News
New Release Round-Up 11-27-20
RSD Black Friday is here, so start off your shopping season the right way by hitting your favourite record store and picking out some awesome gifts for your loved ones (and yourself). As well as the fantastic variety of record store goodies we stock all year round there will of course be some special releases exclusive to record stores streeting that day. You can check out the list of those titles right here! And you can also head over to recordstoreday.com for more details.
Happy Shopping
Eleine - Dancing In Hell - Black Lodge Records
After a huge success with their EP "All Shall Burn" late 2019, Eleine now releases their third full-length album "Dancing In Hell". With a natural step into the darker and heavier sound Eleine delivers an album that sets a new standard within the symphonic metal genre with hard hitting, melodic and seductive metal that has become the renowned Eleine sound. With "Dancing In Hell", Eleine share stories of inner demons, strength and loss. You've surely been pushed down and even alone from time to time in the fight you're in, whatever that might be, right? Imagine yourself standing in the center of your own personal hell, but you have a smile on your face because you know that united we have the strength to push through. In "Dancing In Hell", you will find a legion to lean against and be a part of. Get ready to feel empowered like never before.
ALSO OUT THIS WEEK
Miley Cyrus - Plastic Hearts
Billie Joe Armstrong - No Fun Mondays
Smashing Pumpkins - CYR
Little Simz - Drop 6 EP
Orville Peck - Show Pony EP
William Prince - Gospel First Nation
J. Lloyd - Kosmos
Flogging Molly - Swagger: 20th Anniversary [Box Set]
The Hold Steady - Heaven is Whenever: 10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
Widespread Panic - Coconut Image / Monkey Image Reissue [Limited Edition Vinyl Single]
Clutch - The Weathermaker Vault Series Vol. 1
Jesse Colin Young - Highway Troubadour
Shakin' Stevens - Singled Out
Various Artists - An Americana Christmas [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Green/Red LP]
Hatebreed - Weight Of The False Self
Cadaver - Edder & Bile
Dream Theater - Distant Memories - Live In London [Box Set]
& More .....
UPCOMING RELEASES
Shawn Mendes - Wonder - Island
Grammy nominated Shawn Mendes returns with his fourth studio album Wonder, the follow up to 2018’s platinum Shawn Mendes. Includes the first single, also entitled “Wonder” and 13 other tracks recorded over the course of 2020. “Wrote an album. It’s called “Wonder”. "It really feels like a piece of me has been written down on paper and recorded into song. I tried to be as real and as honest as I’ve ever been. It’s a world and a journey and a dream and an album I’ve been wanting to make for a really long time.”
Frank Black - Christmass - Demon
Demon Records is proud to present a new series of vinyl reissues from American singer-songwriter Black Francis / Frank Black. The first release in this new series is 'Christmass', a collection of acoustic performances from Frank Black's 2006 US solo tour. Recorded both live on stage and in hotel rooms whilst on the road, the album includes tracks from across Black's career. Highlights include stripped back renditions of Pixies' classics 'Where Is My Mind?', 'Cactus' and 'Wave Of Mutilation' along with 'I Burn Today', 'Bullet' and 'Nadine' from Black's solo albums. This new definitive vinyl edition is pressed on two 140g 'cactus' green vinyl.
Green Druid - At The Maw Of Ruin - Earache Records
2020 release from this metal band spawned in the mile-high city of Denver Colorado, the first city to legalize marijuana. Green Druid was nominated for 'Best Metal Band' at the 303 Magazine Awards. Album closer is a cover of UK trip-hop pioneers Portishead's 'Threads'.
Amy Winehouse - 12x7: The Singles Collection - Republic
A 7” singles box set comprising all of Amy Winehouse's singles from the Frank, Back To Black and Lioness: Hidden Treasures albums. Tracks include ‘Stronger Than Me’, ‘Rehab’ and ‘Love Is A Losing Game’, all of which won the Ivor Novello Award for Amy in 2004, 2007 and 2008. The set also includes the Grammy Award winning ‘Body and Soul’, a duet with Tony Bennett. The singles are housed in individual picture sleeves and pressed on black vinyl. The box also features a 20-page lyrics booklet and a set of art cards.
Also Available: The Collection [5CD Box Set]
Yusuf / Cat Stevens - Tea For The Tillerman: 50th Anniversary Edition - A&M
Tea For The Tillerman is arguably Cat Stevens’ best known and most cherished album. Originally released in November 1970, Universal Music will be celebrating it’s 50th anniversary in style on 20th November 2020 with a multi-format release suite, including a very special 5CD/BD/1LP/12” Live E.P. Super Deluxe Edition reissue of one of music’s most classic albums. The Super Deluxe set features a brand new 2020 Remaster of the record, as well as a brand new 2020 Mix (overseen by Yusuf Islam producer / engineer David Hefti), with audio mixed from the original 1970 Island Records multi-track master tape. The 2020 Mix also appears on the 1LP which is 100% exclusive to this box set. CD3 features Yusuf’s brand new interpretations of these wonderful songs, Tea For The Tillerman², which is released on stand-alone formats on 18th September 2020. Yusuf has chosen to include it here in order to present the very most complete edition of the original album, and to show how these songs have evolved over their 50 year lifespan. CD4 features demos, outtakes and alternate versions, including two wholly previously unreleased tracks (“Can This Be Love?” and “It’s So Good”), while CD5 features 25x live performances including 5 previously unreleased tracks recorded Live At The Troubadour, 4 previously unreleased live performances from the 8th December 1970 show at Fillmore East, and 6 previously unreleased live from British, French and German TV performances in 1970/71. The Live At The Troubadour performance is also included in full on the live 12” E.P. (exclusive to this box). The Super Deluxe box set is rounded out with a BluRay featuring HD 24bit/96khz audio of the 2020 Mix, as well as 8x previously unreleased live TV performances, 7 tracks performed live at KCNET studios, Los Angeles, and the official “Father And Son” video.
Yusuf / Cat Stevens - Mona Bone Jakon: 50th Anniversary Edition - A&M
Back in 1970 and following a period of illness and recuperation, singer-songwriting troubadour Cat Stevens re-emerged with a new record deal with Island Records and a spiritual and artistic rebirth. ‘Mona Bone Jakon’, his first album for Island, showcased a markedly different change in direction for Cat, unveiling with it a remarkable set of new compositions that included classics like ‘Trouble’, ‘Maybe You’re Right’ and the UK hit single ‘Lady D’Arbanville’. To commemorate the album’s 50th anniversary comes this definitive super deluxe box set of ‘Mona Bone Jakon’. Sounding as fresh as the day it was recorded, the original album is represented here by a brand new 2020 remaster of ‘Mona Bone Jakon’ by Geoff Pesche at Abbey Road, overseen by original producer Paul Samwell-Smith 2020 on CD, as well as a new 2020 Mix by David Hefti on both CD and LP. The set also includes an exclusive third CD of previously unreleased demos, and a fourth featuring 18 live performances from 1970/71. This box is rounded out with a live 12” etched vinyl E.P. of a rare audience recording of ‘Live At Plumpton Jazz & Blues Festival’ from August 1970, and with a BluRay disc featuring the original promo video of ‘Lady D’Arbanville’, plus eight live TV performances, and the HD audio of the new Mona Bone Jakon 2020 Mix. Also included is a 98-page beautifully illustrated hardcover book with extensive new sleevenotes. Finally there’s also a selection of memorabilia including Island Records press kit, two Island press photos, a replica 1970 Plumpton Jaxx and Blues flyer, a Cat Stevens tour sticker and ‘dustbin’ greetings card and pop art print in a card envelope.
New Release Round-Up 11-20-20
Nick Cave - Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone At Alexandra Palace - Bad Seed Ltd
Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone At Alexandra Palace is a concert film and live album by musician Nick Cave. It was filmed by cinematographer Robbie Ryan and features Cave performing solo on piano at Alexandra Palace in London. Idiot Prayer serves as the final film in a trilogy-along with 20,000 Days on Earth (2014) and One More Time with Feeling (2016)-and was described by Cave as "it's luminous and heartfelt climax."
Tank and The Bangas - Friend Goals EP - Verve
Grammy-nominated Tank and The Bangas are back with Friend Goals, the follow-up to their critically acclaimed major label debut album Green Balloon. This 6-track EP features collaborations from CHIKA, PJ Morton, and Duckwrth.
Various Artists - Southeast Of Saturn - Third Man Vinyl
It makes sense that Detroit had a buzzy, thriving space-rock scene in the ‘90s. What American city’s denizens had a more urgent need to disengage and think outside the grim, post-industrial rustbelt realities? With space-rock (and its close sonic cousin shoegaze) being at once expansive and introspective, it naturally appealed to the young, intelligent artists who gravitated toward its vertiginous orbit. The music of Southeast Of Saturn did not arise organically from metro Detroit’s fertile soil. Locally, garage-rock, goth-rock, neo-hippie groups, and the usual preponderance of adequate bar bands dominated the landscape. Thirsty Forest Animals guitarist Andrew Peters summarizes the prevalent attitude among the Motor City’s space-rock contingent: “I don’t think we really noticed the local Detroit scene earlier on. We were more into the bands you would see in the NME / Melody Maker, zines, and records - mostly from the UK - on the walls at Play It Again”. If anything was a major factor locally, it was Play It Again, the independent record store in the suburbs of Detroit that nurtured the scene with its amazing curation of imports and killer used records picked up on owner Alan Kovan’s British record buying trips. Penned “Detroit Space-Rock”, the scene centered around Burnt Hair Records, Burnt Hair CEO Larry Hoffman’s Life According To Larry radio show, Zoot’s Coffeehouse and bands, such as Windy & Carl, Asha Vida, Füxa, Auburn Lull, and Majesty Crush. It was a modern movement of a more traditional “space-rock” sound, influenced less by The Stooges and MC5 and more by Spacemen 3, Loop, My Bloody Valentine and krautrock bands like Can and Neu!. Even the best-known artists on Southeast Of Saturn - Windy & Carl, Majesty Crush, Füxa - never achieved mainstream success, but within the rock underground, they inspired a cultish devotion that burns to this day. If you missed their evanescent output the first time around, this compilation will get you up to speed over its 19 mind-altering tracks.
Mary J. Blige - My Life: Deluxe Edition - Republic
Digitally remastered and expanded edition. The 3x platinum My Life was nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Album in 1995. In ensuing years, Rolling Stone included the album on their 50 Essential Female Albums (#17), 100 Greatest Albums of the '90s (#63) and 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (#279) lists. My Life is the second studio album by American R&B recording artist Mary J. Blige, originally released on November 29, 1994.
ALSO OUT THIS WEEK
mxmtoon - dawn/dusk
The War On Drugs - Live Drugs
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Live In Maui
Elvis Presley - From Elvis In Nashville
Sylvan Esso - WITH [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition 2 LP]
BTS - BE (Deluxe Edition)
The Dirty Knobs - Wreckless Abandon
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Live In San Francisco '16
Neil Diamond - Classic Diamonds With The London Symphony Orchestra
Eric Clapton - Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2019
Seatbelts - Cowboy Bebop (Original Series Soundtrack)
Local Natives - Sour Lemon EP
Rilo Kiley - Rilo Kiley
Iron Maiden - Nights Of The Dead, Legacy Of The Beast: Live In Mexico City
Jamie Cullum - The Pianoman At Christmas
Autechre - Plus
Dame Shirley Bassey - I Owe It All To You
Five Finger Death Punch - A Decade Of Destruction, Vol. 2
Annie Lennox - A Christmas Cornucopia: 10th Anniversary Edition
John Fogerty - Fogerty's Factory
Mary J. Blige - My Life: Deluxe Edition
Pink Floyd - Delicate Sound Of Thunder: Remastered
Dirty Projectors - 5EPs
Various Artists - '80s TV Classics - Music From G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
& More .....
New Release Round-Up 11-13-20
Chris Stapleton - Starting Over - Mercury Nashville
2020 release from the acclaimed country music singer/songwriter. Starting Over has 14 new tracks and is Chris Stapleton's first studio album of new material since 2017. Features the single "Starting Over". Chris has received five Grammy Awards, seven ACM Awards, ten CMA Awards, and five Billboard Music Awards to date and with his first three album he has sold over eight million albums to date, including his debut album Traveller which has sold over four million copies.
Elton John - Jewel Box - Mercury
An in-depth exploration of Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s extensive catalogue including early rarities and deep cuts personally curated by Elton John. The release the fans have been waiting for. With an eye watering amount of previously unheard and unreleased tracks this is a treasure trove for Elton John fans. The eight disc box set will be a beautiful hardcover book with discs housed in the back, wrapped in an outer slipcase. The collection spans the period 1965 to 2019. Also Available: And This Is Me [2LP], Rarities & B Sides [3LP] and Deep Cuts [4LP].
The Menzingers - From Exile - Epitaph
Philadelphia-based indie rockers, The Menzingers made great use of their free time during this summer's stay at home order by recording a "re-imagined" acoustic version of their brilliant 2019 album "Hello Exile." Since forming as teenagers in 2006, The Menzingers have shown their strength as rough-and-tumble storytellers, turning out songs equally rooted in frenetic energy and lifelike detail. On From Exile, the band took their lyrical narrative to a whole new level and share their reflections on moments from the past and present: high-school hellraising, troubled relationships, aging and alcohol and political ennui. And while their songs often reveal certain painful truths, they ultimately maintain the irrepressible spirit that's always defined the band. These acoustic interpretations show once again how beautifully crafted these songs really are.
Andrea Bocelli - Believe - Decca
The internationally renowned and beloved Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli releases his breathtaking new album, Believe, celebrating the power of music to soothe the soul. It follows his record-breaking ‘Music for Hope’ performance at Easter from the historic Duomo cathedral in Milan which was watched live by millions around the globe. It features a previously unreleased track from the late, great Italian composer Ennio Morricone, as well as ‘Gratia Plena’ – from the critically acclaimed new movie, Fatima –, two duets with award-winning mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli, and for the first time ever Andrea Bocelli has recorded his own interpretations of ‘Ave Maria’ and ‘Padre Nostro’ along with familiar favourites such as ‘Hallelujah’, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ and ‘Amazing Grace’. Believe, co-produced by Steven Mercurio and Haydn Bendall, is a collection of uplifting songs that have inspired and sustained Bocelli over the years.
Boris - Amplifier Worship - Third Man Vinyl
Formed in 1992, Boris boldly explores their own vision of heavy music, where words like “explosive” and “thunderous” barely do justice. Using overpowering soundscapes embellished with copious amounts of lighting and billow smoke, Boris has shared with audiences across the planet an experience for all five senses in their concerts, earning legions of zealous fans along the way. First released in 1998, catalog staple Amplifier Worship will see its first-ever reissue with minimalistic album art from the first-press Japanese CD on November 13, 2020 via Third Man Records. The Stoughton gatefold jacket will house both officially remastered LPs, pressed at Third Man Pressing. This will also serve as Amplifier Worship’s long-awaited debut across digital streaming services. Amplifier Worship is Boris’s most intense and unrelenting album to date. Not for the faint of heart, the group incorporates mythic doom-drones, up-tempo psych-sludge and even a refreshing ribbit into their signature concoction of celestial and heavy music. Amplifier Worship is a critical chapter in the Boris canon. The album is a testament to the group's bullishness in pushing metal to it’s uncomfortable and unfamiliar edges. And it is also undoubtedly one of their best.
Boris - Absolutego - Third Man Vinyl
Formed in 1992, Boris boldly explores their own vision of heavy music, where words like "explosive" and "thunderous" barely do justice. Using overpowering soundscapes embellished with copious amounts of lighting and billow smoke, Boris has shared with audiences across the planet an experience for all five senses in their concerts, earning legions of zealous fans along the way. Absolutego is a trek over a staggering mountain of sound. The tension builds with wave after wave of massive feedback, drums leading into a crushing crescendo of full-band repetition and clarity before descending deeper until finally reaching a surreal divebomb purring drone finale. This song takes notes out of the Melvins playbook and pushes the sound to it's absolute logical and visceral extreme. It sets a solid foundation for why Boris is considered to be one of the most important metal bands of the 21st century.
ALSO OUT THIS WEEK
AC/DC - Power Up
John Parish & Polly Jean Harvey - Dance Hall At Louse Point
Lambchop - Trip
Various Artists - Strum & Thrum: The American Jangle Underground 1983 - 1987
The Cranberries - No Need To Argue: Remastered
Sara Bareilles - More Love - Songs from Little Voice Season One
Nas - King's Disease
Keith Richards & The X-Pensive Winos - Live At The Hollywood Palladium: Remastered
Johnny Cash - Johnny Cash And The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Alice In Chains - Facelift
Randall Bramblett - Pine Needle Fire
Jess Gillam - TIME
Parker McCollum - Hollywood Gold EP
George Benson - Weekend In London
Benee - Hey U X
Yves Jarvis - Sundry Rock Song Stock
Phil Campbell & The Bastard Sons - We're The Bastards
Marika Hackman - Covers
Starcrawler - Lizzy B/ w Bet My Brains [Vinyl Single]
Billie Holiday / Sonhouse All Stars - Billie (The Original Soundtrack)
Katatonia - Dead Air
& More .....
UPCOMING RELEASES
New Release Round-Up 11-06-20
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Return To Greendale - Reprise
Return To Greendale is the latest installment in Neil Young’s Performance Series (#16) and features a concert (audio & on film) from the historic and unique 2003 tour supporting the release of the Neil Young with Crazy Horse album Greendale. On the 2003 tour, Neil Young and Crazy Horse were joined on stage by a large cast of singers and actors to perform the story Neil Young wrote about the small town of Greendale and how a dramatic event affects the people living there. The ten songs from the powerful original album are performed in sequence, with the cast speaking the sung words - adding to the intensity of the performance. The live album Return to Greendale is released this week in several formats: Double vinyl, a 2 CD set, and a limited-edition deluxe box set that includes a Blu-ray of the full concert, a DVD of Inside Greendale (the making of the album documentary), 2 LPs and 2 CDs. The film of the ambitious live show captures the vibrancy of Neil Young and Crazy Horse on stage in a unique multi-media experience. It seamlessly blends together the live performance, the actors portraying each song, with the story occasionally enhanced by scenes from the Greendale - The Movie. Both the live concert film and the Inside Greendale documentary are directed by Bernard Shakey and produced by L. A. Johnson.
Heather Trost - Petrichor - Third Man Vinyl LLC
It’s hard to not get jaded about music itself when one deals with the ins and outs on a daily basis of what remains of the music industry. And then, well, you know how it is--when presented with music that’s actually fresh and unique, or simply fucking good, not only are we reunited with the reason we all are grinding away here, but it’s very difficult to not resort to superlatives. So we will do our best to stick to the facts here. But just do yourself a huge favor, and let this album wash over you, right now. Third Man Records is chuffed to present to you the New Mexico-based artist Heather Trost’s second or third solo full-length. Petrichor is fresh, unique, and really fucking good. Sonically, this modern psychedelic pop music is as experimental as it is accessible. Petrichor was recorded between 2018 and 2019 by Heather Trost and her husband Jeremy Barnes (Neutral Milk Hotel) at their home studio. The two are community activists, urban gardeners, and full-time musicians.
Paul McCartney And The Frog Chorus - We All Stand Together - Capitol
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Rupert the Bear, MPL has restored and remastered in 4K the BAFTA winning Rupert and the Frog Song a 1984 short animated film, directed by Geoff Dunbar. To accompany the film a reimagined picture disc for 'We All Stand Together' is also set to be released. The track hit #3 on the UK Singles chart and then charted again a year later in 1985. The 7" shaped picture disc with the iconic image of Rupert The Bear and Paul McCartney is packaged in a die cut sleeve to highlight the shaped vinyl and includes an exclusive folded poster in the sleeve and outer mailer.
ALSO OUT THIS WEEK
Laura Veirs - My Echo
Kylie Minogue - Disco
Pylon - Pylon Box [4LP Box Set]
Pylon - Gyrate
Pylon - Chomp
Olafur Arnalds - some kind of peace
Donovan Woods - Without People
Sun Ra Arkesttra - Swirling
TOMORROW X TOGETHER - Minisode 1 : Blue Hour
David Bowie - Metrobolist (aka The Man Who Sold The World)
Public Enemy - What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?
Adulkt Life - Book Of Curses
Brandi Carlile - The Firewatcher's Daughter [White 2LP]
Tunng - Tunng presents…DEAD CLUB
John Lee Hooker - Live At Montreux 1983 & 1990
Charlie Parker - The Savoy 10-inch LP Collection
Brothertiger - Out Of Touch
The Who - WHO: Deluxe & Live At Kingston
Amine - Limbo
Sir Woman - Bitch EP
Oneohtrix Point Never - Magic Oneohtrix Point Never
& More .....
New Release Round-Up 10-30-20
Sam Smith - Love Goes - Capitol
Sam Smith continues their all-conquering journey to super stardom as they release their third album ‘Love Goes’. This follows an incredible run of global smashes including ‘Dancing with a Stranger’, with Normani which has amassed over 13 million copies and over 2.5 billion streams, became the #1 airplay in the US & UK and has achieved platinum status in 15 countries. ‘How Do You Sleep?’ and the accompanying game-changing video has already reached sales of over 8 million and remained in the Spotify Global Top 20 after 4 months. 2018 also saw Smith release their global hit with Calvin Harris ‘Promises’ which the pair performed at the BRIT Awards; Sam reached 13 million YouTube subscribers – one of only 8 UK artists to achieve this accolade – and they ended 2019 peaking at 8 on the Global Spotify monthly listeners chart. They have over 10 billion total streams on Spotify alone, with 2 singles (Too Good At Goodbyes and Stay With Me) being one of only 100 tracks to ever achieve over 1bn total streams on Spotify. During their career Sam has sold over 28 million albums worldwide and notched up seven UK No. 1 records to date including ‘Writing’s On The Wall’ – the first Bond theme to reach the position, gaining them a Guinness World Record. In addition, Sam has also received four Grammy Awards, three BRITs and an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song (Writing’s On The Wall).
U2 - All That You Can’t Leave Behind: 20th Anniversary - Interscope Records
Limited 11 vinyl LP set. Includes fully remastered studio album plus 20 page booklet. 9 track b-sides, out-takes and alternate versions. Elevation Live From Boston 19 track set. 5 x 12" featuring 11 remix singles including 4 previously unreleased. 32 page hardback book by long-time U2 collaborator Anton Corbijn featuring previously unseen photos. Double-sided poster. Digitally remastered 20th Anniversary edition. The forever-evolving U2 looked back to their anthemic, passionate '80s classics on their 10th studio album, even as they took what they'd learned in the '90s and had maximum fun with studio production (aided ably here by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois). It didn't hurt that Bono and co. Had their best batch of songs in years at the ready; all this combined to catapult All That You Can’t Leave Behind to #1 in 32 countries.
Also available: CD, Deluxe 2CD, 2LP and Limited Edition 5CD Super Deluxe Box Set
Eels - Earth To Dora - PIAS
2020 release from the alt-rock band Eels, led by singer/songwriter Mark Everett (AKA E). Earth To Dora is the follow-up to the band's 2018 release The Deconstruction.
Busta Rhymes - Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath Of God - Conglomerate Ent
The first album in eight years from hip-hop icon Busta Rhymes. The album is a sequel to his 1998 album E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front. Includes the single "The Don and The Boss", a collaboration with dancehall superstar Vybz Kartel.
Jeremiah Johnson - Unemployed Highly Annoyed - Ruf Records
Jeremiah Johnson blends the sounds of the south, with Mississippi River blues and a touch of country flair. Emotionally charged roots rock, powered by the common man's passion for life and all the struggles in-between. Songs with meaning, a powerfully persuasive voice and master class musicianship.
ALSO OUT THIS WEEK
Ariana Grande - Positions
Elvis Costello - Hey Clockface
Mr. Bungle - The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny Demo
Hamilton Leithauser - Live! at Café Carlyle
Record Store Day Presents Decibel Completely Extreme Volume One
I Prevail - Post Traumatic
John Petrucci - Terminal Velocity
Cam - The Otherside
Trippie Redd - Pegasus
Troye Sivan - In A Dream EP
Black Stone Cherry - The Human Condition
Nils Frahm - Empty
GWAR - Scumdogs Of The Universe: 30th Anniversary
The Crow (Original Soundtrack) [Rocktober 2020 LP]
Yes - The Royal Affair Tour (Live in Las Vegas)
Bob Mould - Distortion: 1989-2019
Bob Mould - Distortion: 1989-1995
The Heshoo Beshoo Group - Armitage Road
Ron Dante - Ron Dante's Funhouse
& More .....
New Release Round-Up 10-23-20
Gorillaz - Song Machine, Season One - Warner Records
Song Machine, Season One is Gorillaz’ newest concept which started in January 2020, releasing brand new material episodically - as and when it happens – and has continued throughout the year. The ongoing and ever-evolving process has seen our favourite characters joined by an expanding roster of collaborators captured live in Kong Studios and beyond. The result is an expansive collection of 17 tracks embracing a myriad of sounds, styles, genres and attitudes from a breath-taking line-up of guest artists including Beck, Elton John, Fatoumata Diawara, Georgia, Kano, Leee John, Octavian, Peter Hook, Robert Smith, Roxani Arias, ScHoolboy Q, Slaves, Slowthai, St Vincent and 6LACK, as well as CHAI, EARTHGANG, Goldlink, Joan As Police Woman, JPEGMAFIA, Moonchild Sanelly, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Skepta and Tony Allen.
Ben Harper - Winter Is For Lovers - ANTI
Winter Is For Lovers was a lifetime in the making... a solo lap-steel guitar piece incorporating elements of delta blues, flamenco, and even Satie-like minimalism, this work resonates with lyrical virtuosity, originality and soul. In some ways Winter Is For Lovers is a love letter to Ben Harper’s longtime fans who have always revered his guitar virtuosity; it’s the record they always wanted him to make. For many other music lovers, this record is a revelation, an unknown side to a celebrated artist showing a sense of meticulousness, depth and music history that will add new dimensions to an already renowned career. As a child, before Ben Harper was even playing music, he sat at the feet of folk luminaries like Rev Gary Davis, John Fahey, Ry Cooder and others in his grandparents Folk Music Center in Claremont, CA, soaking up their influence and passion for pure guitar music. As a teenager, while discovering his own musical gifts, he was repairing guitars and being mentored by many of these artists, most notably, Taj Mahal. While his musical path has taken him to worldwide fame playing rock and roll, and many other idioms, that pure guitar music has always been central to his musical heart. Ultimately, Winter Is For Lovers is a very personal statement from Ben Harper, drawing from the bountiful garden of his earliest musical impressions and propelling him into the future with an elegiac masterpiece.
Beastie Boys - Beastie Boys Music - Capitol
Beastie Boys Music is a companion piece to the critically acclaimed documentary Beastie Boys Story and the group's best seller Beastie Boys Book. The album features 20 Beastie Boys classics spanning the band's 30+ year career.
ALSO OUT THIS WEEK
Bruce Springsteen - Letter To You
clipping. - Visions of Bodies Being Burned
The Mountain Goats - Getting Into Knives
I Don't Know How But They Found Me - RAZZMATAZZ
boy pablo - Wachito Rico
Joe Bonamassa - Royal Tea
Drive-By Truckers - Live From Austin, TX
Action Bronson - Only For Dolphins
Melody Gardot - Sunset In The Blue
Pearl Jam - MTV Unplugged
Faithless - All Blessed
Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors - Live At The Tennessee Theatre
Sparkle Division - To Feel Embraced
The Phoenix Foundation - Friend Ship
Nothing but Thieves - Moral Panic
Blue October - This Is What I Live For
Plants And Animals - The Jungle
Luke Combs - What You See Ain't Always What You Get: Deluxe Edition
Dan Penn - Living On Mercy
Wallows - Remote EP
& More .....
New Release Round-Up 10-16-20
Tom Petty - Wildflowers & All the Rest - Warner Records
Digitally remastered and expanded edition of the 1994 album by Tom Petty. Contains the original album (remastered) with 15 tracks spread over two LPs. LP 3 contains All The Rest, the 10 songs from the Wildflowers sessions that were left off the album, five of which are previously unreleased.
Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown - Pressure - Spinefarm
Singer/guitarist Tyler Bryant wrote "Crazy Days" to help him deal with the insanity that is 2020. There were zero plans to have it be the lead-off single for a fourth album, Pressure, whose 13 blues-infused, timeless rock songs create a full-circle journey that both embraces and distracts Guest vocals include Charlie Starr of Blackberry Smoke. and Rebecca Lovell of the duo Larkin Poe. 
Various Artists - Blue Note Re:imagined - Blue Note Records
Legendary labels Decca Records and Blue Note have joined forces for Blue Note Re:imagined; a brand-new collection of 16 classic Blue Note tracks, reworked and newly recorded by a selection of the UK scene’s most exciting young talents. Representing a bridge between the ground-breaking label’s past and future, the project features contributions from a rollcall of internationally acclaimed jazz, soul and R&B acts including Shabaka Hutchings, Ezra Collective, Nubya Garcia, Mr Jukes, Steam Down, Skinny Pelembe, Emma-Jean Thackray, Poppy Ajudha, Jordan Rakei and Brit Award-winning Jorja Smith.
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (Original Soundtrack) - Decca
Relive the soundtrack from "The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners" VR zombie experience. The gripping complete collection brings to life the horrifying journey through walker-infested New Orleans. This 2-CD set features 56 Bayou-inspired songs and compositions by Michael David Peter & Joshua Mosely, with muddy re-imaginings of songs like "When The Levee Breaks", "In The Pines" and "When The Saints Go Marching In". Immerse and ask yourself: are you a saint or a sinner? Also available on Red/Green/Clear Smoke colored 3LP with Alternative Cover
ALSO OUT THIS WEEK
beabadoobee - Fake It Flowers
The Struts - Strange Days
Tommy Lee - Andro
BTS - SKOOL LUV AFFAIR: Special Addition
Pluralone - I Don't Feel Well
Japandroids - Massey Fucking Hall
Jeremy Ivey - Waiting Out The Storm
Cordovas - Destiny Hotel
Matt Berninger - Serpentine Prison
Autechre - Sign
Helena Deland - Someone New
Eagles - Live From The Forum MMXVIII
Kevin Morby - Sundowner
Katie Melua - Album No. 8
Steep Canyon Rangers - Arm In Arm
Woodkid - S16
NCT - NCT - The 2nd Album RESONANCE Pt. 1 [The Future Ver.]
Deep Sea Diver - Impossible Weight
Pixies - Hear Me Out / Mambo Sun [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Yellow 12in Vinyl Single]
Sasha Sloan - Only Child
Various Artists - Def Jam Forward
& More .....
New Release Round-Up 10-09-20
Touche Amore - Lament - Epitaph
Touche Amore has been burrowing through angst, alienation, cancer, and heartbreak throughout four adored studio albums. After over a decade of working through darkness, the band’s gorgeously gruff fifth album, Lament, finds the light at the end of the tunnel. Through 11 songs, TOUCHÉ AMORÉ looks back at its past and uses hard-won optimism to point its fans toward light, and love.
John Lennon - GIMME SOME TRUTH. THE ULTIMATE MIXES. - Capitol
GIMME SOME TRUTH. THE ULTIMATE MIXES. is the definitive new best of John Lennon – 36 tracks on four 180-gram LPs completely remixed from the original master tapes, giving these classic songs a new life for generations to come and sounding better than ever before. Lift-off lid box contains 4LPs, 8 page booklet, fold-out double-sided poster, 2 post cards and GIMME SOME TRUTH. bumper sticker.
Brothers Osborne - Skeletons - EMI Nashville
Brothers Osborne release their third studio album, Skeletons. They are 2x CMA Award winners for Vocal Duo Of The Year and winners for the 2018 ACM New Artist of the Year. With 12 new tracks, including current hit- "All Night". Brothers Osborne's two previous albums Pawn Shop and Port Saint Joe produced seven singles that charted on the Hot Country Songs chart and included #1 Platinum single, "Stay A Little Longer".
Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory: 20th Anniversary Edition - Warner Records
Released in October 2000, Linkin Park’s groundbreaking debut album Hybrid Theory is a melting pot of heavy alternative rock, hip-hop and electronic flourishes that inspired a new genre of music and a generation of dedicated fans, who continue to be loyal followers of the band. Additionally, the band’s sound influenced many young bands who related to the intense and emotional musical style. Hybrid Theory was the best-selling album of 2001 in the US and has since exceeded 11 million album sales in the US, qualifying for the rare Billboard “Diamond” award. Hybrid Theory’s success was supported by intensive touring, and three successful singles: “One Step Closer,” “Crawling,” and “In The End.” The band won their first Grammy Award for “Crawling” as Best Rock Performance. To celebrate 20 years since the original release, Hybrid Theory: 20th Anniversary Edition will be released this week. The flagship format is a super-deluxe edition box set that includes unreleased and hard-to-find material on CD, vinyl and DVD. The box set also includes a lavishly illustrated 80-page book with contributions from the band and many previously unseen photographs, plus a replica tour laminate, an oversize poster of Chester Bennington, and 3 lithographs of new artwork supplied by Mike Shinoda, Joe Hahn and Frank Maddocks (the art director on the original release, and this anniversary edition).
Kacey Musgraves - The Kacey Musgraves Christmas Show - MCA Nashville
All the comedy, music, and memorable moments from the spectacular “Kacey Musgraves Christmas Show” available on CD and beautiful, White Vinyl!
Tears For Fears - The Seeds Of Love: Remastered - Mercury
The Seeds Of Love is the third studio album by Tears For Fears. The album was released in September 1989, entering the UK Album Chart at no.1 and would be certified Platinum by the BPI within three weeks. In the US, the album peaked at no.8, and was also certified Platinum. The album also reached the top ten in various other countries around the world. The album contained the Singles: Sowing the Seeds, Woman in Chains, Advice for the Young at Heart and Badman’s song, upon release it was seen (and still is) as one of the greatest albums of the 80’s. This Deluxe edition contains not only the original album, but a new 5.1 mix by Steven Wilson which was done in conjunction with Roland Orzabal, as well as all the relevant B-Sides, alternate mixes and around 60 minutes of previously unheard demos and live rehearsals. The set is housed in a shoe box style box (similar to the other 2 releases) with an extensive booklet, with new interviews by Super Deluxe editor Paul Sinclair with the band and other players on the album. It also contains the tour programme of the era as well.
North Americans - Roped In - Third Man Vinyl
Patrick McDermott began his North Americans project with two albums: 2013’s No_No, and 2015’s Legends. Both records were dense affairs, with blocks of sound shifting and moving like melting glaciers to create a gorgeous, impenetrable, collection of digital drones. Though they sounded nothing like what would come a bit later, both records showcased McDermott’s understanding of mood and composition. On 2018’s Going Steady, McDermott blended his love of American Primitive guitar playing with playful pieces that never overstayed their welcome. He also began collaborating with a wide range of artists: from Julianna Barwick to guitar prodigy Hayden Pedigo, as well as Cloud Nothings’ Dylan Baldi, and more. Now, two years later, McDermott is releasing Roped In, a gorgeous, intimate, and often spare album that pulls back from the collaborative nature established on Going Steady for a collection of fragile drone pieces anchored by McDermott’s intricate but direct guitar playing and haunting pedal steel work from Portland, Oregon’s Barry Walker. Where Going Steady was brimming with ideas and micromovements, Roped In is relatively sparse, built on patience and the kind of once-in-a-lifetime collaborative energy between McDermott and Walker, and accented by occasional collaborations from harpist Mary Lattimore and guitarist William Tyler. “I wanted to focus on the simplicity of the music,” McDermott says. “I didn’t want to be beholden to this massive goal of [making music] to see how progressive and experimental it could be. I was attempting to cherish the pureness of this type of music.”
ALSO OUT THIS WEEK
Juice WRLD - Legends Never Die
Travis - 10 Songs
Five Finger Death Punch - A Decade Of Destruction, Vol. 2
Lewis Del Mar - August
Buffalo Tom - Birdbrain
Black Pumas - Black Pumas: Deluxe Edition [Gold/Black & Red Splatter 2LP+7in]
METZ - Atlas Vending
The Replacements - Pleased To Meet Me [Deluxe Edition Box Set]
Mrs. Piss - Self-Surgery
Future Islands - As Long As You Are
Doves - The Universal Want
Twin Peaks - Side A EP [Limited Edition Pink 10in Vinyl]
Bahamas - Sad Hunk
Lupin - Lupin [Limited Edition Red LP]
Yo La Tengo - Sleepless Night EP [Vinyl]
Ultravox - Vienna [Deluxe Edition: Half Speed Master]: 40th Anniversary
Groove Armada - Edge Of The Horizon
Roisin Murphy - Roisin Machine
Loudon Wainwright III - I'd Rather Lead A Band
The Doors - Morrison Hotel: 50th Anniversary
Blue Oyster Cult - The Symbol Remains
& More .....
The Nude Party - Midnight Manor - Live Set
New West Records and The Nude Party are proud to present a live set of seven songs performed specifically for your enjoyment. In our current time of uncertainty these road dogs aren't able to do what they do best and thats performing live for you. Postponed are the days of live shows and in-store performances so in the spirit of celebration they did the next best thing.
Siit back, relax and enjoy watching the Nude Party perform seven songs from their latest release, Midnight Manor.
Set List ***All songs from the album Midnight Manor released on October 2, 2020
Shine Your Light
Nashville Record Company
Time Moves On
Pardon Me Satan
Cure Is You
Things Fall Apart
Lonely Heather
New Release Round-Up 10-02-20
Roger Waters - Us + Them - Sony Legacy
Roger Waters: Us + Them, chronicles the acclaimed 2017-2018 tour of the iconic Pink Floyd artist. As the founding member, lyricist, composer and creative force behind Pink Floyd, US + THEM presents Waters powerful music in stunning form and highlights its’ message of human rights, liberty and love. Based around his acclaimed, sold-out US + THEM worldwide tour of 2017-18, comprising a total of 156 shows to 2.3 million people across the globe, it features classic songs from The Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, Animals, Wish You Were Here as well as his most recent album, Is This The Life We Really Want? Waters powerfully demonstrates that he is at heart, a musical activist and one of the most passionate political commentators of his time. He has dedicated his life to fighting against those who seek to control our lives and destroy our planet. Welcome To The Machine and Another Brick In The Wall Part II, are a stark reminder of the bleak warnings that he gave decades ago about alienation, displacement, greed, suffering, destruction and loss. And yet the humanity of the songwriter cannot be more plainly seen than in Wish You Were Here, because, although he presents a grim picture of the state of the world, ultimately his message is one of hope through unity and love.
Lana Del Rey - Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass - Interscope Records
Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass is the title poem of the book and the first poem I wrote of many. Some of which came to me in their entirety, which I dictated and then typed out, and some that I worked laboriously picking apart each word to make the perfect poem. They are eclectic and honest and not trying to be anything other than what they are and for that reason I’m proud of them, especially because the spirit in which they were written was very authentic. — Lana Del Rey….The recording includes 14 poems performed by Lana Del Rey accompanied by music from Grammy Award-Winning songwriter/producer Jack Antonoff.
The Nude Party - Midnight Manor - New West Records
Midnight Manor, the much anticipated sophomore album of the six-piece rock outfit The Nude Party is out this week via New West Records. Following two years of non-stop touring in support of their eponymous debut release, the band returned to their farmhouse in New York's Catskill Mountains to record the follow up to their acclaimed 2018 self-titles debut. Like The Band's sacred home-recording habitat The Big Pink, The Nude Party's communal dwelling provided the landscape and proximity to focus on deepening their bonds through music. It was at the Manor that the band of childhood friends could shift their energies from the archetypical emotional journeys of mid-twenty-somethings towards rebuilding their road-worn relationships with one another, leading them to write Midnight Manor - an album that lead singer Patton Magee describes as "a stone skipping over troubled waters." With Midnight Manor, The Nude Party shine a light on their past while at the same time moving towards a brighter future.
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Bon Jovi - 2020 - Island
Bon Jovi's album 2020 is the 15th studio album from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band. The album features the new single "Limitless" as well as "Unbroken," which was featured in the documentary "To Be Of Service".
Brent Cobb - Keep 'Em On They Toes - Ol' Buddy Records
For his fourth album, Keep 'Em On They Toes, Brent Cobb is giving his songs the space they need to speak for themselves, a reflection of his own decision to write about the way he sees the world. “My last couple of albums have been about people and places, and I wanted this album to be about thoughts and feelings,” he says. Keep ‘Em on They Toes, Cobb captures the mindset of a man who values a simpler time despite living in a modern world. “To me, listening to this album feels like I’m sitting there with somebody, having a conversation,” Cobb says. “I would hope that it feels like sitting with an old friend you haven’t seen in a while. There’s nothing like being alone and listening to an album that is quiet and conversational – like those old records by Jerry Lee Lewis, Roger Miller, or Willie Nelson. I hope my music is that way to somebody now.”
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Tallah - Matriphagy - Earache Records
Debut album on Earache Records from US Alt-Metal act Tallah. An original dose of f***ed up and disturbing alt-metal insanity. For fans of Korn, Code Orange, Slipknot, Deftones & Vein. Exhilaratingly fresh whilst incorporating nostalgic 90s nu-metal vibes
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Shania Twain - The Woman In Me: Diamond Edition - Mercury Nashville
Shania Twain's `The Woman In Me' album reached Diamond status in 1997, selling over 20 million copies to date. Remastered in celebration of the 25th anniversary. Available on vinyl, Deluxe 2CD and Super Deluxe 3CD.
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Herb Alpert - Herb Alpert Is... - Herb Alpert Presents
This new release from Herb Alpert Presents is the definitive retrospective on the illustrious career of one of America's most unique musical voices, Herb Alpert! Containing 63 tracks culled from 6 decades of the trumpeter's classic recordings, Herb Alpert Is... is the perfect companion piece to the new 2020 feature length documentary of the same name. Presented in a coffee table style LP record book containing five 12-inch, audiophile quality 180-gram vinyl records and 180 pages of vintage photos, extensive song credits, and a 7,500 word essay written by Bud Scoppa. The record book is housed in a custom slipcase with a screened printed smoked acrylic window.
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ALSO OUT THIS WEEK
Queen + Adam Lambert - Live Around The World
Sufjan Stevens - The Ascension
Dawes - Good Luck With Whatever
Corey Taylor - CMFT
Aloe Blacc - All Love Everything
Yung Lean - Starz
The Jaded Hearts Club - You've Always Been Here
BlackPink - THE ALBUM
Gabriel Garzon-Montano - Aguita
Ella Fitzgerald - Ella: The Lost Berlin Tapes
Mariah Carey - The Rarities
Melanie C - Melanie C
Joachim Cooder - Over That Road I'm Bound
LANY - Mama's Boy
Chris Smither - More From The Levee
NRBQ - In Frequencies
Jonsi - Shiver
Dolly Parton - A Holly Dolly Christmas
Brian Fallon - Local Honey [Limited Edition Pink LP]
Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Mettavolution Live [2LP]
Frank Zappa - Halloween 81: Live At The Palladium, NYC (Highlights)
William Shatner - The Blues
Oasis - (Whats The Story) Morning Glory: 25th Anniversary [Silver 2LP]
& More .....
For more information on these and other releases out this week, check out our New Releases charts by week section.
Read more...New Release Round-Up 09-25-20
Recorded at Henson Studios and Trainwreck Studios, Ohms is an other-worldly body of work meticulously crafted by the 5 piece band. It is a magnificent tour de force and their first album in 4 years since the critically acclaimed Gore LP in 2016. The band, which includes Chino Moreno, Frank Delgado, Stephen Carpenter, Abe Cunningham, and Sergio Vega, has produced a dense LP with every member firing on all cylinders. The album also boasts a familiar collaborator in veteran producer and engineer Terry Date, who worked on 1995’s Adrenaline, 1997’s Around the Fur and 2000’s White Pony. All of the above assembles and sets the stage to deliver Ohms; 10 tracks of raw escapism and unparalleled grooves that have made Deftones' sound singular for over two decades.
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Prince - Sign O’ The Times: Remastered - Warner Records
Prince's iconic album, Sign O’ The Times, has been remastered for the very first time by Prince's original mastering engineer Bernie Grundman. Primarily recorded between the end of 1985 and beginning of 1987, the era saw the dissolution of his band The Revolution, the end of his engagement to Susannah Melvoin, and the creation (and ultimate abandonment) of the albums Dream Factory, Camille, and Crystal Ball. By the end of that period of transformation, Prince emerged with one of his most urgent and wide-ranging releases to date - an epochal double album that would be hailed as a creative, critical, and commercial triumph.
The Buckleys, a three-piece band featuring siblings Sarah, Lachlan, and Molly, embody a brand of “hippie country” representing the infectious personality and spirited conscience that the band maintains. The debut album, Daydream, features the singles “Money,” “Leave Me Hanging On,” and the title track “Daydream” which scored a #1 single at Australian country radio, followed by “I’m Comin’ For Ya (Love),” which hit #3. Nominated for New Talent Of The Year Award at the 2020 Country Music Awards Australian.
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The album features 15 tracks highlighting the group’s energetically hopeful vibe, conveying the members’ collective message that we’re all “Super” and we can overcome any hardship together as “One”. The album, which will be released this week, includes 1 booklet, 1 CD-R booklet, 1 ID card, 1 ID card holder, 1 postcard, 1 folded poster, and 2 photo cards. This is an official release from SM Entertainment and Capitol Records.
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In this era of reckoning for American policing, increases of racism fostered by the most incompetent president in modern times, and a global pandemic that has affected all areas of life as we once knew it, voices of dissent in entertainment have become more relevant than ever. Enter Paris, arguably one of the most politically outspoken artists in hip-hop history, with his latest album, Safe Space Invader. Entirely self-produced and released on his own Guerrilla Funk Recordings imprint, Safe Space Invader is a brutal commentary on Black life in 2020 America, touching on the topics of police brutality, racism, gentrification, economic inequality and cancel culture, among others.
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Diana Krall's new self-produced album, This Dream Of You, was mixed by Al Schmitt, who worked closely with her to achieve the notable intimacy and immediacy. Performances from 2016-2017 sessions, on which she collaborated with late friend/longtime creative partner Tommy LiPuma. A record for right now but also feels like a movie you might share with someone you know will stay with it until the final reel. As she says, "If But Beautiful is the overture, then `Singing In The Rain' is the end title.
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One of the first bands to overtly combine death metal with atmospheric keyboards, Nocturnus' debut album introduced more technical and progressive elements into the traditional death metal formula without losing any of the brutality. The audio for this vinyl is taken from the original tapes in Full Dynamic Range, allowing the music's nuances to shine through and giving the album a more immersive and dynamic sound than ever before.
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ALSO OUT THIS WEEK
Bob Mould - Blue Hearts
Idles - Ultra Mono
The Rolling Stones - Steel Wheels Live: Live From Atlantic City, NJ, 1989
Public Enemy - What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez - The Clouds Hill Tapes Pt I, II & III
Sylvan Esso - Free Love
Surfer Blood - Carefree Theatre
Reckless Kelly - American Jackpot / American Girls
Blitzen Trapper - Holy Smokes Future Jokes
Machine Gun Kelly (MGK) - Tickets To My Downfall
Dashboard Confessional - Mtv Unplugged 2.0 [LP]
Thurston Moore - By The Fire
A Certain Ratio - ACR Loco
The Hives - Live At Third Man Records
Roger Eno and Brian Eno - Luminous
Will Butler - Generations
Tricky - Fall To Pieces
TOMORROW X TOGETHER - Drama
The War and Treaty - Hearts Town
Carrie Underwood - My Gift
Lou Reed - New York: Deluxe Edition [3CD/DVD/2LP]
The Weeknd - After Hours
Peggy Lee - Ultimate Christmas
& More .....
For more information on these and other releases out this week, check out our New Releases charts by week section.
New Release Round-Up 09-18-20
Neil Young - The Times - Warner Records
The Times is a moving and topical solo acoustic performance, a unique collection of songs, filmed at home during lockdown as part of the raw and personal, Fireside Sessions series.
Run The Jewels - RTJ4 - BMG Rights Management
This eleven song, 40 minute powerhouse is their most ferocious and focused effort to date, and sports a lineup of all-star guests including Pharrell Williams, Mavis Staples, 2 Chainz, Zack de la Rocha, Josh Homme, DJ Premier, and Greg Nice. Recorded primarily at Rick Rubin's Shangri-La Studios and the iconic Electric Lady Studios in NYC, RTJ4 represents two years of intensive writing, recording, distilling, and amplifying the most potent elements of their music. The result is a collection of wall-to-wall bangers illuminating the group's unique ability to straddle the worlds of pointed social commentary and raw, boisterous fun.
Keith Urban releases his brand new studio album THE SPEED OF NOW Part 1. The album includes his hit single “God Whispered Your Name” as well as the #2 smash hit “We Were”. Keith won the CMA Entertainer Of The Year in 2018 and he is currently the 2019 ACM Entertainer Of The Year. Keith will be hosting the ACM Awards on Wednesday-September 16th while will air on ABC-TV. “In October 2019 this album title came to me. I liked it because I felt like life was flying by so fast. But music (for me) has always been the place where it slows down and doesn’t even exist. I would never have imagined that, in 2020, this album title would take on a whole new meaning.” - Keith
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50 years after the original made him a global superstar Yusuf / Cat Stevens has rerecorded an entirely new version of his 1970 classic album Tea For The Tillerman. With many of the album’s songs sounding more relevant than ever today, Tea For The Tillerman 2 offers up striking and sensitive new renditions of stone-cold classics like “Father And Son,” “Wild World,” and “Where Do The Children Play?”
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A follow up to 2009's GRAMMY Winning Family Time - Ziggy Marley has bottled the energy of his children and put it into music form! This is a very special piece and have a number of friends guesting on this album, including: Stephen Marley, Sheryl Crow, Ben Harper, Angelique Kidjo, Alanis Morissette, Tom Morello, Lisa Loeb, Busta Rhymes and Jamie Lee Curtis (reading her new book Today I Feel Silly). A portion of proceeds will benefit Ziggy's 501(c)3 URGE - which supports the education, social development and overall well being of the Chepstow Primary School and the One Love Youth Camp, both in Jamaica.
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After the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1968, racial tensions across the country rose. Palo Alto, a largely white college town in Cali, wasn't immune. Danny Scher, a junior at the high school, had a dream to have Thelonious Monk perform and help bring about racial unity the community while raising funds for the International Committee. After many twists and turns, the triumphantly successful concert eventually happened. Now available on CD; Softpak w/ booklet & foldable poster.
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Between You And Me is the fourth album by the indie trio San Cisco, from Fremantle in Western Australia, town of sun-baked sandstone and sea breezes. It's an album two years and at least one sadly remembered love affair in the making. Between You and Me finds the childhood friends' open-hearted/ good times chemistry distilled to it's essence. Nearly 10 years since those first EPs, ARIA nominations and early US and UK inroads, San Cisco have made their most painstaking album sound effortless.
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Acclaimed singer/songwriter Joan Osborne is back with Trouble And Strife (Womanly Hips Records), her first album of original material in six years. Osborne self-produced the new collection and penned all ten songs, with two co-writes. Trouble and Strife finds the gifted vocalist offering a strong yet uplifting response to some of the socio-political issues plaguing our nation over the last several years. Osborne beautifully balances the weight of her messages with solace and optimism. Throughout her 25-year, multi-Grammy nominated career, Joan Osborne has never been an artist confined to one space. She has utilized her incredible voice through her own songs while also becoming one of her generation’s finest interpreters. Osborne has shared the stage with artists ranging from Stevie Wonder and Mavis Staples to Bob Dylan and Lucinda Williams and she continues to seamlessly blend into any genre. On Trouble & Strife, her tenth studio album, the need for her voice and words has never been stronger.
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ALSO OUT THIS WEEK
Bright Light Bright Light - Fun City
Alicia Keys - Alicia
Charli XCX - how i'm feeling now
Anjimile - Giver Taker
Gus Dapperton - Orca
Butcher Brown - #KingButch
Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets - Live At The Roundhouse
Osees - Protean Threat
Semisonic - You're Not Alone EP
Cults - Host
Matt Berry - Phantom Birds
Ace Frehley - Origins, Vol. 2
David Bowie - Young Americans [Brick & Mortar Exclusive 2016 Remaster Gold LP]
Brad Mehldau - Suite: April 2020
Nick Cordero - Live Your Life - Live At Feinstein's / 54 Below
Ed Harcourt - Monochrome To Colour
Jealous of the Birds - Peninsula
Ava Max - Heaven & Hell
Lauren Alaina - Getting Over Him EP
Steam Down / Afronaut Zu / Yazmin Lacey - Blue Note Re:imagined - Etcetera / I'll Never Stop Loving You [Limited Edition Vinyl Single]
& More .....
For more information on these and other releases out this week, check out our New Releases charts by week section.
New Release Round-Up 09-11-20
American Head is the best and most consistent studio album from The Flaming Lips since the release of their most successful brace of albums The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots. Similar to those albums, the 13 songs on American Head are classically structured and features the same sonic and production qualities. Kacey Musgraves (a fan who covers “Do You Realize” in her live set) is featured on “God And The Policeman”.
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Marilyn Manson - WE ARE CHAOS - Loma Vista
As chaos envelopes the world, Marilyn Manson penned the perfect prescription. The aptly titled WE ARE CHAOS was written/produced by Manson & Shooter Jennings. Rock & roll icon and painter, Manson continues to infiltrate fashion, film, and music, leaving his fingerprints on modern culture. "Making this record, I had to think to myself: Tame your crazy, stitch your suit, try to pretend that you are not an animal. But I knew that mankind is the worst of them all.”
The whole story could’ve been written in the stars… Astrology tells us a “Saturn Return” happens when the planet Saturn revolves back to the same position it held upon our birth. It typically takes almost thirty years. However, in the case of Delta Spirit, it took a little less than fifteen. The enduring California rock quintet—Matthew Logan Vasquez [vocals], Kelly Winrich [multi-instrumentalist, vocals], Will McLaren [guitar], Jon Jameson [bass], and Brandon Young [drums]—realign on their fifth full-length and first album since 2014, What Is There. As much as it reflects their journey thus far, it also ushers them into new territory as both musicians and, most importantly, friends. In the end, Delta Spirit not only return, but move forward together on What Is There.
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Medium Rarities is the first rarities collection from Mastodon covering their entire career. The compilation features one brand new song – “Fallen Torches”. It also includes a bevy of classic covers, soundtrack contributions, instrumentals, B-sides, and live recordings on one complete package for the very first time. Among an eclectic array of covers, the musicians tackle “A Commotion” by Feist, “A Spoonful Weighs A Ton” by The Flaming Lips, “Atlanta” by Butthole Surfers, and “Orion” by Metallica. It also features soundtrack cuts such as “White Walker”[from the Game of Thrones inspired mix tape] and the soundtrack song “Cut You Up With A Linoleum Knife” [Aqua Teen Hunger Force]. Meanwhile, they get under the hood with instrumental versions of “Asleep in the Deep,” “Toe To Toes,” “Jaguar God,” and “Halloween.”
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Produced by Alex Newport (Death Cab For Cutie, At The Drive In), Yellow Coat is a masterpiece of heartbreak, equal parts lost Sixties AM hits, folk-pop beauty and dark night of the soul music. Taking inspiration from Van Gogh's Dear Theo along with John Steinbeck's A Life in Letters, and stamped with the honesty and intimacy of something not meant to be heard, yellow coat is the product of Matt Costa penning letters to himself about the end of a relationship that lasted almost a decade. While Yellow Coat may have started as an album about heartbreak, its sense of sadness, continued hope and perseverance also feels completely universal right now. "My songs have always been something that transcends a feeling into something that is healing," Costa adds. "I hope listeners and fans find these songs as personal and honest as they are to me."
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Elizabeth Cook is a Nashville-based singer-songwriter from Wildwood, FL- the New York Times lauds her "a sharp and surprising country singer". A veteran SiriusXM Outlaw Country Radio DJ, Cook has hosted her own show, Apron Strings, for over 10 years. She's also a favorite of David Letterman, the host of an upcoming TV show on Circle Network called Upstream, and a frequent guest star on Adult Swim's long-running hit cartoon series "Squidbillies".
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Steinway artist & composer, Chad Lawson's solo work has a relaxed, meditative feel that draws on both the sonorities of classical music and the freeform nature of jazz improv. You Finally Knew, his debut solo piano album for Decca US, was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and features ten pieces he wrote to inspire listeners to take time every day to consciously be still for mental clarity and overall wellness of being.
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ALSO OUT THIS WEEK
Brothertiger - Paradise Lost
PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love
PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love - Demos
Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart [Picture Disc Vinyl Single]
The Pineapple Thief - Versions Of The Truth
Reba McEntire - Rumor Has It: 30th Anniversary Edition
Everything Everything - Re-Animator
Stray Cats - Rocked This Town: From LA To London
Logic - No Pressure
Skillet - Victorious: The Aftermath [Deluxe Edition]
Suzanne Vega - An Evening Of New York Songs And Stories
Artemis - Artemis
Various Artists - Reggae Gold 2020
& More .....
For more information on these and other releases out this week, check out our New Releases charts by week section.
New Release Round-Up 09-04-20
All Them Witches have built a career out of playing music that can not be pigeonholed into one specific genre. Nothing as the Ideal was recorded in Studio 2 at the world famous Abbey Road with the help of longtime mixing engineer Mikey Allred. The history and vibe of that setting laid the groundwork for what was to come. The band’s signature psychedelic blues riffs, relentless drums, melodic bass lines and non-linear lyrics are all present. The resulting album is a thought provoking head banger that is the band’s most cohesive album to date.
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Another prized jewel in The Rolling Stones' unmatched catalogue is restored to its full glory. This limited edition Deluxe vinyl box set features the new stereo album mix, sourced from the original session files + Rarities & Alternative mixes including three previously unreleased tracks, Scarlet, All The Rage & Criss Cross. Mastered at half speed by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios, London. Also included is The Brussels Affair, recorded live at the Forest National Arena in October 1973 and pressed on 180g vinyl.
Also Available: Remastered Catalogue + Living In A Ghost Town
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On the cusp of releasing his first-ever solo album, Every Feeling On A Loop (ANTI-Records), songwriter Josiah Johnson is aware he wasn’t supposed to be here. Just five years ago when he took a leave of absence from the acclaimed indie-folk band, The Head and the Heart, the question was less where Johnson’s star would take him and more whether his struggles with addiction would end his music career. But then, he wasn’t supposed to be there, either. Prior to co-founding the band, Johnson studied math and computer science in graduate school. But the magic of song led him to an open mic that changed his life. At Seattle’s Conor Byrne Pub, Johnson sparked collaborations with fellow musicians who would eventually form The Head and the Heart. The group’s rise was rapid. They built a loyal fanbase and zigzagged the globe, with sold-out shows at historic venues from The Fillmore to Red Rocks and festival appearances at Coachella and Lollapalooza. Their 2011 self-titled debut went on to receive RIAA Gold certification, followed by 2013’s Let’s Be Still, which landed on Billboard’s Top 10 Albums Chart. On Every Feeling on a Loop, lush musical arrangements and harmonies support Johnson’s baritone crooning. At times, the songs sound like prayers. At others, his exuberance feels like the euphoria he’d always sought, this time hard-earned and wiser. He says he feels like a new person making it, charting his journey out of the dark into the wide awake of the morning, using the magic that was his all along.
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One of the first bands to overtly combine death metal with atmospheric keyboards, Nocturnus' debut album introduced more technical and progressive elements into the traditional death metal formula without losing any of the brutality. The audio for this vinyl is taken from the original tapes in Full Dynamic Range, allowing the music's nuances to shine through and giving the album a more immersive and dynamic sound than ever before.
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Zakk Sabbath is the Black Sabbath tribute band featuring guitarist/vocalist Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne), bassist Blasko (Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie) and drummer Joey Castillo (Danzig, Queens of the Stone Age), who have been constantly gigging since 2014 with their take on the Birmingham four's early songs. Legendarily recorded in a single day in October 1969, Black Sabbath's self-titled debut was released on a Friday the 13th in 1970, and the world was never the same. "We recorded a live EP and were wondering what we could do next as a cover band, so the 50th album anniversary came just at the right time", explains Blasko regarding Zakk Sabbath's decision to go studio. "Compared to 'Paranoid', which is almost like a best-of record, the bulk of the material on 'Black Sabbath' is deep-cut, really experimental stuff that was never thoroughly explored, so that was a challenge, not to forget that we wanted to meet our own high standards." Describing the DIY process as "very productive," the three respectfully added their own flair to make for a slightly different flavor, also revisiting various live renditions and "extending a solo here or slowing things down because that's what they tended to do on stage." Titled "Vertigo", Zakk Sabbath's ode to the masters won't be available digitally, "to make the release feel authentic to the time when vinyl ruled the earth. It was such a cool time for those of us that grew up during that time. The fan experience with the physical product is irreplaceable with digital and streaming. We wanted to capture that authenticity." The songs were faithfully recorded in the spirit of the original - live in the studio and with a film crew documenting the process - culminating in a new celebration of the greatest heavy metal band of all time and the record that started it all. Gatefold LP incl. Padded inner sleeve and special vinyl mastering, ltd. Yellow Vinyl
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Between You And Me is the fourth album by the indie trio San Cisco, from Fremantle in Western Australia, town of sun-baked sandstone and sea breezes. It's an album two years and at least one sadly remembered love affair in the making. Between You and Me finds the childhood friends' open-hearted/ good times chemistry distilled to it's essence. Nearly 10 years since those first EPs, ARIA nominations and early US and UK inroads, San Cisco have made their most painstaking album sound effortless.
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ALSO OUT THIS WEEK
Various Artists - AngelHeaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan & T. Rex [2LP]
Declan McKenna - Zeros
Grant-Lee Phillips - Lightning, Show Us Your Stuff
Hardy - A Rock
Aesop Rock - Float
Various Artists - Two Tone - The Albums [8 CD Box Set]
Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac: 1969-1974
Sara Evans - Copy That
Rex Orange County - Bcos U Will Never B Free
Tennessee Jet - The Country
Pop Smoke - Meet The Woo 2
Stryper - Even The Devil Believes
Lang Lang - Bach: Goldberg Variations
Gouge Away - Consider / Wave Of Mutilation [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Vinyl Single]
Throwing Muses - Sun Racket
& More .....
For more information on these and other releases out this week, check out our New Releases charts by week section.
New Release Round-Up 08-28-20
The Waterfall II completes The Waterfall, My Morning Jacket’s acclaimed 2015 record. Originally intended to be a sprawling triple album, the band were advised to hold back and keep some of it on the shelf. Until now! Frontman Jim James says, "this is simply the second half of a long snapshot of life for me as a writer in the years leading up to 2014, and the life of us as a band as we lived and worked in the epic country in and around Stinson Beach, CA during these recording sessions."
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“I allowed myself to support a narrative I thought I had to support of PVRIS being a band,” Lynn confesses. “I didn’t really have a role model for this. Coming from a ‘band culture,’ it’s about how the group is always greater than the sum of its parts, and you’re not supposed to take credit, even if you do everything. There’s no template or role model for really owning it as a woman. I wanted to make everyone else happy and uphold an image I thought we had to. Growing up, I learned I don’t have to do that anymore. I’m finally allowing myself to take credit. I’ve got the full support and encouragement of my bandmates. PVRIS is a unit and very much a team, but the heart and soul of the vision and music always has sourced from me. I’m just saying it now. I fulfilled my own vision of what a role model should be.” Writing and recording all of 2019, she found the perfect collaborator to bring this to life in JT Daly [K. Flay]. With Lynn writing, cooking up beats, playing guitar, drums, and bass, and singing, he amplified and augmented her vision and versatility in the studio. PVRIS set the foundation for the new era with recent EP, Hallucinations, spawning lead single and title track “Hallucinations,” which clocked 10 million total streams in a few months’ time, as well as fan favorites, “Old Wounds” and “Death of Me.”
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Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Ondara, reveals Folk N’ Roll Vol. 1: Tales Of Isolation, a new collection of songs written in direct response to the current global pandemic. The album was composed and produced by Ondara while in lockdown in Minneapolis over the course of a week and came out of Ondara’s deep need to create as a form of therapy during this incredibly uncertain time. FNRV1: Tales of Isolation is the follow up to Ondara’s critically acclaimed 2019 debut Tales of America.
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From the prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada and recently seen on Austin City Limits, Colter Wall sings songs of the great West. Heralded by icon Steve Earle and touted as a favorite of celebrity Jason Mamoa, the music of Colter Wall has graced the silver screen many times, in films such as Peanut Butter Falcon, Hell or High Water, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, MO and Deadwood. Characterized by his distinct, gritty baritone, Colter Wall’s career has been marked with critical praise from his breakout EP, Imaginary Appalachia to his debut and sophomore records produced by Dave Cobb. Whether headlining music festivals in Norway, or playing legendary stages like Newport Folk Festival, Colter Wall continues to garner attention from the world. On his third full-length release, fans will hear Colter Wall in the producer’s chair.
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The third studio album from From Ashes to New. The title track, "Panic," gained over 1.5 million streams and over 1 million video views in a little over a month. The band has also had 3 Top 10 Active Rock Singles and over 225 million streams to date. If there is a central theme on Panic, it's that in order to rise above any obstacles you have to trust in yourself. "Even though you feel voiceless, you're not, but we understand if you feel that way because we feel that way too," frontman Matt Brandyberry explains. As fans have come to expect since the band formed seven years ago, this empowering message is delivered via the band's unique blend of metal, hip-hop, rock and electronica.
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Multi-Platinum, GRAMMY-winning megastar Toni Braxton releases her latest album, Spell My Name, via Island Records this week. Includes hit single, “Do It” as well as a new version with Missy Elliot, and fan-favorite “Dance”. Braxton has sold over 67 million records throughout her career over the past three decades.
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Gregory Porter, the world’s best-selling contemporary Jazz/Soul artist with over 3 million worldwide album sales returns with All Rise, his sixth studio album. The album marks a return to Porter’s beloved original songwriting – heart-on-sleeve lyrics imbued with everyday philosophy and real-life detail, set to a stirring mix of jazz, soul, blues and gospel. Produce by Troy Miller (Laura Mvula, Jamie Cullum, Emili Sande), the set also represents the evolution of Porter’s art to something even more emphatic, emotive, intimate, and universal too. After 2017’s Nat King Cole & Me, Porter knew two things: one, he’d bring in an orchestra for his next LP, and two, the music is medicine. In the spirit of that latter revelation, ALL RISE brims with songs about irrepressible love, plus a little protest, because the road to healing is bumpy. Since his world-beating 2013 Blue Note debut, ‘Liquid Spirit’, which won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album, Gregory hasn't let down his legion of fans, whether collaborating with Disclosure on ‘Holding On’, releasing his dance hit ‘Liquid Spirit – Claptone Remix’ which became one of the most popular tracks in Ibiza, scoring another Grammy for ‘Take Me to the Alley’ (2016), or telling his life story through Cole's songbook. Porter is still surprised by his runaway success, but he has a theory: "I was soothed by my voice as a child and I think that's the same thing others get from it. I'm trying to heal myself with these songs." Not only has Gregory made chart history by bringing jazz back to the masses, graced the iconic Pyramid Stage and the world’s most prestigious gig venues, performed for the Queen, appeared on the biggest TV shows as well as presented his own series (‘Gregory Porter’s Popular Voices’ on BBC Four), 2019 saw the singer launch and host his own podcast, ‘The Hang’, featuring such distinguished guests as Annie Lennox and Jeff Goldblum.
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Rick Wakeman, best known as keyboard player in progressive rock band Yes, releases The Red Planet - a serious return to "Wakeman Prog". Harking back to Wakeman's critically acclaimed 1973 debut The Six Wives of Henry VIII, The Red Planet features eight newly composed pieces based around a central subject matter. Rick's blown the dust off his favorite analog keyboards and along with his latest keys has used the same formula he devised when making his debut album and the equally legendary Criminal Record. Upon being asked about the expectations of his prog fans, that they are hoping he will have shoved the "Prog Fader" up to 11, he replied, "That could be a problem... as it's already at 14!!!"
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Blackbirds features songs primarily popularized by women who were the “bridge she came across on.” The album finds Bettye LaVette in top form with powerful renditions of songs that touched her personally. From Dinah Washington’s “Drinking Again,” Nina Simone’s “I Hold No Grudge” and more, they are all delivered in LaVette’s rich & raspy tone. Blackbirds honors LaVette’s heritage as an R&B singer and the women who came before her. LaVette A&R’d and sequenced the record herself – her first true curation.
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ALSO OUT THIS WEEK
Katy Perry - Smile
Metallica - S&M2
Angel Olsen - Whole New Mess
The Avett Brothers - The Third Gleam
Elliott Smith - Elliott Smith: Expanded 25th Anniversary Edition
Dan Penn - Living On Mercy
Various Artists - AngelHeaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan & T. Rex [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition White 2LP]
Mac DeMarco - Here Comes The Cowboy Demos
Phish - The Story Of The Ghost
The Pack A.D. - It Was Fun While It Lasted
Seether - Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum
Needtobreathe - Out Of Body
Ruston Kelly - Shape & Destroy
Molly Tuttle - …but i'd rather be with you
Disclosure - ENERGY
The Weeknd - After Hours
Dashboard Confessional - Swiss Army Romance
Jason Mraz - Look For The Good
Ledisi - The Wild Card
TOMORROW X TOGETHER - The Dream Chapter: ETERNITY [Starboard Version]
Kelly Lee Owens - Inner Song
& More .....
For more information on these and other releases out this week, check out our New Releases charts by week section.
Rick Wakeman - Indie Retail
On August 28th, Rick Wakeman returns with his new album The Red Planet and he has a very special message about supporting Indie Record Stores. Pre-Order your copy now on 2LP or CD
My Morning Jacket - Indie Retail
My Morning Jacket’s new album (and first in 5 years), The Waterfall II, arrives August 28th and Jim James has a great message about how you can find your copy right here at an Indie Record Store.
Pre-Order your copy now on Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Merlot Wave LP, Limited Edition Deluxe Orange/Green Splash LP, Clear LP or CD
New Release Round-Up 05-01-20
Lamentations is a 10-song rumination on the current state of the world around me. I was raised in the faith and the book of Lamentations was always one that caught my attention. A broken man crying out to the heavens, asking why God sat back and let his country fall apart. Questioning the sheer existence of a higher power in the lowest of times. How could an all loving God sit back and let an entire nation’s cry for help go unanswered? I saw many parallels in that story and the current climate of this country in 2020. There are a large group of people who were promised something in 2016. They are still waiting for those promises to be fulfilled. This is a record about the things that break people. Religion, politics, addiction, love, money, family, history. I believe it is an empathetic look at the other side. A group of stories about losing everything and still finding the will to stand back up and fight for the things that matter the most. - BJ Barham, American Aquarium
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Car Seat Headrest - Making A Door Less Open - Matador Records
Making A Door Less Open, the new album from Car Seat Headrest and the first set of brand-new songs since 2016's Teens Of Denial, is available this week on vinyl and CD featuring distinct tracklists and mixes for each format. Created over the course of four years, Making a Door Less Open is the result of a fruitful 'collaboration' between Car Seat Headrest, led by Will Toledo, and 1 Trait Danger, a CSH electronic side project consisting of drummer Andrew Katz and Toledo's alternative persona, 'Trait.' To realize this, the band recorded the album twice: once live with guitars, drums and bass, and once in a MIDI environment using purely synthesized sounds. During the mixing process, the two approaches were gradually combined using elements of each, with additional overdubs.
With a sound that recalls Country music's acid washed golden era, the '90s influenced band Hot Country Knights has finally revealed more details about their debut album The K Is Silent, from Capitol Nashville, available this week. Produced by Dierks Bentley, the multi-Platinum entertainer also serves as a co-writer on over half of the 10 brawny tracks, serving up one of the most musically satisfying debut albums since 1999. Standout track "You Make It Hard" best represents their High-T philosophy.
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Damien Jurado - What's New, Tomboy? - Mama Bird
2020 release from the Seattle-based indie-folk veteran Damien Jurado. What's New, Tomboy? is his third album in three years, following 2018's Secretly Canadian swan song The Horizon Just Laughed and 2019's Mama Bird debut In The Shape Of A Storm.
Chicano Batman - Invisible People - ATO Records
Chicano Batman release their new album, Invisible People, via ATO. The LA-based quartet made up of Eduardo Arenas, Carlos Arévalo, Bardo Martinez and Gabriel Villa, follow-up the critically acclaimed breakthrough Freedom Is Free with their most sonically varied and cohesive album to date. Mixed by Grammy-winning engineer Shawn Everett (Beck, Alabama Shakes) the 12-song set accentuates the group's high-spirited synthesis of Tropicália, west coast psychedelia and late-'60s/early-'70s soul.
UPCOMING RELEASES
"As a thank you for all the support over the years, Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit will be opening sales for their new album, Reunions, a week early exclusively for independent record stores. These are strange times we live in and the hope is that getting a jump start on sales of the album will be of some help to you in a time of need. Jason and the band look forward to seeing you again in person when they get back on the road. Hang in there!" His last album - 2017's The Nashville Sound - a #1 album on the Billboard Folk, Independent, Country and Rock albums charts, also received Best Americana Album at the Grammys, Album Of The Year At The Americana Honors & Awards and was nominated at the CMA Awards for Album Of The Year. Since then, he has collaborated on the soundtrack for A Star Is Born, the debut album by the Highwomen, and Sheryl Crow's latest album Threads. He also released a live album, Live From the Ryman.
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In early 2016, D.C. punk legends Brian Baker (Minor Threat, Dag Nasty, Bad Religion) and Michael Hampton (S.O.A., Embrace, One Last Wish) met up at Hampton's Brooklyn home to play music together. Friends since first grade, the two guitarists ended up writing a handful of songs that day, then closed out the session with a spur-of-the-moment decision to start a band. When it came to finding a bassist, Baker and Hampton looked to Johnny Temple of Girls Against Boys and Soulside (another fellow student at their elementary school), who equally shared their passion for what Temple refers to as "loud, angry, visceral music." By the end of the year, the band had enlisted Refused frontman Dennis Lyxzén as their singer, thus cementing the lineup to punk-rock supergroup Fake Names. Soon after dubbing themselves Fake Names-a moniker that's part Raising Arizona reference, part recognition of the "ubiquitous and demonic use of the term 'fake news,'" according to Baker-the band headed to Renegade Studios with the goal of creating a demo to present to record labels. But after playing those recordings for Baker's Bad Religion bandmate Brett Gurewitz, the Epitaph founder made an unexpected proposal. "Brett said to us, 'This isn't a demo, this is the album,'" Baker recalls. "He was pretty adamant about putting it out exactly as it was, so that's what we wound up doing."
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When considering any great work of art, be it a painting, a novel, or a piece of music, it's natural to wonder what might have inspired it. Mark Lanegan's 2020 album, Straight Songs Of Sorrow, features guest appearances from Greg Dulli, Warren Ellis, John Paul Jones, Ed Harcourt and more, These 15 songs are inspired his life story, as documented in his new memoir, Sing Backwards And Weep. The book is a brutal, nerve-shredding read, thanks to Lanegan's unsparing candor in recounting a journey from troubled youth in eastern Washington, through his drug-stained existence amid the '90s Seattle rock scene, to an unlikely salvation at the dawn of the 21st century. There's death and tragedy, yet also humor and hope, thanks to the tenacity which impels it's host, even at his lowest moments. Today, Lanegan is a renowned songwriter and a much-coveted collaborator, as adept at electronica as with rock, constantly honing his indomitable voice: an asphalt-laced linctus for the soul. While the memoir documents a struggle to find peace with himself, his album emphasizes the extent to which he came to realize that music is his life.
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For more information on these and other releases out this week, check out our New Releases charts by week section.