ARCS – Electrophonic Chronic CD/LP (Easy Eye)
Available on limited colored vinyl and indie exclusive CD with patch. In 2015, Dan Auerbach entered the studio with Leon Michels, Nick Movshon, Homer Steinweiss, and the late Richard Swift (who passed away in 2018) to record The Arcs’ debut album Yours, Dreamily, in a handful of freewheeling sessions over two weeks. Now, more than 7 years later, those sessions became the bedrock on which the surviving members fleshed out the anticipated follow-up album, Electrophonic Chronic, a collection of neo-psychedelic roots, soul fire, dusty grooves & storming rock.

CHILDISH GAMBINO – Kauai LP (Glassnote)
2014 EP from hip-hop/R&B star Childish Gambino a.k.a. Donald Glover, first time widely available on vinyl.

THE CURE – Wish LP [Reissue/1992] (Elektra)
30th Anniversary Edition of The Cure’s best-selling, Grammy-nominated album Wish. Newly remastered by Robert Smith and Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios. Featuring the hit singles “High,” “Friday I’m In Love,” and “A Letter To Elise”. Presented as a 2LP set in a single sleeve with a wide spine and 2x printed inner bags.

NOSAJ THING – Continua CD/LP (Luckyme)
Los Angeles producer and artist Nosaj Thing AKA Jason W. Chung returns with his fifth album, Continua – featuring a stellar ensemble cast including HYUKOH, Toro y Moi, Kazu Makino (Blonde Redhead), serpentwithfeet, Sam Gendel, Coby Sey, Julianna Barwick, Mike Andrews, Slauson Malone, Pink Siifu, Panda Bear & Eyedress.

SAM SMITH – Gloria CD/LP (Capitol)
Following the global success of the unstoppable single “Unholy” featuring pop diva Kim Petras, Sam Smith will be releasing their fourth studio album, Gloria, on January 27, 2023. The 13-track record will be Sam’s boldest statement yet and comes off the back of an undeniable run of success with the lead single from the album.

BASS DRUM OF DEATH – Say I Won’t CD/LP (Fat Possum)
The point of an odyssey is to return home changed—still the same person, but deepened somehow, wiser and better, wearing your traveling scars proudly. Bass Drum of Death’s new album Say I Won’t is the end result of a journey that took singer and bandleader John Barrett from a small town in Mississippi and sent him across the world and back home again. The music still rips, with blown-out guitars and drums that sound like bombs going off, and the melodies are catchier than ever, hollered in Barrett’s trademark yelp. But the music hits differently now, more at peace with itself, propelled by a new swagger. Say I Won’t is the record of a veteran band finding its stride and leaning into it, stripping back the excess and finding the raw core of their sound.

SAMIA – Honey CD/LP (Grand Jury)
Honey, comprised of eleven new moments of catharsis, was recorded at North Carolina studio Betty’s – owned and operated by Sylvan Esso’s Nick Sandborn and Amelia Meath, frequent touring partners of Samia’s. It was produced by Caleb Wright, part of the team that helmed Samia’s breakthrough 2020 debut The Baby, and a founding member of one of Samia’s favorite bands, The Happy Children. It features some of her nearest and dearest friends: Christian Lee Hutson, Briston Maroney, Jake Luppen, Raffaella. It’s songs were surreptitiously road tested for her devotees while opening for Lucy Dacus, Courtney Barnett, and more. The end result is what Samia calls simply “a real community record.”

KENNY BEATS – Louie CD/LP (XL)
The first solo album from Kenny Beats is a spontaneous burst of creativity spurred by an avalanche of despair and imagination. Only after sharing it with a few close friends – who mentioned the elegiac pathos it evoked – did Kenny become convinced to release it for public consumption. Just 17 songs and 33 minutes, LOUIE is a hypnotic odyssey of wounded, teardrop soul. LOUIE presents a side of Kenny, best known for producing seminal full-length albums for some of the world’s most exciting artists (Vince Staples, IDLES, Rico Nasty, Freddie Gibbs, Dominic Fike, and many more) that has not been seen by the world before. Charismatic, self-effacing and generous, the album reveals the duality of the artist -an enigmatic, introspective searcher who has experienced pain and duress, and alchemized it via looped samples and hypnotic drum patterns. LOUIE gives testament to our most personal thoughts, recollections and stories. It is an intimate and personal gift that achieves the rarest condition – a sense of the universal.

DELAYS – Faded Seaside Glamour CD/LP (Rough Trade)
Rough Trade Records is pleased to announce that it will be releasing Delays’ Faded Seaside Glamour on vinyl for the first time ever. A space of wonderment and exhilaration, the home of true heart and a timeless soul, Delays’ Faded Seaside Glamour was an atmospheric and evocative debut album. Released in 2004, the fragile strength of frontman Greg Gilbert’s vocals intoxicatedly intertwined with the forward looking synths of his brother Aaron, Colin Fox’s bass and Rowly’s drumming, to create a series of affecting songs that delivered an immediate pop hit that also left a deep and wistful impact worthy of the album’s enticing title.

JOE HENRY – All The Eye Can See CD/LP (Earmusic)
Joe Henry is one of those artists you are rarely able to find nowadays. He is passionate about his work, unbelievably talented in multiple ways and a grand singer-songwriter, not to forget a Grammy award winning producer. The prolific singer has been reshaping the definition of American folk music. Adored for his wise and thoughtful lyrics and music, he always manages to find the right words and right tunes. Not only is Joe Henry a successful musician, but he also produced albums for artists ranging from Solomon Burke (Grammy Award!), Hugh Laurie, Aimee Mann, Rodney Crowell to Elvis Costello. All The Eye Can See was mainly self-recorded at Joe Henry’s home during a phase of worldwide lockdowns. On All The Eye Can See, Henry is joined by more than 20 musicians, among them his trusted long-time musical companions and friends – Levon Henry on saxophone & clarinet, David Piltch on bass, Patrick Warren on piano & keys and John Smith on acoustic guitar.

SELENA – Moonchild Mixes LP Picture Disc (Warner Music Latina)
The CD release of Moonchild Mixes debuted #1 on Billboard’s Latin Pop Charts back in August 26th, 2022. This album is a production by AB Quintanilla with 13 tracks where they took Selena’s voice from early recordings she did when she was between 13 and 16 years old. AB worked on Selena’s vocals on these recordings and created the music from scratch offering new and fresh, modern styles and sounds. Fans will listen to Selena like never before and enjoy these new versions of songs recorded in her earlier years as a very young singer.

BAD BOOKS – Self Titled LP [Reissue/2010] (Favorite Gentlemen)
Limited to 750 copies on colored vinyl. Bad Books is the debut album from the folk/indie rock collaboration project by Kevin Devine and members of Manchester Orchestra. It was released in 2010 through Manchester Orchestra’s own label Favorite Gentlemen Recordings. Six songs on the album were written by Kevin Devine, with the other five written by Andy Hull.

FUCKED UP – One Day CD/LP (Merge)
Available on black and colored vinyl. With One Day, Fucked Up have delivered one of the most energizing and intricate albums of their entire career, a massive-sounding record that arrives in deceptively small confines. The Canadian hardcore legends have been known for their epic scale in the past, from towering concept albums to 12-hour performances – so it might be a surprise that Fucked Up’s sixth studio album is their shortest to date, written and recorded in the confines of one literal day (hence the title). Don’t mistake size for substance, though: The band’s sound has only gotten bigger, more hard-charging, with even denser thickets of melody. If that sounds like a study in contrasts, well, that’s Fucked Up for you – and you shouldn’t expect, or want, anything different.

HAMMOCK – Love In The Void CD/LP (Hammock Music)
Breaking from the strange monotony and abnormal norms that took hold during two years of pandemic life, Hammock returns with Love in the Void, an album that looks to the future, seizes the present, and unabashedly relishes the experiences and bonds that bring meaning to our days. Known for crafting orchestral works of stirring cinematic ambience, on Love in the Void the Nashville-based duo of Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson bring guitar-forward, heart-pounding urgency to songs that shout through and shatter the static of complacency.

KING TUFF – Smalltown Stardust CD/LP (Sub Pop)
There are times in our life when we feel magic in the air. When new love arrives, or we find ourselves lost in a moment of creation with others who share our vision. A sense that: this is who I want to be. This is what I want to share. It’s a fleeting feeling and one that Kyle Thomas, the singer-songwriter who records and performs as King Tuff, found himself longing for in the spring of 2020. But knowing he couldn’t simply recreate this time in his life at will, Thomas-who hails from Brattleboro, Vermont-set out to write a love letter to those cherished moments of inspiration and to the small town that formed him. The one where he first nurtured his songwriting impulses, bouncing ideas off other like-minded artists. The kind of place where the changing of the seasons always delivered a sense of perspective and fresh artistic inspiration. Where he felt a deeper connection with nature and sense of community that had once been so close at hand. And so, Thomas seized upon his memories, creating what he calls “an album about love and nature and youth.” The result is Smalltown Stardust, a spiritual, tender and ultimately joyous record that might come as a shock to those with only a passing knowledge of the artist’s back catalog. On Smalltown Stardust, Thomas takes us on his journey to a place where past and present collide, where he can be a dreamer in love with all that he sees. References to his Brattleboro upbringing abound, but at the core of Smalltown Stardust is Thomas’s desire to commune with nature on a spiritual level. Images of the natural world, from blizzards to green mountains to cloudy days, fill the songs. “I consider nature to be my religion,” he explains, and Smalltown Stardust is nothing if not a spiritual exploration.

H.C. MCENTIRE – Every Acre CD/LP (Merge)
If naming is a form of claiming, of being claimed, how is one tethered to both the physical landscape that surrounds us, as well as our own internal emotional landscape – at times calm, at times turbulent, and ever changing? H.C. McEntire’s new album Every Acre grapples with those themes – themes that encompass grief, loss, and links to land and loved ones. And naming-claiming land, claiming self, being claimed by ancestry and heritage-permeates the hauntingly beautiful landscape that is this poignant collection of songs.

NICK SHOULDERS – Lonely Like Me LP (Garhole)
First time available on vinyl – the first recorded collection of songs from celebrated Arkansas songwriter Nick Shoulders and the Okay Crawdad band. Recorded live to tape and firmly below sea level at Mashed Potato Records in New Orleans, Louisiana. This is three mics, two tracks, and two afternoons sweating it out in the oppressive May heat with some very patient pals while the nearby Mississippi river churned overhead.

BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME – Automata LP (Sumerian)
Experience Between the Buried and Me’s double LP concept album Automata in full with a new vinyl pressing containing both installments ‘Automata I’ and ‘Automata II’ packaged together, and available at retail for the very first time.

HEAVY BLANKET – Moon Is CD/LP (Outer Battery)
J Mascis is back with his legendary instrumental psych project Heavy Blanket! Heavy Blanket’s debut LP was a mind blowing showcase of J’s psychedelic guitar work, and the follow up live LP with Earthless’ rhythm section as the backing band was the next step in Heavy Blanket’s journey. Over the years J has been stashing away his heaviest riffs for this project and he finally got the chance to head into the studio, backed once again by the original mysterious Heavy Blanket rhythm section. This time he also brought in his Witch bandmates Dave Sweetapple and Graham Clise for an extra dose of heavy.

R. RING – War Poems We Rested LP (Don Giovanni)
Kelley Deal met Mike Montgomery at Candyland, his Dayton, KY Studio, where she was recording a contribution for a Guided by Voices tribute album. It was the beginning of the friendship that would become R. Ring. Shortly after their work together at Candyland, Montgomery was asked to open a show for a band he was recording, and not wanting to play solo, recruited Deal to join him on stage. That show ended up sparking an LP, splits with Protomartyr, Vacation and Quailbones, and many more live shows. Now reunited at Candyland for their second LP, titled War Poems, We Rested, R. Ring is expanding on their creative process.

SOUND OF ANIMALS FIGHTING – Apeshit LP (Born Losers)
The Sound of Animals Fighting is back with their latest EP, Apeshit. 2008’s The Ocean And The Sun is the last time we got new tunes from the supergroup, which is made up of members from RX Bandits, LS Dunes, & Circa Survive who perform under animal names.

GARRETT SARACHO – Jazz Is Dead 15 LP (Jazz Is Dead)
While they are best known for working alongside some of the most recognizable names in jazz, Jazz Is Dead now invites you to meet an innovator that has largely gone unheard of, until now. In the early 1970s, Garrett Saracho was a recording artist signed to the legendary Impulse Records, who came up in Los Angeles’ fertile underground jazz community. Due to a tragic combination of label mismanagement and geopolitical intervention, his sole record, 1973’s En Medio, fell largely under the radar of even the most astute collectors and fanatics. After spending the following decades in obscurity working in the film industry and touring with his cousins in the rock band Redbone, Saracho stepped into the Linear Labs studio with Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad to craft an intoxicating and kinetic rush of Latin Soul, Funk, and Psychedelic Jazz. While you may not know his name, your ears will soon know the genius of Garrett Saracho

PHIL RANELIN, WENDELL HARRISON, ADRIAN YOUNGE, ALI SHAHEED MUHAMMAD – Jazz is Dead 016 CD/LP
To be an independent artist means to not only be free to share your most ambitious artistic impulses, but to retain ownership of them, working tirelessly to market and produce a body of work that stands apart from corporate decision-making and interference. For Phil Ranelin and Wendell Harrison, it was this guiding principle that led them to found the Detroit-based Jazz label Tribe Records in the early 1970s. Focusing on self-reliance and communal support, Tribe provided a platform for local jazz artists such as Ranelin and Harrison to record and release albums, and had community members taking full control of the promotion and distribution. The label and its magazine set an important early precedent for community-driven arts organizations, and still stands as a testament to their potential and efficacy. Today, the legacy of Tribe lives on in labels like Jazz Is Dead, making these recordings at Linear Lab Studios in Highland Park all the more significant. In their latest dispatch, Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad craft a poignant batch of new material that celebrates the lasting impact of Tribe, and the perpetual greatness of Phil Ranelin and Wendell Harrison.

BRIAN BLADE – Lifecycles Vol 1 & 2: Honoring Bobby Hutcherson CD/LP (Stoner Hill)
Bobby Hutcherson (January 27, 1941 – August 15, 2016) has been an endless source of inspiration for Brian Blade and the LIFECYCLES band members. In honor of Bobby’s memory, LIFECYCLES has chosen to record his NOW! Album in its entirety, two songs from Bobby’s collaborative history with Jackie McLean and Grachan Moncur III and five original compositions by this stunning septet.

J. ROCC – Beatitudes LP (Stones Throw)
Beatitudes is the follow up beat tape to A Wonderful Letter. The album is a collection of gospel sample-based beats from the legendary DJ.

JONAH YANO – portrait of a dog LP (Innovative Leisure)
Hiroshima born, Montreal based singer-songwriter Jonah Yano’s sophomore LP, Portrait of a Dog, is a 12-track exploration of themes present throughout most of Yano’s catalog – identity as a part of the Japanese-Canadian diaspora, contemplation of different family dynamics, and the intricacies of interpersonal relationships. The LP is produced entirely in collaboration with BADBADNOTGOOD and is a clear departure from Yano’s previous recordings.

MEG BAIRD – Furling CD/LP (Drag City)
Furling moves through the breadth of Meg’s musical fascinations and the environments around them—edges of memory, daydreams spanning years, loose ends, divergent paths, secret conversations under stars—all led by a stirring, singular voice calling experience and enlightenment, elation, and ecstasy into bloom.

OOZING WOUND –  We Cater to Cowards LP (Thrill Jockey)
Oozing Wound are both a subversive force in heavy music and key players in Chicago’s vibrant DIY warehouse scene. Their albums gleefully defy categorization, delighting in contradictions and delivered with self-aware humor that sets them apart from their peers. No one is safe from their scathing gaze, not even themselves. Self-described as “a rock-band wolf in metal sheep’s clothing”, this disparity has brought accusations of the band “not taking this seriously” in the deeply serious business that is entertainment. Beneath the blunt- force of the trio’s music lies a deep-set dedication to sonic experimentalism. [An indie store exclusive silver color vinyl pressing is available.]

SIGHTLESS PIT – Lockstep Bloodwar LP (Thrill Jockey)
Sightless Pit is the project of duo Lee Buford (The Body) and Dylan Walker (Full of Hell). Buford and Walker are born collaborators, known for their ability to subvert musical expectations, transcend genre and plunge headlong into the unknown. Their work with the likes of Thou, Uniform, Merzbow, and Nothing, taken together with their The Body & Full of Hell albums, have established each as singular voices and masterful alchemists of heavy music. The duo shares an affection for rhythm-based beat music, disparate electronic genres, dub, as well as darkly-hued atmospheric ambience. Lockstep Bloodwar exceeds expectations by stunningly combining the noise and confrontational posturing they are both well known for with pulsing and kaleidoscopic electronic samples, drum machines, and grizzled synths. Across the album, the two highly inventive musical omnivores are buoyed by an astounding menagerie of eclectic and celebrated collaborators.

WOLF EYES – Difficult Messages LP (Disciples)
Clear vinyl pressing. A selection of private press 45s featuring Nate Young, John Olson, Alex Moskos, Gretchen Gonzales, Aaron Dilloway & Raven Chacon. These collaborations between the core Wolf Eyes crew and friends were originally self-released as a series of super-limited 7″ hand painted box sets, but now the core ‘hits’ have been compiled by Disciples for wider consumption.

JOHN COLTRANE – John Coltrane In the Winner’s Circle LP (Bethlehem)
John Coltrane’s all-star jazz session In The Winner’s Circle was recorded in New York in September and October of 1957 and features the musicians who came first or second in Down Beat’s critics’ poll of that year including Donald Byrd, Kenny Burrell, Art Farmer, Philly Joe Jones, Oscar Pettiford and more.

COMING NEXT WEEK!
YOUNG FATHERS – Heavy Heavy CD/LP
RAYE – My 21st Century Blues CD/LP
LUMINEERS –  Self Titled LP 10th Anniv Reissue
REX – C LP reissue
BRAND NUBIAN – In God We Trust LP 30th Anniv
DISCOVERY – Self Titled LP
TYCHO – Dive LP reissue
NADA SURF – Cycle Through LP reissue
WEEZER – Sznz: Spring LP