Depeche Mode – Memento Mori CD/2xLP (Columbia)
Memento Mori is Depeche Mode’s fifteenth studio album and their first as the two-piece lineup of Dave Gahan and Martin Gore, following co-founder Andrew “Fletch” Fletcher’s tragic passing in 2022. Produced by James Ford, with additional production work by Marta Salogni, Memento Mori‘s gestation took place during the early stages of the Covid pandemic, resulting in themes inspired directly by that period. The album’s 12 tracks chart a vast expanse of moods and textures, from its ominous opening to its closing resolve – running the gamut from paranoia and obsession to catharsis and joy and hitting a myriad of points between.

Lana Del Rey – Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Underneath Ocean Blvd CD/2xLP (IGA/UMG)
Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Underneath Ocean Blvd is the ninth studio album from acclaimed singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey, comprising 16 tracks and interludes with features from Father John Misty, Tommy Genesis, Jon Batiste, Bleachers and more. She introduced the album with the brooding and swelling title track which was written by Del Rey and Mike Hermosa and produced by Lana, Jack Antonoff, Drew Erickson, and Zach Dawes. It follows the prolific artist’s 2021 albums Chemtrails Over The Country Club and Blue Banisters. [An indie store exclusive light green color vinyl pressing featuring alternate cover art is available.]

Caroline Rose – The Art Of Forgetting CD/LP (New West)
With The Art of Forgetting, Caroline Rose took on the dual role of writer and producer. The album encapsulates the feeling of experiencing recent memories, having them turn into old ones and then ultimately forgetting those memories altogether. There is a romantic nature within the sonic landscape of this record. Tape effects and loops emulate the feeling of aging while the juxtaposition of modern acoustic-electronic textures, like lo-fi tape next to hi-fi granular synths result in some of their most mature and honest work to date.

Omar Apollo – Ivory LP (WB)
Apollo’s long-awaited debut album Ivory brings him to another level in his career. Crossing genre lines as well as language barriers, the full-length showcases even greater musical diversity from the already boundless creator. Despite being at this pivotal moment in his career, Omar feels like he’s just getting started. The artist who once called himself “just a kid from Indiana” is breaking new ground, abandoning all comfort zones, and never looking back.

The Darts – Snake Oil CD/LP (Alternative Tentacle)
Three LP’s and a handful of releases later – The Darts have returned with Snake Oil, their most accomplished full-length recording to-date. This is a much fuller sound than any Darts album before, courtesy of their longtime collaborator Bob Hoag (FB Rec) and some remote control co-production wizardry from Jello Biafra himself. Featuring the return of Nicole Laurenne on vocals/Farfisa & Hammond Organ, Christina Nunez on Bass/Vocals, and Meliza Jackson on Guitars/Vocals, Snake Oil is the debut of new drummer Mary Rose Gonzales. The result?  Snake Oil comes out smoking as if this band has been in a pressure cooker throughout the pandemic. Expect the wider sound and sparkle of Nicole and Cristina’s previous band, The Love Me Nots (which was also recorded by the brilliant Bob Hoag), but with way more raunch. Nicole’s voice has never sounded better.

The Bouncing Souls – Ten Stories High LP (Pure Noise)
For over three decades The Bouncing Souls have been one of the most reliably joyful bands in punk rock, fostering an incredibly close kinship with their loyal listeners. Now on Ten Stories High, the band have taken this connection even further, creating an album of songs directly inspired by the stories of their fans. Ten Stories High finds The Bouncing Souls – vocalist Greg Attonito, guitarist Pete Steinkopf, bassist Bryan Kienlen, and drummer George Rebelo – making the best of the chaotic past couple of years. [An indie store exclusive yellow w/ orange & black multicolor vinyl pressing is available.]

Arooj Aftab / Vijay Iyer / Shahzad Ismaily – Love In Exile CD/LP (Verve)
Love In Exile asks you to step inside its sense of time, to stretch out alongside these delightful and unhurriedly unfolding songs. Profound impact is achieved with minimal instrumentation: Iyer on pianos and electronics, Ismaily on bass and Moog synth and Aftab’s exquisite Urdu vocals. Subtle musical inter-relationships build into moments of deeply felt drama. Shimmering keyboard melodies and stirring vocals, earthy basslines, and hypnotic drones: together they create an album of stunning gravitas and beauty.

Lankum – False Lankum CD/2xLP+MP3 (Rough Trade)
From the start, Dublin’s Lankum planned for False Lankum, their fourth record, to feel like a complete piece – a progression and a journey for the listener. They explain, “we wanted to create more contrast on the record so the light parts would be almost spiritual and the dark parts would be incredibly dark, even horror inducing.” The album’s 12 tracks, composed of 10 traditional songs and two originals, show the four-piece using a new palate to color their sound in an increasingly experimental way, alongside longtime producer John ‘Spud’ Murphy.

Thrice – The Artist in The Ambulance – Revisited LP (Many Hats Endeavours)
[Pressed on super limited olive green vinyl] The question has to be asked: Why would Thrice re-record a 20 year old album? Here’s what the members of Thrice had to say in regards to The Artist In The Ambulance – Revisited: “The core of the answer is that it simply sounded fun and we were curious. What would it sound like to play these old songs after 20 years of playing and singing under our belts? We know that playing the revisionist is a dangerous game so we were always a little uneasy about trying to go back and mess with something that people loved, people who had none of the hang-ups about the record that we did. But, since we decided to do this anyway, we tried to let that wariness guide us in how we approached the record, and in the end we decided to make very minimal structural changes. At the end of the day, what we wanted the record to sound like for fans is that somehow one of their old favorite records got a new lease on life, but that it hadn’t lost its soul or turned into something else.”

Nickel Creek – Celebrants CD/2xLP (Repair/Thirty Tigers)
Grammy Award-winning trio Nickel Creek – mandolinist Chris Thile, violinist Sara Watkins and guitarist Sean Watkins – deliver Celebrants, their first new album in nine years. Their fifth studio album overall, Celebrants marks a highly anticipated return for the beloved trio and explores the inherent dynamics of human connection. Across the 18 tracks, the trio addresses love, friendship, and time with lyrics both poetic and plain-spoken, as they see bridges built, crossed, burned, and rebuilt. Recorded at Nashville’s RCA Studio A, the album was produced by longtime collaborator Eric Valentine (Queens Of The Stone Age, Grace Potter, Weezer) and features Mike Elizondo on bass. [An indie store exclusive yellow color vinyl pressing is available.]

Fake Names – Expendables CD/LP+MP3 (Epitaph)
If credibility were currency, Fake Names’ wealth would be off the charts. Composed of Brian Baker (Minor Threat, Bad Religion, Dag Nasty), Michael Hampton (S.O.A., Embrace), Dennis Lyxzén (Refused, INVSN, The [International] Noise Conspiracy), Johnny Temple (Girls Against Boys, Soulside) and the newest member Brendan Canty (Fugazi, Rites Of Spring), the band is a veritable post-hardcore dream team. However instead of rehashing the past, Expendables is a reinvention that sees the band dialing back the distortion and leaning into the melodies. The result pairs their unparalleled pedigree with a pop sensibility that’s slightly unexpected and wholly satisfying.

Fall Out Boy – So Much (For) Stardust LP (Fueled By Ramen/Elektra)
Grammy Award-nominated, multi-platinum selling rock band Fall Out Boy return with their eighth studio album, So Much (For) Stardust. It marks a homecoming for the band on multiple fronts; the first of which found the band reuniting with renowned producer Neal Avron, whom they’ve worked with on three previous albums (From Under The Cork Tree, Infinity On High, Folie à Deux). Additionally, So Much (For) Stardust is released on Fueled By Ramen/Elektra – Fall Out Boy’s first album with the label since their 2003 debut album Take This To Your Grave, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2023. [A limited-edition sage green color vinyl pressing is available.]

Bad Brains – Rock For Light [Reissue/1983] LP (Org Music)
Rock For Light is the second full-length album by Bad Brains, released in 1983. It was produced by Ric Ocasek of The Cars. This pressing features the original mix of the album, for the first time in decades, as the band originally intended. Most fans will be more familiar with the 1991 reissue, which was remixed by Ocasek and bass player Darryl Jenifer. In addition to new mixes, that version used an altered track order. In coordination with the band, Org Music has overseen the restoration and remastering of the iconic Bad Brains’ recordings. The audio was mastered by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering and pressed at Furnace Record Pressing. This limited-edition variant is on yellow vinyl with red splatter.

Pink Floyd – The Dark Side Of The Moon – Live At Wembley Empire Pool, London, 1974 CD/LP (Pink Floyd)
2023 live archive release. Original 1973 line drawn cover artwork by George Hardie.

Iron and Wine – Lori 12” (Black Cricket Record)
Lori finds Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam drawing from the songbook of noted singer-songwriter and multiple Grammy winner Lori McKenna. Recorded at the famed Sam Phillips Studios (Memphis, TN) with producer Matt Ross-Spang, Beam takes on four of his favorite McKenna tracks with help from Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart, known collectively for their work in the indie-art-pop band Finom (formerly known as Ohmme.)

Sharon Van Etten – Tramp [Reissue/2012] LP (Jagjaguwar)
‘Crimson splash’ color, 10th anniversary vinyl pressing of the third album from the Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter. The shimmering sound of Sharon Van Etten’s 2012 Jagjaguwar debut album, Tramp, both defies and illuminates the unsteadiness of a life in flux. Throughout the 14 months of scattered recording sessions, Van Etten was without a home — crashing with friends and storing her possessions between varied locations. The only constant in Van Etten’s life during this time was spent in Aaron Dessner’s garage studio. Tramp contains as much striking rock (the precise venom of “Serpents”, the overwhelming power of “Ask”), as pious, minimal beauty (the earnest solemnity of “All I Can”, the breathtaking “Kevins”, “Joke Or A Lie”); it can be as emotionally combative (“Give Out”) as it can sultry (“Magic Chords”). Contributions from Matt Barrick (Walkmen), Thomas Bartlett (Doveman), Zach Condon (Beirut), Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak), Julianna Barwick, and Dessner himself add a glowing sheen to the already substantial offering.

Dead Moon – Echoes Of The Past: The Anthology 4xLP (Arena Rock)
If you love your rock and roll dark and heavy yet accessible, full of Mojo Rising and Ex-Catholic Voodoo and biting power chords and Charlie-Watts-on-speed-drumming, there simply is no better Northwest band than Portland’s immortal Dead Moon. This gluttonously Caligula-generous, near-50-song 4xLP, limited-edition color vinyl anthology box set (with turntable slipmat, beverage koozie, stickers, button pack, and poster) is your gateway into the underworld of this criminally underrated band.

Duster – Moods, Modes 3×7” (Numero)
Explore the Duster universe on the 45rpm format! This deluxe triple 7″ box contains Duster’s first single – 1997’s Transmission Flux (including “Stars Will Fall” & “Orbitron”), 1998’s Apex, Trance-Like (featuring “Four Hours”), plus Stratosphere‘s painfully absent “Echo, Bravo” and the lost 2002 outtake “What You’re Doing To Me”. Housed in replica sleeves and placed in a sturdy two-piece box, Moods, Modes also contains a Duster-branded hanky for those who like to accessorize. [Two colorways are available: blue and ocean blue.]

Purling Hiss – Drag On Girard LP (Drag City)
The colliding circles of time bring us back to the brink of the Hiss at last. Classic rock singing/screaming guitars fuse with Mike Polizze’s hope-n-dreamz feels and explode into fresh heartbreak, happening right now today, as sweet tunes and crushed guitar harmonics pour off the turntable and run out in the street, just like in the old days.

Bob Marley & The Wailers – Burnin’ [Reissue/1973] LP (Island)
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Natty Dread [Reissue/1974] LP (Island)
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Live! At The Lyceum [Reissue/1975] LP (Island)
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Rastaman Vibration [Reissue/1976] LP (Island)
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Exodus [Reissue/1977] LP (Island)
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Kaya [Reissue/1978] LP (Island)
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Babylon By Bus [Reissue/1978] LP (Island)
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Survival [Reissue/1979] LP (Island)
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Uprising [Reissue/1980] LP (Island)
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Confrontation [Reissue/1983] LP (Island)
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Legend [Reissue/1984] LP (Island)
Limited-edition vinyl reissues, numbered and pressed exclusively at the legendary Tuff Gong International headquarters in Kingston, Jamaica.

Reed/Cale/Nico – Bataclan LP (Easy Action)
Complete 1972 concert performance by the former Velvet Underground members.

Angel Bat Dawid – Requiem For Jazz CD/2xLP (International Anthem)
Composer, clarinetist, singer and educator Angel Bat Dawid announces the release of Requiem For Jazz. A 12-movement suite composed, arranged, and inspired in part by dialogue from Edward O. Bland’s 1959 film The Cry Of Jazz, the album is a wide-ranging treatise on the African American story from one of its most astute narrators. Itself an incisive critique of racial politics in the USA, The Cry Of Jazz draws formal comparisons between the structure of jazz music and the African American experience – as one of freedom and restraint, of joy and suffering – that manifests in the triumph of spirit over the crushing prejudice of daily life. Cutting together archive reels from Black neighborhoods in Chicago with live performance footage from Sun Ra and his Arkestra among others, the film remains a radical and prescient evocation of Black pride and its roots in the history of jazz, from spirituals to blues and beyond. [A limited-edition purple color vinyl pressing is available.]

Aoife O’Donovan – Aoife O’Donovan Plays Nebraska CD/LP (Yep Roc)
In September 2021, Aoife O’Donovan shared a digital-only live recording of Bruce Springsteen’s 1982 album Nebraska, one of his most acclaimed. The intimate and uninterrupted live, solo-acoustic performance was recorded in Aoife’s living room in Brooklyn, NY, May 2020 from a livestream broadcast. Today, the GRAMMY Award-winning artist releases a limited edition worldwide indie exclusive vinyl release of Aoife O’Donovan Plays Nebraska on Yep Roc Records.

Uni Boys – Do It All Next Week LP (Curation)
With a firmer grasp on the sound they were channeling early on, the band that recorded Do It All Next Week feels baptized in the backroom of Bomp! Records, shaking out their pelvic pulse with bottles of Yellow Pills. The band’s Reza Matin recorded the album in his apartment, ditching their old Tascam for GarageBand and then meticulously mixing it until any wafts of modern technology were whittled away. Like a lost teen b-movie soundtrack to Summer, the band boils the preening, soft punk pout of the L.A. power pop underground into a new generation of singles ready to populate the crates for future diggers. Do It All Next Week is a timeless testament to pining and pacing – songs of love that should have been, songs of love that went sour, songs of love waiting on the dance floor moments from now.

The Baseball Project – Volume 1: Frozen Ropes And Dying Quails [Reissue/2008] LP (Yep Roc)
The Baseball Project – Volume 2: High And Inside [Reissue/2011] LP (Yep Roc)
The Baseball Project – 3^rd [Reissue/2014] 2xLP (Yep Roc)
Color vinyl reissues. Rock n’ roll vets Scott McCaughey (The Minus 5, R.E.M., Young Fresh Fellows) and Steve Wynn (The Dream Syndicate, Gutterball, Danny & Dusty, Miracle 3) have an unhealthy love for music undermined only by an even more unhealthy love of baseball. The compatriots blend their two passions with The Baseball Project Volume 1: Frozen Ropes And Dying Quails. Their second season finds band members Steve Wynn (The Miracle 3, The Dream Syndicate), Scott McCaughey (The Minus 5, Young Fresh Fellows, R.E.M.), Linda Pitmon (The Miracle 3, Golden Smog) and Peter Buck (R.E.M.) drilling down even deeper into the Byzantine, lore-laden annals of baseball history. 2014’s 3^rd continues their tradition of inspired rock songs that provide passionately funny and sarcastically reverent commentary on the sport of baseball. And those who aren’t fans of the sport can still enjoy the music, while brushing up on their knowledge.

The Beths – Future Hates Me [Reissue/2018] LP+MP3 (Carpark)
Green w/ white color vinyl pressing. The Beths occupy a warm, energetic sonic space between joyful hooks, sun-soaked harmonies, and acerbic lyrics. Their debut album Future Me Hates Me, produced by guitarist Jonathan Pearce, delivers an astonishment of roadtrip-ready pleasures, each song hitting your ears with an exhilarating endorphin rush.

Botch – American Nervoso [Reissue/1998] LP+MP3 (Sargent House)
15^th anniversary edition. Legendary Tacoma, Washington mathcore/hardcore/metal band Botch’s debut full-length American Nervoso features white-hot guitar action, scathing vocals, sweet bass moves, and torrential drums, smashing existing precepts of hardcore and redefining both the word and the music for a generation of kids and grizzled vets alike. [An indie store exclusive translucent purple color vinyl pressing is available. CD version due March 31.]

Lucinda Chua – YIAN CD/LP+MP3 (4AD)
Conscious to hold space within her music for people to live inside, Chua thought often of YIAN‘s sound in terms of sonic spacing. The hushed, flickering tones of “Autumn Leaves Don’t Come” and swelling strings of instrumental “Grief Piece” sound completely intimate, like she’s singing into your ear, yet capacious, like soft cocoons of sound. “For me, the music is like a home,” Chua explains. Cultivating a Chinese dance practice is as much part of the story of YIAN as the music itself. Chua returned to dance after struggling with the conservative constraints of ballet as a child, finding intuition and affirmation in the fluidity and naturalism of Chinese classical, fan & ribbon and contemporary. Dance is entwined in the very texture of YIAN, with Chua undertaking deep study of Chinese dance forms whilst working on the album. [A limited-edition clear vinyl pressing is available.]

Basement Jaxx – Remedy [Reissue/2000] 2xLP (XL)
Basement Jaxx – Rooty [Reissue/2001] 2xLP (XL)
Color vinyl pressings (gold and pink, respectively) of the first two albums by the British electronic dance music duo. A set of incredibly diverse tracks, Remedy is indebted to the raw American house of Todd Terry and Masters At Work, and even shares the a penchant for Latin vibes. Rooty saw Basement Jaxx continue to push the boundaries of pop and club music. The album mixes classic house with generous lashings of punk, funk, R&B, jazz, hip-hop, 2-step and pop songcraft in a mad genre crash that works like a charm.

COMING NEXT WEEK
BOYGENIUS – The Record CD/LP
NEW PORNOGRAPHERS – Continue As A Guest CD/LP
WILLIAM TYLER & IMPOSSIBLE TRUTH – Secret Stratosphere CD/LP
MF DOOM – Operation: Doomsday LP reissue
KMD – Black Bastards LP reissue
LONDON BREW – Self Titled CD/LP
MELANIE MARTINEZ – Portals CD/LP
ALTIN GUN – Ask CD/LP
CITY AND COLOUR – Love Still Held Me Near CD/LP
HOLD STEADY – Price Of Progress CD/LP
NICK WATERHOUSE – Footer CD
ALAN BRAXE / FRED FALKE – Upper Cuts CD/LP
ALBERTA CROSS – Sinking Ships CD/LP
CAVETOWN LP reissues (x3)
DEERHOOF – Miracle Level CD/LP
MATT ELLIOTT – End Of Days CD/LP (Third Eye Foundation)
ANDREW MCMAHON  & THE WILDERNESS – Tilt At The Wind No More CD/LP
SCOTT MCMICKEN & THE EVER-EXPANDING (Dr Dog) – Shabang CD/LP
STEVE GUNN / DAVID MOORE – Let The Moon Be A Planet CD/LP
DAVID BOWIE – Moonage Daydream LP
CAVE IN – Until Your Heart Stops LP reissue
FILTER – Amalgamut LP
JERRY GARCIA – Reflections LP
DAMIEN JURADO – Sometimes You Hurt The Ones You Hate CD/LP
MIDLAKE – Antiphon LP reissue
NO ONES – My Best Evil Friend LP
MAC MILLER – Blue Slide Park (10th Anniv) LP
ANDREW BIRD – I Felt A Funeral In My Brain 7″