September 29 street date. Mascot Records is proud to announce the new studio album from Kentucky hard-rockers Black Stone Cherry. In the past two decades, Black Stone Cherry has set a new standard for Southern rock, revitalizing the tradition with burly riffs and stirring rock hooks. The band's eighth studio album explodes with urgently-emotive pop-rock hooks, heartfelt lyrics, headbanging riffs, thunderous drums, and the band's most thrilling musicianship yet. This 12-song collection is BSC's biggest and best sounding album to date. "The thesis of this record is adapting and moving on", says vocalist/guitarist Chris Robertson. "There is a lot of darkness on this album - I bared my soul - but it always foreshadows light at the end of the tunnel". White vinyl edition, limited to 2000 copies.
September 29 street date. Mascot Records is proud to announce the new studio album from Kentucky hard-rockers Black Stone Cherry. In the past two decades, Black Stone Cherry has set a new standard for Southern rock, revitalizing the tradition with burly riffs and stirring rock hooks. The band's eighth studio album explodes with urgently-emotive pop-rock hooks, heartfelt lyrics, headbanging riffs, thunderous drums, and the band's most thrilling musicianship yet. This 12-song collection is BSC's biggest and best sounding album to date. "The thesis of this record is adapting and moving on", says vocalist/guitarist Chris Robertson. "There is a lot of darkness on this album - I bared my soul - but it always foreshadows light at the end of the tunnel".
September 29 street date. It's been four years since Cherry Glazerr released their resplendent third album "Stuffed And Ready", but Clementine Creevy has been in no rush. "I've spent these years taking a hard look at myself, at my relationships, and writing about it", she says. "I guess I'm coming to terms with a lot of my bullshit". Cherry Glazerr has been on the road more often than not since Creevy was still in high school, and when the pandemic hit, she immersed herself in a static existence she'd been deprived of. Creevy describes Cherry Glazerr's ambitious new album, "I Don't Want You Anymore", as some of her most personal, raw music to date, a collection of songs that elaborate on this period of self-reckoning. Creevy describes "I Don't Want You Anymore" as a "mature" album, more so in reference to her personal growth than a reflection of the record, which in true Cherry Glazerr fashion is best described as "extremely fun".
September 29 street date. It's been four years since Cherry Glazerr released their resplendent third album "Stuffed And Ready", but Clementine Creevy has been in no rush. "I've spent these years taking a hard look at myself, at my relationships, and writing about it", she says. "I guess I'm coming to terms with a lot of my bullshit". Cherry Glazerr has been on the road more often than not since Creevy was still in high school, and when the pandemic hit, she immersed herself in a static existence she'd been deprived of. Creevy describes Cherry Glazerr's ambitious new album, "I Don't Want You Anymore", as some of her most personal, raw music to date, a collection of songs that elaborate on this period of self-reckoning. Creevy describes "I Don't Want You Anymore" as a "mature" album, more so in reference to her personal growth than a reflection of the record, which in true Cherry Glazerr fashion is best described as "extremely fun".
September 29 street date. It's been four years since Cherry Glazerr released their resplendent third album "Stuffed And Ready", but Clementine Creevy has been in no rush. "I've spent these years taking a hard look at myself, at my relationships, and writing about it", she says. "I guess I'm coming to terms with a lot of my bullshit". Cherry Glazerr has been on the road more often than not since Creevy was still in high school, and when the pandemic hit, she immersed herself in a static existence she'd been deprived of. Creevy describes Cherry Glazerr's ambitious new album, "I Don't Want You Anymore", as some of her most personal, raw music to date, a collection of songs that elaborate on this period of self-reckoning. Creevy describes "I Don't Want You Anymore" as a "mature" album, more so in reference to her personal growth than a reflection of the record, which in true Cherry Glazerr fashion is best described as "extremely fun".
September 29 street date. It's been four years since Cherry Glazerr released their resplendent third album "Stuffed And Ready", but Clementine Creevy has been in no rush. "I've spent these years taking a hard look at myself, at my relationships, and writing about it", she says. "I guess I'm coming to terms with a lot of my bullshit". Cherry Glazerr has been on the road more often than not since Creevy was still in high school, and when the pandemic hit, she immersed herself in a static existence she'd been deprived of. Creevy describes Cherry Glazerr's ambitious new album, "I Don't Want You Anymore", as some of her most personal, raw music to date, a collection of songs that elaborate on this period of self-reckoning. Creevy describes "I Don't Want You Anymore" as a "mature" album, more so in reference to her personal growth than a reflection of the record, which in true Cherry Glazerr fashion is best described as "extremely fun".
September 29 street date. Best listened to from inside the womb, Duster's 1998 debut "Stratosphere" simultaneously capped off and reinvented the slow core's first wave. A four track dreamscape that will wake the neighbors and then lull them back to sleep. Hazy, arpeggiated guitars layer over a deliberate drummer with no real place to be, as semi-inaudible vocals warn of millennial malaise and subtly encourage the listener to "rock out, rock out, rock out, rock out". This foil stamped and numbered 25th anniversary edition comes with a lyric sheet and poster.
September 29 street date. Best listened to from inside the womb, Duster's 1998 debut "Stratosphere" simultaneously capped off and reinvented the slow core's first wave. A four track dreamscape that will wake the neighbors and then lull them back to sleep. Hazy, arpeggiated guitars layer over a deliberate drummer with no real place to be, as semi-inaudible vocals warn of millennial malaise and subtly encourage the listener to "rock out, rock out, rock out, rock out". This foil stamped and numbered 25th anniversary edition comes with a lyric sheet and poster.
September 29 street date. Best listened to from inside the womb, Duster's 1998 debut "Stratosphere" simultaneously capped off and reinvented the slow core's first wave. A four track dreamscape that will wake the neighbors and then lull them back to sleep. Hazy, arpeggiated guitars layer over a deliberate drummer with no real place to be, as semi-inaudible vocals warn of millennial malaise and subtly encourage the listener to "rock out, rock out, rock out, rock out". This foil stamped and numbered 25th anniversary edition comes with a lyric sheet and poster.
September 29 street date. Best listened to from inside the womb, Duster's 1998 debut "Stratosphere" simultaneously capped off and reinvented the slow core's first wave. A four track dreamscape that will wake the neighbors and then lull them back to sleep. Hazy, arpeggiated guitars layer over a deliberate drummer with no real place to be, as semi-inaudible vocals warn of millennial malaise and subtly encourage the listener to "rock out, rock out, rock out, rock out". This foil stamped and numbered 25th anniversary edition comes with a lyric sheet and poster.
September 29 street date. After a year of drama and speculation, Escape The Fate return stronger and heavier than ever. Their sophomore release, "This War Is Ours", marked the debut of singer Craig Mabbit (formerly of Bless The Fall) and has all the elements that made "Dying Is Your Latest Fashion" such an immediate success. The blistering guitars, beyond-heavy breakdowns and an in-your-face attitude remain, and the addition of Craig's mad vocal skills - from the deepest growls to the most emotive harmonies - propels ETF beyond the fray. From the formidable breakdowns of "The Flood", to radio-ready heartbreak in "Something", to the theatricality of "It's Just Me", Escape The Fate proves this is a band destined to triumph. First time pressing on limited edition white with red & green splatter vinyl to celebrate the album'’s 15th anniversary!
September 29 street date. Artist, producer, DJ and cultural icon Peggy Gou returns with her first new music in nearly two years. Inspired by the eclectic house and pop classics that defined the Balearic sound, alongside 1990s and 2000s dance anthems and Peggy's own inimitable contemporary club production, "(It Goes Like) Nanana" has been the sound of the summer, a viral hit soundtracking sunsets and sunrises the world over. This 12" includes the extended edit of the club hit, as well as the brand new "Nanadub".
September 29 street date. "XO SKELETON" is the supple, steady, uncanny new album by La Force: a mixture of haunted pop and hot-blooded R&B that glistens at the meeting-point between life, death and love. The finality of death? The protection that another person's love can or cannot bestow? These are body questions, matters of breath and flesh and pulse, which is the stuff at the centre of all of La Force's music, beginning on her 2018 debut and also outward, into Ariel Engle's electrifying work with Broken Social Scene, Big Red Machine, Efrim Menuck, Safia Nolin, and AroarA, her duo with her husband, Andrew Whiteman. La Force's voice is stunning - somehow luscious and also wise - but so is her point of view - steady, sensitive, physical. "XO SKELETON" is a kind of reckoning: a coming-to-terms with the oblivion that bookends a life, but also the "gooey centre" of love, loss, touch, and memory. These nine extraordinary songs are human-scale and intimate, with chord changes like the shifting of limbs. "XO SKELETON" is electric and vivid, and also tactile and grimy. It bends and turns with its every shift of pulse - 35 mournful minutes; but also searching, turned on. Like a body, you might say. Or the memory of one.
September 29 street date. The remarkable hit making run of Manfred Mann is celebrated in the shape of this 20 track compilation. It is graced with a superb 1966 portrait of Manfred Mann, drawn by bass player and designer of The Beatles' "Revolver" sleeve, Klaus Voorman. The informative, engaging and entertaining sleeve notes are penned by Manfred Mann, Tom McGuinness, and Mike Hugg, whop shed much light on the creative process of the recordings, and also the hot house atmosphere and remorseless churn of the 1960s pop milieu.
September 29 street date (LP) / September 1 (CD). "Writing On The Wall" is a career-defining, tour-de-force album of memorable, hook-filled songs, sung with soul-deep fervor and fueled by blues-rock guitar ace Coco Montoya's blistering fretwork. Thirteen tracks of searing blues, soulful R&B, and high-energy rock 'n' roll, including ten originals, five co-written by Coco, and including guest appearances by Lee Roy Parnell and Ronnie Baker Brooks. A hard-touring artist for over three decades now, Coco has played thousands of dates all over the world. Still performing over 100 times a year, his shows in support of the new release begin in the U.S. in September and run into 2024.Co-produced by Grammy Award-winner Tony Braunagel (Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal) and Jeff Paris (Keb' Mo', Bill Withers).
Coco Montoya's "Writing On The Wall" Tour comes to Revival Bar in Toronto on October 3rd.
September 29 street date. Matana Roberts is an internationally celebrated composer, performer, band leader, saxophonist, sound experimentalist, and mixed-media practitioner. For the last 12 years, they have been working on the "Coin Coin" cycle, a remarkably ambitious undertaking of the exploration of American ancestry and the nature of memory told through contemporary music and Matana's very unique form of sonic storytelling. "Coin Coin Chapter Five: In The Garden" is the fifth chapter in an ongoing twelve-part Coin Coin series. It sees Matana Roberts speaking out about reproductive rights, calling attention to the similarities between their ancestor who died at a young age, leaving her children motherless - and the lack of rights that ovaried bodies have today, specifically in America.
September 29 street date. Matana Roberts is an internationally celebrated composer, performer, band leader, saxophonist, sound experimentalist, and mixed-media practitioner. For the last 12 years, they have been working on the "Coin Coin" cycle, a remarkably ambitious undertaking of the exploration of American ancestry and the nature of memory told through contemporary music and Matana's very unique form of sonic storytelling. "Coin Coin Chapter Five: In The Garden" is the fifth chapter in an ongoing twelve-part Coin Coin series. It sees Matana Roberts speaking out about reproductive rights, calling attention to the similarities between their ancestor who died at a young age, leaving her children motherless - and the lack of rights that ovaried bodies have today, specifically in America.
September 29 street date. The female-led discodelic soul band Say She She, named as a silent nod to Nile Rodgers, release their sophomore album "Silver" on the heels of an epic break-out year that grows brighter by the day. The three strong voices of Piya Malik (El Michels Affair staple feature, and former backing singer for Chicano Batman), Sabrina Mileo Cunningham, and Nya Gazelle Brown front the band. "Silver" was entirely written and recorded live to tape at Killion Sound studio in North Hollywood earlier this year and produced by Sergio Rios (of Orgone). While these analog recording techniques help root Say She She's sound in a bedrock of tonal warmth that only tape can achieve, it is also their process of cutting the track in the moment and capturing the magic of communal creativity that has seen their sound described as "a glorious overload of joyful elation and spiritual elevation" (MOJO) and "infused with the wonky post-disco spirit of early '80s NYC" (The Guardian). The 16-song album projects not only their growth in writing with confidence, but also reflects a deeper exploration into their punk-chic, femme-forward sensibility.
September 29 street date. The female-led discodelic soul band Say She She, named as a silent nod to Nile Rodgers, release their sophomore album "Silver" on the heels of an epic break-out year that grows brighter by the day. The three strong voices of Piya Malik (El Michels Affair staple feature, and former backing singer for Chicano Batman), Sabrina Mileo Cunningham, and Nya Gazelle Brown front the band. "Silver" was entirely written and recorded live to tape at Killion Sound studio in North Hollywood earlier this year and produced by Sergio Rios (of Orgone). While these analog recording techniques help root Say She She's sound in a bedrock of tonal warmth that only tape can achieve, it is also their process of cutting the track in the moment and capturing the magic of communal creativity that has seen their sound described as "a glorious overload of joyful elation and spiritual elevation" (MOJO) and "infused with the wonky post-disco spirit of early '80s NYC" (The Guardian). The 16-song album projects not only their growth in writing with confidence, but also reflects a deeper exploration into their punk-chic, femme-forward sensibility.
September 29 street date. The female-led discodelic soul band Say She She, named as a silent nod to Nile Rodgers, release their sophomore album "Silver" on the heels of an epic break-out year that grows brighter by the day. The three strong voices of Piya Malik (El Michels Affair staple feature, and former backing singer for Chicano Batman), Sabrina Mileo Cunningham, and Nya Gazelle Brown front the band. "Silver" was entirely written and recorded live to tape at Killion Sound studio in North Hollywood earlier this year and produced by Sergio Rios (of Orgone). While these analog recording techniques help root Say She She's sound in a bedrock of tonal warmth that only tape can achieve, it is also their process of cutting the track in the moment and capturing the magic of communal creativity that has seen their sound described as "a glorious overload of joyful elation and spiritual elevation" (MOJO) and "infused with the wonky post-disco spirit of early '80s NYC" (The Guardian). The 16-song album projects not only their growth in writing with confidence, but also reflects a deeper exploration into their punk-chic, femme-forward sensibility.
September 29 street date. The female-led discodelic soul band Say She She, named as a silent nod to Nile Rodgers, release their sophomore album "Silver" on the heels of an epic break-out year that grows brighter by the day. The three strong voices of Piya Malik (El Michels Affair staple feature, and former backing singer for Chicano Batman), Sabrina Mileo Cunningham, and Nya Gazelle Brown front the band. "Silver" was entirely written and recorded live to tape at Killion Sound studio in North Hollywood earlier this year and produced by Sergio Rios (of Orgone). While these analog recording techniques help root Say She She's sound in a bedrock of tonal warmth that only tape can achieve, it is also their process of cutting the track in the moment and capturing the magic of communal creativity that has seen their sound described as "a glorious overload of joyful elation and spiritual elevation" (MOJO) and "infused with the wonky post-disco spirit of early '80s NYC" (The Guardian). The 16-song album projects not only their growth in writing with confidence, but also reflects a deeper exploration into their punk-chic, femme-forward sensibility.
September 29 street date. On "Yard", Wisconsin-bred, Chicago-based four-piece Slow Pulp nestles comfortably into pockets of nuance, impressions, contradictions - sonics and lyrics finessed together to bottle the specific tension of a feeling you've never quite been able to find the right words for. In that regard, listening to Slow Pulp can feel like being in a room with someone who's known you so long that they can read your every micro-expression and pinpoint exactly how you’re feeling before you can. Perhaps this spawns from the band's own shared history and chemistry; in various ways, the four of them grew up - are still growing up - together. The dreamy songs of the Midwest indie rock outfit draw on moody shoegaze, hooky grunge, and intimate lo-fi fare. The band made their full-length debut with "Moveys" in 2020. After the downcast 2021 7" "Deleted Scenes", they put the focus on hooky grunge pop for singles like 2021's "In Too Deep" and 2023's "Cramps". "Yard" is their second full-length album and first for ANTI-. Fall tour dates: Oct 13 - Vancouver / Nov 6 - Montreal / Nov 7 - Toronto
September 29 street date. On "Yard", Wisconsin-bred, Chicago-based four-piece Slow Pulp nestles comfortably into pockets of nuance, impressions, contradictions - sonics and lyrics finessed together to bottle the specific tension of a feeling you've never quite been able to find the right words for. In that regard, listening to Slow Pulp can feel like being in a room with someone who's known you so long that they can read your every micro-expression and pinpoint exactly how you’re feeling before you can. Perhaps this spawns from the band's own shared history and chemistry; in various ways, the four of them grew up - are still growing up - together. The dreamy songs of the Midwest indie rock outfit draw on moody shoegaze, hooky grunge, and intimate lo-fi fare. The band made their full-length debut with "Moveys" in 2020. After the downcast 2021 7" "Deleted Scenes", they put the focus on hooky grunge pop for singles like 2021's "In Too Deep" and 2023's "Cramps". "Yard" is their second full-length album and first for ANTI-. Fall tour dates: Oct 13 - Vancouver / Nov 6 - Montreal / Nov 7 - Toronto
September 29 street date. On "Yard", Wisconsin-bred, Chicago-based four-piece Slow Pulp nestles comfortably into pockets of nuance, impressions, contradictions - sonics and lyrics finessed together to bottle the specific tension of a feeling you've never quite been able to find the right words for. In that regard, listening to Slow Pulp can feel like being in a room with someone who's known you so long that they can read your every micro-expression and pinpoint exactly how you’re feeling before you can. Perhaps this spawns from the band's own shared history and chemistry; in various ways, the four of them grew up - are still growing up - together. The dreamy songs of the Midwest indie rock outfit draw on moody shoegaze, hooky grunge, and intimate lo-fi fare. The band made their full-length debut with "Moveys" in 2020. After the downcast 2021 7" "Deleted Scenes", they put the focus on hooky grunge pop for singles like 2021's "In Too Deep" and 2023's "Cramps". "Yard" is their second full-length album and first for ANTI-. Fall tour dates: Oct 13 - Vancouver / Nov 6 - Montreal / Nov 7 - Toronto
September 29 street date. TV On The Radio's story is one of synchronicity, of serendipity, of epiphany. TVOTR began with Tunde Adebimpe (vocals) and David Sitek (multi-instrumentalist and production kingpin) being roommates, drinking way too much coffee, making art: comics, movies, paintings. They started trading tapes of each other's four track recordings and thought it'd be fun to try to make "a real record" out of all that stuff. Touch & Go released TV On The Radio's stunning EP "Young Liars" in July 2003, and it immediately marked them out as one of the most musically innovative bands to have emerged in years. Their debut full-length "Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes" set 2004 off to a dramatically positive start. With new member Kyp Malone sharing songwriting, guitar and vocal duties, TVOTR was quickly on the path to the being one of the most talked-about new groups in America. The band's second studio album, "Return to Cookie Mountain", leaked in early 2006 and garnered pre-release praise from such outlets as Pitchfork before its official release in July. "Return to Cookie Mountain" is filled with guest appearances from David Bowie, Celebration, Antibalas, Blonde Redhead, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner.
September 29 street date. Widely praised as one of the greatest singers in the history of rock, Ann Wilson's extraordinarily powerful voice has been sending chills down her audience's collective spine for over five decades, earning record sales of more than 35 million, an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. As the lead singer of Heart, "Barracuda", "Crazy On You", and "Magic Man" are among the many songs she's written that now reside in the pantheon of rock's greatest hits. Prior to starting their 2023 tour, Ann Wilson and her band Tripsitter finished "Another Door", a record of all-original material, which marks the first time since the 1970s that Ann has written a full-length album collectively with a band. Tripsitter features Tony Lucido (bass), Ryan Wariner (guitars), Sean T. Lane (drums), and Paul Moak (guitars and keyboards). Tom Bukovac (guitars) was also a primary contributor. "Another Door" marks the first time in her career where Ann was the sole lyricist and her presence on a record has never been greater.
November 24 street date. Widely praised as one of the greatest singers in the history of rock, Ann Wilson's extraordinarily powerful voice has been sending chills down her audience's collective spine for over five decades, earning record sales of more than 35 million, an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. As the lead singer of Heart, "Barracuda", "Crazy On You", and "Magic Man" are among the many songs she's written that now reside in the pantheon of rock's greatest hits. Prior to starting their 2023 tour, Ann Wilson and her band Tripsitter finished "Another Door", a record of all-original material, which marks the first time since the 1970s that Ann has written a full-length album collectively with a band. Tripsitter features Tony Lucido (bass), Ryan Wariner (guitars), Sean T. Lane (drums), and Paul Moak (guitars and keyboards). Tom Bukovac (guitars) was also a primary contributor. "Another Door" marks the first time in her career where Ann was the sole lyricist and her presence on a record has never been greater.
October 6 street date. "I imagine myself playing these songs in a small club that is slowly burning", says A. Savage of his second solo record, "Several Songs About Fire". After more than a decade in New York, the co-frontman of Parquet Courts has left the city, marking his exit with a masterpiece of maturity and a worthy corollary to his first solo venture, 2017's "Thawing Dawn". "Fire is something you have to escape from. This album is a burning building, and these songs are things I'd leave behind to save myself". Produced by John Parish (PJ Harvey, Dry Cleaning) in just ten days in Bristol and studded by the support of Cate Le Bon and Jack Cooper (Modern Nature, Ultimate Painting) as well as saxophonist Euan Hinshelwood (Cate Le Bon), drummer Dylan Hadley (White Fence), and violinist Magdalena McLean (caroline). Influenced by Siybille Baier and Townes Van Zandt, A. Savage joins a canon of songwriters constantly dilating aperture and perspective.
October 6 street date. "I imagine myself playing these songs in a small club that is slowly burning", says A. Savage of his second solo record, "Several Songs About Fire". After more than a decade in New York, the co-frontman of Parquet Courts has left the city, marking his exit with a masterpiece of maturity and a worthy corollary to his first solo venture, 2017's "Thawing Dawn". "Fire is something you have to escape from. This album is a burning building, and these songs are things I'd leave behind to save myself". Produced by John Parish (PJ Harvey, Dry Cleaning) in just ten days in Bristol and studded by the support of Cate Le Bon and Jack Cooper (Modern Nature, Ultimate Painting) as well as saxophonist Euan Hinshelwood (Cate Le Bon), drummer Dylan Hadley (White Fence), and violinist Magdalena McLean (caroline). Influenced by Siybille Baier and Townes Van Zandt, A. Savage joins a canon of songwriters constantly dilating aperture and perspective.
October 6 street date. "I imagine myself playing these songs in a small club that is slowly burning", says A. Savage of his second solo record, "Several Songs About Fire". After more than a decade in New York, the co-frontman of Parquet Courts has left the city, marking his exit with a masterpiece of maturity and a worthy corollary to his first solo venture, 2017's "Thawing Dawn". "Fire is something you have to escape from. This album is a burning building, and these songs are things I'd leave behind to save myself". Produced by John Parish (PJ Harvey, Dry Cleaning) in just ten days in Bristol and studded by the support of Cate Le Bon and Jack Cooper (Modern Nature, Ultimate Painting) as well as saxophonist Euan Hinshelwood (Cate Le Bon), drummer Dylan Hadley (White Fence), and violinist Magdalena McLean (caroline). Influenced by Siybille Baier and Townes Van Zandt, A. Savage joins a canon of songwriters constantly dilating aperture and perspective.
October 6 street date. Epitaph Records has reissued The Blood Brothers' classic "Burn, Piano Island, Burn" on vinyl to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the band's landmark album. From 1997 to 2007, The Blood Brothers' "molotov mixture of suburb surrealism and sonic extremity" (Alternative Press, 2003) rocked and riveted critics and fans around the world. Formed in the suburbs of Seattle, the dueling singers Johnny Whitney and Jordan Blilie along with Cody Votolato (guitar), Morgan Henderson (bass), and Mark Gajadhar (drums) crafted a unique style of convulsive, ground breaking hardcore that was quickly embraced by critics and fans of punk, hardcore and indie rock. Over their ten years in existence the quintet released five critically acclaimed studio albums including "Burn, Piano Island, Burn", "the most prolific, beautiful, and vital statement of rock since the Stooges' "Raw Power" (PopMatters, 2003). Limited collector's edition includes the seminal album on exclusive coloured vinyl, "Ambulance vs. Ambulance" 7", and expanded 32 page booklet with new liner notes and photos.
October 6 street date. John Carpenter is not only a celebrated filmmaker but also a musical maestro whose soundtracks have become synonymous with the genres of horror, suspense, and science fiction. His innate talent for composition and his deep understanding of how music can elevate storytelling have left an indelible mark on the world of cinema, and a haunting presence in people's record collections. "Anthology II" continues the celebration of his compositional genius via an excellently sequenced collection of some of his most iconic pieces of music from his extensive filmography, all newly recorded with his musical collaborators Daniel Davies and Cody Carpenter. With each haunting note and pulsating beat, Carpenter's soundtracks continue to resonate with audiences, forever etching his name in the annals of film music history.
October 6 street date. John Carpenter is not only a celebrated filmmaker but also a musical maestro whose soundtracks have become synonymous with the genres of horror, suspense, and science fiction. His innate talent for composition and his deep understanding of how music can elevate storytelling have left an indelible mark on the world of cinema, and a haunting presence in people's record collections. "Anthology II" continues the celebration of his compositional genius via an excellently sequenced collection of some of his most iconic pieces of music from his extensive filmography, all newly recorded with his musical collaborators Daniel Davies and Cody Carpenter. With each haunting note and pulsating beat, Carpenter's soundtracks continue to resonate with audiences, forever etching his name in the annals of film music history.
October 6 street date. John Carpenter is not only a celebrated filmmaker but also a musical maestro whose soundtracks have become synonymous with the genres of horror, suspense, and science fiction. His innate talent for composition and his deep understanding of how music can elevate storytelling have left an indelible mark on the world of cinema, and a haunting presence in people's record collections. "Anthology II" continues the celebration of his compositional genius via an excellently sequenced collection of some of his most iconic pieces of music from his extensive filmography, all newly recorded with his musical collaborators Daniel Davies and Cody Carpenter. With each haunting note and pulsating beat, Carpenter's soundtracks continue to resonate with audiences, forever etching his name in the annals of film music history.
October 6 street date. With the ability to excel in both quiet ballads and distorted rock anthems, Citizen has an incredible knack for channeling raw emotion and energy into singalong songs. On "Calling The Dogs", the band exemplifies that passionate songwriting and styling while stripping back to what they do best: guitar-driven rock 'n' roll. Picking up labels ranging from post-hardcore to shoegaze over the years, it's reductive to try to categorize Citizen as anything other than one of the best rock bands around today. Evolving from teenagers playing local dives to a vibrant band capable of selling out theaters and hitting major festivals around the world, vocalist Mat Kerekes, guitarist Nick Hamm and bassist Eric Hamm have earned their reputation as both tremendous songwriters and a must-see live act - and they do both better than ever on "Calling The Dogs".
October 6 street date. With the ability to excel in both quiet ballads and distorted rock anthems, Citizen has an incredible knack for channeling raw emotion and energy into singalong songs. On "Calling The Dogs", the band exemplifies that passionate songwriting and styling while stripping back to what they do best: guitar-driven rock 'n' roll. Picking up labels ranging from post-hardcore to shoegaze over the years, it's reductive to try to categorize Citizen as anything other than one of the best rock bands around today. Evolving from teenagers playing local dives to a vibrant band capable of selling out theaters and hitting major festivals around the world, vocalist Mat Kerekes, guitarist Nick Hamm and bassist Eric Hamm have earned their reputation as both tremendous songwriters and a must-see live act - and they do both better than ever on "Calling The Dogs".
October 6 street date. Five years after winning the Polaris Music Prize with his ground-breaking debut, Jeremy Dutcher has returned with a radiant exploration of contemporary Indigeneity and his place within it. "Motewolonuwok" extends beyond anything the musician has made before, encompassing traditional song, starlit ballads and staggering orchestrations. "With my first record, the concept was so clear, so complete", Dutcher says. "This time, I wanted [to make an LP] that wasn’t always so sure of itself". The follow-up is more intimate, more personal, inspired by his growing understanding of the "middle space" of being Two Spirit - Indigenous and queer. In the Wolasotqey language, Two Spirit people are called "motewolonuwok" - "the people of great spiritual power" - an identity filled with strength and knowledge, which is not dogged by shame. "Motewolonuwok" features Wolastoqey traditionals, poetry from by the Cherokee poet Qwo-li Driskill, but also Dutcher's first songs written in English. This is an acknowledgment of his father's tongue, and also a way of singing "directly to the newcomer [settler]" in their own language, to tell his community's stories of grief, resilience and emergence.
October 6 street date. Five years after winning the Polaris Music Prize with his ground-breaking debut, Jeremy Dutcher has returned with a radiant exploration of contemporary Indigeneity and his place within it. "Motewolonuwok" extends beyond anything the musician has made before, encompassing traditional song, starlit ballads and staggering orchestrations. "With my first record, the concept was so clear, so complete", Dutcher says. "This time, I wanted [to make an LP] that wasn’t always so sure of itself". The follow-up is more intimate, more personal, inspired by his growing understanding of the "middle space" of being Two Spirit - Indigenous and queer. In the Wolasotqey language, Two Spirit people are called "motewolonuwok" - "the people of great spiritual power" - an identity filled with strength and knowledge, which is not dogged by shame. "Motewolonuwok" features Wolastoqey traditionals, poetry from by the Cherokee poet Qwo-li Driskill, but also Dutcher's first songs written in English. This is an acknowledgment of his father's tongue, and also a way of singing "directly to the newcomer [settler]" in their own language, to tell his community's stories of grief, resilience and emergence.
October 6 street date. Since forming in 2008, Falling In Reverse have racked up a fanatical fan base, so much so that the band's legendary videos have been viewed over 30 million times. The attitude of the 1980s Sunset Strip, the bravado of battle-ready rap, the take-no-prisoners bottom end of metalcore, and the boundless revelry of underground EDM parties have all beautifully converged in this one band and this album. First time pressing on limited edition clear with hot pink splatter vinyl to celebrate the album's 15th anniversary.
October 6 street date. Yorkshire-born, London-based singer, songwriter, and producer Ethan P. Flynn presents his debut album, "Abandon All Hope". Pouring twenty-four years worth of experience into 8 eclectic tracks, Flynn recalls 1970s greats like Randy Newman and Harry Nilsson, while exploring feelings of longing and losing power to hope in situations of relationships, love, navigating anxiety, and the coming of age in the 21st century. "Abandon All Hope" is the culmination of an intensely fruitful period of personal creativity that has seen the young artist collaborate with a host of familiar names including David Byrne, FKA Twigs, Jockstrap, and Vegyn. 44 minutes long, 22 minutes on each side (intentionally to be the traditional length of a 12" LP), recorded at Narcissus Studios in 12 days, the album is bound together by a unifying theme; an album in the old-fashioned sense.
October 6 street date. Yorkshire-born, London-based singer, songwriter, and producer Ethan P. Flynn presents his debut album, "Abandon All Hope". Pouring twenty-four years worth of experience into 8 eclectic tracks, Flynn recalls 1970s greats like Randy Newman and Harry Nilsson, while exploring feelings of longing and losing power to hope in situations of relationships, love, navigating anxiety, and the coming of age in the 21st century. "Abandon All Hope" is the culmination of an intensely fruitful period of personal creativity that has seen the young artist collaborate with a host of familiar names including David Byrne, FKA Twigs, Jockstrap, and Vegyn. 44 minutes long, 22 minutes on each side (intentionally to be the traditional length of a 12" LP), recorded at Narcissus Studios in 12 days, the album is bound together by a unifying theme; an album in the old-fashioned sense.
October 6 street date. Yorkshire-born, London-based singer, songwriter, and producer Ethan P. Flynn presents his debut album, "Abandon All Hope". Pouring twenty-four years worth of experience into 8 eclectic tracks, Flynn recalls 1970s greats like Randy Newman and Harry Nilsson, while exploring feelings of longing and losing power to hope in situations of relationships, love, navigating anxiety, and the coming of age in the 21st century. "Abandon All Hope" is the culmination of an intensely fruitful period of personal creativity that has seen the young artist collaborate with a host of familiar names including David Byrne, FKA Twigs, Jockstrap, and Vegyn. 44 minutes long, 22 minutes on each side (intentionally to be the traditional length of a 12" LP), recorded at Narcissus Studios in 12 days, the album is bound together by a unifying theme; an album in the old-fashioned sense.
October 6 street date. Get On Down proudly present the debut solo album from Wu-Tang Clan's Ghostface Killah. Released in 1996 on Epic Records, "Ironman" earned immediate success, debuting at number two on the Billboard 200 chart, and number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Produced by RZA, "Ironman" found inspiration in sources ranging from blaxploitation films to classic soul and charted a whole new direction for hip hop in the process. The album features classic bangers like "Daytona 500" featuring Raekwon and Cappadonna to soulful emotionally moving cuts like "All That I Got Is You" with Mary J. Blige. The album earned gold status a year after its release and platinum by 2004, a true testament to the staying power or this classic piece of Wu-Tang artistry.
October 6 street date. Jolie Holland's "Haunted Mountain" is a beckoning, confronting place. At once ancient and of the moment, it hums with literary and political interconnections. The songs illuminate states of dispossession and alienation, lust and pollination: a state of reciprocity with our living planet. The record is a creation beyond genre, a refined jewel refracting anti-patriarchal dance music, sultry anti-fascist love songs to bats and bees. The album's rendered environments - ranging from sparse acoustic constellations to dense electronic atmospheres - are punctuated with nuanced percussion from cicadas, drums and even knuckles on piano. These sound-worlds were produced and animated by a trio of multi-instrumentalists: Jolie Holland, Adam Brisbin and Justin Veloso, and helping to conjure the album, the great magician Buck Meek (Big Thief).
October 6 street date. Jolie Holland's "Haunted Mountain" is a beckoning, confronting place. At once ancient and of the moment, it hums with literary and political interconnections. The songs illuminate states of dispossession and alienation, lust and pollination: a state of reciprocity with our living planet. The record is a creation beyond genre, a refined jewel refracting anti-patriarchal dance music, sultry anti-fascist love songs to bats and bees. The album's rendered environments - ranging from sparse acoustic constellations to dense electronic atmospheres - are punctuated with nuanced percussion from cicadas, drums and even knuckles on piano. These sound-worlds were produced and animated by a trio of multi-instrumentalists: Jolie Holland, Adam Brisbin and Justin Veloso, and helping to conjure the album, the great magician Buck Meek (Big Thief).
October 6 street date. After teasing the project for over a year, JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown have announced their debut collaborative album, "Scaring The Hoes". The two will be taking the tour on the road in July and August across America. CD edition available now.
October 6 street date. Through evocative, emotionally resonant music, "Goodbye, Hotel Arkada", the new LP from American harpist and composer Mary Lattimore (her first proper LP of new material since 2020's "Silver Ladders", a year-end favorite of NPR, Pitchfork, and The New Yorker), speaks not just for its beloved namesake - a hotel in Croatia facing renovation - but for a universal loss that is shared. Six sprawling pieces shaped by change; nothing will ever be the same, and here, the artist, evolving in synthesis, celebrates and mourns the tragedy and beauty of the ephemeral, all that is lived and lost to time. Documented and edited in uncharacteristically measured sessions over the course of two years, the material remains rooted in improvisation while glistening as the most refined and robust in Lattimore's decade-long catalogue. It finds her communing with friends, contemporaries, and longtime influences, in full stride yet slowing down to nurture songs in new ways. The cast includes Lol Tolhurst (The Cure), Meg Baird, Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), Roy Montgomery, Samara Lubelski, and Walt McClements.
October 6 street date. Through evocative, emotionally resonant music, "Goodbye, Hotel Arkada", the new LP from American harpist and composer Mary Lattimore (her first proper LP of new material since 2020's "Silver Ladders", a year-end favorite of NPR, Pitchfork, and The New Yorker), speaks not just for its beloved namesake - a hotel in Croatia facing renovation - but for a universal loss that is shared. Six sprawling pieces shaped by change; nothing will ever be the same, and here, the artist, evolving in synthesis, celebrates and mourns the tragedy and beauty of the ephemeral, all that is lived and lost to time. Documented and edited in uncharacteristically measured sessions over the course of two years, the material remains rooted in improvisation while glistening as the most refined and robust in Lattimore's decade-long catalogue. It finds her communing with friends, contemporaries, and longtime influences, in full stride yet slowing down to nurture songs in new ways. The cast includes Lol Tolhurst (The Cure), Meg Baird, Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), Roy Montgomery, Samara Lubelski, and Walt McClements.
October 6 street date. Through evocative, emotionally resonant music, "Goodbye, Hotel Arkada", the new LP from American harpist and composer Mary Lattimore (her first proper LP of new material since 2020's "Silver Ladders", a year-end favorite of NPR, Pitchfork, and The New Yorker), speaks not just for its beloved namesake - a hotel in Croatia facing renovation - but for a universal loss that is shared. Six sprawling pieces shaped by change; nothing will ever be the same, and here, the artist, evolving in synthesis, celebrates and mourns the tragedy and beauty of the ephemeral, all that is lived and lost to time. Documented and edited in uncharacteristically measured sessions over the course of two years, the material remains rooted in improvisation while glistening as the most refined and robust in Lattimore's decade-long catalogue. It finds her communing with friends, contemporaries, and longtime influences, in full stride yet slowing down to nurture songs in new ways. The cast includes Lol Tolhurst (The Cure), Meg Baird, Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), Roy Montgomery, Samara Lubelski, and Walt McClements.
October 6 street date. Moonshake's 1992 debut album, "Eva Luna", is back in print as a deluxe edition import blue double LP remastered from analog 1/2" tape. Formed in 1991, the group was composed of David Callahan (vocals, guitars, samplers), formerly of The Wolfhounds, New York musician Margaret Fiedler (vocals, guitars, samplers), along with bassist John Frenett and drummer Miguel Morland. Both Fiedler and Callahan wrote songs, and they would (generally) sing on the songs that they wrote. Their output of shared inspiration produced wildly different results - Can, PiL, Kraftwerk, MBV, and Eric B and Rakim were a melting pot that made Moonshake somewhat uncategorizable, and as Margaret noted in an interview, "Moonshake was a collision - it was supposed to be a collision". In a piece celebrating the record's 30th anniversary, Louder Than War wrote "Eva Luna really is one hell of a ground-breaking record, and it stands resolutely alone among all of the albums released in 1992 as no other band has managed to create anything remotely similar before or since. It really is a unique album with few equals". Along with the album's original 10 tracks, this package includes the non-LP three-song single "Secondhand Clothes", two B-sides from the "Beautiful Pigeon" single, and four tracks from a November 1992 John Peel session. It also includes an 8-page full-colour booklet.
October 6 street date. Limited 35th anniversary edition of this piece of rock history! In 1988 Mudhoney released their debut 7" single, "Touch Me I'm Sick", and it rapidly became the defining anthem of the Seattle scene that, shortly thereafter, took the world by storm. Punk? Garage? G****e? Who cares when it rips this much! The B side, "Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More", ain't no slouch, either. In the words of Dynamite Hemmorage's Jay Hinman: "These first recordings were so life-affirming upon their release, connecting everything great about the sixties (biker movies, fuzzboxes, old guitars, three-minute songs) with the frothing, punk rock of the early 1980s, that a whole new "style" of music was born. They called it grunge, but to me it was amped-up, clear-the-room, ramalama rock that exploded like Nagasaki live, and it was about as joyous and as fun a noise as anyone'd heard in years".
October 6 street date. Limited 35th anniversary edition of this piece of rock history! In 1988, Mudhoney quickly followed up the release of their "Touch Me I'm Sick" 7" with "Superfuzz Bigmuff", a six-song EP so overflowing with chaotic rock energy it warped thousands of minds, and inspired countless guitarists to immediately search for the titular fuzz pedals. In the words of Dynamite Hemmorage's Jay Hinman: "My feeling - and I know I'm not alone in this one - is that for all the play and worldwide attention several Seattle-area bands got during the 1988-92 period, at the end of the day (and even at the time), there was Mudhoney - and then there was everybody else. To me, you, and most everyone who was paying close attention to underground rock music during those years, Mudhoney still sound like the undisputed kingpins of roaring, surging, fuzzed-out, punk rock music".
October 6 street date. Sinéad O'Connor is widely regarded as one of the most influential female performers of the late 1980s and 1990s, not only for her sensational performances and raw vocal emotion but also for her outspoken confidence to express herself publicly. Released in September 1994, "Universal Mother" was described by Sinéad as "the first attempt to try to expose what was really underneath a lot of the anger of the other records". The album features sparse, striking but delicate arrangements on intense and honest songs. Standout moments include the singles ‘Thank You For Hearing Me’ and ‘Fire On Babylon’, along with contributions from Germaine Greer (opening track ‘Germaine’), and Sinéad's son Jake Reynolds (‘Am I A Human?’), plus a cover of Nirvana's ‘All Apologies’.
October 6 street date. Sinéad O'Connor is widely regarded as one of the most influential female performers of the late 1980s and 1990s, not only for her sensational performances and raw vocal emotion but also for her outspoken confidence to express herself publicly. Released in November 1987, Sinéad's striking debut album "The Lion And The Cobra" was met with critical and commercial success. The album synthesises several of Sinead's influences into a diverse array of sounds and styles, from the hushed, atmospheric ‘Troy’ and ‘Jackie’ to the pop-rock hit single ‘Mandinka’, and the hip-hop inspired ‘I Want Your (Hands On Me)’. The album also includes ‘Drink Before The War’, a song written by Sinéad about her experiences at the Catholic reform school she attended, and was recently featured in the HBO series "Euphoria". The album remains a high point in Sinéad O'Connor's catalogue and is frequently cited as one of the best albums of the 1980s.
October 6 street date. Sinéad O'Connor is widely regarded as one of the most influential female performers of the late 1980s and 1990s, not only for her sensational performances and raw vocal emotion but also for her outspoken confidence to express herself publicly. The follow-up album to the hugely successful "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got" album, "Am I Not Your Girl?" was released in September 1992 and features Sinéad performing a collection of songs that she had grown up listening to and which had inspired her to become a singer. It was during the promotional campaign for the album when Sinéad made her controversial appearance on "Saturday Night Live". "Am I Not Your Girl?" features Sinéad's unmistakable voice accompanied by an orchestra, performing big-band arrangements of tracks such as the single ‘Success Has Made A Failure Of Our Home’, ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’, and ‘Why Don't You Do Right?’.
October 6 street date. Pale Saints present the 30th anniversary expanded reissue of their 1992 album, "In Ribbons". Produced by Hugh Jones (Echo & The Bunnymen, Modern English, The Sound) this record is "an unintended indie manifesto: music that is at once wayward and concise, dissonant and beautiful" - The Sunday Times.
October 6 street date. Pale Saints present the 30th anniversary expanded reissue of their 1992 album, "In Ribbons". Produced by Hugh Jones (Echo & The Bunnymen, Modern English, The Sound) this record is "an unintended indie manifesto: music that is at once wayward and concise, dissonant and beautiful" - The Sunday Times. The deluxe double CD edition features the UK version of the album along with a bonus disc of never before heard demos that include their first attempt at Slapp Happy's ‘Blue Flower’ and Ian Masters' rare 4 track recording of their beloved Nancy Sinatra cover ‘Kinky Love’. Additionally, the bonus disc features two brass band versions by The Tintwistle Band (previously only heard on a limited, bonus 7" with the initial UK LP pressing).
October 6 street date. Pale Saints present the 30th anniversary expanded reissue of their 1992 album, "In Ribbons". Produced by Hugh Jones (Echo & The Bunnymen, Modern English, The Sound) this record is "an unintended indie manifesto: music that is at once wayward and concise, dissonant and beautiful" - The Sunday Times. The deluxe unpigmented vinyl double LP features the UK version of the album along with a bonus disc of never before heard demos that include their first attempt at Slapp Happy's ‘Blue Flower’ and Ian Masters' rare 4 track recording of their beloved Nancy Sinatra cover ‘Kinky Love’. Additionally, the bonus disc features two brass band versions by The Tintwistle Band (previously only heard on a limited, bonus 7" with the initial UK LP pressing).
October 6 street date. Their fans had to wait six long years for the arrival of a new album by American metal act Prong, but now they are back with a real bang: Their latest offering, "State Of Emergency", has turned into the fascinating recording we had all hoped for, with the usual irrepressible energy of a group that has been at the forefront of the metal scene since the mid-1980s, and with lots of ideas that couldn't be more typical of this band. "It's a very "Prong" record. I think it's totally genre-transcending and definitely ignores what's going on out there these days", band founder Tommy Victor outlines the stylistic direction of the eleven songs. Commenting on his artistic approach, he says: "I like all kinds of music. This record totally reflects that because it covers lots of different angles. At the same time, 'State Of Emergency' is very guitar-oriented and a typical example of my style which consists of a blend of punk, metal, post-punk noise, some doom, blues and thrash, with some pretty straightforward vocals. All in all, there's an aggressive East Coast flair to the album".
October 6 street date. Their fans had to wait six long years for the arrival of a new album by American metal act Prong, but now they are back with a real bang: Their latest offering, "State Of Emergency", has turned into the fascinating recording we had all hoped for, with the usual irrepressible energy of a group that has been at the forefront of the metal scene since the mid-1980s, and with lots of ideas that couldn't be more typical of this band. "It's a very "Prong" record. I think it's totally genre-transcending and definitely ignores what's going on out there these days", band founder Tommy Victor outlines the stylistic direction of the eleven songs. Commenting on his artistic approach, he says: "I like all kinds of music. This record totally reflects that because it covers lots of different angles. At the same time, 'State Of Emergency' is very guitar-oriented and a typical example of my style which consists of a blend of punk, metal, post-punk noise, some doom, blues and thrash, with some pretty straightforward vocals. All in all, there's an aggressive East Coast flair to the album".
October 6 street date. Run The Jewels - hip hop's preeminent collaboration between veteran rhyme-slayers El-P and Killer Mike - have gone from a whim-driven underground rap project to a worldwide sensation since the release of their 2013 debut "Run The Jewels". Mixing the industrial grime of New York City with the vibrant bounce of the dirty South, they forge hip hop's future while adhering to the core tenets of its bedrock: gymnastic displays of skills, incendiary political rhetoric, merciless braggadocio, battle-honed assholery, R-rated punchlines and a back-and-forth that brings the interplay of the shell-toe Adidas era screaming into our contemporary nightmare. Tearing up the music industry rulebook, their self-titled 2013 debut was originally released through a series of website-crashing free album downloads. Featuring Outkast's Big Boi on "Banana Clipper" and Prince Paul on "Twin Hype Back", it's a "rough and rabid ride"; a "swaggering victory lap for two artists at the peak of their creativity"; and has been dubbed "one of the best hip hop records of 2013". Now available in a special 10th anniversary edition with the original and instrumental album, packaged in a double gatefold sleeve with split-coloured vinyl.
October 6 street date. Over the course of his career, Sufjan Stevens has blurred distinctions between the major and the minor, between the details that colour our existence and the big events that frame our lives. He has turned historical footnotes of States into kaleidoscopic pop, and rendered the immeasurable grief of loss with intimacy and grace. "Javelin", Sufjan's first solo album of songs since 2020's "The Ascension" and his first in full solo singer-songwriter mode since 2015's "Carrie & Lowell", bridges all these approaches. Sufjan uses the quietness of a solitary confession to ask universal questions in songs we can share communally. Accompanying the CD and LP formats of the album is a 48-page book of art and essays. With a series of meticulous collages, cut-up catalog fantasies, puff-paint word clouds, and iterative color fields, Sufjan builds order from seeming chaos and vice versa. And toward the middle of it all are 10 short essays by Sufjan, another window into the process that informed "Javelin".
October 6 street date. Over the course of his career, Sufjan Stevens has blurred distinctions between the major and the minor, between the details that colour our existence and the big events that frame our lives. He has turned historical footnotes of States into kaleidoscopic pop, and rendered the immeasurable grief of loss with intimacy and grace. "Javelin", Sufjan's first solo album of songs since 2020's "The Ascension" and his first in full solo singer-songwriter mode since 2015's "Carrie & Lowell", bridges all these approaches. Sufjan uses the quietness of a solitary confession to ask universal questions in songs we can share communally. Accompanying the CD and LP formats of the album is a 48-page book of art and essays. With a series of meticulous collages, cut-up catalog fantasies, puff-paint word clouds, and iterative color fields, Sufjan builds order from seeming chaos and vice versa. And toward the middle of it all are 10 short essays by Sufjan, another window into the process that informed "Javelin".
October 6 street date. Over the course of his career, Sufjan Stevens has blurred distinctions between the major and the minor, between the details that colour our existence and the big events that frame our lives. He has turned historical footnotes of States into kaleidoscopic pop, and rendered the immeasurable grief of loss with intimacy and grace. "Javelin", Sufjan's first solo album of songs since 2020's "The Ascension" and his first in full solo singer-songwriter mode since 2015's "Carrie & Lowell", bridges all these approaches. Sufjan uses the quietness of a solitary confession to ask universal questions in songs we can share communally. Accompanying the CD and LP formats of the album is a 48-page book of art and essays. With a series of meticulous collages, cut-up catalog fantasies, puff-paint word clouds, and iterative color fields, Sufjan builds order from seeming chaos and vice versa. And toward the middle of it all are 10 short essays by Sufjan, another window into the process that informed "Javelin".
October 6 street date (for LP) / October 20 (CD) (date change). New album by Taylor Kirk, the Toronto based musician who has happily worked as a producer since the last Timber Timbre album in 2017. Now with "Lovage" there is new music of his own, which proves that Kirk has not only refined his working methods, but also skilfully combines different influences. Kirk developed "Lovage" in close collaboration with Michael Dubue at the producer's studio in Quyon, Quebec. Working together proved so fruitful that Dubue quickly joined the collective as keyboardist and vocalist, while Adam Bradley Schreiber completed the current line-up on drums and percussion. Together they harmonize the varied sound palette of Brian Wilson with the special melancholy of Leonard Cohen, but also Sun Ra, Dorothy Ashby, and Alice Coltrane, as well as Italian singers like Pino Daniele and Paolo Conte, played a major role in its creation, which might explain the new album's cinematic lightness.
October 6 street date. First-ever vinyl release of this genuine houserockin' holiday classic. 14 of Alligator Records' best-known artists performing a down home mixture of yuletide favourites and new holiday originals. Originally released in 1992, the title has sold over 90,000 copies on CD. Original songs include tracks by Koko Taylor, Lonnie Brooks, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Kenny Neal, William Clarke, Little Charlie & The Nightcats, and Saffire-The Uppity Blues Women. The holiday favorites include Katie Webster's "Deck The Halls Boogie", Charles Brown's "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus", Charlie Musselwhite's "Silent Night", Elvin Bishop's "Little Drummer Boy", Son Seals' version of Lowell Fulson's "Lonesome Christmas", and Tinsley Ellis' take on Albert King's "Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin'".
October 13 street date. Billed as "Canada's All Indian Band", the Tsimshian Nation garage band The Chieftones stormed the U.S. in the mid-1960s with their own brand of native rock 'n' roll. Led by guitarists Billy Thunderkloud and Albert Canadien, the band was filled out with Jack Wolf on lead guitar, Barry Clifford on bass, and Richard Douse on drums. Their repertoire was a heady mix of guitar instrumentals; Chet Atkins, Les Paul, Duane Eddy, and Brazil's Los Indios Tabajaras, but through the lens of the American sock hop. After a brief stint at Edmonton's Alberta College, The Chieftones hit the road, eventually setting up a home base in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where they reportedly worked as ranch hands in between tours. More Buddy Holly than Link Wray, "The New Smooth And Different Sound" compiles their debut single for Wisconsin's lauded Cuca label and adds a dozen previously unissued demos from their brief time in the Driftless region.
October 13 street date. Billed as "Canada's All Indian Band", the Tsimshian Nation garage band The Chieftones stormed the U.S. in the mid-1960s with their own brand of native rock 'n' roll. Led by guitarists Billy Thunderkloud and Albert Canadien, the band was filled out with Jack Wolf on lead guitar, Barry Clifford on bass, and Richard Douse on drums. Their repertoire was a heady mix of guitar instrumentals; Chet Atkins, Les Paul, Duane Eddy, and Brazil's Los Indios Tabajaras, but through the lens of the American sock hop. After a brief stint at Edmonton's Alberta College, The Chieftones hit the road, eventually setting up a home base in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where they reportedly worked as ranch hands in between tours. More Buddy Holly than Link Wray, "The New Smooth And Different Sound" compiles their debut single for Wisconsin's lauded Cuca label and adds a dozen previously unissued demos from their brief time in the Driftless region.
October 13 street date. On his latest album as The Drums, New York-based indie pop artist Jonny Pierce plunges into the work of healing from child-hood trauma and the long shadow it casts over adulthood. The sparkling, eponymous "Jonny" unfurls a love letter to a galaxy of younger selves, all hungry to be nourished, all rejoicing now that they finally get to belong. Playful, heartbreaking, raucous, and serene all in turn, "Jonny" embraces the mess of life in all its facets. It renders the magic that happens when you fall in love with yourself down to the marrow. Soaring to alt-pop prestige on arrival, The Drums have released studio albums that deftly walk the line of aching melancholy and irresistible pop sensibilities, presented through a kaleidoscope of pastel guitars, reverb, modular synthesizers and drum machines. It's a sound that’s wholly unique, and unmistakably The Drums.
October 13 street date. On his latest album as The Drums, New York-based indie pop artist Jonny Pierce plunges into the work of healing from child-hood trauma and the long shadow it casts over adulthood. The sparkling, eponymous "Jonny" unfurls a love letter to a galaxy of younger selves, all hungry to be nourished, all rejoicing now that they finally get to belong. Playful, heartbreaking, raucous, and serene all in turn, "Jonny" embraces the mess of life in all its facets. It renders the magic that happens when you fall in love with yourself down to the marrow. Soaring to alt-pop prestige on arrival, The Drums have released studio albums that deftly walk the line of aching melancholy and irresistible pop sensibilities, presented through a kaleidoscope of pastel guitars, reverb, modular synthesizers and drum machines. It's a sound that’s wholly unique, and unmistakably The Drums.
October 13 street date. Recorded in June of 2023 in front of a rabid crowd at The Garage in London, "Live In London" is a white hot testament to the exhilarating live Kingfish experience. Christone is in masterful control of the proceedings, whether blasting out molten, rock-infused riffs or picking the sweetest single notes this side of heaven. At 16 songs and 109 minutes long, it's a motherlode of blues magic, and the set list is a fan's dream show, including "Outside Of This Town", "662", "Another Life Goes By", and a new, previously unrecorded song, "Midnight Heat". Since Kingfish burst on the scene in 2019, fans have been clamoring for an album that showcases the dizzying heights Kingfish reaches when he gets a chance to stretch out on stage. "Live In London" is that album.
October 13 street date. Recorded in June of 2023 in front of a rabid crowd at The Garage in London, "Live In London" is a white hot testament to the exhilarating live Kingfish experience. Christone is in masterful control of the proceedings, whether blasting out molten, rock-infused riffs or picking the sweetest single notes this side of heaven. At 16 songs and 109 minutes long, it's a motherlode of blues magic, and the set list is a fan's dream show, including "Outside Of This Town", "662", "Another Life Goes By", and a new, previously unrecorded song, "Midnight Heat". Since Kingfish burst on the scene in 2019, fans have been clamoring for an album that showcases the dizzying heights Kingfish reaches when he gets a chance to stretch out on stage. "Live In London" is that album.
Please note new street date: October 13. KAYTRAMINÉ is Aminé and KAYTRANADA. This album has been a labour of love spanning nearly a decade with the origins of KAYTRAMINÉ tracing back to 2014, when Aminé unveiled "Not At All," an unofficial remix of KAYTRANADA's 2013 track "At All". Impressed by Aminé's rendition, KAYTRANADA extended a hand to collaborate officially, leading to his production contributions on three songs from Aminé's 2015 mixtape, "Calling Brio". The album showcases the pair reigniting their innate chemistry, further solidifying their musical bond along with guests like Freddie Gibbs, Pharrell Williams, Big Sean, Amaarae, and Snoop Dogg. Transparent vinyl pressing, including a blotter sheet (liquid sold separately) and folded poster.
October 13 street date. One night, at some unrelated recording session, years ago already, handsome young Eli Browning whips out his phone to show old Jordan Koop and even older Spencer Krug the instrumental recordings he's made over the pandemic, saying that now that they're finished, he doesn't know what to do with them. The music coming from the phone is dark and sparse, but also slick; tight enough to feel like some kind of twisted pop. At home, in his studio (lair), old Krug chops up one of young Browning's works, rearranges the parts to suit his own freakish needs, then squawks out an ill-conceived incantation overtop. He sends the whole mess to creaky Koop, who, in turn, from within his own dank cave of gadgets and oddities, skronks onto the franken-song his eccentric idea of what a guitar melody might be. They deliver the concoction back to young Browning, its progenitor, and cringe in wait for his gen z insults that they won't understand, but he is unexpectedly pleased. The three unlikely collaborators then decide they will make an album this way, repurposing Browning's perfectly fine and lovely instrumental tracks into "better" "songs" by unnaturally forcing them into pop structure-shaped holes, then adding lyrical phrases of vague meaning and forgivingly distorted guitar.
October 13 street date. With "Stories And Alibis", Matchbook Romance crafted a record that is so evolved, so catchy and so refined that it is almost impossible to believe that it is their debut full-length album. Produced by Joe Baresi, the album is a multi-layered sonic experience that is downright intoxicating. From start to finish, the album fills your senses with powerful melodic bursts of energy and an overall sincerity that is impossible to feign. "Stories And Alibis" is sure to evoke a response from every sector of your emotional spectrum. Reissued on limited edition red & black marble vinyl to celebrate the album's 20th anniversary.
October 13 street date. Produced by Brian Paulson at River North Recorders in Chicago and released by Touch & Go Records in April of 1991, the six songs on "Spiderland" methodically mapped a shadowy new continent of sound. The music is taut, menacing, and haunting; its structure built largely on absence and restraint, on the echoing space between the notes, but punctuated by sudden thrilling blasts of unfettered fury. It is a sound that no one had heard before and that no one will ever forget. "Spiderland" spawned a whole new genre, frequently called post-rock, and came to be regarded as one of the most important and influential records of the past thirty years. The eerie, now-iconic black and white cover photo of the four band members' heads breaking the surface of the water was taken by their friend Will Oldham. Slint broke up shortly before "Spiderland" was released. Band members went on to play in Tortoise, The Breeders, Palace, The For Carnation, Papa M, Evergreen, Interpol, and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Limited to 5000 copies.
October 20 street date. Originally released in 2003, "Waking The Fallen", the breakout sophomore full-length from Huntington Beach metal/hard rock legends, Avenged Sevenfold, is considered one of the best hard rock/metalcore albums of all time. Blending metal, punk, and hardcore with catchy melodies and face-shredding guitar solos, the band created an original sound all their own and built a cult-following that embraced the "deathbat" - an emblem that would become synonymous with the band and their fanbase. Certified Platinum in the US, Gold in Canada, and Silver in the UK, the album features hit songs "Unholy Confessions" and "Second Heartbeat" - mainstay staples of MTV's Headbanger's Ball, and featured on video games like "Madden NFL 04" and "NHL 04". Celebrating 20 years of the seminal album, the band is bigger than ever, releasing their eighth studio album to critical and commercial acclaim and a massive worldwide headline tour in 15,000-20,000 capacity arenas.
October 20 street date. U.S. indie 4-piece Big Thief present the "Vampire Empire"/"Born For Loving You" 7". After a performance on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, "Vampire Empire" has become a live fan favourite and since taken on a life of its own. Recorded and produced by Dom Monks at Guissona, Spain's Teatre de cal Eril Studio during a recent tour, the track speaks to the beautiful complexity of gender identity and breaking destructive internal cycles. Of the song, Adrianne Lenker adds, "for me, it's about getting out of toxic internal patterns - leaving the empire of energy drains that obscure pure essence, learning about what healthy boundaries are, and finding the power to implement them for the possibility of giving and receiving (both inwardly and outwardly) unbroken and infinite love".
October 20 street date. Melbourne punks Clowns have never been ones to conform. The five-piece started in 2010 as a more-or-less straightforward hardcore punk act, but over the course of their first four albums have steadily evolved and mutated their sound in whatever direction they felt like. "Endless" continues down this snaking path - its 12 songs swerving right and left abruptly, veering from frenetic punk to slower more psychedelic-tinged rock, all while remaining a cohesive amalgamation of their previous work. Like all Clowns albums, this one ends with a wildly experimental track. "A Widow's Son" tells the story of an Australian outlaw whose legend will never die, perfectly summing up the theme of immortality which weighs heavy throughout the album. In its entirety, "Endless" serves as a new beginning for Clowns. In more ways than one the band have been reborn, and this is the invigorating and astonishing first stage of their next adventure.
October 20 street date. Melbourne punks Clowns have never been ones to conform. The five-piece started in 2010 as a more-or-less straightforward hardcore punk act, but over the course of their first four albums have steadily evolved and mutated their sound in whatever direction they felt like. "Endless" continues down this snaking path - its 12 songs swerving right and left abruptly, veering from frenetic punk to slower more psychedelic-tinged rock, all while remaining a cohesive amalgamation of their previous work. Like all Clowns albums, this one ends with a wildly experimental track. "A Widow's Son" tells the story of an Australian outlaw whose legend will never die, perfectly summing up the theme of immortality which weighs heavy throughout the album. In its entirety, "Endless" serves as a new beginning for Clowns. In more ways than one the band have been reborn, and this is the invigorating and astonishing first stage of their next adventure.
October 20 street date. Beggars Arkive present the expanded reissue of Fields Of The Nephilim's sophomore album, "The Nephilim", released 35 years ago by Situation Two/Beggars Banquet, and not pressed on vinyl since then. Forming four years earlier, in 1984, Fields Of The Nephilim is the creation of vocalist and front man Carl McCoy. "One of the UK goth scene's masterpieces" (PopMatters), "The Nephilim" was recorded in a former courthouse in the Somerset countryside where defendants were sentenced to death, and hung. Highly influential, especially in the world of goth, but also within the metal and electronic genres, the band's legacy endures to this day, influencing bands like Swans, Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Explosions In The Sky, Wolves in The Throne Room, Behemoth, and more. The package contains three bonus tracks, along with the original track listing, which includes their legendary track, "Moonchild".
October 20 street date. It is hard to know how many times the mythology and mystery of Goat's backstory can be written about, but new release ‘Medicine’ does away with any need to dwell on the past, returning with a more introspective, slightly mellower psych-folk sound that remains recognisably them. There is a consistently restrained, warm feel across the whole work, and the band suggest that the overall theme of the album is about "the impermanence of life in different ways: sickness, relationships, love, death and how our time is finite". At times the album's sound has nods to classic Swedish 1970s psych/prog/folk acts such as Arbete & Fritid, Charlie & Esdor, and Träd, Gräs & Stenar. ‘Vakna’ takes on this influence, progressing across nearly six minutes of swaying, warping guitar solos, without ever breaking out into chaos. Flute is foregrounded throughout, threading across several tracks. Whatever your dosage, and regardless of your remedy, it is now time to take your medicine.
October 20 street date. It is hard to know how many times the mythology and mystery of Goat's backstory can be written about, but new release ‘Medicine’ does away with any need to dwell on the past, returning with a more introspective, slightly mellower psych-folk sound that remains recognisably them. There is a consistently restrained, warm feel across the whole work, and the band suggest that the overall theme of the album is about "the impermanence of life in different ways: sickness, relationships, love, death and how our time is finite". At times the album's sound has nods to classic Swedish 1970s psych/prog/folk acts such as Arbete & Fritid, Charlie & Esdor, and Träd, Gräs & Stenar. ‘Vakna’ takes on this influence, progressing across nearly six minutes of swaying, warping guitar solos, without ever breaking out into chaos. Flute is foregrounded throughout, threading across several tracks. Whatever your dosage, and regardless of your remedy, it is now time to take your medicine.
October 20 street date. It is hard to know how many times the mythology and mystery of Goat's backstory can be written about, but new release ‘Medicine’ does away with any need to dwell on the past, returning with a more introspective, slightly mellower psych-folk sound that remains recognisably them. There is a consistently restrained, warm feel across the whole work, and the band suggest that the overall theme of the album is about "the impermanence of life in different ways: sickness, relationships, love, death and how our time is finite". At times the album's sound has nods to classic Swedish 1970s psych/prog/folk acts such as Arbete & Fritid, Charlie & Esdor, and Träd, Gräs & Stenar. ‘Vakna’ takes on this influence, progressing across nearly six minutes of swaying, warping guitar solos, without ever breaking out into chaos. Flute is foregrounded throughout, threading across several tracks. Whatever your dosage, and regardless of your remedy, it is now time to take your medicine.
October 20 street date. For the first time ever, the release of the complete soundtrack to "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving", just in time for the 50th anniversary of the celebrated animated holiday television special, written and created by Charles Schulz, directed by Bill Melendez and Phil Roman and produced by Melendez and Lee Mendelson. This is the complete Vince Guaraldi score along with never-before-heard bonus material. Newly re-discovered, the original recording sessions for Vince Guaraldi's beloved soundtrack have been remixed and remastered for audiophiles and Peanuts® fans everywhere. Includes many previously unreleased tracks, several never heard since the Vince Guaraldi Quintet laid them down for the recording session in 1973. All remastered from the original 2" 16 track source tapes. Jellybean green vinyl edition, limited to 2000 copies.
October 20 street date. Not many heroes of indie folk have won an Oscar or created the basis of a successful stage musical, but Glen Hansard is an artist who can wear both of those feathers in his cap. As a member of The Frames and The Swell Season, Hansard won acclaim for his literate, intelligent, and passionate songwriting and his nuanced vocals, and he's gone on to win similar accolades as a solo artist. Hansard first gained an audience for the limber but emphatic indie rock he created as a member of The Frames, then gained international fame with fellow singer and songwriter Markéta Irglová in the duo The Swell Season, whose emotionally open, primarily acoustic indie folk became the centerpiece of the award-winning independent romantic drama "Once". Hansard now presents "All That Was East Is West Of Me Now", his first solo album in 5 years. The album demonstrates the Oscar-winning singer-songwriter's unique ability to blend Irish folk with modern rock and the punch of his storied live shows, of which The Guardian says, "Hansard's powerful voice, whether raw with passion or tender with regret, shines above arrangements bursting with swagger".
October 20 street date. Not many heroes of indie folk have won an Oscar or created the basis of a successful stage musical, but Glen Hansard is an artist who can wear both of those feathers in his cap. As a member of The Frames and The Swell Season, Hansard won acclaim for his literate, intelligent, and passionate songwriting and his nuanced vocals, and he's gone on to win similar accolades as a solo artist. Hansard first gained an audience for the limber but emphatic indie rock he created as a member of The Frames, then gained international fame with fellow singer and songwriter Markéta Irglová in the duo The Swell Season, whose emotionally open, primarily acoustic indie folk became the centerpiece of the award-winning independent romantic drama "Once". Hansard now presents "All That Was East Is West Of Me Now", his first solo album in 5 years. The album demonstrates the Oscar-winning singer-songwriter's unique ability to blend Irish folk with modern rock and the punch of his storied live shows, of which The Guardian says, "Hansard's powerful voice, whether raw with passion or tender with regret, shines above arrangements bursting with swagger".
October 20 street date. Not many heroes of indie folk have won an Oscar or created the basis of a successful stage musical, but Glen Hansard is an artist who can wear both of those feathers in his cap. As a member of The Frames and The Swell Season, Hansard won acclaim for his literate, intelligent, and passionate songwriting and his nuanced vocals, and he's gone on to win similar accolades as a solo artist. Hansard first gained an audience for the limber but emphatic indie rock he created as a member of The Frames, then gained international fame with fellow singer and songwriter Markéta Irglová in the duo The Swell Season, whose emotionally open, primarily acoustic indie folk became the centerpiece of the award-winning independent romantic drama "Once". Hansard now presents "All That Was East Is West Of Me Now", his first solo album in 5 years. The album demonstrates the Oscar-winning singer-songwriter's unique ability to blend Irish folk with modern rock and the punch of his storied live shows, of which The Guardian says, "Hansard's powerful voice, whether raw with passion or tender with regret, shines above arrangements bursting with swagger".
October 20 street date. Following the international success of "Planet Gold" and "LETTER", pianist Sofiane Pamart presents his third solo album, "NOCHE". His first work was a trip around the world, the second was a love letter addressed directly to his audience, and this third project will plunge you into the depths of the night. Always nomadic by nature, always keen to cherish the strong bond he has forged with his audience, Pamart is back this time after an adventure of several months spent in Latin America, where he composed the entirety of this new album. Now firmly established as a star pianist, he delivers 15 new compositions featuring all the ingredients that have forged his universe: travel, poetry, melancholy, romance, snarls and mystery.
October 20 street date. Following the international success of "Planet Gold" and "LETTER", pianist Sofiane Pamart presents his third solo album, "NOCHE". His first work was a trip around the world, the second was a love letter addressed directly to his audience, and this third project will plunge you into the depths of the night. Always nomadic by nature, always keen to cherish the strong bond he has forged with his audience, Pamart is back this time after an adventure of several months spent in Latin America, where he composed the entirety of this new album. Now firmly established as a star pianist, he delivers 15 new compositions featuring all the ingredients that have forged his universe: travel, poetry, melancholy, romance, snarls and mystery.
October 20 street date. Brendan Perry and 4AD present the reissue of his 1999 album, "Eye of the Hunter", expanded for its first ever repress to now include a bonus live album, "Live at the I.C.A.", recorded during 4AD's infamous 13 Year Itch residency at the storied London venue in 1993. Some fifteen years after Dead Can Dance's self-titled debut, Brendan Perry stepped out on his own with this wondrous eight track album. Recorded at Brendan's Quivvy Church studio in County Cavan, Ireland, and backed by the band of Liam Bradley (drums), Glen Garrett (bass guitar) and Martin Quinn (pedal steel), Brendan performs on the guitar (along with 12-string guitar), mandolin, and keys to achieve a rich, gothic sound while the album's incredible production elevates his vocals to Scott Walker and Tim Buckley levels of delivery; two clear influences.
October 20 street date. Brendan Perry and 4AD present the reissue of his 1999 album, "Eye of the Hunter", expanded for its first ever repress to now include a bonus live album, "Live at the I.C.A.", recorded during 4AD's infamous 13 Year Itch residency at the storied London venue in 1993. Some fifteen years after Dead Can Dance's self-titled debut, Brendan Perry stepped out on his own with this wondrous eight track album. Recorded at Brendan's Quivvy Church studio in County Cavan, Ireland, and backed by the band of Liam Bradley (drums), Glen Garrett (bass guitar) and Martin Quinn (pedal steel), Brendan performs on the guitar (along with 12-string guitar), mandolin, and keys to achieve a rich, gothic sound while the album's incredible production elevates his vocals to Scott Walker and Tim Buckley levels of delivery; two clear influences. Across this Abbey Road mastered release Chris Bigg's fantastic art remains front and centre, upgraded to a gatefold sleeve for the LP with coloured vinyl matching the album's palette ("Eye of the Hunter" on transparent teal and "Live at the I.C.A." on seafoam green).
October 20 street date. 2023 marks the 30th anniversary of Liz Phair's beloved debut record, "Exile In Guyville", and to celebrate, Matador Records have reissued the album on a limited-edition purple double-LP. Loosely framed as a song-by-song reply to The Rolling Stones' "Exile on Main St.", "Exile In Guyville" was dubbed a classic upon arrival. In ensuing years its profile has only risen, earning #4 on Pitchfork's "Best 150 Albums of the 1990s" and #56 on Rolling Stone's "Best 500 Albums of All Time", as well as being regarded as an iconic feminist landmark. Continuing to defy expectations and break barriers, Liz Phair has released five albums, sold over five million records, composed music for television, and received two Grammy® nominations. Three decades after the release of her debut, Phair's influence in contemporary music - and particularly over female voices -resonates more strongly than ever.
October 20 street date. Spanning jazz, soul, rap, dance, jungle, and west African music, producer and singer-songwriter Sampha presents his highly-anticipated sophomore release, "Lahai". Taken from his paternal grandfather's name, "Lahai" revels in the awe and magic of our existence, synthesizing the exquisite chaos that one experiences confronting the cycle of life and the beyondness. Spanning 14 tracks, with contributions from some of Sampha's closest friends, peers and collaborators including Yaeji, Léa Sen, Sheila Maurice Grey (Kokoroko), Ibeyi, Morgan Simpson (Black Midi), Yussef Dayes, Laura Groves, and Kwake Bass, the record is a communal affair seeing Sampha explore the many ways in which we as humans connect to each other, and to something bigger than ourselves. It's no wonder that artists like Kendrick Lamar, Stormzy, Travis Scott, and previously, Drake, Solange, Frank Ocean, and Beyoncé have all tapped the artist for his inimitable voice, songwriting, and production contributions. If "Process", Sampha's 2017 Mercury-Prize winning debut album, was an artist figuring out his own place in the world, engulfed in the shadows of grief and loss, "Lahai" is an exercise in the radical acceptance and joy in the human condition, and the beauty in the journey itself.
October 20 street date. Spanning jazz, soul, rap, dance, jungle, and west African music, producer and singer-songwriter Sampha presents his highly-anticipated sophomore release, "Lahai". Taken from his paternal grandfather's name, "Lahai" revels in the awe and magic of our existence, synthesizing the exquisite chaos that one experiences confronting the cycle of life and the beyondness. Spanning 14 tracks, with contributions from some of Sampha's closest friends, peers and collaborators including Yaeji, Léa Sen, Sheila Maurice Grey (Kokoroko), Ibeyi, Morgan Simpson (Black Midi), Yussef Dayes, Laura Groves, and Kwake Bass, the record is a communal affair seeing Sampha explore the many ways in which we as humans connect to each other, and to something bigger than ourselves. It's no wonder that artists like Kendrick Lamar, Stormzy, Travis Scott, and previously, Drake, Solange, Frank Ocean, and Beyoncé have all tapped the artist for his inimitable voice, songwriting, and production contributions. If "Process", Sampha's 2017 Mercury-Prize winning debut album, was an artist figuring out his own place in the world, engulfed in the shadows of grief and loss, "Lahai" is an exercise in the radical acceptance and joy in the human condition, and the beauty in the journey itself.
October 20 street date. Spanning jazz, soul, rap, dance, jungle, and west African music, producer and singer-songwriter Sampha presents his highly-anticipated sophomore release, "Lahai". Taken from his paternal grandfather's name, "Lahai" revels in the awe and magic of our existence, synthesizing the exquisite chaos that one experiences confronting the cycle of life and the beyondness. Spanning 14 tracks, with contributions from some of Sampha's closest friends, peers and collaborators including Yaeji, Léa Sen, Sheila Maurice Grey (Kokoroko), Ibeyi, Morgan Simpson (Black Midi), Yussef Dayes, Laura Groves, and Kwake Bass, the record is a communal affair seeing Sampha explore the many ways in which we as humans connect to each other, and to something bigger than ourselves. It's no wonder that artists like Kendrick Lamar, Stormzy, Travis Scott, and previously, Drake, Solange, Frank Ocean, and Beyoncé have all tapped the artist for his inimitable voice, songwriting, and production contributions. If "Process", Sampha's 2017 Mercury-Prize winning debut album, was an artist figuring out his own place in the world, engulfed in the shadows of grief and loss, "Lahai" is an exercise in the radical acceptance and joy in the human condition, and the beauty in the journey itself.
October 20 street date. This 2023 edition of The Shins' beloved second album, "Chutes Too Narrow", celebrates its 20th anniversary with a fresh remaster by Adam Ayan, supervised by band leader James Mercer, and lovely new packaging for the vinyl. Following The Shins' breakout 2001 debut, "Oh, Inverted World", singer/songwriter/guitarist James Mercer and drummer Jesse Sandoval moved from Albuquerque to Portland, OR. "Chutes Too Narrow" was recorded in James' basement home studio, with later mixing assistance from Phil Ek (Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, David Cross, Les Savy Fav, etc.). And, with 10 songs, clocking in at just over 30 minutes, "Chutes Too Narrow" is a brief yet entirely scintillating glimpse at chiming, reflective and perfectly skewed pop innovation. Critically acclaimed on release, it is widely considered by many to be one of the best albums of the 2000s.
October 20 street date. This 2023 edition of The Shins' beloved second album, "Chutes Too Narrow", celebrates its 20th anniversary with a fresh remaster by Adam Ayan, supervised by band leader James Mercer, and lovely new packaging for the vinyl. Following The Shins' breakout 2001 debut, "Oh, Inverted World", singer/songwriter/guitarist James Mercer and drummer Jesse Sandoval moved from Albuquerque to Portland, OR. "Chutes Too Narrow" was recorded in James' basement home studio, with later mixing assistance from Phil Ek (Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, David Cross, Les Savy Fav, etc.). And, with 10 songs, clocking in at just over 30 minutes, "Chutes Too Narrow" is a brief yet entirely scintillating glimpse at chiming, reflective and perfectly skewed pop innovation. Critically acclaimed on release, it is widely considered by many to be one of the best albums of the 2000s.
October 20 street date. This 2023 edition of The Shins' beloved second album, "Chutes Too Narrow", celebrates its 20th anniversary with a fresh remaster by Adam Ayan, supervised by band leader James Mercer, and lovely new packaging for the vinyl. Following The Shins' breakout 2001 debut, "Oh, Inverted World", singer/songwriter/guitarist James Mercer and drummer Jesse Sandoval moved from Albuquerque to Portland, OR. "Chutes Too Narrow" was recorded in James' basement home studio, with later mixing assistance from Phil Ek (Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, David Cross, Les Savy Fav, etc.). And, with 10 songs, clocking in at just over 30 minutes, "Chutes Too Narrow" is a brief yet entirely scintillating glimpse at chiming, reflective and perfectly skewed pop innovation. Critically acclaimed on release, it is widely considered by many to be one of the best albums of the 2000s.
October 20 street date. Fresh from supporting Blur at London's Wembley Stadium, Sleaford Mods return with a EP of six new tracks. Emerging from the same environment that created the duo's Top 3 album "UK GRIM", the songs of "More UK GRIM" share the incisive lyrical vision and forward-thinking electronics that won acclaim for the LP. Tracks including "Under The Rules", "Old Nottz", and "Big Pharma" not only continue Mods' era of dancefloor dominance, but with insight and wit, outrage and compassion, they critique yet celebrate our turbulent times.
October 6 street date (for LP) / October 20 (CD) (date change). New album by Taylor Kirk, the Toronto based musician who has happily worked as a producer since the last Timber Timbre album in 2017. Now with "Lovage" there is new music of his own, which proves that Kirk has not only refined his working methods, but also skilfully combines different influences. Kirk developed "Lovage" in close collaboration with Michael Dubue at the producer's studio in Quyon, Quebec. Working together proved so fruitful that Dubue quickly joined the collective as keyboardist and vocalist, while Adam Bradley Schreiber completed the current line-up on drums and percussion. Together they harmonize the varied sound palette of Brian Wilson with the special melancholy of Leonard Cohen, but also Sun Ra, Dorothy Ashby, and Alice Coltrane, as well as Italian singers like Pino Daniele and Paolo Conte, played a major role in its creation, which might explain the new album's cinematic lightness.
October 20 street date. Toro y Moi's "Sandhills" is both a tender love letter to Chaz Bear's hometown of Columbia, South Carolina, and a poignant, bittersweet acceptance that one can never really go back home. Recalling Sufjan's "Seven Swans" or Karen O's soundtrack work for "Where The Wild Things Are", these loping folk-pop songs are themselves a sort of Saturn return, reminiscent of Bear's first handmade CD-Rs as Toro y Moi. Bear gave them out to friends in the earliest days of the moniker, the releases stuffed in the Case Logic visor of their cars, and each listen brings a little more of that detail to life: the mall after which "Sandhills" is named; the teenaged friends spending aimless hours there, full of big ennui and bigger dreams; the late-capitalist decline and empty big box stores of Sandhills today. Lyrically deft and deceptively heartbreaking, "Sandhills" may be a brief pit stop between grand statements from Bear, but it's brimming with rust, guts, big moods and love.
October 20 street date. Montreal's Nikki Yanofsky has come a long way since taking Canada by storm when she sang the CTV Olympic broadcast theme song, "I Believe", which was also the theme song of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Now Yanofsky is getting back to where it all started - not just in her own life, as a prolific and beloved vocalist who began her career in the jazz world, but in a bigger sense, too. "Nikki By Starlight" is a modern reimagining of The Great American Songbook, packed with original arrangements and novel vocal interpretations. Co-produced with Paul Shrofel, Yanofsky describes the process of recording this album as an invigorating and joyful time that allowed her to tap into the purest part of herself again. Yanofsky's transportive musical touch brings the Great American Songbook into the 21st century, providing a chance for new audiences and existing fans alike to fall in love with her distinct style. She's also recruited support: Greg Phillinganes features on "Crazy He Calls Me" and "West Coast Blues", Nathan East bass on "Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars", and the iconic Arturo Sandoval appears with his signature trumpet on "Estate". A celebration of jazz for purists and the new generation alike.
October 20 street date. Montreal's Nikki Yanofsky has come a long way since taking Canada by storm when she sang the CTV Olympic broadcast theme song, "I Believe", which was also the theme song of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Now Yanofsky is getting back to where it all started - not just in her own life, as a prolific and beloved vocalist who began her career in the jazz world, but in a bigger sense, too. "Nikki By Starlight" is a modern reimagining of The Great American Songbook, packed with original arrangements and novel vocal interpretations. Co-produced with Paul Shrofel, Yanofsky describes the process of recording this album as an invigorating and joyful time that allowed her to tap into the purest part of herself again. Yanofsky's transportive musical touch brings the Great American Songbook into the 21st century, providing a chance for new audiences and existing fans alike to fall in love with her distinct style. She's also recruited support: Greg Phillinganes features on "Crazy He Calls Me" and "West Coast Blues", Nathan East bass on "Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars", and the iconic Arturo Sandoval appears with his signature trumpet on "Estate". A celebration of jazz for purists and the new generation alike.
October 27 street date. The long-awaited debut album from CASisDEAD via XL Recordings. "Famous Last Words" is a fully realised expansion of the dystopian futurism that has captivated audiences since CAS first announced himself in 2013. Over the past decade, he's dipped in and out of the shadows, blessing fans with cult hits while maintaining his anonymity and shunning media attention; a rejection of the spotlight that's helped to create folklore around a rapper who's widely regarded as one of the UK's most inventive lyricists. "Famous Last Words" is as much a sci-fi film as it is a rap record, a labyrinth of vice, crime and faded glamour. The listener steps through a portal into a realm narrated by CASisDEAD, whose command of storytelling drops you right into the underground of a city where he is the main character in a shady network of gangsters, girls and drug deals. However, "Famous Last Words" isn't a story of bravado or posturing; much of the album deals in themes of loss, regret and paranoia, a persona constantly self-reflecting amongst the madness that surrounds him. The album features a carefully curated roll call of collaborators including Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant, Desire, and Connie Constance. The vocalists are immersed in CASisDEAD's hallmark 1980s-inspired synthpop soundscapes, aided and abetted by a production cast that includes Stranger Things composer Kyle Dixon and Italians Do It Better label founder Johnny Jewel.
October 27 street date. The long-awaited debut album from CASisDEAD via XL Recordings. "Famous Last Words" is a fully realised expansion of the dystopian futurism that has captivated audiences since CAS first announced himself in 2013. Over the past decade, he's dipped in and out of the shadows, blessing fans with cult hits while maintaining his anonymity and shunning media attention; a rejection of the spotlight that's helped to create folklore around a rapper who's widely regarded as one of the UK's most inventive lyricists. "Famous Last Words" is as much a sci-fi film as it is a rap record, a labyrinth of vice, crime and faded glamour. The listener steps through a portal into a realm narrated by CASisDEAD, whose command of storytelling drops you right into the underground of a city where he is the main character in a shady network of gangsters, girls and drug deals. However, "Famous Last Words" isn't a story of bravado or posturing; much of the album deals in themes of loss, regret and paranoia, a persona constantly self-reflecting amongst the madness that surrounds him. The album features a carefully curated roll call of collaborators including Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant, Desire, and Connie Constance. The vocalists are immersed in CASisDEAD's hallmark 1980s-inspired synthpop soundscapes, aided and abetted by a production cast that includes Stranger Things composer Kyle Dixon and Italians Do It Better label founder Johnny Jewel.
October 27 street date. The long-awaited debut album from CASisDEAD via XL Recordings. "Famous Last Words" is a fully realised expansion of the dystopian futurism that has captivated audiences since CAS first announced himself in 2013. Over the past decade, he's dipped in and out of the shadows, blessing fans with cult hits while maintaining his anonymity and shunning media attention; a rejection of the spotlight that's helped to create folklore around a rapper who's widely regarded as one of the UK's most inventive lyricists. "Famous Last Words" is as much a sci-fi film as it is a rap record, a labyrinth of vice, crime and faded glamour. The listener steps through a portal into a realm narrated by CASisDEAD, whose command of storytelling drops you right into the underground of a city where he is the main character in a shady network of gangsters, girls and drug deals. However, "Famous Last Words" isn't a story of bravado or posturing; much of the album deals in themes of loss, regret and paranoia, a persona constantly self-reflecting amongst the madness that surrounds him. The album features a carefully curated roll call of collaborators including Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant, Desire, and Connie Constance. The vocalists are immersed in CASisDEAD's hallmark 1980s-inspired synthpop soundscapes, aided and abetted by a production cast that includes Stranger Things composer Kyle Dixon and Italians Do It Better label founder Johnny Jewel.
October 27 street date. The long-awaited debut album from CASisDEAD via XL Recordings. "Famous Last Words" is a fully realised expansion of the dystopian futurism that has captivated audiences since CAS first announced himself in 2013. Over the past decade, he's dipped in and out of the shadows, blessing fans with cult hits while maintaining his anonymity and shunning media attention; a rejection of the spotlight that's helped to create folklore around a rapper who's widely regarded as one of the UK's most inventive lyricists. "Famous Last Words" is as much a sci-fi film as it is a rap record, a labyrinth of vice, crime and faded glamour. The listener steps through a portal into a realm narrated by CASisDEAD, whose command of storytelling drops you right into the underground of a city where he is the main character in a shady network of gangsters, girls and drug deals. However, "Famous Last Words" isn't a story of bravado or posturing; much of the album deals in themes of loss, regret and paranoia, a persona constantly self-reflecting amongst the madness that surrounds him. The album features a carefully curated roll call of collaborators including Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant, Desire, and Connie Constance. The vocalists are immersed in CASisDEAD's hallmark 1980s-inspired synthpop soundscapes, aided and abetted by a production cast that includes Stranger Things composer Kyle Dixon and Italians Do It Better label founder Johnny Jewel.
Please note new street date: October 27. The Feelies are one of the most influential bands to emerge from the NY post punk scene of the late 1970s and have continued to perform together and make records for 4 decades. The Feelies have spent their entire career covering songs by the Velvet Underground and are masters of the VU sound. They toured Europe opening for Lou Reed in the 1980s, sharing meals, hanging out backstage, even joining him to perform some of his classic material. On October 13, 2018, The Feelies were invited to perform Velvet Underground songs at Jersey City, NJ's White Eagle Hall as part of a traveling museum show of VU memorabilia. This 18 track release includes VU standards "Sweet Jane", "Rock & Roll", and "I'm Waiting For The Man" as well as rarely covered material like "I Heard Her Call My Name" and "That's The Story Of My Life".
Please note new street date: October 27. The Feelies are one of the most influential bands to emerge from the NY post punk scene of the late 1970s and have continued to perform together and make records for 4 decades. The Feelies have spent their entire career covering songs by the Velvet Underground and are masters of the VU sound. They toured Europe opening for Lou Reed in the 1980s, sharing meals, hanging out backstage, even joining him to perform some of his classic material. On October 13, 2018, The Feelies were invited to perform Velvet Underground songs at Jersey City, NJ's White Eagle Hall as part of a traveling museum show of VU memorabilia. This 18 track release includes VU standards "Sweet Jane", "Rock & Roll", and "I'm Waiting For The Man" as well as rarely covered material like "I Heard Her Call My Name" and "That's The Story Of My Life". Limited edition of 1000 copies for independent record stores pressed on grey vinyl with collectable banana sticker.
October 27 street date. German alternative superstar duo Milky Chance's surprise 2021 mixtape, "Trip Tape I", is now available on vinyl. The mixtape sees the band perform hit tracks in their very own unmistakable style, from the likes of the Weeknd, Dua Lipa, Soft Cell, and Rosalia as well as a stunning guest remix from Bristol-based producers Icarus. As if that wasn't enough, "Trip Tape I" also includes a few originals, some of them demo versions, that will ensure all types of fans are more than satisfied. "Trip Tape I" allows Milky Chance to freely explore how their signature style sounds over an eclectic song choice.
October 27 street date. German alternative superstar duo Milky Chance's surprise 2022 mixtape, "Trip Tape II", is now available on vinyl. One standout is the rack "Troubled Man," flowing with catchy melodies and a classic Milky Chance instrumental groove. Other highlights include cover "As It Was" (Milky Chance's spin on the Harry Styles smash), new song "Glass of Wine", and RAC's grungy flip on the band's 2022 alternative hit "Synchronize".
October 27 street date. "Jenny From Thebes" began its life as many albums by The Mountain Goats do, with John Darnielle playing the piano until a lyric emerged. That lyric, "Jenny was a warrior/Jenny was a thief/Jenny hit the corner clinic begging for relief" became "Jenny III", a song which laid down a challenge he'd never taken up before: writing a sequel to one of his most beloved albums. The Mountain Goats' catalogue is thick with recurring characters - Jenny, who originally appears in the "All Hail West Texas" track bearing her name, as well as in "Straight Six" from "Jam Eater Blues" and "Transcendental Youth" side two jam "Night Light", is one of these. "Jenny From Thebes" is the story of Jenny, her southwestern ranch style house, the people for whom that house is a place of safety, and the west Texas town that is uncomfortable with its existence. Lifted by Matt Douglas' horn and string arrangements, the dreamy guitar of Bully leader Alicia Bognanno, and backing vocals from Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go's and Matt Nathanson, "Jenny From Thebes" is a widescreen musical in scope, a melodrama of richly detailed characters and sweeping emotions.
October 27 street date. "Jenny From Thebes" began its life as many albums by The Mountain Goats do, with John Darnielle playing the piano until a lyric emerged. That lyric, "Jenny was a warrior/Jenny was a thief/Jenny hit the corner clinic begging for relief" became "Jenny III", a song which laid down a challenge he'd never taken up before: writing a sequel to one of his most beloved albums. The Mountain Goats' catalogue is thick with recurring characters - Jenny, who originally appears in the "All Hail West Texas" track bearing her name, as well as in "Straight Six" from "Jam Eater Blues" and "Transcendental Youth" side two jam "Night Light", is one of these. "Jenny From Thebes" is the story of Jenny, her southwestern ranch style house, the people for whom that house is a place of safety, and the west Texas town that is uncomfortable with its existence. Lifted by Matt Douglas' horn and string arrangements, the dreamy guitar of Bully leader Alicia Bognanno, and backing vocals from Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go's and Matt Nathanson, "Jenny From Thebes" is a widescreen musical in scope, a melodrama of richly detailed characters and sweeping emotions.
October 27 street date. "Jenny From Thebes" began its life as many albums by The Mountain Goats do, with John Darnielle playing the piano until a lyric emerged. That lyric, "Jenny was a warrior/Jenny was a thief/Jenny hit the corner clinic begging for relief" became "Jenny III", a song which laid down a challenge he'd never taken up before: writing a sequel to one of his most beloved albums. The Mountain Goats' catalogue is thick with recurring characters - Jenny, who originally appears in the "All Hail West Texas" track bearing her name, as well as in "Straight Six" from "Jam Eater Blues" and "Transcendental Youth" side two jam "Night Light", is one of these. "Jenny From Thebes" is the story of Jenny, her southwestern ranch style house, the people for whom that house is a place of safety, and the west Texas town that is uncomfortable with its existence. Lifted by Matt Douglas' horn and string arrangements, the dreamy guitar of Bully leader Alicia Bognanno, and backing vocals from Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go's and Matt Nathanson, "Jenny From Thebes" is a widescreen musical in scope, a melodrama of richly detailed characters and sweeping emotions.
October 27 street date. "Misfits & Mistakes: Singles, B-sides & Strays 2007-2023" is Superchunk's fourth singles compilation, a massive, 4-LP (or 2-CD) collection covering their triumphant return from hiatus. The amount of ground covered within its gorgeous packaging is staggering: 50 songs, 16 of which are on physical media for the first time, sourced from out-of-print releases, digital singles, compilations, and more - a vital piece of the Superchunk canon. Featuring extensive liner notes by Mac McCaughan (with additional notes from Laura Ballance), "Misfits & Mistakes" tells the story of each release, from why they chose to cover songs by The Misfits, The Cure, Destiny's Child, and Bananarama, to working with collaborators like Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee), Jane Wiedlin (The Go-Go's), Eleanor Friedberger, Damian Abraham (Fucked Up), Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley (Teenage Fanclub), and more. The 4-LP set comes packaged in a slipcase with two exclusive 18" x 24" posters, and the 2-CD set includes a full-colour 28-page booklet.
October 27 street date. "Misfits & Mistakes: Singles, B-sides & Strays 2007-2023" is Superchunk's fourth singles compilation, a massive, 4-LP (or 2-CD) collection covering their triumphant return from hiatus. The amount of ground covered within its gorgeous packaging is staggering: 50 songs, 16 of which are on physical media for the first time, sourced from out-of-print releases, digital singles, compilations, and more - a vital piece of the Superchunk canon. Featuring extensive liner notes by Mac McCaughan (with additional notes from Laura Ballance), "Misfits & Mistakes" tells the story of each release, from why they chose to cover songs by The Misfits, The Cure, Destiny's Child, and Bananarama, to working with collaborators like Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee), Jane Wiedlin (The Go-Go's), Eleanor Friedberger, Damian Abraham (Fucked Up), Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley (Teenage Fanclub), and more. The 4-LP set comes packaged in a slipcase with two exclusive 18" x 24" posters, and the 2-CD set includes a full-colour 28-page booklet.
October 27 street date. For six decades, Robin Trower's career has been an act of quiet rebellion. Rewind the reels of the British guitarist's backstory and you'll find an artist who has always rolled the dice rather than take the path of least resistance. Fast forward to 2023 and Trower's new studio album, "Joyful Sky", represents vindication for his latest flash of artistic instinct. Always receptive to singers who can elevate his emotive guitar touch, the 78 year-old heard a quality in the smoky power of the acclaimed New Yorker Sari Schorr that made him want to tear down and rebuild his song craft around her. "I've worked with some great vocalists over the years but Sari is dynamite, just an absolute knockout", reflects Trower. "This album really pushed me, made me write in different keys and arrange songs for her voice. I went more down the R&B route this time, because I knew she'd be great with that flavor. But the blues still underpins everything I do - and there's definitely elements from my '70s stuff in this new album". 180g black vinyl edition, limited to 1000 copies.
October 27 street date. For six decades, Robin Trower's career has been an act of quiet rebellion. Rewind the reels of the British guitarist's backstory and you'll find an artist who has always rolled the dice rather than take the path of least resistance. Fast forward to 2023 and Trower's new studio album, "Joyful Sky", represents vindication for his latest flash of artistic instinct. Always receptive to singers who can elevate his emotive guitar touch, the 78 year-old heard a quality in the smoky power of the acclaimed New Yorker Sari Schorr that made him want to tear down and rebuild his song craft around her. "I've worked with some great vocalists over the years but Sari is dynamite, just an absolute knockout", reflects Trower. "This album really pushed me, made me write in different keys and arrange songs for her voice. I went more down the R&B route this time, because I knew she'd be great with that flavor. But the blues still underpins everything I do - and there's definitely elements from my '70s stuff in this new album".
October 27 street date. Because "Hold", Jack Tatum's fifth album under the moniker Wild Nothing, was written in the aftermath of new parenthood during the pandemic, it was probably inevitable that it would be searching and existential music. But during the recording process, the artist known for synth-pop tastefulness used it as an opportunity to reach for a new sonic maximalism and wider set of influences. With contributions from longtime collaborator Jorge Elbrecht, Tommy Davidson of Beach Fossils, and Hatchie's Harriette Pilbeam, first single "Headlights On" features an acid house-worthy bass groove and breakbeat that prove Tatum is playing for the rafters. Tatum produced the rest of the record on his own, partially out of necessity, due to the challenges of the pandemic. While largely a product of isolation, "Hold" also reflects the things Tatum has learned from collaborators, both on previous records and during his acclaimed work with Japanese Breakfast and Molly Burch. The rest of the record was mixed by Geoff Swan, who listeners might know for his work with Caroline Polachek and Charli XCX. Swan put Tatum's vocals high in the mix, and throughout the album, he embraces playful vocal processing like never before.
October 27 street date. Because "Hold", Jack Tatum's fifth album under the moniker Wild Nothing, was written in the aftermath of new parenthood during the pandemic, it was probably inevitable that it would be searching and existential music. But during the recording process, the artist known for synth-pop tastefulness used it as an opportunity to reach for a new sonic maximalism and wider set of influences. With contributions from longtime collaborator Jorge Elbrecht, Tommy Davidson of Beach Fossils, and Hatchie's Harriette Pilbeam, first single "Headlights On" features an acid house-worthy bass groove and breakbeat that prove Tatum is playing for the rafters. Tatum produced the rest of the record on his own, partially out of necessity, due to the challenges of the pandemic. While largely a product of isolation, "Hold" also reflects the things Tatum has learned from collaborators, both on previous records and during his acclaimed work with Japanese Breakfast and Molly Burch. The rest of the record was mixed by Geoff Swan, who listeners might know for his work with Caroline Polachek and Charli XCX. Swan put Tatum's vocals high in the mix, and throughout the album, he embraces playful vocal processing like never before.
Please note new street date: October 27. On her expansive new album "Water Made Us", Chicago musician and poet Jamila Woods shines anew as she asks the question, what does it mean to fully surrender into love? Across "Water Made Us", Jamila embraces new genres, playful melodies, and hypnotizing wordplay, as she wades through the exhilarating tumult of love's wreckage and refuge. While 2017's "HEAVN" saw Jamila celebrating her community within a lineage of Black feminist movement organizing, and 2019's "Legacy! Legacy!" reframed her life's experiences through the storied personas of iconic Black and brown artists, "Water Made Us" is self-revelatory in an entirely new way, making this her most personal album yet. "Water Made Us" reminds us that at its best love is a warm, still ocean. Deep, shimmering, and endless in its wonder. And at its worst love can be a riptide that takes us so far away from ourselves we can hardly find our way back, hardly even remember how to swim. And yet Jamila surrenders to this surf, because maybe even the most painful endings can in fact be an invitation that calls her back home, back to shore, back to herself.
Please note new street date: October 27. On her expansive new album "Water Made Us", Chicago musician and poet Jamila Woods shines anew as she asks the question, what does it mean to fully surrender into love? Across "Water Made Us", Jamila embraces new genres, playful melodies, and hypnotizing wordplay, as she wades through the exhilarating tumult of love's wreckage and refuge. While 2017's "HEAVN" saw Jamila celebrating her community within a lineage of Black feminist movement organizing, and 2019's "Legacy! Legacy!" reframed her life's experiences through the storied personas of iconic Black and brown artists, "Water Made Us" is self-revelatory in an entirely new way, making this her most personal album yet. "Water Made Us" reminds us that at its best love is a warm, still ocean. Deep, shimmering, and endless in its wonder. And at its worst love can be a riptide that takes us so far away from ourselves we can hardly find our way back, hardly even remember how to swim. And yet Jamila surrenders to this surf, because maybe even the most painful endings can in fact be an invitation that calls her back home, back to shore, back to herself.
Please note new street date: October 27. On her expansive new album "Water Made Us", Chicago musician and poet Jamila Woods shines anew as she asks the question, what does it mean to fully surrender into love? Across "Water Made Us", Jamila embraces new genres, playful melodies, and hypnotizing wordplay, as she wades through the exhilarating tumult of love's wreckage and refuge. While 2017's "HEAVN" saw Jamila celebrating her community within a lineage of Black feminist movement organizing, and 2019's "Legacy! Legacy!" reframed her life's experiences through the storied personas of iconic Black and brown artists, "Water Made Us" is self-revelatory in an entirely new way, making this her most personal album yet. "Water Made Us" reminds us that at its best love is a warm, still ocean. Deep, shimmering, and endless in its wonder. And at its worst love can be a riptide that takes us so far away from ourselves we can hardly find our way back, hardly even remember how to swim. And yet Jamila surrenders to this surf, because maybe even the most painful endings can in fact be an invitation that calls her back home, back to shore, back to herself.
Please note new street date: October 27. On her expansive new album "Water Made Us", Chicago musician and poet Jamila Woods shines anew as she asks the question, what does it mean to fully surrender into love? Across "Water Made Us", Jamila embraces new genres, playful melodies, and hypnotizing wordplay, as she wades through the exhilarating tumult of love's wreckage and refuge. While 2017's "HEAVN" saw Jamila celebrating her community within a lineage of Black feminist movement organizing, and 2019's "Legacy! Legacy!" reframed her life's experiences through the storied personas of iconic Black and brown artists, "Water Made Us" is self-revelatory in an entirely new way, making this her most personal album yet. "Water Made Us" reminds us that at its best love is a warm, still ocean. Deep, shimmering, and endless in its wonder. And at its worst love can be a riptide that takes us so far away from ourselves we can hardly find our way back, hardly even remember how to swim. And yet Jamila surrenders to this surf, because maybe even the most painful endings can in fact be an invitation that calls her back home, back to shore, back to herself.
November 3 street date. bar italia, the London based three-piece of Nina Cristante, Jezmi Tarik Fehmi, and Sam Fenton, present their second full length of 2023, "The Twits", six months after their acclaimed Matador debut, "Tracey Denim". Recorded over eight weeks in a makeshift home studio in Mallorca, Spain with Marta Salogni (Bjork, Romy, black midi), the 13 track record finds bar italia's economical yet evocative songcraft taking raucous, mystic, unkempt, occasionally sinister, and wholly committed turns. Songs like "my little tony", with its in-the-red riff and excitable hooks, the cathartic four-on-the-floor of "world's greatest emoter", and the festival tent psychedelia of "Hi-fiver" need little in the way of exposition - these are exhilarating rock songs, if wayward and strange. While Tracey Denim was notable for its compact 2-3 minute compositions, horizontal and open-ended tracks on The Twits ebb and flow, moving from reptilian dive-bar soloing to a palpitating two-note piano coda. Catch bar italia on tour in Montréal, Dec. 6th (Sala Rossa), Toronto, Dec. 8th (Velvet Underground), and Vancouver, April 9th (Hollywood Theatre).
November 3 street date. bar italia, the London based three-piece of Nina Cristante, Jezmi Tarik Fehmi, and Sam Fenton, present their second full length of 2023, "The Twits", six months after their acclaimed Matador debut, "Tracey Denim". Recorded over eight weeks in a makeshift home studio in Mallorca, Spain with Marta Salogni (Bjork, Romy, black midi), the 13 track record finds bar italia's economical yet evocative songcraft taking raucous, mystic, unkempt, occasionally sinister, and wholly committed turns. Songs like "my little tony", with its in-the-red riff and excitable hooks, the cathartic four-on-the-floor of "world's greatest emoter", and the festival tent psychedelia of "Hi-fiver" need little in the way of exposition - these are exhilarating rock songs, if wayward and strange. While Tracey Denim was notable for its compact 2-3 minute compositions, horizontal and open-ended tracks on The Twits ebb and flow, moving from reptilian dive-bar soloing to a palpitating two-note piano coda. Catch bar italia on tour in Montréal, Dec. 6th (Sala Rossa), Toronto, Dec. 8th (Velvet Underground), and Vancouver, April 9th (Hollywood Theatre).
November 3 street date. bar italia, the London based three-piece of Nina Cristante, Jezmi Tarik Fehmi, and Sam Fenton, present their second full length of 2023, "The Twits", six months after their acclaimed Matador debut, "Tracey Denim". Recorded over eight weeks in a makeshift home studio in Mallorca, Spain with Marta Salogni (Bjork, Romy, black midi), the 13 track record finds bar italia's economical yet evocative songcraft taking raucous, mystic, unkempt, occasionally sinister, and wholly committed turns. Songs like "my little tony", with its in-the-red riff and excitable hooks, the cathartic four-on-the-floor of "world's greatest emoter", and the festival tent psychedelia of "Hi-fiver" need little in the way of exposition - these are exhilarating rock songs, if wayward and strange. While Tracey Denim was notable for its compact 2-3 minute compositions, horizontal and open-ended tracks on The Twits ebb and flow, moving from reptilian dive-bar soloing to a palpitating two-note piano coda. Catch bar italia on tour in Montréal, Dec. 6th (Sala Rossa), Toronto, Dec. 8th (Velvet Underground), and Vancouver, April 9th (Hollywood Theatre).
November 3 street date. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Belle and Sebastian's beloved third album, "The Boy With The Arab Strap", Matador are reissuing the album on limited edition clear blue vinyl with special blue tint album artwork, and an exclusive art print of behind-the-scenes photos from the promotional video for the album. The announcement comes on the heels of a recent creative outpouring from the Scottish group including "A Bit of Previous" (2022) and "Late Developers" (2023). "The Boy With The Arab Strap" twinkles innocently with all the charm of a wind-up music box - but only if you don't listen to the lyrics (or look up what an arab strap is). The dichotomy between Stewart Murdoch's tender adolescent vocals, the sweet, sincere instrumentation, and often lude lyrics make Belle and Sebastian so alluring. A vivid portrait of the internal and external contradiction of growing up. To the world, you are still a child but inside you are a shaken up bottle of carbonated hormones ready to explode. "Timeless, endlessly fascinating folk-pop treasures" - AllMusic.
November 3 street date. "LOVE + POP" is a snapshot of a moment in a not-so-far-away time; something fast, loud, moody and a little dangerous. It is, in some ways, classic Current Joys: full of wild ambition, sneaky hooks, and songs that move from concept to completion with prolific speed. But "LOVE + POP" also explodes myriad expectations with aggressive, deconstructed production, house music influence, and a guest appearance from Lil Yachty. It is not so much a twist as it is a unique multiverse identity for Current Joys, as Nick Rattigan's set out to "capture this sonic moment and harken back to the way I first released music". Crucially, all of this was recorded at home, in what Rattigan calls a "tribute to the process of creating" in a DIY space. And what began as a singular passion project unexpectedly grew into a uniquely collaborative record for Current Joys.
November 3 street date. "LOVE + POP" is a snapshot of a moment in a not-so-far-away time; something fast, loud, moody and a little dangerous. It is, in some ways, classic Current Joys: full of wild ambition, sneaky hooks, and songs that move from concept to completion with prolific speed. But "LOVE + POP" also explodes myriad expectations with aggressive, deconstructed production, house music influence, and a guest appearance from Lil Yachty. It is not so much a twist as it is a unique multiverse identity for Current Joys, as Nick Rattigan's set out to "capture this sonic moment and harken back to the way I first released music". Crucially, all of this was recorded at home, in what Rattigan calls a "tribute to the process of creating" in a DIY space. And what began as a singular passion project unexpectedly grew into a uniquely collaborative record for Current Joys.
November 3 street date. "LOVE + POP" is a snapshot of a moment in a not-so-far-away time; something fast, loud, moody and a little dangerous. It is, in some ways, classic Current Joys: full of wild ambition, sneaky hooks, and songs that move from concept to completion with prolific speed. But "LOVE + POP" also explodes myriad expectations with aggressive, deconstructed production, house music influence, and a guest appearance from Lil Yachty. It is not so much a twist as it is a unique multiverse identity for Current Joys, as Nick Rattigan's set out to "capture this sonic moment and harken back to the way I first released music". Crucially, all of this was recorded at home, in what Rattigan calls a "tribute to the process of creating" in a DIY space. And what began as a singular passion project unexpectedly grew into a uniquely collaborative record for Current Joys.
November 3 street date. "LOVE + POP" is a snapshot of a moment in a not-so-far-away time; something fast, loud, moody and a little dangerous. It is, in some ways, classic Current Joys: full of wild ambition, sneaky hooks, and songs that move from concept to completion with prolific speed. But "LOVE + POP" also explodes myriad expectations with aggressive, deconstructed production, house music influence, and a guest appearance from Lil Yachty. It is not so much a twist as it is a unique multiverse identity for Current Joys, as Nick Rattigan's set out to "capture this sonic moment and harken back to the way I first released music". Crucially, all of this was recorded at home, in what Rattigan calls a "tribute to the process of creating" in a DIY space. And what began as a singular passion project unexpectedly grew into a uniquely collaborative record for Current Joys.
November 3 street date. On July 21, 2003, an 18-year-old Dizzee Rascal released his debut album "Boy In Da Corner" via XL Recordings. Little did he know that the 15-track album would go on to win the Mercury Prize, become the first-ever Platinum-selling UK Rap album, and lay the foundation for Grime. XL Recordings mark the 20th anniversary of Dizzee Rascal's seminal debut album with a triple LP deluxe edition, pressed on white, yellow and black vinyl in a wide spine sleeve. The release features 12 rare and previously unreleased tracks and instrumentals, alongside the original "Boy In Da Corner" tracklisting.
November 3 street date. A masterpiece without many genre precedents, "Earth 2" surely helped send doom metal down its more modern drone, ambient, and avant-garde avenues. Those descendants are obvious. Perhaps more surprising and gratifying are the ways it has influenced electronic music, modern composition, and even hip-hop by realigning our senses of tempo, time, and texture. The new remix set, "Earth 2.23: Special Lower Frequency Mix", makes this clearer than ever. The Bug has taken a bit of "Seven Angels" and laced it with feedback and big bass, allowing grime luminary Flowdan to climb atop it with his dark, staccato visions. Responsible for many transformational records himself, Justin K. Broadrick of Jesu and Godflesh crawls inside "Teeth" to lash at it with punishing drum machines and sordid layers of new distortion, building it into some brokedown palace of industrial mayhem. Loop's Robert Hampson makes good on the premise of ambient metal with his 30-minute hypnotic beauty, while longtime Earth cohort and longtime Built To Spill multi-instrumentalist Brett Netson seems to float the sound through a benighted graveyard on his clever "Teeth" revamp.
November 3 street date. "Earth 2", repressed now for its 30th anniversary, back in its original artwork, and accompanied by a riveting set of remixes that demonstrate the reach of what Dylan Carlson long ago called "ambient metal". The surface is massive and obvious, the meatpaw riffs of Carlson and bassist Dave Harwell pounding and swiping and pawing at the speakers, a true bludgeon in three-dimensional sound. Listen, though, for the details in the corners, for the finesse beneath the force, and "Earth 2" reveals new levels of depth and wonder. The widespread impact of "Earth 2" suggests that others have indeed been leaning in, listening to these minutiae and making something new of them. A masterpiece without many genre precedents, "Earth 2" surely helped send doom metal down its more modern drone, ambient, and avant-garde avenues. Those descendants are obvious. Perhaps more surprising and gratifying are the ways it has influenced electronic music, modern composition, and even hip-hop by realigning our senses of tempo, time, and texture.
November 3 street date. William Eggleston is a famed photographer and musician credited for iconic album covers such as Spoon's "Transference" and Jimmy Eat World's "Bleed American". "512" was inspired and recorded at the Parkview Apartments in Memphis, where Eggleston lived for almost ten years. The apartment was full of art and inspiration: cameras, naturally, but also high-end stereo tube amplifiers and objects that you'd rush towards money in hand at your local flea market. But also a gigantic nine foot Bosendorfer grand piano and a massive grand vintage JBL theater speaker console. His home was overwhelmed by music. By recording there the album captures not just his performances, but also the vibe of the place; it often felt as though there were artists lurking in the aether listening along. His visitors over the years were no small change: Lee Friedlander, Carl Sagan, Dennis Hopper, Paul McCartney and many others came to see him and listen to his hypnotic "Musik". You can hear local traffic, a dog barking, weather; reality, in other words. But there was another space layered on top, a kind of surreality echoing his music, as you can imagine a gathering of musicians listening in, eager to join him. Thus came along "512", which features Brian Eno on bells and production from Leo Abrahams (Regina Spektor, Paul Simon, Jon Hopkins).
November 3 street date. William Eggleston is a famed photographer and musician credited for iconic album covers such as Spoon's "Transference" and Jimmy Eat World's "Bleed American". "512" was inspired and recorded at the Parkview Apartments in Memphis, where Eggleston lived for almost ten years. The apartment was full of art and inspiration: cameras, naturally, but also high-end stereo tube amplifiers and objects that you'd rush towards money in hand at your local flea market. But also a gigantic nine foot Bosendorfer grand piano and a massive grand vintage JBL theater speaker console. His home was overwhelmed by music. By recording there the album captures not just his performances, but also the vibe of the place; it often felt as though there were artists lurking in the aether listening along. His visitors over the years were no small change: Lee Friedlander, Carl Sagan, Dennis Hopper, Paul McCartney and many others came to see him and listen to his hypnotic "Musik". You can hear local traffic, a dog barking, weather; reality, in other words. But there was another space layered on top, a kind of surreality echoing his music, as you can imagine a gathering of musicians listening in, eager to join him. Thus came along "512", which features Brian Eno on bells and production from Leo Abrahams (Regina Spektor, Paul Simon, Jon Hopkins).
November 3 street date. William Eggleston is a famed photographer and musician credited for iconic album covers such as Spoon's "Transference" and Jimmy Eat World's "Bleed American". "512" was inspired and recorded at the Parkview Apartments in Memphis, where Eggleston lived for almost ten years. The apartment was full of art and inspiration: cameras, naturally, but also high-end stereo tube amplifiers and objects that you'd rush towards money in hand at your local flea market. But also a gigantic nine foot Bosendorfer grand piano and a massive grand vintage JBL theater speaker console. His home was overwhelmed by music. By recording there the album captures not just his performances, but also the vibe of the place; it often felt as though there were artists lurking in the aether listening along. His visitors over the years were no small change: Lee Friedlander, Carl Sagan, Dennis Hopper, Paul McCartney and many others came to see him and listen to his hypnotic "Musik". You can hear local traffic, a dog barking, weather; reality, in other words. But there was another space layered on top, a kind of surreality echoing his music, as you can imagine a gathering of musicians listening in, eager to join him. Thus came along "512", which features Brian Eno on bells and production from Leo Abrahams (Regina Spektor, Paul Simon, Jon Hopkins).
November 3 street date. London-based duo Jockstrap present "I<3UQTINVU", a fully remixed version of their 2023 Mercury Prize shortlisted album, "I Love You Jennifer B", from the band's Taylor Skye. The record is the brainchild of Skye, who was making multiple versions of the album's original tracklisting to stay inspired during its production/writing. The guest features on the remix record range from Ersatz, who inspired Skye to make music many years ago to Ian Starr who he only connected with online a few months ago. On "I<3UQTINVU", Skye said: "Some of the remixes are almost three years old and some are under six months old. We played a run of shows with Babymorroco when our album came out to test them all. The main thing I was interested in whilst making this music was the sonic palette and the texture of the music. The musical material didn't matter too much, it was just about the sound".
November 3 street date. London-based duo Jockstrap present "I<3UQTINVU", a fully remixed version of their 2023 Mercury Prize shortlisted album, "I Love You Jennifer B", from the band's Taylor Skye. The record is the brainchild of Skye, who was making multiple versions of the album's original tracklisting to stay inspired during its production/writing. The guest features on the remix record range from Ersatz, who inspired Skye to make music many years ago to Ian Starr who he only connected with online a few months ago. On "I<3UQTINVU", Skye said: "Some of the remixes are almost three years old and some are under six months old. We played a run of shows with Babymorroco when our album came out to test them all. The main thing I was interested in whilst making this music was the sonic palette and the texture of the music. The musical material didn't matter too much, it was just about the sound". Limited indie shop edition is on red vinyl and housed in a "scratch & sniff" inner sleeve.
November 3 street date. Roe Kapara's debut vinyl release on Epitaph Records brings the songs from his wildly successful 2023 digital EP release, "i hope hell isn't real", together with his catalogue of singles from 2021-2022. "Nobody was born cool", proclaims Roe Kapara. "Where's the fun in that?". After relocating from Nashville to Los Angeles just before the pandemic, the St. Louis-born singer/songwriter did what any reasonable 20-something would: find solace online and build a community. Soon, his burgeoning digital fanbase hit six digits, enthralled by his endearingly unpretentious personality but also by his irresistible music, a modern swirl of indie, psych, dream pop, and alternative. Dwelling on the death of his own past is a common theme through Roe Kapara's music. But just as he's willing to expose vulnerable parts of himself in his songs, he's quick to shine the mirror outward to address the creeping dread of modern life: consumerism, corporate greed, climate change, the general feelings of the younger generation in 21st-century America. Combining these two sides of his musical personality - deeply relatable yet unafraid to stand up and ask life's big questions - into pop songs makes for a musical journey that's a little off-kilter, sure, but all the better and more interesting in the end.
November 3 street date. Tkay Maidza, the first female rapper signed to 4AD, presents her highly anticipated sophomore album, “Sweet Justice”. The 14 track record embodies the beautiful contradictions of Tkay’s art: a coming-of-age story from someone who has mastered the game; an album about karmic justice and accountability that’s bright, breezy and incredibly fun. In Tkay’s mind, it’s a rebirth, a record about harnessing the feminine power that was innate in her the whole time. After severing ties with old friends, she found some new ones on the same creative wavelength, including Canadian producers Stint and Kaytranada, along with fellow Australian Flume, all of whom contribute production on the record. The past few years have also seen Tkay Maidza touring alongside Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, and Lizzo.
November 3 street date. Tkay Maidza, the first female rapper signed to 4AD, presents her highly anticipated sophomore album, “Sweet Justice”. The 14 track record embodies the beautiful contradictions of Tkay’s art: a coming-of-age story from someone who has mastered the game; an album about karmic justice and accountability that’s bright, breezy and incredibly fun. In Tkay’s mind, it’s a rebirth, a record about harnessing the feminine power that was innate in her the whole time. After severing ties with old friends, she found some new ones on the same creative wavelength, including Canadian producers Stint and Kaytranada, along with fellow Australian Flume, all of whom contribute production on the record. The past few years have also seen Tkay Maidza touring alongside Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, and Lizzo.
November 3 street date. Tkay Maidza, the first female rapper signed to 4AD, presents her highly anticipated sophomore album, “Sweet Justice”. The 14 track record embodies the beautiful contradictions of Tkay’s art: a coming-of-age story from someone who has mastered the game; an album about karmic justice and accountability that’s bright, breezy and incredibly fun. In Tkay’s mind, it’s a rebirth, a record about harnessing the feminine power that was innate in her the whole time. After severing ties with old friends, she found some new ones on the same creative wavelength, including Canadian producers Stint and Kaytranada, along with fellow Australian Flume, all of whom contribute production on the record. The past few years have also seen Tkay Maidza touring alongside Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, and Lizzo.
November 3 street date. It's been a little over ten years since Hailu Mergia re-emerged on the international music scene. Following the first in a series of his classic recordings reissued in collaboration with Awesome Tapes From Africa, Mergia assembled a band and began performing live again after many years driving a cab in Washington, DC. His first show back appeared on the front page of the New York Times along with a stellar review and he took off from there performing his flavour of Ethiopian jazz all over the world in the years since, including Radio City Music Hall and the Montreal Jazz Festival. Finally, we have a recorded document of the keyboard player's powerful DC-based trio. Beautifully captured at one of their fiery live shows at the venerable Brooklyn non-profit cultural center Pioneer Works on July 1, 2016, the concert was recorded by PW staff and mixed by Ted Young with mastering by ATFA's expert audio extraction collaborator Jessica Thompson. The performance clarifies what many people across the globe already know: in his fifth decade of music-making Hailu Mergia continues to push the boundaries of his remarkable abilities.
November 3 street date. It's been a little over ten years since Hailu Mergia re-emerged on the international music scene. Following the first in a series of his classic recordings reissued in collaboration with Awesome Tapes From Africa, Mergia assembled a band and began performing live again after many years driving a cab in Washington, DC. His first show back appeared on the front page of the New York Times along with a stellar review and he took off from there performing his flavour of Ethiopian jazz all over the world in the years since, including Radio City Music Hall and the Montreal Jazz Festival. Finally, we have a recorded document of the keyboard player's powerful DC-based trio. Beautifully captured at one of their fiery live shows at the venerable Brooklyn non-profit cultural center Pioneer Works on July 1, 2016, the concert was recorded by PW staff and mixed by Ted Young with mastering by ATFA's expert audio extraction collaborator Jessica Thompson. The performance clarifies what many people across the globe already know: in his fifth decade of music-making Hailu Mergia continues to push the boundaries of his remarkable abilities.
November 3 street date. It's been a little over ten years since Hailu Mergia re-emerged on the international music scene. Following the first in a series of his classic recordings reissued in collaboration with Awesome Tapes From Africa, Mergia assembled a band and began performing live again after many years driving a cab in Washington, DC. His first show back appeared on the front page of the New York Times along with a stellar review and he took off from there performing his flavour of Ethiopian jazz all over the world in the years since, including Radio City Music Hall and the Montreal Jazz Festival. Finally, we have a recorded document of the keyboard player's powerful DC-based trio. Beautifully captured at one of their fiery live shows at the venerable Brooklyn non-profit cultural center Pioneer Works on July 1, 2016, the concert was recorded by PW staff and mixed by Ted Young with mastering by ATFA's expert audio extraction collaborator Jessica Thompson. The performance clarifies what many people across the globe already know: in his fifth decade of music-making Hailu Mergia continues to push the boundaries of his remarkable abilities.
November 3 street date. Sinéad O'Connor is widely regarded as one of the most influential female performers of the late 1980s and 1990s, not only for her sensational performances and raw vocal emotion but also for her outspoken confidence to express herself publicly. Released in September 1994, "Universal Mother" was described by Sinéad as "the first attempt to try to expose what was really underneath a lot of the anger of the other records". The album features sparse, striking but delicate arrangements on intense and honest songs. Standout moments include the singles ‘Thank You For Hearing Me’ and ‘Fire On Babylon’, along with contributions from Germaine Greer (opening track ‘Germaine’), and Sinéad's son Jake Reynolds (‘Am I A Human?’), plus a cover of Nirvana's ‘All Apologies’.
November 3 street date. Sinéad O'Connor is widely regarded as one of the most influential female performers of the late 1980s and 1990s, not only for her sensational performances and raw vocal emotion but also for her outspoken confidence to express herself publicly. Released in November 1987, Sinéad's striking debut album "The Lion And The Cobra" was met with critical and commercial success. The album synthesises several of Sinead's influences into a diverse array of sounds and styles, from the hushed, atmospheric ‘Troy’ and ‘Jackie’ to the pop-rock hit single ‘Mandinka’, and the hip-hop inspired ‘I Want Your (Hands On Me)’. The album also includes ‘Drink Before The War’, a song written by Sinéad about her experiences at the Catholic reform school she attended, and was recently featured in the HBO series "Euphoria". The album remains a high point in Sinéad O'Connor's catalogue and is frequently cited as one of the best albums of the 1980s.
November 3 street date. Back in print for the first time since 2003: Matador's Revisionist History Catalogue Series presents the 20th anniversary edition of "The New Romance" from Pretty Girls Make Graves, arriving on limited edition white indie vinyl. Forming in Seattle in 2001, the band was fused together out of the still glowing embers of nearly a dozen other important groups. Andrea Zollo and Derek Fudesco had played together in Death Wish Kids and Area 51 along with Dann Gallucci, with whom Derek formed Murder City Devils. Shortly before the Murder City Devils called it quits, he and Andrea started Pretty Girls Make Graves with J. Clark (who was in Kill Sadie and Sharks Keep Moving) and Nick Dewitt and Nathan Thelen (both in Bee Hive Vaults). Brilliantly produced by Phil Ek (Modest Mouse, Built To Spill, Les Savy Fav), "The New Romance" magnifies Pretty Girls Make Graves' songcraft and technical prowess while letting some air into their songs and keeping things in crisp focus. Every song on the record an anthem, yet without traditional verses and choruses. Tension builds and shifts without conventional release, as moments of glassy beauty and rousing aggression trade sides.
November 3 street date. Originally released in 1997, "Ho Ho Ho" is the third studio album and the first Christmas album by legendary drag queen RuPaul. The album contains ten Christmas standards and three originals, including "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch", "Santa Baby", and "I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus". It's a yuletide classic, camp at its finest as RuPaul really puts the "Ho" in Holiday!
November 3 street date. Marking the two year anniversary of the release of her critically acclaimed album "Valentine", Snail Mail (Lindsey Jordan) presents the "Valentine Demos" EP. Consisting of five early stripped-down recordings, this 45rpm black vinyl 12" includes "Adore You" (a working title for "Valentine"), "Headlock", "c. et al.", and "Automate", along with the previously unreleased "Easy Thing". Jordan says: "Without further ado, here are the demo versions of some of the songs that would become integral to the making of "Valentine". A little over three years ago, holed up at my parents' house in Maryland, with just a minilogue synth, an interface, a mic, and a guitar, I started working on writing my second full length record. I prefer some of the demos to what actually came out on the record because of how intimate and solitary the process was. You can kind of hear me crying in one of them. Maybe two actually haha".
November 10 street date. On "Integrated Tech Solutions" - a concept album about an organization offering "lifestyle- and industry-specific applications designed to curate a desired multi-experience" - Aesop Rock wields insidious corporatespeak as a tool to pry the parasitic business culture away from the parts of life that truly matter, while picking apart the charlatan language. Largely self-produced, "Integrated Tech Solutions" catches Aesop Rock at his leanest and most innovative, leveraging "Solutionism"'s careening bounce against the wistful "By the River" or the slow creep of "Salt and Pepper Squid". The effect is a record that sounds itself like an organism growing, mutating, hurtling toward profitability - and then destruction. As fans have come to expect though, Aesop is cuttingly funny and slyly profound at once.
November 10 street date. On "Integrated Tech Solutions" - a concept album about an organization offering "lifestyle- and industry-specific applications designed to curate a desired multi-experience" - Aesop Rock wields insidious corporatespeak as a tool to pry the parasitic business culture away from the parts of life that truly matter, while picking apart the charlatan language. Largely self-produced, "Integrated Tech Solutions" catches Aesop Rock at his leanest and most innovative, leveraging "Solutionism"'s careening bounce against the wistful "By the River" or the slow creep of "Salt and Pepper Squid". The effect is a record that sounds itself like an organism growing, mutating, hurtling toward profitability - and then destruction. As fans have come to expect though, Aesop is cuttingly funny and slyly profound at once.
November 10 street date. "Hadsel" is the first new full-length record since Beirut's 2019 release, "Gallipoli", and the first on Zach Condon's own label, Pompeii Records. Recorded in the Norwegian island of Hadsel shortly after a physical and mental break forced Condon to cancel is 2019 tour, Condon was looking for a place to recover after being left in a state of shock and self-doubt. Working in isolation, Condon explains, "I was lost in a trance, stumbling blindly through my own mental collapse that I had been pushing aside since I was a teenager. It came and rang me like a bell. I was left agonising many things past and present while the beauty of the nature, the northern lights and fearsome storms played an awesome show around me. The few hours of light would expose the unfathomable beauty of the mountains and the fjords, and the hours-long twilights would fill me with subdued excitement. I'd like to believe that scenery is somehow present in the music". The resulting collection of songs beautifully reflect that vulnerability, sense of self-determination and belief that after collapse, one can learn to manage on their own again.
November 10 street date. "Hadsel" is the first new full-length record since Beirut's 2019 release, "Gallipoli", and the first on Zach Condon's own label, Pompeii Records. Recorded in the Norwegian island of Hadsel shortly after a physical and mental break forced Condon to cancel is 2019 tour, Condon was looking for a place to recover after being left in a state of shock and self-doubt. Working in isolation, Condon explains, "I was lost in a trance, stumbling blindly through my own mental collapse that I had been pushing aside since I was a teenager. It came and rang me like a bell. I was left agonising many things past and present while the beauty of the nature, the northern lights and fearsome storms played an awesome show around me. The few hours of light would expose the unfathomable beauty of the mountains and the fjords, and the hours-long twilights would fill me with subdued excitement. I'd like to believe that scenery is somehow present in the music". The resulting collection of songs beautifully reflect that vulnerability, sense of self-determination and belief that after collapse, one can learn to manage on their own again.
November 10 street date. "Hadsel" is the first new full-length record since Beirut's 2019 release, "Gallipoli", and the first on Zach Condon's own label, Pompeii Records. Recorded in the Norwegian island of Hadsel shortly after a physical and mental break forced Condon to cancel is 2019 tour, Condon was looking for a place to recover after being left in a state of shock and self-doubt. Working in isolation, Condon explains, "I was lost in a trance, stumbling blindly through my own mental collapse that I had been pushing aside since I was a teenager. It came and rang me like a bell. I was left agonising many things past and present while the beauty of the nature, the northern lights and fearsome storms played an awesome show around me. The few hours of light would expose the unfathomable beauty of the mountains and the fjords, and the hours-long twilights would fill me with subdued excitement. I'd like to believe that scenery is somehow present in the music". The resulting collection of songs beautifully reflect that vulnerability, sense of self-determination and belief that after collapse, one can learn to manage on their own again.
November 10 street date. "Hadsel" is the first new full-length record since Beirut's 2019 release, "Gallipoli", and the first on Zach Condon's own label, Pompeii Records. Recorded in the Norwegian island of Hadsel shortly after a physical and mental break forced Condon to cancel is 2019 tour, Condon was looking for a place to recover after being left in a state of shock and self-doubt. Working in isolation, Condon explains, "I was lost in a trance, stumbling blindly through my own mental collapse that I had been pushing aside since I was a teenager. It came and rang me like a bell. I was left agonising many things past and present while the beauty of the nature, the northern lights and fearsome storms played an awesome show around me. The few hours of light would expose the unfathomable beauty of the mountains and the fjords, and the hours-long twilights would fill me with subdued excitement. I'd like to believe that scenery is somehow present in the music". The resulting collection of songs beautifully reflect that vulnerability, sense of self-determination and belief that after collapse, one can learn to manage on their own again.
November 10 street date. John Francis Flynn's sophomore album, following up his "extraordinary debut" (The Guardian). Unlike what we might expect, traditional music is not one-size-fits-all. Each song has its own story, history and characters which the singers must serve, rather than themselves. On his new album, "Look Over The Wall, See The Sky", Flynn delicately unpicks these traditional songs and rearranges them with an emotional force that sometimes leaves them unanchored, floating in a surreal space between the past and the present, the analogue and the digital, between love and tragedy. To listen to "Look Over The Wall, See The Sky" is to witness history through a modern lens in a trance-like state. As expected, Flynn's contemporary influences are sufficiently esoteric. However, he was also inspired by his contemporaries in the traditional music scene in Ireland, many of whom contributed to the album, as well as those outside of it, such as noise-rockers Gilla Band and Rising Damp.
November 10 street date. John Francis Flynn's sophomore album, following up his "extraordinary debut" (The Guardian). Unlike what we might expect, traditional music is not one-size-fits-all. Each song has its own story, history and characters which the singers must serve, rather than themselves. On his new album, "Look Over The Wall, See The Sky", Flynn delicately unpicks these traditional songs and rearranges them with an emotional force that sometimes leaves them unanchored, floating in a surreal space between the past and the present, the analogue and the digital, between love and tragedy. To listen to "Look Over The Wall, See The Sky" is to witness history through a modern lens in a trance-like state. As expected, Flynn's contemporary influences are sufficiently esoteric. However, he was also inspired by his contemporaries in the traditional music scene in Ireland, many of whom contributed to the album, as well as those outside of it, such as noise-rockers Gilla Band and Rising Damp.
November 10 street date. John Francis Flynn's sophomore album, following up his "extraordinary debut" (The Guardian). Unlike what we might expect, traditional music is not one-size-fits-all. Each song has its own story, history and characters which the singers must serve, rather than themselves. On his new album, "Look Over The Wall, See The Sky", Flynn delicately unpicks these traditional songs and rearranges them with an emotional force that sometimes leaves them unanchored, floating in a surreal space between the past and the present, the analogue and the digital, between love and tragedy. To listen to "Look Over The Wall, See The Sky" is to witness history through a modern lens in a trance-like state. As expected, Flynn's contemporary influences are sufficiently esoteric. However, he was also inspired by his contemporaries in the traditional music scene in Ireland, many of whom contributed to the album, as well as those outside of it, such as noise-rockers Gilla Band and Rising Damp.
Please note new street date: November 10. "More Photographs (A Continuum)" is the new, nine song companion to last year's landmark "This Is A Photograph", featuring three reimagined renditions of songs from that album and six brand new songs. Kevin Morby writes (and records, and imagines) at an almost incomparable clip, and his most recent album, "This Is A Photograph", studies life, time, and mortality through myriad lenses. It's a dynamic, buoyant record on big, heavy themes, so it only makes sense that Morby found he wasn't quite done with it on its completion. "More Photographs (A Continuum)" finds new nooks, corners and vantage points. Here, Morby returns to his landmark album's bottomless themes with new wisdom, new imagination, and the winking, looping callbacks that tie his full body of work together in uniquely special ways. "More Photographs (A Continuum)" is prequel, sequel, and primer to an already rich and generous record from one of our most luminous modern songwriters.
Please note new street date: November 10. "More Photographs (A Continuum)" is the new, nine song companion to last year's landmark "This Is A Photograph", featuring three reimagined renditions of songs from that album and six brand new songs. Kevin Morby writes (and records, and imagines) at an almost incomparable clip, and his most recent album, "This Is A Photograph", studies life, time, and mortality through myriad lenses. It's a dynamic, buoyant record on big, heavy themes, so it only makes sense that Morby found he wasn't quite done with it on its completion. "More Photographs (A Continuum)" finds new nooks, corners and vantage points. Here, Morby returns to his landmark album's bottomless themes with new wisdom, new imagination, and the winking, looping callbacks that tie his full body of work together in uniquely special ways. "More Photographs (A Continuum)" is prequel, sequel, and primer to an already rich and generous record from one of our most luminous modern songwriters.
November 10 street date. The iconic Tommy Boy Music label presents "... And You Don't Stop", celebrating hip hop's 50th anniversary. The compilation features some of Tommy Boy's greatest hits, from the iconic Naughty By Nature, de la Soul, Digital Underground, Queen Latifah and Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force along with unreleased tracks from G.L.O.B.E & Whiz Kid, Sweet Trio, and more. The 6LP collection is packaged in a custom printed jacket inserted into a hard cover box with gold foil stamping.
November 17 street date. 25th anniversary edition. English indie rock group Black Box Recorder formed in London in 1997 and featured Sarah Nixey, Luke Haines (of The Auteurs), and John Moore (of The Jesus and Mary Chain). Their debut album, "England Made Me", was released on Chrysalis Records in 1998. The album was named after the eponymous Graham Greene novel and fuses indie rock and easy-listening pop stylings with lyrics that explore life and the experience of growing up in England. Pitchfork's Michael Sandlin described the sound of the album as "mildly morose but slightly tongue-in-cheek Sylvia Plath-meets-Paul McCartney pop sensibility". "England Made Me" remains a high point in the band's catalogue with standout tracks including 'Kidnapping An Heiress', 'Girl Singing In The Wreckage', and the single 'Child Psychology', which was recently back in the spotlight with a viral moment on social media after being championed by Billie Eilish.
November 17 street date. Beggars Arkive present the vinyl reissue of The Cult's explosive third album, "Electric". A seminal work, the album features some of the band's most iconic songs including the raw, aggressive "Love Removal Machine" and "Lil' Devil". The album's opening track, "Wild Flower", sets the tone with its pounding drums, blistering guitar riffs, and Ian Astbury's powerful vocals. Originally released in 1987, "Electric" was a massive commercial (triple-platinum in Canada) and critical success, propelling The Cult to the forefront of the hard rock scene and cementing their status as one of the most influential bands of the era. The album remains a touchstone for hard rock and heavy metal fans, a classic work that captures the spirit of rebellion and the power of rock and roll.
November 17 street date. Beggars Arkive present the vinyl reissue of The Cult's explosive third album, "Electric". A seminal work, the album features some of the band's most iconic songs including the raw, aggressive "Love Removal Machine" and "Lil' Devil". The album's opening track, "Wild Flower", sets the tone with its pounding drums, blistering guitar riffs, and Ian Astbury's powerful vocals. Originally released in 1987, "Electric" was a massive commercial (triple-platinum in Canada) and critical success, propelling The Cult to the forefront of the hard rock scene and cementing their status as one of the most influential bands of the era. The album remains a touchstone for hard rock and heavy metal fans, a classic work that captures the spirit of rebellion and the power of rock and roll.
November 17 street date. Iron & Wine's "Who Can See Forever" is an accompanying live record to the 2023 film of the same name. Captured at Haw River Ballroom in Saxapahaw, North Carolina, the soundtrack features nineteen songs from the twenty plus year career of singer-songwriter Sam Beam. Having found inventive ways to re-invent his catalogue live over the years, "Who Can See Forever" offers new and fresh versions of Iron & Wine songs including "The Trapeze Swinger", "Boy With A Coin", and "Naked As We Came". The film - initially intended as a live concert film - evolved into a visual portrait capturing Beam during a creative outburst that earned him four Grammy nominations in four years. Like his music, the film touches on universally personal themes as Beam juggles being an artist, husband and father. Taken as one, the soundtrack and film are afascinating first-time glimpse behind-the-scenes of Iron & Wine.
November 17 street date. Iron & Wine's "Who Can See Forever" is an accompanying live record to the 2023 film of the same name. Captured at Haw River Ballroom in Saxapahaw, North Carolina, the soundtrack features nineteen songs from the twenty plus year career of singer-songwriter Sam Beam. Having found inventive ways to re-invent his catalogue live over the years, "Who Can See Forever" offers new and fresh versions of Iron & Wine songs including "The Trapeze Swinger", "Boy With A Coin", and "Naked As We Came". The film - initially intended as a live concert film - evolved into a visual portrait capturing Beam during a creative outburst that earned him four Grammy nominations in four years. Like his music, the film touches on universally personal themes as Beam juggles being an artist, husband and father. Taken as one, the soundtrack and film are afascinating first-time glimpse behind-the-scenes of Iron & Wine.
November 17 street date. American rock band The National present their surprise freewheeling, all-hands-on-deck 10th studio album, "Laugh Track". If its companion piece, "First Two Pages of Frankenstein", represented a rebuilding of trust between group members after 20+ years together, the vibrant, exploratory "Laugh Track" is both the product of that faith and a new statement of intent. Reveling in the license to radically upend its creative process, The National honed most of this material during live performances in 2023, and captured those invigorated versions in impromptu sessions at producer Tucker Martine's Portland, OR studio, Flora Recording & Playback. The nearly eight-minute album closer, "Smoke Detector", was recorded in June during a soundcheck at Vancouver's Deer Lake Park, completing a body of work bristling with spontaneity and vintage rock energy that makes a perfect complement to the songs found on its more introspective predecessor.
November 17 street date. American rock band The National present their surprise freewheeling, all-hands-on-deck 10th studio album, "Laugh Track". If its companion piece, "First Two Pages of Frankenstein", represented a rebuilding of trust between group members after 20+ years together, the vibrant, exploratory "Laugh Track" is both the product of that faith and a new statement of intent. Reveling in the license to radically upend its creative process, The National honed most of this material during live performances in 2023, and captured those invigorated versions in impromptu sessions at producer Tucker Martine's Portland, OR studio, Flora Recording & Playback. The nearly eight-minute album closer, "Smoke Detector", was recorded in June during a soundcheck at Vancouver's Deer Lake Park, completing a body of work bristling with spontaneity and vintage rock energy that makes a perfect complement to the songs found on its more introspective predecessor.
November 17 street date. American rock band The National present their surprise freewheeling, all-hands-on-deck 10th studio album, "Laugh Track". If its companion piece, "First Two Pages of Frankenstein", represented a rebuilding of trust between group members after 20+ years together, the vibrant, exploratory "Laugh Track" is both the product of that faith and a new statement of intent. Reveling in the license to radically upend its creative process, The National honed most of this material during live performances in 2023, and captured those invigorated versions in impromptu sessions at producer Tucker Martine's Portland, OR studio, Flora Recording & Playback. The nearly eight-minute album closer, "Smoke Detector", was recorded in June during a soundcheck at Vancouver's Deer Lake Park, completing a body of work bristling with spontaneity and vintage rock energy that makes a perfect complement to the songs found on its more introspective predecessor.
November 17 street date. Hot on the heels of his critically acclaimed 2022 reissue, "Trouble Is...25", Kenny Wayne Shepherd returns with a new project that builds upon his already legendary repertoire. Three decades since the release of his debut album, 1995's "Ledbetter Heights", the Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum bandleader still sounds like the future of the blues. If you approach "Dirt On My Diamonds Vol. 1" expecting autopilot twelve bars then you'll be thrown a volley of curveballs in the best way possible. With material this strong, no polish was needed. As on any KWS album, songs are the currency, and the seven originals from "Dirt On My Diamonds Vol. 1" demand to be heard, lifting listeners above their circumstances at a time when life often feels bleak and bone-raw.
Please note new street date: tba. Aaliyah is the self-titled third and final studio album by the "queen of urban pop," Aaliyah. Originally released in 2001 by Blackground Records, the album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Cited by critics as one of the best R&B records of its time, the album is a reflection of herself as both a young adult and matured vocalist. Standout tracks include "We Need A Resolution", "More Than A Woman", and "Rock The Boat".
Please note new street date: October 28 street date. "Common Courtesy" is the fifth album from A Day to Remember and is reissued on both CD and double LP vinyl for the first time since 2016. The newly packaged vinyl includes updated cover art and pressed on lemon and clear coloured vinyl with diecut album packaging. Since its initial release in 2013, "Common Courtesy" has gone on to amass over 500k in total consumption and includes some of the band's biggest hits including "Right Back At It Again" and "Sometimes You're The Hammer, Sometimes You're The Nail". Over the course of the past several years, each of A Day To Remember's releases have hit No. 1 on Billboard's Rock, Indie and/or Alternative charts, they've sold more than a million units, racked up over 400 million Spotify streams and 500 million YouTube views, garnered two gold-selling albums and singles (and one silver album in the UK) and sold out entire continental tours, amassing a global fan-base whose members number in the millions.
Please note new street date: October 28 street date. "Common Courtesy" is the fifth album from A Day to Remember and is reissued on both CD and double LP vinyl for the first time since 2016. The newly packaged vinyl includes updated cover art and pressed on lemon and clear coloured vinyl with diecut album packaging. Since its initial release in 2013, "Common Courtesy" has gone on to amass over 500k in total consumption and includes some of the band's biggest hits including "Right Back At It Again" and "Sometimes You're The Hammer, Sometimes You're The Nail". Over the course of the past several years, each of A Day To Remember's releases have hit No. 1 on Billboard's Rock, Indie and/or Alternative charts, they've sold more than a million units, racked up over 400 million Spotify streams and 500 million YouTube views, garnered two gold-selling albums and singles (and one silver album in the UK) and sold out entire continental tours, amassing a global fan-base whose members number in the millions.
July 29 street date. This summer, Merge will reissue A Giant Dog's first two full-lengths - 2012's "Fight" and 2013's "Bone" on limited edition coloured vinyl, reintroducing the world to the quintet Spoon's Britt Daniel calls "the greatest American rock and roll/punk band since I don't know when". Celebrating its tenth birthday in 2022 is A "Fight", the Texas group's hard-to-find debut album, remixed, remastered, and pressed on green vinyl just for the occasion. All the trademark tenets of AGD lore are on display at the jump: monstrously adorable album art and punny title, whip-smart songwriting dolled up in denim and leather, boiled down to the sweetest moments and blown out to the masses with bravado to spare. Upon the original release of "Fight", the local Austin Chronicle raved: "the raucous, low-rent squall quakes with affirmative abandon, while a just-right dose of pop girds the buzz and yowl".
July 29 street date. This summer, Merge will reissue A Giant Dog's first two full-lengths - 2012's "Fight" and 2013's "Bone" on limited edition coloured vinyl, reintroducing the world to the quintet Spoon's Britt Daniel calls "the greatest American rock and roll/punk band since I don't know when". Recording for the first time with a proper producer (Mike McCarthy) in a proper environment (a studio lol), "Bone", on pink vinyl for this reissue, still manages to kool-aid man its way through the speakers with the immediacy of the band's live shows, a hit parade for the party people. Sabrina Ellis and Andrew Cashen add another baker’s dozen tunes to the band's repertoire just a year following their debut, with songs like "All I Wanted", "Dammit Pomegranate", and "Another World" cementing them as a conspicuous songwriting duo.
August 25 street date. The moment the needle drops on "Bite", the new A Giant Dog record, one's conception of what an A Giant Dog record sounds like bends like space and time around a starship running at lightspeed. The biggest point of departure is that "Bite" is a concept album, concerning characters who find themselves moving in and out of a virtual reality called Avalonia. A Giant Dog's first album of original songs since 2017's "Toy", "Bite" finds the band at their peak as musicians, challenging themselves with more complex arrangements and subject matter that forced them out of their heads and into those of the characters who occupy this supposed paradise. Themes of addiction, gender fluidity, living ethically in a capitalist society, physical autonomy, avarice, grief, and consent bubble beneath the promised happiness of Avalonia. The songs on "Bite" are full of bombast, at turns calling to mind the spacefaring operatic rock of Electric Light Orchestra and the high drama of an Ennio Morricone film score. The album's narrative sweep is epic in scope, its characters facing impossible odds and certain doom, existing as comfortably with the sci-fi grandiosity of Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak" as it does with the high fantasy of Dio and Iron Maiden.
August 25 street date. The moment the needle drops on "Bite", the new A Giant Dog record, one's conception of what an A Giant Dog record sounds like bends like space and time around a starship running at lightspeed. The biggest point of departure is that "Bite" is a concept album, concerning characters who find themselves moving in and out of a virtual reality called Avalonia. A Giant Dog's first album of original songs since 2017's "Toy", "Bite" finds the band at their peak as musicians, challenging themselves with more complex arrangements and subject matter that forced them out of their heads and into those of the characters who occupy this supposed paradise. Themes of addiction, gender fluidity, living ethically in a capitalist society, physical autonomy, avarice, grief, and consent bubble beneath the promised happiness of Avalonia. The songs on "Bite" are full of bombast, at turns calling to mind the spacefaring operatic rock of Electric Light Orchestra and the high drama of an Ennio Morricone film score. The album's narrative sweep is epic in scope, its characters facing impossible odds and certain doom, existing as comfortably with the sci-fi grandiosity of Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak" as it does with the high fantasy of Dio and Iron Maiden.
August 25 street date. The moment the needle drops on "Bite", the new A Giant Dog record, one's conception of what an A Giant Dog record sounds like bends like space and time around a starship running at lightspeed. The biggest point of departure is that "Bite" is a concept album, concerning characters who find themselves moving in and out of a virtual reality called Avalonia. A Giant Dog's first album of original songs since 2017's "Toy", "Bite" finds the band at their peak as musicians, challenging themselves with more complex arrangements and subject matter that forced them out of their heads and into those of the characters who occupy this supposed paradise. Themes of addiction, gender fluidity, living ethically in a capitalist society, physical autonomy, avarice, grief, and consent bubble beneath the promised happiness of Avalonia. The songs on "Bite" are full of bombast, at turns calling to mind the spacefaring operatic rock of Electric Light Orchestra and the high drama of an Ennio Morricone film score. The album's narrative sweep is epic in scope, its characters facing impossible odds and certain doom, existing as comfortably with the sci-fi grandiosity of Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak" as it does with the high fantasy of Dio and Iron Maiden.
September 24 street date. Less than two years after its predecessor's release, A Pale Horse Named Death are poised to unveil their fourth full-length album, "Infernum In Terra". Sal Abruscato's latest collection of crestfallen anthems showcases a bold and adventurous new upgrade for APHND's trademark sound, with greater subtleties and depths but also some of the heaviest, gnarliest riffs the band have ever unleashed. Combined with a production that fills the room with sparkling clarity and choking gloom, "Infernum In Terra" will satisfy every last one of the New Yorkers' fans, while expanding Abruscato's singular vision beyond all expectation. New songs like "Cast Out From The Sky" and visceral and epic first single "Reflections Of The Dead" are, of course, sodden with misery and emotional turmoil, but previous albums' myopic approach has been rejected here. Instead, "Infernum In Terra" makes intermittent concessions to a more outward-looking perspective, enabling A Pale Horse Named Death to pass through fresh thematic territory.
September 24 street date. Less than two years after its predecessor's release, A Pale Horse Named Death are poised to unveil their fourth full-length album, "Infernum In Terra". Sal Abruscato's latest collection of crestfallen anthems showcases a bold and adventurous new upgrade for APHND's trademark sound, with greater subtleties and depths but also some of the heaviest, gnarliest riffs the band have ever unleashed. Combined with a production that fills the room with sparkling clarity and choking gloom, "Infernum In Terra" will satisfy every last one of the New Yorkers' fans, while expanding Abruscato's singular vision beyond all expectation. New songs like "Cast Out From The Sky" and visceral and epic first single "Reflections Of The Dead" are, of course, sodden with misery and emotional turmoil, but previous albums' myopic approach has been rejected here. Instead, "Infernum In Terra" makes intermittent concessions to a more outward-looking perspective, enabling A Pale Horse Named Death to pass through fresh thematic territory.
September 16 street date. "I Care 4 U" is the first posthumous compilation album by the "princess of R&B", Aaliyah. Following her tragic and untimely passing, Blackground Records released a posthumous record including songs from her studio albums and previously unreleased tracks and demos, as well as hit singles and recordings that ultimately did not land on any previous albums. The compilation album was a commercial success and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum.
September 16 street date. "Ultimate Aaliyah" is the second and final compilation album by legendary R&B singer Aaliyah. Originally released by Blackground Records and only available on CD, the 2005 compilation features three discs of Aaliyah's greatest hits and material from soundtracks and featured work with labelmate Timbaland. This is the first time the compilation is available on vinyl.
Please note new street date: December 9. Lee Aaron is on a roll. The award winning, songwriter, producer, and vocalist blazed back onto the rock scene in 2016 (after a ten year hiatus to raise her family) with a wealth of original material and more firecracker energy than artists half her age. She's since produced 6 new releases, with "Elevate" being the latest and possibly coolest addition to this renewed chapter in her illustrious career. "Elevate" contains ten original tracks steeped in what has become Aaron's signature sound: big guitar hooks, powerful, bluesy vocals, rich melodies and harmonies and just enough sassy attitude to tip the scales. After forging a strong friendship and working relationship with Mike Fraser (AC/DC, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams) on the last album, he once again teams up with Lee and the band for "Elevate" as recording and mix engineer.
Please note new street date: December 9. Lee Aaron is on a roll. The award winning, songwriter, producer, and vocalist blazed back onto the rock scene in 2016 (after a ten year hiatus to raise her family) with a wealth of original material and more firecracker energy than artists half her age. She's since produced 6 new releases, with "Elevate" being the latest and possibly coolest addition to this renewed chapter in her illustrious career. "Elevate" contains ten original tracks steeped in what has become Aaron's signature sound: big guitar hooks, powerful, bluesy vocals, rich melodies and harmonies and just enough sassy attitude to tip the scales. After forging a strong friendship and working relationship with Mike Fraser (AC/DC, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams) on the last album, he once again teams up with Lee and the band for "Elevate" as recording and mix engineer.
November 26 street date. For her Christmas album, Lee Aaron and her band have put together a collection of tracks that showcase Aaron's unique vocal range of rockers, blues and jazz-oriented material. Thus, the album features established favorites like Darlene Love's "Baby Please Come Home," Slade's "'Merry Christmas Everybody'" and a raucous cover of Chuck Berry's "Run Run Rudolph." But also obscure tracks like The Eels' "Everything Is Gonna Be Cool This Christmas" and The Sonics' punky "Don't Believe In Christmas," Over The Rhine's blues-tinged "All I Ever Get For Christmas Is Blue," an accapella version of Joni Mitchell's "The Fiddle and the Drum," and a jazzy arrangement of Louis Armstrong's "Zat You Santa Claus." And to top it off, a rockin' cover of "It Doesn't Often Snow At Christmas" by the Pet Shop Boys. "Making a Christmas album became a passion project, not only to keep my band family together this year, but we also wanted to make something as a gift for our fans to lift their spirits during these difficult times," explains Lee Aaron.
July 23 street date. Lee Aaron, the metal queen herself, is back with her new album "Radio On!". On 12 brand new songs, the exceptional singer shows herself from her strongest side and fulfils all expectations that one can have of a great rock album. Just like the numerous FM stations that once ruled the airwaves, "Radio On!" is an album packed with classic, melodic rock hooks, nasty guitar riffs, big harmonies and inspired songwriting. Lee Aaron combines these qualities through catchy, soaring melodies carried by her unique, versatile voice. "Radio On!" is an album of non-stop versatile melodic rock at its best.
June 11 street date. "Big Colors is the soundtrack to a movie from 1984 that exists only in my soul. It's a cliché inside a watercolor painting of neon blue smoke rising up off summer streets in the night. It's the most New York California album I could cut loose from my musical soul, and for me as both a guitar player and songwriter, this is the zenith point dream time. While I won't be able to match this album for its depth and broad color forms in the future, this is the sound of my soul and a door to a place I'll be returning to again. The treasures in our past are the shamanic visions of the future when the destination is dream zone 3000. This is that. I'm only dreaming in Big Colors now" - Ryan Adams. Vinyl edition coming later this year.
March 19 street date (CD) / May 14 (LP). Ryan Adams' first album in three years, "Wednesdays", is purely raw, vulnerable, and honest. The music takes you on a deep dive exploring the complex heart of Ryan Adams, through a journey of love, pain, and heartbreak. The album so effortlessly creates an immediate connection with anyone who has ever experienced love lost - the type of love that haunts you in quiet places of your mind. While the lyrics walk you through the vast emotional layers of grief, they also remind you of the rich memories of a love that will forever remain a part of you.
Please note new street date for LP: May 14. Ryan Adams' first album in three years, "Wednesdays", is purely raw, vulnerable, and honest. The music takes you on a deep dive exploring the complex heart of Ryan Adams, through a journey of love, pain, and heartbreak. The album so effortlessly creates an immediate connection with anyone who has ever experienced love lost - the type of love that haunts you in quiet places of your mind. While the lyrics walk you through the vast emotional layers of grief, they also remind you of the rich memories of a love that will forever remain a part of you.
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.
December 10 street date. Aeon Station's "Observatory" is an epic statement more than a decade in the making, with miles of timeless melodies and the kind of overpowering songwriting that will reaffirm your belief in life itself. Longtime Wrens member Kevin Whelan's first solo album draws heavily from the perseverance of the soul, resulting in rock music possessing an infectious and inspiring sonic uplift. If you're familiar with Whelan's past work, these ten tracks bear a certain and unmistakable familiarity - but they also mark an exciting new chapter in Whelan's musical career, as he steps out with more vulnerability than ever before. Whelan's scope of musical vision on "Observatory" is wide open and free with possibilities - at once recalling the reflective wisdom of Bruce Springsteen, Broken Social Scene's huge anthemic burn, and the Wrens' own pulsing-with-life take on rock music. First vinyl pressing on cloudy blue vinyl.
December 10 street date. Aeon Station's "Observatory" is an epic statement more than a decade in the making, with miles of timeless melodies and the kind of overpowering songwriting that will reaffirm your belief in life itself. Longtime Wrens member Kevin Whelan's first solo album draws heavily from the perseverance of the soul, resulting in rock music possessing an infectious and inspiring sonic uplift. If you're familiar with Whelan's past work, these ten tracks bear a certain and unmistakable familiarity - but they also mark an exciting new chapter in Whelan's musical career, as he steps out with more vulnerability than ever before. Whelan's scope of musical vision on "Observatory" is wide open and free with possibilities - at once recalling the reflective wisdom of Bruce Springsteen, Broken Social Scene's huge anthemic burn, and the Wrens' own pulsing-with-life take on rock music. First vinyl pressing on cloudy blue vinyl.
July 16 street date. The explosion of indie Hip Hop labels in the early 1990s resulted in an ongoing snowball effect that started to shift the narrative around an artist's need to sign to a major label. Coincidentally, quality home recording equipment was also becoming more easily accessible and, with the rising popularity of CD-R technology, this allowed artists to write, record, and manufacture their own albums right at home. "Appleseed" was a highly celebrated and influential release from that era, cementing Aesop Rock as a new face whose talent could not be denied. The album explores creative concepts with inventive writing and stripped-down yet melodic and melancholic production. Finally, 21 years after its debut, "Appleseed" officially returns, now available on all digital platforms, as well as on vinyl for the first time!
July 16 street date. The explosion of indie Hip Hop labels in the early 1990s resulted in an ongoing snowball effect that started to shift the narrative around an artist's need to sign to a major label. Coincidentally, quality home recording equipment was also becoming more easily accessible and, with the rising popularity of CD-R technology, this allowed artists to write, record, and manufacture their own albums right at home. "Appleseed" was a highly celebrated and influential release from that era, cementing Aesop Rock as a new face whose talent could not be denied. The album explores creative concepts with inventive writing and stripped-down yet melodic and melancholic production. Finally, 21 years after its debut, "Appleseed" officially returns, now available on all digital platforms, as well as on vinyl for the first time!
September 1 street date. Initially released in 2012, Aesop Rock's sixth studio album "Skelethon" marked a significant moment in the rapper's career. It had been 5 years since his previous effort "None Shall Pass" was released, and his former label had been shuttered. Entirely self-produced, "Skelethon" became his first solo release on Rhymesayers Entertainment. Throughout the album's 15 tracks, he meticulously exhumes and examines these skeletons, exploring everything from death to distrust, insecurity and isolation, with moments of humor and hope scattered throughout. Upon release, "Skelethon" was praised for its intricate storytelling that expertly balanced abstract imagery with concrete details, and its immersive production incorporating sample-based beats with dusty pianos, distorted guitars, and psychedelic synths. In celebration of its 10th anniversary, a limited edition 3xLP vinyl package includes a gatefold jacket with revised art layouts, printed sleeves, inserts with full lyrics, two cream & black marble-colored vinyl, and a UV printed ultra-clear bonus disc vinyl with four exclusive bonus tracks.
October 14 street date. Both Aesop Rock and Homeboy Sandman are regarded as top tier lyricists known for pushing the envelope of creativity in their writing, while covering a wide range of topics and moods. However, sometimes things are inherently simple. Take for example, the origin of their collaboration, born from a mutual appreciation for each other as artists which became fully realized when Aesop Rock invited Homeboy Sandman to join him on tour in 2015. Traveling the country together, they built a connection beyond the music, resulting in a friendship that led to recording a few songs together, and before they knew it, there was an infestation. "Lice". Initially released in 2015 as a free direct download, followed by an extremely limited vinyl pressing sold exclusively on tour, Aesop Rock and Homeboy Sandman's "Lice" is finally available to fans everywhere. The first in a series of EP releases, "Lice" featured production from DJ Spinna, Optiks, Blockhead, Alex "Apex" Gale. and Mike Shinoda. The original cover art was designed by renowned illustrator Jeremy Fish.
November 12 street date. When Aesop Rock debuted in the late 1990s with "Music For Earthworms" and "Appleseed", Blockhead was also a part of the process, not only as a producer, but also helping coordinate sales of the CDRs to hungry Hip Hop fans. Blockhead and Aesop continued to collaborate, creating an impressive list of songs along the way, including two of Aesop's most popular songs to date; "Daylight" and "None Shall Pass". In recent years, Blockhead has contributed production, as well as remixes, to many of Aesop's solo releases and group projects, and Aesop has made a handful of guest features on Blockhead's solo projects, but in all that time, Aesop and Block have never done a full album together, until now! "Garbology" came together over the course of the pandemic, as well as in the midst of Aesop processing the loss of a close friend in January of 2020, resulting in a period of time of feeling uncreative. "Garbology" encapsulates the soundtrack of current times, capturing a snapshot of Aes and Block expressing a means of entertaining themselves in the midst of less social interactions than usual.
October 14 street date. Initially released in 2016 as a free direct download, followed by an extremely limited vinyl pressing sold exclusively on tour, Aesop Rock and Homeboy Sandman's "Lice Two: Still Buggin'" is finally available to fans everywhere. The second in a series of EP releases, "Lice Two: Still Buggin'" featured production from Dan Hayden, Mondee, Aesop Rock, SoberMindedMusiC, and Mono En Stereo. The original cover art was designed by renowned illustrator Jeremy Fish.
October 14 street date. Initially released in 2017 as a free direct download, followed by an extremely limited vinyl pressing sold exclusively on tour, Aesop Rock and Homeboy Sandman's "Triple Fat Lice" is finally available to fans everywhere. The third in a series of EP releases, "Triple Fat Lice" featured production from Cohen Beats, Oh No, Ben Boogz (of 2 Hungry Brothers), Quelle Chris, and M Slago. The original cover art was designed by renowned illustrator Jeremy Fish.
August 13 street date. Lydia Ainsworth's latest album "Sparkles & Debris" reflects her usual composer's mindset and instinct for idiosyncratic melodies and structures. It also marks a departure from the more solitary creative process that her previous releases were born from. The record blends live drums, guitars and bass with her signature vast electronic landscapes, samples, programming, and voice to create the record's sonic tapestry. "Longing seems to be a major theme running through my songs on this album", says Ainsworth. "Whether that is longing in love, longing to be free from oppression, or longing for the muse of inspiration to make an appearance. I have included some spells and charms in there as well that have proven effective, if any ofmy listeners want to use them for help with their own desires".
August 13 street date. Lydia Ainsworth's latest album "Sparkles & Debris" reflects her usual composer's mindset and instinct for idiosyncratic melodies and structures. It also marks a departure from the more solitary creative process that her previous releases were born from. The record blends live drums, guitars and bass with her signature vast electronic landscapes, samples, programming, and voice to create the record's sonic tapestry. "Longing seems to be a major theme running through my songs on this album", says Ainsworth. "Whether that is longing in love, longing to be free from oppression, or longing for the muse of inspiration to make an appearance. I have included some spells and charms in there as well that have proven effective, if any ofmy listeners want to use them for help with their own desires".
July 28 street date. 4AD present the deluxe double LP reissue of Air Miami's lost-classic 1995 album, "Me. Me. Me", remastered from original 2" tapes and now including 3 extra tracks. Made up of Unrest's Mark Robinson and Bridget Cross, Air Miami formed shortly after the D.C. indie rock mainstay's demise in 1995, and together with drummer Gabriel Stout and producer Guy Fixsen (The Breeders, My Bloody Valentine, Stereolab), they travelled to their namesake land of Miami to record the entirety of "Me. Me. Me". Nearly thirty years on, this deluxe offering sees the album expanded to include all sixteen tracks from the album sessions, three of which are new to the tracklist: ‘Warm Miami May’ (not on the original LP), ‘Pucker’ (previously unreleased), and the full version of ‘See-Through Plastic’ (edited version only previously seen on the EP). This is a one-time limited edition pressing on aua and orange vinyl, in a gatefold sleeve.
November 12 street date. "The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows" was originally intended as an orchestral piece inspired by the landscapes of Iceland. This last year has seen Damon Albarn return to music in lockdown and develop the work to 11 tracks which further explore themes of fragility, loss, emergence and rebirth. The result is a panoramic collection of songs with Albarn as storyteller. The album title is taken from a John Clare poem "Love and Memory". Albarn says "I have been on my own dark journey while making this record and it led me to believe that a pure source might still exist". In a career of perpetual musical shifts and exploration, the record uncovers yet more ground, finding expansive orchestral arrangements nestling with intimate melodies, discordance brushing up against infectious majesty, all set to some of Albarn's most arresting vocal performances to date. Much like the beauty and chaos of the natural world it soundtracks, "The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows" vividly documents the emotional ebb and flow of the human condition, in all its extremes, serving as a soul enriching document for our times.
November 12 street date. "The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows" was originally intended as an orchestral piece inspired by the landscapes of Iceland. This last year has seen Damon Albarn return to music in lockdown and develop the work to 11 tracks which further explore themes of fragility, loss, emergence and rebirth. The result is a panoramic collection of songs with Albarn as storyteller. The album title is taken from a John Clare poem "Love and Memory". Albarn says "I have been on my own dark journey while making this record and it led me to believe that a pure source might still exist". In a career of perpetual musical shifts and exploration, the record uncovers yet more ground, finding expansive orchestral arrangements nestling with intimate melodies, discordance brushing up against infectious majesty, all set to some of Albarn's most arresting vocal performances to date. Much like the beauty and chaos of the natural world it soundtracks, "The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows" vividly documents the emotional ebb and flow of the human condition, in all its extremes, serving as a soul enriching document for our times.
November 12 street date. "The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows" was originally intended as an orchestral piece inspired by the landscapes of Iceland. This last year has seen Damon Albarn return to music in lockdown and develop the work to 11 tracks which further explore themes of fragility, loss, emergence and rebirth. The result is a panoramic collection of songs with Albarn as storyteller. The album title is taken from a John Clare poem "Love and Memory". Albarn says "I have been on my own dark journey while making this record and it led me to believe that a pure source might still exist". In a career of perpetual musical shifts and exploration, the record uncovers yet more ground, finding expansive orchestral arrangements nestling with intimate melodies, discordance brushing up against infectious majesty, all set to some of Albarn's most arresting vocal performances to date. Much like the beauty and chaos of the natural world it soundtracks, "The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows" vividly documents the emotional ebb and flow of the human condition, in all its extremes, serving as a soul enriching document for our times.
April 14 street date. Singer-songwriter Abraham Alexander's highly anticipated debut album. Born in Greece to parents of Nigerian descent, Alexander moved to Texas with his family at the age of 11, determined to escape the racial tensions they faced in Athens. And while his lyrics speak to pain and trauma and life-changing loss, he instills his music with a joyful passion and irrepressible spirit, ultimately giving way to songs that radiate undeniable hope. From open mics in Fort Worth, Texas to recent stints on the road opening for Leon Bridges, Ani DiFranco, and Mavis Staples - an instinctive trinity for his sound - Alexander is ready for the spotlight and to articulate what many of us are feeling with "SEA/SONS". Features guest appearances from Mavis Staples and Gary Clark, Jr.
April 14 street date. Singer-songwriter Abraham Alexander's highly anticipated debut album. Born in Greece to parents of Nigerian descent, Alexander moved to Texas with his family at the age of 11, determined to escape the racial tensions they faced in Athens. And while his lyrics speak to pain and trauma and life-changing loss, he instills his music with a joyful passion and irrepressible spirit, ultimately giving way to songs that radiate undeniable hope. From open mics in Fort Worth, Texas to recent stints on the road opening for Leon Bridges, Ani DiFranco, and Mavis Staples - an instinctive trinity for his sound - Alexander is ready for the spotlight and to articulate what many of us are feeling with "SEA/SONS". Features guest appearances from Mavis Staples and Gary Clark, Jr.
April 21 street date. "I've been focused on who I am in my music, but now I'm exploring where I am," Alfa Mist says. "I'm asking: how did I get here?". This is the journeying question that underpins Alfa's fifth album, "Variables". Traversing luscious, big band swing, head-nodding boom-bap rhythms, and yearning vocal melodies, the record is expansive, soulful and moving, in both body and spirit. On "Variables", his second release for ANTI-, Alfa achieves his most fully-realised, expressive musical work to date, coupling his keen ear for looping, memorably emotive piano melodies with intuitive grooves and a free-flowing jazz improvisation. Since the release of his first full-length project "Nocturne" in 2015, Alfa has established himself as one of the UK's most focused, in-demand and distinct musical voices. He has worked with the likes of Jordan Rakei and Tom Misch. His music spans everything from hip-hop beat-making to producing for artists such as rapper Loyle Carner, composing neo-classical works for the London Contemporary Orchestra, and reworking tracks from composer Ólafur Arnalds and pioneering jazz label Blue Note.
April 21 street date. "I've been focused on who I am in my music, but now I'm exploring where I am," Alfa Mist says. "I'm asking: how did I get here?". This is the journeying question that underpins Alfa's fifth album, "Variables". Traversing luscious, big band swing, head-nodding boom-bap rhythms, and yearning vocal melodies, the record is expansive, soulful and moving, in both body and spirit. On "Variables", his second release for ANTI-, Alfa achieves his most fully-realised, expressive musical work to date, coupling his keen ear for looping, memorably emotive piano melodies with intuitive grooves and a free-flowing jazz improvisation. Since the release of his first full-length project "Nocturne" in 2015, Alfa has established himself as one of the UK's most focused, in-demand and distinct musical voices. He has worked with the likes of Jordan Rakei and Tom Misch. His music spans everything from hip-hop beat-making to producing for artists such as rapper Loyle Carner, composing neo-classical works for the London Contemporary Orchestra, and reworking tracks from composer Ólafur Arnalds and pioneering jazz label Blue Note.
April 23 street date. Alfa Mist is one of the driving forces behind a young and vibrant scene of UK musicians who've taken on jazz as their musical narrative. On his new album "Bring Backs" the producer, self-taught pianist and rapper takes us on a sonic trip back to his beat-making past on the streets of East London, through the depth and musicality he discovered composing and playing jazz. 2017 saw the release of Alfa's breakthrough record, "Antiphon" and the 2019 album "Structuralism" were both self-released on his Sekito label. His latest endeavour, 2021's "Bring Backs", sees Alfa taking on new challenges. The record marks his first release for the label Anti and is also the most detailed exploration of his upbringing in musical form.
April 23 street date. Alfa Mist is one of the driving forces behind a young and vibrant scene of UK musicians who've taken on jazz as their musical narrative. On his new album "Bring Backs" the producer, self-taught pianist and rapper takes us on a sonic trip back to his beat-making past on the streets of East London, through the depth and musicality he discovered composing and playing jazz. 2017 saw the release of Alfa's breakthrough record, "Antiphon" and the 2019 album "Structuralism" were both self-released on his Sekito label. His latest endeavour, 2021's "Bring Backs", sees Alfa taking on new challenges. The record marks his first release for the label Anti and is also the most detailed exploration of his upbringing in musical form.
February 24 street date. Atlanta based post-punk group Algiers present their 4th album, "Shook". At the same time notably joyous and celebratory, the record was born when bandmates Franklin James Fisher and Ryan Mahan found themselves at home for several months, reeling from growing pressures and burnout as touring musicians. This triggered an intense period of beatmaking, reconnecting as friends over hours immersed in episodes of "Rhythm Roulette", and descending deep into alt-rap YouTube rabbit holes. A revisit of DJ Grand Wizard Theodore's 1970s punk-infused New York City rap masterpiece ‘Subway Theme’ then emerged as a spiritual moodboard for what was to be the cross-pollination of urban and counter-culture styles on "Shook". The sprawling 17-track double LP is Algiers' first new music since 2020's "There Is No Year" and features an array of guests spanning icons like Rage Against The Machine's Zack De La Rocha to 2021 Polaris prize winner Backxwash and Future Islands' frontman Samuel T. Herring. Each contribution deftly reshapes and recontextualized the notion of being shook from a variety of perspectives, occupying shifting roles as oracles and narrators.
February 24 street date. Atlanta based post-punk group Algiers present their 4th album, "Shook". At the same time notably joyous and celebratory, the record was born when bandmates Franklin James Fisher and Ryan Mahan found themselves at home for several months, reeling from growing pressures and burnout as touring musicians. This triggered an intense period of beatmaking, reconnecting as friends over hours immersed in episodes of "Rhythm Roulette", and descending deep into alt-rap YouTube rabbit holes. A revisit of DJ Grand Wizard Theodore's 1970s punk-infused New York City rap masterpiece ‘Subway Theme’ then emerged as a spiritual moodboard for what was to be the cross-pollination of urban and counter-culture styles on "Shook". The sprawling 17-track double LP is Algiers' first new music since 2020's "There Is No Year" and features an array of guests spanning icons like Rage Against The Machine's Zack De La Rocha to 2021 Polaris prize winner Backxwash and Future Islands' frontman Samuel T. Herring. Each contribution deftly reshapes and recontextualized the notion of being shook from a variety of perspectives, occupying shifting roles as oracles and narrators.
February 24 street date. Atlanta based post-punk group Algiers present their 4th album, "Shook". At the same time notably joyous and celebratory, the record was born when bandmates Franklin James Fisher and Ryan Mahan found themselves at home for several months, reeling from growing pressures and burnout as touring musicians. This triggered an intense period of beatmaking, reconnecting as friends over hours immersed in episodes of "Rhythm Roulette", and descending deep into alt-rap YouTube rabbit holes. A revisit of DJ Grand Wizard Theodore's 1970s punk-infused New York City rap masterpiece ‘Subway Theme’ then emerged as a spiritual moodboard for what was to be the cross-pollination of urban and counter-culture styles on "Shook". The sprawling 17-track double LP is Algiers' first new music since 2020's "There Is No Year" and features an array of guests spanning icons like Rage Against The Machine's Zack De La Rocha to 2021 Polaris prize winner Backxwash and Future Islands' frontman Samuel T. Herring. Each contribution deftly reshapes and recontextualized the notion of being shook from a variety of perspectives, occupying shifting roles as oracles and narrators.
July 29 street date. After touring together and courting similar fans, Alkaline Trio and Hot Water Music decided to band together for a split featuring original material and covers of each other's most popular tracks. The release finds Alkaline Trio covering Hot Water Music's "Rooftops" and Hot Water Music contributing covers of Alkaline Trio's "Radio" and "Bleeder". This 20th anniversary pressing is the first time the split has been released with the full album packaging and on standard vinyl.
April 21 street date. Reissued on vinyl for the first time since 2015 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of "Mass Nerder"! The overly-caffeinated nerd quartet we know as ALL first caught the pop-punk genre in a stranglehold in 1988, after years of empathizing with their fellow geeks as The Descendents. Years later, "Mass Nerder" brings you sixteen searing cuts that never dip below 210 beats per minute. Produced by Bill and Stephen at their very own Blasting Room studio in Fort Collins, CO, and featuring Milo on backing vocals, "Mass Nerder" is the house blend for dweebs and cool guys alike and is not available in decaf.
Apriil 21 street date. Corrected price - all orders placed at $14.99 have been cancelled. ALL HANDS_MAKE LIGHT is the newly minted duo of Ariel Engle (La Force, Broken Social Scene) and Efrim Manuel Menuck (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt. Zion). ALL HANDS_MAKE LIGHT weaves these two unique voices through lustrous tendrils of blown-out tones and drones, expanding on Menuck's eponymous modular synth work of recent years, imbued with an additionally searing, soulful warmth and melodicism through Engle's singing. The result is a wholly compelling and spellbinding album of preternaturally genre-bending sonics and songwriting: a sort of electronic shoegaze suffused with freak-folk, kosmische, darkwave and post-industrial, conjuring traditionals sung in the haze of earliest light accompanied by overdriven circuit boards powered with ungrounded wires, thrumming with alternately tender and serrated beauty. With guests Jessica Moss (Thee Silver Mt. Zion, Big|Brave) on violins and Liam O'Neil (Suuns) on drums.
April 21 street date. ALL HANDS_MAKE LIGHT is the newly minted duo of Ariel Engle (La Force, Broken Social Scene) and Efrim Manuel Menuck (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt. Zion). ALL HANDS_MAKE LIGHT weaves these two unique voices through lustrous tendrils of blown-out tones and drones, expanding on Menuck's eponymous modular synth work of recent years, imbued with an additionally searing, soulful warmth and melodicism through Engle's singing. The result is a wholly compelling and spellbinding album of preternaturally genre-bending sonics and songwriting: a sort of electronic shoegaze suffused with freak-folk, kosmische, darkwave and post-industrial, conjuring traditionals sung in the haze of earliest light accompanied by overdriven circuit boards powered with ungrounded wires, thrumming with alternately tender and serrated beauty. With guests Jessica Moss (Thee Silver Mt. Zion, Big|Brave) on violins and Liam O'Neil (Suuns) on drums.
May 6 street date. Recorded exactly two years after acclaimed visual artist and songwriter Terry Allen's masterpiece "Lubbock (on everything)", the feral follow-up "Smokin The Dummy" is less conceptually focused but more sonically and stylistically unified than its predecessor - it's also rougher and rowdier, wilder and more wired, and altogether more menacingly rock and roll. The first album by Allen to share top billing with the Panhandle Mystery Band, here featuring Jesse Taylor on blistering lead guitar alongside the Maines brothers and Richard Bowden, "Smokin The Dummy" documents a ferocious new band in fully telepathic, tornado-fueled flight, refining its caliber, increasing its range, and never looking down. This first-ever vinyl reissue, remastered from the original analog tapes, includes a gatefold jacket and inner sleeve with restored, new, and alternate art and photos by Terry and Jo Harvey Allen; an insert with lyrics, original notes, Terry's letter to H.C. Westermann about the songs, and a high-res download code.
May 6 street date. Recorded exactly two years after acclaimed visual artist and songwriter Terry Allen's masterpiece "Lubbock (on everything)", the feral follow-up "Smokin The Dummy" is less conceptually focused but more sonically and stylistically unified than its predecessor - it's also rougher and rowdier, wilder and more wired, and altogether more menacingly rock and roll. The first album by Allen to share top billing with the Panhandle Mystery Band, here featuring Jesse Taylor on blistering lead guitar alongside the Maines brothers and Richard Bowden, "Smokin The Dummy" documents a ferocious new band in fully telepathic, tornado-fueled flight, refining its caliber, increasing its range, and never looking down. This first-ever vinyl reissue, remastered from the original analog tapes, includes a gatefold jacket and inner sleeve with restored, new, and alternate art and photos by Terry and Jo Harvey Allen; an insert with lyrics, original notes, Terry's letter to H.C. Westermann about the songs, and a high-res download code.
May 6 street date. On his manifold fourth album, acclaimed songwriter and visual artist Terry Allen contemplates kinship - the ways sex and violence stitch and sever the ties of family, faith, and society - with skewering satire and affection alike. 1983's "Bloodlines" compiles thematically related but disparate recordings from miscellaneous sources both theatrical and historical: two songs written for plays; two full-band reprises of selections from "Juarez"; the irreverent hellfire-hitchhiker-on-highway ballad "Gimme a Ride to Heaven Boy" (featuring Joe Ely); and the poignant eponymous ode to the arteries of ancestry and landscape (the debut recording of eight-year-old Natalie Maines, later covered by Lucinda Williams). This first-ever vinyl reissue, remastered from the original analog tapes, includes a gatefold jacket and inner sleeve with restored, new, and alternate artwork and photos by Allen and friends; an insert with lyrics and original notes; and a high-res download code.
May 6 street date. On his manifold fourth album, acclaimed songwriter and visual artist Terry Allen contemplates kinship - the ways sex and violence stitch and sever the ties of family, faith, and society - with skewering satire and affection alike. 1983's "Bloodlines" compiles thematically related but disparate recordings from miscellaneous sources both theatrical and historical: two songs written for plays; two full-band reprises of selections from "Juarez"; the irreverent hellfire-hitchhiker-on-highway ballad "Gimme a Ride to Heaven Boy" (featuring Joe Ely); and the poignant eponymous ode to the arteries of ancestry and landscape (the debut recording of eight-year-old Natalie Maines, later covered by Lucinda Williams). This first-ever vinyl reissue, remastered from the original analog tapes, includes a gatefold jacket and inner sleeve with restored, new, and alternate artwork and photos by Allen and friends; an insert with lyrics and original notes; and a high-res download code.
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.
Street date: June 10 (LP) / CD available now (lower price). There's nothing like the sound of a world-class bluesman getting back to business. Last October, when Bernard Allison returned to his old haunt of Bessie Blue Studios, Tennessee, to be greeted by fabled producer and career-long collaborator Jim Gaines, it felt like coming home. And when Allison fired up the amps, counted in the band and embarked upon his latest studio album, "Highs & Lows", everything felt right with the world. For 56 years, music has been Bernard Allison's essence. As the youngest son of the much-missed Chicago bandleader Luther Allison, he was a bluesman from birth, naturally drawn to this ancient music that seemed to heal deep wounds, and held spellbound by early encounters with heavyweights like Muddy Waters, Albert King and Hound Dog Taylor.
CD available now (lower price)/LP street date June 10. There's nothing like the sound of a world-class bluesman getting back to business. Last October, when Bernard Allison returned to his old haunt of Bessie Blue Studios, Tennessee, to be greeted by fabled producer and career-long collaborator Jim Gaines, it felt like coming home. And when Allison fired up the amps, counted in the band and embarked upon his latest studio album, "Highs & Lows", everything felt right with the world. For 56 years, music has been Bernard Allison's essence. As the youngest son of the much-missed Chicago bandleader Luther Allison, he was a bluesman from birth, naturally drawn to this ancient music that seemed to heal deep wounds, and held spellbound by early encounters with heavyweights like Muddy Waters, Albert King and Hound Dog Taylor.
February 11 street date. Looking at Dan Andriano's catalog, one might assume that making new music is old hat for the veteran vocalist, songwriter, bassist and primary member of the beloved Chicago punk outfit Alkaline Trio. Decades into his prolific career, though, Andriano is just as in love with the process as he was in those early days of sweaty clubs and cramped vans. On his new Epitaph Records album, "Dear Darkness", that unceasing passion is evident on this solo, self-produced project (which follows his 2015 release "Party Adjacent"), finding Andriano venturing into deeply personal lyrical territory while also pushing the limits of just what his unclassifiable sound can be.
February 11 street date. Looking at Dan Andriano's catalog, one might assume that making new music is old hat for the veteran vocalist, songwriter, bassist and primary member of the beloved Chicago punk outfit Alkaline Trio. Decades into his prolific career, though, Andriano is just as in love with the process as he was in those early days of sweaty clubs and cramped vans. On his new Epitaph Records album, "Dear Darkness", that unceasing passion is evident on this solo, self-produced project (which follows his 2015 release "Party Adjacent"), finding Andriano venturing into deeply personal lyrical territory while also pushing the limits of just what his unclassifiable sound can be.
April 7 street date. Newly remastered edition. Angels Of Light were formed by Michael Gira immediately after the 1997 termination of Swans. With an ever evolving and changing cast of musicians, the albums felt like a huge departure sonically to what had gone before; yet listening back now, they sound like an essential part of Gira's journey to Swans' current iteration. Gira on "Sing Other People" (2005); "this album is different in many ways than what I've done in the past. There's no general band "sound" here. The instrumentation is arranged in each song to fit the subject. Each song is its own world, a place for the people in the songs to live. I intentionally eschewed long instrumental passages, crescendos, that sort of thing. The songs say what they have to say, then end".
April 7 street date. Newly remastered edition. Angels Of Light were formed by Michael Gira immediately after the 1997 termination of Swans. With an ever evolving and changing cast of musicians, the albums felt like a huge departure sonically to what had gone before; yet listening back now, they sound like an essential part of Gira's journey to Swans' current iteration. Gira on "Sing Other People" (2005); "this album is different in many ways than what I've done in the past. There's no general band "sound" here. The instrumentation is arranged in each song to fit the subject. Each song is its own world, a place for the people in the songs to live. I intentionally eschewed long instrumental passages, crescendos, that sort of thing. The songs say what they have to say, then end".
April 7 street date. Newly remastered edition. Angels Of Light were formed by Michael Gira immediately after the 1997 termination of Swans. With an ever evolving and changing cast of musicians, the albums felt like a huge departure sonically to what had gone before; yet listening back now, they sound like an essential part of Gira's journey to Swans' current iteration. "We Are Him" (2007) features Kristof Hahn, Phil Puleo, and Bill Rieflin who all went on to be part of the latest iterations of Swans. This edition of "We Are Him" includes bonus tracks from the Akron/Family & Angels of Light release that followed.
April 7 street date. Newly remastered edition. Angels Of Light were formed by Michael Gira immediately after the 1997 termination of Swans. With an ever evolving and changing cast of musicians, the albums felt like a huge departure sonically to what had gone before; yet listening back now, they sound like an essential part of Gira's journey to Swans' current iteration. "We Are Him" (2007) features Kristof Hahn, Phil Puleo, and Bill Rieflin who all went on to be part of the latest iterations of Swans. This edition of "We Are Him" includes bonus tracks from the Akron/Family & Angels of Light release that followed.
Available now. Toronto-based French/American Jazz singer Laura Anglade is making a name for herself in the jazz world. Continuing the tradition of the great ladies of jazz - Laura's singing is reminiscent of many of the great vocal stylists of the 20th century including Anita O'Day, Shirley Horn, and Blossom Dearie, but her voice is uniquely her own. Accompanied by guitarist Sam Kirmayer (and accordionist Benjamin Rosenblum on two tracks), their new recording "Venez donc chez moi" is an homage of sorts, and a nod to Laura's beloved France. It features jazz versions of French classics made famous by Maurice Chevalier, Boris Vian, Edith Piaf, and Jacques Brel to name a few. She digs emotionally and eloquently into a standard, her story-telling abilities portray a soul beyond her years.
July 23 street date. When asked to describe the circumstances that influenced her beautifully fraught new work, Berlin-based musician Annika Henderson - better known simply as Anika - quickly articulates a set of feelings and unpredictable circumstances that are familiar to anyone who tried to make art - or simply tried to live through - the recent global pandemic. Given that it has been 11 years since the release of her last solo album, 2010 cult-favorite "Anika", the artist suddenly found herself with a lot to say. Recorded at a time when literally everyone in the world was being forced to take stock, rethink, and reimagine their own place in the cosmos of things, Anika provides the wisened perspective of an outsider. It's a perspective that is not lost on the British ex-pat and former political journalist. Despite the subject matter and the circumstances around its creation, "Change" itself is ultimately a treatise on optimism.
July 23 street date. When asked to describe the circumstances that influenced her beautifully fraught new work, Berlin-based musician Annika Henderson - better known simply as Anika - quickly articulates a set of feelings and unpredictable circumstances that are familiar to anyone who tried to make art - or simply tried to live through - the recent global pandemic. Given that it has been 11 years since the release of her last solo album, 2010 cult-favorite "Anika", the artist suddenly found herself with a lot to say. Recorded at a time when literally everyone in the world was being forced to take stock, rethink, and reimagine their own place in the cosmos of things, Anika provides the wisened perspective of an outsider. It's a perspective that is not lost on the British ex-pat and former political journalist. Despite the subject matter and the circumstances around its creation, "Change" itself is ultimately a treatise on optimism.
July 23 street date. When asked to describe the circumstances that influenced her beautifully fraught new work, Berlin-based musician Annika Henderson - better known simply as Anika - quickly articulates a set of feelings and unpredictable circumstances that are familiar to anyone who tried to make art - or simply tried to live through - the recent global pandemic. Given that it has been 11 years since the release of her last solo album, 2010 cult-favorite "Anika", the artist suddenly found herself with a lot to say. Recorded at a time when literally everyone in the world was being forced to take stock, rethink, and reimagine their own place in the cosmos of things, Anika provides the wisened perspective of an outsider. It's a perspective that is not lost on the British ex-pat and former political journalist. Despite the subject matter and the circumstances around its creation, "Change" itself is ultimately a treatise on optimism.
September 8 street date. Anjimile Chithambo, better known as Anjimile, presents his second album and 4AD debut "The King". Deeply steeped in the confusion, grief, and rage of being Black in America, the title-track pushes back against the tired adage, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger", hissing, "what don't kill you almost killed you// What don't fill you//pains you// drains you". Following his 2020 breakthrough "Giver Taker", Anjimile continues exploring what it means to be a Black trans person in America. Drawing influences ranging from religion, Phillip Glass, and lived experiences, the album is a grand step forward. Nearly every sound you hear on "The King" comes from two instruments: an acoustic guitar and Anjimile's own voice. Other than a few beautiful contributions from Justine Bowe, Brad Allen Williams, Sam Gendel, and James Krivchenia (Big Thief), the album is the result of a year in LA working intimately with Grammy and Juno winner Shawn Everett.
September 8 street date. Anjimile Chithambo, better known as Anjimile, presents his second album and 4AD debut "The King". Deeply steeped in the confusion, grief, and rage of being Black in America, the title-track pushes back against the tired adage, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger", hissing, "what don't kill you almost killed you// What don't fill you//pains you// drains you". Following his 2020 breakthrough "Giver Taker", Anjimile continues exploring what it means to be a Black trans person in America. Drawing influences ranging from religion, Phillip Glass, and lived experiences, the album is a grand step forward. Nearly every sound you hear on "The King" comes from two instruments: an acoustic guitar and Anjimile's own voice. Other than a few beautiful contributions from Justine Bowe, Brad Allen Williams, Sam Gendel, and James Krivchenia (Big Thief), the album is the result of a year in LA working intimately with Grammy and Juno winner Shawn Everett.
September 8 street date. Anjimile Chithambo, better known as Anjimile, presents his second album and 4AD debut "The King". Deeply steeped in the confusion, grief, and rage of being Black in America, the title-track pushes back against the tired adage, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger", hissing, "what don't kill you almost killed you// What don't fill you//pains you// drains you". Following his 2020 breakthrough "Giver Taker", Anjimile continues exploring what it means to be a Black trans person in America. Drawing influences ranging from religion, Phillip Glass, and lived experiences, the album is a grand step forward. Nearly every sound you hear on "The King" comes from two instruments: an acoustic guitar and Anjimile's own voice. Other than a few beautiful contributions from Justine Bowe, Brad Allen Williams, Sam Gendel, and James Krivchenia (Big Thief), the album is the result of a year in LA working intimately with Grammy and Juno winner Shawn Everett.
July 7 street date. "My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross", ANOHNI's 6th studio album, shape shifts through its subject matter: the loss of loved ones, inequality, alienation, privilege, denial, ecocide and the tidal power of Earth, isolation, Future Feminism, and the intention that we might yet transform our ways of thinking, our religious ideas, our societal structures, and our relationships with the rest of nature. On her first full album since 2016's "HOPELESSNESS", she explains the creative process was painstaking, yet also inspired, joyful, and intimate, a renewal and a renaming of her response to the world as she sees it. "A couple of these songs are almost a response to the call of (Marvin Gaye's) "What's Going On", from 2023. They are a kind of an echo from the future to that album from 50 years ago". A record its creator acknowledges is inextricably both personal and political, and one that is full of heartfelt music that also questions its own right to be heard, "My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross" demonstrates music's unique capacity to bring harmony to competing, sometimes contradictory, elements.
July 7 street date. "My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross", ANOHNI's 6th studio album, shape shifts through its subject matter: the loss of loved ones, inequality, alienation, privilege, denial, ecocide and the tidal power of Earth, isolation, Future Feminism, and the intention that we might yet transform our ways of thinking, our religious ideas, our societal structures, and our relationships with the rest of nature. On her first full album since 2016's "HOPELESSNESS", she explains the creative process was painstaking, yet also inspired, joyful, and intimate, a renewal and a renaming of her response to the world as she sees it. "A couple of these songs are almost a response to the call of (Marvin Gaye's) "What's Going On", from 2023. They are a kind of an echo from the future to that album from 50 years ago". A record its creator acknowledges is inextricably both personal and political, and one that is full of heartfelt music that also questions its own right to be heard, "My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross" demonstrates music's unique capacity to bring harmony to competing, sometimes contradictory, elements.
July 7 street date. "My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross", ANOHNI's 6th studio album, shape shifts through its subject matter: the loss of loved ones, inequality, alienation, privilege, denial, ecocide and the tidal power of Earth, isolation, Future Feminism, and the intention that we might yet transform our ways of thinking, our religious ideas, our societal structures, and our relationships with the rest of nature. On her first full album since 2016's "HOPELESSNESS", she explains the creative process was painstaking, yet also inspired, joyful, and intimate, a renewal and a renaming of her response to the world as she sees it. "A couple of these songs are almost a response to the call of (Marvin Gaye's) "What's Going On", from 2023. They are a kind of an echo from the future to that album from 50 years ago". A record its creator acknowledges is inextricably both personal and political, and one that is full of heartfelt music that also questions its own right to be heard, "My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross" demonstrates music's unique capacity to bring harmony to competing, sometimes contradictory, elements.
October 14 street date. Limited 10 year anniversary red vinyl edition of Anti-Flag's 2012 album "The General Strike". Packaged in a gatefold sleeve with a commemorative 10"x10" anniversary poster. Also includes 2 previously unreleased tracks.
March 26 street date. "Green To Gold" is the much-anticipated new album from New York based Indie/Folk band The Antlers. Perhaps what distinguishes "Green To Gold" from the rest of The Antlers' canon is its, well, sunniness. Conceived and written almost entirely in the morning hours, "Green To Gold" is the band's first new music in nearly seven years, and easily their most luminous to date. The brighter outlook emerged, paradoxically, after a succession of ominous events. In 2015, Silberman suffered with an auditory condition that made touring near impossible and he retreated to the quiet of upstate New York to heal. His return in 2017 with a solo album was short lived when he was diagnosed with lesions on his vocal chords, which required surgery and again a quiet rest and recovery period. Singer and primary songwriter Peter Silberman explains. "I took these health obstacles as a sign that I should change course for a little while. I hadn't made a full stop like that since The Antlers began. I think the shift in tone is the result of getting older. It doesn't make sense for me to try to tap into the same energy that I did ten or fifteen years ago, because I continue to grow as a person, as I'm sure our audience does too. "Green To Gold" is about this idea of gradual change".
March 26 street date. "Green To Gold" is the much-anticipated new album from New York based Indie/Folk band The Antlers. Perhaps what distinguishes "Green To Gold" from the rest of The Antlers' canon is its, well, sunniness. Conceived and written almost entirely in the morning hours, "Green To Gold" is the band's first new music in nearly seven years, and easily their most luminous to date. The brighter outlook emerged, paradoxically, after a succession of ominous events. In 2015, Silberman suffered with an auditory condition that made touring near impossible and he retreated to the quiet of upstate New York to heal. His return in 2017 with a solo album was short lived when he was diagnosed with lesions on his vocal chords, which required surgery and again a quiet rest and recovery period. Singer and primary songwriter Peter Silberman explains. "I took these health obstacles as a sign that I should change course for a little while. I hadn't made a full stop like that since The Antlers began. I think the shift in tone is the result of getting older. It doesn't make sense for me to try to tap into the same energy that I did ten or fifteen years ago, because I continue to grow as a person, as I'm sure our audience does too. "Green To Gold" is about this idea of gradual change".
March 26 street date. "Green To Gold" is the much-anticipated new album from New York based Indie/Folk band The Antlers. Perhaps what distinguishes "Green To Gold" from the rest of The Antlers' canon is its, well, sunniness. Conceived and written almost entirely in the morning hours, "Green To Gold" is the band's first new music in nearly seven years, and easily their most luminous to date. The brighter outlook emerged, paradoxically, after a succession of ominous events. In 2015, Silberman suffered with an auditory condition that made touring near impossible and he retreated to the quiet of upstate New York to heal. His return in 2017 with a solo album was short lived when he was diagnosed with lesions on his vocal chords, which required surgery and again a quiet rest and recovery period. Singer and primary songwriter Peter Silberman explains. "I took these health obstacles as a sign that I should change course for a little while. I hadn't made a full stop like that since The Antlers began. I think the shift in tone is the result of getting older. It doesn't make sense for me to try to tap into the same energy that I did ten or fifteen years ago, because I continue to grow as a person, as I'm sure our audience does too. "Green To Gold" is about this idea of gradual change".
June 24 street date. THE Canadian heavy metal cult band is back! Anvil proudly present their brand new (the 19th in total!) studio album, "Impact Is Imminent". Charismatic singer/guitarist Lips, drummer Robb Reiner and bass player Chris Robertson definitely deliver the goods here: both sonically and when it comes to songwriting, the new album (consisting of 14 merciless metal tracks) directly advances to a highlight in the over 40-year band history - an eventful career (also well depicted in 2009's award-winning documentary film "Anvil! The Story Of Anvil") which proves Anvil to be among the most consistent acts of the genre. Their sound and intensity was inspiration for generations of subsequent musicians and Anvil's unparalleled tenacity and unwillingness to compromise are already legendary. The fact that they are now releasing such a strong and fresh album in 2022 once again underlines the quality of the band.
June 24 street date. THE Canadian heavy metal cult band is back! Anvil proudly present their brand new (the 19th in total!) studio album, "Impact Is Imminent". Charismatic singer/guitarist Lips, drummer Robb Reiner and bass player Chris Robertson definitely deliver the goods here: both sonically and when it comes to songwriting, the new album (consisting of 14 merciless metal tracks) directly advances to a highlight in the over 40-year band history - an eventful career (also well depicted in 2009's award-winning documentary film "Anvil! The Story Of Anvil") which proves Anvil to be among the most consistent acts of the genre. Their sound and intensity was inspiration for generations of subsequent musicians and Anvil's unparalleled tenacity and unwillingness to compromise are already legendary. The fact that they are now releasing such a strong and fresh album in 2022 once again underlines the quality of the band.
May 20 street date. THE Canadian heavy metal cult band is back! Anvil proudly present their brand new (the 19th in total!) studio album, "Impact Is Imminent". Charismatic singer/guitarist Lips, drummer Robb Reiner and bass player Chris Robertson definitely deliver the goods here: both sonically and when it comes to songwriting, the new album (consisting of 14 merciless metal tracks) directly advances to a highlight in the over 40-year band history - an eventful career (also well depicted in 2009's award-winning documentary film "Anvil! The Story Of Anvil") which proves Anvil to be among the most consistent acts of the genre. Their sound and intensity was inspiration for generations of subsequent musicians and Anvil's unparalleled tenacity and unwillingness to compromise are already legendary. The fact that they are now releasing such a strong and fresh album in 2022 once again underlines the quality of the band.
May 20 street date. Produced and recorded by Arca, the "KiCk" series is an ambitious act of music world-building that has captivated fans and critics around the world. If "KiCk I" is a multidimensional self-portrait that held all of Arca's many mutations, "KiCk ii" sees her deconstruct reggaeton rhythms she grew up listening to in Caracas, balancing structure and chaos to create her most accessible work yet without sacrificing any of her uncompromising experimentation; the rising cycle.
May 20 street date. Produced and recorded by Arca, the "KiCk" series is an ambitious act of music world-building that has captivated fans and critics around the world. "KiCk iii" sees her returning to the club nights that shaped her early adulthood where Arca was born: the surrealist DJ, warping dance music structures to fit her singular vision - relentless rhythms to drive listeners into uncharted states of euphoria, dark queer clubs of our cyberpunk near-future; the climax of the cycle.
May 20 street date. Produced and recorded by Arca, the "KiCk" series is an ambitious act of music world-building that has captivated fans and critics around the world. "KiCk iii" sees her returning to the club nights that shaped her early adulthood where Arca was born: the surrealist DJ, warping dance music structures to fit her singular vision - relentless rhythms to drive listeners into uncharted states of euphoria, dark queer clubs of our cyberpunk near-future; the climax of the cycle.
May 20 street date. Produced and recorded by Arca, the "KiCk" series is an ambitious act of music world-building that has captivated fans and critics around the world. With "KiCk iiii", the cycle resolves, and a new species of xenopop emerges, sensual and serene. Arca's talents as a composer and sound designer take the lead on closing track "Paw", setting melodies to drift on deep, gentle waves of orchestral ambience, an oceanic bliss.
May 20 street date. Produced and recorded by Arca, the "KiCk" series is an ambitious act of music world-building that has captivated fans and critics around the world. With "KiCk iiii", the cycle resolves, and a new species of xenopop emerges, sensual and serene. Arca's talents as a composer and sound designer take the lead on closing track "Paw", setting melodies to drift on deep, gentle waves of orchestral ambience, an oceanic bliss.
May 20 street date. Produced and recorded by Arca, the "KiCk" series is an ambitious act of music world-building that has captivated fans and critics around the world. On "KiCk iiiii" the ambient ecstasy transitions swiftly into lullaby-like compositions as we come to the conclusion of the "KiCk" series; the renewal stage.
May 20 street date. Produced and recorded by Arca, the "KiCk" series is an ambitious act of music world-building that has captivated fans and critics around the world. On "KiCk iiiii" the ambient ecstasy transitions swiftly into lullaby-like compositions as we come to the conclusion of the "KiCk" series; the renewal stage.
October 21 street date. As sculpted shards of guitar - tumbling, tolling, squalling - shower the jittery bounce of a piano on opener "Human", it's obvious that "Reason In Decline", Archers of Loaf's first album in 24 years, will be more than a nostalgic, low-impact reboot. When they emerged from North Carolina's 90s indie-punk incubator, the Archers' hurtling, sly, gloriously dissonant roar was a mythologized touchstone of slacker-era refusal. Eric Bachmann and Eric Johnson, once headstrong smartasses inciting a series of artful pileups on the band's four studio albums and EP, are now a fluidly complementary, sonically advanced unit. Notably, Johnson's signature trebly lines peal clearly above the din instead of struggling to be heard. Second, singer-songwriter Bachmann, after throat surgery, relearned how to sing (this time from his diaphragm); as a result, he no longer howls like the angriest head cold on the Eastern Seaboard. And now, his lyrics balance righteous wrath with a complex tangle of adult perspective. In short, this is not your father's Archers of Loaf, even if you're a father now who was a fan then.
October 21 street date. As sculpted shards of guitar - tumbling, tolling, squalling - shower the jittery bounce of a piano on opener "Human", it's obvious that "Reason In Decline", Archers of Loaf's first album in 24 years, will be more than a nostalgic, low-impact reboot. When they emerged from North Carolina's 90s indie-punk incubator, the Archers' hurtling, sly, gloriously dissonant roar was a mythologized touchstone of slacker-era refusal. Eric Bachmann and Eric Johnson, once headstrong smartasses inciting a series of artful pileups on the band's four studio albums and EP, are now a fluidly complementary, sonically advanced unit. Notably, Johnson's signature trebly lines peal clearly above the din instead of struggling to be heard. Second, singer-songwriter Bachmann, after throat surgery, relearned how to sing (this time from his diaphragm); as a result, he no longer howls like the angriest head cold on the Eastern Seaboard. And now, his lyrics balance righteous wrath with a complex tangle of adult perspective. In short, this is not your father's Archers of Loaf, even if you're a father now who was a fan then.
October 21 street date. As sculpted shards of guitar - tumbling, tolling, squalling - shower the jittery bounce of a piano on opener "Human", it's obvious that "Reason In Decline", Archers of Loaf's first album in 24 years, will be more than a nostalgic, low-impact reboot. When they emerged from North Carolina's 90s indie-punk incubator, the Archers' hurtling, sly, gloriously dissonant roar was a mythologized touchstone of slacker-era refusal. Eric Bachmann and Eric Johnson, once headstrong smartasses inciting a series of artful pileups on the band's four studio albums and EP, are now a fluidly complementary, sonically advanced unit. Notably, Johnson's signature trebly lines peal clearly above the din instead of struggling to be heard. Second, singer-songwriter Bachmann, after throat surgery, relearned how to sing (this time from his diaphragm); as a result, he no longer howls like the angriest head cold on the Eastern Seaboard. And now, his lyrics balance righteous wrath with a complex tangle of adult perspective. In short, this is not your father's Archers of Loaf, even if you're a father now who was a fan then.
October 21 street date. Architects have delivered their 10th studio album, the follow up to their 2021 breakout album "For Those That Wish To Exist", which hit #1 on the UK sales chart. Finding yourself with a UK Number One album and selling out arenas is enough for some to repeat a winning formula. Architects however, are forever moving forward. "It was definitely validating and felt really cool for like a day", recalls drummer, producer and song-writer Dan Searle of hitting the top spot. "For a lot of the bucket list things you reach in any career, there’s a momentary gratification then you're like, "what next"? You just move on. By the time the album came out, my head was already in the mindset of "Broken Spirit". That was where I was at". Searle notes how it was their albums "Lost Forever/Lost Together", "All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us", and "Holy Hell" that really "cemented what the band was about" and "took them to a new level" as a rock powerhouse and leaders of the UK's metalcore scene.
October 21 street date. Architects have delivered their 10th studio album, the follow up to their 2021 breakout album "For Those That Wish To Exist", which hit #1 on the UK sales chart. Finding yourself with a UK Number One album and selling out arenas is enough for some to repeat a winning formula. Architects however, are forever moving forward. "It was definitely validating and felt really cool for like a day", recalls drummer, producer and song-writer Dan Searle of hitting the top spot. "For a lot of the bucket list things you reach in any career, there’s a momentary gratification then you're like, "what next"? You just move on. By the time the album came out, my head was already in the mindset of "Broken Spirit". That was where I was at". Searle notes how it was their albums "Lost Forever/Lost Together", "All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us", and "Holy Hell" that really "cemented what the band was about" and "took them to a new level" as a rock powerhouse and leaders of the UK's metalcore scene.
October 21 street date. Architects have delivered their 10th studio album, the follow up to their 2021 breakout album "For Those That Wish To Exist", which hit #1 on the UK sales chart. Finding yourself with a UK Number One album and selling out arenas is enough for some to repeat a winning formula. Architects however, are forever moving forward. "It was definitely validating and felt really cool for like a day", recalls drummer, producer and song-writer Dan Searle of hitting the top spot. "For a lot of the bucket list things you reach in any career, there’s a momentary gratification then you're like, "what next"? You just move on. By the time the album came out, my head was already in the mindset of "Broken Spirit". That was where I was at". Searle notes how it was their albums "Lost Forever/Lost Together", "All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us", and "Holy Hell" that really "cemented what the band was about" and "took them to a new level" as a rock powerhouse and leaders of the UK's metalcore scene.
March 25 street date. Architects' new album captures a historic live stream performance event at the iconic Abbey Road studios: spiritual home to legends like The Beatles and Pink Floyd. Dubbed "For Those That Wish To Exist at Abbey Road", the album features a reimagined orchestral version of their masterpiece album "For Those That Wish To Exist", backed by their friends in the Parallax Orchestra, the well-respected UK based orchestra made up of some of England's best and most versatile classical musicians, arranged and written by Simon Dobson, Parallax Orchestra's conductor and a three times British Composer award (BASCA) winner for his compositions. Vocalist Sam Carter speaks to the cultural importance of Abbey Road Studios: "It's such an important part of music in not only the U.K. but all across the world. Some of the biggest and most important records of all time were recorded there. It's such a joy to even be allowed into the building, let alone to record there. It's a very special place; I still can't quite believe we were able to create there".
March 25 street date. Architects' new album captures a historic live stream performance event at the iconic Abbey Road studios: spiritual home to legends like The Beatles and Pink Floyd. Dubbed "For Those That Wish To Exist at Abbey Road", the album features a reimagined orchestral version of their masterpiece album "For Those That Wish To Exist", backed by their friends in the Parallax Orchestra, the well-respected UK based orchestra made up of some of England's best and most versatile classical musicians, arranged and written by Simon Dobson, Parallax Orchestra's conductor and a three times British Composer award (BASCA) winner for his compositions. Vocalist Sam Carter speaks to the cultural importance of Abbey Road Studios: "It's such an important part of music in not only the U.K. but all across the world. Some of the biggest and most important records of all time were recorded there. It's such a joy to even be allowed into the building, let alone to record there. It's a very special place; I still can't quite believe we were able to create there".
March 25 street date. Architects' new album captures a historic live stream performance event at the iconic Abbey Road studios: spiritual home to legends like The Beatles and Pink Floyd. Dubbed "For Those That Wish To Exist at Abbey Road", the album features a reimagined orchestral version of their masterpiece album "For Those That Wish To Exist", backed by their friends in the Parallax Orchestra, the well-respected UK based orchestra made up of some of England's best and most versatile classical musicians, arranged and written by Simon Dobson, Parallax Orchestra's conductor and a three times British Composer award (BASCA) winner for his compositions. Vocalist Sam Carter speaks to the cultural importance of Abbey Road Studios: "It's such an important part of music in not only the U.K. but all across the world. Some of the biggest and most important records of all time were recorded there. It's such a joy to even be allowed into the building, let alone to record there. It's a very special place; I still can't quite believe we were able to create there".
February 26 street date. Architects are back with their ninth studio album "For Those That Wish To Exist". The band have confirmed their ascent to the very upper echelons of British heavy music. Few bands, of this modern era or any other, can match the quintet's ability to blend uncompromising heaviness with razor-sharp melodic musicianship. A versatile metal group based out of Brighton, England, Architects employ a lethal combination of breakdown-heavy guitars, melodic vocals and symphonic-ambient post-metal. That sonic delivery is conducted from a platform built on veganism and environmental activism.
February 26 street date. Architects are back with their ninth studio album "For Those That Wish To Exist". The band have confirmed their ascent to the very upper echelons of British heavy music. Few bands, of this modern era or any other, can match the quintet's ability to blend uncompromising heaviness with razor-sharp melodic musicianship. A versatile metal group based out of Brighton, England, Architects employ a lethal combination of breakdown-heavy guitars, melodic vocals and symphonic-ambient post-metal. That sonic delivery is conducted from a platform built on veganism and environmental activism.
August 5 street date. Art Moore make vivid, heartbreaking short stories. Each song on the newly formed band's self-titled debut album is its own individual universe of bittersweet feeling: a brief snapshot of a moment in time that captures the fragility and occasional impossibility of human connection. These songs are deft character studies, zeroing in on shy beginners, jilted friends and friendly exes, chronicling minute moments - road trips, casual dates, games of truth or dare - with rich detail and subtle wit. Featuring the inimitable songwriting of beloved Oakland luminary Taylor Vick of Boy Scouts set in sharp relief against lush production from Ezra Furman collaborators Sam Durkes and Trevor Brooks, it's a quietly wondrous record - a set of songs that sketch out the struggle and beauty of coping with everyday life. These are songs about tiny, unspoken feelings rendered on a grand scale, moments that often get brushed aside given the weight that they should be.
August 5 street date. Art Moore make vivid, heartbreaking short stories. Each song on the newly formed band's self-titled debut album is its own individual universe of bittersweet feeling: a brief snapshot of a moment in time that captures the fragility and occasional impossibility of human connection. These songs are deft character studies, zeroing in on shy beginners, jilted friends and friendly exes, chronicling minute moments - road trips, casual dates, games of truth or dare - with rich detail and subtle wit. Featuring the inimitable songwriting of beloved Oakland luminary Taylor Vick of Boy Scouts set in sharp relief against lush production from Ezra Furman collaborators Sam Durkes and Trevor Brooks, it's a quietly wondrous record - a set of songs that sketch out the struggle and beauty of coping with everyday life. These are songs about tiny, unspoken feelings rendered on a grand scale, moments that often get brushed aside given the weight that they should be.
November 6 street date. The pioneering electronic composer Mort Garson ("Mother Earth's Plantasia") takes on supernatural phenomena with lush synth grooves on "The Unexplained", his only release under the name Ataraxia. Subtitled "Electronic Musical Impressions of the Occult", the album explores tarot, astral projection, seances, and more with Garson's signature Moog synthesizer serving as the listener's tour guide to the paranormal. The exploratory, whimsical spirit of its creator is evident throughout the release, but it also takes its subject matter seriously, making it essential for anyone interested in musical conjurations of the occult. This remastered edition marks the first official reissue of the album since its initial 1975 release, and it includes all the original liner notes.
November 6 street date. The pioneering electronic composer Mort Garson ("Mother Earth's Plantasia") takes on supernatural phenomena with lush synth grooves on "The Unexplained", his only release under the name Ataraxia. Subtitled "Electronic Musical Impressions of the Occult", the album explores tarot, astral projection, seances, and more with Garson's signature Moog synthesizer serving as the listener's tour guide to the paranormal. The exploratory, whimsical spirit of its creator is evident throughout the release, but it also takes its subject matter seriously, making it essential for anyone interested in musical conjurations of the occult. This remastered edition marks the first official reissue of the album since its initial 1975 release, and it includes all the original liner notes.
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.
October 22 street date. "Overcast!" marked the start of a storied career that still shows no signs of slowing. While Slug and original co-member Spawn's rhyme patterns and wordplay may have hinted at some of their influences, their creative songwriting and inventive concepts, paired with Ant's brooding and melodic production, made the album stand apart from its predecessors. Although widely considered an underground classic, the full-length "Overcast!" album was never pressed on vinyl until a limited edition pressing celebrating the album's 20th anniversary in 2017. Now re-packaged and produced for wider distribution, fans everywhere can add this re-mastered masterpiece to their collection. Celebrate Atmosphere's legacy of creative expression with the album that started it all!
October 22 street date. After being out of print for years, Atmosphere's fifth studio album, "You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having", returns on vinyl. Following the breakthrough success of their fourth album, "Seven's Travels", the group returned in 2005, showing impressive growth and inventiveness in their new compositions. Citing inspirations from a list of less-than-expected sources, including Tom Waits, Mark Lanegan, Shawn Phillips, Spoon, The Mars Volta, alopecia, Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions, The Beauty Pill, infected wisdom teeth, Craig Finn, TV On The Radio, Australia, and I-94 East, among others, the album pushed boundaries without overreaching.
October 22 street date. Atmosphere have distinguished themselves from their peers by creating albums encompassing the entire spectrum of human emotion while tethering each piece to a central aural aesthetic. 2011's "The Family Sign" took this philosophy to new realms of solidarity with Slug metaphorically touching on themes of fatherhood, loss, love, disappointment and jubilation, and tailoring them to an instrumental framework that draws emotion out of the listener, skillfully composed by producer Ant. "The Family Sign" was evidence that hip-hop wields the ultimate potential to address and convey life's virtues and shortcomings. Finally, repackaged and repressed on 2xLP vinyl, just in time for its 10th anniversary, the album features two bonus tracks, "Millenium Dodo 2" and "Cut You Down", not available on the original version, plus an exclusive 7-inch vinyl inside, featuring two additional tracks from the same recording sessions, "By Your Side" and "Bar Food".
October 8 street date. Following their last release, "The Day Before Halloween" - an imaginative, distorted-synth-driven concept album - Atmosphere returns with a refreshing new project, simply titled "WORD?". Steering back toward their signature sound, the album further highlights producer Ant's undeniable talents as the project leans into the classic boom-bap aesthetic, bringing a unique energy out of Slug's wisdom, wit and delivery. From onset, "WORD?" proves to be every bit an exercise in refining and advancing their craft as it is a harkening to earlier work. That is, while their releases have grown more broodingly cinematic, and increasingly concerned with the human condition and mortality, "WORD?" manages to reintroduce moments of levity and lightheartedness throughout, an approach seldom heard on their albums of late. Ultimately, "WORD?" pairs the breadth of Atmosphere's talents with the beauty of their growth, all while showing they still have a lot of fun in the process and don't mind letting the listener in on the fun as well.
October 8 street date. Following their last release, "The Day Before Halloween" - an imaginative, distorted-synth-driven concept album - Atmosphere returns with a refreshing new project, simply titled "WORD?". Steering back toward their signature sound, the album further highlights producer Ant's undeniable talents as the project leans into the classic boom-bap aesthetic, bringing a unique energy out of Slug's wisdom, wit and delivery. From onset, "WORD?" proves to be every bit an exercise in refining and advancing their craft as it is a harkening to earlier work. That is, while their releases have grown more broodingly cinematic, and increasingly concerned with the human condition and mortality, "WORD?" manages to reintroduce moments of levity and lightheartedness throughout, an approach seldom heard on their albums of late. Ultimately, "WORD?" pairs the breadth of Atmosphere's talents with the beauty of their growth, all while showing they still have a lot of fun in the process and don't mind letting the listener in on the fun as well.
May 27 street date. Following the release of their debut album, "Overcast!", Atmosphere was already making waves in the underground Hip-Hop scene, attracting attention for their unique combination of content, styles and sounds. Although the group was suddenly smaller due to the departure of one member, Spawn, the buzz continued to grow, as did the creative output of remaining members Slug and Ant. Over the next 3 years, the duo recorded and released a flurry of unofficial Atmosphere CD's, tapes, songs and side projects, along with pressing and distributing a string of vinyl EP's, titled "Ford One", "Ford Two", and "The Lucy EP". These vinyl EP's were ultimately consolidated onto one CD as well, for the purpose of selling on tour and distributing to retail, becoming what most considered to be Atmosphere's official sophomore album, "Lucy Ford: The Atmosphere EP's", more commonly referred to as simply "Lucy Ford". Now, in celebration of its 20th anniversary, the entire "Lucy Ford" album is finally available on 2xLP vinyl, for the first time in history.
May 5 street date. Atmosphere's new album, "So Many Other Realities Exist Simultaneously", opens with a gentler approach. A departure from the brute intros of earlier works, "Okay" seems to comfort and reassure the listener, with Slug rapping over one of Ant's most twinkling productions to date. Yet, there's still an unmistakable sense of uneasiness that sets in, evolving throughout the album, as Slug and Ant weave the listener through indistinct themes of insomnia and woe. Where previous albums in Atmosphere's catalogue emphasized the parts of life that carry the most meaning - family, brotherhood, purpose - "Realities" is an unnerving excavation of paranoia, perspective and positivism. The tension in these songs is palpable, but their presence is a testament to the hope that underpins them. Whenever the curtains might close, the music goes on.
May 5 street date. Atmosphere's new album, "So Many Other Realities Exist Simultaneously", opens with a gentler approach. A departure from the brute intros of earlier works, "Okay" seems to comfort and reassure the listener, with Slug rapping over one of Ant's most twinkling productions to date. Yet, there's still an unmistakable sense of uneasiness that sets in, evolving throughout the album, as Slug and Ant weave the listener through indistinct themes of insomnia and woe. Where previous albums in Atmosphere's catalogue emphasized the parts of life that carry the most meaning - family, brotherhood, purpose - "Realities" is an unnerving excavation of paranoia, perspective and positivism. The tension in these songs is palpable, but their presence is a testament to the hope that underpins them. Whenever the curtains might close, the music goes on.
July 28 street date. "4AM Friday" is the sound of Avail hitting their stride - plain and simple. The collection of sing-a-long anthems for the everyman solidified their place as the kings of the Southern punk underground. This reissue of the 1996 classic is now completed by the addition of the 15 songs from "Live at the Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco". Recorded in 1997, this smoldering live set showcases the band at their absolute peak and is testament to the unforgettable, high-octane shows that are Avail's hallmark. Remastering, newly written liner notes, freshly unearthed photos and new artwork complete the package.
June 23 street date. RSD Essentials edition. The Avett Brothers' 2007 release "Emotionalism" is the album that caught the attention of legendary producer Rick Rubin and got him to sign the band to their first major studio. "Emotionalism" also was their first album to crack the charts. Full of new folk, blues, and bluegrass riffs for a modern world, it is a lively take on everything from romance to paranoia. Of course, they still kick in some solid rock 'n' roll for good measure.
June 3 street date. AWOLNATION's upcoming album "My Echo, My Shadow, My Covers And Me" is a fiercely collaborative and celebratory project. It's an eclectic collection of masterfully crafted and carefully curated covers, with each track featuring at least one acclaimed musical artist. It includes epic re-imaginings of classics like "Wind of Change" by the Scorpions, "Take a Chance on Me" by Abba, and "Beds are Burning" by Midnight Oil; and features collaborations with artists like Portugal the Man, Brandon Boyd of Incubus, Jewel, Beck, Taylor Hanson, and more.
June 3 street date. AWOLNATION's upcoming album "My Echo, My Shadow, My Covers And Me" is a fiercely collaborative and celebratory project. It's an eclectic collection of masterfully crafted and carefully curated covers, with each track featuring at least one acclaimed musical artist. It includes epic re-imaginings of classics like "Wind of Change" by the Scorpions, "Take a Chance on Me" by Abba, and "Beds are Burning" by Midnight Oil; and features collaborations with artists like Portugal the Man, Brandon Boyd of Incubus, Jewel, Beck, Taylor Hanson, and more.
November 18 street date. Reissue of Ayreon's "Universal Migrator Part I", originally released in 2020. This and Part II continued the plot from Ayreon's ‘The Final Experiment’, and feature an extravaganza of stunning musicians and vocalists such as Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden), Floor Jason (Nightwish), Damian Wilson (Headspace/Threshold), Neal Morse (Spock's Beard/Flying Colors), Michael Romeo (Symphony X), and many more. Arjen Lucassen continues his crusade of remixing and remastering his finest work to absolute perfection, and "Universal Migrator Part I & II" is a stunning addition to his spectacular cannon. With the modern updates, both new and old fans now get the chance to hear these albums through the ears of Lucassen as he intended. Limited to 500 copies.
November 18 street date. Reissue of Ayreon's "Universal Migrator Part I", originally released in 2020. This and Part I continued the plot from Ayreon's ‘The Final Experiment’, and feature an extravaganza of stunning musicians and vocalists such as Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden), Floor Jason (Nightwish), Damian Wilson (Headspace/Threshold), Neal Morse (Spock's Beard/Flying Colors), Michael Romeo (Symphony X), and many more. Arjen Lucassen continues his crusade of remixing and remastering his finest work to absolute perfection, and "Universal Migrator Part I & II" is a stunning addition to his spectacular cannon. With the modern updates, both new and old fans now get the chance to hear these albums through the ears of Lucassen as he intended. Limited to 500 copies.
November 18 street date. Reissue of Ayreon's "Universal Migrator Part I & II", originally released in 2020. These two albums continued the plot from Ayreon's ‘The Final Experiment’, and feature an extravaganza of stunning musicians and vocalists such as Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden), Floor Jason (Nightwish), Damian Wilson (Headspace/Threshold), Neal Morse (Spock's Beard/Flying Colors), Michael Romeo (Symphony X), and many more. Arjen Lucassen continues his crusade of remixing and remastering his finest work to absolute perfection, and "Universal Migrator Part I & II" is a stunning addition to his spectacular cannon. With the modern updates, both new and old fans now get the chance to hear these albums through the ears of Lucassen as he intended. The 2CD configuration includes the remixed and remastered version, plus a bonus disc that includes an interview with Arjen Lucassen, a music video, and previously unreleased audio (5.1 surround mix, plus 2 binaural headphone mixes and more).
May 26 street date. Baby Rose makes healing music for the aimless and heartbroken. The Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter and producer's uniquely rich voice naturally lends itself to her powerful, smoke-filled ballads lamenting lost loves and broken futures. The piercing honesty and vulnerability she brings to her lyrics in turn helps others process their feelings and find a place of healing. You can hear the impact of this approach in Baby Rose's upcoming second album, "Through And Through". Baby Rose's strength is a determination to live, love, and create on her own terms. In the years since releasing her last album, "To Myself", Rose has been painstakingly piecing together its sequel. "Through And Through" is a subtle merging of new sounds - stirring rock, upbeat R&B, psychedelic funk, pop, and soulful ballads, all mastered through analog tape to make the music feel warmer and all-encompassing. It's also a journey inward as she battles past fear and self-doubt to finally discover - and love - who she is, where she is.
May 26 street date. Baby Rose makes healing music for the aimless and heartbroken. The Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter and producer's uniquely rich voice naturally lends itself to her powerful, smoke-filled ballads lamenting lost loves and broken futures. The piercing honesty and vulnerability she brings to her lyrics in turn helps others process their feelings and find a place of healing. You can hear the impact of this approach in Baby Rose's upcoming second album, "Through And Through". Baby Rose's strength is a determination to live, love, and create on her own terms. In the years since releasing her last album, "To Myself", Rose has been painstakingly piecing together its sequel. "Through And Through" is a subtle merging of new sounds - stirring rock, upbeat R&B, psychedelic funk, pop, and soulful ballads, all mastered through analog tape to make the music feel warmer and all-encompassing. It's also a journey inward as she battles past fear and self-doubt to finally discover - and love - who she is, where she is.
May 26 street date. Baby Rose makes healing music for the aimless and heartbroken. The Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter and producer's uniquely rich voice naturally lends itself to her powerful, smoke-filled ballads lamenting lost loves and broken futures. The piercing honesty and vulnerability she brings to her lyrics in turn helps others process their feelings and find a place of healing. You can hear the impact of this approach in Baby Rose's upcoming second album, "Through And Through". Baby Rose's strength is a determination to live, love, and create on her own terms. In the years since releasing her last album, "To Myself", Rose has been painstakingly piecing together its sequel. "Through And Through" is a subtle merging of new sounds - stirring rock, upbeat R&B, psychedelic funk, pop, and soulful ballads, all mastered through analog tape to make the music feel warmer and all-encompassing. It's also a journey inward as she battles past fear and self-doubt to finally discover - and love - who she is, where she is.
July 16 street date. Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band, the mysterious steel pan outfit hailing from Hamburg, have amassed a cult following around the globe. With a slew of classic 7" singles and two critically acclaimed full length albums, they set a high bar for themselves, one they clearly intend on pushing even higher with this new offering. On their third album, aptly titled "Expansions", BRSB are back with more of the same, but more of the same with them is inherently different. Covering songs that span genres and range from mega hits to album cuts, they make them their own with their unique approach to the traditional steel pans of Trinidad and Tobago. By the time the album is through Bacao has taken the listener on a journey that spans a myriad of energies, tempos, and moods while somehow managing to keep it all under one umbrella.
July 16 street date. Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band, the mysterious steel pan outfit hailing from Hamburg, have amassed a cult following around the globe. With a slew of classic 7" singles and two critically acclaimed full length albums, they set a high bar for themselves, one they clearly intend on pushing even higher with this new offering. On their third album, aptly titled "Expansions", BRSB are back with more of the same, but more of the same with them is inherently different. Covering songs that span genres and range from mega hits to album cuts, they make them their own with their unique approach to the traditional steel pans of Trinidad and Tobago. By the time the album is through Bacao has taken the listener on a journey that spans a myriad of energies, tempos, and moods while somehow managing to keep it all under one umbrella.
July 16 street date. Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band, the mysterious steel pan outfit hailing from Hamburg, have amassed a cult following around the globe. With a slew of classic 7" singles and two critically acclaimed full length albums, they set a high bar for themselves, one they clearly intend on pushing even higher with this new offering. On their third album, aptly titled "Expansions", BRSB are back with more of the same, but more of the same with them is inherently different. Covering songs that span genres and range from mega hits to album cuts, they make them their own with their unique approach to the traditional steel pans of Trinidad and Tobago. By the time the album is through Bacao has taken the listener on a journey that spans a myriad of energies, tempos, and moods while somehow managing to keep it all under one umbrella.
July 30 street date. "I And I Survive" is a 1982 EP by Bad Brains, released on the heels of their iconic self-titled debut album. The four tracks come from the "Rock for Light" sessions, and were produced by Ric Ocasek. The release was previously out of print for nearly four decades. This reissue marks the third release in the remaster campaign, re-launching the Bad Brains Records label imprint. In coordination with the band, Org Music has overseen the restoration and remastering of the iconic Bad Brains' recordings. The audio was mastered by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering and pressed at Furnace Record Pressing.
Please note new street date: October 8. "Rock For Light" is the second full-length album by Bad Brains, released in 1983. It was produced by Ric Ocasek of The Cars. Org Music are proud to present the original mix of the album, for the first time in decades, as the band originally intended. Most fans will be more familiar with the 1991 reissue, which was remixed by Ocasek and bass player Darryl Jenifer. In addition to new mixes, that version used an altered track order. This reissue marks the fourth release in the remaster campaign, re-launching the Bad Brains Records label imprint. In coordination with the band, Org Music has overseen the restoration and remastering of the iconic Bad Brains' recordings. The audio was mastered by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering and pressed at Furnace Record Pressing.
Please note new street date: October 8. "Rock For Light" is the second full-length album by Bad Brains, released in 1983. It was produced by Ric Ocasek of The Cars. Org Music are proud to present the original mix of the album, for the first time in decades, as the band originally intended. Most fans will be more familiar with the 1991 reissue, which was remixed by Ocasek and bass player Darryl Jenifer. In addition to new mixes, that version used an altered track order. This reissue marks the fourth release in the remaster campaign, re-launching the Bad Brains Records label imprint. In coordination with the band, Org Music has overseen the restoration and remastering of the iconic Bad Brains' recordings. The audio was mastered by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering and pressed at Furnace Record Pressing.
Please note new street date: October 8. "Rock For Light" is the second full-length album by Bad Brains, released in 1983. It was produced by Ric Ocasek of The Cars. Org Music are proud to present the original mix of the album, for the first time in decades, as the band originally intended. Most fans will be more familiar with the 1991 reissue, which was remixed by Ocasek and bass player Darryl Jenifer. In addition to new mixes, that version used an altered track order. This reissue marks the fourth release in the remaster campaign, re-launching the Bad Brains Records label imprint. In coordination with the band, Org Music has overseen the restoration and remastering of the iconic Bad Brains' recordings. The audio was mastered by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering and pressed at Furnace Record Pressing.
Please note new street date: November 5. Yellow vinyl edition exclusively available to independent shops. "Rock For Light" is the second full-length album by Bad Brains, released in 1983. It was produced by Ric Ocasek of The Cars. Org Music are proud to present the original mix of the album, for the first time in decades, as the band originally intended. Most fans will be more familiar with the 1991 reissue, which was remixed by Ocasek and bass player Darryl Jenifer. In addition to new mixes, that version used an altered track order. This reissue marks the fourth release in the remaster campaign, re-launching the Bad Brains Records label imprint. In coordination with the band, Org Music has overseen the restoration and remastering of the iconic Bad Brains' recordings. The audio was mastered by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering and pressed at Furnace Record Pressing. Limited to 1000 copies.
February 18 street date. "Quickness" is the fourth full-length studio album by Bad Brains, originally released by Caroline Records in 1989. At the time of its release, it was the band's best selling album and also landed them a featured MTV music video for the opening track, "Soul Craft". This reissue marks the fifth release in the Bad Brains remaster campaign, re-launching the Bad Brains Records label imprint. In coordination with the band, Org Music has overseen the restoration and remastering of the iconic Bad Brains' recordings. The audio was mastered by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering and pressed at Furnace Record Pressing. Available on LP, CD, and cassette.
February 18 street date. "Quickness" is the fourth full-length studio album by Bad Brains, originally released by Caroline Records in 1989. At the time of its release, it was the band's best selling album and also landed them a featured MTV music video for the opening track, "Soul Craft". This reissue marks the fifth release in the Bad Brains remaster campaign, re-launching the Bad Brains Records label imprint. In coordination with the band, Org Music has overseen the restoration and remastering of the iconic Bad Brains' recordings. The audio was mastered by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering and pressed at Furnace Record Pressing. Available on LP, CD, and cassette.
February 18 street date. "Quickness" is the fourth full-length studio album by Bad Brains, originally released by Caroline Records in 1989. At the time of its release, it was the band's best selling album and also landed them a featured MTV music video for the opening track, "Soul Craft". This reissue marks the fifth release in the Bad Brains remaster campaign, re-launching the Bad Brains Records label imprint. In coordination with the band, Org Music has overseen the restoration and remastering of the iconic Bad Brains' recordings. The audio was mastered by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering and pressed at Furnace Record Pressing. Available on LP, CD, and cassette.
Please note new street date: June 11. "Bad Brains" is the self-titled debut studio album recorded by American hardcore punk/reggae band Bad Brains. Recorded in 1981 and released on (then) cassette-only label ROIR on February 5, 1982, many fans refer to it as "The Yellow Tape" because of its yellow packaging. Though Bad Brains had recorded the 16 song "Black Dots" album in 1979 and the 5-song "Omega Sessions" EP in 1980, the ROIR cassette was the band's first release of anything longer than a single. This reissue marks the second release in the remaster campaign, re-launching the Bad Brains Records label imprint. In coordination with the band, Org Music has overseen the restoration and remastering of the iconic Bad Brains' recordings. The audio was mastered by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering and pressed at Furnace Record Pressing.
Please note new street date: June 11. "Bad Brains" is the self-titled debut studio album recorded by American hardcore punk/reggae band Bad Brains. Recorded in 1981 and released on (then) cassette-only label ROIR on February 5, 1982, many fans refer to it as "The Yellow Tape" because of its yellow packaging. Though Bad Brains had recorded the 16 song "Black Dots" album in 1979 and the 5-song "Omega Sessions" EP in 1980, the ROIR cassette was the band's first release of anything longer than a single. This reissue marks the second release in the remaster campaign, re-launching the Bad Brains Records label imprint. In coordination with the band, Org Music has overseen the restoration and remastering of the iconic Bad Brains' recordings. The audio was mastered by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering and pressed at Furnace Record Pressing.
Please note new street date: June 11. "Bad Brains" is the self-titled debut studio album recorded by American hardcore punk/reggae band Bad Brains. Recorded in 1981 and released on (then) cassette-only label ROIR on February 5, 1982, many fans refer to it as "The Yellow Tape" because of its yellow packaging. Though Bad Brains had recorded the 16 song "Black Dots" album in 1979 and the 5-song "Omega Sessions" EP in 1980, the ROIR cassette was the band's first release of anything longer than a single. This reissue marks the second release in the remaster campaign, re-launching the Bad Brains Records label imprint. In coordination with the band, Org Music has overseen the restoration and remastering of the iconic Bad Brains' recordings. The audio was mastered by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering and pressed at Furnace Record Pressing.
November 4 street date. The first ever vinyl reissue of Bad Brains' 1993 album "Rise". Originally released by Epic Records, "Rise" was Bad Brains' major label debut, and their follow-up to 1989's "Quickness".
January 20 street date. "The Youth Are Getting Restless" is a live album from Bad Brains, recorded at the Paradiso Theater in Amsterdam in 1987 by the VPRO. The show was part of the band's "I Against I" tour. This reissue marks the sixth release in the remaster campaign, re-launching the Bad Brains Records label imprint. In coordination with the band, Org Music has overseen the restoration and remastering of the iconic Bad Brains' recordings. The audio was mastered by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering and pressed at Furnace Record Pressing.
January 20 street date. "The Youth Are Getting Restless" is a live album from Bad Brains, recorded at the Paradiso Theater in Amsterdam in 1987 by the VPRO. The show was part of the band's "I Against I" tour. This reissue marks the sixth release in the remaster campaign, re-launching the Bad Brains Records label imprint. In coordination with the band, Org Music has overseen the restoration and remastering of the iconic Bad Brains' recordings. The audio was mastered by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering and pressed at Furnace Record Pressing.
January 20 street date. "The Youth Are Getting Restless" is a live album from Bad Brains, recorded at the Paradiso Theater in Amsterdam in 1987 by the VPRO. The show was part of the band's "I Against I" tour. This reissue marks the sixth release in the remaster campaign, re-launching the Bad Brains Records label imprint. In coordination with the band, Org Music has overseen the restoration and remastering of the iconic Bad Brains' recordings. The audio was mastered by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering and pressed at Furnace Record Pressing.
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.
November 11 street date. With this album a fuse was lit, leading to an explosion that spawned a new religion: Bad Religion. How Could Hell Be Any Worse?, their second record and first LP is nothing short of genius. Shattered-glass guitar riffs, fast, furious drums, and a 16 year old Greg Graffin’s voice for the ages. The coalescence of lyrical intellect and savage music make for a sound seldom (if ever) heard before. The impact of this record still resonates to this day. Classic tracks like “Fuck Armageddon... This Is Hell,” “American Dream,” and “The Voice Of God Is Government” are as crucial and socially lucid as the day they were created in a southern California garage. When the greatest punk records of all-time are discussed, How Could Hell Be Any Worse? is sure to be mentioned. Reissued on clear & black marble vinyl to celebrate the 40th anniversary!
January 28 street date. Bad Suns sound - dreamy 1980s pastiche flanked by Stratocasters through cranked Vox amps, pulsing synths, and palpable rhythmic energy - that endeared listeners to the band in the first place, and their fourth LP, "Apocalypse Whenever", uses that musical foundation as the jumping-off point for their next evolution. Conceived as "the soundtrack to a movie that doesn't yet exist", the 13-track album, helmed by longtime producer Eric Palmquist (MUTEMATH, Thrice) at his Palmquist Studios and the band's North Hollywood rehearsal spot, is more conceptually rigorous than anything they've ever attempted - but no less compelling or accessible. Their disparate influences don't just offer "Apocalypse Whenever" an expanded palette of sonic choices to color Bad Suns' airtight hooks - they help give the songs an emotional complexity that works on a multitude of levels depending on how listeners choose to receive them.
January 28 street date. Bad Suns sound - dreamy 1980s pastiche flanked by Stratocasters through cranked Vox amps, pulsing synths, and palpable rhythmic energy - that endeared listeners to the band in the first place, and their fourth LP, "Apocalypse Whenever", uses that musical foundation as the jumping-off point for their next evolution. Conceived as "the soundtrack to a movie that doesn't yet exist", the 13-track album, helmed by longtime producer Eric Palmquist (MUTEMATH, Thrice) at his Palmquist Studios and the band's North Hollywood rehearsal spot, is more conceptually rigorous than anything they've ever attempted - but no less compelling or accessible. Their disparate influences don't just offer "Apocalypse Whenever" an expanded palette of sonic choices to color Bad Suns' airtight hooks - they help give the songs an emotional complexity that works on a multitude of levels depending on how listeners choose to receive them.
January 28 street date. Bad Suns sound - dreamy 1980s pastiche flanked by Stratocasters through cranked Vox amps, pulsing synths, and palpable rhythmic energy - that endeared listeners to the band in the first place, and their fourth LP, "Apocalypse Whenever", uses that musical foundation as the jumping-off point for their next evolution. Conceived as "the soundtrack to a movie that doesn't yet exist", the 13-track album, helmed by longtime producer Eric Palmquist (MUTEMATH, Thrice) at his Palmquist Studios and the band's North Hollywood rehearsal spot, is more conceptually rigorous than anything they've ever attempted - but no less compelling or accessible. Their disparate influences don't just offer "Apocalypse Whenever" an expanded palette of sonic choices to color Bad Suns' airtight hooks - they help give the songs an emotional complexity that works on a multitude of levels depending on how listeners choose to receive them.
November 25 street date. The debut mixtape from Pro Era crew member and Brooklyn MC, Joey Bada$$. Leaning into the golden era sound of hip-hop, Joey Bada$$ garnered widespread acclaim from some of Hip-Hop's most vaunted tastemakers by crafting a project that paid homage to the 1990s, despite only being 17 years old at the time. With the standout tracks "Waves", "Survival Tactics", and "Snakes", the 15 track album features production from Chuck Strangers, Lord Finesse, MF Doom, and J Dilla, as well as guest appearances from Pro Era members Kirk Knight, CJ Fly, NYCk Caution, Rokamouth, Dessy Hinds, Dyemond Lewis, T'nah Apex, and the late Capital STEEZ. Pro Era Forever.
May 19 street date. Double vinyl LP. The hip-hop jazz trio BadBadNotGood goes all original on this album "III". While past albums have focused on covering top rap hits in a jazz style, "III" is all about original songwriting and the band's true musicality. There is a reason they went all the way up to #2 on Billboard's Jazz Chart. These Canadian jazz men do it all from all new traditional-sounding jazz to their mindblowing hip-hop beats. This album's songs "Can't Leave the Night," "Kaleidescope" and "Triangle" are real crowd pleasers that showcase this album's incredible range. This is their original 2014 release on vinyl.
February 12 street date. Bailter Space's "Wammo" is back in print for the first time since the album's release 25 years ago. The LP is pressed onto limited transparent orange vinyl and features newly remastered audio from the original session reels. Formed in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1987 as Nelsh Bailter Space, the band's musical family tree touches on some of the nation's most revered weirdo luminaries - including Flying Nun mainstays like the Skeptics, the Clean, and the Gordons. Bailter Space embraced chaos, but celebrated precision, finding melody amid networks of brooding noise and feedback. After relocating to New York City, the band - who by then included Alister Parker, John Halvorsen, and Brent McLachlan - arrived on Matador in time for the US release of "Robot World" (1993). "Wammo" was the trio's third and final full-length with the label (their fifth album overall) and was among its most tuneful efforts (relatively speaking!). At the time, music scribes were a bit puzzled by the record's "accessibility". In the rear view, though, we can recognize "Wammo" for the perfectly melancholy and drone-laced brain-zap that it is.
February 26 street date. Julien Baker will release her third studio album, "Little Oblivions", on February 26 via Matador Records. Her first full length since 2017's "Turn Out The Lights", "Little Oblivions" was recorded in Memphis, TN between December 2019 and January 2020. The record weaves together unflinching autobiography with assimilated experience and hard won observations from the past few years, taking Baker's capacity for storytelling to new heights. It also marks a sonic shift, with the songwriter's intimate piano and guitar arrangements newly enriched by bass, drums, keyboards, banjo, and mandolin with nearly all of the instruments performed by Baker.
February 26 street date. Julien Baker will release her third studio album, "Little Oblivions", on February 26 via Matador Records. Her first full length since 2017's "Turn Out The Lights", "Little Oblivions" was recorded in Memphis, TN between December 2019 and January 2020. The record weaves together unflinching autobiography with assimilated experience and hard won observations from the past few years, taking Baker's capacity for storytelling to new heights. It also marks a sonic shift, with the songwriter's intimate piano and guitar arrangements newly enriched by bass, drums, keyboards, banjo, and mandolin with nearly all of the instruments performed by Baker. Please note: limited edition yellow vinyl is now sold out.
August 13 street date. "Refuge" is a meditation collaboration from Devendra Banhart and Noah Georgeson. Last spring, Devendra Banhart and Noah Georgeson started to make a record that was like nothing they had made before - an ambient album that would be both a haven from a suddenly terrified world and a heartfelt musical dialogue between two artists who have been friends and collaborators for over two decades. Noah, whose production and mixing credits include Joanna Newsom and the Strokes, came on board as co-producer of Devendra's 2005 album "Cripple Crow" and they have been working together ever since. As Devendra and Noah got to know each other, they realised that they had a similar history in the New Age subculture of the 1980s: a world of meditation, Eastern music, the Bhagavad Gita and The Whole Earth Catalog. "Refuge" is an album of profound meditative beauty which offers the listener a much-needed sense of peace and renewal.
August 13 street date. "Refuge" is a meditation collaboration from Devendra Banhart and Noah Georgeson. Last spring, Devendra Banhart and Noah Georgeson started to make a record that was like nothing they had made before - an ambient album that would be both a haven from a suddenly terrified world and a heartfelt musical dialogue between two artists who have been friends and collaborators for over two decades. Noah, whose production and mixing credits include Joanna Newsom and the Strokes, came on board as co-producer of Devendra's 2005 album "Cripple Crow" and they have been working together ever since. As Devendra and Noah got to know each other, they realised that they had a similar history in the New Age subculture of the 1980s: a world of meditation, Eastern music, the Bhagavad Gita and The Whole Earth Catalog. "Refuge" is an album of profound meditative beauty which offers the listener a much-needed sense of peace and renewal.
August 13 street date. "Refuge" is a meditation collaboration from Devendra Banhart and Noah Georgeson. Last spring, Devendra Banhart and Noah Georgeson started to make a record that was like nothing they had made before - an ambient album that would be both a haven from a suddenly terrified world and a heartfelt musical dialogue between two artists who have been friends and collaborators for over two decades. Noah, whose production and mixing credits include Joanna Newsom and the Strokes, came on board as co-producer of Devendra's 2005 album "Cripple Crow" and they have been working together ever since. As Devendra and Noah got to know each other, they realised that they had a similar history in the New Age subculture of the 1980s: a world of meditation, Eastern music, the Bhagavad Gita and The Whole Earth Catalog. "Refuge" is an album of profound meditative beauty which offers the listener a much-needed sense of peace and renewal.
September 8 street date (LP) / (CD available now). bar italia, the London trio of Nina Cristante, Jezmi Tarik Fehmi, and Sam Fenton, present their new album, "Tracey Denim". Its 15 tracks were self-recorded and produced, with mixing from Marta Salogni (Bjork, Sampha), and features the single "Nurse!" which was released in March to acclaim, described as "a hypnotic post-punk ballad" (The Guardian) and "narcotically arresting" (Pitchfork). Over the last two years bar italia have released two albums, an EP, and several singles on Dean Blunt's World Music label, leading to much word-of-mouth, sold out headline shows, and festival performances. "Tracey Denim" is their Matador Records debut.
September 8 street date (LP) / (CD available now). bar italia, the London trio of Nina Cristante, Jezmi Tarik Fehmi, and Sam Fenton, present their new album, "Tracey Denim". Its 15 tracks were self-recorded and produced, with mixing from Marta Salogni (Bjork, Sampha), and features the single "Nurse!" which was released in March to acclaim, described as "a hypnotic post-punk ballad" (The Guardian) and "narcotically arresting" (Pitchfork). Over the last two years bar italia have released two albums, an EP, and several singles on Dean Blunt's World Music label, leading to much word-of-mouth, sold out headline shows, and festival performances. "Tracey Denim" is their Matador Records debut.
Please note new street date: December 10. 25th anniversary edition of Bardo Pond's long out-of-print second album and label debut, "Amanita" - newly remastered 2xLP reissue limited to 100 copies for Canada on purple vinyl. Formed in 1991, the Philadelphia-based quintet have spent some thirty years mapping guitar music's outer limits dialing into extremes of noise, chaos, and harmony in free-form compositions that now unfurl across 12 full-length records and a near-limitless body of EPs, cassettes, and CD-Rs. Recorded by the lineup of John Gibbons (guitar), Michael Gibbons (guitar), Isobel Sollenberger (voice, flute), Clint Takeda (bass), and Joe Culver (drums), "Amanita" is the place where the band's spontaneous collective creativity blazed into maturity. Even within the heady subcultural micro-verse of 90s underground zoner-music, the Fishtown-basement-dwelling quintet's vision of "psychedelia" was singular in its heaviness.
May 28 street date. After decades on the road and the never-ending hustle of life as an artist, Lou Barlow has tapped into a new confidence in the chaos. On his new solo album, "Reason To Live", he has come to an understanding of that swirl rather than trying to contain it. As a long-time indie legend, Barlow has found a life akin to a middle-class musician. And yet rather than settle into a comfortable malaise or yearn for the open road, Barlow's strengthened urgency finds a way to merge the two instincts. "Reason To Live" is shambolic and grand yet intimate and doting, warmly acoustic and crackling with grit. By folding the many facets of his life into one package, "Reason To Live" radiates with a renewed balance and calm.
May 28 street date. After decades on the road and the never-ending hustle of life as an artist, Lou Barlow has tapped into a new confidence in the chaos. On his new solo album, "Reason To Live", he has come to an understanding of that swirl rather than trying to contain it. As a long-time indie legend, Barlow has found a life akin to a middle-class musician. And yet rather than settle into a comfortable malaise or yearn for the open road, Barlow's strengthened urgency finds a way to merge the two instincts. "Reason To Live" is shambolic and grand yet intimate and doting, warmly acoustic and crackling with grit. By folding the many facets of his life into one package, "Reason To Live" radiates with a renewed balance and calm.
May 28 street date. After decades on the road and the never-ending hustle of life as an artist, Lou Barlow has tapped into a new confidence in the chaos. On his new solo album, "Reason To Live", he has come to an understanding of that swirl rather than trying to contain it. As a long-time indie legend, Barlow has found a life akin to a middle-class musician. And yet rather than settle into a comfortable malaise or yearn for the open road, Barlow's strengthened urgency finds a way to merge the two instincts. "Reason To Live" is shambolic and grand yet intimate and doting, warmly acoustic and crackling with grit. By folding the many facets of his life into one package, "Reason To Live" radiates with a renewed balance and calm.
Please note new street date: March 18. "Don't Go Throwing Roses In My Grave" is the first solo record by beloved frontman of The Menzingers, Gregor Barnett. Devoted Menzingers fans will love its electrified Americana riffs, yearning melodies, driving beats and indelible lyrical imagery. The Philadelphia based singer/songwriter is telling his stories with a folkier style then he does in The Menzingers, but his stories are just as moving and compelling.
Please note new street date: March 18. "Don't Go Throwing Roses In My Grave" is the first solo record by beloved frontman of The Menzingers, Gregor Barnett. Devoted Menzingers fans will love its electrified Americana riffs, yearning melodies, driving beats and indelible lyrical imagery. The Philadelphia based singer/songwriter is telling his stories with a folkier style then he does in The Menzingers, but his stories are just as moving and compelling.
Please note new street date: March 18. "Don't Go Throwing Roses In My Grave" is the first solo record by beloved frontman of The Menzingers, Gregor Barnett. Devoted Menzingers fans will love its electrified Americana riffs, yearning melodies, driving beats and indelible lyrical imagery. The Philadelphia based singer/songwriter is telling his stories with a folkier style then he does in The Menzingers, but his stories are just as moving and compelling.
January 21 street date. For more than 20 years, Brad Barr has been counting the number 216. It's a magical, mystical number that has appeared everywhere for him - from clocks and license plates to Ouija boards and receipts - and now it's also sewn the fabric of a new album, like the 216 stitches on an officially-certified Major League baseball. The front man for the Barr Brothers has set aside his band and his microphone and even his sheets of lyrics - picking up his instrument for a solo guitar album that ripples with immediacy, vulnerability, and the spell of six-cubed. The album had its origins in a commission, landing just before the arrival of the Pandemic: an invitation to compose for New York City's acclaimed off-Broadway All For One Theater. The theatre's founder, Michael Wolk, knew "The Fall Apartment" and sought a set of similar instrumental tracks for on- and off-stage use. "It felt like a gift," Barr recalls - as the world shut down and touring stopped, as Barr sought a sound he could explore all by himself, in this strange intermission.
LP and CD in stock now. 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
Please note new street date: January 13. "Remedy" is Basement Jaxx's joyous debut album from 1999. It was one of the most assured, propulsive full-lengths the dance world had seen since Daft Punk's "Homework". A set of incredibly diverse tracks, "Remedy" is indebted to the raw American house of Todd Terry and Masters at Work, and even shares a penchant for Latin vibes (especially on the horn-driven "Bingo Bango" and the opener, "Rendez-Vu", which trades a bit of salsa wiggle with infectious vocoderized disco). The double LP "Remedy" reissue arrives on golden vinyl.
Please note new street date: January 13. Named after their infamous Brixton club night, Basement Jaxx's second album "Rooty" saw the duo continue to push the boundaries of pop and club music. The album mixes classic house with generous lashings of punk, funk, R&B, jazz, hip hop, 2-step and pop songcraft in a mad genre crash that works like a charm. It features the massive tracks "Where's Your Head At", "Romeo" and "Do Your Thing". The "Rooty" double LP reissue arrives with 2 uniquely coloured LP's, 1 disc pressed on pink vinyl and the other on bright blue.
September 22 street date. "The most consistently entrancing record of Basement Jaxx's career" (Pitchfork - Best New Music - 9.1/10). XL Recordings present a limited edition red & white vinyl reissue of the third Basement Jaxx album, "Kish Kash". The record features an array of stellar guest vocalists, including punk icon Siouxsie Sioux on the title track, London grime superstar Dizzee Rascal on "Lucky Star", the mighty pipes of rock 'n' soul diva Lisa Kekaula (of The Bellrays) on "Good Luck", and rounds off with the mellow tones of Meshell Ndegeocello. Originally released in 2004, "Kish Kash" subsequently won the inaugural Grammy award for "Best Dance/Electronic Album" and was nominated for the UK's prestigious Mercury Prize.
November 13 street date. William Basinski's reputation as the foremost producer of profound meditations on death and decay has long been established, but on his new album, "Lamentations", he transforms operatic tragedy into abyssal beauty. More than any other work since "The Disintegration Loops", there is an ominous grief throughout the album, and that sense of loss lingers like an emotional vapor. Captured and constructed from tape loops and studies from Basinski's archives - dating back to 1979 - "Lamentations" is over forty years of mournful sighs meticulously crafted into songs. They are shaped by the inevitable passage of time and the indisputable collapsing of space - and their collective resonance is infinite and eternal.
December 9 street date. Reissued on standard black vinyl (the first US Beggars Banquet pressing), 1982's "The Sky's Gone Out" marked a stylistic midpoint in Bauhaus' brief but spectacular career. In comparison with their earlier almost impenetrably convoluted literary references and effectively murky production, this album is lyrically more direct, musically more straightforward, and features vastly cleaner production. The first of these changes is exemplified in the album's second track, "Silent Hedges", with its "going to hell again" chorus and in the bitter "all we ever wanted was everything, all we ever got was cold". The music of "The Sky's Gone Out" is less harsh - almost inviting the listener in before the slicing lyrics drop like poised blades. More fragmented in origin that it might appear on first glance, these songs show Bauhaus in excelsis. Mastered from HD audio files transferred from the original tapes.
August 29 RECORD STORE DAY DROP. 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
November 19 street date. Inspired by a love of artists such as Bill Evans, Lester Young, Chet Baker and Vince Guaraldi, Dustin Payseur reimagines some of his greatest hits from the Beach Fossils catalog alongside a group of formally trained jazz musicians. A rich and mellow mix of piano, saxophone, upright bass and brushed drums explore the contours of familiar songs, soaring Payseur's melancholic harmonies to new heights.
November 19 street date. Inspired by a love of artists such as Bill Evans, Lester Young, Chet Baker and Vince Guaraldi, Dustin Payseur reimagines some of his greatest hits from the Beach Fossils catalog alongside a group of formally trained jazz musicians. A rich and mellow mix of piano, saxophone, upright bass and brushed drums explore the contours of familiar songs, soaring Payseur's melancholic harmonies to new heights.
Please note new street date: January 14. Inspired by a love of artists such as Bill Evans, Lester Young, Chet Baker and Vince Guaraldi, Dustin Payseur reimagines some of his greatest hits from the Beach Fossils catalog alongside a group of formally trained jazz musicians. A rich and mellow mix of piano, saxophone, upright bass and brushed drums explore the contours of familiar songs, soaring Payseur's melancholic harmonies to new heights.
June 2 street date. Brooklyn bedroom-pop trailblazers Beach Fossils new album "Bunny" is a triumphant return for one of the 2010s most influential NYC bands. "Bunny" is a precise blend of the luscious dream-pop atmospheres they notoriously honed on their earliest projects, the post-punk vigor expressed on "The Truth", and the warm, sophisticated songwriting of "Somersault". Composer Dustin Payseur peppers the album equally with descriptions of the joy of fatherhood and the existential pleasure of smoking cigarettes out of a car window with friends - "Bunny" features Beach Fossils' most personal lyrics to-date. This is a collection of new favourite tracks for fans of every era of Beach Fossils. Releasing on Payseur and his partner Katie Garcia's own label, Bayonet Records, "Bunny" will prove to be the culmination of a decade's worth of growth and experience.
June 2 street date. Brooklyn bedroom-pop trailblazers Beach Fossils new album "Bunny" is a triumphant return for one of the 2010s most influential NYC bands. "Bunny" is a precise blend of the luscious dream-pop atmospheres they notoriously honed on their earliest projects, the post-punk vigor expressed on "The Truth", and the warm, sophisticated songwriting of "Somersault". Composer Dustin Payseur peppers the album equally with descriptions of the joy of fatherhood and the existential pleasure of smoking cigarettes out of a car window with friends - "Bunny" features Beach Fossils' most personal lyrics to-date. This is a collection of new favourite tracks for fans of every era of Beach Fossils. Releasing on Payseur and his partner Katie Garcia's own label, Bayonet Records, "Bunny" will prove to be the culmination of a decade's worth of growth and experience.
June 2 street date. Brooklyn bedroom-pop trailblazers Beach Fossils new album "Bunny" is a triumphant return for one of the 2010s most influential NYC bands. "Bunny" is a precise blend of the luscious dream-pop atmospheres they notoriously honed on their earliest projects, the post-punk vigor expressed on "The Truth", and the warm, sophisticated songwriting of "Somersault". Composer Dustin Payseur peppers the album equally with descriptions of the joy of fatherhood and the existential pleasure of smoking cigarettes out of a car window with friends - "Bunny" features Beach Fossils' most personal lyrics to-date. This is a collection of new favourite tracks for fans of every era of Beach Fossils. Releasing on Payseur and his partner Katie Garcia's own label, Bayonet Records, "Bunny" will prove to be the culmination of a decade's worth of growth and experience.
April 22 street date. RECORD STORE DAY 2023 release. The "Become" EP is a collection of 5 songs from the "Once Twice Melody" sessions. Beach House didn't think they fit in the world of "OTM", but later realized they all fit in a little world of their own. To the band, they are all kind of scuzzy and spacious, and live in the spirit realm. It's not really where they are currently going, but it's definitely somewhere they have been. Clear vinyl edition, only available at participating Record Store Day 2023 stores.
May 19 street date. Previously available as a clear vinyl edition for Record Store Day 2023 (copies still available). The "Become" EP is a collection of 5 songs from the "Once Twice Melody" sessions. Beach House didn't think they fit in the world of "OTM", but later realized they all fit in a little world of their own. To the band, they are all kind of scuzzy and spacious, and live in the spirit realm. It's not really where they are currently going, but it's definitely somewhere they have been.
May 19 street date. Previously available as a clear vinyl edition for Record Store Day 2023 (copies still available). The "Become" EP is a collection of 5 songs from the "Once Twice Melody" sessions. Beach House didn't think they fit in the world of "OTM", but later realized they all fit in a little world of their own. To the band, they are all kind of scuzzy and spacious, and live in the spirit realm. It's not really where they are currently going, but it's definitely somewhere they have been.
May 19 street date. Previously available as a clear vinyl edition for Record Store Day 2023 (copies still available). The "Become" EP is a collection of 5 songs from the "Once Twice Melody" sessions. Beach House didn't think they fit in the world of "OTM", but later realized they all fit in a little world of their own. To the band, they are all kind of scuzzy and spacious, and live in the spirit realm. It's not really where they are currently going, but it's definitely somewhere they have been.
February 18 street date. Black vinyl "silver edition" packaged in wide-spine jacket with poster and custom dust sleeves. First new album since 2018 from the standard-bearers of modern atmospheric indie-pop. "Once Twice Melody" is the 8th studio album by Beach House. It is a double album, featuring 18 songs presented in 4 chapters. Across these songs, many types of style and song structures can be heard. Songs without drums, songs centered around acoustic guitar, mostly electronic songs with no guitar, wandering and repetitive melodies, songs built around the string sections. In addition to new sounds, many of the drum machines, organs, keyboards and tones that listeners may associate with previous Beach House records remain present throughout many of the compositions. Beach House's audience has tripled recently due to massive online exposure: "Space Song" (from 2015's "Depression Cherry") was in two separate TikTok memes, while "Silver Soul" (from 2010's "Teen Dream") was sampled by Kendrick Lamar and subsequently got tons of exposure on TikTok.
February 18 street date. Black vinyl "silver edition" packaged in wide-spine jacket with poster and custom dust sleeves. First new album since 2018 from the standard-bearers of modern atmospheric indie-pop. "Once Twice Melody" is the 8th studio album by Beach House. It is a double album, featuring 18 songs presented in 4 chapters. Across these songs, many types of style and song structures can be heard. Songs without drums, songs centered around acoustic guitar, mostly electronic songs with no guitar, wandering and repetitive melodies, songs built around the string sections. In addition to new sounds, many of the drum machines, organs, keyboards and tones that listeners may associate with previous Beach House records remain present throughout many of the compositions. Beach House's audience has tripled recently due to massive online exposure: "Space Song" (from 2015's "Depression Cherry") was in two separate TikTok memes, while "Silver Soul" (from 2010's "Teen Dream") was sampled by Kendrick Lamar and subsequently got tons of exposure on TikTok.
February 18 street date. Black vinyl "silver edition" packaged in wide-spine jacket with poster and custom dust sleeves. First new album since 2018 from the standard-bearers of modern atmospheric indie-pop. "Once Twice Melody" is the 8th studio album by Beach House. It is a double album, featuring 18 songs presented in 4 chapters. Across these songs, many types of style and song structures can be heard. Songs without drums, songs centered around acoustic guitar, mostly electronic songs with no guitar, wandering and repetitive melodies, songs built around the string sections. In addition to new sounds, many of the drum machines, organs, keyboards and tones that listeners may associate with previous Beach House records remain present throughout many of the compositions. Beach House's audience has tripled recently due to massive online exposure: "Space Song" (from 2015's "Depression Cherry") was in two separate TikTok memes, while "Silver Soul" (from 2010's "Teen Dream") was sampled by Kendrick Lamar and subsequently got tons of exposure on TikTok.
February 18 street date. "Gold edition". Gold and clear vinyl LPs in separate jackets with custom dust sleeves, two posters, and book, all enclosed in a hinged box. First new album since 2018 from the standard-bearers of modern atmospheric indie-pop. "Once Twice Melody" is the 8th studio album by Beach House. It is a double album, featuring 18 songs presented in 4 chapters. Across these songs, many types of style and song structures can be heard. Songs without drums, songs centered around acoustic guitar, mostly electronic songs with no guitar, wandering and repetitive melodies, songs built around the string sections. In addition to new sounds, many of the drum machines, organs, keyboards and tones that listeners may associate with previous Beach House records remain present throughout many of the compositions. Beach House's audience has tripled recently due to massive online exposure: "Space Song" (from 2015's "Depression Cherry") was in two separate TikTok memes, while "Silver Soul" (from 2010's "Teen Dream") was sampled by Kendrick Lamar and subsequently got tons of exposure on TikTok.
July 29 street date. Against the backdrop of Asbury Park, NJ rock and punk history comes Beach Rats. With a membership that includes four impossible-to-avoid New Jersey punk stalwarts including Brian Baker (Minor Threat, Dag Nasty, Bad Religion), Ari Katz (Lifetime), Bryan Kienlen and Pete Steinkopf (The Bouncing Souls) and rounded out by Danny Windas, akd "Dubs" on drums. Beach Rats play a brand of hardcore/punk that stays true to their members' roots while creating something completely fresh and urgent. "It's a mix of the Jersey Shore thing and a bunch of guys that can endlessly create 80s hardcore riffs because we were there", states Bryan Kienlan. "You're gonna get authentic punk and hardcore from Beach Rats because we are all from the 80s. It's literally taking it back to some of our biggest influences like Negative Approach and Poison Idea, And of course, Minor Threat".
July 29 street date. Against the backdrop of Asbury Park, NJ rock and punk history comes Beach Rats. With a membership that includes four impossible-to-avoid New Jersey punk stalwarts including Brian Baker (Minor Threat, Dag Nasty, Bad Religion), Ari Katz (Lifetime), Bryan Kienlen and Pete Steinkopf (The Bouncing Souls) and rounded out by Danny Windas, akd "Dubs" on drums. Beach Rats play a brand of hardcore/punk that stays true to their members' roots while creating something completely fresh and urgent. "It's a mix of the Jersey Shore thing and a bunch of guys that can endlessly create 80s hardcore riffs because we were there", states Bryan Kienlan. "You're gonna get authentic punk and hardcore from Beach Rats because we are all from the 80s. It's literally taking it back to some of our biggest influences like Negative Approach and Poison Idea, And of course, Minor Threat".
July 29 street date. Against the backdrop of Asbury Park, NJ rock and punk history comes Beach Rats. With a membership that includes four impossible-to-avoid New Jersey punk stalwarts including Brian Baker (Minor Threat, Dag Nasty, Bad Religion), Ari Katz (Lifetime), Bryan Kienlen and Pete Steinkopf (The Bouncing Souls) and rounded out by Danny Windas, akd "Dubs" on drums. Beach Rats play a brand of hardcore/punk that stays true to their members' roots while creating something completely fresh and urgent. "It's a mix of the Jersey Shore thing and a bunch of guys that can endlessly create 80s hardcore riffs because we were there", states Bryan Kienlan. "You're gonna get authentic punk and hardcore from Beach Rats because we are all from the 80s. It's literally taking it back to some of our biggest influences like Negative Approach and Poison Idea, And of course, Minor Threat".
Please note new street date: April 1. "Artifacts" began humbly as a means of compiling a few early Beirut EPs for a proper physical release. However, as Zach Condon explains in the album's excellent liner notes, reconnecting with old recordings through fresh ears turned a simple reissue project into something much more expansive. "When the decision came to re-release this collection, I found myself digging through hard drives looking for something extra to add to the compilation. What started as a few extra unreleased tracks from my formative recording years quickly grew into an entire extra records-worth of music from my past, and a larger project of remixing and remastering everything I found for good measure". "Artifacts" is a phylogenetic tree. A double LP's worth of music that traces the evolution of Beirut from a 14-year old Condon's first attempts at bringing the music he heard in his mind to life, to the fully formed Beirut we know today.
Please note new street date: April 1. "Artifacts" began humbly as a means of compiling a few early Beirut EPs for a proper physical release. However, as Zach Condon explains in the album's excellent liner notes, reconnecting with old recordings through fresh ears turned a simple reissue project into something much more expansive. "When the decision came to re-release this collection, I found myself digging through hard drives looking for something extra to add to the compilation. What started as a few extra unreleased tracks from my formative recording years quickly grew into an entire extra records-worth of music from my past, and a larger project of remixing and remastering everything I found for good measure". "Artifacts" is a phylogenetic tree. A double LP's worth of music that traces the evolution of Beirut from a 14-year old Condon's first attempts at bringing the music he heard in his mind to life, to the fully formed Beirut we know today.
October 14 street date. Daniel Bélanger signe "Mercure en mai", un album qui célèbre la complicité humaine et les joies inattendues. Par une froide matinée de février 2021, au coeur de la énième vague pandémique, Daniel Bélanger déambulait sur une rue du quartier Mile-Ex. Les mains au fond des poches, la tête dans les épaules, il était perplexe devant les mille et une conséquences de l'urgence sanitaire et en particulier devant l'impossibilité de s'asseoir au chaud dans un café, comme il aime tant le faire. Après un arrêt à un comptoir où il a ses habitudes, où il venait de commander un latte pour emporter, il a reconnu quelqu'un parmi un petit groupe de badauds agglutinés autour d'un banc public. Salutations, présentation aux uns et aux autres, début de discussion: Daniel Bélanger ne le savait pas encore, mais il venait de se faire de véritables amis, avec qui, à coup d'échanges autour d'un gobelet fumant, il a traversé les semaines de confinement qui s'amorçaient. On pourrait dire que chacun des dix titres de "Mercure en mai" provient d'un tel hasard, comme un fruit de l'inattendu. Des mots attentifs aux étonnements, au soudain, à ces «petites Californies» qui dorment au fond de nous; des musiques naviguant entre le minimal et le luxuriant, avec motifs en boomerangs et passages secrets: tout ici raconte l’impromptu, ce qui échappe aux agendas et à la raison.
October 14 street date. Daniel Bélanger signe "Mercure en mai", un album qui célèbre la complicité humaine et les joies inattendues. Par une froide matinée de février 2021, au coeur de la énième vague pandémique, Daniel Bélanger déambulait sur une rue du quartier Mile-Ex. Les mains au fond des poches, la tête dans les épaules, il était perplexe devant les mille et une conséquences de l'urgence sanitaire et en particulier devant l'impossibilité de s'asseoir au chaud dans un café, comme il aime tant le faire. Après un arrêt à un comptoir où il a ses habitudes, où il venait de commander un latte pour emporter, il a reconnu quelqu'un parmi un petit groupe de badauds agglutinés autour d'un banc public. Salutations, présentation aux uns et aux autres, début de discussion: Daniel Bélanger ne le savait pas encore, mais il venait de se faire de véritables amis, avec qui, à coup d'échanges autour d'un gobelet fumant, il a traversé les semaines de confinement qui s'amorçaient. On pourrait dire que chacun des dix titres de "Mercure en mai" provient d'un tel hasard, comme un fruit de l'inattendu. Des mots attentifs aux étonnements, au soudain, à ces «petites Californies» qui dorment au fond de nous; des musiques naviguant entre le minimal et le luxuriant, avec motifs en boomerangs et passages secrets: tout ici raconte l’impromptu, ce qui échappe aux agendas et à la raison.
June 9 street date. “Future’s Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate”, the most anticipated death/funeral doom metal release of 2023, is the long-awaited BELL WITCH follow-up to 2017’s landmark “Mirror Reaper” LP. With “Mirror Reaper”, BELL WITCH set a landmark within doom metal (within the death/funeral doom corner of the genre) and with “The Clandestine Gate”, BELL WITCH have gone even more into the beyond with their new LP with another new milestone that will set new standards once again within the genre, their most triumphant achievement yet. “The Clandestine Gate” is the first in a three part movement called “Future’s Shadow” and presents itself in the same format as “Mirror Reaper”; a single 86-minute all encompassing, masterful overpowering track making BELL WITCH the most singular artist within the genre of doom metal. With “The Clandestine Gate” being BELL WITCH’s most towering album to date, this will also align itself for fans of similar artists within death/funeral doom metal such as Evoken, Mournful Congregation, Skepticism, Shape Of Despair, Thergothon and Esoteric.
June 9 street date. “Future’s Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate”, the most anticipated death/funeral doom metal release of 2023, is the long-awaited BELL WITCH follow-up to 2017’s landmark “Mirror Reaper” LP. With “Mirror Reaper”, BELL WITCH set a landmark within doom metal (within the death/funeral doom corner of the genre) and with “The Clandestine Gate”, BELL WITCH have gone even more into the beyond with their new LP with another new milestone that will set new standards once again within the genre, their most triumphant achievement yet. “The Clandestine Gate” is the first in a three part movement called “Future’s Shadow” and presents itself in the same format as “Mirror Reaper”; a single 86-minute all encompassing, masterful overpowering track making BELL WITCH the most singular artist within the genre of doom metal. With “The Clandestine Gate” being BELL WITCH’s most towering album to date, this will also align itself for fans of similar artists within death/funeral doom metal such as Evoken, Mournful Congregation, Skepticism, Shape Of Despair, Thergothon and Esoteric.
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.
December 11 street date. "What To Look For In Summer" is a live double album gathering choice selections from Belle And Sebastian's 2019 world tour. Neither a retrospective nor a back-door greatest-hits, "What To Look For In Summer" is the sound of a band that's always moving forward, a picture of Belle and Sebastian in 2019 that gives equal weight to early days ("My Wandering Days Are Over", "Seeing Other People") and recent years.
December 11 street date. "What To Look For In Summer" is a live double album gathering choice selections from Belle And Sebastian's 2019 world tour. Neither a retrospective nor a back-door greatest-hits, "What To Look For In Summer" is the sound of a band that's always moving forward, a picture of Belle and Sebastian in 2019 that gives equal weight to early days ("My Wandering Days Are Over", "Seeing Other People") and recent years.
January 13 street date. Celebrated Glasgow collective Belle and Sebastian present their surprise album, "Late Developers", just announced January 9th. Recorded in tandem with the acclaimed "A Bit of Previous", the album features 12 new songs that carry on the reflective and celebratory spirit of its predecessor, while also pushing the band into the world of contemporary pop unlike ever before. It is beyond remarkable and inspiring that Belle and Sebastian, 26 years into their career, can make music that is not only immediate and effective, but two back-to-back albums that feel like they're at the top of their game. "Late Developers" arrives on standard black and limited edition orange gatefold vinyl, as well as on CD. All in stock and available to ship.
January 13 street date. Celebrated Glasgow collective Belle and Sebastian present their surprise album, "Late Developers", just announced January 9th. Recorded in tandem with the acclaimed "A Bit of Previous", the album features 12 new songs that carry on the reflective and celebratory spirit of its predecessor, while also pushing the band into the world of contemporary pop unlike ever before. It is beyond remarkable and inspiring that Belle and Sebastian, 26 years into their career, can make music that is not only immediate and effective, but two back-to-back albums that feel like they're at the top of their game. "Late Developers" arrives on standard black and limited edition orange gatefold vinyl, as well as on CD. All in stock and available to ship.
January 13 street date. Celebrated Glasgow collective Belle and Sebastian present their surprise album, "Late Developers", just announced January 9th. Recorded in tandem with the acclaimed "A Bit of Previous", the album features 12 new songs that carry on the reflective and celebratory spirit of its predecessor, while also pushing the band into the world of contemporary pop unlike ever before. It is beyond remarkable and inspiring that Belle and Sebastian, 26 years into their career, can make music that is not only immediate and effective, but two back-to-back albums that feel like they're at the top of their game. "Late Developers" arrives on standard black and limited edition orange gatefold vinyl, as well as on CD. All in stock and available to ship.
May 6 street date. "A Bit of Previous" is the ninth studio album by Belle and Sebastian and their first full-length in seven years. So what is a "A Bit of Previous"? It's a bit of everything, and a lot of what makes Belle and Sebastian so special and enduring. It's a band with humour, irreverence, lyrical exactitude and musical bravado tackling the insight, experience and responsibility that comes with getting older. It's a classic Belle and Sebastian album full of melodies that won’t leave your head, and lyrics will that make you smile, ponder and reflect. "A Bit of Previous" was self-produced and recorded by Belle and Sebastian (with contributions from Brian McNeill, Matt Wiggins, Kevin Burleigh and Shawn Everett) in their native Glasgow, and their most hands-on effort since "The Boy With The Arab Strap". The result is one the most diverse and thrilling entries in the band's catalogue. "A Bit of Previous" is Belle and Sebastian once again asserting themselves as an infallible source of energy and fun.
May 6 street date. "A Bit of Previous" is the ninth studio album by Belle and Sebastian and their first full-length in seven years. So what is a "A Bit of Previous"? It's a bit of everything, and a lot of what makes Belle and Sebastian so special and enduring. It's a band with humour, irreverence, lyrical exactitude and musical bravado tackling the insight, experience and responsibility that comes with getting older. It's a classic Belle and Sebastian album full of melodies that won’t leave your head, and lyrics will that make you smile, ponder and reflect. "A Bit of Previous" was self-produced and recorded by Belle and Sebastian (with contributions from Brian McNeill, Matt Wiggins, Kevin Burleigh and Shawn Everett) in their native Glasgow, and their most hands-on effort since "The Boy With The Arab Strap". The result is one the most diverse and thrilling entries in the band's catalogue. "A Bit of Previous" is Belle and Sebastian once again asserting themselves as an infallible source of energy and fun.
May 6 street date. "A Bit of Previous" is the ninth studio album by Belle and Sebastian and their first full-length in seven years. So what is a "A Bit of Previous"? It's a bit of everything, and a lot of what makes Belle and Sebastian so special and enduring. It's a band with humour, irreverence, lyrical exactitude and musical bravado tackling the insight, experience and responsibility that comes with getting older. It's a classic Belle and Sebastian album full of melodies that won’t leave your head, and lyrics will that make you smile, ponder and reflect. "A Bit of Previous" was self-produced and recorded by Belle and Sebastian (with contributions from Brian McNeill, Matt Wiggins, Kevin Burleigh and Shawn Everett) in their native Glasgow, and their most hands-on effort since "The Boy With The Arab Strap". The result is one the most diverse and thrilling entries in the band's catalogue. "A Bit of Previous" is Belle and Sebastian once again asserting themselves as an infallible source of energy and fun.
May 6 street date. "A Bit of Previous" is the ninth studio album by Belle and Sebastian and their first full-length in seven years. So what is a "A Bit of Previous"? It's a bit of everything, and a lot of what makes Belle and Sebastian so special and enduring. It's a band with humour, irreverence, lyrical exactitude and musical bravado tackling the insight, experience and responsibility that comes with getting older. It's a classic Belle and Sebastian album full of melodies that won’t leave your head, and lyrics will that make you smile, ponder and reflect. "A Bit of Previous" was self-produced and recorded by Belle and Sebastian (with contributions from Brian McNeill, Matt Wiggins, Kevin Burleigh and Shawn Everett) in their native Glasgow, and their most hands-on effort since "The Boy With The Arab Strap". The result is one the most diverse and thrilling entries in the band's catalogue. "A Bit of Previous" is Belle and Sebastian once again asserting themselves as an infallible source of energy and fun.
January 14 street date. Vinyl reissue of Belvedere's "The Revenge Of The Fifth", originally released in 2016 via Bird Attack Records. "The Revenge Of The Fifth" picked up where the Calgary band's previous release "Fast Forward Eats The Tape" left off. Twelve tracks of melodic punk - fast and furious. The album featured a notable progression in its songwriting. The balancing act between raising families and holding steady jobs, and touring the world for 20 years can be heard in many of the lyrics. An expression of hope is found in "The Revenge Of The Fifth" which hinges on the idea that we’re all ultimately responsible for taking care of the human race and the planet; and to stop looking to a higher power for forgiveness or answers.
December 17 street date (CD)/April 15 street date (LP). Chuck Berry, the songwriter and guitarist now known worldwide as the Father of Rock & Roll, came from humble beginnings. After an evening in 1996 spent reminiscing about his storied career with his longtime friend Joe Edwards, owner of St. Louis restaurant and venue Blueberry Hill, Berry fulfilled the dream of music lovers everywhere; he started a live residency that spanned 209 shows at the 340-person capacity club. The club became a modern-day Mecca for rock fans, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the legend perform up close and personal. "Live From Blueberry Hill" compiles some of Berry's greatest hits from this epic run of shows played alongside his fantastic band - including his son Charles Berry Jr. and daughter Ingrid Berry.
April 15 street date (LP) / CD available now. Chuck Berry, the songwriter and guitarist now known worldwide as the Father of Rock & Roll, came from humble beginnings. After an evening in 1996 spent reminiscing about his storied career with his longtime friend Joe Edwards, owner of St. Louis restaurant and venue Blueberry Hill, Berry fulfilled the dream of music lovers everywhere; he started a live residency that spanned 209 shows at the 340-person capacity club. The club became a modern-day Mecca for rock fans, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the legend perform up close and personal. "Live From Blueberry Hill" compiles some of Berry's greatest hits from this epic run of shows played alongside his fantastic band - including his son Charles Berry Jr. and daughter Ingrid Berry.
January 29 street date. "The Besnard Lakes Are The Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings" is the group's sixth album and the first on Flemish Eye. After 2016's "A Coliseum Complex Museum" - which saw Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas attempting shorter, less sprawling songs - the Besnards and their label decided it was time to go their separate ways; with that decision came a question of whether to even continue the project at all. What use is a band with an instinct for long, tectonic tunes - rock songs with chthonic heft and ethereal grace, 5 or 10 or 18 minutes long? How do you sell that in an age of bite-sized streaming? How do you make it relevant? Despite all its grandeur, "...The Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings" honours the very essence of punk rock: the notion that a band need only be relevant to itself. At last the Besnard Lakes have crafted a continuous long-form suite: nine tracks that could be listened together as one, overflowing with melody and harmony, drone and dazzle, the group's own unique weather. In late 2020, as the world burns, there might be nothing less trendy than an hour-long psych-rock epic by a band of Canadian grandmasters. Then again, there might be nothing we need more.
January 29 street date. "The Besnard Lakes Are The Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings" is the group's sixth album and the first on Flemish Eye. After 2016's "A Coliseum Complex Museum" - which saw Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas attempting shorter, less sprawling songs - the Besnards and their label decided it was time to go their separate ways; with that decision came a question of whether to even continue the project at all. What use is a band with an instinct for long, tectonic tunes - rock songs with chthonic heft and ethereal grace, 5 or 10 or 18 minutes long? How do you sell that in an age of bite-sized streaming? How do you make it relevant? Despite all its grandeur, "...The Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings" honours the very essence of punk rock: the notion that a band need only be relevant to itself. At last the Besnard Lakes have crafted a continuous long-form suite: nine tracks that could be listened together as one, overflowing with melody and harmony, drone and dazzle, the group's own unique weather. In late 2020, as the world burns, there might be nothing less trendy than an hour-long psych-rock epic by a band of Canadian grandmasters. Then again, there might be nothing we need more.
October 21 street date. After teasing out two psychedelic transmissions, The Besnard Lakes have announced a new limited edition 12" EP - "The Besnard Lakes are the Prayers for the Death of Fame". With some of the material composed during the songwriting for the band's epic 2021 double LP, this companion EP acts as a spiritual sister to that masterwork. For some, the EP format implies a shorter, perhaps less-developed idea. The Besnard Lakes embrace the medium with a triptych that sprawls languorously across 28 minutes of cosmic majesty, culminating with the empyrean ‘Silver Shadows’.
Please note new street date: July 7. Kicking off Matador's Revisionist History Series for 2023, we're celebrating the 30th anniversary of Bettie Serveert's debut album, "Palomine". Heralded in the four-star review by Rolling Stone as "untamed and free as pop gets", this 1993 classic is seeing its first pressing since its original Matador release. "Looking back on recording the "Palomie" album, we were as green as grass", say the band's Carol van Dyk and Peter Visser, "but we loved music and most of all, we loved playing our own songs". "Palomine" arrives on limited edition orange vinyl, accompanied by an orange "brain-tag" 7", which was also included with the original pressing.
Please note new street date: April 16 (LP) / April 30 (CD). Hot on the heels of five viral video singles, "Tea Party Revenge Porn", the first full album since 2014 by Jello Biafra And The Guantanamo School Of Medicine, is finally here! This is very strong stuff. Hear the inimitable Mr. B skewer the place the country has put itself in like no one else would - or could - as he and The Guantanamo School Of Medicine capture the full power of their live shows on disc as never before. Only so many artists have a track record of lyrics this good, and back it up with music as good or better. So as germs and police riots rage, there's no better primal scream therapy than a long-awaited new Jello Biafra album.
Please note new street date: April 16 (LP) / April 30 (CD). Hot on the heels of five viral video singles, "Tea Party Revenge Porn", the first full album since 2014 by Jello Biafra And The Guantanamo School Of Medicine, is finally here! This is very strong stuff. Hear the inimitable Mr. B skewer the place the country has put itself in like no one else would - or could - as he and The Guantanamo School Of Medicine capture the full power of their live shows on disc as never before. Only so many artists have a track record of lyrics this good, and back it up with music as good or better. So as germs and police riots rage, there's no better primal scream therapy than a long-awaited new Jello Biafra album.
August 27 street date. Ever since childhood, learning to play various instruments in a suburban Cincinnati basement alongside his brother Bryce, Aaron Dessner has consistently sought an emotional outlet and deep human connection through music - be it as a primary songwriter in The National, a founder and architect of beloved collaboration-driven music festivals, or collaborator on two critically acclaimed and chart-topping Taylor Swift albums recorded in complete pandemic-era isolation, among many other projects. On Big Red Machine's "How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last?," the second album from Dessner's ever-morphing project with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, many of Dessner's previous collaborators and friends show up, continuing the reciprocal exchange of ideas that has come to define his creative community. Songs feature guest vocals and writing contributions from artist friends including Fleet Foxes' Robin Pecknold, Ben Howard and This Is The Kit, Naeem, Sharon Van Etten, Lisa Hannigan, and My Brightest Diamond's Shara Nova "This is all music I generated, but it is interesting to hear how different people relate to it, or how different voices collide with it," Dessner says. "That's what makes it special. With everyone that's on this record, there's an openness, a creative generosity and an emotional quality that connects it all together".
August 27 street date. Ever since childhood, learning to play various instruments in a suburban Cincinnati basement alongside his brother Bryce, Aaron Dessner has consistently sought an emotional outlet and deep human connection through music - be it as a primary songwriter in The National, a founder and architect of beloved collaboration-driven music festivals, or collaborator on two critically acclaimed and chart-topping Taylor Swift albums recorded in complete pandemic-era isolation, among many other projects. On Big Red Machine's "How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last?," the second album from Dessner's ever-morphing project with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, many of Dessner's previous collaborators and friends show up, continuing the reciprocal exchange of ideas that has come to define his creative community. Songs feature guest vocals and writing contributions from artist friends including Fleet Foxes' Robin Pecknold, Ben Howard and This Is The Kit, Naeem, Sharon Van Etten, Lisa Hannigan, and My Brightest Diamond's Shara Nova "This is all music I generated, but it is interesting to hear how different people relate to it, or how different voices collide with it," Dessner says. "That's what makes it special. With everyone that's on this record, there's an openness, a creative generosity and an emotional quality that connects it all together".
August 27 street date. Ever since childhood, learning to play various instruments in a suburban Cincinnati basement alongside his brother Bryce, Aaron Dessner has consistently sought an emotional outlet and deep human connection through music - be it as a primary songwriter in The National, a founder and architect of beloved collaboration-driven music festivals, or collaborator on two critically acclaimed and chart-topping Taylor Swift albums recorded in complete pandemic-era isolation, among many other projects. On Big Red Machine's "How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last?," the second album from Dessner's ever-morphing project with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, many of Dessner's previous collaborators and friends show up, continuing the reciprocal exchange of ideas that has come to define his creative community. Songs feature guest vocals and writing contributions from artist friends including Fleet Foxes' Robin Pecknold, Ben Howard and This Is The Kit, Naeem, Sharon Van Etten, Lisa Hannigan, and My Brightest Diamond's Shara Nova "This is all music I generated, but it is interesting to hear how different people relate to it, or how different voices collide with it," Dessner says. "That's what makes it special. With everyone that's on this record, there's an openness, a creative generosity and an emotional quality that connects it all together".
August 27 street date. Ever since childhood, learning to play various instruments in a suburban Cincinnati basement alongside his brother Bryce, Aaron Dessner has consistently sought an emotional outlet and deep human connection through music - be it as a primary songwriter in The National, a founder and architect of beloved collaboration-driven music festivals, or collaborator on two critically acclaimed and chart-topping Taylor Swift albums recorded in complete pandemic-era isolation, among many other projects. On Big Red Machine's "How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last?," the second album from Dessner's ever-morphing project with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, many of Dessner's previous collaborators and friends show up, continuing the reciprocal exchange of ideas that has come to define his creative community. Songs feature guest vocals and writing contributions from artist friends including Fleet Foxes' Robin Pecknold, Ben Howard and This Is The Kit, Naeem, Sharon Van Etten, Lisa Hannigan, and My Brightest Diamond's Shara Nova "This is all music I generated, but it is interesting to hear how different people relate to it, or how different voices collide with it," Dessner says. "That's what makes it special. With everyone that's on this record, there's an openness, a creative generosity and an emotional quality that connects it all together".
February 11 street date. "Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You" is a sprawling double-LP exploring the deepest elements and possibilities of Big Thief. To truly dig into all that the music of Adrianne Lenker, Max Oleartchik, Buck Meek, and James Krivchenia desired in 2020, the band decided to write and record a rambling account of growth as individuals, musicians, and chosen family over 4 distinct recording sessions. They spent 5 months in creation, coming out with 45 completed songs. The most resonant of this material was edited down into the 20 tracks that make up "DNWMIBIY", a fluid and adventurous listen. All 4 of these sessions, in their varied states of fidelity, style, and mood, when viewed together as one album seem to stand for a more honest, zoomed-out picture of lived experience than would be possible on a traditional, 12 song record. This was exactly what the band hoped would be the outcome of this kind of massive experiment. The attempt to capture something deeper, wider, and full of mystery, points to the inherent spirit of Big Thief. To support the new release Big Thief will be attempting to steer the dragon in Montreal (Olympia - April 18th) and Toronto (Massey Hall - April 19th).
February 11 street date. "Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You" is a sprawling double-LP exploring the deepest elements and possibilities of Big Thief. To truly dig into all that the music of Adrianne Lenker, Max Oleartchik, Buck Meek, and James Krivchenia desired in 2020, the band decided to write and record a rambling account of growth as individuals, musicians, and chosen family over 4 distinct recording sessions. They spent 5 months in creation, coming out with 45 completed songs. The most resonant of this material was edited down into the 20 tracks that make up "DNWMIBIY", a fluid and adventurous listen. All 4 of these sessions, in their varied states of fidelity, style, and mood, when viewed together as one album seem to stand for a more honest, zoomed-out picture of lived experience than would be possible on a traditional, 12 song record. This was exactly what the band hoped would be the outcome of this kind of massive experiment. The attempt to capture something deeper, wider, and full of mystery, points to the inherent spirit of Big Thief. To support the new release Big Thief will be attempting to steer the dragon in Montreal (Olympia - April 18th) and Toronto (Massey Hall - April 19th).
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).
June 9 street date. "Rising blues star Selwyn Birchwood is the real deal. He puts his own fresh spin on the blues, taking the tradition and making it into something new" - Guitar World. Gifted songwriter, blistering guitarist and rugged vocalist Selwyn Birchwood is one of the blues' brightest young stars, playing exhilarating, visionary new roots music. A charismatic, relentless touring artist, Selwyn plays over 150 live performances a year at clubs, theatres, and festivals. Selwyn has been featured on NPR's World Café and XM/Sirius Satellite radio, and in Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, DownBeat, American Songwriter, Goldmine, Vintage Guitar, and No Depression. Produced by Grammy winner Tom Hambridge (Buddy Guy, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, Susan Tedeschi), "Exorcist" features 13 vividly detailed new Birchwood originals. It's an intoxicating mix of deep blues, heady, psychedelic-tinged rock, booty-shaking funk, and sweet Southern soul, performed with the fire-and-brimstone fervor of a revival tent preacher.
June 9 street date. "Rising blues star Selwyn Birchwood is the real deal. He puts his own fresh spin on the blues, taking the tradition and making it into something new" - Guitar World. Gifted songwriter, blistering guitarist and rugged vocalist Selwyn Birchwood is one of the blues' brightest young stars, playing exhilarating, visionary new roots music. A charismatic, relentless touring artist, Selwyn plays over 150 live performances a year at clubs, theatres, and festivals. Selwyn has been featured on NPR's World Café and XM/Sirius Satellite radio, and in Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, DownBeat, American Songwriter, Goldmine, Vintage Guitar, and No Depression. Produced by Grammy winner Tom Hambridge (Buddy Guy, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, Susan Tedeschi), "Exorcist" features 13 vividly detailed new Birchwood originals. It's an intoxicating mix of deep blues, heady, psychedelic-tinged rock, booty-shaking funk, and sweet Southern soul, performed with the fire-and-brimstone fervor of a revival tent preacher.
July 7 street date. Toronto band Birds Of Bellwoods' long-awaited sophomore album, "Everything You Want", is a triumph of harmony-drenched alt-rock anthems and deft lyrical empathy. The raucous yet radio-ready sophomore collection is a fearless ode to self-acceptance. Produced by multi-Grammy winner Dave Schiffman (Vampire Weekend, Haim, PUP), the album captures both the effervescence of the band's famously riotous live shows. It's one of those rare records that manages to be simultaneously epic and intimate, both for the masses and for your ears only. Named one of the 27 most anticipated albums by a Canadian artist for 2023 by Exclaim! magazine.
July 7 street date. Toronto band Birds Of Bellwoods' long-awaited sophomore album, "Everything You Want", is a triumph of harmony-drenched alt-rock anthems and deft lyrical empathy. The raucous yet radio-ready sophomore collection is a fearless ode to self-acceptance. Produced by multi-Grammy winner Dave Schiffman (Vampire Weekend, Haim, PUP), the album captures both the effervescence of the band's famously riotous live shows. It's one of those rare records that manages to be simultaneously epic and intimate, both for the masses and for your ears only. Named one of the 27 most anticipated albums by a Canadian artist for 2023 by Exclaim! magazine.
Available now. Nominated for 2022 Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album. Winner of Blues Music Awards for Album Of The Year and Traditional Blues Album Of The Year. Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Elvin Bishop and Grammy-winning harmonica great Charlie Musselwhite join forces for a fun and historic collaboration of front porch blues. Among the most famous bluesmen in the world, with over five decades each of recording and performing, Elvin and Charlie have scanned over 600,000 units combined, despite over two dozen of their releases coming before the advent of Soundscan.
May 20 street date. If the pandemic made you realize that you missed one thing about your connection with punk, there's a decent chance that Bishops Green had something to do with that. This band hits hard and reaches people on a very deep level. Making new fans daily, they continue to connect with scores of people very deeply, even not being able to tour. Yet the true magic in this band is really seeing them live. As the world returns to normal and gigs materialize, more and more people are gonna realize how important this band is to the social fabric of punk rock. The passion they’ve instilled in fans, and the fervor from within are both equally strong and together are the reason why this band has so much impact to deliver! This album and these songs absolutely set the tone, brilliantly, but there is so much more to come as well. Absolutely no lack of excitement in this maple-leaf-adorned corner of the punk rock world - in fact, quite the opposite! There are seemingly black skies adrift right now, but somehow these songs make you feel like there's a golden future on the horizon! We can all at least sing loud, and hope…
April 23 street date. RECORD STORE DAY release. First time on vinyl in North America for this 2001 release. 180g 2LP clear with black, smoke and emerald marble coloured vinyl. Includes download card.
November 26 street date. Everything about Black Label Society begins with the riff. A dedicated disciple of Zeppelin, Sabbath, and Deep Purple, Zakk Wylde looks to the massive guitar hooks in classics like "Whole Lotta Love," "Into the Void," and "Smoke On the Water" as guiding lights. "The main ingredient in any Black Label soup is the riff," says the larger-than-life frontman. Black Label Society builds their music on this simple truth, truth as self-evident on "Back In Black" as on the dozen songs comprising "Doom Crew Inc.", the eleventh album from the dependable stalwarts. "Doom Crew Inc." is both a tribute to the band's "first to bleed, last to leave" road crew and a salute to the legion whose support, stretching back to 1998, rivals that of the KISS Army. The Black Label Society biker-style battle vest "kutte" is as ubiquitous at hard rock and metal shows as a black t-shirt.
November 26 street date. Everything about Black Label Society begins with the riff. A dedicated disciple of Zeppelin, Sabbath, and Deep Purple, Zakk Wylde looks to the massive guitar hooks in classics like "Whole Lotta Love," "Into the Void," and "Smoke On the Water" as guiding lights. "The main ingredient in any Black Label soup is the riff," says the larger-than-life frontman. Black Label Society builds their music on this simple truth, truth as self-evident on "Back In Black" as on the dozen songs comprising "Doom Crew Inc.", the eleventh album from the dependable stalwarts. "Doom Crew Inc." is both a tribute to the band's "first to bleed, last to leave" road crew and a salute to the legion whose support, stretching back to 1998, rivals that of the KISS Army. The Black Label Society biker-style battle vest "kutte" is as ubiquitous at hard rock and metal shows as a black t-shirt. Indie retail exclusive color vinyl variant: clear & black ice with grey and white splatter.
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!
December 2 street date. Bending scuzzy boundaries, "Good Bad Not Evil" is a coming-of-age garage rock classic record. Full of hedonistic delinquent anthems, the fourth studio album from Atlanta punks Black Lips reaches its 15 year anniversary. This deluxe edition includes B-sides and rarities including ‘Cruising’, ‘I Wanna Dance With You’ and ‘Leroy Faster’. "Good Bad Not Evil" perfectly encapsulates the disillusionment of the mid-00s America, slammed between warehouse parties, DIY generator shows and scattered party pics. Referencing The Shangri-Las in the title, this is where their knack for garage gems met Motown; with bass heavy grooves (later remixed by Diplo), a certified country twang and unabashed bravado. Instant hits like ‘VeniVidi Vici’, ‘Cold Hands’, ‘Bad Kids’, and ‘O Katrina!’ immediately became Black Lips staples.
December 2 street date. Bending scuzzy boundaries, "Good Bad Not Evil" is a coming-of-age garage rock classic record. Full of hedonistic delinquent anthems, the fourth studio album from Atlanta punks Black Lips reaches its 15 year anniversary. This deluxe edition includes unearthed photos and new liner notes from Jared Swilley and King Khan. The second disc features B-sides and rarities including ‘Cruising’, ‘I Wanna Dance With You’ and ‘Leroy Faster’. "Good Bad Not Evil" perfectly encapsulates the disillusionment of the mid-00s America, slammed between warehouse parties, DIY generator shows and scattered party pics. Referencing The Shangri-Las in the title, this is where their knack for garage gems met Motown; with bass heavy grooves (later remixed by Diplo), a certified country twang and unabashed bravado. Instant hits like ‘VeniVidi Vici’, ‘Cold Hands’, ‘Bad Kids’, and ‘O Katrina!’ immediately became Black Lips staples. Packaged in a gatefold sleeve with spot gloss, liner notes, and download card.
December 2 street date. Bending scuzzy boundaries, "Good Bad Not Evil" is a coming-of-age garage rock classic record. Full of hedonistic delinquent anthems, the fourth studio album from Atlanta punks Black Lips reaches its 15 year anniversary. This deluxe edition includes unearthed photos and new liner notes from Jared Swilley and King Khan. The second disc features B-sides and rarities including ‘Cruising’, ‘I Wanna Dance With You’ and ‘Leroy Faster’. "Good Bad Not Evil" perfectly encapsulates the disillusionment of the mid-00s America, slammed between warehouse parties, DIY generator shows and scattered party pics. Referencing The Shangri-Las in the title, this is where their knack for garage gems met Motown; with bass heavy grooves (later remixed by Diplo), a certified country twang and unabashed bravado. Instant hits like ‘VeniVidi Vici’, ‘Cold Hands’, ‘Bad Kids’, and ‘O Katrina!’ immediately became Black Lips staples. Packaged in a gatefold sleeve with spot gloss, liner notes, and download card.
October 21 street date. The Black Lips return with their 10th studio effort ‘Apocalypse Love’. Scorched with their trademark menace, it cryogenically mutates all recognised musical bases; it spins yarns about vintage Soviet synths, Benzedrine stupors, coup d'etats, stolen valor and certified destruction, all set against a black setting sun. Since the turn of the decade the band have transformed from austere country pioneers into a set of Lynchian surrealists, hellbent on recalibrating the history of rock 'n' roll. ‘Apocalypse Love’ is an album that emanates from a dive bar jukebox in the back of your mind; with a playlist that bends between tub thumping doom-glam, Plastic Ono singalongs, cocktail-shaken space age pop, Morricone reverberations and lo-fi outsider acoustic-punk, with mariachi horns, theremins, drum machines and harmonies filtering through the infectious melodies. As the band venture into their third decade, ‘Apocalypse Love’ is proof that The Black Lips show no sign of slowing down.
October 21 street date. The Black Lips return with their 10th studio effort ‘Apocalypse Love’. Scorched with their trademark menace, it cryogenically mutates all recognised musical bases; it spins yarns about vintage Soviet synths, Benzedrine stupors, coup d'etats, stolen valor and certified destruction, all set against a black setting sun. Since the turn of the decade the band have transformed from austere country pioneers into a set of Lynchian surrealists, hellbent on recalibrating the history of rock 'n' roll. ‘Apocalypse Love’ is an album that emanates from a dive bar jukebox in the back of your mind; with a playlist that bends between tub thumping doom-glam, Plastic Ono singalongs, cocktail-shaken space age pop, Morricone reverberations and lo-fi outsider acoustic-punk, with mariachi horns, theremins, drum machines and harmonies filtering through the infectious melodies. As the band venture into their third decade, ‘Apocalypse Love’ is proof that The Black Lips show no sign of slowing down. Limited deluxe edition on violet vinyl with silver foiled sleeve, lyric insert, and download card.
October 22 street date. On "Fast Idol", Black Marble reaches back through time to connect with the forgotten bedroom kids of the analogue era, the halcyon days of icy hooks and warbly synths. Harmonies are piped in across the expanse of space, and lyrics capture conversations that seem to come from another room, repeat an accusation overheard, or speak as if in sleep of interpersonal struggles distilled down to one subconscious phrase. At the same time, percussive elements feel forward and cut through the mix with toms counting off the measures like a lost tribe broadcasting through the bass and tops of a basement club soundsystem. Melodies roll with the fizz and charm of Jacno and phrases repeated are electric torchlight ballads sung after hours in William Gibson's San Francisco. Emerging from the early 2000s New York synth scene, Black Marble carried on the tradition of early synthwave pioneers like Martin Dupont and Modern Art who repurposed synths once reserved for expensive studios and stadium rock superstars. Seeking to channel this spirit, Black Marble recalls the gauzy tape wow and flutter of The Membranes and the warbling VCO of Futurisk, carrying on a sound that seeks to channel the future while imprinting residue of the past.
October 22 street date. On "Fast Idol", Black Marble reaches back through time to connect with the forgotten bedroom kids of the analogue era, the halcyon days of icy hooks and warbly synths. Harmonies are piped in across the expanse of space, and lyrics capture conversations that seem to come from another room, repeat an accusation overheard, or speak as if in sleep of interpersonal struggles distilled down to one subconscious phrase. At the same time, percussive elements feel forward and cut through the mix with toms counting off the measures like a lost tribe broadcasting through the bass and tops of a basement club soundsystem. Melodies roll with the fizz and charm of Jacno and phrases repeated are electric torchlight ballads sung after hours in William Gibson's San Francisco. Emerging from the early 2000s New York synth scene, Black Marble carried on t
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The Digest 
La Force
Aeon Station
