Mastodon – Medium Rarities CD (WB)
Medium Rarities is the first rarities collection from Mastodon covering their entire career. The compilation features one brand new song – “Fallen Torches”. It also includes a bevy of classic covers, soundtrack contributions, instrumentals, B-sides, and live recordings on one complete package for the very first time. Among an eclectic array of covers, the musicians tackle “A Commotion” by Feist, “A Spoonful Weighs A Ton” by The Flaming Lips, “Atlanta” by Butthole Surfers, and “Orion” by Metallica. It also features soundtrack cuts such as “White Walker” (from the Game Of Thrones inspired mix tape) and the soundtrack song “Cut You Up With A Linoleum Knife” (Aqua Teen Hunger Force). Meanwhile, they get under the hood with instrumental versions of “Asleep In The Deep”, “Toe To Toes”, “Jaguar God”, and “Halloween”. [Vinyl edition due October 16.]

Artemis – Artemis CD (Blue Note)
Artemis – the jazz supergroup comprised of pianist and musical director Renee Rosnes, clarinetist Anat Cohen, tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, bassist Noriko Ueda, drummer Allison Miller, and featured vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant – release their self-titled debut album on Blue Note Records. The group is distinctive not only for bringing together seven singular artists, each renowned for their own remarkable solo career; but for its multi-generational and globe-spanning line-up with members hailing from the US, Canada, France, Chile, Israel, and Japan. Artemis conjures a powerful collective voice from seven of the most acclaimed musicians in modern jazz. Artemis is a superb nine-song set that features material composed and/or arranged by each of the band’s six instrumentalists. Artemis unfurls with a dynamic flow, stunningly eclectic yet entirely cohesive. [Vinyl edition due September 25.]

Uniform – Shame CD/LP (Sacred Bones)
An industrialized mill of grating guitars, warped electronics, war-torn percussion, and demonically catchy vocalizations. [Limited smoke colored vinyl pressing also available.]

Collaboration between Dwyer (Thee Oh Sees) and Ryan Sawyer, Peter Kerlin, Tom Dolas, Brad Caulkins, Kyp Malone, & Marcos Rodriguez. “This is the first interstellar transmission from five days of electrified and improvised sessions recorded at Stu-Stu-Studio, edited down to forty minutes for your earballs.  “Bent Arcana is the inceptive chapter in what I hope to be several releases showcasing these types of off-the-cuff musical compositions. So you can try your fry on and turn off. This one is very much on the ECM / ’70s hard fusion / prog-kraut tip. It is a many pronged weapon, swung by the spontaneous sentinel.” —John Dwyer

Clear 12″. London producer and electronic music humaniser Ryan Lee West aka Rival Consoles returns with his highly anticipated, compelling and cohesive new record Articulation. Following 2018’s acclaimed double-album Persona, on which Ryan experimented with ambient soundscapes using an improvisational and spontaneous approach to his compositions that explored the extent to which electronic music can mimic our feelings and help better understand them, Articulation conversely was conceived using a very visual way of thinking. During the writing process Ryan drew structures, shapes and patterns by hand to try and find new ways of thinking about music and as a way to problem-solve away from the computer.

Bob Moses—the electronic duo of Tom Howie and Jimmy Vallance—wrote a concept record for the club. Presented over six continuously mixed tracks, Desire is a love tale for the digital age: all about the positives and pitfalls of humanity’s driving wants, especially in these technology-driven times.