Iron And Wine – Archive Series Vol. 5: Tallahassee Recordings CD/LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)
Archive Series Volume No. 5: Tallahassee is the lost-in-time debut album from Iron And Wine. The collection was recorded over a two-year (1998-99) window during which Iron And Wine’s Sam Beam attended Florida State University’s College of Motion Picture Arts. Three years later, Iron And Wine would issue The Creek Drank The Cradle and begin a run of records widely praised as being part of a new blueprint in the singer-songwriter genre. Tallahassee doesn’t attempt to re-write history but instead aims to document the very first steps in Beam’s journey to becoming one of America’s most original and distinctive artists. The eleven-song collection was culled from several recordings that had been (mostly) forgotten by Beam himself but had been preserved by former roommate and one-time Iron & Wine member, EJ Holowicki. Tallahassee, with its sparse instrumental canvas and live-in one-room takes, is very much akin to early Iron And Wine releases, The Creek Drank The Cradle, The Sea & The Rhythm, and In The Reins.

Amy Winehouse – At The BBC 3xCD/3xLP (Republic)
Amy Winehouse’s At The BBC features tracks from appearances on Later… with Jools Holland over the years, notably Amy’s first performance on the show in 2003 with “Stronger Than Me”. Plus, two performances from the Mercury Prize: “Take The Box” from 2004 and “Love Is A Losing Game” from 2007. Available for the first time as an audio-only release.

Iceage – Seek Shelter CD/LP+MP3 (Mexican Summer)
With each new release, Elias Bender Ronnenfelt, Jakob Tvilling Pless, Jojan Surrballe Wieth and Dan Kj’r Nielsen refigure the contours of a typical Iceage song. This is especially true of Seek Shelter, their fifth LP. Enrolling Sonic Boom to produce the record and guitarist, Casper Morilla, the album sees Iceage’s momentum pushing them in new, expansive directions, exploring a new emotional palette, replete with romantic piano balladry, invocations of patron saints, and a gospel choir.

Squid – Bright Green Field CD/2xLP+MP3 (Warp)
Formed in Brighton, Squid is the brainchild of: Louis Borlase (guitars & vocals), Ollie Judge (drums & lead vocals), Arthur Leadbetter (keyboards, strings, percussion), Laurie Nankivell (bass & brass) and Anton Pearson (guitars & vocals). The band is in a constant, energetic state of evolution, reflected in the intense and infectious spectrum of sound contained in their propulsive songs. Bright Green Field is a joyous and emphatic coming of age record that’s agitated, discordant, groove-locked and flowing, amplified through dystopian Britain, science fiction and cyberspace – a reflection of the tumultuous world we live in.

TEKE :: TEKE – Shirushi CD/LP (Kill Rock Stars)
On their debut album Shirushi, TEKE :: TEKE blend classic Japanese balladry, surf rock, psychedelia, and more to produce a set of songs that play like soundtracks to a wildly eccentric epic film saga. From the spiritual tale of “Yoru Ni” to the stomping adventure ride of “Kala Kala” and the doomed romance of “Dobugawa”, the Montreal-based seven-piece find a mystic cohesion. By tearing apart roaring punk guitar riffs, folk instrumentation, poetic Japanese lyrics, and big band energy, Shirushi builds a dazzling mosaic of styles and eras. After initially forming as a tribute band for Japanese guitar legend Takeshi Terauchi, TEKE :: TEKE learned that they had to tear up their surf-tinged covers and build something new. Since then, they have expanded their already wide scope into a dazzling journey through classic Japanese balladry and Brazilian psychedelia alike. Fusing everything from traditional Japanese instrumentation to punk guitar, TEKE :: TEKE has created their own musical universe – one that’s continuously expanding.

Angel Olsen – Song of The Lark and Other Far Memories 4LP (Jagjaguwar)
Originally conceived as a double album, All Mirrors and Whole New Mess were distinct parts of a larger whole. Released in 2019, All Mirrors is massive in scope and sound, tracing Olsen’s ascent into the unknown, to a place of true self-acceptance, no matter how dark, or difficult, or seemingly lonely. All Mirrors is colossal, moving, dramatic in an Old Hollywood manner. Recorded before All Mirrors but released after, Whole New Mess is the bones and beginnings of the songs that would rewrite Olsen’s story. This is Angel Olsen in her classic style: stark solo performances, echoes and open spaces, her voice both whispered and enormous. Now, with Songs of the Lark And Other Far Memories, these twin stars become a constellation with the full extent of the songs’ iterations: all the alternate takes, b-sides, remixes and reimaginings are here, together. Alongside, a 40-page book collection tells a similar story, not just through outtakes and unseen photos but through the smaller, evocative details: handwritten lyrics, a favorite necklace, a beaded chandelier. As if it could be more plainly stated (there’s nothing more), Angel adds one cover here: a loving, assertive rendition of Roxy Music’s “More Than This.” It is a definitive collection, not just of these songs but of their revelations and their writer, from their simplest origins to their mightiest realizations. SUPER LIMITED!

Weezer – Van Weezer CD/LP (Atlantic)
Van Weezer, the band’s fifteenth studio album and second of 2021, was produced by Suzy Shinn (Panic! At The Disco, Fall Out Boy). The inspiration for the record derives from the deepest roots of Weezer – metal! What has metal got to do with Weezer, you ask? In his earliest years, Rivers Cuomo was a huge Kiss fan; Brian Bell was a big Black Sabbath fan; Patrick Wilson worshipped at the altar of Van Halen and Rush; Scott Shriner loved Slayer and Metallica. The last time this vein of harder rock was mined by Weezer was on their much-loved 2002 album Maladroit; Van Weezer is primed to take that album’s sonics many steps further. Rivers told Entertainment Weekly that Van Weezer goes “back to big guitars” and is “Blue Album-ish, but a little more riffy.” And he added to NME that, “This is probably the best possible time for this album. It’s about feeling isolated and alienated and secluded, so it’s the perfect album for now.”

Dexter Gordon ‎– One Flight Up [Reissue/1964] LP (Blue Note)
Dexter Gordon had been living in Europe for several years when he recorded One Flight Up, one of his masterpieces, in Paris in 1964. It’s all here: Dexter’s magnificently huge sound, Donald Byrd in peak form on trumpet, the sophistication of pianist Kenny Drew, the brilliance of the then-teenaged bass phenom Niels-Henning Orsted Pederson and the rock-steady swing of drummer Art Taylor. Reissued as part of The Blue Note Tone Poet Series: all-analog, remastered 180gm vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.

Khruangbin – Green Label 12″
Super limited series of 12″s. 5 different releases. This is the first, with green label. Super limited. Available in-store.

Tkay Maidza – Last Year Was Weird, Vol. 2 12” (4AD)
Tkay Maidza is a tour de force on her new EP Last Year Was Weird, Vol. 2. Her mastery of sonic versatility takes center stage on the assertive eight tracks that weave from whiplash-inducing spitfire summer anthem and lead single “Shook” to smooth boy-bye manifesto “Don’t Call Again (ft. Kari Faux)” to trap-infused “Awake (ft. JPEGMAFIA)”, which was nominated for a 2019 ARIA award and earned a best of the decade nod from The Needle Drop, as well as praise from Pitchfork, The FADER, Dazed, Complex, and others. The release follows 2018’s Last Year Was Weird, Vol. 1, which established her as one of the most exciting voices in the new guard of hip-hop.

Meat Puppets – Lollipop [Reissue2011] LP (Megaforce)
The highly influential Meat Puppets started as a punk rock band, but established their own unique style, blending punk with country and psychedelic rock. They later gained significant exposure when the Kirkwood brothers served as guest musicians on Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged performance in 1993. 2011’s Lollipop, which celebrates its 10th anniversary here on color vinyl LP, was recorded at Spoon’s HiFi Studio’s in Austin, TX and finds Cris and Curt flanked by drummer Shandon Sahm, son of Doug Sahm.

Peter Murphy – Holy Smoke [Reissue/1988] LP (Beggars Banquet)
Peter Murphy – Deep [Reissue/1989] LP (Beggars Banquet)
Vinyl reissues of Peter Murphy’s (formerly of the gothic rock band Bauhaus) second and third solo albums.

Phish – White Tape LP (Jemp)
Limited-edition silver and white color vinyl pressing. Soon after forming the band, Phish (aka The White Tape) was created from four-track recordings which the band and band members mixed, dubbed and circulated as a demo. It consists of an assortment of four-track recordings from 1984-1985 including four songs recorded by all the existing members of Phish as a band: “Alumni Blues”, “AC/DC Bag”, “Slave To The Traffic Light”, and “Dog Gone Dog” (aka “Dog Log”). The balance was recorded separately by the band members and blended from 4-track cassettes to create the album as we know it.

Maggie Rogers – Notes From The Archive: Recordings 2011-2016 2xLP (Debay Sounds)
Limited edition color vinyl pressing. Grammy-nominated producer/songwriter/performer Maggie Rogers releases a special collection of archival music: Notes From The Archives: Recordings 2011-2016. The 16 track collection features newly remastered versions of tracks from Maggie’s early albums and six previously unreleased songs.