Alberta Cross – Alberta Cross CD/LP (Dine Alone)

“For the better part of a decade, Alberta Cross was the creative outlet for friends Petter Ericson Stakee and Terry Wolfers. However, following the release of 2012’s Songs Of Patience, Wolfers found himself tied up in several other projects, leaving Stakee to soldier on by his lonesome. He did just that, setting up shop recently in an abandoned church to write and record Alberta Cross’ self-titled third album. Stakee calls the visceral number ‘Isolation’ a return of sorts to the ‘rawness of the way I started out, my first mini-album The Thief & The Heartbreaker.’ He adds that the song is ‘the perfect example of the sound and feel of the whole record,’ one that ‘was inspired by a series of late night jams we had in New York City prior to recording. I really wanted to capture that live soulful organic sound.’ – Consequence Of Sound

All Them Witches – Dying Surfer Meets His Maker CD (New West)

Heavy, heady and hypnotic, All Them Witches concoct a powerful and potent psychedelic sound that fuses bluesy soul, Southern swagger and thunderous hard rock. “There are undoubtedly some throwback vibes to their sound, but ATW sound like they have bigger goals in mind than simply being a retro band. Album single ‘Dirt Preachers’ has clear production and the kind of big, catchy melodies that could’ve broke on the radio just as easily in 1975 as 2005. It probably won’t now though, which says more about rock radio than it does about the strength of this song” – Brooklyn Vegan. Vinyl version due November 20.

Trey Anastasio – Paper Wheels CD/2xLP (Rubber Jungle/ATO)

Tenth solo album from the Phish guitarist. Recorded at The Barn and inspired by the immediacy of Stax-era recordings, Trey Anastasio recorded the songs for Paper Wheelslive, often in one or two takes. The Trey Anastasio Band on this album includes Ray Paczkowski on keyboards, Tony Markellis on bass, and Russ Lawton on drums, with a horn section consisting of trombonist / vocalist Natalie Cressman, trumpeter / vocalist Jennifer Hartswick, and instrumentalist James Casey. The horns add a jazzy funk vibe to the songs, while the rhythm section provides a tighter feel than what you’d expect from Phish. The jamming is nice and focused, with Trey shining on guitar. (Available on CD and on HQ-180gm 45rpm double-LP splatter vinyl in a die cut gatefold package with six unique sleeves.)

Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm – Collaborative Works 2xCD (Erased Tapes)

Comprises three vinyl EPs Loon, Stare, and Life Story Love And Glory as well as seven new songs from their Trance Frendz studio film.

Babes – Untitled (Five Tears) CD/LP (Barsuk)

Babes—the pop-rock family five-piece from Los Angeles—release their full-length debut with Untitled (Five Tears). Noisey premiered the lead single “I’ve Got A Reason To Keep On Living,” saying it “crests a sunny surf-pop wave. Yet there’s an element of obsession lurking in these beachy grooves.”

Beach House – Thank Your Lucky Stars CD (Sub Pop)

Recently released on vinyl – now available on CD. Surprise sixth LP comes less than two months after Depression Cherry. “It was recorded at the same time as Depression Cherry, but for us, it’s very much a different record. All of its songs were written after theDC songs. Along the way we realized that we didn’t want it to be released in the traditional manner. Mainly, we just wanted our listeners to hear it first.”

 

Beach Slang – The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us CD/LP+MP3 (Polyvinyl)

“Beach Slang frontman James Snyder has been a staple on the Philly punk scene for just about forever. Now in his forties, Snyder used to front the journeyman pop-punk band Weston. He is not exactly the sort of guy you expect to see leading a buzzy new band, and yet he is doing exactly that. Beach Slang, Snyder’s new band, plays full-throated and hooky classic rock through a punk lens. They make road-trip ragers that will make you think of both Springsteen and the Descenedents, and they sound absolutely full of life in the same way that Japandroids do.” – Stereogum

Car Seat Headrest – Teens Of Style CD/LP+MP3 (Matador)

“Those who are coming to Car Seat Headrest with a fresh set of ears will have no trouble spotting the influences that fueled the creation of Teens Of Style. The album is a compilation that repackages the best of Toledo’s bedroom indie rock from over the years, but it could just as easily be mistaken for a compilation of artists that once appeared on Matador themselves. There’s the droll, meandering vocal delivery of Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus, a dense whirlpool of guitars à la Guided by Voices, and a strange kind of intimacy that’s reminiscent of early Modest Mouse. Even though he’s got a full band to back him now, Toledo still sing-slurs like he just tossed back a bottle of wine and stumbled into a confessional booth by himself. The results are inspired and cringe-worthy by turns, with enough lightning flashes of wisdom to balance out the rolling thunder of narcissism, teen angst, and 21st century trivialities.” – Consequence Of Sound

 

Peter Case – Hwy 62 CD/LP+MP3 (Omnivore)

Peter Case, founding member of the Nerves and leader of The Plimsouls, and one the first troubadours of the post-punk era, returns with his first album of new songs since 2010’s Wig!. Guests on Hwy 62 include Ben Harper, Jebin Bruni (PIL), Cindy Wasserman and David Carpenter (Dead Rock West), D.J. Bonebrake (X), Don Heffington (Lone Justice), and others. “Everybody says I’m a troubadour, since I perform alone and bring the tales. The challenge was to make a “troubadour album” that rocks with electric energy — Ben Harper and D.J. Bonebrake were key to that,” says Case. “HWY 62 connects east with west, north and south. I’m connecting three-chord rock ’n’ roll, to all kinds of American music, bringing together stories I’ve lived and found along the way, music about now.”

 

Cheatahs – Mythologies CD/LP (Wichita)

Since the release of their self-titled debut album last year, London quartet Cheatahs have remained prolific, recording two new EPs and and now a full-length follow-up. Sophomore LP Mythologies marks an evolution for the guitar-driven band: “More electronic and experimental,” observes Dummy Mag. “A departure from the visceral shoegaze sound… with layers of haunting synths, insouciant vocals and gradually-building instrumental backdrops of emphatic drums and barbed guitar riffs.”

Martin Courtney – Many Moons CD/LP+MP3 (Domino)

Many Moons is the solo debut from Martin Courtney, the principal songwriter of Real Estate. After the 2014 release of their third album, Atlas, Courtney started writing some songs while waiting to head out on tour. He’s created an album of soft psychedelia that sonically recalls The Kinks and Big Star and that lyrically reveals his life as a family man, father, and touring musician. Many Moons is breezy and full of subtle introspection. It’s an elliptical document of Courtney’s transition into family life and fatherhood written through the filter of being away from his loved ones and home.

Drive-By Truckers – It’s Great To Be Alive 3xCD (ATO)

Epic, career-spanning live set from the Drive-By Truckers recorded in San Francisco last fall.

Patterson Hood says: “We sequenced it to be like kind of an ultimate DBT set list. We never use a set list from night to night so the show is ever evolving, but for this it was like, what would be the ultimate three hour show we could play right now?”

 

Drug Church – Hit Your Head CD (No Sleep)

“Albany, New York punk outfit Drug Church has been known to operate at extreme levels, in both a technical and personal sense. Fronted by Self Defense Family’s Patrick Kindlon, the band has carried the hardcore torch passed down through the likes of Fugazi and Black Flag, their 2012 self-titled debut EP earning them a reputation for self-loathing songs riddled with bombastic guitar licks and deafening drums. This sound showed up in full force on their first full-length album, 2013’s well-received Paul Walker. Now, Drug Church is ready for round two with their sophomore LP, Hit Your Head.” – Consequence Of Sound

 

El Vy – Return To The Moon CD (4AD)

El Vy (pronounced like a plural of Elvis; rhymes with ‘hell pie’) is the musical collaboration between Matt Berninger, vocalist and lyricist of The National, and Brent Knopf, the Portland musician and producer best known for his work in Menomena and his more recent band, Ramona Falls. Vinyl version due November 27.

Expert Alterations – You Can’t Always Be Liked CD/LP+MP3 (Kanine)

Baltimore’s premier indie-pop trio Expert Alterations have one eyebrow arched as they survey the surrounding pop landscape — they know they can do better. Strip it down, keep it lean, sweat off the fat. Despite their propensity for reducing the elements of pop to its essential core, Expert Alterations are minimal, but not skeletal — their bones are strong and their songs linger long after the music is over.

Foxing – Dealer CD/LP+MP3 (Triple Crown)

Sophomore album from St. Louis, Missouri quintet Foxing. “It’s an album that embraces weeping piano ballads and orchestral indie rock as much as climactic post rock or glitchy downtempo. Sometimes a few of those things appear on one song, like ‘Night Channels’ which manages to tackle The Antlers’ intimacy and Explosions In The Sky’s soaring breadth in just over four minutes. It’s a rich-sounding record too, where even the distorted guitars sound clean. But it’s not clean in a sunny, spring-y way. It constantly feels weighed down by sorrow, the kind of thing you reach for in late fall or the dead of winter. In the lyrics there’s allusion to religion and war, vivid imagery (‘soaking blood through a dogwood lung’), and often an overwhelming feeling of guilt.” — Brooklyn Vegan

GEMS – Kill The Ones You Love CD/LP+MP3 (Carpark)

When Lindsay Pitts and Clifford John Usher first met, their connection was instantaneous. That bond still fuels their art. As GEMS, they self-released the MedusaEP in 2013, a debut with a remarkably mature sound. On Medusa, Lindsay’s haunting and deeply emotive vocals provide the backbone for Clifford’s dark and dreamy production, balancing gauzy atmospherics with emotional heft. That mix finds new tension and release on GEMS’ first full-length album, Kill The One You Love. The record more deeply indulges in the group’s evocative shadow pop, influenced by R&B production and shoegaze.

G. Love & Special Sauce – Love Saves The Day CD/LP (Brushfire)

G. Love’s tenth studio album, Love Saves The Day, features guest artists Lucinda Williams, Citizen Cope, David Hildago of Los Lobos, Ozomatli, DJ Logic, Money Mark, Zach Gill and Adam Topol. The album features the down and dirty “trashcan blues” style of G. Love with his his long-term Special Sauce rhythm section of James “Jimi Jazz” Prescott and drummer Jeffrey “The Houseman” Clemens. Robert Carranza, engineer and producer (Jack Johnson, Beastie Boys, Mars Volta) recorded the group live with few edits to capture the raw and unfiltered electricity of the tracks. Love Saves The Day is the fullest realization of the hip-hop blues that G. Love first pioneered with Special Sauce in the early ‘90s.

J Dilla – Dillatronic CD/3xLP (Vintage Vibes)

41 rare instrumentals that showcase Dilla’s undeniable electronic influences. (Available on single CD and as a three volume LP set. Each LP volume comes with a limited edition, glow-in-the-dark embossed jacket and is pressed on colored vinyl.)

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings – It’s A Holiday Soul Party CD/LP (Daptone)

[CLICK HERE TO BUY YOUR COPY]

The band offers up a succinct soulful soundtrack to this holiday season.

Kool Keith & Ray West – Couple Of Slices CD/LP (Red Apples 45)

Couple Of Slices pairs the production of Ray West and the lyrics of the legendary Kool Keith. Keith’s wizardry intertwines with Ray West’s melodies to create a mood of sarcastic romance at the same time setting rappers straight. Proudly recorded in the Bronx, all the writing and concepts were done together in the studio. Mixed with great detail by Phil Moffa at Butcha Sound NYC with features from AG of DITC, Cormega, 3rd Eye & Dyin Breed.

 

Mark Kozelek and Nicolás Pauls – Dreams Of Childhood: A Spoken Word Album CD (Caldo Verde)

Dreams Of Childhood is a collection of 12 poems written by street kids in Argentina, translated Argentine actor/musician Nicolás Pauls, Federico Novik, Pablo Cubarle and Catalina Morano. Performed in English by Mark Kozelek and in Spanish by Nicolás Pauls. Executive producer Nicolás Pauls. All proceeds will go to La Casa de la Cultura de la Calle (The Streets House of Culture) which is a nonprofit civil organization that seeks the social inclusion of kids with no homes by giving them art, music, theater and photography classes.

Jeffrey Lewis & Los Bolts – Manhattan CD/LP+MP3 (Rough Trade)

Manhattan, the first studio album in four years by NYC native Jeffrey Lewis, is at once a big step forward – he recorded with a full band, and worked with producer John Agnello (Kurt Vile, Dinosaur Jr., Phosphorescent) to craft a big, warm, crackling rock sound – as well as a look back, lyrically, toward the city, people, and streets that have influenced and informed his art throughout his life.

Steve Martin & Edie Brickell – So Familiar CD/LP (Rounder)

Comedian, actor, author, playwright, and musician Steve Martin joins up with his fellow Texas native Edie Brickell (singer/songwriter who initially burst onto the national scene as New Bohemians frontwoman) on this, their second studio album collaboration.

 

Maserati – Rehumanizer CD/LP+MP3 (Temporary Residence)

Maserati is a band obsessed with process. Specifically, they’re obsessed with the process of marrying the past to the future — retro futurists hellbent on forging Krautrock and classic rock into one motorik, monolithic vehicle. Consequently, Rehumanizer is a marriage of man and machine that plays like a supergroup comprised of Gary Numan, Cluster, and Pink Floyd.

 

M.E.D./Blu/Madlib – Bad Neighbor CD/LP (Bang Yahead Ent.)

With 100% beats by Madlib, Bad Neighbor is the brainchild of MED and Blu, who instantly clicked a decade earlier on tour with Emanon. The album is an exclamation point on the idea that began with The Burgundy EP, expanded to include Dam Funk and Mayer Hawthorne on The Buzz EP, and continued until contributions from Anderson. Paak (Dr. Dre’s Compton), Hodgy Beats (Odd Future), and the one-and-only MF DOOM made Bad Neighbor ready to launch.

My Disco – Severe CD (Temporary Residence)

Australian trio My Disco has always employed space as an instrument. Space between notes; space between instruments; even space between albums. More than just a title,Severe pushes their subtle, intensely focused, minimalist sound to its most terrifying extreme. It is bleak, occasionally uncomfortable, and unpredictably profound. Severe is an album of aggravated tonal darkness and long breaths of disturbing silence, punctuated by pounding stabs and heavy, hypnotic rhythms. Vinyl edition due December 4.

The Neighbourhood – Wiped Out! CD (Columbia/Sony)

Wiped Out! Is The Neighbourhood’s second album and follow-up to 2013’s I Love You. The first single “R.I.P. 2 My Youth” – which is actually the last track on the album – blends rocky shades of Foals with minimalist hip-hop. The track is both playful and despairing: ‘I’m just telling the truth / You can play this at my funeral / Tell me sister don’t cry and don’t be sad / I’m in paradise with Dad.’ Speaking of the song to KROQ Los Angeles, the band said, “Sometimes your youth — some people have it taken away from them earlier and some people get to wait a little longer before you have to grow up, but either way the world kind of hits you.”

Rabit – Communion CD/LP (Tri Angle)

For the past few years Rabit (aka Houston, Texas based producer Eric Burton) has steadily worked his way up through the underground, via a series of acclaimed 12” and EP releases, each one signaling a shift into increasingly bolder and more challenging territories. He’s been at the center of some of the most exciting, emerging electronic ‘scenes’, sharing ties with both the Berlin based, dance deconstructionists of Janus (Lotic, M.E.S.H.) and with UK based grime experimentalists like Mumdance and Logos. With the release of his debut album, Communion, the follow up to his acclaimed EP (and Tri Angle debut) Baptizm, Rabit shows no signs of letting up. As a sound designer Rabit has continued to push himself into new and compelling territories, reshaping various ‘club’ sounds into something alien and unpredictable, but with the release of this album he’s heavily politicized his music in a way he’d only hinted at before.

Roots Manuva – Bleeds CD/2xLP+MP3 (Big Dada)

Drawing upon production assistance from young British producer, Fred, together with musical heavyweights Four Tet, Adrian Sherwood and Switch’s new production team, With You, the title of the record is, in the man’s own words, an “egocentric jest of daring to do things in the tradition of Jesus: I’m ready to bleed for the art form.” It is, of course, also a reference to the way in which genres, in the sonic world of Roots Manuva, have a tendency to bleed into one another, so that hip-hop, reggae, techno, funk, neo-classical, all blend together to create “liquid soul, the blood, the bleeds that paint infinite sacred wonders in our dreams and unfold in our day-to-day.”

Son Volt – Trace [Reissue/1995] 2xCD/LP (Rhino)

Double-CD version of Trace that featuring newly remastered sound and more than two dozen unreleased bonus tracks. The second disc contains an unreleased live performance recorded at The Bottom Line in New York’s Greenwich Village on February 12, 1996. At the show, the band played nearly every song from Trace, covered Del Reeves “Looking At The World Through A Windshield,” and performed “Cemetery Savior,” a tune that wouldn’t surface until the following year on Son Volt’s sophomore release, Straightaways. [The album has also been reissued on single-disc HQ-180gm vinyl.]

Sun City Girls – Torch Of The Mystics [Reissue/1990] CD/LP (Abduction)

Torch Of The Mystics, the most popular and revered Sun City Girls album, was recorded in the summer of 1988 and became the first LP released on the Majora label in January of 1990 in an edition of 1000 copies (the original CD version was released by Tupelo Recording Company in 1993 and is long out of print). Reissued here for the first time, this record has influenced and inspired a wide variety of musicians and artists and continues to blow the minds of those hearing it for the first time today. Arguably as unique a ‘psychedelic’ statement as anything else that has appeared since the early 1970s, Torch Of The Mystics cannot easily be compared to any other album you’ve heard.

 

Sun Club – The Dongo Durango CD/LP (ATO)

Baltimore natives Sun Club blister through songs like powerful electrons, both on wax and on stage, proving themselves to be one of the most energetic indie rock band touring today. Jim Derogatis of the Chicago Tribune applauded their strong pop sensibility, as WXPN admired their ability to ride a unique line between the gritty punk and a flowery surf-rock aesthetic. “‘Summer Feet’ is the second listen from the four-piece crew’s [new] nine-track effort, which comes after a metamorphosis over ten years from metalheads to a grunge band to indie-pop songwriters not unlike their jangly spirit animals on the other coast, Local Natives. Drummer Devin McCord keeps a lightly driving pace not unlike the spokes of bike wheels hitting the hot concrete, while joyously gulping vocals sail overhead.” – SPIN

Timmy’s Organism – Heartless Heathen CD/LP+MP3/Cassette (Third Man)

Fronting some of the most original, compelling and unpredictable bands (not only in Detroit, but the world) for over two decades, Tim Lampinen’s work with the Epileptix, Clone Defects, and Human Eye has always held a rapturous cult following. Yet his work with his current trio, Timmy’s Organism, presents Lampinen (aka Timmy Vulgar) along with bassist Jeff Giant and drummer Blake Hill, ready for their close-up. With Heartless Heathen the group touches on their artistic and spiritual forbears of Captain Beefheart and Destroy All Monsters, while amply ramping up the slop culture rapture of classic punk ‘n’ roll like Chrome, Crime, and the Damned as well as contemporaries like Thee Oh Sees. There’s a reason why Lampinen won a $25,000 Kresge Grant for his work with his bands… he creates music that borders on art, live shows that border on theater.

Ursula 1000 – Voyeur CD/LP (Insect Queen Music)

After releasing his five previous albums on Thievery Corporation’s Eighteenth Street Lounge imprint, Voyeur is the debut on Ursula’s own Insect Queen Music label. For this new adventure, Ursula is bringing in a real tropical summer feel. “Supersonic Sounds” is a Latin funk bomb that name checks Ursula and is the perfect theme song to lead things off.

Various Artists – Ork Records: New York, New York 2xCD/4xLP (Numero)

Where in the mythos of punk is there room for a frizzy-haired cinephile San Diegan? How could the defining rock attitude and look of the late 1970s get brainstormed by two go-nowheres from a boarding school in Hockessin, Delaware — a D student and kid voted Most Unknown by his senior class? Forget the worn-out yarns about London gobbers and safety-pin piercings — the true story of the birth of punk rock on 45 is the story of Ork Records, captured by Numero Group on four hefty LPs (or two shiny compact discs) and told across 120 (184 for the CD) high-gloss pages filled with insider photos and sordid details. It is a story populated by iconic names like Television, Alex Chilton, Lester Bangs, Richard Hell, The Feelies, Patti Smith, Talking Heads, Brian Eno, Blondie and the Ramones. And it’s a tale told from the hallowed grounds of CBGB, Max’s Kansas City, and Ardent Studios. It all began with Terry Ork, a Jewish SoCal film nerd enthralled by Andy Warhol’s posse as they made a transgressive surfing flick, who moved cross-country to manage a movie memorabilia shop on the grubby streets of the Lower East Side. Made in the shadow of disco and dereliction in late ‘70s Manhattan,Ork Records: New York, New York is not just the genesis of punk, it is the birth of the New York City scene and indie culture as we know it.

Video – The Entertainers CD/LP+MP3/Cassette (Third Man)

There’s no band that can lay claim to being the true best in the business, except Video. Crawling from the musical wasteland that is Texas, their intentions are simple: they want to own the world. While the band features members of Bad Sports, Wiccans, Radioactivity, and the Wax Museums (just to name a few), Video stands on its own as one of the most powerful and visceral bands active today. Combining equal parts snotty punk, hard rock, and melodic dissonance, Video are pioneers of their own subgenre, “hate wave.” Going well beyond the confines of paint by numbers punk, and generic, flaccid garage rock, Video forges a new cult like movement.

Wolf Eyes – I Am A Problem: Mind In Pieces CD/LP+MP3/Cassette (Third Man)

Having eschewed the “noise” moniker to describe their sound in favor of the self-proclaimed “trip metal”, Wolf Eyes are at the forefront of a wide-ranging, experimental, impossible-to-categorize world. With over 500 releases since their inception in 1997, the group has been lauded by Thurston Moore, Henry Rollins and countless other stoned basement malcontents. With previous full-lengths on labels like Sub Pop and Troubleman, I Am A Problem: Mind In Pieces is their debut release for Third Man Records and signals an ever-so-slight shift with the appearance of guitar and even drums. I Am a Problem is as much a classic Wolf Eyes record as no one would’ve ever predicted such a pulverizing left-turn at this juncture of their career. This is social audio dissent.

 

The Yawpers – American Man CD/LP (Bloodshot)

The Yawpers Bloodshot debut, American Man, taps into the disparate, murky pools of the American musical lexicon; dark country to kinetic punk, acid blues to flared jeans boogie, low-brow backdrops pitted against high-minded literary references.

 

Yoko And The Oh No’s – Yoko And The Oh No’s CD/LP (Autumn Tone)

Yoko & The Oh No’s are three kids from Chicago – Max Goldstein on vocals, Max Loebman on guitar, and Stef Roti on drums – a raging trio fueled by Taco Bell, rock & roll myths, and pilfered booze. It doesn’t quite add up how kids this young (Max L. just graduated high school) managed to tap into a vibe this classic. The band’s self-titled full-length debut is crammed with classic rock riffs, swinging beats, and up front, the sassy, done-up style of Max G. emoting loosely and wildly like a young David Johansen fronting the New York Dolls, possessing a crooner’s voice and a taste for style. The prevailing mood in modern indie garage rock is one of stylistic indifference, but that’s not how Yoko & The Oh No’s come across; these kiddos don’t just care, they care a lot.

Buena Vista Social Club – Buena Vista Social Club [Reissue/1997] 2xLP (World Circuit)

The original Buena Vista Social Club album became a surprise international bestseller and the most successful album in the history of Cuban music. It was recorded for World Circuit Records by Ry Cooder over seven days in Havana in 1996, bringing together many of the great names of the golden age of Cuban music in the 1950s, several of whom were coaxed out of retirement for the sessions. In the years that followed the original release, Buena Vista veterans toured the world and were the subject of a celebrated feature film directed by Wim Wenders.

 Gang Of Four – Solid Gold [Reissue/1981] LP (Rhino)

Solid Gold is the second album by British post-punk band Gang of Four. Two of Solid Gold’s tracks, “Outside The Trains Don’t Run On Time” and “He’d Send In The Army,” are re-recordings of songs previously released as a single in the UK. HQ-180gm.

 

Keep Shelly In Athens – Now I’m Ready LP (Friends Of Friends)

Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. At eight songs and 45 minutes, Now I’m Ready strikes a concise, yet imposing figure, each individual effort comprised of enough peaks and valleys to bring the listener to the edge and back again. Lifted off by lead single “Fractals”, Now I’m Ready is not your typical indie effort, un-beholden to tempo and style, the album skips across genre tropes with ease, each track guided by producer R??’s singular aesthetic and vocalist Myrtha’s unmistakable crescendos. And whether you’re locked into a long road trip, careening around a city or looking over the Mediterranean, Keep Shelly In Athens bring an arresting pathos to the proceedings, felt everywhere from the breakbeat-led madness of “Hollow Man” to the ever-building, hypnotic vocal qualities of title track “Now I’m Ready.”

Odesza – Light EP 12” (Counter)

The genesis for Light began in 2014. Little Dragon asked Odesza to do a remix of a song off their last album, Nabuma Rubberband, but their label accidentally sent Odesza the stems for a new song that was not on that album. In the midst of their 2014 North American tour in support of In Return, Odesza was too busy to complete a remix. Months after the remix idea was shelved, Odesza and Little Dragon played a co-headline show in Boston, inspiring an idea to write a new Odesza track and build it around the Little Dragon vocal stem.

Ugly Casanova – Sharpen Your Teeth [Reissue/2002] 2xLP+MP3 (Sub Pop)

Ugly Casanova is Isaac Brock, of Modest Mouse. Or, possibly, it is a mysterious savant named Edgar Graham, who imposed himself on Modest Mouse at the Denver show of the band’s 1998 tour, introduced himself as Ugly Casanova, and, through a haze of unnerving instability, shared some rough songs with the band. His songs, though delivered hesitantly… shamefully, even… displayed unmistakable talent. By the end of Modest Mouse’s tour, Ugly Casanova, with much reluctance, was persuaded to record some of these songs and hand them over to record labels for issue as singles or parts of compilations. Predictably, immediately after he had done so, he disappeared. Produced by Brian Deck and Isaac Brock at Glacial Pace Studios (Oregon), Ugly Casanova’s songs are here performed by Misters Brock and Deck, as well as John Orth (Holopaw), Tim Rutili (Califone, Red Red Meat), Pall Jenkins (The Black Heart Procession), and a handful of like-minded collaborators. This 2015 vinyl edition includes four bonus tracks originally released on long-deleted 7” singles.

The Wake – Here Comes Everybody + Singles 1983-1987 2xLP (Captured Tracks)

Captured Tracks offer up a period of The Wake which has not been available on vinyl since its initial pressings on Factory Records two and a half decades ago. Long considered their masterwork, Here Comes Everybody is post-punk at its most lush and alluring. With an underlying urgency peppered with a frost of delicate melody, the influence of The Wake can be seen in a myriad of sub-genres within the independent community and is often cited as a key influence on the Captured Tracks label roster.

TRACEY THORN – Solo Songs and Collaborations 1982-2015 CD

COURTNEY BARNETT – Sometimes I Sit…. expanded version 2CD/LP
BILL RYDER JONES – West Kirby Country Primary CD

SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE – Early Risers CD/LP

9TH WONDER + TALIB KWELI – Indie 500 CD/LP

MADE OF OAK – Punumbra CD/LP

NATALIE MERCHANT – Paradise Is There CD/CD+DVD/LP

BOB DYLAN – Best Of The Cutting Edge 65-66 CD/LP+CD

ELLIE GOULDING – Delerium CD/CD deluxe

LED ZEPPELIN – Mothership reissue CD/LP

ELVIS COSTELLO – LP reissues

US GIRLS – Half Free LP