New Releases & Staff Picks – 10/21/22
Staff Picks
Lindsay – Frankie Cosmos, Queens of the Stone Age, Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn, and Spain
Caleb – Lou Reed
Dario – Bibio
Zach- Dry Cleaning, Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn, and Jon Brion
Kimber – Frankie Cosmos and Spain
Archers Of Loaf – Reason In Decline CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)
Reason In Decline, Archers Of Loaf’s first studio album since the 1998 release of White Trash Heroes, is no nostalgic, low-impact reboot. When they emerged from North Carolina’s ’90s indie-punk incubator, the Archers’ hurtling, sly, gloriously dissonant roar was a mythologized touchstone of slacker-era refusal. But this new LP is an entirely different noise. In fact, it’s a startling revelation. Guitarists Eric Bachmann and Eric Johnson, once headstrong smartasses inciting a series of artful pileups on the band’s four studio albums and EP, are now a fluidly complementary, sonically advanced unit. Notably, Johnson’s signature trebly lines live clearly above the din instead of struggling to be heard. Today, singer-songwriter Bachmann’s lyrics balance righteous wrath with a complex tangle of adult perspective. He still spits bile, but it’s less likely to concern scene politics, music trends, or shady record labels thwarting the dreams of a young rock band. [A limited-edition white w/ red & purple swirl color vinyl pressing is available.]
Arctic Monkeys – The Car CD/LP+MP3 (Domino)
Arctic Monkeys’ cinematic seventh studio album, The Car, features ten new songs written by Alex Turner, produced by James Ford and recorded at Butley Priory, Suffolk, RAK Studios, London and La Frette, Paris. Following 2018’s Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino, The Car finds Arctic Monkeys running wild in a new and sumptuous musical landscape and contains some of the richest and most rewarding vocal performances of Turner’s career. Turner told the Big Issue: “On this record [The Car], sci-fi is off the table. We are back to earth. I think we’ve got closer to a better version of a more dynamic overall sound with this record. The strings on this record come in and out of focus and that was a deliberate move and hopefully everything has its own space. There’s time the band comes to the front and then the strings come to the front.” [An indie store exclusive clear vinyl pressing is available, free tote bag with purchase, while supplies last.]
Dry Cleaning – Stumpwork CD/LP+MP3 (4AD)
Less than 18 months after the release of their debut album New Long Leg, Dry Cleaning return with their sophomore album entitled Stumpwork. 2021 established the band as one of the biggest breakthrough indie acts of recent years. This is reflected in the ambition of their new record. For their follow-up, the London four-piece returned to the iconic Rockfield Studios to work once again with producer John Parish. Furious indie-pop anthems combine across the record with psych and prog influences, demonstrating the wealth of influences the band feed off and their deep musicality. Surrealist lyrics are as ever at the forefront, but the new album gives greater opportunity to explore bugged out guitar jams, and immersive journeys touching on krautrock territory. [A limited-edition color vinyl pressing is available.]
Frankie Cosmos – Inner World Peace CD/LP+MP3/Cassette (Sub Pop)
Frankie Cosmos’ fifth album Inner World Peace – which features “One Year Stand” and additional standouts “F.O.O.F.”, “Aftershook”, and “Empty Head”, – was co-produced with Nate Mendelsohn and Katie Von Schleicher at Figure 8 Recording in Brooklyn, New York. The Inner World Peace album art features illustrations from band member Lauren Martin. Instant centerpiece “One Year Stand” is a small snowglobe of intimacy recalling the softest moments of Yo La Tengo’s And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out. Lifted by Martin’s drones on Hammond organ and synthesizer, it could be played on repeat in a loop. The voices of Kline and Martin, who have sung together since middle school, blend seamlessly. Throughout the album there are plays on the notion of feeling seen or invisible, as in “Magnetic Personality” when Kline sings “ask me how I am and I won’t really say,” or in “One Year Stand” when she says, “maybe I’m asking myself.” [A limited-edition clear vinyl pressing is available.]
Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn – Pigments CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)
Pigments is a project about the power of self-expression through living art, through motion. It’s also a love letter to New Orleans, Louisiana. Not strictly classical, jazz, or ambient electronica but rather a body of “movements,” Pigments is an expressive soundscape that is an immersive passage through the city as seen through the eyes of a young Black girl with dreams to paint her future with the pigments given to her. [A limited-edition color vinyl pressing is available.]
Queens Of The Stone Age – Queens Of The Stone Age LP (Matador)
The landmark debut album from Queens Of The Stone Age is back in print on vinyl for the first time in 10 years, restored to its original sequence with artwork by Frank Kozik. Featuring obi-strip designed by longtime collaborator Boneface and pressed on standard black vinyl and super limited orange vinyl!
Whitmer Thomas – The Older I Get, The Funnier I Was LP (Hardly Art)
Pink color vinyl pressing. The Older I Get, The Funnier I Was, which follows Thomas’ brilliant 2020 HBO special The Golden One and his Can’t Believe You’re Happy Here EP released earlier this year, surveys a range of emotion, and offers a broad sonic palette, moving between pop punk, electro, and the obvious influence of the singer-songwriters he grew up listening to in early childhood. It conjures the ennui of Bright Eyes alongside the barefaced storytelling of John Prine, the overstuffed lists of Fred Thomas with the lackadaisical humor of Colleen Green, among many others.
Bibio – Bib10 CD/LP+MP3 (Warp)
10th album from the British folktronica musician. Bibio takes us on an unexpected & delightful journey through oneiric worlds that drift from acid folk to soul-infused beats on Bib10. [A limited-edition gold color vinyl pressing is available.]
Kendrick Lamar – Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (10th Anniversary Edition) CD/2xLP (Interscope)
Kendrick Lamar delivers a special 10th anniversary edition of his breakout 2012 release Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City. The acclaimed major label debut saw the rapper crowned the “new King of the West Coast” by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. Billed as a “short film by Kendrick Lamar”, the concept album follows the story of Lamar’s teenage experiences in the drug-infested streets and gang lifestyle of his native Compton. Supported by five singles – “The Recipe”, “Swimming Pools (Drank)”, “Backseat Freestyle”, “Poetic Justice”, and “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” – it features production by Dr. Dre, Just Blaze, Pharrell Williams, Hit-Boy, Scoop DeVille, Jack Splash, and T-Minus, among others. The triple platinum effort earned Lamar four Grammy Award nominations including Album of the Year.
The Libertines – Up The Bracket [Reissue/2002] 2xCD/2xLP (Rough Trade)
Digitally remastered and expanded 20th anniversary edition. Up The Bracket arrived like a raging bull in a tired post-Britpop China shop and introduced the world to The Libertines, a new gang of London bohemians, whose ragged tunes, red military tunics, opiated poetry and ‘live now pay never’ lifestyle came to define the millennial angst of the early noughties. At the heart of the band is the blood bond bromance between the ramshackle Music Hall Jagger/Richards, Peter Doherty and Carl Barat, ably assisted by the rock-solid rhythm twins John Hassall and Gary Powell. Any bookie worth his salt would have given you short odds on this quartet surviving more than a month or two, given the teetering on the brink lifestyle they chose to lead, but here we are two decades later and our Byronic heroes, though older and wiser, are still fighting the good fight and making music every bit as vital as their debut. [An indie store exclusive red color vinyl pressing is available.]
Lou Reed – Words & Music, May 1965 CD/LP/2xLP+7” (Light In The Attic)
Capturing Reed in his formative years, this previously unreleased collection of songs penned by a young Lou Reed, recorded to tape with the help of future bandmate John Cale, and mailed to himself as a “poor man’s copyright”, remained sealed in its original envelope and unopened for nearly 50 years. Its contents embody some of the most vital, groundbreaking contributions to American popular music committed to tape in the 20th century. Through examination of these songs rooted firmly in the folk tradition, we clearly see Lou’s lasting influence on the development of modern American music – from punk to art-rock and everything in between. A true time capsule, these recordings not only memorialize the nascent sparks of what would become the seeds of the incredibly influential Velvet Underground; they also cement Reed as a true observer with an innate talent for synthesizing and distilling the world around him into pure sonic poetry. [A metallic silver color vinyl pressing, an indie store exclusive yellow color vinyl pressing, and a deluxe double-LP pressing with bonus 7” are available.]
Sloan – Steady CD/LP (Yep Roc)
Thirty years into their career, Canadian indie rock perennials Sloan return with their 13th album: Steady. Featuring the band’s trademark harmonies and every band member taking lead vocal duties on at least a couple tracks, there’s no better musical commonwealth than this quartet. [A limited-edition purple color vinyl pressing is available.]
Taylor Swift – Midnights [Moonstone Blue Edition] CD/LP (Republic)
Taylor Swift – Midnights [Blood Moon Edition] CD/LP (Republic)
Taylor Swift – Midnights [Jade Green Edition] CD/LP (Republic)
Taylor Swift – Midnights [Mahogany Edition] CD/LP (Republic)
Taylor Swift’s 2022 studio album Midnights is a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams. The floors we pace and the demons we face – the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout Taylor’s life. [Four color vinyl variants (color according to subtitle) are available.]
Tegan & Sara – Crybaby CD/LP (Mom + Pop)
Innovative, multi-platinum Canadian duo Tegan & Sara deliver their tenth studio album, Crybaby which was co-produced with John Congleton and recorded at Studio Litho in Seattle and Sargent Recorders in Los Angeles. Crybaby consists of songs about change, and never changing, and the nostalgia aching in both their bones. [A limited-edition ‘neopolitan’ color vinyl pressing is available.]
Jon Brion – Meaningless [Reissue/2000] LP+MP3 (Jealous Butcher)
One of the most distinctive recordings of the early 2000s, Jon Brion’s one and only solo album Meaningless is a master course in power pop-inspired art rock songwriting and production. Uniting psychedelic rock, classic songwriters, tape loop soundscapes, and chiming folk jangle, the record offers a vivid backdrop for Brion’s wry observations on love, reality, and the elusive quality of meaning-all that plus a mind-bending Cheap Trick cover. More than two decades later, its emotional core remains undiminished by year’s spent in the major label wringer, both before and after its creation. [An indie store exclusive blue color vinyl pressing is available. CD reissue due November 4.]
Curren$y & The Alchemist – Continuance LP (Jet Life)
Following what many would consider a banner year of releases for both artists, Curren$y & The Alchemist reunite for their third collaborative album, Continuance. With a chemistry that is unmatched currently, the album sees Spitta exude effortless confidence over some of Alc’s most finely crafted beats, resulting in what many would already consider a timeless piece of work. The 13-track album features a tight, yet impressive roster of guests including Boldy James, Babyface Ray, Styles P, Larry June, Havoc, and old partner in crime, Wiz Khalifa.
Hazel Dickens And Alice Foster – Who’s That Knocking? And Other Bluegrass Music [Reissue/1965] LP (Smithsonian Folkways)
Initially released in 1965, Who’s That Knocking? is the first album by Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard. With this trailblazing record, Hazel and Alice shattered the glass ceiling of male-dominated bluegrass, which had typically relegated women to minor musical roles at best. Hazel and Alice’s hard-edged, soulful harmonies were firmly rooted in the older music traditions of the rural South. Their steadfast devotion to their powerful, driving style inspired generations of women in bluegrass, country music, and even punk.
Caroline Polachek – Billions b/w Long Road Home 7” (Caroline Polachek)
New single from the L.A.-based artist and the second to be taken from her upcoming, sophomore album. The single features new B-side & rework of Brooklyn-based musician, artist, composer, & Mercury Music Prize nominated producer Oneohtrix Point Never’s “Long Road Home” from his 2020 album Magic Oneohtrix Point Never.
Sad Lovers And Giants – Epic Garden Music [Reissue/1982] LP (Radiation Roots)
Limited white color vinyl pressing of the debut studio album by English post-punk band Sad Lovers & Giants.
Spain – World Of Blue LP (Joyful Noise)
Limited blue color vinyl pressing. The first vinyl release of five previously unreleased tracks recorded prior to 1995’s landmark Blue Moods Of Spain album by the band Spain. Includes the original studio version of signature tune “World Of Blue” featuring Petra Haden on violin. The LP was remixed and re-imagined by Kramer at his Noise Miami Studio in 2021.
Tropical Fuck Storm / King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Satanic Slumber Party 12” (Joyful Noise)
Pink color vinyl pressing. Satanic Slumber Party is a collaborative 12″ by two of Australia’s finest – Tropical Fuck Storm and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. Pumped full of booze and adrenaline, our heroes offer up 20-minutes of sax skronks, brick-heavy distortion, and punchy riffs. It’s a packed party full of four guitars, three drummers, two synths, bass, harmonica, electronic sax and loads of singers and silliness. It’s like “Love Shack” by the B52’s except more evil.
Various Artists – Studio One Women [Reissue/2005] 2xLP+MP3 (Soul Jazz)
Yellow color vinyl pressing. Ska, rocksteady, funky reggae, roots, dub mixes, disco mixes, they’re all here from the queens of the Jamaican music scene – Studio One Women features a wide mix of classics and obscurities from the finest female voices in reggae.
Colter Wall – Western Swing & Waltzes And Other Punchy Songs [Reissue/2020] LP (Black Hole Music)
Pink color vinyl reissue of the third album from the Saskatchewan country artist. Steve Earle has said that Colter Wall is “the best young-singer songwriter I’ve seen in twenty years.” He has toured with the likes of John Prine, Cody Jinks, Margo Price and he co-headlined a US tour with The Wood Brothers in 2019.
Revamped, revised and reissued – the notorious 1999 studio album from Los Angeles street punk legends, Total Chaos!
The audio has been digitally remastered and edited to sharpen the album’s sonic impact, which even today hits with full force! All new artwork to commemorate this important release!