This Week’s New Releases, Staff Picks, and more 7/10/2020
Staff Picks
Kimber- Rufus Wainwright
Lindsay- Jayhawks
Dario- Julianna Barwick
Eric- Earl Sweatshirt
The Jayhawks – XOXO CD/LP (Sham)
XOXO is the eleventh studio release from the Twin Cities based band since the release of their first self-titled and genre defining album in 1986. Featuring writing and lead vocal contributions from all four members, XOXO signals a sharpening of focus for the band, an elevation in understanding of who they are and what they do best. In classic Jayhawks fashion, the songs here mix the influence of American roots music with British invasion and jangly power-pop, but there’s a newfound vitality at play, as well, an invigoration of confidence and energy that could only come with the injection of fresh blood. [Limited indie store exclusive vinyl pressing also available.]
That’s How Rumors Get Started sees 2019 Best New Artist Grammy nominee Margo Price commit her genre-bending rock-and-roll show to record for the first time, stretching out her emotive twang over sky-high soft-rock, burning psychedelic rock ballads, stomping road songs, and sprinkles of pop. Produced by longtime friend Sturgill Simpson (co-produced by Margo and David Ferguson), whether she’s singing of motherhood or the mythologies of stardom, Nashville gentrification or the national healthcare crisis, relationships or growing pains, Margo crafted a collection of music that invites people to listen closer than ever before. [Limited indie store exclusive vinyl pressing includes a bonus 7” single.]
Joshua Redman/Brad Mehldau/Christian McBride/Brian Blade – RoundAgain CD/LP (Nonesuch)
The members of the original Joshua Redman Quartet—Redman (saxophone), Brad Mehldau (piano), Christian McBride (bass), and Brian Blade (drums)—reunite on their new release RoundAgain, the group’s first recording since 1994’s MoodSwing. The album features seven newly composed songs: three from Redman, two from Mehldau, and one each from McBride and Blade.
Rufus Wainwright – Unfollow The Rules CD/2xLP (BMG)
Unfollow the Rules, Rufus Wainwright’s ninth studio LP and first new pop album since 2012, finds the artist at the peak of his powers, entering artistic maturity with passion, honesty, and a new-found fearlessness while remaining as creative, bold, and mischievous as ever. Inspired by middle age, married life, fatherhood, friends, loss, London, and Laurel Canyon, songs like “Only The People That Love” and the spirited, symphonic “Hatred” find the gifted singer-songwriter ready to tackle new challenges, yet compelled to confront his past by making sense of how he has grown both as a musician and the contended family man he has become. “What I would like this album to symbolize is a coming together of all the aspects of my life which have made me a seasoned artist,” says Wainwright. “My aim is to emulate the greats of yore whose second acts produced their finest work…”
Released digitally last year – now available on vinyl. Earl Sweatshirt is the virtuosic byproduct of Los Angeles’ fertile ground where hip-hop sowed its seeds and historic cultural movements were born. The prodigiously gifted writer, lyricist and producer grew from a zeitgeist of which contemporary collectives in hip-hop today are predicated. And while most movements are fleeting as soon as they arrive, Earl pushed forward, documented his growth and self-discovery on record and cemented himself as one of the foremost culturally relevant MC’s in the game. One who never strayed away too far from his Los Angeles beat-scene roots. [CD edition due July 24.]
Julianna Barwick – Healing Is A Miracle CD/LP+MP3 (Ninja Tune)
The acclaimed, composer, vocalist and producer who crafts ethereal, sometimes wordless soundscapes, built around multiple loops and layers of angelic harmonies returns with her first studio release in five years. A distinctive meditation on sound, reverb and the voice, Healing Is A Miracle is a record built on improvisation and a close affinity to a couple of trusted items of gear, from which she spins engrossing, expansive universes. Additionally, Barwick draws on the input of three collaborators with whom she has nurtured deep friendships with over the years: Jónsi (Sigur Rós), Nosaj Thing and Mary Lattimore; who each gently nudge out at the edges of her organically-evolved sound.
The Beths – Jump Rope Gazers CD/LP+MP3 (Carpark)
Songwriter/lead vocalist Elizabeth Stokes worked on The Beths’ second LP, Jump Rope Gazers, in between these intense periods of touring. Like their earlier music, the album tackles themes of anxiety and self-doubt with effervescent power pop choruses and rousing backup vocals, zeroing in on the communality and catharsis that can come from sharing stressful situations with some of your best friends. Their most emotive and heartfelt work to date, Jump Rope Gazers stares down all the hard parts of living in communion with other people, even at a distance, while celebrating the ferocious joy that makes it all worth it. [Limited tangerine colored vinyl pressing also available.]
Having first made his mark as a songwriter and guitarist for Los Angeles’ Allah-Lahs, Pedrum Siadatian has etched out a place of his own with his solo work as Paint. This year sees Paint returning with the release of the ambitious Spiritual Vegas. While Ray Davies-smirks and Kevin Ayers-wit abound, Siadatian’s singular touch is unmistakable. An emboldened artist coloring outside the lines, unleashing an opus both idiosyncratic and focused; cohesion through diversity.
Animal Collective – Hollinndagain [Reissue/2002] LP+MP3 (Domino)
Hollinndagain is a document of songs that were performed live in the first half of 2001. The first three are from an on-air performance on WFMU, and the latter four are from live shows around NYC and on their first US tour with Black Dice. No studio recordings were ever made with the exception of “Lablakely Dress”, which originally appeared on Danse Manatee.
Released in January on CD and colored vinyl – standard black pressing now available. Caroline Polachek has already lived an extraordinary life in music: her previous band Chairlift formed in 2006 whilst Caroline was still in art school. Chairlift disbanded in 2017 and Polachek feverishly began writing for her first solo project under her own name. Moving fluidly through radically different genres, Caroline collaborated with dozens of artists (Blood Orange, SBTRKT, Charli XCX); sometimes writing, sometimes singing, sometimes directing videos, and sometimes all three. For the first time, the DNA from these seemingly different projects fit together perfectly; the playfulness of Chairlift, the theatricality of Ramona Lisa, futuristic glimmerings of CEP, plus a new mastery of her voice and thick Rolodex of keen collaborators.
FIONA APPLE – Fetch The Bolt Cutters CD/LP
ARCA – KiCk I CD/LP
PROTOMARTYR – Ultimate Success Today CD/LP
BING + RUTH – Species CD/LP
NO AGE – Goons Be CD/LP
LIANNE LA HAVAS – Self-Titled CD/LP
ELLIE GOULDING – Brightest Blue CD/LP
TEXAS GENTLEMEN – Floor It CD/LP
WIRE – 10:20 CD
FELT – Felt 3: A Tribute To Rosie Perez CD/LP
KLLO – Maybe We Could CD/LP
BOB DYLAN – Rough + Rowdy Ways LP
JOY DIVISION – Closer LP reissue
YAEJI – What We Drew LP
NICK LOWE – Lay It On Me 12″
ZOMBI – 2020 LP
LAWRENCE ARMS – Skeleton Coast CD/LP
ALLMAN BETTS BAND – Down To The River LP