The Smile – Europe: Live Recordings 2022 12″ (XL)
A limited edition, vinyl only live EP, titled Europe: Live Recordings 2022. True to its title, the EP is comprised of live recordings of fan favourites from The Smile’s widely acclaimed debut album, A Light For Attracting Attention, as well as the band’s rendition of Thom’s 2009 solo track “FeelingPulledApartByHorses.” Europe: Live Recordings 2022 was recorded in various cities over the course of The Smile’s first ever tour last summer.
Limited edition, physical-only release

Shana Cleveland – Manzanita CD (Hardly Art)
Manzanita is the common name for a kind of small evergreen tree endemic to California which has strong medicinal properties. It’s also the name of the brand-new full length by songwriter, musician, visual artist, and writer Shana Cleveland (La Luz). Subtle, powerful, and unafraid, it’s her strongest and most personal album to date. These songs are as strong as the bricks in the Brill building and seem destined to be covered by others in years to come. Where her previous record, 2019’s Night Of The Worm Moon functions as a collection of speculative fictions equally inspired by Afro-futurist pioneers Herman “Sun Ra” Blount and Octavia Butler, Manzanita concerns the love that loves to love. “This is a supernatural love album set in the California wilderness,” Cleveland explains. [A limited-edition maroon color vinyl pressing will be available soon.]

Mdou Moctar – Niger EP Vol. 1 12”+MP3 (Matador)
Mdou Moctar – Niger EP Vol. 2 12”+MP3 (Matador)
Rare slices of work from Tuareg songwriter and musician Mdou Moctar – material collected from tapes recorded between 2017 and 2020, often featuring the group in a range of different settings in their native Niger. The work throughout is filled with the sublime guitar of Mahamadou Souleymane – but the shift in setting makes for a strong sense of variety, especially as some of the titles feature more guitar lines than vocals.

Rilo Kiley – Take Offs And Landings [Reissue/2001] 2xLP (Barsuk)
At the beginning of the 2000’s, Rilo Kiley was a fiercely independent band, having released an EP under their own Rilo Records label. But, even with only very minimal touring outside of southern California, their brilliant live show and excellent songcraft started to attract a fair amount of national attention in publications like Harper’s Bazaar and Rolling Stone, and even some airplay on MTV. The band initially self-released Take Offs And Landings before signing to Barsuk, who promptly reissued the album. This is where Jenny Lewis got her musical start.

The Heartbreakers – Yonkers Demo LP ( Cleopatra)
Limited purple vinyl. The first recordings from the hugely influential NY-born garage punk band The Heartbreakers who would live on as the support band behind ex-NY Doll Johnny Thunders! These are the only recordings featuring the lineup of Richard Hell, Johnny Thunders, Walter Lure and Jerry Nolan! Includes full liner notes from Dave Thompson!

The Nude Party – Rides On CD/2xLP (New West)
For The Nude Party, nearly a decade has flown by in the blink of an eye. In that time, the New York-based band released a pair of well-received albums, an EP and played numerous shows. The band has historically worked with a producer to help them create a distinct sound in their records but with their latest effort, Rides On, the band decided to handle production duties by themselves. The hands-on approach allowed the band to have as much fun creating as they ever had at any other point in their career. They recorded over 20 songs, including some that dabbled in electro-pop and stripped-down country before settling on the final 14 songs containing the best elements of ’70s-driven blues rock. Sonically, the album is reminiscent of Sticky Fingers-era Stones, but the lyrics are mini-vignettes that embody the spirit of what The Nude Party are going for – and their growth as a band. [An indie store exclusive yellow color vinyl pressing is available.]

Sleaford Mods – UK Grim CD/LP+MP3 (Rough Trade)
Sleaford Mods return with their new album, UK Grim. Throughout their music, the duo’s poetic protest and electronic resistance has seen them consistently chart and call out their times with an eloquence and attitude that has made them one of the most urgent and unique voices in modern music. Hailed by the likes of Liam Gallagher, Seth Myers, Iggy Pop, Amyl & The Sniffers, and a legion of loyal fans whose devotion to the band would rival most sports supporters. Continuing this sonic vocation on their new album, Jason Williamson, and Andrew Fearn’s creative evolution now finds them capturing the atmosphere of their era too. Though no strangers to the dancefloor, the minimal yet immersive beats and grooves of UK Grim’s tracks – which include collaborations with Dry Cleaning’s Florence Shaw and Jane’s Addiction’s Perry Farrell among them – add a new, physical dimension to Sleaford Mods’ sound that makes their words more vital than ever. [An indie store exclusive silver color vinyl pressing is available.]

The War & Treaty – Lover’s Game CD/LP (Mercury Nashville)
Wielding a sound which cuts through the whole of Southern music tradition – from blues, soul, and R&B, to gospel, country, folk and rock, husband-and-wife duo Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter now reach the next creative level as their story plays out amid a transcendent sonic landscape. Their name alone conjures images of struggle, epic conflict, sacrifice, and the eventual birth of a lasting peace. For this “colossally talented pair” (Associated Press), that struggle is found within love itself and it forms the heart of a landmark album. Revealing and bold, the 10-track collection offers a unique perspective on shifting cultural tides and the impact of a global pandemic. The soul-soaked title track single co-written by the pair with album producer Dave Cobb is presented as a playful rock-n-roller full of starry-eyed flirtation as the couple compare romantic battle scars and decide they still believe in the cause. Lover’s Game embraces that genre-less vocal dynamism the duo has long employed while showcasing love’s ability to rejuvenate.

Lonnie Holley – Oh Me Oh My CD/LP+MP3 (Jagjaguwar)
Oh Me Oh My is both elegant and ferocious. It is stirring in one moment and a balm the next. It details histories both global and personal. Lonnie Holley’s harrowing youth and young manhood in the Jim Crow South are well-told at this point – his sale into a different home as a child for just a bottle of whiskey; his abuse at the infamous Mount Meigs correctional facility for boys; the destruction of his art environment by the Birmingham airport expansion. But Holley’s music is less a performance of pain endured and more a display of perseverance, of relentless hope. Intricately and lovingly produced by L.A.’s Jacknife Lee (The Cure, R.E.M., Modest Mouse), there is both kinetic, shortwave funk that call to mind Brian Eno’s My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts and the deep space satellite sounds of Eno’s ambient works. But it’s a tremendous achievement in sonics all its own. [A limited-edition translucent blue color vinyl pressing is available.]

Frankie Rose – Love As Projection CD/LP+MP3 (Slumberland)
After spending nearly two decades establishing herself across New York and Los Angeles independent music circles, Frankie Rose returns with a fresh form, aesthetic, and purpose embodied in her new album Love As Projection. Celebrated by countless critical and cultural outlets over the years for her expansive approach to songwriting, lush atmospherics, and transcendent vocal melodies and harmonies, Love As Projection is a reintroduction of her established style through the new lens of contemporary electronic pop. [An indie store exclusive vinyl pressing is available.]

Ali Farka Touré – Voyageur CD/LP (World Circuit)
Ali Farka Touré is well known as one of the most influential and talented guitarists that Africa has ever produced. His legacy and impact are hard to overstate. Ali’s sound merged his much-loved traditional Malian musical styles with distinct elements of the blues, resulting in the creation of a groundbreaking new genre, now well known as the ‘desert blues’, earning him three Grammy awards and widespread reverence. Voyageur is the first release of previously unheard music since 2006’s Savane and features a collection of recordings captured at various points in Ali’s illustrious career. The album, which features fellow Malian superstar Oumou Sangaré on three tracks, reaffirms Ali’s status as a globally revered legend of African music.

Aesop Rock – Bazooka Tooth [Reissue/2003] 2xLP (Rhymesayers)
Aesop Rock – None Shall Pass [Reissue/2007] 2xLP (Rhymesayers)
Bazooka Tooth, Aesop Rock’s fourth album, originally came out on Def Jux in 2003. Produced by El-P, it features contributions from Cannibal Ox, DJ Cip One, DJ pawl, S.A. Smash, and Murs with illustrations from Tomer Hanuka. Aesop Rock’s fifth studio album, None Shall Pass– originally released in 2007 on Def Jux – features production by Blockhead, El-P, Rob Sonic, and Aesop Rock himself. Guest appearances include El-P, DJ Big Wiz, Cage, Breeze Brewin, Rob Sonic, and John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats.

The Beths – Jump Rope Gazers [Reissue/2020] LP+MP3 (Carpark)
Limited red color vinyl pressing. Everything changed for Auckland, New Zealand’s The Beths when they released their debut album, Future Me Hates Me, in 2018. They quit their jobs, said goodbye to their hometown, and devoted themselves entirely to performing across the globe. 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.

Cake – Prolonging The Magic [Reissue/1998] LP (Sony Legacy)
Prolonging The Magic, Cake’s third studio album, is being released for the first time on 180gm black vinyl. Remastered audio of the 13-track album includes “Never There”, “Let Me Go”, and “Sheep Go To Heaven”.

Daniel Johnston – Songs Of Pain [Reissue/1988] 2xLP (Eternal Yip Eye)
Songs Of Pain is the first album by folk singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston, recorded on a simple tape recorder and originally released on cassette. This is the album’s first time being pressed on vinyl. Back in the early 1980s, when the punk-rock DIY spirit was going strong, emerging artists found a cheap and efficient way of distributing their music – the homemade cassette. Sometimes very crude and low-fi, the tapes became a hallmark of instant “indie cred”. The erratic, troubled, and startlingly talented Daniel Johnston was one of the first musicians to really make a name for himself in this medium, and his first two tapes.

The Mars Volta – Landscape Tantrums (Unfinished Original Recordings Of De-Loused In The Comatorium) LP (Clouds Hill)
Lost for two decades, the recent rediscovery of Landscape Tantrums, the first attempt at recording the music that would become The Mars Volta’s De-Loused In The Comatorium, revealed an important and hitherto missing chapter in the group’s evolution. Self-recorded by Omar (assisted by Jon DeBaun) at Burbank’s Mad Dog Studios within a head-spinning four days, Landscape Tantrums captures De-Loused in somewhat embryonic form, though much of what would make The Mars Volta’s debut album such an electrifying, sublime experience was already in place: the fearless invention, the fusion of futurist rock elements and traditions from outside of the rock orthodoxy, the sense of virtuosity working in service of emotional effect.

Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars + Anderson.Paak with Special Guest Host Bootsy Collins) 
An Evening With Silk Sonic is a collaborative project featuring Bruno Mars and Anderson. Paak. The seeds of the collaboration were planted in 2017 when the two stars toured together in Europe. One late-night jam session on the road unlocked immediate chemistry. Just before the world slipped into quarantine, Bruno called Anderson: “Remember that idea we had back in 2017? Let’s do it.” One studio session grew into a months-long collaboration, culminating in the “setlist of doom”. Legendary Bootsy Collins christened Silk Sonic and came in as the “special guest host” for An Evening With Silk Sonic, their debut album.

Thrice – The Illusion Of Safety [Reissue/2002] LP (Hopeless)
Limited 20th Anniversary blue color vinyl pressing. Includes bonus track. The Illusion Of Safety is the second studio album by Thrice, originally released in 2002. They wrote new songs at a rate of two per month, prior to recording in July 2001. Sessions were held at Salad Days Studios with producer Brian McTernan.

Unwound – Unwound [Reissue/1995] LP (Numero)
Meeting at the halfway point between Bleach and Damaged, Unwound’s 1995 self-titled album arrived years after the original trio of Vern Rumsey, Justin Trosper, and Brandt Sandeno made their Avast Studios debut. Compiling their EPs for Kill Rock Stars and Gravity Records with five more session outtakes, Unwound was released on Rumsey’s Punk In My Vitamins as the band began flirting with the mainstream. Witness a band’s prehistory as it plays out in a feral maelstrom of screaming, distortion, feedback, and abrasive promise. [A limited-edition ‘rising blood’ color vinyl pressing is available.]

Van Morrison – Moving On Skiffle CD/2xLP (Virgin)
Several decades after his childhood hangouts in famed Belfast record store Atlantic Records, Van Morrison revisits his love of the genre with his new album Moving On Skiffle. Launching with lead single “Streamline Train”, the 23-track album takes a homemade style that exploded across Britain in the mid- ‘50s and infuses it with sophistication, soulfulness, and an underlying message on the importance of freedom and living on your own terms, his lifetime.

Homeboy Sandman – Anjelitu LP (Mello Music Group)
Homeboy Sandman & Aesop Rock Combine for another incredible Hiphop excursion. Limited, electric smoke edition. 

COMING NEXT WEEK
FRIGHTENED RABBIT –  Pedestrian Verse 10 Anniv CD/LP
UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA – V CD/LP
U2 – Songs and Surrender CD/LP
JULIAN LAGE – Layers CD/LP
M83 – Fantasy CD/LP
DARTS – Snake Oil CD/LP
DROPKICK MURPHYS – Blackout LP reissue
EELS – End Times LP reissue
EELS – Hombre Lobo LP reissue
EELS – Tomorrow Morning LP reissue
EMILIANA TORRINI – Racing The Storm CD/LP
100 GECS – 10,000 Gecs CD/LP
FLAMING LIPS – Ego Tripping The Gates of Hell LP
FLAMING LIPS – Fight Test LP
INSPIRAL CARPETS – Complete Singles LP
KACEY MUSGRAVES – Same Trailer Different Park LP