant (Orion Lee) also seeking his fortune; soon the two collaborate on a successful business, although its longevity is reliant upon the clandestine participation of a nearby wealthy landowner's prized milking cow. Reichardt again shows her distinct talent for depicting the peculiar rhythms of daily living and ability to capture the immense, unsettling quietude of rural America.
Please note street date is July 31. Dreaming doesn't come easy these shadowed days, which is why "Strange To Explain" by Woods is such a welcome turning of new colours. It presents an extended moment of sweet reflection for the 15-year-old band, bouncing back to earth as something hopeful and weird and resolute. Like everything else they've recorded, it sounds exactly like themselves, but with subtly different shades and breaths and rhythmic feels and everything else that changes, the natural march of time and the intentional decisions of the musicians moving in what feels like an uncommonly organic alignment. Recorded in Stinson Beach, the kind of place that seems like an AI simulation of an idyllic northern California coastal escape, the familiar jangling guitars recede to the background. John Andrews' warm keyboards and twining Mellotron rise around Earl's songs and dance across the chord changes like warm sunlight off the Pacific. The music feels a karmic landmass away from the creepiness of the uncanny valley.
Please note street date is July 31. Dreaming doesn't come easy these shadowed days, which is why "Strange To Explain" by Woods is such a welcome turning of new colours. It presents an extended moment of sweet reflection for the 15-year-old band, bouncing back to earth as something hopeful and weird and resolute. Like everything else they've recorded, it sounds exactly like themselves, but with subtly different shades and breaths and rhythmic feels and everything else that changes, the natural march of time and the intentional decisions of the musicians moving in what feels like an uncommonly organic alignment. Recorded in Stinson Beach, the kind of place that seems like an AI simulation of an idyllic northern California coastal escape, the familiar jangling guitars recede to the background. John Andrews' warm keyboards and twining Mellotron rise around Earl's songs and dance across the chord changes like warm sunlight off the Pacific. The music feels a karmic landmass away from the creepiness of the uncanny valley.
Please note street date is July 31. Limited coloured vinyl edition. Dreaming doesn't come easy these shadowed days, which is why "Strange To Explain" by Woods is such a welcome turning of new colours. It presents an extended moment of sweet reflection for the 15-year-old band, bouncing back to earth as something hopeful and weird and resolute. Like everything else they've recorded, it sounds exactly like themselves, but with subtly different shades and breaths and rhythmic feels and everything else that changes, the natural march of time and the intentional decisions of the musicians moving in what feels like an uncommonly organic alignment. Recorded in Stinson Beach, the kind of place that seems like an AI simulation of an idyllic northern California coastal escape, the familiar jangling guitars recede to the background. John Andrews' warm keyboards and twining Mellotron rise around Earl's songs and dance across the chord changes like warm sunlight off the Pacific. The music feels a karmic landmass away from the creepiness of the uncanny valley.
July 31 street date. "No Horizon" is the latest offering and sound of a project plumbing the depths of an "evolve or die" ethos. For multi-instrumentalists Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack, there is no fear of the unknown, no preciousness about rigidity, no hard definition of what Wye Oak is. The EP is distinctly and recognizably Wye Oak, while simultaneously unlike any other of the band's studio work. Eerie and dreamy, a complicated, unpredictable amalgamation of thoughtful lyrics, steely glints of synths and effects, lithe guitar lines, and the depth of Jenn Wasner's voice, it all unfurls with the ease of any Wye Oak song, built out by the Brooklyn Youth Chorus' presence, their tangle of crystalline voices presenting like an orchestral arrangement.
August 7 street date. Available again! Liverpool's legendary Death Metal pioneers Carcass (who still tour extensively to this day) are often credited with shaping the entire death metal genre, pushing boundaries with their shocking imagery whilst evolving and innovating with each new album. "Necroticism - Descanting The Insalubrious" is Carcass' third studio album and the first featuring guitarist Michael Amott. The album was well received by press and fans upon its original release in 1991 and was ranked in Rock Hard magazine's Top Rock/Metal Albums of all time.
August 7 street date. Available again! Liverpool's legendary Death Metal pioneers Carcass (who still tour extensively to this day) are often credited with shaping the entire death metal genre, pushing boundaries with their shocking imagery whilst evolving and innovating with each new album. "Necroticism - Descanting The Insalubrious" is Carcass' third studio album and the first featuring guitarist Michael Amott. The album was well received by press and fans upon its original release in 1991 and was ranked in Rock Hard magazine's Top Rock/Metal Albums of all time.
August 7 street date. Laura Marling's exquisite seventh album 'Song For Our Daughter' arrives almost without pre-amble or warning in the midst of uncharted global chaos, and yet instantly and tenderly offers a sense of purpose, clarity and calm. As a balm for the soul, this full-blooded new collection could be posited as Laura's richest to date, but in truth it's another incredibly fine record by a British artist who rarely strays from delivering incredibly fine records. Taking much of the production reins herself, alongside long-time collaborators Ethan Johns and Dom Monks, Laura has layered up lush string arrangements and a broad sense of scale to these songs without losing any of the intimacy or reverence we've come to anticipate and almost take for granted from her throughout the past decade.
August 7 street date. Marble Purple & White Vinyl. Laura Marling's exquisite seventh album 'Song For Our Daughter' arrives almost without pre-amble or warning in the midst of uncharted global chaos, and yet instantly and tenderly offers a sense of purpose, clarity and calm. As a balm for the soul, this full-blooded new collection could be posited as Laura's richest to date, but in truth it's another incredibly fine record by a British artist who rarely strays from delivering incredibly fine records. Taking much of the production reins herself, alongside long-time collaborators Ethan Johns and Dom Monks, Laura has layered up lush string arrangements and a broad sense of scale to these songs without losing any of the intimacy or reverence we've come to anticipate and almost take for granted from her throughout the past decade.
August 7 street date. Laura Marling's exquisite seventh album 'Song For Our Daughter' arrives almost without pre-amble or warning in the midst of uncharted global chaos, and yet instantly and tenderly offers a sense of purpose, clarity and calm. As a balm for the soul, this full-blooded new collection could be posited as Laura's richest to date, but in truth it's another incredibly fine record by a British artist who rarely strays from delivering incredibly fine records. Taking much of the production reins herself, alongside long-time collaborators Ethan Johns and Dom Monks, Laura has layered up lush string arrangements and a broad sense of scale to these songs without losing any of the intimacy or reverence we've come to anticipate and almost take for granted from her throughout the past decade.
August 7 street date. Sometime in 2006 or 2007, Jason Molina moved from the midwest to London. Separated from his bandmates and friends and never one for idleness, Molina explored his new home with fervor. His adoration of The Great American Tall Tales like John Henry and Paul Bunyan's blue ox Babe stretched across the Atlantic, where he created his own personal Tall Tales. And when he learned of the London Wall's seven gates (itself a misconception), Molina went ahead and called it eight, carving out a gate just for himself. The eighth gate was Molina's way into London, a gate only passable in the mind. Fast forward to 2008, Molina set off on an experimental solo tour through Europe. While in Northern Italy, Molina claimed to have been bitten by a rare, poisonous spider. A debilitating bout of illness ensued. Molina also claimed that during this time, he fed several bright green parrots that would gather in his yard. Only once Molina was officially on the mend and re-exploring the streets of London would he learn that those parrots had their own fabled tale. "Eight Gates" is the last collection of solo studio recordings Molina made before he passed from complications related to alcoholism in 2013. Recorded in London around the time of the supposed spider bite, some of the songs are fully-realized - dark, moody textures that call to mind his earlier work on "The Lioness".
August 7 street date. Sometime in 2006 or 2007, Jason Molina moved from the midwest to London. Separated from his bandmates and friends and never one for idleness, Molina explored his new home with fervor. His adoration of The Great American Tall Tales like John Henry and Paul Bunyan's blue ox Babe stretched across the Atlantic, where he created his own personal Tall Tales. And when he learned of the London Wall's seven gates (itself a misconception), Molina went ahead and called it eight, carving out a gate just for himself. The eighth gate was Molina's way into London, a gate only passable in the mind. Fast forward to 2008, Molina set off on an experimental solo tour through Europe. While in Northern Italy, Molina claimed to have been bitten by a rare, poisonous spider. A debilitating bout of illness ensued. Molina also claimed that during this time, he fed several bright green parrots that would gather in his yard. Only once Molina was officially on the mend and re-exploring the streets of London would he learn that those parrots had their own fabled tale. "Eight Gates" is the last collection of solo studio recordings Molina made before he passed from complications related to alcoholism in 2013. Recorded in London around the time of the supposed spider bite, some of the songs are fully-realized - dark, moody textures that call to mind his earlier work on "The Lioness".
August 7 street date. Limited black vinyl edition. Onslaught are ready to unleash a new beast with "Generation Antichrist", adding another Thrash Metal gem to their legacy! UK Thrashers Onslaught have become one of the bands that are now synonymous with the brilliance and endurance of today's 'Thrash Metal' movement and it is always to the delight of fans and critics around the world when the band announces the release of a new record. Time to prepare once again! Onslaught, led by founding member Nige Rockett, is primed to set the world on fire once again in 2020 with one of the most ferocious Thrash Metal albums ever made!
August 7 street date. Limited clear silver vinyl edition. Onslaught are ready to unleash a new beast with "Generation Antichrist", adding another Thrash Metal gem to their legacy! UK Thrashers Onslaught have become one of the bands that are now synonymous with the brilliance and endurance of today's 'Thrash Metal' movement and it is always to the delight of fans and critics around the world when the band announces the release of a new record. Time to prepare once again! Onslaught, led by founding member Nige Rockett, is primed to set the world on fire once again in 2020 with one of the most ferocious Thrash Metal albums ever made!
August 7 street date. Onslaught are ready to unleash a new beast with "Generation Antichrist", adding another Thrash Metal gem to their legacy! UK Thrashers Onslaught have become one of the bands that are now synonymous with the brilliance and endurance of today's 'Thrash Metal' movement and it is always to the delight of fans and critics around the world when the band announces the release of a new record. Time to prepare once again! Onslaught, led by founding member Nige Rockett, is primed to set the world on fire once again in 2020 with one of the most ferocious Thrash Metal albums ever made!
August 7 street date. 2020 marks the 30th Anniversary of "Bossanova", the third studio album by Pixies. To celebrate, 4AD are releasing a limited red vinyl edition with the original 16-page booklet being reinserted, having previously only been available with the initial UK LP pressing. Featuring the singles ‘Allison’ (a tribute to jazz and blues pianist Mose Allison), ‘Dig For Fire’ and ‘Velouria’, plus the first cover to feature on one of their albums ‘Cecilia Ann’ (originally by The Surftones), "Bossanova" showed a less primal side to the band, with surf and space rock rising to the fore. Lyrically, Black Francis is even more cryptic with a recurring sci-fi theme running throughout, which in turn influenced Vaughan Oliver's classic planet design for the sleeve.
August 7 street date. A Slackers show, big or small, is an event. This album, recorded almost 20 years ago, highlights just that magic. Hailed for the better part of two decades by fans as an absolutely crucial part of any Slackers collection, this powerful set and unbelievable package has somehow evaded the world of vinyl, until now. Remixed and remastered to sound better than ever before, this reissue is not one to pass up. If you are a fan of The Slackers, this needs to be in your collection!
August 14 street date. As C418, composer and producer Daniel Rosenfeld designs sounds to resonate in both physical and pixelated realms. Best known for his original soundtracks to "Minecraft", the single best-selling video game of all time, he's developed a discography of instrumental music over the last decade that traverses electronic pop patterns, neo-classical dreamscapes, and sparse ambient motifs. The latter element has broken from the "8-bit" pigeonholing of game music and earned him accolades that reference artists like Erik Satie (The Guardian) and Brian Eno (VICE). Now, following several restocks of "Alpha" to fervent fan response, it is time for the soundtrack's second installment to shine. For the legion of listeners and players to, at long last, have "Minecraft Volume Beta" in tangible formats. The double LP arrives in May 2020 on standard black and fire splatter colored vinyl, available in regular sleeves as well an exclusive limited-edition jacket with a lenticular cover which gives depth and movement to its 3D-rendered image.
August 14 street date. As C418, composer and producer Daniel Rosenfeld designs sounds to resonate in both physical and pixelated realms. Best known for his original soundtracks to "Minecraft", the single best-selling video game of all time, he's developed a discography of instrumental music over the last decade that traverses electronic pop patterns, neo-classical dreamscapes, and sparse ambient motifs. The latter element has broken from the "8-bit" pigeonholing of game music and earned him accolades that reference artists like Erik Satie (The Guardian) and Brian Eno (VICE). Now, following several restocks of "Alpha" to fervent fan response, it is time for the soundtrack's second installment to shine. For the legion of listeners and players to, at long last, have "Minecraft Volume Beta" in tangible formats. The double LP arrives in May 2020 on standard black and fire splatter colored vinyl, available in regular sleeves as well an exclusive limited-edition jacket with a lenticular cover which gives depth and movement to its 3D-rendered image.
August 14 street date. As C418, composer and producer Daniel Rosenfeld designs sounds to resonate in both physical and pixelated realms. Best known for his original soundtracks to "Minecraft", the single best-selling video game of all time, he's developed a discography of instrumental music over the last decade that traverses electronic pop patterns, neo-classical dreamscapes, and sparse ambient motifs. The latter element has broken from the "8-bit" pigeonholing of game music and earned him accolades that reference artists like Erik Satie (The Guardian) and Brian Eno (VICE). Now, following several restocks of "Alpha" to fervent fan response, it is time for the soundtrack's second installment to shine. For the legion of listeners and players to, at long last, have "Minecraft Volume Beta" in tangible formats. The double LP arrives in May 2020 on standard black and fire splatter colored vinyl, available in regular sleeves as well an exclusive limited-edition jacket with a lenticular cover which gives depth and movement to its 3D-rendered image.
August 14 street date. As C418, composer and producer Daniel Rosenfeld designs sounds to resonate in both physical and pixelated realms. Best known for his original soundtracks to "Minecraft", the single best-selling video game of all time, he's developed a discography of instrumental music over the last decade that traverses electronic pop patterns, neo-classical dreamscapes, and sparse ambient motifs. The latter element has broken from the "8-bit" pigeonholing of game music and earned him accolades that reference artists like Erik Satie (The Guardian) and Brian Eno (VICE). Now, following several restocks of "Alpha" to fervent fan response, it is time for the soundtrack's second installment to shine. For the legion of listeners and players to, at long last, have "Minecraft Volume Beta" in tangible formats. The double LP arrives in May 2020 on standard black and fire splatter colored vinyl, available in regular sleeves as well an exclusive limited-edition jacket with a lenticular cover which gives depth and movement to its 3D-rendered image.
August 14 street date. As C418, composer and producer Daniel Rosenfeld designs sounds to resonate in both physical and pixelated realms. Best known for his original soundtracks to "Minecraft", the single best-selling video game of all time, he's developed a discography of instrumental music over the last decade that traverses electronic pop patterns, neo-classical dreamscapes, and sparse ambient motifs. The latter element has broken from the "8-bit" pigeonholing of game music and earned him accolades that reference artists like Erik Satie (The Guardian) and Brian Eno (VICE). Now, following several restocks of "Alpha" to fervent fan response, it is time for the soundtrack's second installment to shine. For the legion of listeners and players to, at long last, have "Minecraft Volume Beta" in tangible formats. The double LP arrives in May 2020 on standard black and fire splatter colored vinyl, available in regular sleeves as well an exclusive limited-edition jacket with a lenticular cover which gives depth and movement to its 3D-rendered image.
Please note new street date: August 14. Music from the film "Girl On The Third Floor"; "creepy instrumental music" as described by co-creator Steve Albini. When director Travis Stevens called about composing music for his new horror film, Steve Albini (Shellac) found himself with a new creative challenge. After meeting with Stevens and Greg Newman from Queensbury Pictures, Steve signed on and recruited Tim Midyett (Mint Mile, Silkworm) and Alison Chesley (Helen Money) to complete the ensemble that would compose and record the soundtrack. Upon completion of the soundtrack, Albini reflected, "Tim and Alison are a joy to work with, very open-minded and eager, and master musicians. Just great. That whole part of it, writing and playing with them, was fucking fantastic and effortless, and I wish I could do it all the time".
Please note new street date: August 14. Clear with red coloured vinyl edtion. Music from the film "Girl On The Third Floor"; "creepy instrumental music" as described by co-creator Steve Albini. When director Travis Stevens called about composing music for his new horror film, Steve Albini (Shellac) found himself with a new creative challenge. After meeting with Stevens and Greg Newman from Queensbury Pictures, Steve signed on and recruited Tim Midyett (Mint Mile, Silkworm) and Alison Chesley (Helen Money) to complete the ensemble that would compose and record the soundtrack. Upon completion of the soundtrack, Albini reflected, "Tim and Alison are a joy to work with, very open-minded and eager, and master musicians. Just great. That whole part of it, writing and playing with them, was fucking fantastic and effortless, and I wish I could do it all the time".
August 14 street date. Tanya Donelly and the Parkington Sisters cover some of Tanya's favorite songs by The Go Go's, Leonard Cohen, Kirsty MacColl, Split Enz, Linda Ronstadt, The Pretenders, Wings, Echo & The Bunnymen, and Mary Margaret O'Hara on this outstanding new album. "When Joe from American Laundromat asked if I'd be interested in doing a covers album, I was hesitant, mainly because most of the songs I truly love are already perfect in their original form. But then I had the idea to ask the brilliant Parkington Sisters to be the band for this project, to bring their gorgeous sound and spirit, and make it something cohesive and centered. Happily, they said Yes. So I chose a handful of songs that have been on heavy rotation in my head and heart from the first time I heard them, and the Sisters took over".
August 14 street date. Tanya Donelly and the Parkington Sisters cover some of Tanya's favorite songs by The Go Go's, Leonard Cohen, Kirsty MacColl, Split Enz, Linda Ronstadt, The Pretenders, Wings, Echo & The Bunnymen, and Mary Margaret O'Hara on this outstanding new album. "When Joe from American Laundromat asked if I'd be interested in doing a covers album, I was hesitant, mainly because most of the songs I truly love are already perfect in their original form. But then I had the idea to ask the brilliant Parkington Sisters to be the band for this project, to bring their gorgeous sound and spirit, and make it something cohesive and centered. Happily, they said Yes. So I chose a handful of songs that have been on heavy rotation in my head and heart from the first time I heard them, and the Sisters took over".
August 14 street date. Spoon have confirmed their celebrated back catalog will be returning fully to print and become widely available worldwide for the first time on vinyl and CD in 2020 on Matador Records. The Slay On Cue series will see the reissue of the band's early records in original editions, encompassing classic albums Telephono (1996), Soft Effects EP (1996), A Series Of Sneaks (1998), Girls Can Tell (2001), Kill The Moonlight (2002) and Transference (2010). "Some of these albums haven't been available on vinyl or CD in years, and in some places they never actually came out", says frontman Britt Daniel.
August 14 street date. Spoon have confirmed their celebrated back catalog will be returning fully to print and become widely available worldwide for the first time on vinyl and CD in 2020 on Matador Records. The Slay On Cue series will see the reissue of the band's early records in original editions, encompassing classic albums Telephono (1996), Soft Effects EP (1996), A Series Of Sneaks (1998), Girls Can Tell (2001), Kill The Moonlight (2002) and Transference (2010). "Some of these albums haven't been available on vinyl or CD in years, and in some places they never actually came out", says frontman Britt Daniel.
August 14 street date. Spoon have confirmed their celebrated back catalog will be returning fully to print and become widely available worldwide for the first time on vinyl and CD in 2020 on Matador Records. The Slay On Cue series will see the reissue of the band's early records in original editions, encompassing classic albums Telephono (1996), Soft Effects EP (1996), A Series Of Sneaks (1998), Girls Can Tell (2001), Kill The Moonlight (2002) and Transference (2010). "Some of these albums haven't been available on vinyl or CD in years, and in some places they never actually came out", says frontman Britt Daniel.
August 14 street date. Spoon have confirmed their celebrated back catalog will be returning fully to print and become widely available worldwide for the first time on vinyl and CD in 2020 on Matador Records. The Slay On Cue series will see the reissue of the band's early records in original editions, encompassing classic albums Telephono (1996), Soft Effects EP (1996), A Series Of Sneaks (1998), Girls Can Tell (2001), Kill The Moonlight (2002) and Transference (2010). "Some of these albums haven't been available on vinyl or CD in years, and in some places they never actually came out", says frontman Britt Daniel.
August 14 street date. Spoon have confirmed their celebrated back catalog will be returning fully to print and become widely available worldwide for the first time on vinyl and CD in 2020 on Matador Records. The Slay On Cue series will see the reissue of the band's early records in original editions, encompassing classic albums Telephono (1996), Soft Effects EP (1996), A Series Of Sneaks (1998), Girls Can Tell (2001), Kill The Moonlight (2002) and Transference (2010). "Some of these albums haven't been available on vinyl or CD in years, and in some places they never actually came out", says frontman Britt Daniel.
August 14 street date. Spoon have confirmed their celebrated back catalog will be returning fully to print and become widely available worldwide for the first time on vinyl and CD in 2020 on Matador Records. The Slay On Cue series will see the reissue of the band's early records in original editions, encompassing classic albums Telephono (1996), Soft Effects EP (1996), A Series Of Sneaks (1998), Girls Can Tell (2001), Kill The Moonlight (2002) and Transference (2010). "Some of these albums haven't been available on vinyl or CD in years, and in some places they never actually came out", says frontman Britt Daniel.
August 21 street date. Sometimes it feels like you hear a Bright Eyes song with your whole body. From Conor Oberst's early recordings in an Omaha basement in 1995 all the way up to 2020, Bright Eyes' music tries to unravel the impossible tangles of dissent: personal and political, external and internal. It's a study of the beauty in unsteadiness in all its forms - in a voice, beliefs, love, identity, and what fills up the spaces in-between. And in so many ways, it's just about searching for a way through. 2020 is full of significant anniversaries for Bright Eyes. "Fevers And Mirrors" was released 20 years ago this May, while "Digital Ash in a Digital Urn" and "I'm Wide Awake It's Morning" both turned 15 in January. And while 2020 is a year of milestones for the band, it's also the year Bright Eyes returns, newly signed to Dead Oceans. Amidst the current overwhelming uncertainty and upheaval of global and personal worlds, Bright Eyes reunited under the moniker as both an escape from, and a confrontation of, trying times. Getting the band back together felt right, and necessary, and the friendship at the core of the band has been a longtime pillar of Bright Eyes' output. For Bright Eyes, this long-awaited re-emergence feels like coming home.
August 21 street date. Sometimes it feels like you hear a Bright Eyes song with your whole body. From Conor Oberst's early recordings in an Omaha basement in 1995 all the way up to 2020, Bright Eyes' music tries to unravel the impossible tangles of dissent: personal and political, external and internal. It's a study of the beauty in unsteadiness in all its forms - in a voice, beliefs, love, identity, and what fills up the spaces in-between. And in so many ways, it's just about searching for a way through. 2020 is full of significant anniversaries for Bright Eyes. "Fevers And Mirrors" was released 20 years ago this May, while "Digital Ash in a Digital Urn" and "I'm Wide Awake It's Morning" both turned 15 in January. And while 2020 is a year of milestones for the band, it's also the year Bright Eyes returns, newly signed to Dead Oceans. Amidst the current overwhelming uncertainty and upheaval of global and personal worlds, Bright Eyes reunited under the moniker as both an escape from, and a confrontation of, trying times. Getting the band back together felt right, and necessary, and the friendship at the core of the band has been a longtime pillar of Bright Eyes' output. For Bright Eyes, this long-awaited re-emergence feels like coming home.
August 21 street date. Sometimes it feels like you hear a Bright Eyes song with your whole body. From Conor Oberst's early recordings in an Omaha basement in 1995 all the way up to 2020, Bright Eyes' music tries to unravel the impossible tangles of dissent: personal and political, external and internal. It's a study of the beauty in unsteadiness in all its forms - in a voice, beliefs, love, identity, and what fills up the spaces in-between. And in so many ways, it's just about searching for a way through. 2020 is full of significant anniversaries for Bright Eyes. "Fevers And Mirrors" was released 20 years ago this May, while "Digital Ash in a Digital Urn" and "I'm Wide Awake It's Morning" both turned 15 in January. And while 2020 is a year of milestones for the band, it's also the year Bright Eyes returns, newly signed to Dead Oceans. Amidst the current overwhelming uncertainty and upheaval of global and personal worlds, Bright Eyes reunited under the moniker as both an escape from, and a confrontation of, trying times. Getting the band back together felt right, and necessary, and the friendship at the core of the band has been a longtime pillar of Bright Eyes' output. For Bright Eyes, this long-awaited re-emergence feels like coming home.
August 21 street date. Limited transparent red/transparent orange vinyl edition. Sometimes it feels like you hear a Bright Eyes song with your whole body. From Conor Oberst's early recordings in an Omaha basement in 1995 all the way up to 2020, Bright Eyes' music tries to unravel the impossible tangles of dissent: personal and political, external and internal. It's a study of the beauty in unsteadiness in all its forms - in a voice, beliefs, love, identity, and what fills up the spaces in-between. And in so many ways, it's just about searching for a way through. 2020 is full of significant anniversaries for Bright Eyes. "Fevers And Mirrors" was released 20 years ago this May, while "Digital Ash in a Digital Urn" and "I'm Wide Awake It's Morning" both turned 15 in January. And while 2020 is a year of milestones for the band, it's also the year Bright Eyes returns, newly signed to Dead Oceans. Amidst the current overwhelming uncertainty and upheaval of global and personal worlds, Bright Eyes reunited under the moniker as both an escape from, and a confrontation of, trying times. Getting the band back together felt right, and necessary, and the friendship at the core of the band has been a longtime pillar of Bright Eyes' output. For Bright Eyes, this long-awaited re-emergence feels like coming home.
August 21 street date. Beggars Arkive is excited to announce the remastered 40th anniversary reissue of the classic Freeez debut album "Southern Freeez" available as a coloured double LP (blue/black marbled). The package also includes "Variations On A Theem", which features six tracks by Freeez founding member and creator John Rocca. Alongside five new Rocca original songs is John's new version, with his vocals for the very first time, of the band’s 1981 UK Top Ten hit ‘Southern Freeez’. Freeez were a legendary group from London, known as one of the UK's main jazz-funk bands of the early 1980s - aka Brit funk. While they may not be a household name, if you know, you know. Freeez went on to be sampled many times, by artists including Jamie xx, Coolio, Brandy, Madlib, and more. "Southern Freeez" was initially released in late 1980 on John Rocca's own label Pink Rythm, but within weeks, they were signed by Beggars Banquet, who re-released it in 1981. The title track, which included guest vocals by Ingrid Mansfield Allman, was described as ‘The Ultimate Brit Funk tune!’ by Gilles Peterson.
August 21 street date. 25th anniversary vinyl edition of Guided By Voices' 1995 album "Alien Lanes". Inspired by the multicoloured drumhead featured on the album's artwork, this new edition is pressed on blue, green and red multicolored vinyl, making it the first non-exclusive colour vinyl edition of this release. Originally released on April 4, 1995, "Alien Lanes" served as the first Guided by Voices album to be released on Matador Records. "We were fearless at the time we recorded "Alien Lanes". That's why it bristles with insane energy and confidence.... we were proud to be putting out our first album on Matador and cock strutted accordingly. It cost us $10 to make. It's worth a million....God bless 1995 and open hearted record labels like Matador (and Scat before them) for allowing bands like us, with the preferred limited resources, to remove the constraints and pre-conceived notions of the more industry-minded constituents who would have much preferred we destroy the cassette master of "Alien Lanes" in the better interest of sound manufacturing and what's more agriculturally consumable. It's better to leave the farm than to continue plodding through the cow shit" - Robert Pollard 2020.
August 21 street date. When we last heard from Guided By Voices, they had released an astonishing four albums in just over 12 months. Now here is a sunny summer reprieve, a relentless barrage of hooks - "Mirrored Aztec: is the latest stop on this runaway train. Like its immediate predecessors, "Mirrored Aztec" is both its own entity and unmistakably GBV. It's also their most immediately welcoming and inviting offering in years - there's nothing a fan of The Who, Big Star, or Wire wouldn't love. It also contains some unprecedented GBV moments, too, like "Math Rock", an apparent tribute to the titular subgenre featuring classroom instruments and a children's choir. If Robert Pollard's discography - 107 albums and counting - seems intimidating, do not fear! With a brand-new, high-quality, all-the-waythere album every several months, it's abundantly clear that no band's fanbase has more fun.
August 21 street date. When we last heard from Guided By Voices, they had released an astonishing four albums in just over 12 months. Now here is a sunny summer reprieve, a relentless barrage of hooks - "Mirrored Aztec: is the latest stop on this runaway train. Like its immediate predecessors, "Mirrored Aztec" is both its own entity and unmistakably GBV. It's also their most immediately welcoming and inviting offering in years - there's nothing a fan of The Who, Big Star, or Wire wouldn't love. It also contains some unprecedented GBV moments, too, like "Math Rock", an apparent tribute to the titular subgenre featuring classroom instruments and a children's choir. If Robert Pollard's discography - 107 albums and counting - seems intimidating, do not fear! With a brand-new, high-quality, all-the-waythere album every several months, it's abundantly clear that no band's fanbase has more fun.
August 21 street date. Lauren Spear, 26, is the sole voice and songwriter behind Montreal's Le Ren. Le Ren's close-to-the-bone, heartbreak folk songs seem, at first, to tap into a shared musical memory. But before you can zero in through the fog, your heart is torn apart by her voice - rich, direct and mellifluous - steering you through these slowburn tunes about real-life loss. Two years ago, Spear's ex-boyfriend was killed in a car accident. Since then, she has been struggling with the immeasurable weight of being the sole keeper of their shared memories and in response, translated a sliver of that experience into music. Her EP, "Morning & Melancholia", is a mediation on mourning, memory and how to live with the ellipses you're forever left with in the wake of loss. Raised on rural Bowen Island, British Columbia, the isolated lifestyle allows for a certain independent dedication to craft that is evident in her performances. Spear has studied folk and bluegrass going back to her early teens, partaking in workshops and festivals all over North America. You can hear in her acumen the gorgeous folk formalism of Canadian heroes Kate and Anna McGerrigle. But it's not all rigor and acuity that makes Le Ren's music so stunning. She was also raised on The Holy Trinity of songwriters John Prine, Neil Young and Bob Dylan, and their curious, deadpan and cosmic approach to life's most brutal swipes also feed Le Ren's sensibilities.
Please note new street date: August 21. The D’Addario brothers will return this Spring with their third Lemon Twigs album, Songs For The General Public written, recorded and produced by the D’Addarios at their Long Island home studio, Sonora Studios in Los Angeles and New York City’s Electric Lady. The 12-track album will be released on 1 May digitally and on CD, limited translucent red vinyl and standard black vinyl. The prodigiously-talented duo first emerged as The Lemon Twigs in 2016 with their debut LP Do Hollywood, whose show stopping melodies mined from every era of rock quickly earned fans in Elton John, Questlove, and Jack Antonoff. Go To School, the ambitious 15-track coming-of-age opus, followed in 2018 and solidified the band’s reputation for building grand walls of sound around an audacious concept. The Lemon Twigs will tour North America around the release of Songs For The General Public including shows in Toronto (May 12th), Montreal (May 13th) and Vancouver (June 12th)
Please note new street date: August 21. The D’Addario brothers will return this Spring with their third Lemon Twigs album, Songs For The General Public written, recorded and produced by the D’Addarios at their Long Island home studio, Sonora Studios in Los Angeles and New York City’s Electric Lady. The 12-track album will be released on 1 May digitally and on CD, limited translucent red vinyl and standard black vinyl. The prodigiously-talented duo first emerged as The Lemon Twigs in 2016 with their debut LP Do Hollywood, whose show stopping melodies mined from every era of rock quickly earned fans in Elton John, Questlove, and Jack Antonoff. Go To School, the ambitious 15-track coming-of-age opus, followed in 2018 and solidified the band’s reputation for building grand walls of sound around an audacious concept. The Lemon Twigs will tour North America around the release of Songs For The General Public including shows in Toronto (May 12th), Montreal (May 13th) and Vancouver (June 12th)
May 1 street date. Translucent red vinyl edition, exclusively available to independent shops. The D'Addario brothers will return this Spring with their third Lemon Twigs album, "Songs For The General Public" written, recorded and produced by the D'Addarios at their Long Island home studio, Sonora Studios in Los Angeles and New York City's Electric Lady. The 12-track album will be released on 1 May digitally and on CD, limited translucent red vinyl and standard black vinyl. The prodigiously-talented duo first emerged as The Lemon Twigs in 2016 with their debut LP "Do Hollywood", whose show stopping melodies mined from every era of rock quickly earned fans in Elton John, Questlove, and Jack Antonoff. "Go To School", the ambitious 15-track coming-of-age opus, followed in 2018 and solidified the band's reputation for building grand walls of sound around an audacious concept. The Lemon Twigs will tour North America around the release of "Songs For The General Public" including shows in Toronto (May 12th), Montreal (May 13th) and Vancouver (June 12th).
August 21 street date. "NO DREAM" is the fourth full-length from Jeff Rosenstock. It comes at a time of unparalleled chaos and confusion, division and despair, the depths of which would have been impossible to predict when much of it was being written over the course of the last few years. And yet the record feels prescient, unexpectedly and uniquely suited for this moment. After building a devoted cult following with the acerbic ska-punk of the Arrogant Sons of Bitches, the DIY heroics of Bomb The Music Industry!, and three increasingly celebrated solo albums, "NO DREAM" arrives with an entirely new set of expectations in an entirely new era. Jeff's previous album, "POST-" debuted at #54 on Billboard's Top 200 chart. Vinyl edition is on seafoam coloured vinyl and includes a download card.
August 21 street date. "NO DREAM" is the fourth full-length from Jeff Rosenstock. It comes at a time of unparalleled chaos and confusion, division and despair, the depths of which would have been impossible to predict when much of it was being written over the course of the last few years. And yet the record feels prescient, unexpectedly and uniquely suited for this moment. After building a devoted cult following with the acerbic ska-punk of the Arrogant Sons of Bitches, the DIY heroics of Bomb The Music Industry!, and three increasingly celebrated solo albums, "NO DREAM" arrives with an entirely new set of expectations in an entirely new era. Jeff's previous album, "POST-" debuted at #54 on Billboard's Top 200 chart. Vinyl edition is on seafoam coloured vinyl and includes a download card.
August 21 street date. "NO DREAM" is the fourth full-length from Jeff Rosenstock. It comes at a time of unparalleled chaos and confusion, division and despair, the depths of which would have been impossible to predict when much of it was being written over the course of the last few years. And yet the record feels prescient, unexpectedly and uniquely suited for this moment. After building a devoted cult following with the acerbic ska-punk of the Arrogant Sons of Bitches, the DIY heroics of Bomb The Music Industry!, and three increasingly celebrated solo albums, "NO DREAM" arrives with an entirely new set of expectations in an entirely new era. Jeff's previous album, "POST-" debuted at #54 on Billboard's Top 200 chart. Vinyl edition is on seafoam coloured vinyl and includes a download card.
August 28 street date. This 3 CD SoulMusic Records' set celebrates the recordings that Solomon Burke made for the legendary Atlantic Records label between 1960 and 1968. Solomon is generally acknowledged as one of the greatest soul singers to emerge during the genre's golden days. He signed to Atlantic before "soul music" became a bona fide sub-genre of African-American music and it was Solomon who helped define this new movement and he was, in fact, one of the first artists to use "soul" to describe his music. He would eventually be known the world over as ‘The King of Rock and Soul’. His Atlantic recordings are presented in chronological order of recording across the three discs and each session is identified by date, location and all the musicians present are identified (where known). This celebratory definitive collection includes the content of all six of the LPs released during Solomon's tenure with Atlantic plus all non-album tracks for a total of 79 soulful cuts.
Please note new street date: August 28. "Therapy With Colour" is the Constellation debut for composer and sound artist T. Gowdy, who has released three prior albums of exquisitely textured, predominantly ambient electronic music (most recently "Pachira Aquatica" via Shimmering Moods Records in 2019). His sublime audio/visual performances have featured at MUTEK (Montréal and Barcelona) and Spektrum (Berlin), alongside his ongoing work as an in-demand producer/engineer with over fifty album credits to date. Combining experimental electronics with elements of musique concrete, rhythmic grooves, and heady sonic atmospheres, "Therapy With Colour" is a brilliantly adventurous new offering from the forefront of Montréal's avant-garde electronic scene.
Please note new street date: August 28. "Therapy With Colour" is the Constellation debut for composer and sound artist T. Gowdy, who has released three prior albums of exquisitely textured, predominantly ambient electronic music (most recently "Pachira Aquatica" via Shimmering Moods Records in 2019). His sublime audio/visual performances have featured at MUTEK (Montréal and Barcelona) and Spektrum (Berlin), alongside his ongoing work as an in-demand producer/engineer with over fifty album credits to date. Combining experimental electronics with elements of musique concrete, rhythmic grooves, and heady sonic atmospheres, "Therapy With Colour" is a brilliantly adventurous new offering from the forefront of Montréal's avant-garde electronic scene.
Please note new street date: August 28. "Third Album" is the Constellation debut from Montréal-based multi-disciplinary artist and musician/composer Markus Lake, who's been releasing audio works under the Markus Floats moniker over the past decade. Using primarily in-the-box midi instruments, along with a smattering of samples and field recordings, "Third Album" is through-composed and atypically but unfailingly expressive - like ruminative action paintings in sound. Digitally-processed notes and chords extrapolate in transitory thematic clusters of harmony and melody, often referencing organ sounds of alternately liturgical and souljazz resonance. Constellation is delighted to welcome Markus Lake to the roster and to be releasing "Third Album" with artwork that features his own paintings. The deluxe 180gram vinyl edition includes an exquisite 12"x24" art print reproduction.
Please note new street date: August 28. "Third Album" is the Constellation debut from Montréal-based multi-disciplinary artist and musician/composer Markus Lake, who's been releasing audio works under the Markus Floats moniker over the past decade. Using primarily in-the-box midi instruments, along with a smattering of samples and field recordings, "Third Album" is through-composed and atypically but unfailingly expressive - like ruminative action paintings in sound. Digitally-processed notes and chords extrapolate in transitory thematic clusters of harmony and melody, often referencing organ sounds of alternately liturgical and souljazz resonance. Constellation is delighted to welcome Markus Lake to the roster and to be releasing "Third Album" with artwork that features his own paintings. The deluxe 180gram vinyl edition includes an exquisite 12"x24" art print reproduction.
Please note new street date: August 28. Opening with a winding take of Radiohead's "Arpeggi", Kelly Lee Owens' masterful second album "Inner Song" finds the convention-blurring techno producer and singer/songwriter diving deep into her own psyche, excoriating the struggles she's faced over the last several years and exploring personal pain while embracing the beauty of the natural world. It's a leap in artistry from a musician who burst forth on the scene with a confident, rich sound, and "Inner Song" is endlessly enticing when it comes to what Owens is capable of. Owens has indeed come a long way from her background as a nurse; since then she has remixed Bjørk and St. Vincent, released an indelibly clubby two-tracker, 2019's "Let It Go" b/w "Omen", and teamed up with likeminded auteur Jon Hopkins on the one-off "Luminous Spaces".
Please note new street date: August 28. Opening with a winding take of Radiohead's "Arpeggi", Kelly Lee Owens' masterful second album "Inner Song" finds the convention-blurring techno producer and singer/songwriter diving deep into her own psyche, excoriating the struggles she's faced over the last several years and exploring personal pain while embracing the beauty of the natural world. It's a leap in artistry from a musician who burst forth on the scene with a confident, rich sound, and "Inner Song" is endlessly enticing when it comes to what Owens is capable of. Owens has indeed come a long way from her background as a nurse; since then she has remixed Bjørk and St. Vincent, released an indelibly clubby two-tracker, 2019's "Let It Go" b/w "Omen", and teamed up with likeminded auteur Jon Hopkins on the one-off "Luminous Spaces".
August 29 RSD Street date. Limited-edition pressing of Archers of Loaf ’s “Raleigh Days”—the first new original song by the band in over 20 years—and a searing cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Street Fighting Man” as the B-side. Cover art designed by Jay Ryan. Record Store Day exclusive! 7-inch pressing limited to 1100 for the world. Pressed at Kindercore.
RSD street date TBA. BAYSIDE has always focused on creating songs that are relevant to people who want substance, rather than being relegated to one genre. With Interrobang, the band has put together an eclectic, inspiring, and bold collection of songs. Raneri shares, “Love it or hate it, we wanted the record to invoke something in people. We said with this record we either wanted to create something great or fall on our faces. Negative or positive, we just didn’t want the record to be ‘fine.’” While many bands would coast on their past success, BAYSIDE rejects the premise and proves with Interrobang, that the best is yet to come. This 7” is a record store day exclusive with Bayside’s song “Heaven,” off of their latest album “Interrobang,” b/w an unreleased acoustic version. For Fans Of: Alkaline Trio, The Menzingers, Taking Back Sunday
August 29 RSD street date. Mikal Cronin experienced a creativity boom in late 2018/early 2019, inspired in part by the massive wildfires in Southern California. Forced to evacuate from the Idyllwild cabin where he’d been writing songs, Cronin returned to Los Angeles ready to make something. In fact, he recorded two albums: Seeker, released in October 2019, and its electronic counterpart Switched-On Seeker, out April 18, 2020, aka Record Store Day. The idea for Switched-On Seeker, whose title was inspired by a series of early electronic music records by Wendy Carlos playing classical music on an early Moog system, arose from Cronin’s interest in synths and electronic music, and he set out to rerecord the songs of Seeker track by track using only his voice and a collection of synthesizers and drum machines. Alone in his garage, Cronin made the album with a variety of synths including Arturia DrumBrute, Moog Sub 37, Moog Mother-32, Hohner String Performer, Mellotron, Omnichord, various little Casios, Roland SH-01A, Korg R3, and classic drum machine samples. While the overarching theme of destruction and rebirth unites Seeker and Switched-On Seeker, everything else about these two albums is different. Experience your favorite songs from Seeker in a whole new way on this Record Store Day exclusive LP!
Please note new street date: August 29 - RECORD STORE DAY DROP. Mardi gras splatter coloured vinyl edition. Arriving on the heels of the socially conscious "Babylon", Dr. John's 1970 album "Remedies" marked his third studio release under his eccentric, voodoo-inspired "Night Tripper" persona, and his first not to be produced by Harold Bapttiste, instead turning to famed rock producer Tom Dowd. Featuring a psychedelic and progressive take on Dr. John's signature style of swampy, hazy New Orleans boogie-woogie rock, undoubtedly inspired by his then recent stint in a psych ward.
Record Store Day street date TBA. Back by overwhelming popular demand, the critically acclaimed 2016 Resonance release by jazz piano icon Bill Evans, Some Other Time: The Lost Session from the Black Forest, is available once again as a deluxe, exclusive Record Store Day limited-edition (of 6,000 copies worldwide) 180gram 2LP 2nd pressing newly-remastered by renowned engineer Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, cut at 33 1/3 RPM and pressed by RTI. This studio album features bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Jack DeJohnette, recorded by legendary engineer/producer Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer at MPS Studios in Villingen, Germany on June 20, 1968, only five days after the trio's tour de force live performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival. The extensive LP insert includes essays by the acclaimed author Marc Myers and MPS studios engineer and studio manager Friedhelm Schulz; interviews with Eddie Gomez and Jack DeJohnette; plus previously unpublished photos by David Redfern, Giuseppe Pino, Jan Persson, and Hans Harzheim, including images taken at the actual June 20th session by German Hasenfratz.
Please note new street date: August 29 - RECORD STORE DAY DROP. We are proud to present the instrumental version of "The Tales People Tell", showcasing Kelly Finnigan's superior production and arrangement talents. His 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. 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.
Please note new street date: August 29 - RECORD STORE DAY DROP.I n November 2019, Girl Band played back to back sold out shows at Dublin’s iconic Vicar Street, this wasfollowing the release of long awaited second album ‘The Talkies’ hailed as ‘more abstract and more focused than their debut’ and a sold out East coast U.S & European tour. Recognised for their ferocious live shows which have been described as chaotic, electrifying and ‘genuinely dangerous, like one last rave before the apocalypse’, these shows were highly intimate and intensely sought after creating an air of ‘you had to be there’. This is their first ever Live vinyl and features tracks from their whole repertoire, some of which have only been performed a handful of times.
Please note new street date: August 29 Record Store Day Drop. Following a tour up and down the East Coast in the winter months of 2019, M.C. Taylor joined the Spacebomb family in Richmond, VA, to record new interpretations of two Hiss Golden Messenger favorites: “Cat’s Eye Blue” and “Standing in the Doorway.” In Taylor’s own word:, “Spacebomb specializes in a maximal rhythm that speaks to me both as a fan and maker of music. I’m always honored to create with them.”
Record Store Day street date TBA. Once Upon A Time: The Lost 1965 New York Studio Sessions is a previously-unissued release of studio recordings from pianist Bob James captured with no audience at Wollman Auditorium at Columbia University in New York City in 1965 by Resonance founder and co-president George Klabin. This limited-edition (of 5,000 copies worldwide) 180g LP features James in two different trio settings — one from January 20, 1965 with bassist Larry Rockwell and drummer Bob Pozar, and one from October 9, 1965 with bassist Bill Wood and drummer Omar Clay — performing a mix of jazz standards and original compositions. The title track "Once Upon A Time" was named by James as an homage to the ONCE Festival of New Music in Ann Arbor, MI which ran from 1961-1966 and holds a special place in his early musical career. The deluxe gatefold set includes an extensive booklet with essays by jazz writer Mark Stryker (Jazz from Detroit) and engineer George Klabin; new interviews with Bob James and Makoto Ozone, and a 2011 interview with Bob Pozar by Hank Shteamer (Rolling Stone); plus rare archival photographs by Tom Copi. Mastered by Bernie Grundman, cut at 33 1/3 RPM and pressed by RTI.
Please note new street date: August 29 - RECORD STORE DAY DROP. Glacial blue vinyl edition, limited to 2000 copies worldwide. Unavailable on vinyl for almost 20 years! After forming in November of 1994 while living in different cities, June Of 44 recorded their debut album, "Engine Takes To The Water" in four days during December of 1994. The result is a record that leaves us all treasures like the tooth fairy, releases our internal monsters, and takes them away like garbage men just doing their jobs.
Please note new street date: August 29 - RECORD STORE DAY DROP. Limited edition RSD exclusive on glacial blue vinyl, limited to 2000 copies worldwide. Originally released in 1996, June of 44's second album is a long nautical mile from their debut album, 1995's "Engine Takes To The Water". Recorded at Chicago Recording Studio and Idful Recording and produced by Bob Weston (Shellac, Mission of Burma), "Tropics And Meridians" is a collection of rhythmic phrases meant to be perfumed of whatever the listener would like them to be. The music veers from the subtly lilting and melodic to the fierce and abrasive, often with the space of a few bars. Rollicking on the high seas, but then slowing down to float on a glass-like waterbed, the band bring us their unique brand of the quiet storm, set to music of course.
Please note new street date: August 29 - RECORD STORE DAY DROP. "Paris was the first city to really get behind my career as a solo artist. From the first time I played there in 2014 til now, it's always had an extra spark of magic to it. It's always the stop I look forward to the most on my European tours as the audience comes with a very unique and kinetic energy, and because of this, so does the band. I had wanted to document this reciprocating fever between us and the crowd for some time now and saw our sold out show at the beautiful Cabaret Sauvage as the perfect time to do so. I also knew I needed to document a night with my new band, the OH MY GOD Band, which is made up of some of the most talented and tasteful musicians on the planet. And so here and now, in this recording, I have captured the best band I've ever played with as well as one of the best crowds I've ever played for - all together on a very sweaty night beneath a carnival tent in Paris" - Kevin Morby.
Please note new street date: August 29 - RECORD STORE DAY DROP. Limited neon purple vinyl edition. "The OF Tape Vol. 2" is the 2012 debut studio album by left-field hip hop collective Odd Future, whose members include recent Grammy winners Tyler, The Creator and Frank Ocean plus lesser-known-but-equally-odd associates Hodgy Beats, Domo Genesis, Mike G, The Internet, Taco, Jasper Dolphin, Left Brain, L-Boy, and Earl Sweatshirt. Production on the album was primarily handled by Left Brain and Tyler, the Creator, with Frank Ocean, Hal Williams and Matt Martians also receiving production credits. The album peaked at number 5 on the US Billboard 200. Long sought after by vinyl and hip hop collectors, Get On Down proudly reissues this masterpiece in two unique Record Jackets, and on two distinct colored vinyl configurations: the first cover featuring a ‘collage face’, pressed on neon purple vinyl, the second featuring a photo of Lucas Vercetti, a close OF associate, and pressed on neon pink vinyl.
Please note new street date: August 29 - RECORD STORE DAY DROP. Limited neon pink vinyl edition. "The OF Tape Vol. 2" is the 2012 debut studio album by left-field hip hop collective Odd Future, whose members include recent Grammy winners Tyler, The Creator and Frank Ocean plus lesser-known-but-equally-odd associates Hodgy Beats, Domo Genesis, Mike G, The Internet, Taco, Jasper Dolphin, Left Brain, L-Boy, and Earl Sweatshirt. Production on the album was primarily handled by Left Brain and Tyler, the Creator, with Frank Ocean, Hal Williams and Matt Martians also receiving production credits. The album peaked at number 5 on the US Billboard 200. Long sought after by vinyl and hip hop collectors, Get On Down proudly reissues this masterpiece in two unique Record Jackets, and on two distinct colored vinyl configurations: the first cover featuring a ‘collage face’, pressed on neon purple vinyl, the second featuring a photo of Lucas Vercetti, a close OF associate, and pressed on neon pink vinyl.
Please note new street date: August 29 - RECORD STORE DAY DROP. * Record Store Day 2020 will see 4AD press the Pale Saints singles compilation Mrs. Dolphin on vinyl for the very first time. Previously only available on CD in Japan and released in 1991, Mrs. Dolphin rounds up the tracks from both early 4AD Eps Barging Into The Presence Of God and Half- Life, plus another that featured on the 1990 Melody Maker compilation Gigantic! 2 and ‘The Colour Of The Sky’, a track exclusive to this release that has, until now, been unavailable on vinyl. Coming hot on the heels of the 30th Anniversary deluxe edition of their debut album, The Comforts of Madness, the sleeve for Mrs. Dolphin has been reconfigured by Timothy O’Donnell with collaborator Roy Burns III, who have based their new design on the original CD art whilst also incorporating new photography by Dominic Davies. Pressed on 140g green marbled vinyl, this new edition pays further homage to its roots as it has an obi strip for the tracklisting and will come housed in a Japanese-style mylar bag. This release is exclusive to independent record stores via Record Store Day, which takes place this year on April 18th.
Please note new street date: August 29 - RECORD STORE DAY DROP. “Early in 2016 Ali Chant texted me, asking if I still wanted to record some stuff at his studio - as property developers were about to knock it down. Another creative space bulldozed away for capital gain. Politically it was a shit year. The noise building for the Brexit referendum that would fuck with the future of the young was in full swing. Bowie died, and on the morning of the first recordings I had the worst migraine. I left the building and threw up in the street. I wanted to commit to the lyrics and sing live so I think I was stressed about getting them ready to sing. I had a batch of songs I wanted to record but I didn’t have a record label or any plans of what to do with them. I gathered incredible musicians from my square mile in Cardiff in the van and drove to Bristol. Kliph on drums, Steve on bass and Osian on piano. I sang and played guitar - We recorded live takes for 3 days then I sat on the songs for almost 2 years. Eventually handing them to composer Stephen McNeff to work on orchestral arrangements. I called the album that was mixed by Samur Kouja; Babelsberg - and I’m very happy with it. This album meanwhile is an exploration of how it came to be - and the songs in their raw state. A companion piece rather than the definitive article. Most tracks are similar to the final work except for Selfies in The Sunset which is pre-duet and much longer. I’m very grateful to Lisa Jen and Mirain Haf from the band 9 Bach for singing the background vocals. Kliph for overseeing this project, Rough Trade for their enthusiasm and thanks to the designers; thanks Uno Moralez for agreeing to have his incredible Babelsberg sleeve illustration carved up, and ace designer Mark James for this final article. Further thanks to Ali, Steve, Osian and also to Robin Turner for lending his ear at the time.” - Gruff
Please note new street date: August 29 - RECORD STORE DAY DROP. Limited edition clear vinyl, with exclusive glow-in-the-dark Slint turntable slip mat and full colour Euro-style inner sleeve. Sounding more "in your face" (think "Nosferatu Man") than the final 1991 "Spiderland" LP mixes, these original mixes were mastered by Bob Weston of Chicago Mastering Service at 45 rpm for optimum fidelity. Feel the hot kick of Britt's drum, the down and dirty rumble of Todd's bass, the special sizzle of Dave's guitar, and the meaty chunk of Brian's guitar (he sings too) - stronger, louder, and differenter than you’ve ever heard them before. Limited to 2500 copies worldwide.
Street date TBA. "DANCING ON THE PEOPLE” EP (with three bonus tracks) is a collection of songs in English, Portuguese, and Spanish that expand Sofi Tukker’s global and inclusive vision of dance music with songs full of adventurous ideas and joy. Issued as a digital only release on September 20th, this is first time vinyl release of the EP and for the bonus tracks as well, which includes their collaboration with ZHU "Mi Rumba", and EP track remixes by Mahmut Orhan & R3HAB. SOFI TUKKER is the genre-defying duo of Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern celebrated for their inclusive and global perspective on electronic music and their work's themes of liberation, unity, and self-empowerment. Their debut single "Drinkee" was nominated for a Best Dance Recording Grammy,® which was followed by a Best Dance/Electronic Album Grammy® nomination for their debut album Treehouse. SOFI TUKKER's records have achieved Gold or Platinum status on every continent other than Antarctica. Their electric and energetic live show has sold out venues and graced major festival stages across the planet, and SOFI TUKKER has also performed on major TV shows such as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (USA), X-Factor (Italy), Sunday Brunch (UK), Late Show (Russia) and BuzzRhythm (Japan). SOFI TUKKER are also passionate activists who have raised funds and awareness for Planned Parenthood, The Trevor Project, and the March for Our Lives.
Please note new street date: August 29 - RSD DROP. Soundtrack to David Lynch's 1984 cult film "Dune", composed by Toto and Brian Eno. Sourced from the original master tapes and pressed on spice coloured vinyl, with a 24" x 24" full colour poster. Audiophile pressing at RTI. Limited to 2000 copies.
Please note new street date: August 29 - RECORD STORE DAY DROP. All the Weird Kids Up Front (More Best of Spoon) is a fan-selected companion piece to Everything Hits At Once: The Best of Spoon. With a tracklist submitted by and voted on by fans, it features deep cuts from the Austin, TX band's 25-year history. Recent features and performances include PBS Newshour, The Howard Stern Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Pitchfork Live and more. Package includes obi strip and is limited to a run of 3,000 copies worldwide. “Spoon have long been one of the most reliably great rock bands to emerge from the early Aughts indie boom. Their secret weapon has always been their restraint — riffs that simmer but don’t boil, lyrics about cautious hope, air-tight production that plays up their musical economy. It’s what makes you want to hear more of them. It has led them to masterpieces like “The Way We Get By,” a piano-driven declaration of desperation, and the dusky title track of this compilation here, “Everything Hits at Once.” - Rolling Stone
Street date TBA. “It is a great joy for all those involved that this imperfect circle is now complete and the unfinished noise we made so long ago, can now be pored over by those few rememberers who care enough to sit down and listen.” The Wolfgang Press Record Store Day 2020 brings a surprise in the form of Unremembered, Remembered, a six-track mini-album of previously unheard material by The Wolfgang Press; recorded between 1996 and 1997 when the band had become the duo of Andrew Gray and Mick Allen. Writing and recording in East London against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, the Brixton riots, Rosemary West’s trial, the Dunblane Massacre, the IRA docklands bombing and Take That splitting, all of which proved good material to be plundered by the band. However, with them deciding to call it a day shortly after recording these demos, everything was shelved then forgotten. Having recently rediscovered the tapes, they’ve since mastered them at Abbey Road to create Unremembered, Remembered, which will be heard for the first time by the public this Record Store Day (April 18th). Working with long-time 4AD collaborator Chris Bigg on the design, the sleeve features metallic ink with the record itself being pressed on 140g transparent red vinyl.
September 4 street date. On the cusp of releasing his first-ever solo album, "Every Feeling On A Loop", songwriter Josiah Johnson is aware he wasn't supposed to be here. Just five years ago when he took a leave of absence from the acclaimed indie-folk band, The Head and the Heart, the question was less where Johnson's star would take him and more whether his struggles with addiction would end his music career. The Head and the Heart's rise was rapid. They built a loyal fanbase and zigzagged the globe, and their 2011 self-titled debut went on to receive RIAA Gold certification, followed by 2013's "Let's Be Still", which landed on Billboard's Top 10 Albums Chart. On "Every Feeling On A Loop", lush musical arrangements and harmonies support Johnson's baritone crooning. At times, the songs sound like prayers. At others, his exuberance feels like the euphoria he'd always sought, this time hard-earned and wiser. He says he feels like a new person making it, charting his journey out of the dark into the wide awake of the morning, using the magic that was his all along.
September 4 street date. Continuing with Matador's ever-expanding, Revisionist History series, we are pleased to announce a 25th anniversary reissue of Yo La Tengo's 1995 album "Electr-o-pura". Now in a gatefold sleeve and cut from the original 58 minute master, the new reissue is pressed for the first time on two LPs to ensure the highest quality of audio the album has had on vinyl to date. On their seventh studio album, Yo La Tengo would further expand on the venturous songwriting established on their previous album "Painful" with stunning craft and a deepened exploration of contrasting textures, moods and atmospherics. Chock full with moments of pop gold like "Tom Courtenay", melancholic ballads such as the heartbreaking "Pablo And Andrea", and sweeping, feedback-laden jams like the show-stopping "Blue Line Swinger", "Electr-o-pura" is a thrilling document of one of America's most beloved bands hitting their creative stride and remains one of the most sublime records the band has released in their uninterrupted 36-year career.
September 11 street date. Spoon have confirmed their celebrated back catalog will be returning fully to print and become widely available worldwide for the first time on vinyl and CD in 2020 on Matador Records. The Slay On Cue series will see the reissue of the band's early records in original editions, encompassing classic albums Telephono (1996), Soft Effects EP (1996), A Series Of Sneaks (1998), Girls Can Tell (2001), Kill The Moonlight (2002) and Transference (2010). "Some of these albums haven't been available on vinyl or CD in years, and in some places they never actually came out", says frontman Britt Daniel.
September 11 street date. Spoon have confirmed their celebrated back catalog will be returning fully to print and become widely available worldwide for the first time on vinyl and CD in 2020 on Matador Records. The Slay On Cue series will see the reissue of the band's early records in original editions, encompassing classic albums Telephono (1996), Soft Effects EP (1996), A Series Of Sneaks (1998), Girls Can Tell (2001), Kill The Moonlight (2002) and Transference (2010). "Some of these albums haven't been available on vinyl or CD in years, and in some places they never actually came out", says frontman Britt Daniel.
Please note new street date: September 18. Vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and sonic visionary Angel Deradoorian has never shied away from testing aural and conceptual boundaries in her work. Fusing elements of indie rock, world music, and dance rhythms, Deradoorian launched a solo career after making a name for herself collaborating with notable acts Dirty Projectors, Avey Tare of Animal Collective, and Flying Lotus. Deradoorian has released two full-length solo albums, Mind Raft in 2010 (Lovepump United) and The Expanding Flower Planet in 2015 (Anticon). Her music is a fusion of riveting vocals co-mingling with various of instruments – a true testament to an artist who found new depths both within herself and in her process through allowing herself to be driven entirely by instinct. Now signed with ANTI- records, Deradoorian is set to release her third album Find The Sun on May 22.
September 18 street date. Joyce Manor return with "Songs From Northern Torrance": a collection of b-sides and alternate versions of fan favorites pulled from the band's personal archives. The album kicks off with "House Warning Party", a one-minute blast of lo-fi goodness that offers a glimpse into the band's humble beginnings as a two-piece folk-punk outfit. Lyrics of suburban angst forge with upbeat drums and swift, jangly guitars that make it impossible to not bounce your head along to. As a band who have come to define West Coast indie-punk, Joyce Manor remains one of the most popular bands in the genre and this track is a rarity their fans will surely love.
September 18 street date. Isolation is nothing new for Fenne Lily - in fact, she's written an album of songs all about it. "BREACH", her Dead Oceans debut written during a period of self-enforced isolation pre-COVID, is an expansive, diaristic, frequently sardonic record that deals with the mess and the catharsis of entering your 20s and finding peace while being alone. Fenne was born in London and moved to Dorset as a toddler, where she grew up in the picturesque English countryside. Her mother gifted Fenne with her old record collection, through which she discovered her love for T. Rex and The Velvet Underground and Nico. Soon after she fell for the strange genius of PJ Harvey and came to worship Nick Drake, Joni Mitchell, and the richly crafted worlds of Feist, which inspired Fenne to pick up a guitar. Her debut album, self-released in 2018, organically found a large audience online, which grew after she opened for Lucy Dacus and Andy Shauf's North American tours last spring. Where "On Hold" grappled with love and relationships, "BREACH" digs deeper into Fenne herself.
September 18 street date. Isolation is nothing new for Fenne Lily - in fact, she's written an album of songs all about it. "BREACH", her Dead Oceans debut written during a period of self-enforced isolation pre-COVID, is an expansive, diaristic, frequently sardonic record that deals with the mess and the catharsis of entering your 20s and finding peace while being alone. Fenne was born in London and moved to Dorset as a toddler, where she grew up in the picturesque English countryside. Her mother gifted Fenne with her old record collection, through which she discovered her love for T. Rex and The Velvet Underground and Nico. Soon after she fell for the strange genius of PJ Harvey and came to worship Nick Drake, Joni Mitchell, and the richly crafted worlds of Feist, which inspired Fenne to pick up a guitar. Her debut album, self-released in 2018, organically found a large audience online, which grew after she opened for Lucy Dacus and Andy Shauf's North American tours last spring. Where "On Hold" grappled with love and relationships, "BREACH" digs deeper into Fenne herself.
September 25 street date. This is Thurston Moore's seventh solo album, and features musicians Deb Googe (My Bloody Valentine) on bass and backing vocals, Jon Leidecker aka ‘Wobbly’ (of Negativland) on electronics, James Sedwards on guitar, and Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley, as well as Jem Doulton, alternating on drums. Prior to isolation during the COVID pandemic, Thurston worked in recording studios in North London until the third week of March 2020 to complete this album. 2020 is our time for radical change and collective awareness and Thurston Moore has written nine songs of enlightenment, released to a world on ?re. Taking a cue from Albert Ayler's "music is the healing force of the universe", this recording offers songs as ?ames of rainbow energy, where the power of love becomes our call. These are love songs in a time where creativity is our dignity, our demonstration against the forces of oppression. "By The Fire" is a gathering, a party of peace - songs in the heat of the moment.
September 25 street date. This is Thurston Moore's seventh solo album, and features musicians Deb Googe (My Bloody Valentine) on bass and backing vocals, Jon Leidecker aka ‘Wobbly’ (of Negativland) on electronics, James Sedwards on guitar, and Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley, as well as Jem Doulton, alternating on drums. Prior to isolation during the COVID pandemic, Thurston worked in recording studios in North London until the third week of March 2020 to complete this album. 2020 is our time for radical change and collective awareness and Thurston Moore has written nine songs of enlightenment, released to a world on ?re. Taking a cue from Albert Ayler's "music is the healing force of the universe", this recording offers songs as ?ames of rainbow energy, where the power of love becomes our call. These are love songs in a time where creativity is our dignity, our demonstration against the forces of oppression. "By The Fire" is a gathering, a party of peace - songs in the heat of the moment.
September 25 street date. This is Thurston Moore's seventh solo album, and features musicians Deb Googe (My Bloody Valentine) on bass and backing vocals, Jon Leidecker aka ‘Wobbly’ (of Negativland) on electronics, James Sedwards on guitar, and Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley, as well as Jem Doulton, alternating on drums. Prior to isolation during the COVID pandemic, Thurston worked in recording studios in North London until the third week of March 2020 to complete this album. 2020 is our time for radical change and collective awareness and Thurston Moore has written nine songs of enlightenment, released to a world on ?re. Taking a cue from Albert Ayler's "music is the healing force of the universe", this recording offers songs as ?ames of rainbow energy, where the power of love becomes our call. These are love songs in a time where creativity is our dignity, our demonstration against the forces of oppression. "By The Fire" is a gathering, a party of peace - songs in the heat of the moment.
September 25 street date. This is Thurston Moore's seventh solo album, and features musicians Deb Googe (My Bloody Valentine) on bass and backing vocals, Jon Leidecker aka ‘Wobbly’ (of Negativland) on electronics, James Sedwards on guitar, and Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley, as well as Jem Doulton, alternating on drums. Prior to isolation during the COVID pandemic, Thurston worked in recording studios in North London until the third week of March 2020 to complete this album. 2020 is our time for radical change and collective awareness and Thurston Moore has written nine songs of enlightenment, released to a world on ?re. Taking a cue from Albert Ayler's "music is the healing force of the universe", this recording offers songs as ?ames of rainbow energy, where the power of love becomes our call. These are love songs in a time where creativity is our dignity, our demonstration against the forces of oppression. "By The Fire" is a gathering, a party of peace - songs in the heat of the moment.
September 25 street date. In 2019, Bob Mould bucked the era’s despair with his melodic, upbeat album Sunshine Rock. Cut to spring 2020, and he has this to say: “We’re really in deep shit now.” That sentiment informs his new full-length album, Blue Hearts, the raging-but-catchy yin to Sunshine Rock’s yang. Mould experienced deja vu writing Blue Hearts in the fall of 2019. “Where it started to go in my head is back to a spot that I’ve been in before,” he says. “And that was the fall of 1983.” Back then, Mould was a self-described “22-year-old closeted gay man” touring with the legendary Hüsker Dü and seeing an epidemic consume his community. Leaders were content to let AIDS kill a generation. Mould later realized why his mind wandered back there for Blue Hearts. “We have a charismatic, telegenic, say-anything leader being propped up by evangelicals,” he says. “These fuckers tried to kill me once. They didn’t do it. They scared me. I didn’t do enough. Guess what? I’m back, and we’re back here again. And I’m not going to sit quietly this time and worry about alienating anyone.” Recorded at the famed Electrical Audio in Chicago with Beau Sorenson engineering and Mould producing, Blue Hearts nods to Mould’s past while remaining firmly planted in the issues of the day. Acoustic opener “Heart on My Sleeve” catalogues the ravages of climate change. “Next Generation” worries for who comes next. “American Crisis” references “Evangelical ISIS” and features this dagger of a line: “Pro-life, pro-life until you make it in someone else’s wife.” That feels right for an explosive, hook-laden album like Blue Hearts. Only there’s nothing forgettable about it.
September 25 street date. In 2019, Bob Mould bucked the era’s despair with his melodic, upbeat album Sunshine Rock. Cut to spring 2020, and he has this to say: “We’re really in deep shit now.” That sentiment informs his new full-length album, Blue Hearts, the raging-but-catchy yin to Sunshine Rock’s yang. Mould experienced deja vu writing Blue Hearts in the fall of 2019. “Where it started to go in my head is back to a spot that I’ve been in before,” he says. “And that was the fall of 1983.” Back then, Mould was a self-described “22-year-old closeted gay man” touring with the legendary Hüsker Dü and seeing an epidemic consume his community. Leaders were content to let AIDS kill a generation. Mould later realized why his mind wandered back there for Blue Hearts. “We have a charismatic, telegenic, say-anything leader being propped up by evangelicals,” he says. “These fuckers tried to kill me once. They didn’t do it. They scared me. I didn’t do enough. Guess what? I’m back, and we’re back here again. And I’m not going to sit quietly this time and worry about alienating anyone.” Recorded at the famed Electrical Audio in Chicago with Beau Sorenson engineering and Mould producing, Blue Hearts nods to Mould’s past while remaining firmly planted in the issues of the day. Acoustic opener “Heart on My Sleeve” catalogues the ravages of climate change. “Next Generation” worries for who comes next. “American Crisis” references “Evangelical ISIS” and features this dagger of a line: “Pro-life, pro-life until you make it in someone else’s wife.” That feels right for an explosive, hook-laden album like Blue Hearts. Only there’s nothing forgettable about it.
September 25 street date. In 2019, Bob Mould bucked the era’s despair with his melodic, upbeat album Sunshine Rock. Cut to spring 2020, and he has this to say: “We’re really in deep shit now.” That sentiment informs his new full-length album, Blue Hearts, the raging-but-catchy yin to Sunshine Rock’s yang. Mould experienced deja vu writing Blue Hearts in the fall of 2019. “Where it started to go in my head is back to a spot that I’ve been in before,” he says. “And that was the fall of 1983.” Back then, Mould was a self-described “22-year-old closeted gay man” touring with the legendary Hüsker Dü and seeing an epidemic consume his community. Leaders were content to let AIDS kill a generation. Mould later realized why his mind wandered back there for Blue Hearts. “We have a charismatic, telegenic, say-anything leader being propped up by evangelicals,” he says. “These fuckers tried to kill me once. They didn’t do it. They scared me. I didn’t do enough. Guess what? I’m back, and we’re back here again. And I’m not going to sit quietly this time and worry about alienating anyone.” Recorded at the famed Electrical Audio in Chicago with Beau Sorenson engineering and Mould producing, Blue Hearts nods to Mould’s past while remaining firmly planted in the issues of the day. Acoustic opener “Heart on My Sleeve” catalogues the ravages of climate change. “Next Generation” worries for who comes next. “American Crisis” references “Evangelical ISIS” and features this dagger of a line: “Pro-life, pro-life until you make it in someone else’s wife.” That feels right for an explosive, hook-laden album like Blue Hearts. Only there’s nothing forgettable about it.
September 25 street date. "The Ascension" is the eighth studio album from singer, songwriter and composer Sufjan Stevens and is the long awaited follow-up to Stevens' "Carrie & Lowell", one of the most acclaimed albums of 2015. In the time between "Carrie & Lowell" and the forthcoming "The Ascension", Stevens also released Oscar-nominated music for the Luca Guadagnino film "Call Me By Your Name"; a collaborative album entitled "Planetarium" with Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner (The National) and James Mcalister; "The Decalogue", a solo piano work performed by Timo Andres; and scored several works for ballet. "The Ascension" is musically expansive and sweeping in thematic scope. The album is at heart a pop record, Sufjan's first. And when it came to writing these songs, Sufjan's goal was simple: keep it moving. 80s and early 90s jams informed Sufjan's songwriting on this record, with Janet Jackson's brilliant "Rhythm Nation" as guiding light - both for the pop framework and the underlying political themes. The beats on "The Ascension" sound a lot like those great 80s beats: honed, skillful, yes, but also big and loud and thick and, well, just straight up fun. The hooks are obvious and catchy and like any good pop song, last way past when you’re done listening to the song. Sufjan's vocals on "The Ascension" are soft, beautiful, natural, real, true.
September 25 street date. "The Ascension" is the eighth studio album from singer, songwriter and composer Sufjan Stevens and is the long awaited follow-up to Stevens' "Carrie & Lowell", one of the most acclaimed albums of 2015. In the time between "Carrie & Lowell" and the forthcoming "The Ascension", Stevens also released Oscar-nominated music for the Luca Guadagnino film "Call Me By Your Name"; a collaborative album entitled "Planetarium" with Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner (The National) and James Mcalister; "The Decalogue", a solo piano work performed by Timo Andres; and scored several works for ballet. "The Ascension" is musically expansive and sweeping in thematic scope. The album is at heart a pop record, Sufjan's first. And when it came to writing these songs, Sufjan's goal was simple: keep it moving. 80s and early 90s jams informed Sufjan's songwriting on this record, with Janet Jackson's brilliant "Rhythm Nation" as guiding light - both for the pop framework and the underlying political themes. The beats on "The Ascension" sound a lot like those great 80s beats: honed, skillful, yes, but also big and loud and thick and, well, just straight up fun. The hooks are obvious and catchy and like any good pop song, last way past when you’re done listening to the song. Sufjan's vocals on "The Ascension" are soft, beautiful, natural, real, true.
September 25 street date. "The Ascension" is the eighth studio album from singer, songwriter and composer Sufjan Stevens and is the long awaited follow-up to Stevens' "Carrie & Lowell", one of the most acclaimed albums of 2015. In the time between "Carrie & Lowell" and the forthcoming "The Ascension", Stevens also released Oscar-nominated music for the Luca Guadagnino film "Call Me By Your Name"; a collaborative album entitled "Planetarium" with Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner (The National) and James Mcalister; "The Decalogue", a solo piano work performed by Timo Andres; and scored several works for ballet. "The Ascension" is musically expansive and sweeping in thematic scope. The album is at heart a pop record, Sufjan's first. And when it came to writing these songs, Sufjan's goal was simple: keep it moving. 80s and early 90s jams informed Sufjan's songwriting on this record, with Janet Jackson's brilliant "Rhythm Nation" as guiding light - both for the pop framework and the underlying political themes. The beats on "The Ascension" sound a lot like those great 80s beats: honed, skillful, yes, but also big and loud and thick and, well, just straight up fun. The hooks are obvious and catchy and like any good pop song, last way past when you’re done listening to the song. Sufjan's vocals on "The Ascension" are soft, beautiful, natural, real, true.
September 25 street date. Limited clear vinyl edition. "The Ascension" is the eighth studio album from singer, songwriter and composer Sufjan Stevens and is the long awaited follow-up to Stevens' "Carrie & Lowell", one of the most acclaimed albums of 2015. In the time between "Carrie & Lowell" and the forthcoming "The Ascension", Stevens also released Oscar-nominated music for the Luca Guadagnino film "Call Me By Your Name"; a collaborative album entitled "Planetarium" with Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner (The National) and James Mcalister; "The Decalogue", a solo piano work performed by Timo Andres; and scored several works for ballet. "The Ascension" is musically expansive and sweeping in thematic scope. The album is at heart a pop record, Sufjan's first. And when it came to writing these songs, Sufjan's goal was simple: keep it moving. 80s and early 90s jams informed Sufjan's songwriting on this record, with Janet Jackson's brilliant "Rhythm Nation" as guiding light - both for the pop framework and the underlying political themes. The beats on "The Ascension" sound a lot like those great 80s beats: honed, skillful, yes, but also big and loud and thick and, well, just straight up fun. The hooks are obvious and catchy and like any good pop song, last way past when you’re done listening to the song. Sufjan's vocals on "The Ascension" are soft, beautiful, natural, real, true.
September 26 street date. NOTE THAT THERE HAS BEEN A SLIGHT PRICE INCREASE ON THIS TITLE, ALL OLDER B/Os HAVE BEEN DELETED AS OF 7/8/20 SO BE SURE TO RE-ORDER A.S.A.P. Green Colored 180 Gram Vinyl + Download card. Pre-GWAR mayhem. This is the band that started it all. Before Oderus Urungus, Dave Brockie fronted Richmond VA art-punk weirdos, Death Piggy. First American vinyl pressing in over 30 years. All 3 of their EPs are combined with unreleased and compilation tracks on 180 gram vinyl with experimental etchings, remastered from the original tapes and with liner notes written by the band's guitarist Russ Bahorsky. BONUS Download: 20 minute never before heard live improv acoustic set from 1984, recorded as the band surprised business owners and pedestrians on the street with an impromptu performance.
Please note new street date: September 26 - RECORD STORE DAY DROP. LIMITED Fluorescent Orange colored vinyl exclusive to RSD Packaging: Direct-to-board LP jacket, 180g vinyl. Jalacy J. Hawkins, better known as Screamin' Jay Hawkins, was born on July 18, 1929 in Cleveland, Ohio. As a young man, he played piano, boxed in local championships and learned opera at the Ohio Conservatory of Music. Although initially pursuing opera after returning from serving in World War II, Hawkins eventually sharpened his focus on the darker side of R&B and jazz, using macabre stage props, absolute wildman persona and expert voice imitating the blare and squeal of saxophones. His most notable chart-topper was the boozy, raucous 1956 hit ''I Put A Spell On You,'' which was banned by many radio stations for its suggestive groans and grunts. All things considered, Screamin' Jay Hawkins is considered one of the earliest pioneers of what would become shock rock. Recorded in 1969, years following his big hits, Screamin' Jay Hawkins' third album What That Is! showcases Hawkins in one of his most rowdy and compelling stages of his artistic career. With a killer backing band featuring the great Earl Palmer on drums for most of the cuts and Herb Ellis guesting on a few. We find Jay singing about life, love and loss as well as feasting Mau Maus and pain, REAL PAIN.
Please note new street date: September 26 - RECORD STORE DAY DROP. LIMITED Opaque White/Blue Mixed colored vinyl exclusive to RSD. Packaging: Direct-to-board LP jacket, 180g vinyl. Jalacy J. Hawkins, better known as Screamin' Jay Hawkins, was born on July 18, 1929 in Cleveland, Ohio. As a young man, he played piano, boxed in local championships and learned opera at the Ohio Conservatory of Music. Although initially pursuing opera after returning from serving in World War II, Hawkins eventually sharpened his focus on the darker side of R&B and jazz, using macabre stage props, absolute wildman persona and expert voice imitating the blare and squeal of saxophones. His most notable chart-topper was the boozy, raucous 1956 hit ''I Put A Spell On You,'' which was banned by many radio stations for its suggestive groans and grunts. All things considered, Screamin' Jay Hawkins is considered one of the earliest pioneers of what would become shock rock. Recorded in 1970, Hawkins' fourth album finds the artist at a point of transition. Although Jay had found commercial success and his sales surpassed one million units, he had grown somewhat weary of his shock/voodoo/bogeyman persona and wanted to be taken more seriously as a singer. Luckily for us, Jay only tones down the yelling and the crooning and the grunting and the groaning marginally. The tracks here are every bit as wild as you would hope and a bit more mature (note: a very little bit). Because Is In Your Mind, also known as Armpitrubber, is packaged in a wonderfully psychedelic painting by Karl Wirsom of the hugely influential Chicago art collective The Hairy Who.
Please note new street date: September 26 - RECORD STORE DAY DROP. "Mingus Ah Um", Charles Mingus's 1959 debut for Columbia, is one of the most consequential albums in jazz or any other genre. The release is part of the Library of Congress National Recording Registry and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The release is packed with classics and is a best-selling release to this day. For Record Store Day 2020, Get On Down presents "Mingus Ah Um Redux", the full record as you know and love it with a second LP featuring alternate takes from the session, previously unreleased on vinyl.
Please note new street date: September 26 - RECORD STORE DAY DROP. "God's Son" was released in December of 2002, and like "Stillmatic" before it, was subject to major critical acclaim. On "God's Son", Nas effectively took the battle-hardened demeanor he had cultivated and tore it down across 14 tracks that were emotionally insular, though still dusted in urban grit, and still finding time to shoot back at Jay-Z's potshots on tracks like "Last Real Nigga Alive" and "Mastermind." Assisting Nas was a slew of top-tier producers like The Alchemist, Eminem, Ron Browz, and Salaam Remi, over samples of James Brown, the Incredible Bongo Band, Fela Kuti, and Beethoven, and guest vocals from Alicia Keys, Kelis, Claudette Ortiz of City High, and even a posthumous 2Pac. "God's Son" has been out of print on vinyl since its initial 2002 release, but Get On Down is excited to bring you this deluxe LP package for Record Store Day 2020, remastered from its original audio and pressed on exclusive blue and white swirl coloured vinyl!
Please note new street date: September 26 - RECORD STORE DAY DROP. Originally released in 1984, ‘Pop’ is the only studio album from Tones On Tail, which was a side project of Bauhaus members Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins along with Glenn Campling. It’s been out of print since the original pressing. This Record Store Day exclusive edition has revised artwork with silver foil text on the cover. The audio was cut from the original analog master. “The trio's one actual album is an impressive, wide-ranging effort collaging a range of influences into an inspired, often unpredictable experience. Ash, with his breathy purrs and slinky all-around singing, works absolute magic on the quieter numbers” - All Music
Please note new street date: October 24 - RECORD STORE DAY DROP. Originally pressed as a four track promo 12” in 1995, and again as a five track CD for the US market in2000, this is the first time all five Charlatans’ Chemical Brothers remixes have been available together on vinyl. The remix of “Patrol” was originally released as a b-side of the “Jesus Hairdo” single in 1994, whilst “Nine Acre Dust” and “Chemical Risk Dub” appeared on the “Just When You’re Thinking Things Over” single in 1995. Available for Record Store 2020 on translucent yellow vinyl. “With a staggering, psychedelic 12-gun salute that is the "Nine Acre Dust" remix, hoarse, punch-drunk dance detonations are everywhere.” - All Music
Please note new street date: October 24 - RECORD STORE DAY DROP. This single LP version of "Piñata", the acclaimed rap album from 2014, is presented in a unique cover for RSD 2020. The cover is a collaboration between Jeff Jank and Pathetic Pixels with inspiration found in the unique graphics and content of 1970s Blaxploitation films. Piñata is "a gangster Blaxploitation film on wax", says Gibbs, who came up on the streets of Gary, Indiana, the disregarded city previously best known for producing Michael Jackson. Here he is joined by Mac Miller, Earl Sweatshirt, Raekwon, Scarface, Domo Genesis, Ab-Soul and a host of others in setting his soliloquies of the streets alongside film snippets and dusted funk, soul and prog musical tapestries. This version of "Piñata" comes on the heels of the 2019 release of the duo's acclaimed album "Bandana", named album of the year by Hypebeast, Rap Caviar, and many others, and is a welcome reminder of the undeniable musical chemistry that first catalyzed 6 years ago, elevating Freddie Gibbs and Madlib to the upper echelon of the genre's teams.
Please note new street date: June 12. From Shrine to Stax, Isaac Hayes to Gloria Ann Taylor, The Mad Lads to The Staple Singers, Detroit to Atlanta, Kendrick to Pusha-T, Dale Warren's singular voice is the lone constant. Beneath the ethereal beauty of his productions was a genius crippled by his unbridled id. His ever-evolving 24-Carat Black project spanned the 1970s, producing a masterpiece and an unfinished follow up. Discovered in a storage space were Warren's 1980s demos cut with grown 'n' sexy divas Princess Hearn, Vicki Gray, and LaRhonda LeGette right before his untimely death at the age of 50. "III" is an unfinished symphony that peels away the final layer of Dale Warren's mysterious oeuvre.
Please note new street date: May 15. "Perception is/as/of Deception" is an anxiety fueled cyclone of pandemonium that only ADULT. would know how to harness. The album was given life in a temporary space the duo created by painting their windowless basement entirely black, with the sole intention to deprive their senses, question their perceptions, and witness the resulting ramifications. With over 23 years and a sprawling discography left in their wake, Adam Lee Miller and Nicola Kuperus have spent their entire career as ADULT. obscuring any defined genre or style. With a history as uncanny as ADULT., the pieces making up "Perception is/as/of Deception" might be perceived as their most punk-infused and introspective work to date. The elements of frustration and apprehension that have consistently woven throughout their material are at full mast, although augmented by a strident and more "head-on" approach.
Please note new street date: May 15. "Perception is/as/of Deception" is an anxiety fueled cyclone of pandemonium that only ADULT. would know how to harness. The album was given life in a temporary space the duo created by painting their windowless basement entirely black, with the sole intention to deprive their senses, question their perceptions, and witness the resulting ramifications. With over 23 years and a sprawling discography left in their wake, Adam Lee Miller and Nicola Kuperus have spent their entire career as ADULT. obscuring any defined genre or style. With a history as uncanny as ADULT., the pieces making up "Perception is/as/of Deception" might be perceived as their most punk-infused and introspective work to date. The elements of frustration and apprehension that have consistently woven throughout their material are at full mast, although augmented by a strident and more "head-on" approach.
January 24 street date. "A true legend and a hero. I love Terry's music so much" - Kurt Vile. Iconic and iconoclastic Texan songwriter and visual artist Terry Allen's heartbreaking, hilarious new album, his first set of new songs since 2013's "Bottom Of The World", features the full Panhandle Mystery Band, including co-producer Charlie Sexton (Dylan, Bowie, Blaze), Shannon McNally, and Jo Harvey Allen; mainstays Bukka Allen, Richard Bowden, and Lloyd Maines; and co-writes with Joe Ely and Dave Alvin. The connections to Melville's masterpiece are metaphorical and allusive, as elusive as the White Whale. The masterly spiritual successor to "Lubbock (on everything)", "Just Like Moby Dick" casts its net wide for wild stories, depicting, among other monstrous things, Houdini in existential crisis, the death of the last stripper in town, bloodthirsty pirates, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a vampire-infested circus, mudslides and burning mobile homes, and all manner of tragicomic disasters, abandonments, betrayals, bad memories, failures, and fare-thee-wells. The deluxe tip-on gatefold 2xLP package features lyrics, color labels, high-res Bandcamp download code, three sides of music, and a fourth-side vinyl etching artwork by Allen.
January 24 street date. "A true legend and a hero. I love Terry's music so much" - Kurt Vile. Iconic and iconoclastic Texan songwriter and visual artist Terry Allen's heartbreaking, hilarious new album, his first set of new songs since 2013's "Bottom Of The World", features the full Panhandle Mystery Band, including co-producer Charlie Sexton (Dylan, Bowie, Blaze), Shannon McNally, and Jo Harvey Allen; mainstays Bukka Allen, Richard Bowden, and Lloyd Maines; and co-writes with Joe Ely and Dave Alvin. The connections to Melville's masterpiece are metaphorical and allusive, as elusive as the White Whale. The masterly spiritual successor to "Lubbock (on everything)", "Just Like Moby Dick" casts its net wide for wild stories, depicting, among other monstrous things, Houdini in existential crisis, the death of the last stripper in town, bloodthirsty pirates, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a vampire-infested circus, mudslides and burning mobile homes, and all manner of tragicomic disasters, abandonments, betrayals, bad memories, failures, and fare-thee-wells. The deluxe tip-on gatefold 2xLP package features lyrics, color labels, high-res Bandcamp download code, three sides of music, and a fourth-side vinyl etching artwork by Allen.
Please note new street date: May 29. 2nd installment of Ariel Pink collections/reissues from Mexican Summer; The Doldrums, Worn Copy, and House Arrest, three of the signature records from the Haunted Graffiti era. Recorded during a sleepier era in Ariel’s native Los Angeles, it’s easy to hear The Doldrums as a response to a feeling of under-stimulation or malaise, a mood that had been angrily mined by Gen X in the 1990s but which Ariel treated with some ironic distance. Songs like “Gray Sunsets” and “Let’s Build a Campfire There” articulate a longing melancholia with arresting lyrics that blend the juvenile and poetic. Ariel Pink’s public profile at the time was limited to Los Angeles. It wasn’t until 2004, after Ariel Pink’s music began reaching wider audiences through releases on Animal Collective’s Paw Tracks label that he began touring the U.S. in support of The Doldrums, House Arrest and Worn Copy. Live reviews from the tour mention Ariel changing the format and feel of the show night by night. Oddly, albums such as The Doldrums, Worn Copy and House Arrest were not widely embraced initially, though their inventiveness and strange beauty was usually recognized by reviewers, if not begrudgingly. Critical opinion was divided: Ariel Pink was either a self-indulgent “weirdo” or a pop music genius. Twenty years on, Ariel’s music still stupefies.
Please note new street date: May 29. 2nd installment of Ariel Pink collections/reissues from Mexican Summer; The Doldrums, Worn Copy, and House Arrest, three of the signature records from the Haunted Graffiti era. Recorded during a sleepier era in Ariel’s native Los Angeles, it’s easy to hear The Doldrums as a response to a feeling of under-stimulation or malaise, a mood that had been angrily mined by Gen X in the 1990s but which Ariel treated with some ironic distance. Songs like “Gray Sunsets” and “Let’s Build a Campfire There” articulate a longing melancholia with arresting lyrics that blend the juvenile and poetic. Ariel Pink’s public profile at the time was limited to Los Angeles. It wasn’t until 2004, after Ariel Pink’s music began reaching wider audiences through releases on Animal Collective’s Paw Tracks label that he began touring the U.S. in support of The Doldrums, House Arrest and Worn Copy. Live reviews from the tour mention Ariel changing the format and feel of the show night by night. Oddly, albums such as The Doldrums, Worn Copy and House Arrest were not widely embraced initially, though their inventiveness and strange beauty was usually recognized by reviewers, if not begrudgingly. Critical opinion was divided: Ariel Pink was either a self-indulgent “weirdo” or a pop music genius. Twenty years on, Ariel’s music still stupefies.
Please note new street date: May 29. 2nd installment of Ariel Pink collections/reissues from Mexican Summer; The Doldrums, Worn Copy, and House Arrest, three of the signature records from the Haunted Graffiti era. Recorded during a sleepier era in Ariel’s native Los Angeles, it’s easy to hear The Doldrums as a response to a feeling of under-stimulation or malaise, a mood that had been angrily mined by Gen X in the 1990s but which Ariel treated with some ironic distance. Songs like “Gray Sunsets” and “Let’s Build a Campfire There” articulate a longing melancholia with arresting lyrics that blend the juvenile and poetic. Ariel Pink’s public profile at the time was limited to Los Angeles. It wasn’t until 2004, after Ariel Pink’s music began reaching wider audiences through releases on Animal Collective’s Paw Tracks label that he began touring the U.S. in support of The Doldrums, House Arrest and Worn Copy. Live reviews from the tour mention Ariel changing the format and feel of the show night by night. Oddly, albums such as The Doldrums, Worn Copy and House Arrest were not widely embraced initially, though their inventiveness and strange beauty was usually recognized by reviewers, if not begrudgingly. Critical opinion was divided: Ariel Pink was either a self-indulgent “weirdo” or a pop music genius. Twenty years on, Ariel’s music still stupefies.
May 15 street date. For over 20 years, Atmosphere have pursued the underbelly of what it means to be human with a rabid curiosity. Ant's dusky production has provided the pulse for Slug's evolving and matter-of-fact pen. As Slug transitioned from throwing-up-in-the-backseat-raps to holding-hands-when-you-cross-the-street-raps, Ant has grown to be a master of crate digging and unearthing the humanity of a drum loop. Thriving at the intersection of guttural and self-effacing, Atmosphere will go down as some of America's best archivists. On "Whenever", the duo continue to move in lockstep. Within the minutiae lie clues they're still struggling with mortality and the need to protect emotional energy, as on previous releases, but there's a quiet romanticism now, with Slug sounding - reluctantly - in love with life. And no other producer can pull truths out of a rapper like Ant fishes the blues out of Slug. The album breathes in the way only Slug and Ant could summon a collective breath. On "Whenever", the duo inhale panic and exhale greatness.
May 15 street date. For over 20 years, Atmosphere have pursued the underbelly of what it means to be human with a rabid curiosity. Ant's dusky production has provided the pulse for Slug's evolving and matter-of-fact pen. As Slug transitioned from throwing-up-in-the-backseat-raps to holding-hands-when-you-cross-the-street-raps, Ant has grown to be a master of crate digging and unearthing the humanity of a drum loop. Thriving at the intersection of guttural and self-effacing, Atmosphere will go down as some of America's best archivists. On "Whenever", the duo continue to move in lockstep. Within the minutiae lie clues they're still struggling with mortality and the need to protect emotional energy, as on previous releases, but there's a quiet romanticism now, with Slug sounding - reluctantly - in love with life. And no other producer can pull truths out of a rapper like Ant fishes the blues out of Slug. The album breathes in the way only Slug and Ant could summon a collective breath. On "Whenever", the duo inhale panic and exhale greatness.
June 26 street date. First pressing in almost 40 years! Albert Ayler's 1969 album "New Grass" has been misunderstood from the day of its release. The album finds Ayler experimenting with soul music and digging back into his R&B roots (he started his career playing saxophone with Chicago bluesman Little Walter), fusing it with avant-garde free jazz (the one element of the record which garnered consistent praise) and adding the vocals of Rose Marie McCoy, The Soul Singers and Ayler himself. As if predicting the divisiveness of the record to follow, Ayler speaks directly to the listener and explains that "New Grass" is nothing like his albums before - that it is of "a different dimension of his life" -in the album opener "Message from Albert". "New Grass" deserves reconsideration, if not for the heavy grooves and surprising arrangements, then for its bravery in challenging norms of the time; by the 1960s, jazz was well-accepted as a uniquely American art form, while soul as a genre was very much still seen as primitive. Ayler melds them together and creates something novel, adventurous, and completely his own.
June 19 street date. Bad Cop/Bad Cop has done angry. The band's 2017 full-length, "Warriors", was recorded in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election. The message the band is sending this time around on their third full-length album "The Ride" is less about wagging your finger at others, or giving the middle one to the Man, than it is about self-love and acceptance. That positivity fuels many of the album's tracks. This self-love is tasking the listener with putting a fix on the problems at hand and finding it in themselves to create the life that they want. Singer Stacey Dee speaks from experience. In 2018 she was hospitalized twice for different ailments, then discovered she had stage one breast cancer at the end of the year. Fortunately it was highly treatable, but the experience was life-altering. Dee captures it with brutal frankness on "Breastless", whose bright melodies belie the struggle described in the lyrics. The perspective behind "The Ride" lends it an undeniable maturity, without losing its power. The album boasts all of the elements of Bad Cop/Bad Cop's sound: big guitars, lock-step bass and drums, intricate vocal harmonies, and plenty of attitude. The only difference this time is the attitude is encouraging, not raging.
June 19 street date. Bad Cop/Bad Cop has done angry. The band's 2017 full-length, "Warriors", was recorded in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election. The message the band is sending this time around on their third full-length album "The Ride" is less about wagging your finger at others, or giving the middle one to the Man, than it is about self-love and acceptance. That positivity fuels many of the album's tracks. This self-love is tasking the listener with putting a fix on the problems at hand and finding it in themselves to create the life that they want. Singer Stacey Dee speaks from experience. In 2018 she was hospitalized twice for different ailments, then discovered she had stage one breast cancer at the end of the year. Fortunately it was highly treatable, but the experience was life-altering. Dee captures it with brutal frankness on "Breastless", whose bright melodies belie the struggle described in the lyrics. The perspective behind "The Ride" lends it an undeniable maturity, without losing its power. The album boasts all of the elements of Bad Cop/Bad Cop's sound: big guitars, lock-step bass and drums, intricate vocal harmonies, and plenty of attitude. The only difference this time is the attitude is encouraging, not raging.
February 14 street date. One thing you won't be able to avoid on Bambara's "Stray" is death. It's everywhere and inescapable, abstract and personified - perhaps the key to the whole record. Death, however, won't be the first thing that strikes you about the group's fourth - and greatest - album to date. That instead will be its pulverising soundscape; by turns, vast, atmospheric, cool, broiling, and at times simply overwhelming. Bambara (twin brothers Reid and Blaze Bateh, singer/guitarist and drummer respectively, and bassist William Brookshire) have been evolving their midnight-black noise into something more subtle and expansive ever since the release of their 2013 debut 'Dreamviolence'. While the music itself on "Stray" is evocative and propulsive, a fever dream all of its own, the lyrical content pushes the record even further into its own darkly thrilling realm. Here Bambara sound like they've locked into what they were always destined to achieve, and the effect is nothing short of electrifying.
February 14 street date. One thing you won't be able to avoid on Bambara's "Stray" is death. It's everywhere and inescapable, abstract and personified - perhaps the key to the whole record. Death, however, won't be the first thing that strikes you about the group's fourth - and greatest - album to date. That instead will be its pulverising soundscape; by turns, vast, atmospheric, cool, broiling, and at times simply overwhelming. Bambara (twin brothers Reid and Blaze Bateh, singer/guitarist and drummer respectively, and bassist William Brookshire) have been evolving their midnight-black noise into something more subtle and expansive ever since the release of their 2013 debut 'Dreamviolence'. While the music itself on "Stray" is evocative and propulsive, a fever dream all of its own, the lyrical content pushes the record even further into its own darkly thrilling realm. Here Bambara sound like they've locked into what they were always destined to achieve, and the effect is nothing short of electrifying.
February 14 street date. Limited clear vinyl edition. One thing you won't be able to avoid on Bambara's "Stray" is death. It's everywhere and inescapable, abstract and personified - perhaps the key to the whole record. Death, however, won't be the first thing that strikes you about the group's fourth - and greatest - album to date. That instead will be its pulverising soundscape; by turns, vast, atmospheric, cool, broiling, and at times simply overwhelming. Bambara (twin brothers Reid and Blaze Bateh, singer/guitarist and drummer respectively, and bassist William Brookshire) have been evolving their midnight-black noise into something more subtle and expansive ever since the release of their 2013 debut 'Dreamviolence'. While the music itself on "Stray" is evocative and propulsive, a fever dream all of its own, the lyrical content pushes the record even further into its own darkly thrilling realm. Here Bambara sound like they've locked into what they were always destined to achieve, and the effect is nothing short of electrifying.
March 27 CD Street date. (LP due Fall 2020) Jennah Barry's long-awaited sophomore release!! (new single hiit #5 on CBC Top 20. Confirmed coverage from Mojo, Popmatters, Exclaim! & many more!!) - Hailing from the coastal haven of Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, Jennah Barry is one of Atlantic Canada’s surest sirens. Her undeniable, rosewater voice sets a mood wherein even the hardest truths seem palatable. Moving effortlessly between folk, country and soft rock motifs, Barry’s music, last heard on her instantly classic debut Young Men, sets her at the forefront of a tradition of women making music as strong as it is sentimental. "Hazy and calm and entirely entrancing" - The Line of Best Fit // "Barry has an unsettling ability to capture the warmth of an evening (possibly seaside) while slowly cracking into that cozy façade with the tap-tap of insistent heartbreak." - CBC Music
January 24 street date. It's country music but not as we know it which begs the question: have these Bad Kids of 21st Century rock 'n' roll finally grown up on their ninth studio album? ‘Sing In A World That’s Falling Apart’ continues to flick the middle finger to one and all. This ain't another gaggle of bearded southern sons fleeing their collective suburban upbringings and collegiate music education. There aren't the usual clichés about drinking, honky tonks, and heartbreak. These are, after all, the same Black Lips who rescued the waning garage punk subgenre. They also dug contemporary hip-hop and punk and actualized themselves. Like so many dramatic moments in the Black Lips career, ‘Sing In A World That’s Falling Apart’ was born out of crisis. The band's stylistic evolution through decades of prolific touring and recording took them where no garage punk band had gone before - huge venues, network television shows, and major music festivals. Here Black Lips are at their grimiest, most dangerous and equipped with the best collection of songs since the aughts. They roll on with an unapologetic southern-fried twang, pacing the beast, every now and then dropping a psycho howl into the rubber room madness lurking underneath the truckstop fireworks. This ain't your granny's country album. And conversely this ain't your mama's Black Lips!
January 24 street date. It's country music but not as we know it which begs the question: have these Bad Kids of 21st Century rock 'n' roll finally grown up on their ninth studio album? ‘Sing In A World That’s Falling Apart’ continues to flick the middle finger to one and all. This ain't another gaggle of bearded southern sons fleeing their collective suburban upbringings and collegiate music education. There aren't the usual clichés about drinking, honky tonks, and heartbreak. These are, after all, the same Black Lips who rescued the waning garage punk subgenre. They also dug contemporary hip-hop and punk and actualized themselves. Like so many dramatic moments in the Black Lips career, ‘Sing In A World That’s Falling Apart’ was born out of crisis. The band's stylistic evolution through decades of prolific touring and recording took them where no garage punk band had gone before - huge venues, network television shows, and major music festivals. Here Black Lips are at their grimiest, most dangerous and equipped with the best collection of songs since the aughts. They roll on with an unapologetic southern-fried twang, pacing the beast, every now and then dropping a psycho howl into the rubber room madness lurking underneath the truckstop fireworks. This ain't your granny's country album. And conversely this ain't your mama's Black Lips!
January 24 street date. Limited deluxe red vinyl edition, with a die cut spot gloss sleeve and poster - available exclusively to indie shops. It's country music but not as we know it which begs the question: have these Bad Kids of 21st Century rock 'n' roll finally grown up on their ninth studio album? ‘Sing In A World That’s Falling Apart’ continues to flick the middle finger to one and all. This ain't another gaggle of bearded southern sons fleeing their collective suburban upbringings and collegiate music education. There aren't the usual clichés about drinking, honky tonks, and heartbreak. These are, after all, the same Black Lips who rescued the waning garage punk subgenre. They also dug contemporary hip-hop and punk and actualized themselves. Like so many dramatic moments in the Black Lips career, ‘Sing In A World That’s Falling Apart’ was born out of crisis. The band's stylistic evolution through decades of prolific touring and recording took them where no garage punk band had gone before - huge venues, network television shows, and major music festivals. Here Black Lips are at their grimiest, most dangerous and equipped with the best collection of songs since the aughts. They roll on with an unapologetic southern-fried twang, pacing the beast, every now and then dropping a psycho howl into the rubber room madness lurking underneath the truckstop fireworks. This ain't your granny's country album. And conversely this ain't your mama's Black Lips!
February 28 street date. Black Market Brass' sophomore record, "Undying Thirst", is a noxious brew of diesel and bleach; a special long-player full of wasteoid rippers for skullduggerous hover-bike gangs peddling fugazi relics and snake oil tinctures. Hellacious guitars, nitrous-charged percussion, a brass section harsher than paint-thinner, and a special batch of short-circuited electronics and synthesizers will leave your head buzzing into the 31st century. Blasting "Undying Thirst" from your home speaker system is like going over a waterfall in a rusted out oil barrel, long after the sun has boiled the falls dry. RIYL Antibalas or The Budos Band.
February 28 street date. Black Market Brass' sophomore record, "Undying Thirst", is a noxious brew of diesel and bleach; a special long-player full of wasteoid rippers for skullduggerous hover-bike gangs peddling fugazi relics and snake oil tinctures. Hellacious guitars, nitrous-charged percussion, a brass section harsher than paint-thinner, and a special batch of short-circuited electronics and synthesizers will leave your head buzzing into the 31st century. Blasting "Undying Thirst" from your home speaker system is like going over a waterfall in a rusted out oil barrel, long after the sun has boiled the falls dry. RIYL Antibalas or The Budos Band.
Please note new street date: June 26. In 2011, Benjamin John Power (Fuck Buttons) released his first solo album as Blanck Mass on Rock Action Records. The vinyl went out of print shortly thereafter and has been largely unavailable ever since. Now, nine years later, Sacred Bones Records is honoured to put it back in print. The album, a collection of tracks loosely themed around cerebral hypoxia and the beautiful complexity of the natural world, features ten songs which were written, recorded and self-produced at home in London between Summer and Winter 2010. An interstellar journey that defies classification, revealing itself further and further with each listen; offering more with each visit. Its paradoxically claustrophobic-but-liberating warmth is brought about through a heavy, shimmering, orchestral, electric guitar prominence on the record, alongside manipulated field recordings, warm analogue synth, heavy sub and deep drone, a palette of sounds as wide and emotional as the world Blanck Mass sees before him.
March 13 street date. Where The Bombpops had a "Fear Of Missing Out" on their 2017 debut full-length, their highly anticipated follow up shows what happens when you're too involved - with booze, bad situations, and behavior that's unsustainable at best and destructive at worst. It's right there in the title - "Death In Venice Beach" - an allusion to Thomas Mann's celebrated novella about the price of an artistic life. What draws The Bombpops hasn't changed on their newest effort: highly melodic punk with big guitars, vocal harmonies, and the SoCal sound that inspired the quartet to pick up instruments. But the more light-hearted skate punk of "Fear Of Missing Out" has a serrated edge on "Death In Venice Beach", as they explore darker themes drawing from real life experiences leading up to and during the making of the album.
March 13 street date. Where The Bombpops had a "Fear Of Missing Out" on their 2017 debut full-length, their highly anticipated follow up shows what happens when you're too involved - with booze, bad situations, and behavior that's unsustainable at best and destructive at worst. It's right there in the title - "Death In Venice Beach" - an allusion to Thomas Mann's celebrated novella about the price of an artistic life. What draws The Bombpops hasn't changed on their newest effort: highly melodic punk with big guitars, vocal harmonies, and the SoCal sound that inspired the quartet to pick up instruments. But the more light-hearted skate punk of "Fear Of Missing Out" has a serrated edge on "Death In Venice Beach", as they explore darker themes drawing from real life experiences leading up to and during the making of the album.
March 27 street date. Bon Iver's "Blood Bank" EP was originally released in early 2009, hot on the heels of the beloved album "For Emma, Forever Ago". The EP was a harbinger of a new sound for Bon Iver: a movement away from the acoustic guitar-led instrumentation of the debut and the beginning of an exploration into the experimental sounds that have evolved but defined Bon Iver ever since. The reissue of this seminal EP is coupled with brand new live renditions of all the EP tracks, all recorded at various venues in 2018.
March 27 street date. Limited translucent red vinyl edition. Bon Iver's "Blood Bank" EP was originally released in early 2009, hot on the heels of the beloved album "For Emma, Forever Ago". The EP was a harbinger of a new sound for Bon Iver: a movement away from the acoustic guitar-led instrumentation of the debut and the beginning of an exploration into the experimental sounds that have evolved but defined Bon Iver ever since. The reissue of this seminal EP is coupled with brand new live renditions of all the EP tracks, all recorded at various venues in 2018.
January 24 street date. The timeless qualities of traditional tunes can carry us across oceans and eons, linking us not only to the past but to each other as well. It was under the banner of those eternal connections that the trio of Bonny Light Horseman came together. From festival fields and a German art hub to a snowy upstate studio and everywhere in between, the astral folk outfit - comprised of Anaïs Mitchell, Eric D. Johnson (Fruit Bats, The Shins), and Josh Kaufman (The National, Bob Weir) - is mixing the ancient, mystical medium of transatlantic traditional folk music with a contemporary, collective brush. The resulting album, "Bonny Light Horseman", is an elusive kind of sonic event: a bottled blend of lightning and synergy that will excite fans of multiple genres, eras, and ages.
January 24 street date. The timeless qualities of traditional tunes can carry us across oceans and eons, linking us not only to the past but to each other as well. It was under the banner of those eternal connections that the trio of Bonny Light Horseman came together. From festival fields and a German art hub to a snowy upstate studio and everywhere in between, the astral folk outfit - comprised of Anaïs Mitchell, Eric D. Johnson (Fruit Bats, The Shins), and Josh Kaufman (The National, Bob Weir) - is mixing the ancient, mystical medium of transatlantic traditional folk music with a contemporary, collective brush. The resulting album, "Bonny Light Horseman", is an elusive kind of sonic event: a bottled blend of lightning and synergy that will excite fans of multiple genres, eras, and ages.
June 19 street date. The arrival of "Punisher" cements Phoebe Bridgers as one of the most clever, tender and prolific songwriters of our era. Bridgers is the rare artist with enough humor to deconstruct her own meteoric rise. She doesn't write love songs as much as songs about the impact love can have on our lives, personalities, and priorities. "Punisher", her fourth release and second solo album, is concerned with that subject. To say she writes about heartbreak is to undersell her blue wisdom, to say she writes about pain erases all the strange joy her music emanates. Repeatedly praised by publications like The New Yorker, The New York Times, GQ, Pitchfork, The Fader, The Los Angeles Times and countless others. On "Punisher", Bridgers pulls together a formidable crew of guests, including the Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, Christian Lee Hutson and Conor Oberst as well as Nathaniel Walcott (of Bright Eyes), Nick Zinner (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Jenny Lee Lindberg (of Warpaint), Blake Mills and Jim Keltner as well as her longtime bandmates Marshall Vore (drums), Harrison Whitford (guitar), Emily Retsas (bass) and Nick White (keys).
June 19 street date. The arrival of "Punisher" cements Phoebe Bridgers as one of the most clever, tender and prolific songwriters of our era. Bridgers is the rare artist with enough humor to deconstruct her own meteoric rise. She doesn't write love songs as much as songs about the impact love can have on our lives, personalities, and priorities. "Punisher", her fourth release and second solo album, is concerned with that subject. To say she writes about heartbreak is to undersell her blue wisdom, to say she writes about pain erases all the strange joy her music emanates. Repeatedly praised by publications like The New Yorker, The New York Times, GQ, Pitchfork, The Fader, The Los Angeles Times and countless others. On "Punisher", Bridgers pulls together a formidable crew of guests, including the Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, Christian Lee Hutson and Conor Oberst as well as Nathaniel Walcott (of Bright Eyes), Nick Zinner (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Jenny Lee Lindberg (of Warpaint), Blake Mills and Jim Keltner as well as her longtime bandmates Marshall Vore (drums), Harrison Whitford (guitar), Emily Retsas (bass) and Nick White (keys).
February 28 street date. Third Man had the pleasure of hosting the inimitable Broken Social Scene, carefully absorbing and recording their magnetic and unforgettable live set on the Blue Room stage. Epic, panoramic, and intimate all at the same time, the legendary Toronto collective Broken Social Scene began as an ebbing and flowing collective of artists in the late 90s, collaborating to create a distinct strand of indie rock that is both perplexingly maximal and straight-up catchy. Their live set was captured, mixed and mastered in real time via the world’s only live venue and direct-to-acetate lathe cutting studio and is Broken Social Scene’s first commercially available live album.
March 20 street date. Brownout's legendary status as a "Funk Powerhouse" (Stereogum) is a reputation well deserved. The band of musicians have an impressive resumé performing with Prince, GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan, Bernie Worrell, and accolades from Ozzy Osbourne for their "Brownout Presents: Brown Sabbath" project. The Austin 9-piece is back with their first full length album of original music in over 8 years. The album, aptly titled "Berlin Sessions" was produced by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos and is the first with lead singer Alex Marrero, whom they originally collaborated with on their wildly successful "Brown Sabbath" records. "Berlin Sessions" finds the group merging a multitude of styles, from rock to psych and of course the Latin Funk and Breakbeat on which they have built their sixteen-year career and reputation as Austin's premier party-starters.
March 20 street date. Brownout's legendary status as a "Funk Powerhouse" (Stereogum) is a reputation well deserved. The band of musicians have an impressive resumé performing with Prince, GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan, Bernie Worrell, and accolades from Ozzy Osbourne for their "Brownout Presents: Brown Sabbath" project. The Austin 9-piece is back with their first full length album of original music in over 8 years. The album, aptly titled "Berlin Sessions" was produced by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos and is the first with lead singer Alex Marrero, whom they originally collaborated with on their wildly successful "Brown Sabbath" records. "Berlin Sessions" finds the group merging a multitude of styles, from rock to psych and of course the Latin Funk and Breakbeat on which they have built their sixteen-year career and reputation as Austin's premier party-starters.
Please note new street date: May 15. When Anna Burch introduced herself on her 2018 debut "Quit The Curse", it was with a concentrated wash of energetic, serotonin-boosting pop. Two years later, Burch's follow up "If You're Dreaming" takes us down a different path than its predecessor, shedding some nervous energy in favor of a deeper exploration of an internal world. "If You're Dreaming" was tracked with producer Sam Evian in his home studio in the Catskill mountains of upstate New York. The end goal was to present not just an assortment of new songs, but craft an album that moved dynamically through an interconnected emotional arc. With recurring themes of isolation, weariness and longing, these songs deliver that emotional arc with a delicate but uncompromising execution. Even at its most introverted, "If You're Dreaming" is always warm and present. Daring and clear-headed, these songs cut deeper in their subtleties. "If You're Dreaming" moves with intention, taking its time revealing new layers of sophistication and growth in Burch's always charming songcraft.
Please note new street date: May 15. When Anna Burch introduced herself on her 2018 debut "Quit The Curse", it was with a concentrated wash of energetic, serotonin-boosting pop. Two years later, Burch's follow up "If You're Dreaming" takes us down a different path than its predecessor, shedding some nervous energy in favor of a deeper exploration of an internal world. "If You're Dreaming" was tracked with producer Sam Evian in his home studio in the Catskill mountains of upstate New York. The end goal was to present not just an assortment of new songs, but craft an album that moved dynamically through an interconnected emotional arc. With recurring themes of isolation, weariness and longing, these songs deliver that emotional arc with a delicate but uncompromising execution. Even at its most introverted, "If You're Dreaming" is always warm and present. Daring and clear-headed, these songs cut deeper in their subtleties. "If You're Dreaming" moves with intention, taking its time revealing new layers of sophistication and growth in Burch's always charming songcraft.
Please note new street date: May 15. When Anna Burch introduced herself on her 2018 debut "Quit The Curse", it was with a concentrated wash of energetic, serotonin-boosting pop. Two years later, Burch's follow up "If You're Dreaming" takes us down a different path than its predecessor, shedding some nervous energy in favor of a deeper exploration of an internal world. "If You're Dreaming" was tracked with producer Sam Evian in his home studio in the Catskill mountains of upstate New York. The end goal was to present not just an assortment of new songs, but craft an album that moved dynamically through an interconnected emotional arc. With recurring themes of isolation, weariness and longing, these songs deliver that emotional arc with a delicate but uncompromising execution. Even at its most introverted, "If You're Dreaming" is always warm and present. Daring and clear-headed, these songs cut deeper in their subtleties. "If You're Dreaming" moves with intention, taking its time revealing new layers of sophistication and growth in Burch's always charming songcraft.
Please note new street date: June 12. Having disbanded in 1981, Buzzcocks regrouped in 1989 and began to work on a new album, resulting in a demo cassette circulated in 1991. Featuring early versions of tracks which would appear on later albums, and material which would not make it that far, this collection has remained unreleased until now. Released in association with the band, ‘The 1991 Demo Album’ is alive with the combination of punk energy and melodic and memorable songwriting the band's reputation is founded on, and is both a long-awaited treat for fans and an important document of the group's rebirth.
Please note new street date: June 12. Buzzcocks require no introduction (but you're getting one anyway!). Pivotal to the punk and post-punk DIY movements, the group, led by frontman Pete Shelley and co-conspirator Steve Diggle, brought an essential pop sensibility and sartorial style to the late 1970s and early 1980s. Having disbanded in 1981, the band re-grouped in 1989 and continue to write, record and perform to this day, despite the saddening and untimely loss of Pete Shelley in 2018. This handsome box set captures the eight albums and numerous singles the band produced with Shelley during a 23 year period, alongside previously unheard rarities, demos and outtakes. Packed with remarkable music, including excellent re-visits of much of their best loved material on ‘A Different Compilation’, ‘Sell You Everything’ showcases a longevity and a hunger rarely seen in a band now into their forty-second year.
March 27 street date. Cable Ties are a fierce, tense rock’n’roll trio. They take the three-minute punk burner and stretch it past breaking point to deliver smouldering feminist anthems. Post-punk and garage rock hammered together by a relentless rhythmic pulse. Jenny McKechnie channels her struggles into songs that resonate deeply, giving voice to feelings often buried in modern life. Shauna Boyle and Nick Brown are a rhythm section anchored in Stooges primitivism, relentlessly hammering out a bedrock for McKechnie’s guitar pyrotechnics and vocal wallop. Three friends summoning a rhythmic tide to deliver anthems that turn latent anxieties into a rallying cry. The band has been committed to an inclusive feminist and political outlook since its inception in 2015, exploring issues of gendered violence, colonialism, and sexual assault. The band members have been involved in benefit shows, organized DIY festivals, and volunteer with Girls Rock!, a not-for-profit organization that aims to empower female, trans, and gender non-binary youth in music. Their debut self-titled album, released in 2017 on Poison City Records, was a Triple J feature album and album of the week on 3RRR, with strong support nationally from community radio. The album was distributed internationally by independent distributors Cargo UK and Cargo Germany. They have also self released three 7-inch singles which have all sold out. The debut album is on its third vinyl pressing. Cable Ties have supported artists such as Joan Jett, The Kills, Camp Cope, and Cash Savage. They won Best Hard Rock Act at the 2017 National Live Music Awards and were nominated in five categories. They won the Corner Music Award in 2017, have been nominated for eight Age Music Victoria awards, and were longlisted for The Australian Music Prize 2017.
March 27 street date. Cable Ties are a fierce, tense rock’n’roll trio. They take the three-minute punk burner and stretch it past breaking point to deliver smouldering feminist anthems. Post-punk and garage rock hammered together by a relentless rhythmic pulse. Jenny McKechnie channels her struggles into songs that resonate deeply, giving voice to feelings often buried in modern life. Shauna Boyle and Nick Brown are a rhythm section anchored in Stooges primitivism, relentlessly hammering out a bedrock for McKechnie’s guitar pyrotechnics and vocal wallop. Three friends summoning a rhythmic tide to deliver anthems that turn latent anxieties into a rallying cry. The band has been committed to an inclusive feminist and political outlook since its inception in 2015, exploring issues of gendered violence, colonialism, and sexual assault. The band members have been involved in benefit shows, organized DIY festivals, and volunteer with Girls Rock!, a not-for-profit organization that aims to empower female, trans, and gender non-binary youth in music. Their debut self-titled album, released in 2017 on Poison City Records, was a Triple J feature album and album of the week on 3RRR, with strong support nationally from community radio. The album was distributed internationally by independent distributors Cargo UK and Cargo Germany. They have also self released three 7-inch singles which have all sold out. The debut album is on its third vinyl pressing. Cable Ties have supported artists such as Joan Jett, The Kills, Camp Cope, and Cash Savage. They won Best Hard Rock Act at the 2017 National Live Music Awards and were nominated in five categories. They won the Corner Music Award in 2017, have been nominated for eight Age Music Victoria awards, and were longlisted for The Australian Music Prize 2017.
May 1 street date. Making A Door Less Open, the new album from Car Seat Headrest and the first set of brand-new songs since 2016’s Teens Of Denial, is set for release May 1 on Matador Records. Created over the course of four years, Making a Door Less Open is the result of a fruitful “collaboration” between Car Seat Headrest, led by Will Toledo, and 1 Trait Danger, a CSH electronic side project consisting of drummer Andrew Katz and Toledo’s alternative persona, “Trait.” To realize this, the band recorded the album twice: once live with guitars, drums and bass, and once in a MIDI environment using purely synthesized sounds. During the mixing process, the two approaches were gradually combined using elements of each, with additional overdubs. In this way, Making A Door Less Open sees Toledo embarking on new and imaginative roads to songwriting and recording, placing emphasis on the individual songs, each with its own “special energy,” rather than attempting to draw a coherent storyteller narrative through the album as he has in the past, resulting in his most dynamic and open-ended work to date. Car Seat Headrest will embark on a North American tour this summer, including two nights at Toronto's Danforth Music Hall (June 3rd and 4th) and two night's at The Commodore Ballroom (July 9th and 10th) Comprised of Will Toledo, Andrew Katz (drums), Ethan Ives (guitar) and Seth Dalby (bass), Car Seat Headrest has either released 11 or three albums to date, depending on the way you look at it. A prolific songwriter, Toledo took his moniker from making early recordings in the private environment of his family’s car, releasing a dozen self-recorded and produced albums on Bandcamp and building a tight-knit following. Toledo has since gone from an empty five-seater to selling out tours and filling festival main stages.
May 1 street date. Making A Door Less Open, the new album from Car Seat Headrest and the first set of brand-new songs since 2016’s Teens Of Denial, is set for release May 1 on Matador Records. Created over the course of four years, Making a Door Less Open is the result of a fruitful “collaboration” between Car Seat Headrest, led by Will Toledo, and 1 Trait Danger, a CSH electronic side project consisting of drummer Andrew Katz and Toledo’s alternative persona, “Trait.” To realize this, the band recorded the album twice: once live with guitars, drums and bass, and once in a MIDI environment using purely synthesized sounds. During the mixing process, the two approaches were gradually combined using elements of each, with additional overdubs. In this way, Making A Door Less Open sees Toledo embarking on new and imaginative roads to songwriting and recording, placing emphasis on the individual songs, each with its own “special energy,” rather than attempting to draw a coherent storyteller narrative through the album as he has in the past, resulting in his most dynamic and open-ended work to date. Car Seat Headrest will embark on a North American tour this summer, including two nights at Toronto's Danforth Music Hall (June 3rd and 4th) and two night's at The Commodore Ballroom (July 9th and 10th). Comprised of Will Toledo, Andrew Katz (drums), Ethan Ives (guitar) and Seth Dalby (bass), Car Seat Headrest has either released 11 or three albums to date, depending on the way you look at it. A prolific songwriter, Toledo took his moniker from making early recordings in the private environment of his family’s car, releasing a dozen self-recorded and produced albums on Bandcamp and building a tight-knit following. Toledo has since gone from an empty five-seater to selling out tours and filling festival main stages.
May 1 street date. Making A Door Less Open, the new album from Car Seat Headrest and the first set of brand-new songs since 2016’s Teens Of Denial, is set for release May 1 on Matador Records. Created over the course of four years, Making a Door Less Open is the result of a fruitful “collaboration” between Car Seat Headrest, led by Will Toledo, and 1 Trait Danger, a CSH electronic side project consisting of drummer Andrew Katz and Toledo’s alternative persona, “Trait.” To realize this, the band recorded the album twice: once live with guitars, drums and bass, and once in a MIDI environment using purely synthesized sounds. During the mixing process, the two approaches were gradually combined using elements of each, with additional overdubs. In this way, Making A Door Less Open sees Toledo embarking on new and imaginative roads to songwriting and recording, placing emphasis on the individual songs, each with its own “special energy,” rather than attempting to draw a coherent storyteller narrative through the album as he has in the past, resulting in his most dynamic and open-ended work to date. Car Seat Headrest will embark on a North American tour this summer, including two nights at Toronto's Danforth Music Hall (June 3rd and 4th) and two night's at The Commodore Ballroom (July 9th and 10th) Comprised of Will Toledo, Andrew Katz (drums), Ethan Ives (guitar) and Seth Dalby (bass), Car Seat Headrest has either released 11 or three albums to date, depending on the way you look at it. A prolific songwriter, Toledo took his moniker from making early recordings in the private environment of his family’s car, releasing a dozen self-recorded and produced albums on Bandcamp and building a tight-knit following. Toledo has since gone from an empty five-seater to selling out tours and filling festival main stages.
February 28 street date. In 2014, Dan Snaith aka Caribou released Our Love to overwhelming critical acclaim. Caribou returns now with his new studio album Suddenly, a warm, untamable, and constantly surprising record about family and the changes we go through as those relationships evolve. Most prominently, Suddenly refers to the moments of dramatic and unexpected change that occur at points in any life and within any family—universal themes that can catch you off guard and change your life in a heartbeat. Those dramatic moments are part of a slower process. These moments rear their heads, for good or bad, during the everyday flow of life. “There’s a tension between those sudden things which blindside you and the more glacial, gradual day-to-day changes,” he observes. “We are so caught up in the immediate—the details that require our attention every day—that we can be blind to the bigger forces shaping us. That’s why so often when something drastic happens suddenly, it catalyzes all sorts of changes in our lives. Our perspective shifts.” Suddenly is in the music, too. This is the most surprising and unpredictable Caribou album to date. Though it retains the trademark Caribou warmth and technicolor, this album is littered with swerves and left turns. “I wanted to balance the familiar—the sound that people associate with my music— against these moments of surprise,” Snaith says. As his passion and joy in music-making remains as fresh as ever, Suddenly is the purest example of this yet. LP is half-speed mastered by Matt Colton of Metropolis Studios in London UK. First album with Dan Snaith vocals on all tracks. Saxophone & guitar performance by Colin Fisher. LP is pressed at RTI on lead-free black vinyl
February 28 street date. In 2014, Dan Snaith aka Caribou released Our Love to overwhelming critical acclaim. Caribou returns now with his new studio album Suddenly, a warm, untamable, and constantly surprising record about family and the changes we go through as those relationships evolve. Most prominently, Suddenly refers to the moments of dramatic and unexpected change that occur at points in any life and within any family—universal themes that can catch you off guard and change your life in a heartbeat. Those dramatic moments are part of a slower process. These moments rear their heads, for good or bad, during the everyday flow of life. “There’s a tension between those sudden things which blindside you and the more glacial, gradual day-to-day changes,” he observes. “We are so caught up in the immediate—the details that require our attention every day—that we can be blind to the bigger forces shaping us. That’s why so often when something drastic happens suddenly, it catalyzes all sorts of changes in our lives. Our perspective shifts.” Suddenly is in the music, too. This is the most surprising and unpredictable Caribou album to date. Though it retains the trademark Caribou warmth and technicolor, this album is littered with swerves and left turns. “I wanted to balance the familiar—the sound that people associate with my music— against these moments of surprise,” Snaith says. As his passion and joy in music-making remains as fresh as ever, Suddenly is the purest example of this yet. LP is half-speed mastered by Matt Colton of Metropolis Studios in London UK. First album with Dan Snaith vocals on all tracks. Saxophone & guitar performance by Colin Fisher. LP is pressed at RTI on lead-free black vinyl
May 29 street date. caroline’s debut 12" single features lead track ‘Dark blue’ (A side) and ‘BRJ’ (B side). London based caroline began as a three-piece (Jasper Llewellyn, Mike O'Malley, Casper Hughes) in early 2017, initially evolving out of weekly improvisation sessions. Bringing together shared influences in, and experiences of playing, midwestern ‘emo’ guitar music, Appalachian folk, minimalist classical and various forms of dance music. The group spent a year and a half playing privately, without a project name. Reiterating, deconstructing and re-building the same small handful of songs over and over again, the group slowly expanded their on-stage members before playing their debut show as caroline in 2018. A hand drawn 12” insert is included with all orders.
July 3 street date. Beggars Arkive is excited to reissue "Between 10th and 11th", the second album by The Charlatans, out on July 3rd. Available on double clear vinyl and double CD, the reissue contains the original album plus remastered tracks from the often-bootlegged live show from Chicago in 1991, known as "Isolation 21.2.91", a holy grail amongst fans. "Between 10th and 11th" was originally released in 1992 and contained the hit "Weirdo", as well as singles "Tremolo Song" and "I Don't Want To See The Sights". Produced by Flood, you can hear the pure crispness in the audio. Entertainment Weekly said that "Between 10th and 11th" "consolidates the band's riveting, hypnotic attack, all musical tips o' the hat to the 60s and 70s, smeared over a smorgasbord of unrelenting dance beats and topped with hook ("I Don’t Want to See the Sights") after hook ("Weirdo")."
July 3 street date. Beggars Arkive is excited to reissue "Between 10th and 11th", the second album by The Charlatans, out on July 3rd. Available on double clear vinyl and double CD, the reissue contains the original album plus remastered tracks from the often-bootlegged live show from Chicago in 1991, known as "Isolation 21.2.91", a holy grail amongst fans. "Between 10th and 11th" was originally released in 1992 and contained the hit "Weirdo", as well as singles "Tremolo Song" and "I Don't Want To See The Sights". Produced by Flood, you can hear the pure crispness in the audio. Entertainment Weekly said that "Between 10th and 11th" "consolidates the band's riveting, hypnotic attack, all musical tips o' the hat to the 60s and 70s, smeared over a smorgasbord of unrelenting dance beats and topped with hook ("I Don’t Want to See the Sights") after hook ("Weirdo")."
Please note new street date: May 29. Salt Lake City's indie pop favorites Choir Boy return after four years with the release of their new cosmic album, "Gathering Swans". An emotionally powerful record, full of poignant heartbreak and gently steeped in pop nostalgia, Choir Boy push their distinctive sound further, while tenderly romancing the unsuspected. "Gathering Swans" builds upon Choir Boy's infectiousness with unique pop sensibilities and impeccable polish. The first single, "Complainer", demonstrates Adam Klopp's angelic voice effortlessly floating within the heart-wrenchingly somber melodies, that in a tender state, will surely render tears. Creative, sincere, passionate and glaring with intention, "Gathering Swans" paints a bright, hopeful, and deeply heartfelt image that will most assuredly attract anyone who accompanies Choir Boy upon their journey.
Please note new street date: May 29. Salt Lake City's indie pop favorites Choir Boy return after four years with the release of their new cosmic album, "Gathering Swans". An emotionally powerful record, full of poignant heartbreak and gently steeped in pop nostalgia, Choir Boy push their distinctive sound further, while tenderly romancing the unsuspected. "Gathering Swans" builds upon Choir Boy's infectiousness with unique pop sensibilities and impeccable polish. The first single, "Complainer", demonstrates Adam Klopp's angelic voice effortlessly floating within the heart-wrenchingly somber melodies, that in a tender state, will surely render tears. Creative, sincere, passionate and glaring with intention, "Gathering Swans" paints a bright, hopeful, and deeply heartfelt image that will most assuredly attract anyone who accompanies Choir Boy upon their journey.
February 14 street date. For Patrick Flegel, Cindy Lee is more than just a recording music project. It is the culmination of a lifelong exploration of art, the electric guitar, queer identity and gender expression. “Singers like Patsy Cline and The Supremes carried me through the hardest times of my life,” explains Flegel, “and also provided the soundtrack to the best times.” Following the dissolution of Canadian experimental indie band Women, Flegel would delve deeper into songwriting that bends further toward high atmospherics and bracing melodies—a unique space where splendor naturally collides with experimentation. Delivering moments of sheer beauty through somber reflections on longing and loneliness, Cindy Lee is something to hold onto in a world of disorder. What’s Tonight To Eternity, Cindy Lee’s fifth long-form offering, showcases the project’s most entrancing strengths: ethereal snowdrift pop and sly nods toward classic girl-group motifs. Recorded at Flegel’s Realistik Studios in Toronto and featuring younger brother Andrew Flegel on drums, the album travels hand in hand with a spectral guide. What’s Tonight To Eternity remains a mix of pop culture indoctrination, pain and suffering, hopes and dreams, fierce confrontations and wide-open confessional blurs. Closing with the song “Heavy Metal” (dedicated to the memory of former Women bandmate Chris Reimer) and adorned by Andrea Lukic’s Journal of Smack artwork, the album continues the bold and rewarding path on which Cindy Lee has embarked.
April 3 street date. Clams Casino stands amongst the most respected hip-hop producers in the game today. After several years of underground notoriety, Clams became widely known after producing several of the standout tracks on A$AP Rocky’s monolithic debut mixtape "Live. Love. ASAP" and has received widespread critical acclaim for his collaborations with Lil Peep, Vince Staples, Lil B, Mac Miller, The Weeknd, Joji amongst others. His hugely anticipated instrumental album "Moon Trip Radio" is a stunning collection of tracks that showcase his immense talent as both a composer and producer.
Please note new street date: June 26. Coriky is a band from Washington, D.C. with Ian MacKaye (Fugazi, Minor Threat), Joe Lally (Fugazi), and Amy Farina (The Evens). Formed in 2015, Coriky did not play their first show until 2018. They have recorded one album. They hope to tour.
Please note new street date: June 26. Coriky is a band from Washington, D.C. with Ian MacKaye (Fugazi, Minor Threat), Joe Lally (Fugazi), and Amy Farina (The Evens). Formed in 2015, Coriky did not play their first show until 2018. They have recorded one album. They hope to tour.
March 27 street date. Forged in trauma and an intense, bewildering slew of mixed emotions - wildfires raged near the secluded cabin near Kelowna in which he was recording, his grandfather passed away from said wildfires during the recording process, and he discovered his new feelings of love were mutual only a day before she moved to Paris - Vancouver's Ian William Craig has created an album of incredible beauty, sadness and depth. "Red Sun Through Smoke" is a profoundly moving album, a standout record in a prolific body of work that shows no sign of faltering.
March 27 street date. Forged in trauma and an intense, bewildering slew of mixed emotions - wildfires raged near the secluded cabin near Kelowna in which he was recording, his grandfather passed away from said wildfires during the recording process, and he discovered his new feelings of love were mutual only a day before she moved to Paris - Vancouver's Ian William Craig has created an album of incredible beauty, sadness and depth. "Red Sun Through Smoke" is a profoundly moving album, a standout record in a prolific body of work that shows no sign of faltering.
Please note new street date: June 12. The brand new studio album from punk/metal icon and powerhouse vocalist Glenn Danzig paying tribute to his idol and inspiration, Elvis Presley! Features 14 unforgettable interpretations of well-known Elvis classics and unheralded deep cuts that will thrill fans of both of these kings of rock music! Highlights include Danzig's sinister take on "Fever" and a truly haunting version of "Always On My Mind!" Danzig is no stranger to working with American music royalty having written songs for both Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison! Available in a special digipak for CD and on vinyl in a deluxe gatefold jacket!
Please note new street date: June 12. The brand new studio album from punk/metal icon and powerhouse vocalist Glenn Danzig paying tribute to his idol and inspiration, Elvis Presley! Features 14 unforgettable interpretations of well-known Elvis classics and unheralded deep cuts that will thrill fans of both of these kings of rock music! Highlights include Danzig's sinister take on "Fever" and a truly haunting version of "Always On My Mind!" Danzig is no stranger to working with American music royalty having written songs for both Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison! Available in a special digipak for CD and on vinyl in a deluxe gatefold jacket!
February 28 street date. Whether scoring a film or making a solo album, Daniel Davies thinks cinematically. Images and story - on a movie screen, on a canvas, or flashing through his mind - inform the shape of his compositions and the sounds he uses to bring them to life. For "Signals", his first solo record for Sacred Bones, the inspiration for his musical narration was a collaboration with visual artist Jesse Draxler, whose otherworldly mixed media works grace the cover and the booklet. Using Draxler's images as his jumping off point, Davies created eight richly textured compositions that created a soundtrack for the unsettling world of the artwork. As the songs move through the landscape, Davies calls on whatever instrumentation he needs to serve their journey. He utilizes the warbling synths and slicing guitar that have characterized his soundtrack work, but he's also preternaturally at ease when he busts out a harpsichord and a vocal synth on lead single "Phantom Waltz." On "Destructive Field," he leaves space for his Halloween collaborator John Carpenter to lay down his signature sound. With the exception of that passage, all the music on the record is recorded by Davies himself. "Signals " is an album with a lot to discover, and repeat listens will reveal an inviting - if a bit unnerving - world that you'll want to spend all day in.
February 28 street date. Limited smoke coloured vinyl edition. Whether scoring a film or making a solo album, Daniel Davies thinks cinematically. Images and story - on a movie screen, on a canvas, or flashing through his mind - inform the shape of his compositions and the sounds he uses to bring them to life. For "Signals", his first solo record for Sacred Bones, the inspiration for his musical narration was a collaboration with visual artist Jesse Draxler, whose otherworldly mixed media works grace the cover and the booklet. Using Draxler's images as his jumping off point, Davies created eight richly textured compositions that created a soundtrack for the unsettling world of the artwork. As the songs move through the landscape, Davies calls on whatever instrumentation he needs to serve their journey. He utilizes the warbling synths and slicing guitar that have characterized his soundtrack work, but he's also preternaturally at ease when he busts out a harpsichord and a vocal synth on lead single "Phantom Waltz." On "Destructive Field," he leaves space for his Halloween collaborator John Carpenter to lay down his signature sound. With the exception of that passage, all the music on the record is recorded by Davies himself. "Signals " is an album with a lot to discover, and repeat listens will reveal an inviting - if a bit unnerving - world that you'll want to spend all day in.
Please note new street date: May 29. Veteran thrashgrass band Days N Daze has spent more than a decade doing it themselves in a way few can match. From the beginning, they have forged their own path - playing acoustically so they'd have less gear and could perform anywhere, booking and promoting themselves, and self-recording and self-releasing their albums. In the rare instances when they work with outsiders, they stick with people they know. Which is why, after a dozen hardscrabble years, they've joined Fat Wreck Chords for their eighth full-length! Like previous Days N Daze albums, "Show Me The Blueprints" crams more ideas into its 11 tracks than albums twice its length. "Show Me The Blueprints" is a bold step forward for a band that has always followed a bold path.
Please note new street date: May 29. Veteran thrashgrass band Days N Daze has spent more than a decade doing it themselves in a way few can match. From the beginning, they have forged their own path - playing acoustically so they'd have less gear and could perform anywhere, booking and promoting themselves, and self-recording and self-releasing their albums. In the rare instances when they work with outsiders, they stick with people they know. Which is why, after a dozen hardscrabble years, they've joined Fat Wreck Chords for their eighth full-length! Like previous Days N Daze albums, "Show Me The Blueprints" crams more ideas into its 11 tracks than albums twice its length. "Show Me The Blueprints" is a bold step forward for a band that has always followed a bold path.
June 19 street date. Over the past couple of years while making their new album, Deerhoof have been asking themselves if there was any music they could create that expressed how our rapidly emerging future might actually feel. The band envisioned an album about people haunted by memory of a lost world and of every failed attempt to save it. People already living outside the system, already having practiced new ways of life required for survival - these hopeful heroes are Deerhoof's inspiration. These are the Future Teenage Cave Artists. Like a lot of the music they have released over the last quarter-century, the Deerhoof of "Future Teenage Cave Artists" (Satomi Matsuzaki on bass and vocals, Ed Rodriguez and John Dieterich on guitars, and Greg Saunier on drums, vocals and piano) stitches together fragments of 'r&b' and 'classic rock' and transforms them into a new language of revolution, forgoing verse-chorus structures for dream logic and blind intuition. But what makes this album different is its intimacy - the blues riffs and slide guitars are joined by rusty pianos and whispered three-part harmonies. The album is borne of self-isolation and deprivation. It's the sound of a sparkling, manic musical intelligence being disconnected from a nourishing public and devouring itself inside its own cocoon, attempting metamorphosis.
Please note new street date: June 19. Over the past couple of years while making their new album, Deerhoof have been asking themselves if there was any music they could create that expressed how our rapidly emerging future might actually feel. The band envisioned an album about people haunted by memory of a lost world and of every failed attempt to save it. People already living outside the system, already having practiced new ways of life required for survival - these hopeful heroes are Deerhoof's inspiration. These are the Future Teenage Cave Artists. Like a lot of the music they have released over the last quarter-century, the Deerhoof of "Future Teenage Cave Artists" (Satomi Matsuzaki on bass and vocals, Ed Rodriguez and John Dieterich on guitars, and Greg Saunier on drums, vocals and piano) stitches together fragments of 'r&b' and 'classic rock' and transforms them into a new language of revolution, forgoing verse-chorus structures for dream logic and blind intuition. But what makes this album different is its intimacy - the blues riffs and slide guitars are joined by rusty pianos and whispered three-part harmonies. The album is borne of self-isolation and deprivation. It's the sound of a sparkling, manic musical intelligence being disconnected from a nourishing public and devouring itself inside its own cocoon, attempting metamorphosis.
Please note new street date: June 19. Over the past couple of years while making their new album, Deerhoof have been asking themselves if there was any music they could create that expressed how our rapidly emerging future might actually feel. The band envisioned an album about people haunted by memory of a lost world and of every failed attempt to save it. People already living outside the system, already having practiced new ways of life required for survival - these hopeful heroes are Deerhoof's inspiration. These are the Future Teenage Cave Artists. Like a lot of the music they have released over the last quarter-century, the Deerhoof of "Future Teenage Cave Artists" (Satomi Matsuzaki on bass and vocals, Ed Rodriguez and John Dieterich on guitars, and Greg Saunier on drums, vocals and piano) stitches together fragments of 'r&b' and 'classic rock' and transforms them into a new language of revolution, forgoing verse-chorus structures for dream logic and blind intuition. But what makes this album different is its intimacy - the blues riffs and slide guitars are joined by rusty pianos and whispered three-part harmonies. The album is borne of self-isolation and deprivation. It's the sound of a sparkling, manic musical intelligence being disconnected from a nourishing public and devouring itself inside its own cocoon, attempting metamorphosis.
January 31 street date. Destroyer conceived of Have We Met as a Y2K album. Dan Bejar assigned producer and bandmate John Collins the role of layering synth and rhythm sections over demos with the period-specific Björk, Air, and Massive Attack in mind, but he soon realized the sonic template was too removed from Destroyer’s own, and the idea of a concept was silly anyway. So he abandoned it and gave Collins the most timeless instruction of all: “Make it sound cool.” The result is not a startling departure from 2017’s ken, but unlike that more band-oriented approach, the only actual instruments that appear are bass and electric guitar. MIDI instrumentation will of course invite Your Blues and Kaputt nostalgia, but Have We Met is buoyed by precise, plasticky guitar shredding three dimensionally across massive percussion—the loudest and dirtiest drums on a Destroyer record to date. Atmosphere and loose approximations of a place or feeling are what we’ve come to expect from any new Destroyer record— certainly not an easily defined and stridently adhered to theme or concept. Have We Met manages to meet somewhere between those disparate Y2K reference points and Destroyer’s own area of expertise, gliding deftly into territory that marries the old strident Destroyer with the new, aged crooning one of late.
January 31 street date. Destroyer conceived of Have We Met as a Y2K album. Dan Bejar assigned producer and bandmate John Collins the role of layering synth and rhythm sections over demos with the period-specific Björk, Air, and Massive Attack in mind, but he soon realized the sonic template was too removed from Destroyer’s own, and the idea of a concept was silly anyway. So he abandoned it and gave Collins the most timeless instruction of all: “Make it sound cool.” The result is not a startling departure from 2017’s ken, but unlike that more band-oriented approach, the only actual instruments that appear are bass and electric guitar. MIDI instrumentation will of course invite Your Blues and Kaputt nostalgia, but Have We Met is buoyed by precise, plasticky guitar shredding three dimensionally across massive percussion—the loudest and dirtiest drums on a Destroyer record to date. Atmosphere and loose approximations of a place or feeling are what we’ve come to expect from any new Destroyer record— certainly not an easily defined and stridently adhered to theme or concept. Have We Met manages to meet somewhere between those disparate Y2K reference points and Destroyer’s own area of expertise, gliding deftly into territory that marries the old strident Destroyer with the new, aged crooning one of late.
February 7 street date. Dooz Kawa revient avec son cinquième album, "Nomad's Land", dont le fil conducteur est le voyage, une échappée belle physique mais avant tout spirituelle et philosophique. Cet album se veut onirique et plein d'espoir en dépit du constat parfois difficile du rappeur. Sur ce disque fait de tristesse gaie, Dooz Kawa nous parle en treize chansons du bonheur et de ce qui nous lie. Il invite pour l'occasion Gaël Faye, Davodka, Degiheugi, Shantel, Swift Guad et le spécialiste en mandoline Vincent Beer Demander. Le tout est entrecoupé d’interludes avec Dorian Astor, maitre de conférences international et expert européen de Nietzsche. Force est de constater que peu importe le temps qui passe, peu importe les années qui défilent et l’âge qui avance, les mots de Dooz Kawa, seul ou accompagné, font toujours le même effet.
February 7 street date. Dooz Kawa revient avec son cinquième album, "Nomad's Land", dont le fil conducteur est le voyage, une échappée belle physique mais avant tout spirituelle et philosophique. Cet album se veut onirique et plein d'espoir en dépit du constat parfois difficile du rappeur. Sur ce disque fait de tristesse gaie, Dooz Kawa nous parle en treize chansons du bonheur et de ce qui nous lie. Il invite pour l'occasion Gaël Faye, Davodka, Degiheugi, Shantel, Swift Guad et le spécialiste en mandoline Vincent Beer Demander. Le tout est entrecoupé d’interludes avec Dorian Astor, maitre de conférences international et expert européen de Nietzsche. Force est de constater que peu importe le temps qui passe, peu importe les années qui défilent et l’âge qui avance, les mots de Dooz Kawa, seul ou accompagné, font toujours le même effet.
February 14 street date (LP) / February 21 for CD (date change). The simple power of DRAMA's musical expression is matched only by their work ethic. Since 2014, the Chicago-based duo have bootstrapped a subtle rise on their own terms, self-releasing several EPs and mapping multiple tours with Midwestern grit. A multicultural collaboration between producer Na'el Shehade and vocalist Via Rosa, the project plays to the complementary dynamics of their pairing, blurring the lines between R&B and dance-pop, heartbreak and bliss. Following their signing to Ghostly International in 2019, they realize their years-in-the-making full-length debut, aptly titled "Dance Without Me", a refined collection that recasts romantic tragedy as moonlit self-acceptance. DRAMA's first record appears remarkably refined for a young band; Rosa's lyrical candor creates expressionistic narratives about interpersonal intricacies all finessed for the club by Shehade. Here we see a lyricist whose vocal stylings are, not just complimented, but completed by a producer, and a producer whose genteel tracks are given a soul, however blue, depicted in a collaborator's deeply human lyrics.
February 14 street date (LP) / February 21 for CD (date change). The simple power of DRAMA's musical expression is matched only by their work ethic. Since 2014, the Chicago-based duo have bootstrapped a subtle rise on their own terms, self-releasing several EPs and mapping multiple tours with Midwestern grit. A multicultural collaboration between producer Na'el Shehade and vocalist Via Rosa, the project plays to the complementary dynamics of their pairing, blurring the lines between R&B and dance-pop, heartbreak and bliss. Following their signing to Ghostly International in 2019, they realize their years-in-the-making full-length debut, aptly titled "Dance Without Me", a refined collection that recasts romantic tragedy as moonlit self-acceptance. DRAMA's first record appears remarkably refined for a young band; Rosa's lyrical candor creates expressionistic narratives about interpersonal intricacies all finessed for the club by Shehade. Here we see a lyricist whose vocal stylings are, not just complimented, but completed by a producer, and a producer whose genteel tracks are given a soul, however blue, depicted in a collaborator's deeply human lyrics.
March 13 street date. First time on vinyl. "Placer Found" establishes the sonic and emotional palette that would come to define Dan Burton's work as Early Day Miners. This is music that rewards patience, and reveals itself more with each listen. There's a deep clarity within the soft focus - equal parts lost and found. The opening title track sets the mood just right, its comforting guitar interplay and gentle vocals holding your hand toward an unseen destination that's "still a ways to go." "East Berlin at Night" is the definition of cinematic, almost like an Ativin song with the amplifiers turned down from 12 to 3, while the last two minutes of "Texas Cinema," are the equivalent of a deep embrace from which you never want to let go. This new edition brings it all back to the proverbial start, as it is being released on Secretly Canadian which championed Ativin from the beginning and quickly became a home for Early Day Miners after the initial Western Vinyl release of "Placer Found." The two unreleased instrumental tracks on side D are fascinating glimpses into creative paths not taken. "Prospect Refuge" is a delicious slice of posi-vibes math-rock, while the taut, vaguely ominous "Blue Casino" makes an entirely different song out of a riff later utilized for the standout "Jefferson" from the band's 2003 "Jefferson at Rest" LP.
Please note new street date: June 5. One of the beautiful things about instrumental music is that the listener can decide what the narrative is. With "Adult Themes", El Michels Affair has created a "choose your own adventure" in musical form. "Adult Themes" marks the long awaited, highly anticipated return to an album of original compositions from El Michels Affair. In 2017, in between producing, playing, and recording on other artists' records, Leon Michels began creating compilations of short interludes intended to be sampled by hip hop producers. Some of these wound up becoming songs by Jay Z & Beyonce, Travis Scott, and Don Toliver. These minute-long snippets were inspired by the dense moody work of 1960s composers like David Axelrod, and Francois de Roubaix, as well as Moondog's brand of classical jazz. Michels was having so much fun creating these instrumental/orchestral nuggets that he decided to expand on some of the ideas and create what would become the soundtrack for a movie that has yet to be made, an imaginary film entitled "Adult Themes".
Please note new street date: June 5. One of the beautiful things about instrumental music is that the listener can decide what the narrative is. With "Adult Themes", El Michels Affair has created a "choose your own adventure" in musical form. "Adult Themes" marks the long awaited, highly anticipated return to an album of original compositions from El Michels Affair. In 2017, in between producing, playing, and recording on other artists' records, Leon Michels began creating compilations of short interludes intended to be sampled by hip hop producers. Some of these wound up becoming songs by Jay Z & Beyonce, Travis Scott, and Don Toliver. These minute-long snippets were inspired by the dense moody work of 1960s composers like David Axelrod, and Francois de Roubaix, as well as Moondog's brand of classical jazz. Michels was having so much fun creating these instrumental/orchestral nuggets that he decided to expand on some of the ideas and create what would become the soundtrack for a movie that has yet to be made, an imaginary film entitled "Adult Themes".
Please note new street date: June 5. Limited opaque white vinyl edition. One of the beautiful things about instrumental music is that the listener can decide what the narrative is. With "Adult Themes", El Michels Affair has created a "choose your own adventure" in musical form. "Adult Themes" marks the long awaited, highly anticipated return to an album of original compositions from El Michels Affair. In 2017, in between producing, playing, and recording on other artists' records, Leon Michels began creating compilations of short interludes intended to be sampled by hip hop producers. Some of these wound up becoming songs by Jay Z & Beyonce, Travis Scott, and Don Toliver. These minute-long snippets were inspired by the dense moody work of 1960s composers like David Axelrod, and Francois de Roubaix, as well as Moondog's brand of classical jazz. Michels was having so much fun creating these instrumental/orchestral nuggets that he decided to expand on some of the ideas and create what would become the soundtrack for a movie that has yet to be made, an imaginary film entitled "Adult Themes".
February 21 street date. Montreal psych-pop group Elephant Stone release their sixth full-length. It arrives following their 2016 LP, ‘Ship Of Fools’, and a number of recent side-projects and collaborations, such as the Acid House Ragas project and new band MIEN with members of The Horrors and The Black Angels. The first Elephant Stone record made in frontman and sitarist Rishi Dhir's own Sacred Sounds studio, ‘Hollow’ is an ambitious, dystopian sci-fi concept album which he says is inspired by The Who's ‘Tommy’, Pretty Things' ‘S.F, Sorrow’ and the second side of The Beatles' White Album: From Side A (‘The Beginning) though to Side B (‘The Ending’), the story told through Elephant Stone's renowned garage-psych alchemy takes place immediately after mankind's catastrophic destruction of the Earth and what happens when the same elite responsible for the first world-destroying climate disaster touch down on New Earth, a recently-discover planet sold with the same life of prosperity as the one they'd just destroyed. As soon as the chosen few step off the Harmonia ship built for the journey, it's clear that all is not what it seems and humanity appears destined to make the same mistakes.
February 21 street date. Montreal psych-pop group Elephant Stone release their sixth full-length. It arrives following their 2016 LP, ‘Ship Of Fools’, and a number of recent side-projects and collaborations, such as the Acid House Ragas project and new band MIEN with members of The Horrors and The Black Angels. The first Elephant Stone record made in frontman and sitarist Rishi Dhir's own Sacred Sounds studio, ‘Hollow’ is an ambitious, dystopian sci-fi concept album which he says is inspired by The Who's ‘Tommy’, Pretty Things' ‘S.F, Sorrow’ and the second side of The Beatles' White Album: From Side A (‘The Beginning) though to Side B (‘The Ending’), the story told through Elephant Stone's renowned garage-psych alchemy takes place immediately after mankind's catastrophic destruction of the Earth and what happens when the same elite responsible for the first world-destroying climate disaster touch down on New Earth, a recently-discover planet sold with the same life of prosperity as the one they'd just destroyed. As soon as the chosen few step off the Harmonia ship built for the journey, it's clear that all is not what it seems and humanity appears destined to make the same mistakes.
May 29 street date. For the first time on vinyl, we finally bring you Elevator's 2002 "Darkness-Light" album. With freshly remastered audio and lots of newly scanned original artwork on the colourful inner and outer sleeves. Comes on coloured vinyl with a digital download code that includes a bonus track. Limited one time pressing.
February 7 street date. After reuniting with briefly estranged singer Tetsuya Fukagawa, and shaking up their lineup for the first time in 25 years, Envy return refreshed with their most dynamic and progressive work, "The Fallen Crimson" - their first new studio album in five years. Japan's most iconic and influential post-hardcore band suffered seemingly insurmountable personal and creative struggles that challenged the very existence of the band like nothing they had experienced in their nearly three decades together. Opening with the kind of thunderous thrash that made them so renowned in the first place, and closing with the kind of triumphant ascent that has made them an inimitable force, "The Fallen Crimson" finds Envy perfecting their past, exploring their present, and pondering their future.
February 7 street date. After reuniting with briefly estranged singer Tetsuya Fukagawa, and shaking up their lineup for the first time in 25 years, Envy return refreshed with their most dynamic and progressive work, "The Fallen Crimson" - their first new studio album in five years. Japan's most iconic and influential post-hardcore band suffered seemingly insurmountable personal and creative struggles that challenged the very existence of the band like nothing they had experienced in their nearly three decades together. Opening with the kind of thunderous thrash that made them so renowned in the first place, and closing with the kind of triumphant ascent that has made them an inimitable force, "The Fallen Crimson" finds Envy perfecting their past, exploring their present, and pondering their future.
February 7 street date. Limited metallic sand and deep crimson vinyl edition - exclusively available to independent shops. After reuniting with briefly estranged singer Tetsuya Fukagawa, and shaking up their lineup for the first time in 25 years, Envy return refreshed with their most dynamic and progressive work, "The Fallen Crimson" - their first new studio album in five years. Japan's most iconic and influential post-hardcore band suffered seemingly insurmountable personal and creative struggles that challenged the very existence of the band like nothing they had experienced in their nearly three decades together. Opening with the kind of thunderous thrash that made them so renowned in the first place, and closing with the kind of triumphant ascent that has made them an inimitable force, "The Fallen Crimson" finds Envy perfecting their past, exploring their present, and pondering their future.
January 10 street date. Never before released on vinyl, the December 1991 indie cassette album that started all the hype over Eric's Trip, soon taking them into the hands of Sub Pop Records as their first Canadian signing. Remixed and remastered from the original 4-track master tapes and sounding better than ever. Also includes two bonus live tracks from the same era and a download code. Coloured vinyl!
March 13 street date. Espers, existing in between places, were a part of a flow of ideation that has as much to do with revelations from the 70s or 60s - with all the decades of the last century, really - as it does with the current expressions in favor of selfhood and safety that are struggled over today. Their music has retained a mysterious, unknowable vitality that, in the name of their original intention, continues to express Espers'’ individualism, optimism and deeply empathetic soul. Espers' self-titled first release appeared in 2004, heralding an era in which there was a perception of back-to-the-roots in the underground; kids making new music that spoke strongly of folk traditions and psychedelia, in the process setting themselves apart from latter-day sounds and approaches. Espers didn't shy away from this image, projecting a collective air, almost like a rural outpost, out of time and place in the urban environs of Philadelphia. The staid harmonies of Meg Baird and Greg Weeks, the 6- and 12-string guitars and percussion of Brooke Sietinsons, the full-bodied arrangements rife with traditional and classical details and the regular intervention of acid-toned guitar leads formed, along with the mystic and melancholy cast to their songwriting, a galvanizing identity for them among other like-minded music players of the day.
March 13 street date. Espers, existing in between places, were a part of a flow of ideation that has as much to do with revelations from the 70s or 60s - with all the decades of the last century, really - as it does with the current expressions in favor of selfhood and safety that are struggled over today. Their music has retained a mysterious, unknowable vitality that, in the name of their original intention, continues to express Espers'’ individualism, optimism and deeply empathetic soul. Espers' self-titled first release appeared in 2004, heralding an era in which there was a perception of back-to-the-roots in the underground; kids making new music that spoke strongly of folk traditions and psychedelia, in the process setting themselves apart from latter-day sounds and approaches. Espers didn't shy away from this image, projecting a collective air, almost like a rural outpost, out of time and place in the urban environs of Philadelphia. The staid harmonies of Meg Baird and Greg Weeks, the 6- and 12-string guitars and percussion of Brooke Sietinsons, the full-bodied arrangements rife with traditional and classical details and the regular intervention of acid-toned guitar leads formed, along with the mystic and melancholy cast to their songwriting, a galvanizing identity for them among other like-minded music players of the day.
March 13 street date. The second Espers album, "The Weed Tree" was released in 2005. It was a nearly inevitable endeavor for the group, made almost entirely of cover material, but the traditional folk songs - "Rosemary Lane" and "Black Is The Color" - were paired with songs by Nico, Michael Hurley, and even Blue Oyster Cult, making for an oblique run through eclectic aspects of the past that succeeded due to Espers' thorough re-imagining of the material in their own image. The addition of current members Helena Espvall on cello and Otto Hauser on drums and percussion upped the alchemy of the band to its most potent, making music that drew from tradition, but making it new at the same time.
March 13 street date. The second Espers album, "The Weed Tree" was released in 2005. It was a nearly inevitable endeavor for the group, made almost entirely of cover material, but the traditional folk songs - "Rosemary Lane" and "Black Is The Color" - were paired with songs by Nico, Michael Hurley, and even Blue Oyster Cult, making for an oblique run through eclectic aspects of the past that succeeded due to Espers' thorough re-imagining of the material in their own image. The addition of current members Helena Espvall on cello and Otto Hauser on drums and percussion upped the alchemy of the band to its most potent, making music that drew from tradition, but making it new at the same time.
Please note new street date: March 13. Smile With Your Heart: The Best of Bill Evans on Resonance takes listeners on a journey through the four official Bill Evans discoveries in the Resonance catalog — Live at Art D’Lugoff’s Top of the Gate (2012), Some Other Time: The Lost Session from the Black Forest (2016), Another Time: The Hilversum Concert (2017) & Evans In England (2019). Mastered by Bernie Grudman and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI.
Everything Is Recorded is the collaborative artist project helmed by British musician and producer Richard Russell.
FRIDAY FOREVER is an investigation into the universality of the Friday night experience.
It's the follow up to his eponymous debut album which was released in 2018 and went on to be nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and hailed by Q Magazine as a "masterclass in the art of collaboration".
FRIDAY FOREVER features an instinctively curated set of collaborators including the Manchester rapper Aitch, South London's FLOHIO and James Massiah, Trinidad born Berwyn, Ireland's Maria Somerville and Kean Kavanagh, Staten Island rap god Ghostface Killah of Wu-Tang Clan, longterm EIR collaborator Infinite Coles, West London's A.K. Paul and a rare contribution from the anarchy punk legend Penny Rimbaud of Crass
Everything Is Recorded is the collaborative artist project helmed by British musician and producer Richard Russell.
FRIDAY FOREVER is an investigation into the universality of the Friday night experience.
It's the follow up to his eponymous debut album which was released in 2018 and went on to be nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and hailed by Q Magazine as a "masterclass in the art of collaboration".
FRIDAY FOREVER features an instinctively curated set of collaborators including the Manchester rapper Aitch, South London's FLOHIO and James Massiah, Trinidad born Berwyn, Ireland's Maria Somerville and Kean Kavanagh, Staten Island rap god Ghostface Killah of Wu-Tang Clan, longterm EIR collaborator Infinite Coles, West London's A.K. Paul and a rare contribution from the anarchy punk legend Penny Rimbaud of Crass
May 8 street date. From the opening call of Flash Flash Flash’s “No Revolution,” Boston’s punk rock patriots the Explosion make their statement quite clear. Lyrics like “We look to the past, and ask for nothing more” drive home the band’s unapologetic point -- sure they wish it was 1977, but they know full well that it isn’t. With that in mind, the band’s debut LP still sees them tumble through 14 tracks of dirty Clash-styled punk rock in under a half hour -- a performance that would make their forefathers proud. It’s simple music and far from mind-blowing lyrics that form the basis of the Explosion’s attack, but it’s their high-energy attitude that carries their music to the next level. Tracks like “Terrorist” and “God Bless the S.O.S” are short speedy bursts of punk packed with catchy choruses and thick guitars, a recipe that the band often employs and generally finds success with. After their poorly recorded first EP, Flash Flash Flash’s to-the-point presentation makes it clear that all this band needed was a little polishing to make a great record. They certainly got it down this time around, and the result is one of the better punk albums to arise from a scene that has already lasted a few more decades than expected. – AllMusic.com. SPIN Top 20 Albums Of 2000.
May 8 street date. From the opening call of Flash Flash Flash’s “No Revolution,” Boston’s punk rock patriots the Explosion make their statement quite clear. Lyrics like “We look to the past, and ask for nothing more” drive home the band’s unapologetic point -- sure they wish it was 1977, but they know full well that it isn’t. With that in mind, the band’s debut LP still sees them tumble through 14 tracks of dirty Clash-styled punk rock in under a half hour -- a performance that would make their forefathers proud. It’s simple music and far from mind-blowing lyrics that form the basis of the Explosion’s attack, but it’s their high-energy attitude that carries their music to the next level. Tracks like “Terrorist” and “God Bless the S.O.S” are short speedy bursts of punk packed with catchy choruses and thick guitars, a recipe that the band often employs and generally finds success with. After their poorly recorded first EP, Flash Flash Flash’s to-the-point presentation makes it clear that all this band needed was a little polishing to make a great record. They certainly got it down this time around, and the result is one of the better punk albums to arise from a scene that has already lasted a few more decades than expected. – AllMusic.com. SPIN Top 20 Albums Of 2000.
Please note new street date: May 15. "I first heard Daniel in 1985. Half Japanese had a show in Austin and Daniel's manager Jeff Tartakov gave me a tape of "Hi How Are You?". I loved it and began corresponding with Jeff and Daniel. A few years later I was in NYC to take part in a recording session of Moe Tucker at Kramer's studio Noise New York. Daniel was at the studio and he and I became friends. Daniel recorded two songs with lyrics I wrote. He recorded "Do It Right" for Moe's album, and "Some Things Last A Long Time" for his album "1990". Soon after his time in NYC I invited him to my home and we had a week to record the songs for "It's Spooky". I considered Daniel to be a genius. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him. I'm so grateful to have it released again and it's sounding better than ever thanks to an amazing mastering job by Kramer". - Jad Fair.
May 22 street date. In early 2016, D.C. punk legends Brian Baker (Minor Threat, Dag Nasty, Bad Religion) and Michael Hampton (S.O.A., Embrace, One Last Wish) met up at Hampton's Brooklyn home to play music together. Friends since first grade, the two guitarists ended up writing a handful of songs that day, then closed out the session with a spur-of-the-moment decision to start a band. When it came to finding a bassist, Baker and Hampton looked to Johnny Temple of Girls Against Boys and Soulside (another fellow student at their elementary school), who equally shared their passion for what Temple refers to as "loud, angry, visceral music." By the end of the year, the band had enlisted Refused frontman Dennis Lyxzén as their singer, thus cementing the lineup to punk-rock supergroup Fake Names. Soon after dubbing themselves Fake Names, the band headed to Renegade Studios with the goal of creating a demo to present to record labels. But after playing those recordings for Baker's Bad Religion bandmate Brett Gurewitz, the Epitaph founder made an unexpected proposal. "Brett said to us, "this isn't a demo, this is the album," Baker recalls. "He was pretty adamant about putting it out exactly as it was, so that's what we wound up doing."
May 22 street date. In early 2016, D.C. punk legends Brian Baker (Minor Threat, Dag Nasty, Bad Religion) and Michael Hampton (S.O.A., Embrace, One Last Wish) met up at Hampton's Brooklyn home to play music together. Friends since first grade, the two guitarists ended up writing a handful of songs that day, then closed out the session with a spur-of-the-moment decision to start a band. When it came to finding a bassist, Baker and Hampton looked to Johnny Temple of Girls Against Boys and Soulside (another fellow student at their elementary school), who equally shared their passion for what Temple refers to as "loud, angry, visceral music." By the end of the year, the band had enlisted Refused frontman Dennis Lyxzén as their singer, thus cementing the lineup to punk-rock supergroup Fake Names. Soon after dubbing themselves Fake Names, the band headed to Renegade Studios with the goal of creating a demo to present to record labels. But after playing those recordings for Baker's Bad Religion bandmate Brett Gurewitz, the Epitaph founder made an unexpected proposal. "Brett said to us, "this isn't a demo, this is the album," Baker recalls. "He was pretty adamant about putting it out exactly as it was, so that's what we wound up doing."
January 17 street date. The great Bill Fay returns with the third album in the celebrated second phase of his recording career. A prime Fay song is a deceptively simple thing which carries more emotional weight than its concision and brevity might imply. There are ten of these musical haikus on "Countless Branches", as pointed and as poignant as anything he's ever recorded. For decades now - it's almost 50 years since he cut his classic albums "Bill Fay" and "Time of the Last Persecution" - songs like these have been Fay's ambassadors helping rave reviews and endorsements from the likes of Jim O'Rourke (Tortoise) and Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) which led to a huge revival of interest in his music. He had continued to make music almost every day in the intervening decades. For "Countless Branches" he's completed new toplines over some of his cache of backing tracks, most of them 20 to 40 years old.
January 17 street date. Deluxe edition 2xLP set includes two exclusive tracks and a reworking of "Don't Let My Marigolds Die". The great Bill Fay returns with the third album in the celebrated second phase of his recording career. A prime Fay song is a deceptively simple thing which carries more emotional weight than its concision and brevity might imply. For decades now - it's almost 50 years since he cut his classic albums "Bill Fay" and "Time of the Last Persecution" - songs like these have been Fay's ambassadors helping rave reviews and endorsements from the likes of Jim O'Rourke (Tortoise) and Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) which led to a huge revival of interest in his music. He had continued to make music almost every day in the intervening decades. For "Countless Branches" he's completed new toplines over some of his cache of backing tracks, most of them 20 to 40 years old.
January 17 street date. Deluxe edition 2xLP set includes two exclusive tracks and a reworking of "Don't Let My Marigolds Die". The great Bill Fay returns with the third album in the celebrated second phase of his recording career. A prime Fay song is a deceptively simple thing which carries more emotional weight than its concision and brevity might imply. For decades now - it's almost 50 years since he cut his classic albums "Bill Fay" and "Time of the Last Persecution" - songs like these have been Fay's ambassadors helping rave reviews and endorsements from the likes of Jim O'Rourke (Tortoise) and Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) which led to a huge revival of interest in his music. He had continued to make music almost every day in the intervening decades. For "Countless Branches" he's completed new toplines over some of his cache of backing tracks, most of them 20 to 40 years old.
February 21 street date. Rebecca Foon, the composer and musician behind Saltland and Esmerine (and former longstanding member of Silver Mt. Zion) presents a new album entitled "Waxing Moon". While best known as an incomparable cellist crafting textural soundscapes and instrumental chamber-rock in the aforementioned projects (and more recently recognized for her creative and organisational work as co-founder of Pathway To Paris), this new collection of songs finds Foon emphasizing piano and voice with striking intimacy and elegance, showcasing a captivating evolution in her always resplendent songwriting. The climate crisis has profoundly framed Foon's political and artistic life for many years now, and "Waxing Moon" finds her writing and singing her most arrestingly direct yet poetic words, tapping universal and personal heartbreak in both despair and hope.
February 21 street date. Rebecca Foon, the composer and musician behind Saltland and Esmerine (and former longstanding member of Silver Mt. Zion) presents a new album entitled "Waxing Moon". While best known as an incomparable cellist crafting textural soundscapes and instrumental chamber-rock in the aforementioned projects (and more recently recognized for her creative and organisational work as co-founder of Pathway To Paris), this new collection of songs finds Foon emphasizing piano and voice with striking intimacy and elegance, showcasing a captivating evolution in her always resplendent songwriting. The climate crisis has profoundly framed Foon's political and artistic life for many years now, and "Waxing Moon" finds her writing and singing her most arrestingly direct yet poetic words, tapping universal and personal heartbreak in both despair and hope.
June 5 street date. Previously solicited with incorrect, lower pricing. All backorders have been cancelled. "Sixteen Oceans" is the first new Four Tet album in 3 years. Includes "Baby", featuring vocals by Ellie Goulding. "Four Tet is capable of going deeper and expanding higher than almost anyone else out there" - Pitchfork. "Eccentric spirit, production mastery and emotional heft " - NME.
Please note new street date: June 5. "Sixteen Oceans" is the first new Four Tet album in 3 years. Includes "Baby", featuring vocals by Ellie Goulding. "Four Tet is capable of going deeper and expanding higher than almost anyone else out there" - Pitchfork. "Eccentric spirit, production mastery and emotional heft " - NME.
March 13 street date. Since their 2013 self-titled debut, The Frights have embodied a carefree vulnerability, setting their most awkward and painful feelings to a wildly joyful surf-punk sound. On their fourth studio album Everything Seems Like Yesterday, the San Diego-based band twist that dynamic to deliver their most emotionally direct body of work to date: a collection of songs written and performed solely by frontman Mikey Carnevale, each track matching its stripped-back simplicity with both raw outpouring and intense reflection. Everything Seems Like Yesterday first took shape through a handful of songs Carnevale wrote on acoustic guitar back in fall 2018. “Hypochondriac was the first time I’d ever written that way, and it felt really therapeutic,” he says, referring to the band’s 2018 Epitaph debut. “It pushed me to get much more into the craft of songwriting—as opposed to mostly writing songs for people to mosh to—and it felt right to keep going with that on this record.” Carnevale originally intended to release this acoustic material as a solo album, but had a change of heart upon sharing his new songs at a series of shows in San Diego and L.A. “All the guys in the band came out and the response was pretty positive, so I started to think this might be something more than a bunch of songs to put online for free,” he says. Carnevale soon enlisted bassist Richard Dotson as a producer, and the two bandmates set off to record at Carnevale’s grandmother’s cabin in Idyllwild, California.
March 13 street date. Since their 2013 self-titled debut, The Frights have embodied a carefree vulnerability, setting their most awkward and painful feelings to a wildly joyful surf-punk sound. On their fourth studio album Everything Seems Like Yesterday, the San Diego-based band twist that dynamic to deliver their most emotionally direct body of work to date: a collection of songs written and performed solely by frontman Mikey Carnevale, each track matching its stripped-back simplicity with both raw outpouring and intense reflection. Everything Seems Like Yesterday first took shape through a handful of songs Carnevale wrote on acoustic guitar back in fall 2018. “Hypochondriac was the first time I’d ever written that way, and it felt really therapeutic,” he says, referring to the band’s 2018 Epitaph debut. “It pushed me to get much more into the craft of songwriting—as opposed to mostly writing songs for people to mosh to—and it felt right to keep going with that on this record.” Carnevale originally intended to release this acoustic material as a solo album, but had a change of heart upon sharing his new songs at a series of shows in San Diego and L.A. “All the guys in the band came out and the response was pretty positive, so I started to think this might be something more than a bunch of songs to put online for free,” he says. Carnevale soon enlisted bassist Richard Dotson as a producer, and the two bandmates set off to record at Carnevale’s grandmother’s cabin in Idyllwild, California.
Please note new street date: May 29. 10 year anniversary vinyl reissue of "The Empyrean" by John Frusciante, cut from the original analog tapes at Bernie Grundman's mastering. Frusciante is an American guitarist, singer, composer, and producer, best known as the guitarist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he recorded five albums. Originally released in January of 2009, "The Empyrean" contains contributions from RHCP bandmate Flea and former guitarist of The Smiths, Johnny Marr. Includes hi res audio download card.
February 21 street date. France Gall was a prolifi c French vocalist and performer, remembered as one of the central fi gures of the 1960s yé-yé pop movement. Aligning catchy, spirited rhythms with lighthearted lyrics and drawing from the beat music a la early Beatles and Hollies, the yé-yé artists promoted a sort of new freedom of expression and breaking down of social barriers in post-WWII France. Third Man Records is beyond honored to bring this music to a larger audience by issuing the fi rst authorized North American vinyl pressings of these titles, some of the most brilliant highlights from Gall’s catalog. While France Gall had been releasing music since she was 16 it wasn’t until she took the Grand Prix at the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest with her rendition of Serge Gainsbourg’s “Poupée de Cire, Poupée de Son” that she would be catapulted to the top of the swinging yé-yé scene alongside the likes of Francoise Hardy, Sylvie Vartan and Bridgette Bardot. This record contains two of France’s most loved tracks, “Poupée de Cire” and “Laisse Tomber Les Filles” also penned by Gainsbourg. She recorded versions of the title track in French, German, Italian and Japanese and was now an international pop superstar. At the time France was dismissed by many as making fl uffy ultra commercial pop hits but her music stands the test of time far better than most, as not many were making music of this consistent high quality. Highly recommended. First ever U.S. pressing, on 180 gram vinyl no less.
February 21 street date. France Gall was a prolific French vocalist and performer, remembered as one of the central figures of the 1960s yé-yé pop movement. Aligning catchy, spirited rhythms with lighthearted lyrics and drawing from the beat music a la early Beatles and Hollies, the yé-yé artists promoted a sort of new freedom of expression and breaking down of social barriers in post-WWII France. Third Man Records is beyond honored to bring this music to a larger audience by issuing the fi rst authorized North American vinyl pressings of these titles, some of the most brilliant highlights from Gall’s catalog. Baby Pop is not only an important album for France herself, it is also a hugely important record for the entire yé-yé scene. Baby Pop hinted at the musical direction that yé-yé was headed in much the same way Revolver and Pet Sounds did in the UK and USA. Baby Pop is more mature and varied than her earlier more bubblegum releases. You will still find a wonderfully cheesy tracks like “L’Amerique” here and there but with the impossibly infectious title track and songs like the Gainsbourg penned “Nous Ne Sommes Va-T’en” and the groovy Farfissa driven “Faut-Il que Je T’Aime” we welcome a new France Gall and say hello to some of the fi nest pop music ever released in French or any language. First ever U.S. pressing, on 180 gram vinyl no less.
February 21 street date. France Gall was a prolific French vocalist and performer, remembered as one of the central figures of the 1960s yé-yé pop movement. Aligning catchy, spirited rhythms with lighthearted lyrics and drawing from the beat music a la early Beatles and Hollies, the yé-yé artists promoted a sort of new freedom of expression and breaking down of social barriers in post-WWII France. Third Man Records is beyond honored to bring this music to a larger audience by issuing the fi rst authorized North American vinyl pressings of these titles, some of the most brilliant highlights from Gall’s catalog. Without a doubt this is the weirdest France Gall record. 1968 dives further into the psychedelia that she was hinting at on Baby Pop. Even with addition of sitars and echoes of The Beatles, The Stones, The Kinks and Pet Sounds era Beach Boys all over this record it is still 100% French and could only have been made by France Gall. The addition of English expat producer/arranger, David Whitaker, brought a new and welcome airiness to the mix that was lacking on Gall’s earlier recordings. The album contains 2 of Serge Gainsbourg’s strangest and most out there arrangements, “Nefertiti” and “Teenie Weenie Boppie” about an LSD trip gone horribly wrong. 1968 is an absolutely essential addition to any record collection. First ever U.S. pressing, on 180 gram vinyl no less.
March 13 street date. THE GARDEN have been carving their own path since their formation in 2011. With 3 LP’s and 4 EP releases, they have become known musically for their fast, punk influenced jungle and DnB styles, and have consistently touring since 2013.While live, they are known for a mix of aggressive, unpredictable and trickster-ish tendencies - this new album, Kiss My Super Bowl Ring rivals the previous albums lyrically and sonically with an unmatched belligerence. The album is primarily self-produced, but includes tracks co-produced by the likes of Dylan Brady and Wharfwit, along with tracks featuring Ariel Pink and Khalif Jones (aka Le1f) and even a snippet from Carrot Top. The album shows it’s first bit of skin with the opening track, “Clench To Stay Awake” - a track based off the experiences of both brothers mysterious health issues over the years. Kiss My Super Bowl Ring boasts a roster of songs that just might be the most creatively rattling yet from the duo.
March 13 street date. THE GARDEN have been carving their own path since their formation in 2011. With 3 LP’s and 4 EP releases, they have become known musically for their fast, punk influenced jungle and DnB styles, and have consistently touring since 2013.While live, they are known for a mix of aggressive, unpredictable and trickster-ish tendencies - this new album, Kiss My Super Bowl Ring rivals the previous albums lyrically and sonically with an unmatched belligerence. The album is primarily self-produced, but includes tracks co-produced by the likes of Dylan Brady and Wharfwit, along with tracks featuring Ariel Pink and Khalif Jones (aka Le1f) and even a snippet from Carrot Top. The album shows it’s first bit of skin with the opening track, “Clench To Stay Awake” - a track based off the experiences of both brothers mysterious health issues over the years. Kiss My Super Bowl Ring boasts a roster of songs that just might be the most creatively rattling yet from the duo.
June 5 street date. Los Angeles based outfit The Ghost Inside are poised to release their fifth studio album. The self-titled album is a true triumph over adversity. The band were involved in a shocking road collision one tragic night in November 2015; a truck crashed into the band's tour bus near El Paso, Texas, killing both the bus driver and truck driver as well as leaving vocalist Jonathan Vigil, guitarist Zach Johnson, and drummer Andrew Tkaczyk in critical condition. Tkaczyk was in a coma for 10 days and eventually lost his right leg. The metalcore heroes have spent the past four years recovering, with each member documenting their recovery process openly. In February 2019, the band released a video featuring some new music they were working on in the studio. Shortly thereafter, they also announced their first concert since the bus crash. It was to be a "one time only" event to take place in August in Los Angeles. 7000 tickets sold out within five minutes after they went on sale on March 1st. One line in "Aftermath" sums it all up: "triumph over tragedy".
June 5 street date. Los Angeles based outfit The Ghost Inside are poised to release their fifth studio album. The self-titled album is a true triumph over adversity. The band were involved in a shocking road collision one tragic night in November 2015; a truck crashed into the band's tour bus near El Paso, Texas, killing both the bus driver and truck driver as well as leaving vocalist Jonathan Vigil, guitarist Zach Johnson, and drummer Andrew Tkaczyk in critical condition. Tkaczyk was in a coma for 10 days and eventually lost his right leg. The metalcore heroes have spent the past four years recovering, with each member documenting their recovery process openly. In February 2019, the band released a video featuring some new music they were working on in the studio. Shortly thereafter, they also announced their first concert since the bus crash. It was to be a "one time only" event to take place in August in Los Angeles. 7000 tickets sold out within five minutes after they went on sale on March 1st. One line in "Aftermath" sums it all up: "triumph over tragedy".
June 5 street date. Limited opaque magenta coloured vinyl edition, exclusively available to independent shops. Los Angeles based outfit The Ghost Inside are poised to release their fifth studio album. The self-titled album is a true triumph over adversity. The band were involved in a shocking road collision one tragic night in November 2015; a truck crashed into the band's tour bus near El Paso, Texas, killing both the bus driver and truck driver as well as leaving vocalist Jonathan Vigil, guitarist Zach Johnson, and drummer Andrew Tkaczyk in critical condition. Tkaczyk was in a coma for 10 days and eventually lost his right leg. The metalcore heroes have spent the past four years recovering, with each member documenting their recovery process openly. In February 2019, the band released a video featuring some new music they were working on in the studio. Shortly thereafter, they also announced their first concert since the bus crash. It was to be a "one time only" event to take place in August in Los Angeles. 7000 tickets sold out within five minutes after they went on sale on March 1st. One line in "Aftermath" sums it all up: "triumph over tragedy".
January 24 street date. "the first glass beach album" was initially self-released by the band in Spring 2019, but its roots date back to as early as 2015 - songwriter and band leader j mclendon started demoing songs for the album when they first moved to Los Angeles and spent three years polishing those first demos into these songs with bassist Jonas Newhouse and drummer William White. On their Bandcamp page, the band describes their sound as the accumulation of jazz, new wave, synth music, and emo distorted through the lens of punk. The songs that make up "the first glass beach album" are ambitious, theatrical and chaotic. Abandoning genre limitations makes glass beach's talent for songwriting all the more apparent - mathy guitar leads, catchy drum grooves and the constant interplay of horns, synths, and even the intermittent theremin set the perfect scene for j's stunning vocal performance, which can shift from a charming falsetto to the lead of a sing-a-long in an instant.
January 24 street date. Limited clear with blue and red splatter edition. "the first glass beach album" was initially self-released by the band in Spring 2019, but its roots date back to as early as 2015 - songwriter and band leader j mclendon started demoing songs for the album when they first moved to Los Angeles and spent three years polishing those first demos into these songs with bassist Jonas Newhouse and drummer William White. On their Bandcamp page, the band describes their sound as the accumulation of jazz, new wave, synth music, and emo distorted through the lens of punk. The songs that make up "the first glass beach album" are ambitious, theatrical and chaotic. Abandoning genre limitations makes glass beach's talent for songwriting all the more apparent - mathy guitar leads, catchy drum grooves and the constant interplay of horns, synths, and even the intermittent theremin set the perfect scene for j's stunning vocal performance, which can shift from a charming falsetto to the lead of a sing-a-long in an instant.
June 26 street date. Gordi recorded her upcoming album ‘Our Two Skins’ in an old cottage on her parents' farm in remote Canowindra. The album was completed with the assistance of Bon Iver production duo Chris Messina and Zach Hanson. Losing someone close to you creates an almost phantom limb-like effect. Often, it feels like they're a phone call away. But that instant between when you reach for the phone and when your brain delivers the new reality to you is a strange, momentary eternity. It’s both an uncompromising void and maybe as close as you'll ever come to communing with that loved one again. On her new song "Sandwiches", Gordi harnesses all the sadness and glory of this feeling into a soaring, post-new wave anthem. One of the first true Gordi "guitar songs", it shimmers with the lush-yet-fragile momentum of The Cranberries' classic "Dreams".
June 26 street date. Gordi recorded her upcoming album ‘Our Two Skins’ in an old cottage on her parents' farm in remote Canowindra. The album was completed with the assistance of Bon Iver production duo Chris Messina and Zach Hanson. Losing someone close to you creates an almost phantom limb-like effect. Often, it feels like they're a phone call away. But that instant between when you reach for the phone and when your brain delivers the new reality to you is a strange, momentary eternity. It’s both an uncompromising void and maybe as close as you'll ever come to communing with that loved one again. On her new song "Sandwiches", Gordi harnesses all the sadness and glory of this feeling into a soaring, post-new wave anthem. One of the first true Gordi "guitar songs", it shimmers with the lush-yet-fragile momentum of The Cranberries' classic "Dreams".
June 26 street date. Limited crisp white vinyl edition. Gordi recorded her upcoming album ‘Our Two Skins’ in an old cottage on her parents' farm in remote Canowindra. The album was completed with the assistance of Bon Iver production duo Chris Messina and Zach Hanson. Losing someone close to you creates an almost phantom limb-like effect. Often, it feels like they're a phone call away. But that instant between when you reach for the phone and when your brain delivers the new reality to you is a strange, momentary eternity. It’s both an uncompromising void and maybe as close as you'll ever come to communing with that loved one again. On her new song "Sandwiches", Gordi harnesses all the sadness and glory of this feeling into a soaring, post-new wave anthem. One of the first true Gordi "guitar songs", it shimmers with the lush-yet-fragile momentum of The Cranberries' classic "Dreams".
February 20 street date. (The most adventurous GBV album yet!!.. Featuring an exhilarating and dizzying trip to an inventive world of strange characters.) Starting off the year with a 100-song marathon in Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve, Robert Pollard is setting a mighty high bar for Guided By Voices in 2020. Following three acclaimed and stylistically distinct full-length albums in 2019, Surrender Your Poppy Field, is a head-spinning tour de force: a bit of everything... plus more! And hands down the most adventurous GBV album ever. There are lo-fi four-track tape recordings, there are songs recorded with a single microphone in a basement, there are big studio fully-produced hook-laden pop songs, and there is a lot in between. Seemingly, the guiding concept of Surrender Your Poppy Field was to make the songs sound as different from one another as possible: sudden shifts in mood, tempo and rhythm, unexpected chord progressions, false endings and codas, string orchestrations, mysterious voices... It’s an exhilarating and dizzying trip to an inventive world of strange characters: Andre the Hawk, Queen Parking Lot, the Cul-de-Sac Kids, the Hard Hitter, the Steely Dodger, the Stone Cold Moron, A Man Called Physician, A Man Called Blunder...Not content with their usual mastery of the 4 P’s (punk, pop, prog, psych) Professor Pollard pushes the envelope on Poppy Field, and continues to redefine GBV from a myriad of angles. Anyone who thinks that he’s gotten complacent after 104 albums hasn’t been paying attention! Don’t miss out.
February 20 street date. (The most adventurous GBV album yet!!.. Featuring an exhilarating and dizzying trip to an inventive world of strange characters.) Starting off the year with a 100-song marathon in Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve, Robert Pollard is setting a mighty high bar for Guided By Voices in 2020. Following three acclaimed and stylistically distinct full-length albums in 2019, Surrender Your Poppy Field, is a head-spinning tour de force: a bit of everything... plus more! And hands down the most adventurous GBV album ever. There are lo-fi four-track tape recordings, there are songs recorded with a single microphone in a basement, there are big studio fully-produced hook-laden pop songs, and there is a lot in between. Seemingly, the guiding concept of Surrender Your Poppy Field was to make the songs sound as different from one another as possible: sudden shifts in mood, tempo and rhythm, unexpected chord progressions, false endings and codas, string orchestrations, mysterious voices... It’s an exhilarating and dizzying trip to an inventive world of strange characters: Andre the Hawk, Queen Parking Lot, the Cul-de-Sac Kids, the Hard Hitter, the Steely Dodger, the Stone Cold Moron, A Man Called Physician, A Man Called Blunder...Not content with their usual mastery of the 4 P’s (punk, pop, prog, psych) Professor Pollard pushes the envelope on Poppy Field, and continues to redefine GBV from a myriad of angles. Anyone who thinks that he’s gotten complacent after 104 albums hasn’t been paying attention! Don’t miss out.
March 27 street date. Half Waif Nandi Rose is on her own again, and three songs into her forthcoming album The Caretaker , the singer, songwriter and producer declares her fearlessness: “Baby don’t worry about me, I don’t worry about you.” Here, on “Ordinary Talk,” Rose meditates on the heaviness of ordinary moments, the constellation of tears and chores and self-doubt and small talk that comprise being a person, accompanied by her most cinematic, pulsing arrangements to date. It’s an apt introduction to The Caretaker, an ax-lbum that negotiates the space between working alone and with others, between isolation and connection. The result is her boldest work yet. Over the course of eleven songs, Rose creates the lush world of a humid summer night, dreaming of and reaching for a season in which she is her “best self.”
March 27 street date. Half Waif Nandi Rose is on her own again, and three songs into her forthcoming album The Caretaker , the singer, songwriter and producer declares her fearlessness: “Baby don’t worry about me, I don’t worry about you.” Here, on “Ordinary Talk,” Rose meditates on the heaviness of ordinary moments, the constellation of tears and chores and self-doubt and small talk that comprise being a person, accompanied by her most cinematic, pulsing arrangements to date. It’s an apt introduction to The Caretaker, an ax-lbum that negotiates the space between working alone and with others, between isolation and connection. The result is her boldest work yet. Over the course of eleven songs, Rose creates the lush world of a humid summer night, dreaming of and reaching for a season in which she is her “best self.”
February 14 street date. The UK's cosmic, psychedelic-funk ensemble issue their first album on maverick producer Madlib's label, Madlib Invazion. The Heliocentrics' albums are all confounding pieces of work. Drawing equally from the funk universe of James Brown, the disorienting asymmetry of Sun Ra, the cinematic scope of Ennio Morricone, the sublime fusion of David Axelrod, Pierre Henry's turned-on musique concrète, and Can's beat-heavy Krautrock, they have - regardless of the label on which they've released their music - pointed the way towards a brand new kind of psychedelia, one that could only come from a band of accomplished musicians who were also obsessive music fans. Drummer Malcolm Catto and bassist Jake Ferguson are the Heliocentrics’ masterminds and producers, and they are obsessive weirdos in today's musical climate, searching, progressive humans who are often out-of-time with current trends. The Heliocentrics search for an individual in an alternate galaxy where the orbits of funk, jazz, psychedelic, electronic, avant-garde and "ethnic" music all revolve around "The One". With "Infinity Of Now", the Heliocentrics have returned to develop their epic vision of psychedelic funk, while exploring the possibilities created by their myriad influences - Latin, African, and more.
February 14 street date. The UK's cosmic, psychedelic-funk ensemble issue their first album on maverick producer Madlib's label, Madlib Invazion. The Heliocentrics' albums are all confounding pieces of work. Drawing equally from the funk universe of James Brown, the disorienting asymmetry of Sun Ra, the cinematic scope of Ennio Morricone, the sublime fusion of David Axelrod, Pierre Henry's turned-on musique concrète, and Can's beat-heavy Krautrock, they have - regardless of the label on which they've released their music - pointed the way towards a brand new kind of psychedelia, one that could only come from a band of accomplished musicians who were also obsessive music fans. Drummer Malcolm Catto and bassist Jake Ferguson are the Heliocentrics’ masterminds and producers, and they are obsessive weirdos in today's musical climate, searching, progressive humans who are often out-of-time with current trends. The Heliocentrics search for an individual in an alternate galaxy where the orbits of funk, jazz, psychedelic, electronic, avant-garde and "ethnic" music all revolve around "The One". With "Infinity Of Now", the Heliocentrics have returned to develop their epic vision of psychedelic funk, while exploring the possibilities created by their myriad influences - Latin, African, and more.
May 29 street date. The buzz around CHRISTIAN LEE HUTSON started in earnest in 2018 after he began his collaborative friendship with singer Phoebe Bridgers. Hutson co-wrote songs with Bridgers for both the EP of supergroup boygenius ( ft. Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus) and her 2019 release with Conor Oberst, Better Oblivion Community Center. The emerging folk artist received further critical attention after Bridgers invited him to Eaux Claires Festival last July, where he performed a solo set and earned praise from festival host Bon Iver. Eventually, Bridgers asked if she could produce an album for him. Engineered and mixed by Joseph Lorge (Blake Mills, Perfume Genius), the forthcoming release also features contributions from Bright Eyes pianist Nathaniel Walcott. To merely call Christian Lee Hutson an old soul would be to deny the vibrancy of his sound. Hutson writes songs that the SF Bay Guardian describes as, ”... Foreboding, bluesy love ballads laden with longing nostalgia.” Hutson is an avid touring artist and his touring will take him to Austin this Spring for SXSW. For Fans of Phoebe Bridgers, Elliott Smith and Bright Eyes.
May 29 street date. The buzz around CHRISTIAN LEE HUTSON started in earnest in 2018 after he began his collaborative friendship with singer Phoebe Bridgers. Hutson co-wrote songs with Bridgers for both the EP of supergroup boygenius ( ft. Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus) and her 2019 release with Conor Oberst, Better Oblivion Community Center. The emerging folk artist received further critical attention after Bridgers invited him to Eaux Claires Festival last July, where he performed a solo set and earned praise from festival host Bon Iver. Eventually, Bridgers asked if she could produce an album for him. Engineered and mixed by Joseph Lorge (Blake Mills, Perfume Genius), the forthcoming release also features contributions from Bright Eyes pianist Nathaniel Walcott. To merely call Christian Lee Hutson an old soul would be to deny the vibrancy of his sound. Hutson writes songs that the SF Bay Guardian describes as, ”... Foreboding, bluesy love ballads laden with longing nostalgia.” Hutson is an avid touring artist and his touring will take him to Austin this Spring for SXSW. For Fans of Phoebe Bridgers, Elliott Smith and Bright Eyes.
May 29 street date. The buzz around CHRISTIAN LEE HUTSON started in earnest in 2018 after he began his collaborative friendship with singer Phoebe Bridgers. Hutson co-wrote songs with Bridgers for both the EP of supergroup boygenius ( ft. Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus) and her 2019 release with Conor Oberst, Better Oblivion Community Center. The emerging folk artist received further critical attention after Bridgers invited him to Eaux Claires Festival last July, where he performed a solo set and earned praise from festival host Bon Iver. Eventually, Bridgers asked if she could produce an album for him. Engineered and mixed by Joseph Lorge (Blake Mills, Perfume Genius), the forthcoming release also features contributions from Bright Eyes pianist Nathaniel Walcott. To merely call Christian Lee Hutson an old soul would be to deny the vibrancy of his sound. Hutson writes songs that the SF Bay Guardian describes as, ”... Foreboding, bluesy love ballads laden with longing nostalgia.” Hutson is an avid touring artist and his touring will take him to Austin this Spring for SXSW. For Fans of Phoebe Bridgers, Elliott Smith and Bright Eyes.
Please note new street date: May 29. One of the year's most talked about and sought after club tracks, Jamie xx releases "Idontknow", his first solo artist release since his highly acclaimed BRIT and GRAMMY® nominated 2015 debut album "In Colour". Without knowing the artist behind it, people have been raving to "Idontknow" since late autumn 2019 when Jamie first debuted the track. Since then, the track has taken on a life of its own in clubs and on dancefloors around the world, garnering huge support from the likes of Ben UFO, Four Tet, Caribou, HAAi and Bicep, or via Jamie's own residency on NTS Radio and the series of last minute, word-of-mouth parties he threw in aid of the MIND and CALM charities at north London’s the Cause (where he was joined by the likes of Four Tet, HAAi and Koreless) and beyond. Now "Idontknow" gets a 12" release, available exclusively via independent retailers. It comes hot on the heels of Jamie's recent collaboration with Headie One and Fred again.. on "Smoke" from their acclaimed GANG mixtape.
Please note new street date: June12. Jamo Gang consists of L.A. legend Ras Kass, NYC veteran emcee El Gant, and J57 on production. The trio's debut album "Walking With Lions" features DJ Premier, Slug from Atmosphere, Sid Wilson from Slipknot, Sick Jacken from Psycho Realm, and Slaine from La Coka Nostra. The album embodies head-nodder boom-bap infused with big sounding, lush soundscapes as Ras Kass and El Gant command the listener's attention, speaking on subject matter ranging from school shootings to what life would be like with a nuke arriving in 38 minutes.
Please note new street date: June12. Jamo Gang consists of L.A. legend Ras Kass, NYC veteran emcee El Gant, and J57 on production. The trio's debut album "Walking With Lions" features DJ Premier, Slug from Atmosphere, Sid Wilson from Slipknot, Sick Jacken from Psycho Realm, and Slaine from La Coka Nostra. The album embodies head-nodder boom-bap infused with big sounding, lush soundscapes as Ras Kass and El Gant command the listener's attention, speaking on subject matter ranging from school shootings to what life would be like with a nuke arriving in 38 minutes.
May 8 street date. Jarv Is is a band featuring Jarvis Cocker (vocals, guitar, percussion), Serafina Steer (harp, keyboards, vocals), Emma Smith (violin, guitar vocals), Andrew McKinney (bass, vocals), Jason Buckle (synthesiser & electronic treatments) and Adam Betts (drums, percussion, vocals). "House Music All Night Long" is a straightforward love song about someone stuck alone in the house whilst the object of their affections is out dancing to House music at a rave. "We first performed this at the All Points East festival in Victoria Park in May 2019. The crowd reaction was so positive that I was inspired to do my first-ever bit of crowd-surfing (which I enjoyed so much that I have repeated it a couple of times since). We played the song throughout the summer & eventually recorded it after our final performance of the year at the End of the Road festival on September 4th". From the forthcoming album "Beyond The Pale", scheduled for Sept. 4 release.
Please note new street date: May 29. Caleb Landry Jones' debut solo album is a sprawling psychedelic suite built from abrupt and disorienting detours and schizoid shifts of voice, its manic energy forever pulling the tablecloth out from under classic pop orchestration. One minute you're squarely in the realm of biographical fact and a moment later you're having a discussion about lucid dreaming and how Jones once punched up a dream set on a soccer field by willing himself to experience it from the POV of the ball. But maybe that's just another story about grabbing the wheel of your own hallucination; maybe this pertains to the music after all. What you can hear on this record are the marks left by conversion experiences, two in particular. First there’s Jones' formative encounter with the Beatles' "White Album", the Fabs record most obviously composed by four Beatles rowing in different directions, and the beginning of what Jones calls "this British Invasion of my soul", which is still ongoing. Second, there's Syd Barrett, cracked vessel of Pink Floyd's most intergalactic ambitions, and the "falling-down-the-stairs" quality of his solo work in particular.
Please note new street date: May 29. Caleb Landry Jones' debut solo album is a sprawling psychedelic suite built from abrupt and disorienting detours and schizoid shifts of voice, its manic energy forever pulling the tablecloth out from under classic pop orchestration. One minute you're squarely in the realm of biographical fact and a moment later you're having a discussion about lucid dreaming and how Jones once punched up a dream set on a soccer field by willing himself to experience it from the POV of the ball. But maybe that's just another story about grabbing the wheel of your own hallucination; maybe this pertains to the music after all. What you can hear on this record are the marks left by conversion experiences, two in particular. First there’s Jones' formative encounter with the Beatles' "White Album", the Fabs record most obviously composed by four Beatles rowing in different directions, and the beginning of what Jones calls "this British Invasion of my soul", which is still ongoing. Second, there's Syd Barrett, cracked vessel of Pink Floyd's most intergalactic ambitions, and the "falling-down-the-stairs" quality of his solo work in particular.
Please note new street date: May 29. Baby blue vinyl edition, limited to 1500 copies. Caleb Landry Jones' debut solo album is a sprawling psychedelic suite built from abrupt and disorienting detours and schizoid shifts of voice, its manic energy forever pulling the tablecloth out from under classic pop orchestration. One minute you're squarely in the realm of biographical fact and a moment later you're having a discussion about lucid dreaming and how Jones once punched up a dream set on a soccer field by willing himself to experience it from the POV of the ball. But maybe that's just another story about grabbing the wheel of your own hallucination; maybe this pertains to the music after all. What you can hear on this record are the marks left by conversion experiences, two in particular. First there’s Jones' formative encounter with the Beatles' "White Album", the Fabs record most obviously composed by four Beatles rowing in different directions, and the beginning of what Jones calls "this British Invasion of my soul", which is still ongoing. Second, there's Syd Barrett, cracked vessel of Pink Floyd's most intergalactic ambitions, and the "falling-down-the-stairs" quality of his solo work in particular.
March 13 street date. Free-thinking Nova Scotia composer, musician and visual artist Jay Crocker (aka JOYFULTALK) channels Minimalism, Japanese environmental music, Maghrebian rhythmic modes and other numinous folkways to create his most focused, vibrant work to date. Based on a monumental, kaleidoscopic graphic score, "A Separation Of Being" is translated from two-dimensional page to trans-dimensional aural life using an array of homemade instruments, crowned with a majestic string arrangement written by Crocker and performed by Polaris and Juno winner Jesse Zubot (Tanya Tagaq, Destroyer). This three-part suite is airtight; interlocking arcs of polyrhythmic deep groove and new minimalism roll out in spellbinding propulsion, the music gathering its warmth from the strings and its peculiarities from Crocker's bespoke instrumentation and analog clockworks. Album packaging on CD and audiophile 180g LP features details on the outer jacket cover art, and a reproduction of the full score on the inside gatefold, and as an exquisite 12" x 24" pull-out art print, respectively.
March 13 street date. Free-thinking Nova Scotia composer, musician and visual artist Jay Crocker (aka JOYFULTALK) channels Minimalism, Japanese environmental music, Maghrebian rhythmic modes and other numinous folkways to create his most focused, vibrant work to date. Based on a monumental, kaleidoscopic graphic score, "A Separation Of Being" is translated from two-dimensional page to trans-dimensional aural life using an array of homemade instruments, crowned with a majestic string arrangement written by Crocker and performed by Polaris and Juno winner Jesse Zubot (Tanya Tagaq, Destroyer). This three-part suite is airtight; interlocking arcs of polyrhythmic deep groove and new minimalism roll out in spellbinding propulsion, the music gathering its warmth from the strings and its peculiarities from Crocker's bespoke instrumentation and analog clockworks. Album packaging on CD and audiophile 180g LP features details on the outer jacket cover art, and a reproduction of the full score on the inside gatefold, and as an exquisite 12" x 24" pull-out art print, respectively.
June 26 street date. Khruangbin has always been multilingual, weaving far-flung musical languages like East Asian surf-rock, Persian funk, and Jamaican dub into mellifluous harmony. But on its third album, it's finally speaking out loud. Mordechai features vocals prominently on nearly every song, a first for the mostly instrumental band. It's a shift that rewards the risk, reorienting Khruangbin's transportive sound toward a new sense of emotional directness, without losing the spirit of nomadic wandering that's always defined it. Musically, the band's ever-restless ear saw it pulling reference points from Pakistan, Korea, and West Africa, incorporating strains of Indian chanting boxes and Congolese syncopated guitar. But more than anything, the album became a celebration of Houston, the eclectic city that had nurtured them, and a cultural nexus where you can check out country and zydeco, trap rap, or avant-garde opera on any given night.
June 26 street date. Khruangbin has always been multilingual, weaving far-flung musical languages like East Asian surf-rock, Persian funk, and Jamaican dub into mellifluous harmony. But on its third album, it's finally speaking out loud. Mordechai features vocals prominently on nearly every song, a first for the mostly instrumental band. It's a shift that rewards the risk, reorienting Khruangbin's transportive sound toward a new sense of emotional directness, without losing the spirit of nomadic wandering that's always defined it. Musically, the band's ever-restless ear saw it pulling reference points from Pakistan, Korea, and West Africa, incorporating strains of Indian chanting boxes and Congolese syncopated guitar. But more than anything, the album became a celebration of Houston, the eclectic city that had nurtured them, and a cultural nexus where you can check out country and zydeco, trap rap, or avant-garde opera on any given night.
February 7 street date. It'll take you over four hours just to get from R&B singer Leon Bridges' hometown of Fort Worth down to Houston, where the psychedelic wanderers in Khruangbin hail from. The state is vast, crisscrossed with rugged expanses of road flanked by limestone cliffs and granite mountains, forests of pine and mesquite, miles of desert or acres of sprawling grassland, all depending on what part you're in. And it's all baking under the Texas Sun that lends its name to Bridges and Khruangbin's new collaborative EP. On "Texas Sun", these two members of the state's musical vanguard meet up somewhere in the middle of that scene, in the mythical nexus of Texas' past, present, and future - a dreamy badlands where genres blur as seamlessly as the terrain. A journey through homesick reminiscences, backseat romances, and late-night contemplations, the kind of record made for listening with the windows down and the road humming softly beneath you.
February 7 street date. It'll take you over four hours just to get from R&B singer Leon Bridges' hometown of Fort Worth down to Houston, where the psychedelic wanderers in Khruangbin hail from. The state is vast, crisscrossed with rugged expanses of road flanked by limestone cliffs and granite mountains, forests of pine and mesquite, miles of desert or acres of sprawling grassland, all depending on what part you're in. And it's all baking under the Texas Sun that lends its name to Bridges and Khruangbin's new collaborative EP. On "Texas Sun", these two members of the state's musical vanguard meet up somewhere in the middle of that scene, in the mythical nexus of Texas' past, present, and future - a dreamy badlands where genres blur as seamlessly as the terrain. A journey through homesick reminiscences, backseat romances, and late-night contemplations, the kind of record made for listening with the windows down and the road humming softly beneath you.
January 17 street date. Kid Dynamite’s first album was, and always will be a masterpiece. It will influence hardcore bands down the line. Hell, it probably already has. If you loved Lifetime, you’ll love this. Or, if you’re just looking for a good hardcore listen, pick this up. You’ll thank me.” - PunkNews.org
January 17 street date. (LIMITED EDITION – CLEAR W/ BLACK SMOKE LP) Kid Dynamite’s first album was, and always will be a masterpiece. It will influence hardcore bands down the line. Hell, it probably already has. If you loved Lifetime, you’ll love this. Or, if you’re just looking for a good hardcore listen, pick this up. You’ll thank me.” - PunkNews.org
February 7 street date. Shorter, Faster, Louder is a fine sophomore album, refining the aggression and intelligence of Kid Dynamite’s debut while upping the adrenaline rush of the music ever so slightly. That said, all of the hallmarks in the band’s East Coast hardcore punk sound are still very much in place. Fans who enjoyed the first album will undoubtedly relish this one too, especially in light of the unfortunate fact that it’s Kid Dynamite’s last -- just prior to Shorter, Faster, Louder release, vocalist Jason Shevchuk departed to pursue a film career, and the remainder of the band elected to break up. - STEVE HUEY / ALL MUSIC GUIDE
February 7 street date. Shorter, Faster, Louder is a fine sophomore album, refining the aggression and intelligence of Kid Dynamite’s debut while upping the adrenaline rush of the music ever so slightly. That said, all of the hallmarks in the band’s East Coast hardcore punk sound are still very much in place. Fans who enjoyed the first album will undoubtedly relish this one too, especially in light of the unfortunate fact that it’s Kid Dynamite’s last -- just prior to Shorter, Faster, Louder release, vocalist Jason Shevchuk departed to pursue a film career, and the remainder of the band elected to break up. - STEVE HUEY / ALL MUSIC GUIDE
March 6 street date. The first King Crimson release of 2020 is the Expanded Version of the 1970 release Cat Food. 50th anniversary edition of King Crimson’s first non-album single. Expanded to a 4 track EP & issued on 10” vinyl & CD. Features Cat Food (single version) & Groon (original single B-side). Features a live version of Cat Food performed by the current line-up in Toronto in September 2019. Included is an alternate mix of the album version of Cat Food prepared by David Singleton as part of the KC50 digital series. Artwork derived from Peter Sinfield’s original 7” sleeve art. Cut by Jason Mitchell at Loud Mastering.
March 6 street date. The first King Crimson release of 2020 is the Expanded Version of the 1970 release Cat Food. 50th anniversary edition of King Crimson’s first non-album single. Expanded to a 4 track EP & issued on 10” vinyl & CD. Features Cat Food (single version) & Groon (original single B-side). Features a live version of Cat Food performed by the current line-up in Toronto in September 2019. Included is an alternate mix of the album version of Cat Food prepared by David Singleton as part of the KC50 digital series. Artwork derived from Peter Sinfield’s original 7” sleeve art. Cut by Jason Mitchell at Loud Mastering.
Man Alive!, now out via TruePanther/Matador Records. (Available on CD, standard black vinyl, indie record store exclusive red vinyl.) Archy Ivan Marshall has the world at his feet. After two feverishly received albums as King Krule, plus another low-key outing under his own name, this extraordinarily gifted 25-year-old from Peckham in South London adds further depth and substance to his oeuvre with his new, wondrous long-player, Man Alive!. * It arrives packed full of his trademark sonic ambition and compositional skill, as well as the now-familiar corrosive lyricism and lurid social observation. Marshall has emerged as a pack leader amongst his peers, leading the charge in a fearless blurring of genre divisions. * The album was written as a direct reaction to the non-stop energy of touring The Ooz, and then partly recorded at Shrunken Heads in Marshall's native stamping ground of Nunhead, with Ooz co-producer Dilip Harris. Increasingly self-sufficient in the studio, he manned most of the instruments himself, except for the saxophone, which was played by his trusty Argentinian amigo, Ignacio Salvadores.
Man Alive!, now out via TruePanther/Matador Records. (Available on CD, standard black vinyl, indie record store exclusive red vinyl.) Archy Ivan Marshall has the world at his feet. After two feverishly received albums as King Krule, plus another low-key outing under his own name, this extraordinarily gifted 25-year-old from Peckham in South London adds further depth and substance to his oeuvre with his new, wondrous long-player, Man Alive!. * It arrives packed full of his trademark sonic ambition and compositional skill, as well as the now-familiar corrosive lyricism and lurid social observation. Marshall has emerged as a pack leader amongst his peers, leading the charge in a fearless blurring of genre divisions. * The album was written as a direct reaction to the non-stop energy of touring The Ooz, and then partly recorded at Shrunken Heads in Marshall's native stamping ground of Nunhead, with Ooz co-producer Dilip Harris. Increasingly self-sufficient in the studio, he manned most of the instruments himself, except for the saxophone, which was played by his trusty Argentinian amigo, Ignacio Salvadores.
King Krule has released Man Alive! via TruePanther/Matador Records. (Available on CD, standard black vinyl, indie record store exclusive red vinyl.) Archy Ivan Marshall has the world at his feet. After two feverishly received albums as King Krule, plus another low-key outing under his own name, this extraordinarily gifted 25-year-old from Peckham in South London adds further depth and substance to his oeuvre with his new, wondrous long-player, Man Alive!. * It arrives packed full of his trademark sonic ambition and compositional skill, as well as the now-familiar corrosive lyricism and lurid social observation. Marshall has emerged as a pack leader amongst his peers, leading the charge in a fearless blurring of genre divisions. * The album was written as a direct reaction to the non-stop energy of touring The Ooz, and then partly recorded at Shrunken Heads in Marshall's native stamping ground of Nunhead, with Ooz co-producer Dilip Harris. Increasingly self-sufficient in the studio, he manned most of the instruments himself, except for the saxophone, which was played by his trusty Argentinian amigo, Ignacio Salvadores.
Please note new street date: May 15. Features guest appearances from members of Gwar, Three 6 Mafia, Dwarves, Lost Dog Street Band, and more!! Highlighting the artist’s singular lyrical attack, Space Goretex is the first album combining all of KOOL KEITH’s primary personas – Dr. Octagon, Dr. Dooom and Black Elvis. The instrumentation is primarily comprised of bass, drums, theremin, and synth, performed by THETAN’s Chad L’Plattenier and Dan Emery. The album also includes some special guest appearances, including Gangsta Boo (Three 6 Mafia) who performs as Officer Lola. Casey Orr (Gwar, X-Cops) appears as his X-Cops character Sheriff Tubb Tucker, marking the first time he has recorded anything as this character since 1996. Blag Dahlia from the Dwarves provides a monologue alongside Ashley Mae of Lost Dog Street Band and DJ Black Cat Sylvester, inventor of the Synth-Table. Blowfly’s right-hand man Uncle Tom Bowker also makes an appearance. Space Goretex was recorded by Dan Emery and Fred Ones, and all post-production and mastering handled by Emery at Black Matter Mastering (Buzzov*en, Lost Dog Street Band, Krieg). The album’s cover art was created by Ethan Lee McCarthy (Primitive Man, Many Blessings). . . Since the mid-1980s, KOOL KEITH has been an icon in the hip-hop world, as one of the founders of the Ultramagnetic MC’s. Following that act’s departure, he began a long career, releasing an extensive arsenal of albums, singles, and much more since the mid-1990s, including collaborations with Ice-T, Tim Dog, Dan The Automator, and many others. THETAN has been grinding out their pummeling powerviolence/hardcore since 2011, most of the time as the stripped-down two-piece lineup of drummer Chad L’Plattenier and bassist/vocalist Dan Emery the band currently bears. The band has issued two LPs, several singles and EPs, splits with the likes of Bleed The Pigs, Downpour, Bible Thumper, and others along the way. Album trailer available here https://youtu.be/BYMaLV2lNbI
Please note new street date: June 12 (delayed). When considering any great work of art, be it a painting, a novel, or a piece of music, it's natural to wonder what might have inspired it. Mark Lanegan's new album, "Straight Songs Of Sorrow", features guest appearances from Greg Dulli, Warren Ellis, John Paul Jones, Ed Harcourt and more, These 15 songs are inspired his life story, as documented in his new memoir, "Sing Backwards And Weep". The book is a brutal, nerve-shredding read, thanks to Lanegan's unsparing candor in recounting a journey from troubled youth in eastern Washington, through his drug-stained existence amid the '90s Seattle rock scene, to an unlikely salvation at the dawn of the 21st century. While the memoir documents a struggle to find peace with himself, his new album emphasizes the extent to which he came to realize that music is his life.
Please note new street date: June 12 (delayed). When considering any great work of art, be it a painting, a novel, or a piece of music, it's natural to wonder what might have inspired it. Mark Lanegan's new album, "Straight Songs Of Sorrow", features guest appearances from Greg Dulli, Warren Ellis, John Paul Jones, Ed Harcourt and more, These 15 songs are inspired his life story, as documented in his new memoir, "Sing Backwards And Weep". The book is a brutal, nerve-shredding read, thanks to Lanegan's unsparing candor in recounting a journey from troubled youth in eastern Washington, through his drug-stained existence amid the '90s Seattle rock scene, to an unlikely salvation at the dawn of the 21st century. While the memoir documents a struggle to find peace with himself, his new album emphasizes the extent to which he came to realize that music is his life.
Please note new street date: May 15. Working under various aliases since 2014, Christina Schneider has explored everything from groovy garage rock to minimalist bedroom pop to Syd Barrett-style psychedelia. Buoyed by her desire to create the same "crazy, powerful feeling" she gets when she hears an ABBA or Kate Bush song, she reached again for the outer limits of pop music and recorded "Personalia", her sophomore album as Locate S,1. Schneider spends much of the album trying to understand and expel a darkness that has come over her (and society at large) in order to live a more fulfilling life. While she was writing and recording the album over the past year, she was thinking a lot about her own growth and self-worth as an artist, and where her constantly evolving and always experimental music fits in the digital age. Environmentalism, money, power, and modern feminism formed part of that conversation, too. Throughout "Personalia" Schneider seeks to address how the attention economy is plaguing us with feelings of FOMO and anxiety, and is causing many of us to abandon their progressive values.
Please note new street date: May 15. First pressing on green vinyl. Working under various aliases since 2014, Christina Schneider has explored everything from groovy garage rock to minimalist bedroom pop to Syd Barrett-style psychedelia. Buoyed by her desire to create the same "crazy, powerful feeling" she gets when she hears an ABBA or Kate Bush song, she reached again for the outer limits of pop music and recorded "Personalia", her sophomore album as Locate S,1. Schneider spends much of the album trying to understand and expel a darkness that has come over her (and society at large) in order to live a more fulfilling life. While she was writing and recording the album over the past year, she was thinking a lot about her own growth and self-worth as an artist, and where her constantly evolving and always experimental music fits in the digital age. Environmentalism, money, power, and modern feminism formed part of that conversation, too. Throughout "Personalia" Schneider seeks to address how the attention economy is plaguing us with feelings of FOMO and anxiety, and is causing many of us to abandon their progressive values.
Please note new street date: June 12. Marking their 20th year as a band, Maserati returns with their first new album in five years. Produced by the band and mixed by Grammy-winning producer John Congleton (Explosions In The Sky, Swans, Angel Olsen), "Enter The Mirror" is Maserati's most compelling mélange of triumphant guitar hooks, abstract synth-pop, and Wax Trax-inspired noise anthems. The gated drums of Phil Collins and chorus-drenched guitars of INXS were prominent influences on "Enter The Mirror", paired to magnificent effect with the increasingly dystopian lyrical themes. In addition to longtime members Coley Dennis, Matt Cherry, Chris McNeal, and Mike Albanese, Maserati are joined by friends and collaborators, Bill Berry (R.E.M.), Owen Lange, and Alfredo Lapuz Jr. "Enter The Mirror" is Maserati's most efficient and cohesive album, and a monumental accomplishment for a band who have weathered many storms throughout their first two decades.
Please note new street date: June 12. Marking their 20th year as a band, Maserati returns with their first new album in five years. Produced by the band and mixed by Grammy-winning producer John Congleton (Explosions In The Sky, Swans, Angel Olsen), "Enter The Mirror" is Maserati's most compelling mélange of triumphant guitar hooks, abstract synth-pop, and Wax Trax-inspired noise anthems. The gated drums of Phil Collins and chorus-drenched guitars of INXS were prominent influences on "Enter The Mirror", paired to magnificent effect with the increasingly dystopian lyrical themes. In addition to longtime members Coley Dennis, Matt Cherry, Chris McNeal, and Mike Albanese, Maserati are joined by friends and collaborators, Bill Berry (R.E.M.), Owen Lange, and Alfredo Lapuz Jr. "Enter The Mirror" is Maserati's most efficient and cohesive album, and a monumental accomplishment for a band who have weathered many storms throughout their first two decades.
Please note new street date: June 12. Pearlescent platinum coloured vinyl edition, limited to 1000 copies. Marking their 20th year as a band, Maserati returns with their first new album in five years. Produced by the band and mixed by Grammy-winning producer John Congleton (Explosions In The Sky, Swans, Angel Olsen), "Enter The Mirror" is Maserati's most compelling mélange of triumphant guitar hooks, abstract synth-pop, and Wax Trax-inspired noise anthems. The gated drums of Phil Collins and chorus-drenched guitars of INXS were prominent influences on "Enter The Mirror", paired to magnificent effect with the increasingly dystopian lyrical themes. In addition to longtime members Coley Dennis, Matt Cherry, Chris McNeal, and Mike Albanese, Maserati are joined by friends and collaborators, Bill Berry (R.E.M.), Owen Lange, and Alfredo Lapuz Jr. "Enter The Mirror" is Maserati's most efficient and cohesive album, and a monumental accomplishment for a band who have weathered many storms throughout their first two decades.
February 14 street date. New York band The Men have always been genre-morphic and unpredictable, but on their eighth album "Mercy" they have truly done something new as a band. For the first time since forming, they have now created three straight records with the same lineup, and the result is a sound that feels developed and continuous despite running the gamut of mood, in true Men fashion. Having this lineup stability has allowed the band to deepen and finesse the sounds they were exploring on 2017's "Drift" and produce tracks that have a unique and distinct voice. The album is simply the sound of a band that has a deep and unjaded passion for songwriting and creation, working at the peak of their collaborative connection.
February 14 street date. New York band The Men have always been genre-morphic and unpredictable, but on their eighth album "Mercy" they have truly done something new as a band. For the first time since forming, they have now created three straight records with the same lineup, and the result is a sound that feels developed and continuous despite running the gamut of mood, in true Men fashion. Having this lineup stability has allowed the band to deepen and finesse the sounds they were exploring on 2017's "Drift" and produce tracks that have a unique and distinct voice. The album is simply the sound of a band that has a deep and unjaded passion for songwriting and creation, working at the peak of their collaborative connection.
February 14 street date. Limited blue and purple splatter vinyl edition. New York band The Men have always been genre-morphic and unpredictable, but on their eighth album "Mercy" they have truly done something new as a band. For the first time since forming, they have now created three straight records with the same lineup, and the result is a sound that feels developed and continuous despite running the gamut of mood, in true Men fashion. Having this lineup stability has allowed the band to deepen and finesse the sounds they were exploring on 2017's "Drift" and produce tracks that have a unique and distinct voice. The album is simply the sound of a band that has a deep and unjaded passion for songwriting and creation, working at the peak of their collaborative connection.
March 27 street date. It's been a long, winding road to Hailu Mergia's sixth decade of musical activity. With 2018's critical breakthrough "Lala Belu", Mergia championed himself and consolidated his legacy, producing the album on his own and connecting with listeners through the sheer creative power of his version of modern Ethiopian music. His subsequent performances revealed an artist who is in no way stuck in the nostalgia for the "golden age" sound. The press agreed, including the New York Times, BBC and Pitchfork, calling his music "triumphantly in the present" in its Best 200 Albums of the 2010's list. Mergia's new album "Yene Mircha" encapsulates many of the things that make the keyboardist, accordionist and composer-arranger remarkable - elements that have persisted to maintain his vitality all these years, through the ebb and flow of his career. The rock solid trio with whom he has toured the world most recently, DC-based Alemseged Kebede (bass) and Ken Joseph (drums), forms the nucleus around which an expanded band makes a potent response to the contemporary jazz future "Lala Belu" promised. "Yene Mircha" calcifies Mergia's prolific stream of creativity and his philosophy that there is a multitude of Ethiopian musical approaches, not just one sound.
March 27 street date. It's been a long, winding road to Hailu Mergia's sixth decade of musical activity. With 2018's critical breakthrough "Lala Belu", Mergia championed himself and consolidated his legacy, producing the album on his own and connecting with listeners through the sheer creative power of his version of modern Ethiopian music. His subsequent performances revealed an artist who is in no way stuck in the nostalgia for the "golden age" sound. The press agreed, including the New York Times, BBC and Pitchfork, calling his music "triumphantly in the present" in its Best 200 Albums of the 2010's list. Mergia's new album "Yene Mircha" encapsulates many of the things that make the keyboardist, accordionist and composer-arranger remarkable - elements that have persisted to maintain his vitality all these years, through the ebb and flow of his career. The rock solid trio with whom he has toured the world most recently, DC-based Alemseged Kebede (bass) and Ken Joseph (drums), forms the nucleus around which an expanded band makes a potent response to the contemporary jazz future "Lala Belu" promised. "Yene Mircha" calcifies Mergia's prolific stream of creativity and his philosophy that there is a multitude of Ethiopian musical approaches, not just one sound.
January 24 street date. Among the most sampled groups of the 60s and 70s by a slew of top rap and hip-hop artists of the 90s and beyond, the legendary New Orleans band and Grammy Lifetime Achievement awardees The Meters created an instantly recognizable sound through almost a decade of recording, initially for the Josie label and then for Reprise and Warner Brothers. Group members guitarist Leo Nocentelli, bassist George Porter Jr., drummer Joseph 'Zigaboo' Modeliste and keyboardist/singer Art Neville formed the core of the band, later augmented by Art's younger brother, percussionist/singer Cyril who joined The Meters in 1975. With a superb, informative and extensive essay by renowned UK writer Charles Waring that includes quotes from Nocentelli, Porter and Cyril Neville from interviews conducted for the liner notes, first class mastering by Nick Robbins and stellar artwork by Roger Williams, this wonderful 116-track, 6-CD SoulMusic Records' box set showcases The Meters' entire recorded output for Josie Records (1968-1971), Reprise and Warners Brothers (1972-77). In addition to their eight full albums, this luxurious package (with a 40-page booklet) includes non-album singles, bonus material, single edits and a rare 1977 disco mix of ‘Disco Is The Thing Today’, available for the first time on CD.
February 14 (LP) / January 31 (CD). Haviah Mighty's 2019 Polaris Prize winning album "13th Floor" now available via FAB! Raised in a musical household in Brampton, Ontario, Mighty started singing at the age of 4, rapping at 11, and producing at 15. Well-known for being one of the three MCs who make up The Sorority - a hip-hop group born during an all-female cypher on International Women's Day in 2016 - Mighty is making equally large waves as a solo artist. Haviah has been releasing music independently since 2009, but it was her project, "Flower City" (2017), that propelled her solo career into further success. This past September, "13th Floor" made history as the first hip hop artist and the first black woman to ever receive the Polaris Prize. Garnering overwhelming praise from the likes of Pitchfork, Billboard, Hot New Hip Hop, and Lyrical Lemonade to name a few, Haviah continues to carve out spaces that boldly defy gendered expectations for women in hip hop.
January 31 street date (CD) / February 14 (LP). Haviah Mighty's 2019 Polaris Prize winning album "13th Floor" now available via FAB! Raised in a musical household in Brampton, Ontario, Mighty started singing at the age of 4, rapping at 11, and producing at 15. Well-known for being one of the three MCs who make up The Sorority - a hip-hop group born during an all-female cypher on International Women's Day in 2016 - Mighty is making equally large waves as a solo artist. Haviah has been releasing music independently since 2009, but it was her project, "Flower City" (2017), that propelled her solo career into further success. This past September, "13th Floor" made history as the first hip hop artist and the first black woman to ever receive the Polaris Prize. Garnering overwhelming praise from the likes of Pitchfork, Billboard, Hot New Hip Hop, and Lyrical Lemonade to name a few, Haviah continues to carve out spaces that boldly defy gendered expectations for women in hip hop.
March 13 street date. With a timeless sound that blends heavy soul and psych-rock, Monophonics have built a reputation over the past decade as one of the best live bands in the country. Led by singer Kelly Finnigan, the band of has drawn on their colorful history - both their experiences as veteran touring performers and as individuals growing up in the Bay Area - to create "It's Only Us", their fourth release since 2012. A reflection of what they see as the current state of the world, the record touches on difficult subjects such as broken relationships, mental health issues, gun violence and power struggles, all with an underlying message of unity, resilience and acceptance. The band's signature style of arrangement has been expanded with top-notch production and creative instrumentation to round out the Monophonics' trademark soul sound, while Finnigan's vocals are more powerful than ever.
March 13 street date. With a timeless sound that blends heavy soul and psych-rock, Monophonics have built a reputation over the past decade as one of the best live bands in the country. Led by singer Kelly Finnigan, the band of has drawn on their colorful history - both their experiences as veteran touring performers and as individuals growing up in the Bay Area - to create "It's Only Us", their fourth release since 2012. A reflection of what they see as the current state of the world, the record touches on difficult subjects such as broken relationships, mental health issues, gun violence and power struggles, all with an underlying message of unity, resilience and acceptance. The band's signature style of arrangement has been expanded with top-notch production and creative instrumentation to round out the Monophonics' trademark soul sound, while Finnigan's vocals are more powerful than ever.
Please note new street date: March 13. Wes’s Best: The Best of Wes Montgomery on Resonance explores five of the guitar legend Wes Montgomery’s official releases of previously-unissued recordings on Resonance — Echoes of Indiana Avenue (2012), In the Beginning (2015), One Night in Indy (2016), Smokin’ in Seattle (2017) and Back on Indiana Avenue (2019). Mastered by Bernie Grudman and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI.
June 5 street date. Muzz is the new project of Paul Banks (Interpol), Josh Kaufman (producer/multi-instrumentalist and one third of Bonny Light Horseman), and Matt Barrick (drummer of Jonathan Fire*Eater, The Walkmen, and Fleet Foxes' touring band). Their self-titled, debut album, is out June 5th on Matador. Muzz was born out of longstanding friendship and collaboration. Banks and Kaufman have known each other since childhood, attending high school together in Spain before separately moving to New York. There, they independently crossed paths with Barrick while running in similar music circles. Their debut album, written, arranged and performed by all three, is dark and gorgeous, expansive and soulful. No matter the sonic direction, Muzz goes there effortlessly and with maximum emotional charge. The band's name holds a meaning that serves to describe the music's subtle, analog quality and texture.
June 5 street date. Muzz is the new project of Paul Banks (Interpol), Josh Kaufman (producer/multi-instrumentalist and one third of Bonny Light Horseman), and Matt Barrick (drummer of Jonathan Fire*Eater, The Walkmen, and Fleet Foxes' touring band). Their self-titled, debut album, is out June 5th on Matador. Muzz was born out of longstanding friendship and collaboration. Banks and Kaufman have known each other since childhood, attending high school together in Spain before separately moving to New York. There, they independently crossed paths with Barrick while running in similar music circles. Their debut album, written, arranged and performed by all three, is dark and gorgeous, expansive and soulful. No matter the sonic direction, Muzz goes there effortlessly and with maximum emotional charge. The band's name holds a meaning that serves to describe the music's subtle, analog quality and texture.
June 19 street date. 10-year anniversary deluxe edition of The National's 2010 album "High Violet". The limited triple purple and clear marble LP with tri-fold jacket and obi strip package includes a third LP which includes eight tracks never before available on vinyl. Originally released May 11, 2010, the critically acclaimed fifth studio album features the now-classics "Terrible Love", "Bloodbuzz Ohio", "England", and perennial show closer, "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks". In addition to the 10 original tracks, the triple LP package includes a third LP which includes tracks never before available on vinyl, including "Wake Up Your Saints", an alternate version of "Terrible Love", "Walk Off", and more.
Please note new street date: June 19. Pop Punk legends New Found Glory return with their 9th studio album, Forever and Ever x Infinity. Harking back to the days of Nothing Gold Can Stay and the band's self titled album, the record is full of fast, punk laced drums and the most emo of lyrics revolving around the ups and downs of falling in love. The band will be doing co-headline tour with Simple Plan in the Summer of 2020. For Fans Of: Blink 182, Yellowcard, Good Charlotte.
Please note new street date: June 19. Pop Punk legends New Found Glory return with their 9th studio album, Forever and Ever x Infinity. Harking back to the days of Nothing Gold Can Stay and the band's self titled album, the record is full of fast, punk laced drums and the most emo of lyrics revolving around the ups and downs of falling in love. The band will be doing co-headline tour with Simple Plan in the Summer of 2020. For Fans Of: Blink 182, Yellowcard, Good Charlotte.
Please note new street date: May 22. "BRAT" is the masterful LP from beloved Chicago multi-instrumentalist NNAMDÏ. It follows his critically acclaimed LP "DROOL" (2017), an album that brought him to Pitchfork Fest and earned him Best Music of the Year recognition from NPR, Fader, Bandcamp, and more. On his follow-up "BRAT", NNAMDÏ starkly explores the psychological turmoil between wanting and needing in a manner that is both intensely personal and highly relatable. Its virtuosic fusion of Hip-Hop, Rock, Pop, Electronics, Gospel, and West African influences firmly establishes him in a genre-less class of his own.
Please note new street date: May 22. "BRAT" is the masterful LP from beloved Chicago multi-instrumentalist NNAMDÏ. It follows his critically acclaimed LP "DROOL" (2017), an album that brought him to Pitchfork Fest and earned him Best Music of the Year recognition from NPR, Fader, Bandcamp, and more. On his follow-up "BRAT", NNAMDÏ starkly explores the psychological turmoil between wanting and needing in a manner that is both intensely personal and highly relatable. Its virtuosic fusion of Hip-Hop, Rock, Pop, Electronics, Gospel, and West African influences firmly establishes him in a genre-less class of his own.
Please note new street date: May 22. Limited clear with pink and blue vinyl splatter vinyl edition, exclusively available to independent record shops. "BRAT" is the masterful LP from beloved Chicago multi-instrumentalist NNAMDÏ. It follows his critically acclaimed LP "DROOL" (2017), an album that brought him to Pitchfork Fest and earned him Best Music of the Year recognition from NPR, Fader, Bandcamp, and more. On his follow-up "BRAT", NNAMDÏ starkly explores the psychological turmoil between wanting and needing in a manner that is both intensely personal and highly relatable. Its virtuosic fusion of Hip-Hop, Rock, Pop, Electronics, Gospel, and West African influences firmly establishes him in a genre-less class of his own.
July 5 street date. Grade A+ drone zoners by visionary collaborators, Jim O'Rourke and CM Von Hausswolff. Features location recordings from Kathmandu diffused into keeling subbass and cosmic vapour. Master and cut by Dubplates & Mastering, Germany. Pressed on neon yellow vinyl. RIYL: Roland Kayn, Jaap Vink, Deathprod. Edition of 500.
January 24 street date. In Okay Kaya songs, her world looks a lot like ours - Netflix, jetlag, vegan peanut butter and chocolate ice cream, lonely bowls of ramen, diet trends. But unlike ours, each of these vibrates and shimmers with deeper, darker meaning, with existential dread and desire for understanding. This is Sade for nihilists. As she transforms feelings, defeats, and victories into songs, the lyrics often involve pools of sweat, oceans, and other forms of wetness. But Okay Kaya's world is not one of renewal and rebirth - it's not water at all, actually. "It's more like bile," Kaya says, "It's what comes out in the purge." In these songs, Kaya swims through her melancholy and anxiety - not as a way of cleansing herself, but as an understanding of their depths.
January 24 street date. Limited coke bottle clear vinyl edition. In Okay Kaya songs, her world looks a lot like ours - Netflix, jetlag, vegan peanut butter and chocolate ice cream, lonely bowls of ramen, diet trends. But unlike ours, each of these vibrates and shimmers with deeper, darker meaning, with existential dread and desire for understanding. This is Sade for nihilists. As she transforms feelings, defeats, and victories into songs, the lyrics often involve pools of sweat, oceans, and other forms of wetness. But Okay Kaya's world is not one of renewal and rebirth - it's not water at all, actually. "It's more like bile," Kaya says, "It's what comes out in the purge." In these songs, Kaya swims through her melancholy and anxiety - not as a way of cleansing herself, but as an understanding of their depths.
June 19 street date. Mike Kinsella's work over the years with his various musical endeavors has been nothing short of foundational, from early days with Cap'n Jazz right up until recently with American Football's unforeseen and excellent second act. Even with his long list of contributions to course-setting bands, Kinsella never reveals more of his internal world than he does with the softly drawn songs of his long running solo project Owen. With his new album "The Avalanche", he delivers a set of Owen songs that are the most straightforward and unguarded the project has ever been. To record The Avalanche, Kinsella reunited with producer Sean Carey (Bon Iver, Peter Gabriel) and engineer Zach Hanson (The Tallest Man On Earth, Waxahatchee) and decamped to snow-covered Hive Studio in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, just far enough away from the routines and distractions of daily life to really focus on the process. Easily the most intense Owen album, "The Avalanche" is also the most beautifully crafted. Kinsella goes deeper than ever before, with self-reflection so painfully blunt it's sometimes difficult to look at head on.
June 19 street date. Mike Kinsella's work over the years with his various musical endeavors has been nothing short of foundational, from early days with Cap'n Jazz right up until recently with American Football's unforeseen and excellent second act. Even with his long list of contributions to course-setting bands, Kinsella never reveals more of his internal world than he does with the softly drawn songs of his long running solo project Owen. With his new album "The Avalanche", he delivers a set of Owen songs that are the most straightforward and unguarded the project has ever been. To record The Avalanche, Kinsella reunited with producer Sean Carey (Bon Iver, Peter Gabriel) and engineer Zach Hanson (The Tallest Man On Earth, Waxahatchee) and decamped to snow-covered Hive Studio in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, just far enough away from the routines and distractions of daily life to really focus on the process. Easily the most intense Owen album, "The Avalanche" is also the most beautifully crafted. Kinsella goes deeper than ever before, with self-reflection so painfully blunt it's sometimes difficult to look at head on.
June 19 street date. Mike Kinsella's work over the years with his various musical endeavors has been nothing short of foundational, from early days with Cap'n Jazz right up until recently with American Football's unforeseen and excellent second act. Even with his long list of contributions to course-setting bands, Kinsella never reveals more of his internal world than he does with the softly drawn songs of his long running solo project Owen. With his new album "The Avalanche", he delivers a set of Owen songs that are the most straightforward and unguarded the project has ever been. To record The Avalanche, Kinsella reunited with producer Sean Carey (Bon Iver, Peter Gabriel) and engineer Zach Hanson (The Tallest Man On Earth, Waxahatchee) and decamped to snow-covered Hive Studio in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, just far enough away from the routines and distractions of daily life to really focus on the process. Easily the most intense Owen album, "The Avalanche" is also the most beautifully crafted. Kinsella goes deeper than ever before, with self-reflection so painfully blunt it's sometimes difficult to look at head on.
March 6 street date. Dan Yemin is the only man in punk rock whose bands get louder and faster with age. As the guitarist in hardcore legends Lifetime and Kid Dynamite, Yemin has been known for bringing a keen sense of melody to even the heaviest hitting of his songs. Paint It Black, formed from the ashes of Kid Dynamite and the result of Yemin’s brush with death and subsequent renewed desire to make music. “On Paradise, the band’s second album, Paint It Black re“release a lot of the tension throughout the album with a lease reliance on melodic sensibilities -- guitar and vocal lines with interesting half-time chumpdowns -- which may be a result of Paradise being produced and recorded by J. Robbins. These are introspective songs of identiby identity against a backdrop of global breakdown and corporate ty manipulation. Paint It Black offer up fast beats, thick chords, and passionate lyrics on Paradise, and shine on tracks with vocal exchanges between Dan Yemin and Andy Nelson, such as “Pink Slip,” “Athiests in Foxholes,” and “Labor Day.” Paint It Black have always had a good sense of keeping the good fight going with passion and rage in their lyrics and delivery, while mixing in memorable musical elements. Paradise will make you get up, think about your situation, and fight for better days. “ - David Serra / All Music Guide
March 6 street date. Dan Yemin is the only man in punk rock whose bands get louder and faster with age. As the guitarist in hardcore legends Lifetime and Kid Dynamite, Yemin has been known for bringing a keen sense of melody to even the heaviest hitting of his songs. Paint It Black, formed from the ashes of Kid Dynamite and the result of Yemin’s brush with death and subsequent renewed desire to make music. “On Paradise, the band’s second album, Paint It Black re“release a lot of the tension throughout the album with a lease reliance on melodic sensibilities -- guitar and vocal lines with interesting half-time chumpdowns -- which may be a result of Paradise being produced and recorded by J. Robbins. These are introspective songs of identiby identity against a backdrop of global breakdown and corporate ty manipulation. Paint It Black offer up fast beats, thick chords, and passionate lyrics on Paradise, and shine on tracks with vocal exchanges between Dan Yemin and Andy Nelson, such as “Pink Slip,” “Athiests in Foxholes,” and “Labor Day.” Paint It Black have always had a good sense of keeping the good fight going with passion and rage in their lyrics and delivery, while mixing in memorable musical elements. Paradise will make you get up, think about your situation, and fight for better days. “ - David Serra / All Music Guide
March 27 street date. Parkway Drive, the five-piece metal band from Byron Bay, Australia formed in 2002. The band features vocalist Winston McCall, guitarists Luke Kilpatrick and Jeff Ling, bassist Jia O’Connor, and drummer Ben Gordon. For more than a decade, the band has stood at the forefront of heavy music worldwide, matching their uncompromising urgency with a powerful musicality. They have released six studio albums, two platinum selling DVDs and one book in their storied career, which has been documented in the feature length documentary Viva the Underdogs, and this album release is the soundtrack to the film. The film, Viva The Underdogs features over a decade of behind the scenes personal footage, coupled with unprecedented access to the bands most explosive live tours and world’s biggest music festivals. The film gives an incredibly honest and candid look at Parkway Drive’s journey; the good-times, battles, triumphs, and sacrifices. Viva The Underdogs the album features 14 tracks; 11 of their biggest songs recorded live at the Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany, as well as three of their most popular tracks re-imagined, recorded in German and one with a feature from German Rap artist, Casper.
March 27 street date. Parkway Drive, the five-piece metal band from Byron Bay, Australia formed in 2002. The band features vocalist Winston McCall, guitarists Luke Kilpatrick and Jeff Ling, bassist Jia O’Connor, and drummer Ben Gordon. For more than a decade, the band has stood at the forefront of heavy music worldwide, matching their uncompromising urgency with a powerful musicality. They have released six studio albums, two platinum selling DVDs and one book in their storied career, which has been documented in the feature length documentary Viva the Underdogs, and this album release is the soundtrack to the film. The film, Viva The Underdogs features over a decade of behind the scenes personal footage, coupled with unprecedented access to the bands most explosive live tours and world’s biggest music festivals. The film gives an incredibly honest and candid look at Parkway Drive’s journey; the good-times, battles, triumphs, and sacrifices. Viva The Underdogs the album features 14 tracks; 11 of their biggest songs recorded live at the Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany, as well as three of their most popular tracks re-imagined, recorded in German and one with a feature from German Rap artist, Casper.
March 27 street date. Parkway Drive, the five-piece metal band from Byron Bay, Australia formed in 2002. The band features vocalist Winston McCall, guitarists Luke Kilpatrick and Jeff Ling, bassist Jia O’Connor, and drummer Ben Gordon. For more than a decade, the band has stood at the forefront of heavy music worldwide, matching their uncompromising urgency with a powerful musicality. They have released six studio albums, two platinum selling DVDs and one book in their storied career, which has been documented in the feature length documentary Viva the Underdogs, and this album release is the soundtrack to the film. The film, Viva The Underdogs features over a decade of behind the scenes personal footage, coupled with unprecedented access to the bands most explosive live tours and world’s biggest music festivals. The film gives an incredibly honest and candid look at Parkway Drive’s journey; the good-times, battles, triumphs, and sacrifices. Viva The Underdogs the album features 14 tracks; 11 of their biggest songs recorded live at the Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany, as well as three of their most popular tracks re-imagined, recorded in German and one with a feature from German Rap artist, Casper.
March 6 street date. Pears laid siege to the punk world with their 2014 debut release "Go To Prison" and have been on a buzz generating rampage ever since. Their follow-up album "Green Star" saw Pears take their audacious songwriting to a new level with relentless touring along the way. The forthcoming self-titled third album is yet another significant step forward for a band that has grown by leaps and bounds with each album. "Pears" is 31 minutes of the band's signature hardcore: heavy, melodic, blistering, pointed, and surprisingly catchy. While their former albums were written well in advance, "Pears" was written on the fly, and the result is 14 songs with ankle-breaking tempo changes, frenetic guitar riffs, and imprelling vocals. Elements of prog and grunge intermingle with classic hardcore and hook-laden rock that can happen in the space of one song.
March 6 street date. Pears laid siege to the punk world with their 2014 debut release "Go To Prison" and have been on a buzz generating rampage ever since. Their follow-up album "Green Star" saw Pears take their audacious songwriting to a new level with relentless touring along the way. The forthcoming self-titled third album is yet another significant step forward for a band that has grown by leaps and bounds with each album. "Pears" is 31 minutes of the band's signature hardcore: heavy, melodic, blistering, pointed, and surprisingly catchy. While their former albums were written well in advance, "Pears" was written on the fly, and the result is 14 songs with ankle-breaking tempo changes, frenetic guitar riffs, and imprelling vocals. Elements of prog and grunge intermingle with classic hardcore and hook-laden rock that can happen in the space of one song.
On May 15 Perfume Genius (Mike Hadreas) will release his 5th studio album, Set My Heart On Fire Immediately, via Matador Records Perfume Genius will join Tame Impala on a North American arena tour throughout the Spring and Summer including shows in Toronto (June 2nd), Montreal (June 3rd) and Vancouver (August 5th) Set My Heart On Fire Immediately sees Hadreas re-teaming with GRAMMY-nominated producer Blake Mills and features contributions from musicians Jim Keltner, Pino Palladino and Matt Chamberlin. It was recorded in Los Angeles, where Perfume Genius settled in 2017 with longtime partner and musical collaborator Alan Wyffels. Pre-order Set My Heart On Fire Immediately
The album explores and subverts concepts of masculinity and traditional roles, and introduces decidedly American musical influences. Throughout the album Hadreas plays with themes of love, sex, memory and the body, channeling popular music mythologies while irreverently authoring its own. "I wanted to feel more open, more free and spiritually wild," says Hadreas, "and I'm in a place now where those feelings are very close-- but it can border on being unhinged. I wrote these songs as a way to be more patient, more considered -- to pull at all these chaotic threads hovering around me and weave them in to something warm, thoughtful and comforting"
On May 15 Perfume Genius (Mike Hadreas) will release his 5th studio album, Set My Heart On Fire Immediately, via Matador Records Perfume Genius will join Tame Impala on a North American arena tour throughout the Spring and Summer including shows in Toronto (June 2nd), Montreal (June 3rd) and Vancouver (August 5th) Set My Heart On Fire Immediately sees Hadreas re-teaming with GRAMMY-nominated producer Blake Mills and features contributions from musicians Jim Keltner, Pino Palladino and Matt Chamberlin. It was recorded in Los Angeles, where Perfume Genius settled in 2017 with longtime partner and musical collaborator Alan Wyffels. Pre-order Set My Heart On Fire Immediately
The album explores and subverts concepts of masculinity and traditional roles, and introduces decidedly American musical influences. Throughout the album Hadreas plays with themes of love, sex, memory and the body, channeling popular music mythologies while irreverently authoring its own. "I wanted to feel more open, more free and spiritually wild," says Hadreas, "and I'm in a place now where those feelings are very close-- but it can border on being unhinged. I wrote these songs as a way to be more patient, more considered -- to pull at all these chaotic threads hovering around me and weave them in to something warm, thoughtful and comforting"
Please note: new street date is June 26. Now available for the first time on vinyl since its original release in 1999 on Rawkus Records, Trescadecaphobia brings you the CLASSIC LP from Pharoahe Monch "Internal Affairs". Featuring production from DJ Scratch, Diamond D, and The Alchemist with verses from Canibus, M.O.P., Busta Rhymes, Common, and Talib Kweli.
Available now. New black vinyl edition (the coloured vinyl edition is sold out). Porridge Radio grew out of Dana Margolin's bedroom, where she started making music in private. Living in the seaside town of Brighton, she recorded songs and slowly started playing them at open mic nights to rooms of old men who stared at her quietly as she screamed in their faces. Though she eventually grew out of them, for Margolin these open mic nights unlocked a love of performing and songwriting, as well as a new way to express herself. She decided to form a band through which to channel it all, and be noisier while she was at it - so Porridge Radio was born. Inspired by interpersonal relationships, her environment - in particular the sea - and her growing friendships with her new bandmates, Margolin's distinctive, indie-pop-but-make-it-existentialist style soon started to crystallise. As the band's sound - bright pop-rock instrumentation blended with Margolin's tender, open-ended lyrics - has developed and refined, Porridge Radio have also received enthusiastic radio airplay on the BBC, Radio X and more. Now, they are taking that development a step further, as they put out their label debut, "Every Bad".
January 17 street date. The Professionals = Beats by Madlib. Raps by Oh No. Real. Rap. Shit. Madlib is a highly regarded and influential hip-hop producer and occasional rapper, who has left his distinct and stylized sound on classic tracks and critically beloved albums by the likes of MF DOOM, J Dilla , Talib Kweli, Georgia Anne Muldrow, and more. Madlib's collaborations with rapper Freddie Gibbs ("Piñata" and this year's "Bandana") are some of the most acclaimed hip-hop records of the past decade, and his various DJ mix compilations ("Madlib Medicine Show", "Beat Konducta") have earned high praise from a variety of journalistic sources. Oh No is a rapper and producer who has left his mark across a wide swath of releases. His 2006 concept album "Exodus Into Unheard Rhythms" (which exclusively sampled the works of musical theatre composer Galt MacDermot) was highly acclaimed upon its release, as well as his various crate-digging DJ mix projects. He has produced tracks for the likes of Danny Brown, Action Bronson, Aloe Blacc, Talib Kweli, and Prodigy, while contributing guest verses to tracks by Czarface, Apathy, Murs, Little Brother, and more. The album also features Adub, Elzhi, and Chino XL.The first pressing of the LP comes housed in a die-cut, embossed jacket.
January 17 street date. The Professionals = Beats by Madlib. Raps by Oh No. Real. Rap. Shit. Madlib is a highly regarded and influential hip-hop producer and occasional rapper, who has left his distinct and stylized sound on classic tracks and critically beloved albums by the likes of MF DOOM, J Dilla , Talib Kweli, Georgia Anne Muldrow, and more. Madlib's collaborations with rapper Freddie Gibbs ("Piñata" and this year's "Bandana") are some of the most acclaimed hip-hop records of the past decade, and his various DJ mix compilations ("Madlib Medicine Show", "Beat Konducta") have earned high praise from a variety of journalistic sources. Oh No is a rapper and producer who has left his mark across a wide swath of releases. His 2006 concept album "Exodus Into Unheard Rhythms" (which exclusively sampled the works of musical theatre composer Galt MacDermot) was highly acclaimed upon its release, as well as his various crate-digging DJ mix projects. He has produced tracks for the likes of Danny Brown, Action Bronson, Aloe Blacc, Talib Kweli, and Prodigy, while contributing guest verses to tracks by Czarface, Apathy, Murs, Little Brother, and more. The album also features Adub, Elzhi, and Chino XL.The first pressing of the LP comes housed in a die-cut, embossed jacket.
February 21 street date. PURR marks the second project from childhood friends and born and raised New Yorkers, Eliza Callahan and Jack Staffen, who have previously released and performed music simply under their own names (Jack and Eliza). The songwriting duo formed PURR in 2017 while seniors in college. Taking cues from a lineage of dual-lead-vocalist bands with sonic roots in the late 60s and 70s, the pair fluidly oscillates between singing in harmony and unison with their voices often blending to forge what at times can eerily sound like a singular voice. While the songwriting style too makes nods to the same era as do their tones, their music evades placement in any specific time or place. They approached Sam Glick, a friend of Callahan’s, to record their first two songs they wrote as PURR in Callahan’s parent’s kitchen. Glick also stepped in on bass and brought Max Friedberg along to play drums which led to the band’s natural formation. After sending their demos around, they were offered their first show, opening for Foxygen at Terminal 5. It was that night that they met Jonathan Rado who took immediate liking to the band and a year later would record their forthcoming debut album at his Los Angeles studio.
February 21 street date. PURR marks the second project from childhood friends and born and raised New Yorkers, Eliza Callahan and Jack Staffen, who have previously released and performed music simply under their own names (Jack and Eliza). The songwriting duo formed PURR in 2017 while seniors in college. Taking cues from a lineage of dual-lead-vocalist bands with sonic roots in the late 60s and 70s, the pair fluidly oscillates between singing in harmony and unison with their voices often blending to forge what at times can eerily sound like a singular voice. While the songwriting style too makes nods to the same era as do their tones, their music evades placement in any specific time or place. They approached Sam Glick, a friend of Callahan’s, to record their first two songs they wrote as PURR in Callahan’s parent’s kitchen. Glick also stepped in on bass and brought Max Friedberg along to play drums which led to the band’s natural formation. After sending their demos around, they were offered their first show, opening for Foxygen at Terminal 5. It was that night that they met Jonathan Rado who took immediate liking to the band and a year later would record their forthcoming debut album at his Los Angeles studio.
March 13 street date. COVER FEATURE is a three-parter on MOONDOG. Our editor’s phone interview with him from 1998, some amazing never-before-seen-images, and crucially this series of archival interviews from 1953. SHANA CLEVELAND The singer-songwriter / La Luz leader’s hand-written illustrated tour diary chronicles a European tour with her own newborn baby, and it’s really unlike anything you’ve seen or read before GAINESVILLE RIOT ’88 On tour supporting ‘Bug,’ the immense DINOSAUR JR’S laconic wall of sound helped to start a riot at their show in a Florida university hall. Thankfully our old pal Kevin Arrow was there with slide film in his camera to capture the event. These images have never been seen before.
Also Featuring: • A Robert Frank Tribute • Upcoming Mariangela Reissue • A Look at Toody Cole’s Portland store • Don Letts Interview • Artist Rebecca Morgan • Astra Taylor Interview • Denis Johnson Archival Interview • A Re-evaluation of “Babe: Pig in the City” • 1960s Detroit Gospel Flyers • Luc Sante’s Photo Column Debut • Featire on Snowboarding Legend Russell Winfield • Ana Gavrilosvska’s Writings on Yazz Ahmed • Live Show Reviews of Mayo Thompson and Eliane Radigue • RJ Smith on the Legacy of Skeeter Davis • A look back at New Mexico News, from Neutral Milk Hotel’s Jeremy Barnes
Please note new street date: May 15. Third Man Records reissue two of Redd Kross' beloved 1990s albums, Phaseshifter (1993) and Show World (1997). The brothers are joined by drummer Brian Reitzell, guitarist Eddie Kurdziel (R.I.P.) and keyboardist Gene Fennelly on 1993’s Phaseshifter. Redd Kross leaves the ‘60s and ‘70s pop culture references at the door (well, most of them) and brings their strong melodies, dreamy harmonies, psychedelic punk / bubblegum metal to the front, tearing through 12 new Redd Kross tunes. Every track is a full-on Redd Kross gem, with standouts like Crazy World, Dumb Angel, Pay For Love and After School Special.
Please note new street date: May 15. Third Man Records reissue of two of Redd Kross' beloved 1990s albums, Phaseshifter (1993) and Show World (1997). Phaseshifter line-up intact (Gene Fennelly would soon move on, but plays all the keyboards on the recording), Redd Kross came back at us with amps turned up and smiles on their faces on 1997’s Show World. The album starts off with a spot on cover of The Quick’s L.A. power pop classic, Pretty Please Me, and sets the tone for yet another killer album by the thinking person’s good time band. Like all Redd Kross albums before and since, this one is all killer, no filler, with special highlights Stoned, Vanity Mirror, One Chord Progression and the absolutely sublime Follow The Leader.
June 26 street date. The special 40th anniversary edition of the "Red Cross" EP, which includes the band's six-song eponymous debut and adds five contemporaneous extra tracks, is the most comprehensive document to date of the extraordinary birth of Redd Kross. In a single 12-month period, Jeff and Steven McDonald, two adolescent brothers from Hawthorne, CA, went from posing with cheap guitars and singing into hairbrushes in front of their bedroom mirror to recording in world-class studios and performing live at punk shows/riots that are still being pondered and written about for their pioneering cultural relevance within the Southern California punk landscape. Along with the original tracks from the "Red Cross" (including classics like "Cover Band", "Annette's Got the Hits" and "I Hate My School"), this edition adds four demo tracks from the first time the band had ever stepped foot in a recording studio. Notably, the demo session was paid for with 12-year-old bassist Steven's paper route money. Also included is the 1979 live track "Fun With Connie".
June 26 street date. The special 40th anniversary edition of the "Red Cross" EP, which includes the band's six-song eponymous debut and adds five contemporaneous extra tracks, is the most comprehensive document to date of the extraordinary birth of Redd Kross. In a single 12-month period, Jeff and Steven McDonald, two adolescent brothers from Hawthorne, CA, went from posing with cheap guitars and singing into hairbrushes in front of their bedroom mirror to recording in world-class studios and performing live at punk shows/riots that are still being pondered and written about for their pioneering cultural relevance within the Southern California punk landscape. Along with the original tracks from the "Red Cross" (including classics like "Cover Band", "Annette's Got the Hits" and "I Hate My School"), this edition adds four demo tracks from the first time the band had ever stepped foot in a recording studio. Notably, the demo session was paid for with 12-year-old bassist Steven's paper route money. Also included is the 1979 live track "Fun With Connie".
June 26 street date. When Reigning Sound's Greg Cartwright assembled the tracklist for 2005's "Home For Orphans" compilation LP, he was mining from a moody pool of outtakes and rarities cut at various locations across his hometown of Memphis. The year prior, his band unveiled its manically raucous "Too Much Guitar!" LP, but left behind on the cutting-room floor were slow and sullen alternate takes of "Funny Thing" and "If You Can't Give Me Everything." Along with those Cartwright originals, "Home For Orphans" also contains two tracks from Reigning Sound's 2001 debut, the hard-to-find "Two Sides to Every Man" 7-inch. With bassist Jeremy Scott, drummer Greg Roberson, and organist Alex Greene on board, "Home For Orphans" presents the band's classic sonic blueprint. This essential collection is varied but cohesive, a song-crafting skill Cartwright perfected back in his early days with The Compulsive Gamblers and The Oblivians. 10 tracks.
June 26 street date. Remo Drive, the indie rock band conceived in suburban Minnesota by brothers Erik and Stephen Paulson, are back with their 3rd studio album, "A Portrait Of An Ugly Man". On this follow-up to their 2019 release, "Natural Everyday Degradation", 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 "A Portrait of An Ugly Man".
June 26 street date. Opaque maroon coloured vinyl edition, exclusively available to independent shops. Remo Drive, the indie rock band conceived in suburban Minnesota by brothers Erik and Stephen Paulson, are back with their 3rd studio album, "A Portrait Of An Ugly Man". On this follow-up to their 2019 release, "Natural Everyday Degradation", 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 "A Portrait of An Ugly Man".
February 7 street date. With their new album "All or Nothing", Shopping take a big leap into a vibrant and punchy production style that is closer to pop than anything they've ever done. Their previous album "The Official Body" was named by Pitchfork as one of the "Best Rock Albums of 2018," with an 8.1 rating. "All or Nothing," produced and mixed by Nick Sylvester (Deerhoof), is a true expansion of the band's sound, adding synths and odd rhythms to their most accessible melodies and lyrics yet. While a few songs on the album nod to their angular late 70s punk beginnings, this is much more of a radio-ready pop record than you might expect.
February 7 street date. With their new album "All or Nothing", Shopping take a big leap into a vibrant and punchy production style that is closer to pop than anything they've ever done. Their previous album "The Official Body" was named by Pitchfork as one of the "Best Rock Albums of 2018," with an 8.1 rating. "All or Nothing," produced and mixed by Nick Sylvester (Deerhoof), is a true expansion of the band's sound, adding synths and odd rhythms to their most accessible melodies and lyrics yet. While a few songs on the album nod to their angular late 70s punk beginnings, this is much more of a radio-ready pop record than you might expect.
February 21 street date. Six Organs of Admittance is back after 3 years with a new record, new techniques in sound generation, and a new attitude. "Companion Rises" has a driving force only hinted at with previous releases. Manipulating the rhythmic DNA from songs such as the bass-dominated "Taken By Ascent" (on his last record, "Burning The Threshold"), Ben Chasny has grown a new sound creature in his lab that is as welcoming as it is terrifying and as fun to listen to as it provocative and intriguing. Sonically, Ben's songs are bursting with ideas, harmonically rich, gorgeously arranged; often presenting two versions at once, overlaying electric and acoustic treatments that interlock like two shards that form a single key. "Companion Rises" plays like a mutant joining of avant and good-time forces, as if Faust produced The Revolution instead of Prince, or This Heat recorded on top of Amon DüüI's classic "Paramechanical World", but left a few of the original tracks to bleed through.
February 21 street date. Six Organs of Admittance is back after 3 years with a new record, new techniques in sound generation, and a new attitude. "Companion Rises" has a driving force only hinted at with previous releases. Manipulating the rhythmic DNA from songs such as the bass-dominated "Taken By Ascent" (on his last record, "Burning The Threshold"), Ben Chasny has grown a new sound creature in his lab that is as welcoming as it is terrifying and as fun to listen to as it provocative and intriguing. Sonically, Ben's songs are bursting with ideas, harmonically rich, gorgeously arranged; often presenting two versions at once, overlaying electric and acoustic treatments that interlock like two shards that form a single key. "Companion Rises" plays like a mutant joining of avant and good-time forces, as if Faust produced The Revolution instead of Prince, or This Heat recorded on top of Amon DüüI's classic "Paramechanical World", but left a few of the original tracks to bleed through.
May 15 street date. As one of the most important, politically charged and thought-provoking bands in music today, Sleaford Mods have been running crass but clever commentary on The People’s discontent, combining the revolutionary fury of punk and hip-hop with the bleakness of austerity-era Britain, their five critically acclaimed albums a pre-Boris crystal ball of impending doom. Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn are set to continue their onslaught into 2020 with the release of All That Glue, a collection of songs spanning the last seven years of the bands career; an array of crowd pleasers, B sides, unheard tracks and rarities for fans and the curious, released via Rough Trade. Andrew Fearn‘s clever minimalistic beats, post-punk bass, intentionally cheap sounding keyboard riffs and wafts of guitar underpin lyricist Jason Williamson as he rants against stagnation, injustice and pop culture with outrage and scathing humour, capturing the spirit of their time with a blunt eloquence. Over the past few years Sleaford Mods have become one of the most intractable British pop stories. One of its best. Their music is drawn at a flawless fault-line of anger, tenderness and humour, a triumvirate of raw energy which frequently jostles in the space of a cadence for supremacy. On record you can hear their sinews, live you can touch their veins. Sleaford Mods will return to Canada this fall with shows in Toronto (September 24th) and Montreal (September 25th) On stage there is no pretence. An antithesis to the approach of many electronic artists, Andrew simply presses play on his laptop and steps back to bob his head, drink his beer and watch as the spectacle of Jason moving from angry to hypnotic unfolds. The result is exhilarating, cathartic and brutally brilliant proving time and time again that Sleaford Mods are as vital politically as they are artistically.
May 15 street date. As one of the most important, politically charged and thought-provoking bands in music today, Sleaford Mods have been running crass but clever commentary on The People’s discontent, combining the revolutionary fury of punk and hip-hop with the bleakness of austerity-era Britain, their five critically acclaimed albums a pre-Boris crystal ball of impending doom. Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn are set to continue their onslaught into 2020 with the release of All That Glue, a collection of songs spanning the last seven years of the bands career; an array of crowd pleasers, B sides, unheard tracks and rarities for fans and the curious, released via Rough Trade. Andrew Fearn‘s clever minimalistic beats, post-punk bass, intentionally cheap sounding keyboard riffs and wafts of guitar underpin lyricist Jason Williamson as he rants against stagnation, injustice and pop culture with outrage and scathing humour, capturing the spirit of their time with a blunt eloquence. Over the past few years Sleaford Mods have become one of the most intractable British pop stories. One of its best. Their music is drawn at a flawless fault-line of anger, tenderness and humour, a triumvirate of raw energy which frequently jostles in the space of a cadence for supremacy. On record you can hear their sinews, live you can touch their veins. Sleaford Mods will return to Canada this fall with shows in Toronto (September 24th) and Montreal (September 25th) On stage there is no pretence. An antithesis to the approach of many electronic artists, Andrew simply presses play on his laptop and steps back to bob his head, drink his beer and watch as the spectacle of Jason moving from angry to hypnotic unfolds. The result is exhilarating, cathartic and brutally brilliant proving time and time again that Sleaford Mods are as vital politically as they are artistically.
May 15 street date. White vinyl edition, exclusively available to independent shops. As one of the most important, politically charged and thought-provoking bands in music today, Sleaford Mods have been running crass but clever commentary on The People's discontent, combining the revolutionary fury of punk and hip-hop with the bleakness of austerity-era Britain, their five critically acclaimed albums a pre-Boris crystal ball of impending doom. Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn are set to continue their onslaught into 2020 with the release of "All That Glue", a collection of songs spanning the last seven years of the band's career; an array of crowd pleasers, B sides, unheard tracks and rarities for fans and the curious, released via Rough Trade. Fearn's clever minimalistic beats, post-punk bass, intentionally cheap sounding keyboard riffs and wafts of guitar underpin lyricist Williamson as he rants against stagnation, injustice and pop culture with outrage and scathing humour, capturing the spirit of their time with a blunt eloquence. Over the past few years Sleaford Mods have become one of the most intractable British pop stories. One of its best. Their music is drawn at a flawless fault-line of anger, tenderness and humour, a triumvirate of raw energy which frequently jostles in the space of a cadence for supremacy. On record you can hear their sinews, live you can touch their veins. Sleaford Mods will return to Canada this fall with shows in Toronto (Sept. 24) and Montreal (Sept. 25). On stage there is no pretence. An antithesis to the approach of many electronic artists, Andrew simply presses play on his laptop and steps back to bob his head, drink his beer and watch as the spectacle of Jason moving from angry to hypnotic unfolds. The result is exhilarating, cathartic and brutally brilliant proving time and time again that Sleaford Mods are as vital politically as they are artistically.
Please note new street date: June 5. Late last year the British producer and songwriter shared the stage with the Grammy-winning Metropole Orkest and conductor Hans Ek for the opening night of Amsterdam Dance Event. Combining SOHN’s signature glacial electronics with the 54 person-strong orchestra, the one-off live performance at celebrated Dutch venue Melkweg brought to life his best-known songs such as ‘The Wheel’, ‘Conrad’ and ‘Artifice’. SOHN says, “It was an incredible opportunity to work with the Metropole on sculpting a very special evening in Amsterdam - the arrangements elevated the songs to another dimension, and luckily we recorded it all…. The album ended up being more than just a live record to me, it’s somehow a hybrid of dry electronics and rich orchestration and I’m very proud of how it turned out.” Please note: this will no longer be issued as a Record Store Day release.
January 31 street date. That was certainly the case with his new album, aloha, his third studio album. Recorded at Paris’s iconic Studio Ferber, the entire project was an exercise in letting go, in ceding control, in surrendering to fate. While SON LITTLE (the stage name of songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Aaron Livingston) still plays nearly every instrument on the album himself, he put his songs in the hands of an outside producer for the first time here, collaborating with French studio wizard Renaud Letang (Feist, Manu Chao) to create his boldest, most self-assured statement yet. Equal parts vintage and modern, the collection blends classic soul, old-school R&B, and adventurous indie sensibilities into a timeless swirl fueled by gritty instrumental virtuosity and raw, raspy vocals. It’s an ambitious work of vision and reflection, to be sure, but more than that, it’s an ecstatic testament to the freedom that comes from torching the map and trusting the currents of life to carry you where you belong.
January 31 street date. That was certainly the case with his new album, aloha, his third studio album. Recorded at Paris’s iconic Studio Ferber, the entire project was an exercise in letting go, in ceding control, in surrendering to fate. While SON LITTLE (the stage name of songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Aaron Livingston) still plays nearly every instrument on the album himself, he put his songs in the hands of an outside producer for the first time here, collaborating with French studio wizard Renaud Letang (Feist, Manu Chao) to create his boldest, most self-assured statement yet. Equal parts vintage and modern, the collection blends classic soul, old-school R&B, and adventurous indie sensibilities into a timeless swirl fueled by gritty instrumental virtuosity and raw, raspy vocals. It’s an ambitious work of vision and reflection, to be sure, but more than that, it’s an ecstatic testament to the freedom that comes from torching the map and trusting the currents of life to carry you where you belong.
January 31 street date. That was certainly the case with his new album, aloha, his third studio album. Recorded at Paris’s iconic Studio Ferber, the entire project was an exercise in letting go, in ceding control, in surrendering to fate. While SON LITTLE (the stage name of songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Aaron Livingston) still plays nearly every instrument on the album himself, he put his songs in the hands of an outside producer for the first time here, collaborating with French studio wizard Renaud Letang (Feist, Manu Chao) to create his boldest, most self-assured statement yet. Equal parts vintage and modern, the collection blends classic soul, old-school R&B, and adventurous indie sensibilities into a timeless swirl fueled by gritty instrumental virtuosity and raw, raspy vocals. It’s an ambitious work of vision and reflection, to be sure, but more than that, it’s an ecstatic testament to the freedom that comes from torching the map and trusting the currents of life to carry you where you belong.
February 7 street date. The ultimate garage rock monsta is back on vinyl! Seldom has a group ever been better named. The youthful aggression in their music, coupled with singer Gerry Roslie's ‘80 razorblades-a-day’ vocal attack and a selection of overwhelmingly brilliant riffs that underpinned some of the most wildly recorded music ever to be committed to tape, should have made the Sonics one of the biggest groups the world has ever known or heard. Instead they went on to become celebrated by generation after generation of collectors, and other young people with an urge to rock 'n' roll. The overwhelming importance of tracks like ‘The Witch’, ‘Psycho’ and ‘Boss Hoss’ has provided a template for countless groups who've come up in their wake, and who have achieved a level of commercial success that they could never have achieved without the inspiration.
Please note new street date: June 12. We follow up January's release of "Here Are The Sonics!" with a 180g black vinyl replica release of "Boom", the Sonics' second album, originally released in 1966 on Etiquette Records in wonderful mono. "Boom" still does much more than merely deliver on the promise of the first album, "Here Are The Sonics!". Few records have ever packed as much of a musical punch from start to finish. Even more so than their first LP, it offers a representation of what the Sonics must have sounded like at the peak of their considerable powers. Recorded in the most glorious no-fi you could ever wish for and with anthemic originals like ‘Cinderella’ and ‘He’s Waiting’ vying for your attention with what is possibly the most violent version of ‘Louie Louie’ that there will ever be, "Boom" is an album that has always justified the esteem in which it is held by collectors around the globe.
Please note: street date is now TBA. Sparks present their 24th studio album ‘A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip’. "Over the years, fans have come to expect dizzyingly witty lyrics and dazzling, ever-changing sonics from the Mael brothers. Their 24th album offers plenty of both, as well as a more pointed outlook and a slightly more down-to-earth sound than the duo's last outing, 2017's "Hippopotamus". Throughout "A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip", Ron and Russel Mael riff on their history deftly, and the results are both timely and quintessentially Sparks" -allmusic.com.
Please note: street date is now TBA. Sparks present their 24th studio album ‘A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip’. "Over the years, fans have come to expect dizzyingly witty lyrics and dazzling, ever-changing sonics from the Mael brothers. Their 24th album offers plenty of both, as well as a more pointed outlook and a slightly more down-to-earth sound than the duo's last outing, 2017's "Hippopotamus". Throughout "A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip", Ron and Russel Mael riff on their history deftly, and the results are both timely and quintessentially Sparks" -allmusic.com.
Please note: street date is now TBA. Sparks present their 24th studio album ‘A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip’. "Over the years, fans have come to expect dizzyingly witty lyrics and dazzling, ever-changing sonics from the Mael brothers. Their 24th album offers plenty of both, as well as a more pointed outlook and a slightly more down-to-earth sound than the duo's last outing, 2017's "Hippopotamus". Throughout "A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip", Ron and Russel Mael riff on their history deftly, and the results are both timely and quintessentially Sparks" -allmusic.com.
January 31 street date. These recordings were made by SQÜRL to provide the score to the documentary film "Living The Light" by Claire Pijman. The subject of Claire's film is Robby Müller, the unparalleled Dutch cinematographer and poet of light whose work includes: "Paris Texas", "Dead Man", "Breaking The Waves", and at least 70 other remarkable films. He also produced many still photographs, like these luminous Polaroids on the jacket of this vinyl recording. "As SQÜRL approached creating music for Claire's film, we attempted to be guided by the beautiful and illuminated elements of Robby's spirit. Just before recording, SQÜRL borrowed an unusual vintage Japanese electric guitar from the wonderful Brooklyn-based Dutch luthier, Flip Scipio. We used it for all the guitar parts, its tonal qualities also somehow channeling the spirit of Robby" - Jim Jarmusch.
January 31 street date. Limited golden hour vinyl edition. These recordings were made by SQÜRL to provide the score to the documentary film "Living The Light" by Claire Pijman. The subject of Claire's film is Robby Müller, the unparalleled Dutch cinematographer and poet of light whose work includes: "Paris Texas", "Dead Man", "Breaking The Waves", and at least 70 other remarkable films. He also produced many still photographs, like these luminous Polaroids on the jacket of this vinyl recording. "As SQÜRL approached creating music for Claire's film, we attempted to be guided by the beautiful and illuminated elements of Robby's spirit. Just before recording, SQÜRL borrowed an unusual vintage Japanese electric guitar from the wonderful Brooklyn-based Dutch luthier, Flip Scipio. We used it for all the guitar parts, its tonal qualities also somehow channeling the spirit of Robby" - Jim Jarmusch.
January 24 street date. Stella was born beside the sea and raised by a Canadian nanny who waterskied topless. The Athens-based artist is ready to share "The Break", her international debut, following her self-titled 2015 debut and 2017's "Works For You"; albums that brought her critical momentum, buzz and airplay, making her one of Greece's most popular indie stars. Self-produced, and recorded primarily at her home studio, "The Break" brings together all the playfulness and spontaneity that characterizes her music: non-standard pop deviations whose shimmering feel-good surfaces are anchored by a powerful undertow of melancholy.
January 24 street date. Stella was born beside the sea and raised by a Canadian nanny who waterskied topless. The Athens-based artist is ready to share "The Break", her international debut, following her self-titled 2015 debut and 2017's "Works For You"; albums that brought her critical momentum, buzz and airplay, making her one of Greece's most popular indie stars. Self-produced, and recorded primarily at her home studio, "The Break" brings together all the playfulness and spontaneity that characterizes her music: non-standard pop deviations whose shimmering feel-good surfaces are anchored by a powerful undertow of melancholy.
February 7 street date. CHRISTOPHER PAUL STELLING is a guitar virtuoso, a folk singer- songwriter and a touring troubadour. His new album Best of Luck was produced by Grammy award winning musician-producer, Ben Harper. The album’s title, Best Of Luck, mirrored perfectly the emotional landscape in which it was created. “Depending on how you say it, it can either be a blessing or a dismissal,” Stelling says. “And that was exactly the point I was coming to with myself, my career as an artist, as a friend and as a person.” Harper and Stelling met a few years back when Harper invited Stelling to open a series of shows. “Ben gave me a true gift back then,” Stelling says. “I’d been on the road for a long time and he put me onstage in front of his fans. He took me to the Beacon, The Ryman, Massey Hall, all these legendary rooms. Just to see that what I could do would even translate in spaces like that was revelatory.” When Harper talks about his admiration for Stelling,. “A guy that can play any instrument from any country and play it with real feeling. He crosses genres but manages to respect them; he is a folk singer with an unusual soulfulness. He understands where this music comes from and why it’s remains so essential. Of all the record’s I have produced, this is one I’m most proud of.”
February 7 street date. CHRISTOPHER PAUL STELLING is a guitar virtuoso, a folk singer- songwriter and a touring troubadour. His new album Best of Luck was produced by Grammy award winning musician-producer, Ben Harper. The album’s title, Best Of Luck, mirrored perfectly the emotional landscape in which it was created. “Depending on how you say it, it can either be a blessing or a dismissal,” Stelling says. “And that was exactly the point I was coming to with myself, my career as an artist, as a friend and as a person.” Harper and Stelling met a few years back when Harper invited Stelling to open a series of shows. “Ben gave me a true gift back then,” Stelling says. “I’d been on the road for a long time and he put me onstage in front of his fans. He took me to the Beacon, The Ryman, Massey Hall, all these legendary rooms. Just to see that what I could do would even translate in spaces like that was revelatory.” When Harper talks about his admiration for Stelling,. “A guy that can play any instrument from any country and play it with real feeling. He crosses genres but manages to respect them; he is a folk singer with an unusual soulfulness. He understands where this music comes from and why it’s remains so essential. Of all the record’s I have produced, this is one I’m most proud of.”
March 27 street date. "Aporia" is a New Age album from Sufjan Stevens and his stepfather and record label co-owner, Lowell Brams. In the spirit of the New Age composers who sanded off the edges of their synths' sawtooth waves, "Aporia" approximates a rich soundtrack from an imagined sci-fi epic brimming with moody, hooky, gauzy synthesizer soundscapes. The album may suggest the progeny of a John Carpenter, Wendy Carlos, and Mike Oldfield marriage, but it stands apart from these touchstones and generates a meditative universe all its own. This is no mere curio in the Sufjan Stevens catalog - but a fully realized collaborative musical piece.
March 27 street date. "Aporia" is a New Age album from Sufjan Stevens and his stepfather and record label co-owner, Lowell Brams. In the spirit of the New Age composers who sanded off the edges of their synths' sawtooth waves, "Aporia" approximates a rich soundtrack from an imagined sci-fi epic brimming with moody, hooky, gauzy synthesizer soundscapes. The album may suggest the progeny of a John Carpenter, Wendy Carlos, and Mike Oldfield marriage, but it stands apart from these touchstones and generates a meditative universe all its own. This is no mere curio in the Sufjan Stevens catalog - but a fully realized collaborative musical piece.
March 27 street date. "Aporia" is a New Age album from Sufjan Stevens and his stepfather and record label co-owner, Lowell Brams. In the spirit of the New Age composers who sanded off the edges of their synths' sawtooth waves, "Aporia" approximates a rich soundtrack from an imagined sci-fi epic brimming with moody, hooky, gauzy synthesizer soundscapes. The album may suggest the progeny of a John Carpenter, Wendy Carlos, and Mike Oldfield marriage, but it stands apart from these touchstones and generates a meditative universe all its own. This is no mere curio in the Sufjan Stevens catalog - but a fully realized collaborative musical piece.
March 27 street date. Limited yellow vinyl edition. "Aporia" is a New Age album from Sufjan Stevens and his stepfather and record label co-owner, Lowell Brams. In the spirit of the New Age composers who sanded off the edges of their synths' sawtooth waves, "Aporia" approximates a rich soundtrack from an imagined sci-fi epic brimming with moody, hooky, gauzy synthesizer soundscapes. The album may suggest the progeny of a John Carpenter, Wendy Carlos, and Mike Oldfield marriage, but it stands apart from these touchstones and generates a meditative universe all its own. This is no mere curio in the Sufjan Stevens catalog - but a fully realized collaborative musical piece.
Please note new street date: May 29. It was in 2006 that Detroit punks The Suicide Machines called it a day after 15 years and six full-throttle, super-charged and confrontational albums. The break didn't last too long - in 2009, the four-piece reconvened to play the occasional local shows and embarked on a handful of tours. Finally, the band is back with a brand-new album - the first since "War Profiteering Is Killing Us" 15 years ago! "Revolution Spring", the band's Fat Wreck debut, picks up right where they left off - full of blistering, rousing songs finding the band in truly explosive and energetic form. While on one hand these songs serve as an overview of the band's career and the different permutations of punk they've dabbled in over the years, they also possess the energy, spontaneity and enthusiasm of a band many years their junior - albeit with the wisdom that comes from being alive for a few decades.
Please note new street date: May 29. It was in 2006 that Detroit punks The Suicide Machines called it a day after 15 years and six full-throttle, super-charged and confrontational albums. The break didn't last too long - in 2009, the four-piece reconvened to play the occasional local shows and embarked on a handful of tours. Finally, the band is back with a brand-new album - the first since "War Profiteering Is Killing Us" 15 years ago! "Revolution Spring", the band's Fat Wreck debut, picks up right where they left off - full of blistering, rousing songs finding the band in truly explosive and energetic form. While on one hand these songs serve as an overview of the band's career and the different permutations of punk they've dabbled in over the years, they also possess the energy, spontaneity and enthusiasm of a band many years their junior - albeit with the wisdom that comes from being alive for a few decades.
May 15 street date. Moses Sumney's new, generous album, "græ", is an assertion that the undefinable still exists and dwelling in it is an act of resistance. To try to pin Sumney down on a sound - and really, on any matter - is to end up with a hand full of fog, but his genius is never allowing the set to sound like a hodgepodge. Sumney evades definition as an act of duty: technicolor videos and monochrome clothes; Art Rock and Black Classical; blowing into Fashion Week from a small town in North Carolina; seemingly infinite collaborators, but only one staggering voice. A young life spent betwixt Southern California and Accra, Ghana - not so much rootless as an epyphite, an air plant. The scale is cinematic but the moves are precise deeds of art and stewardship.
May 15 street date. Moses Sumney's new, generous album, "græ", is an assertion that the undefinable still exists and dwelling in it is an act of resistance. To try to pin Sumney down on a sound - and really, on any matter - is to end up with a hand full of fog, but his genius is never allowing the set to sound like a hodgepodge. Sumney evades definition as an act of duty: technicolor videos and monochrome clothes; Art Rock and Black Classical; blowing into Fashion Week from a small town in North Carolina; seemingly infinite collaborators, but only one staggering voice. A young life spent betwixt Southern California and Accra, Ghana - not so much rootless as an epyphite, an air plant. The scale is cinematic but the moves are precise deeds of art and stewardship.
March 6 street date. While the 77 year-old Jerry Williams' most enduring persona is the psychedelic soul superhero Swamp Dogg - a musical vigilante upholding truths both personal and political since 1970's immortal album, "Total Destruction To Your Mind" - he will tell anybody who will listen that he's considered himself country this entire time. "Sorry You Couldn't Make It" allows Swamp to finally dive into the sound he grew up playing. With the support of Pioneer Works Press, they recorded the album at Nashville's Sound Emporium backed by a crack studio band and special guests Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), John Prine, Jenny Lewis, and Sam Amidon. These are narratives about love, of missing the one you love, of compassion, family and friends, and even the kind of love that transcends death.
March 6 street date. While the 77 year-old Jerry Williams' most enduring persona is the psychedelic soul superhero Swamp Dogg - a musical vigilante upholding truths both personal and political since 1970's immortal album, "Total Destruction To Your Mind" - he will tell anybody who will listen that he's considered himself country this entire time. "Sorry You Couldn't Make It" allows Swamp to finally dive into the sound he grew up playing. With the support of Pioneer Works Press, they recorded the album at Nashville's Sound Emporium backed by a crack studio band and special guests Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), John Prine, Jenny Lewis, and Sam Amidon. These are narratives about love, of missing the one you love, of compassion, family and friends, and even the kind of love that transcends death.
June 19 street date. The six members of Sweet Spirit like pranks, glitter eyeshadow, and good stories. They also enjoy making music, as evidenced by the 12 bands they collectively play in. But above all, they love dancing, that place between exorcise and exercise. Sweet Spirit's famously raucous and sweaty live shows satisfy both their own and their audience’s need for connection and release. "Trinidad" marks the Merge debut of this mighty sextet from Austin, TX. Touting inspirations as varied as Prince, T. Rex, William Onyeabor, ABBA, Roy Orbison, Shintaro Sakamoto, Francoise Hardy, and Robyn, Sweet Spirit have created an album that pulsates with more LinnDrum and synth than guitar. The songs are stripped down yet more intricate than ever before. It's a pop record made by punk rockers - sonically happy but lyrically bitter. Lustful, sassy, and passionate.
June 19 street date. The six members of Sweet Spirit like pranks, glitter eyeshadow, and good stories. They also enjoy making music, as evidenced by the 12 bands they collectively play in. But above all, they love dancing, that place between exorcise and exercise. Sweet Spirit's famously raucous and sweaty live shows satisfy both their own and their audience’s need for connection and release. "Trinidad" marks the Merge debut of this mighty sextet from Austin, TX. Touting inspirations as varied as Prince, T. Rex, William Onyeabor, ABBA, Roy Orbison, Shintaro Sakamoto, Francoise Hardy, and Robyn, Sweet Spirit have created an album that pulsates with more LinnDrum and synth than guitar. The songs are stripped down yet more intricate than ever before. It's a pop record made by punk rockers - sonically happy but lyrically bitter. Lustful, sassy, and passionate.
March 6 street date. THICK is a Brooklyn-based punk trio featuring Nikki Sisti (guitar, vocals) - Kate Black (bass, vocals, guitar) - Shari Page (drums, vocals). Their debut album 5 Years Behind came to life at Studio G Brooklyn with producer/engineer Joel Hamilton (Iggy Pop, Jolie Holland). Over the years, THICK have earned recognition as an unstoppable live act, with their show typically spawning a mosh pit described by Stereogum as “more like an aggressive hug.” As they dreamed up the tightly crafted yet uncontainable sound of 5 Years Behind, the band kept the live experience at the forefront of their minds. “When we write, we write toward the emotions of the audience,” says Sisti. “I know that lyrics play a huge role in connection, but I’m personally more focused on visualizing how people might physically respond to a song—what it would make them feel in the moment and how it might make them move or dance.” Now gearing up for a national tour in support of 5 Years Behind, THICK aspire to strengthen the palpable sense of inclusivity that’s defined their shows from the start. “We want people to feel safe in the mosh pit, and hopefully connect with each other,” says Page. “We’ve made so many friends at the shows we’ve played, and we’d love it if people could build some kind of community from coming to see us.”
March 6 street date. THICK is a Brooklyn-based punk trio featuring Nikki Sisti (guitar, vocals) - Kate Black (bass, vocals, guitar) - Shari Page (drums, vocals). Their debut album 5 Years Behind came to life at Studio G Brooklyn with producer/engineer Joel Hamilton (Iggy Pop, Jolie Holland). Over the years, THICK have earned recognition as an unstoppable live act, with their show typically spawning a mosh pit described by Stereogum as “more like an aggressive hug.” As they dreamed up the tightly crafted yet uncontainable sound of 5 Years Behind, the band kept the live experience at the forefront of their minds. “When we write, we write toward the emotions of the audience,” says Sisti. “I know that lyrics play a huge role in connection, but I’m personally more focused on visualizing how people might physically respond to a song—what it would make them feel in the moment and how it might make them move or dance.” Now gearing up for a national tour in support of 5 Years Behind, THICK aspire to strengthen the palpable sense of inclusivity that’s defined their shows from the start. “We want people to feel safe in the mosh pit, and hopefully connect with each other,” says Page. “We’ve made so many friends at the shows we’ve played, and we’d love it if people could build some kind of community from coming to see us.”
Please note new street date: May 15. The artwork for TOPS' fourth LP sets the tone for the music enclosed. Inspired by the work of photographer Thomas Ruff, TOPS' vocalist Jane Penny stares bare-faced down the lens-simple and un-posed, yet striking with starkness and vulnerability. The image captures the fraught nature of being alive, which the 11 tracks on "I Feel Alive" explore. Penney's remarkably expressive voice is front and center. On this record more than any other, she sings with passion and energy, without sacrificing the honesty and introspection that gives her voice its depth. The songs cover a range of experiences but at its heart "I Feel Alive" is a record about resilience, the ways we can grow from for our pain and the strength that comes from learning to stand on your own as an individual. TOPS' trademark sound of beguiling melodies over soft-rock grooves, with touches of '80s sophisti-pop and a contemporary experimental palette is intact, but bolder and more expansive. The songs manage to be both immediately catchy and deceptively deep, with Penny's literary lyrics adding an extra dimension to the pure pop hooks. Satisfying yet far from predictable, this is a record to be savored, revealing itself slowly, gaining power and poignancy with each listen.
January 31 street date. A person whose words are so potent that they cause the people and beings around them to vibrate is said to have a “silver tongue.” It’s apt, then, that Mackenzie Scott—who has spent the 2010s making boundary pushing pop music under her TORRES moniker—has chosen to call her fourth album, and first release on Merge, just that. Recorded at O’Deer in Brooklyn, New York, Silver Tongue is a full-scale realization of the world Scott has created over TORRES’ last few albums. Even when singing in more subdued tones, Scott’s voice is fervent, her lyrics stirring and unyielding as she draws from both the divine and the everyday. It’s also the first TORRES record produced solely by Scott. After having shared production duties on her first three albums, the latter two alongside PJ Harvey collaborator Rob Ellis, she found the process liberating: “I made exactly the record I want, and it feels very ‘me.’” Silver Tongue fastidiously chronicles the impulses that make up desire— from the dreamy first blushes of infatuation through the slightly terrifying wonder that accompanies connection with another. In between, Scott wrestles with the highs and lows of what “being in love” might mean over heady guitars and swirling synths.
January 31 street date. A person whose words are so potent that they cause the people and beings around them to vibrate is said to have a “silver tongue.” It’s apt, then, that Mackenzie Scott—who has spent the 2010s making boundary pushing pop music under her TORRES moniker—has chosen to call her fourth album, and first release on Merge, just that. Recorded at O’Deer in Brooklyn, New York, Silver Tongue is a full-scale realization of the world Scott has created over TORRES’ last few albums. Even when singing in more subdued tones, Scott’s voice is fervent, her lyrics stirring and unyielding as she draws from both the divine and the everyday. It’s also the first TORRES record produced solely by Scott. After having shared production duties on her first three albums, the latter two alongside PJ Harvey collaborator Rob Ellis, she found the process liberating: “I made exactly the record I want, and it feels very ‘me.’” Silver Tongue fastidiously chronicles the impulses that make up desire— from the dreamy first blushes of infatuation through the slightly terrifying wonder that accompanies connection with another. In between, Scott wrestles with the highs and lows of what “being in love” might mean over heady guitars and swirling synths.
January 31 street date. A person whose words are so potent that they cause the people and beings around them to vibrate is said to have a “silver tongue.” It’s apt, then, that Mackenzie Scott—who has spent the 2010s making boundary pushing pop music under her TORRES moniker—has chosen to call her fourth album, and first release on Merge, just that. Recorded at O’Deer in Brooklyn, New York, Silver Tongue is a full-scale realization of the world Scott has created over TORRES’ last few albums. Even when singing in more subdued tones, Scott’s voice is fervent, her lyrics stirring and unyielding as she draws from both the divine and the everyday. It’s also the first TORRES record produced solely by Scott. After having shared production duties on her first three albums, the latter two alongside PJ Harvey collaborator Rob Ellis, she found the process liberating: “I made exactly the record I want, and it feels very ‘me.’” Silver Tongue fastidiously chronicles the impulses that make up desire— from the dreamy first blushes of infatuation through the slightly terrifying wonder that accompanies connection with another. In between, Scott wrestles with the highs and lows of what “being in love” might mean over heady guitars and swirling synths.
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