STAFF PICKS

Kimber – Chris Bell
Lindsay – B Boys
Dario – Broken Social Scene
Brittany- Chris Bell, Black Lips, Beth Ditto

THIS WEEK’S NEW RELEASES

Chris Bell Looking Forward: The Roots Of Big Star CD (Omnivore)
 This 22-track collection chronicles music made by and with Bell before Big Star’s iconic #1 Record—from bands with imaginative names like Rock City, Christmas Future, Icewater, The Wallabys, and more. It examines Bell’s progress as a writer, performer, and engineer leading up to Big Star in which the sounds and roots of Big Star are completely evident.
 
Randall BramblettJuke Joint At The Edge Of The World CD/LP+MP3 (New West)
Juke Joint At The Edge Of The World is a record that reflects the freedom my bandmates and I have found playing together in the last few years. Some of the places we play are like the old juke joints where people dance and shout – from these people and places we’ve found the energy we need to be free to shake the music up. Now, when we improvise we know it’s going to take us to a new and better musical place. Time listening and working together has given us that. The result is that this record has more of a ‘live in the studio’ feel to it. It’s also rooted more in the soul and R&B dance music I grew up listening to and playing. Less thinking and more playing. Less analyzing and more fun.”
 
Broken Social SceneHug Of Thunder CD/2xLP (Arts & Crafts)
On Hug Of Thunder the 15 members of Broken Social Scene – well, the 15 who play on the record, including returnees Leslie Feist and Emily Haines – refract their varying emotions, methods, and techniques into something that doesn’t just equal their other albums, but surpasses them. It is righteous but warm, angry but loving, melodic but uncompromising. The title track on its own might just be the best thing you will hear all year – a song that might become as beloved as “Anthems For a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl” from their breakthrough album, You Forgot It In People. The album’s title, Kevin Drew says, captured what he wanted people to feel about the group’s comeback, and how they sound playing together again: “It’s just such a wonderful sentiment about us, coming in like a hug of thunder.” In troubled times it offers a serotonin rush of positivity: “Stay Happy” lives up to its title, with huge surges of brass that sound like sunshine bursting through clouds. “Gonna Get Better” makes a promise that the album is determined to deliver. That’s not to say it’s an escapist record: Broken Social Scene is completely engaged, wholly focused, and not ignoring the darkness that lurks outside. But there is no hectoring, no lecturing, but a recognition of the confusion and ambiguity of the world.
 
HaimSomething To Tell You CD/2xLP (Columbia)
Something To Tell You is the sophomore album from Haim. When the time came to record the album’s eleven tracks, Haim decided to “go in and record as a band, keeping it a little more organic. That was kind of a mission statement for the album” offered Danielle Haim. The group first announced the release of Something To Tell You with an in-studio video version of album track “Right Now,” which was shot and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia, Boogie Nights). Haim then released the single “Want You Back,” which Rolling Stone described as having “a Hot 100 ready sheen.” Pitchfork gave “Want You Back” its coveted Best New Track saying “Haim are pulling the rug out from under our feet in the run-up to releasing their second album.” Entertainment Weekly declared “Want You Back” sees HAIM returning to their sonic roots as a funky, pop-inspired trio, complete with groovy strings, sprightly percussion, a soulful chorus, and a spritz of electronic sheen.”
 
Melvins A Walk With Love And Death 2xCD/2xLP (Ipecac)
Melvin’s first double-album find the trio of Buzz Osborne, Dale Crover, and Steve McDonald showcasing two distinct sides to the band’s music: Death, a proper Melvins’ release, and Love, the score to the Jesse Nieminen directed, self-produced short also titled A Walk With Love And Death. “This was a huge undertaking,” explained band ringleader Buzz Osborne. “All three things: the album, the soundtrack, and the film are benchmarks for us.” Drummer Dale Crover added, “A Walk With Love And Death is one giant, dark, moody, psychotic head trip! Not for the faint of heart. You’ll sleep with the lights on after listening.” The albums, which include guests Joey Santiago (The Pixies), Teri Gender Bender (Le Butcherettes/Crystal Fairy) and Anna Waronker (That Dog), were self-produced with engineer Toshi Kosai. [Limited pink vinyl pressing also available.]

Radiohead
OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 2017 2xCD/3xLP+Cassette+MP3 (XL)
OKNOTOK features the original OK Computer twelve track album, eight B-sides, and the Radiohead completist’s dream: “I Promise,” “Lift,” and “Man Of War.” The original studio recordings of these three previously unreleased and long sought after OK Computer-era tracks finally receive their first official issue on OKNOTOK

Ulrich Schnauss
No Further Ahead Than Today CD/2xLP (Scripted Realities/PIAS America)
At once uplifting and otherworldly, the music of Schnauss combines multilayered synthesizers with beats and ethereal vocals, serving as an aural escape route from the trappings of reality.

Toro y Moi
Boo Boo CD/LP+MP3 (Carpark)
“After 7 years of touring and recording, I found myself becoming self-conscious about my position in life as a ‘famous’ person, or at least my version of whatever that is. My dreams had become my reality, yet I was somehow unable to accept this new environment. I couldn’t help but fall into what might be described as an identity crisis. A feedback loop of fearful thoughts left me feeling confused. I felt as though I no longer knew what it was that I actually wanted and needed in and out of life, and at times I felt unable to even tell what was real. During this time of personal turmoil, I turned to music as a form of therapy, and it helped me cope with the pain that I was feeling. I’d listen to the same ambient song over and over again, trying to insulate myself from reality. I fell in love with space again. By the time I felt ready to begin working on a new record, I knew that this idea of space within music would be something that propelled my new work forward. The artists that were influencing what I was making included everyone from Travis Scott to Daft Punk, Frank Ocean to Oneohtrix Point Never, Kashif and Gigi Masin. I recognized that the common thread between these artists was their attention to a feeling of space, or lack thereof. I decided that I wanted to make a pop record with these ideas in mind. That idea for a record is what eventually became Boo Boo.”

Violent Femmes
Two Mics & The Truth: Unplugged & Unhinged In America CD/LP+MP3 (PIAS America)
Violent Femmes’ new live album, 2 Mics & The Truth: Unplugged & Unhinged in America, includes rearranged classics, songs played live for the first time, spontaneous requests and random improvisations. While visiting radio stations to support their latest record I Can Do Anything, Violent Femmes and their talented backing band of multi-instrumentalists recorded this live record using special equipment and recording techniques to capture an ideal sound.“This is the first time we’ve delivered a full scale recording to the public which captures the sound and spirit of the band the way we play together when we’re working out songs in the hotel or dressing room,” says bassist Brian Ritchie. The intriguing vulnerability of a live show captured in a refined recording is unable to be matched by a polished studio session. Ritchie explains further, “This project refocuses attention upon the repertoire as a whole by stripping songs to their essentials, conveying them without artifice and removing them from any timelines. It’s the closest we’ve gotten to the essence of Violent Femmes.”
 
Black LipsSatan’s Graffiti Or God’s Art? 2xLP (Vice)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Atlanta, GA flower punk pioneers Black Lips return with their first album in three years. Produced by Sean Lennon at his studio compound in upstate New York throughout 2016, Satan’s Graffiti Or God’s Art? is the group’s most musically evolved to date, while still staying true to their original blistering take on fuzzy, dirty rock ‘n’ roll.The album features contributions by Saul Adamczewski of Fat White Family and guest vocals by Yoko Ono.

Beth Ditto
Fake Sugar LP (Capitol)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. After 17 years with garage-punk band the Gossip, Beth Ditto makes her solo debut with Fake Sugar. On the album, Ditto approaches love, loss, looking back and moving forward with all the sexiness, poignancy, power and beauty befitting such an iconoclastic artist. Fake Sugar is a mash-up of driving blues, malt-shop pop, swooning rock and countrified soul.

STRFKR
Vault Vol. 2 LP+MP3 (Polyvinyl)
A collection of rare, previously unreleased songs.

 

NEXT WEEK’S NEW RELEASES

BORISDear CD/LP
THE DEARSTimes Infinity 2 CD/LP
JAPANESE BREAKFASTSoft Sounds From Another Planet CD/LP
WAXAHATCHEEOut In The Storm CD/LP
LAIBACHAlso Sprach Zarathustra CD/LP
LO TOMSelf Titled CD/LP  (Pedro The Lion/Starflyer 59)
NICK LOWE Abominable Showman CD/LP
NICK LOWENick The Knife CD/LP
YOKO ONOApproximately Infinite Universe CD/LP
YOKO ONOFeeling The Space CD/LP
YOKO ONOFly CD/LP
PSYCHIC TVAllegory & Self CD/LP
PSYCHIC TVPagan Day CD/LP
SUN SEEKERBiddeford CD/LP
SHABAZZ PALACESQuaraz Vs The Jealous Machines CD/LP
SHABAZZ PALACESQuaraz vs Born On A Gangster Star CD/LP
THE FALLPerverted By Language LP
AGAINST METransgender Dysphoria Blues LP
BARDO POND + YO LA TENGOParallelogram A La Carte LP
VIC CHESNUTTGhetto Bells LP
MIKE KROLMike Krol Is Never Dead: The First 2 Records LP
SEXTILEAlbeit Living CD/LP
KURT VILE / STEVE GUNNS/T LP
KURT VILE / STEVE GUNNParallelogram LP
KENDRICK LAMARDamn LP