Jay Som – Anak Ko Orange CD/LP/Cassette (Polyvinyl)
Translating to “my child” in English, Anak Ko, features sweeping, shoegazey guitars (“Superbike”), delicate string & pedal steel arrangements (“Nighttime Drive”, “Get Well”), and incredible production that showcases songwriter, producer, and creative force Melina Duterte’s evolving skills in the studio (“Anak Ko”). Anak Ko presents an exciting glimpse into Duterte’s creative process and solidifies her undeniable progression as one of 2019’s strongest and gifted songwriters. [Indie exclusive colored vinyl available].

Ceremony – In The Spirit World Now CD/LP (Relapse)
In The Spirit World Now sees Cermenoy at the height of their creative output, as the always-evolving Rohnert Park quintet take various influences from post punk and rock to create one of 2019’s most compelling and infectious records. The album is full of layered sonic fury and anxiety, each song building up to a point and then descending through a militant, catchy hook. Overall, In the Spirit World Now marks a milestone for this Northern California punk outfit who have stayed true to themselves as songwriters throughout massive sonic growth and a storied career. [Limited indie store exclusive colored vinyl pressing available.]

Crobot – Motherbrain CD/LP (Mascot Label Group)
Like food of the gods, rock ‘n’ roll nourishes the soul. Offering holy communion, Crobot proudly personify a trinity of “meat, strings, and emotion” within their music and during the raucous and raging gigs they remain known for. Striking a delicate balance between hard-charging riffs, ass-shaking funk, and out-of-this-world reflective stage attire, the Pennsylvania quartet satisfy starvation for sonic sustenance on their fourth full-length, Motherbrain. Blending funk, blues, metal and good old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll into a howling vortex of Brandon Yeagley’s vocals and Chris Bishop’s guitar, Crobot has crafted an album of endless good time rock hooks that sound as inspired today as they would have on AOR radio in 1974. Or as Crobot describes it: “Dirty. Groove. Rock.” [Two colored vinyl pressings are available: regular dark purple and limited marble pink and purple.]

Noah Gunderson – Lover CD/2xLP (Cooking Vinyl)
Acclaimed Seattle singer-songwriter Noah Gundersen releases his extraordinary and highly personal new album, Lover. Recorded over two years at Seattle’s The Crumb studio with longtime collaborator, producer/engineer Andy D. Park (Death Cab For Cutie, K. Flay, Pedro The Lion), Lover sees Gundersen continuing to veer towards an increasingly intimate and intense creative approach, wedding intricate beats and warm natural instrumentation to a series of stark, almost dreamlike, new songs. Rich with patience and grace, songs like “Older” and “Out Of Time” reveal a remarkably gifted songwriter-artist during confrontation with life’s toughest truths, somehow emerging with even greater self-awareness and understanding. “This record is deeply personal,” says Gundersen. “It’s about love, it’s about failure, it’s about drugs, it’s about sex, it’s about age, it’s about regret, it’s about itself (very meta, I know) and it’s about finding peace. I think it’s the most I’ve ever put of myself into something. It’s been cathartic. I’ve cried a lot.”

Joyero – Release The Dogs CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)
Andy Stack has rightfully earned a reputation as a generous collaborator and musical polymath, both as half of the beloved duo Wye Oak and on the road and in the studio with Lambchop, Helado Negro, and EL VY. As a multi-instrumentalist and producer, Andy has an uncanny ability to construct the precise musical architecture to frame and support unique and compelling voices. With his debut solo record as Joyero, Andy puts his own voice front and center. Written and recorded primarily in Marfa, TX, during a transitional moment between records, cities, and relationships, Release The Dogs occupies its own liminal space between the natural and the man-made, between the structures we create to keep ourselves safe and the terrifying enormity that exists beyond them. Throughout the record, organic and electronic elements are seamlessly woven together into a single fabric that can be both intimate and explosive. As with Wye Oak’s best records, Release The Dogs finds its own unique voice by holding opposing ideas and aesthetics in tension with each other, and inviting the listener to find their own answer.

Lala Lala – Sleepyhead CD/LP (Hardly Art)
Originally released in October 2016 as a long-since sold-out self-released cassette, the debut full-length from celebrated Chicago band Lala Lala, Sleepyhead is available on CD vinyl for the first time. Recorded in a basement over the course of five days during a typically-inhospitable Midwestern winter, Sleepyhead is an auspicious – if, at the time, criminally overlooked – debut effort from the young songwriter Lillie West and her then-lineup of supporting players (Abby Black on drums and Karl Bernasconi on bass). Unlike 2018’s critically-acclaimed The Lamb, Sleepyhead is a rawer, more punked-up album with fewer lyrical metaphors obfuscating it’s intimate, direct emotionality. Committed to tape in an urgent outburst of creative energy, the self-produced record eschews overdubs and takes unfussy aim at the listener’s ears, heart, and the lump in their throat. [Limited cloud colored vinyl pressing also available.]

Shannon Lay – August CD/LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)
There is an entire sub-genre of poetry devoted to rivers and their persistent, meditative flow. Emily Dickinson’s “My River Runs To Thee” compares them to the cycle of life, while Alfred Tennyson’s “The Brook” deems them eternal and Kathleen Raine’s “The River” muses on the dream-state they evoke. For transcendent folk-pop artist Shannon Lay, the river is all the above: It’s the metaphor driving her latest album, the exquisitely uplifting August – which doubles as an aural baptism renewing her purpose for making music. August was recorded with her longtime friend, musician Ty Segall at his home studio on the East Side.

Robert Randolph & The Family Band – Brighter Days CD/LP (Mascot Label Group)
Robert Randolph grew up playing sacred steel music – basically gospel played on pedal steel guitar – in the House Of God church in Orange, NJ, and proceeded to take his joyous, gospel-infused music out to the clubs and into the world. When it was time to record Brighter Days, after releasing the Grammy-nominated album Got Soul, Robert chose to work with producer Dave Cobb. Cobb is best-known for his work with new country stars like Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson, Brandi Carlile, and Jason Isbell. Looking beyond anyone’s expectations or his own preconceptions helped Randolph circle back to where it all began for him: church music. Brighter Days is a full dive back to Randolph’s gospel roots, mixing it up with blues, soul, funk, and the unmistaken sound of the pedal steel guitar. Highly recommended for fans of furious slide guitarists, like Sonny Landreth, Derek Trucks and the almighty Duane Allman. [Limited purple colored vinyl pressing also available.]

Redd Kross – Beyond The Door CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)
Redd Kross invite you to explore Beyond The Door, an album inspired by the band’s “total commitment to having the best fucking time we can have while we’re all still here” (what they like to call “the Party”). It’s a rock and roll record and a celebration of everything brothers Jeff and Steven McDonald love, from cultures both high and low. Musically, it’s guitars, bass, and drums topped with a generous portion of sweet vocal melodies often delivered with an ambiguous edge. Steven said this is the group’s most collaborative album in ages, maybe ever: “Jeff is still very much the driving force behind the compositions, but with more help from me than ever. Jeff and I haven’t shared this much of the writing and singing since Born Innocent in 1981.” This record is also the first time longtime live members Jason Shapiro and Dale Crover (Melvins, OFF!) have played on a Redd Kross album. The first single is the title track, and is a typically super-catchy, glam-punk riff-rocker.

Seratones – Power CD/LP (New West)
Seratones aptly named sophomore release Power is described by poet and author Hannif Abdurraquib as “a glorious, swelling album, [a] sonic monument, and precise lyrical tapestry.” AJ Haynes bends her gloriously malleable voice seamlessly around the temples of rock, and soul, and funk. All of them, unfurling in waves of keys, staccato percussion and wailing curves of guitar. Based in Shreveport, Louisiana, Haynes and founding members, drummer Jesse Gabriel and bassist Adam Davis, form the kind of laser-focused rhythm section that you only get from bandmates who’ve been playing together since they were teenagers. New members Tyran Coker (keys) and Travis Stewart (guitar) bring a fresh dynamic to the band with interstellar soundscapes and entrancing melodies, all while maintaining the emotional edge and intensity from their acclaimed proto-punk debut record Get Gone. Power exemplifies a true strength in vulnerability, a kaleidoscopic view into Haynes passions, hopes, and worries: from her love of poetry to her advocacy for reproductive justice and racial equity. Hard-learned lessons from lovers and intimate friends. The struggles to adapt and overcome. Power is as much a statement as it is a question, a semiotic exploration of sound and soul.

Ghost Funk Orchestra – A Song For Paul CD/LP (Colemine)
Dirty, soulful production, verbed and fuzzed out guitars, mysterious vocals that feel like a lost score to a Quentin Tarantino film. The brainchild of one-man producer/musician/arranger Seth Applebaum, GFO is forging new territory and blurring the line between soul and psychedelic. [Limited gold colored vinyl pressing also available.]

Vince Gill – Okie CD/LP (MCA Nashville)
With the album’s title and varied themes, Gill helps Merle Haggard and other inspirations reclaim Okie, a term used in the past to disparage Oklahoma natives living on the West Coast during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression years. For Gill, a proud Oklahoman, it now applies to common folks with specific fears and triumphs that are broadly relatable to listeners well beyond the Sooner State.

Midland – Let It Roll CD/LP (Big Machine)
A retro-inspired brand of classic country in the same vein of juke joint-friendly honky tonk music.

Modern Nature – How To Live CD/LP (Bella Union)
Modern Nature is a project from Jack Cooper (Ultimate Painting, Mazes) and Will Young (BEAK, Moon Gangs). On their debut recording, How To Live, urban and rural intertwine. Throughout this continuous work, where no song ever really seems to end, there’s a feeling of constant forward motion. It’s as if the band is laying down train tracks and riding them simultaneously. [Limited translucent aqua blue colored vinyl pressing also available.]

Tropical Fuck Storm – Briaindrops CD/LP (Joyful Noise)
“I’ve invented fake news as a genre of music”, Gareth Liddiard observes with a laugh. Heʼs talking about “Maria 63”, the closing track on Tropical Fuck Stormʼs sophomore LP Braindrops. The song takes aim at the once-marginalized alt-right conspiracy theories that now seem to be a driving force behind the rise of fascism in global politics. It may be the most stupid song ever written, Liddiard jokes. Heʼs wrong, “Maria 63” is emblematic of Tropical Fuck Stormʼs keen ability to mine the extreme edge of pop culture’s periphery for potent musical and conceptual spice.

Lina Tullgren – Free Cell CD/LP (Captured Tracks)
Lina Tullgren’s Free Cell is masterfully arranged with strings, brass and sculpted synths throughout.

Tyler, The Creator – Igor CD/Cassette (Sony)
Produced entirely by Tyler, Igor features guest appearances from Playboi Carti, Lil Uzi Vert, Solange, Kanye West, and Jerrod Carmichael, along with backing vocals from Santigold, Jessy Wilson, La Roux, CeeLo Green, Charlie Wilson, Slowthai, and Pharrell, among others. [Vinyl edition due September 27.]

de la Noche – Blue Days, Black Nights LP (Get Loud)
Ivan Howard has been releasing records for years now as the principle songwriter of The Rosebuds (Merge), Gayngs (Jagjaguwar) and his soul alter ego Howard Ivans (Spacebomb). He’s back with some long-time musical cohorts and production duo Rogan & Weeks to form the group de la Noche. Traversing slivers of light caught in a quiet storm of synths and some ripping sax melodies from Matt Douglas of the Mountain Goats. The nostalgic dance of depression and hope will always be a human struggle. de la Noche protects one of their own with these stunning tracks and holds up a toast to what has been described as essentially the sweat from John Oates’ mustache-pure awesomeness.

Lightning Bolt – Wonderful Rainbow [Reissue/2003] LP+MP3 (Thrill Jockey)
Legendary band Lightning Bolt’s Wonderful Rainbow is one of the most quintessential albums to come from the underground in the last 20 years. Included in lists like Pitchfork’s “200 top albums of the 2000s” and the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Lightning Bolt’s seminal record solidified their place as pillars of the underground community.

Purple Pilgrims – Perfumed Earth LP (Flying Nun)
New Zealand dreamscape artists Purple Pilgrims release their long-awaited, sophomore record. Perfumed Earth features support input from Gary War (bass and synth from various motel rooms in the USA), Jimmy Mac (lush live drums), Joshua Kennedy (additional guitar jangle and fuzz), veteran improvisational experimentalist Jeff Henderson (saxophone on “Delphiniums In Harmony / Two Worlds Away”) and a special guest appearance from six-string expressionist Roy Montgomery on “Ruinous Splendour”.

The Sea And Cake – The Biz [Reissue/1995] LP+MP3 (Thrill Jockey)
Limited white colored vinyl reissue of the Sea And Cake’s third record in just over one calendar year (1994-1995). The Biz continued to showcase the band’s ability to mesh together their unusual blend of pop, soul and jazz into one seamless output.

Sheer Mag – A Distant Call LP (Wilsuns RC)
Philadelphia’s Sheer Mag return with their sophomore album A Distant Call – an instant classic charged with hard rock, punk rock, and yacht rock influences-they forgot the disco this time around to embrace more of a mid-80s heavy metal sound, which results in Saxon meets Fleetwood Mac protest and love songs.