Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker [Reissue/2000] 2xCD+DVD/4xLP+DVD (Pax Americana)

Deluxe reissue of Ryan Adams’ first solo album, expanded with unreleased outtakes, pre-album demos, exclusive photos, and a DVD of a solo acoustic club show from 2000.

Aloha – Little Windows Cut Right Through CD/LP+MP3 (Polyvinyl)

“We hadn’t heard anything from Aloha in half a decade, but they’re back with their first album since 2010’s Home Acres … [reviving] their constantly evolving blend of indie-rock, jazz, and pop on Little Windows Cut Right Through. Our first preview is opening track ‘Signal Drift,’ a song as textured and melancholy as we’ve come to expect yet unlike anything in Aloha’s oeuvre. A contagious dance-rock pulse surges beneath Tony Cavallario’s Bono-reminiscent vocals, and there’s real beauty in the way the pitch-shifted melody squeals its way through the incessant shimmer.” — Stereogum

Anohni – Hopelessness CD/LP+MP3 (Secretly Canadian)

Hopelessness is the debut solo album from Anohni (aka Antony, the lead singer of Antony and The Johnsons), and was co-produced by Oneohtrix Point Never and Hudson Mohawke. It’s a dance record with soulful vocals and lyrics addressing surveillance, drone warfare, and ecocide. A radical departure from the singer’s symphonic collaborations, the album seeks to disrupt assumptions about popular music through the collision of electronic sound and highly politicized lyrics. In a Q&A with fans (via Pitchfork), Antony discussed the inspiration for album single “4 Degrees,” saying: “I have grown tired of grieving for humanity, and I also thought I was not being entirely honest by pretending that I am not a part of the problem. ‘4 Degrees’ is kind of a brutal attempt to hold myself accountable, not just valorize my intentions but also reflect on the true impact of my behaviors.”

Juliana Barwick – Will CD/LP (Dead Oceans)

Julianna Barwick’s revelatory third full-length, Will, is a surprising left turn for the Brooklyn experimental artist. Conceived and self-produced over the past year in a variety of locations, the electric Will departs from the weighty lightness of 2013’s Nepenthe. IfNepenthe conjured images of gentle fog rolling over desolate mountains, then Will is a late afternoon thunderstorm, a cathartic collision of sharp and soft textures that sounds ominous and restorative all at once.Guest contributors include Thomas Arsenault, aka Mas Ysa, Dutch cellist Maarten Vos, and percussionist Jamie Ingalls (Chairlift, Tanlines). “True to form, [album single] ‘Nebula’incorporates spiraling synthesizers and more loops of the Louisiana native’s vocals than there are layers in a doberge cake.” — SPIN

Beverly – The Blue Swell CD/LP (Kanine)

Since the summer of 2014 and the release of Careers, which Stereogum dubbed an “exceptional shoegaze-pop debut album,” the main driving force behind Beverly has been Drew Citron. While Beverly began as a recording project between two friends, The Blue Swell represents a fresh start for the band. On the album, Citron’s main collaborator is longtime tour mate and noise pop producer Scott Rosenthal (The Beets, Crystal Stilts), with Kip Berman (The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart) lending co-writing talents to Victoria. While you’ll still find reverb, catchy hooks and a track or two like Bulldozer or South Collins that could perhaps fit into Careers, the new album takes a less aggressive and more melodic turn. The Blue Swell is in some respects, bolder, more playful yet more grounded.

Joanna Brouke – Hearing Music 2xCD/2xLP (Numero)

She was a composer who wrote scores with geometric shapes, a poet who became a pioneer of early electronic music. Joanna Brouk’s little-known body of work exists at the nexus between ambient, new age, drone, and classical minimalism – stark in its simplicity, lush in its expanse. Studying under Robert Ashley and Terry Riley at the fabled Mills College Center For Contemporary Music before graduating into the margins of the ‘70s bay area new music scene, Ms. Brouk blazed her own trail well outside of the musical establishment to create uncompromising electronic and acoustic work of sleek beauty and primal power.

Chris Cohen – As If Apart CD/LP (Captured Tracks)

As If Apart, the sequel to Chris Cohen’s 2012 soft psych garden of unearthly alter-pop earworms and studio-sonic delights Overgrown Path, follows on its predecessor with another bittersweet ensemble of dreamy, complex songs. Pushing the idiosyncrasies of Cohen’s melodic and rhythmic approach into even more fractured, shifting spaces, As if Apart unsettles lazy pop conventions, upending jaded heads and hearts with an expansive, moody psychedelia.

Dieterich & Barnes – The Coral Casino CD/LP (L.M. Dupli-cation)

Improvisational collaboration between Deerhoof and A Hawk And A Hacksaw members. Expansive, unafraid of complexity yet wide-eyed with elation, their sound embodies risk that genuinely rewards. While flirtations with danger and darkness occasionally appear, in the end everything becomes a laughing pile on the floor. An optimistic homage to a possible future, The Coral Casino is both childish and sophisticated, seemingly tossed off yet at the same time exhibiting a depth that reveals itself on each subsequent listen; an exploration of friendship and the pure joy of ecstatic communication.

A Giant Dog – Pile CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)

Forging their friendships in the crucible of their Houston, TX, high school, Sabrina Ellis (vocals), Andrew Cashen (vocals, guitar), and Orville Neeley (drums) first got their start covering AC/DC, The Ramones, Joan Jett, and the finer points of the Back To The Future soundtrack at school dances under the name Youth In Asia. Reuniting in Austin in 2008, they enlisted their pals Andy Bauer (guitar) and Graham Low (bass) and christened the act A Giant Dog. AGD is raucous ear candy culled from the hook-driven melodies of Slade, the glammy swagger of Marc Bolan, the morbid fantasy of Killer-era Alice Cooper, and the unpredictable wit of Sparks. Sabrina and Andrew’s lyrics, equal parts brutally honest, clever, and debased, have a knack for taking their idiosyncratic depravities and making them feel universal. These songs are by, for, and about the losers, freaks, and outcasts. The lonely. Boozehounds and party animals. Pile deals with divorce, getting older, dying, frustration, and futility, ultimately transcending those earthly headaches through the power of rock ‘n’ roll.

Cyndi Lauper – Detour CD/LP+MP3 (Sire/Rhino)

Lauper’s 11th studio album finds the singer/songwriter putting her signature spin on a dozen country classics from the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s, and features guest appearances from Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, and Willie Nelson. She recorded Detourin Nashville alongside a band comprised of the city’s top session players.Following on from her Grammy-nominated 2010 blues covers album, Memphis Blues, Lauper’s new country album was inspired by memories of “watching TV with my nana when I was five,” and seeing Patsy Cline on a variety show. “I didn’t think she was a country artist, I just thought she was a beautiful singer and she made me think about being a singer. It was all just pop music back then. There was no separation.”

Little Scream – Cult Following CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)

When Laurel Sprengelmeyer began performing as Little Scream in 2008, she played her first shows in Montreal using only a battered Stratotone guitar, a cigarette amp, and a mic on the floor so her feet could serve as percussion. “That’s why I always wore high heels. They made the best stomping sounds.” She would wail and coo, imitating the sounds of missing instruments that ended up as siren calls on her 2011 debut The Golden Record, which Pitchfork called “a perfectly mixed bag of graceful folk, coiled pop, and expansive art rock,” and NPR dubbed “absolutely captivating.” If that album was Little Scream’s searching, enchanting first step into the world, then Cult Following is the badass landmark cementing her place there. Little Scream says she began conceiving ofCult Following while visiting a friend in a small intentional community in northern Brazil that was on the verge of becoming a cult.That experience laid the groundwork for this lush, expansive, retro-leaning gem that straddles intimate fragility with bombastic dancefloor-ready songs. Listening to it is like reading an epic novella—part fairy tale, part ecstasy, and part human folly.

LUH – Spiritual Songs For Lovers To Sing CD/2xLP (Mute)

LUH (which stands for Lost Under Heaven) is Ellery Roberts and Ebony Hoorn. Over the past two years, they have been releasing music, art, photography, film and manifestos into the world. Ellery’s name might be familiar as the frontman of Wu Lyf, whose raw and primal voice helped create a sound that shaped a new model for the untamed fury of youth.Spiritual Songs For Lovers To Singwas produced on the remote island of Osea by The Haxan Cloak (known for his own genre-bending experimental compositions and work on Björk’s Vulnicura album). “[Album track] ‘I&I’ is an ultra-expansive work of euphoric pop. Ellery’s vocals are strained from start to finish, backed by choral chants and the kind of emotive piano line you’d associate with an Ibiza dance number.” – DIY Mag

Psychic Temple– III CD/LP (Asthmatic Kitty)

Psychic Temple’s III completes the transition from avant-jazz solo project to a working band constructed around timeless songs that draw upon the rich history of classic American soul, blues, and folk. Equally immersed in the sound of California’s canyons and the swamps of the deep South, Psychic Temple’s cult leader/guitarist Chris Schlarb steps out of the shadows and up to the microphone for the first time with astonishing results.

White Lung – Paradise CD/LP+MP3 (Domino)

After the critically acclaimed release Deep Fantasy (2014), White Lung return with their fourth album Paradise. Vocalist Mish Barber-Way, guitarist Kenneth William and drummer Anne-Marie Vassiliou, reconnected in Los Angeles to work with engineer and producer Lars Stalfors (HEALTH, Cold War Kids, Alice Glass). “I wanted it to sound new. I wanted a record that sounded like it was made in 2016,” says William of his mindset. Bringing all the energy, unique guitar work and lyrical prowess Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, NME have praised them for in the past few years, White Lung curated their songs with a new pop sensibility. “There’s this stupid attitude that only punks have where it’s uncool to become a better song writer,” says Barber-Way, “In no other musical genre are your fans going to drop you when you start progressing. That would be like parents being disappointed in their child for graduating from kindergarten to the first grade. Paradise is the best song writing we have ever done, and I expect the next record to be the same. I have no interest in staying in kindergarten.”

Yoni & Geti – Testarossa CD/LP (Joyful Noise)

Testarossa is an eclectic collaboration between indie rock prodigy Yoni Wolf, and multidimensional hip-hop artist Serengeti. The songs weave together creating an often dark, sometimes humorous tale of love, and life peppered with human conflict. The versatility of both Yoni & Geti creates an unconventional album that is rooted in both hip-hop, and indie rock.

Bonny Billy – More Revery [2001] LP+MP3 (Temporary Residence)

In the year 2000 — shortly after releasing what would become his most iconic album, I See A Darkness — Will Oldham aka Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy retreated to his family’s farmhouse with the majority of theI See A Darkness lineup in tow to record a half dozen covers of some of his favorite songs. The track listing is, as expected, inspired and eclectic: John Phillips, PJ Harvey, Bill Withers, The Renderers, John Holt, and Tim McGraw. This first-time vinyl edition expanded rare live versions of the album’s tracks.

The Cave Singers – Banshee LP+MP3 (Jagjaguwar)

Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Banshee brings The Cave Singers back to their original three-piece lineup and also their approach to songwriting: an exchange of Derek Fudesco sending lead vocalist Pete Quirk a riff and Pete responding with vocal ideas. From there, the songs come together. Driving guitars, foot-tapping percussion, and Quirk’s powerful vocals make an intricate quilt that blankets the audience in comfort, aggressively communicating a gentle reminder: we are soft bodies trying to survive with one another.

Dälek – Asphalt For Eden LP (Profound Lore)

Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. The first new album since 2009’sGutter Tactics marks the return of the cult hip-hop/noise originators after a long hiatus.

Destroyer – My Mystery LP+MP3 (Merge)

“We recorded a song called ‘My Mystery’ a year and a half ago. Kind of a light number, vaguely danceable. Wistful, looking back not unfondly on time spent and dull misadventures had within the dead-as-a-doornail music industry. And the feeling of where it leaves you, like a rat in the middle of the ocean, though not as harsh as that; as if rats could swim an ocean’s length. Anyway, the song was not in keeping with the shadow spirit of Poison Season, and so it got shelved. Then one day[email protected] called me up and said, ‘You got any shit for me?’

Rufus Wainwright – Rufus Wainwright [1998] 2xLP (Geffen)

Rufus Wainwright – Poses [2001] 2xLP (Geffen)

Rufus Wainwright’s first two albums arenow available as double-vinyl editions in gatefold packaging.