Staff Picks
Lindsay – Eilen Jewell and Cian Nugent
Caleb – Cian Nugent
Dario –Tom Zé and Medeski Martin & Wood reissue
Zach – Atmosphere, Touché Amore reissues, and Bodega
Kimber –  Durand Jones

Durand JonesWait ‘Til I Get Over CD/LP (Dead Oceans)
Durand Jones’s Wait ‘Til I Get Over is a memoir and a love letter. It is the story of Jones’s life, his growth and revelations, the wisdom of his hometown and the wisdom he could only gain once he left. In it, he writes through Hillaryville’s contradictions: the pristine beauty and the ragged roads; his teenage desire to leave and his adult desire to honor his tangled roots; the plantation history and the ups and downs of the Black community that made homes of this reparation town. [A limited-edition blue color vinyl pressing is available.]

De La Soul – Buhloone Mindstate LP [Reissue/1993] (Chrysalis)
The group’s third studio release, Buhloone Mindstate released on September 21,1993, saw the group evolve into a new sound as they continued to grow stylistically and musically. There were several moments on the album which proved the band had matured. “I Be Blowin'” was a departure as the track was an instrumental featuring saxophone playing by Maceo Parker. The introspective “I Am I Be” showed de la Soul at their most self-referential to date. “Long Island Wildin'” was a collaboration with Japanese hip hop artists Kan Takagi (Major Force) and trio Scha Dara Parr (SDP). The album’s first single, “Breakadawn”, used a sample of Michael Jackson’s “I Can’t Help It” and Smokey Robinson’s “Quiet Storm”. de La Soul collaborated for the first time with Gang Starr’s Guru on “Patti Dooke”, and female MC Shortie No Mas who was prominent on many tracks on the album and showcased particularly on “In The Woods”. The album ended with an old school Biz Markie collaboration called “Stone Age”.

Eilen JewellGet Behind The Wheel CD/LP (Signature Sounds)
Hailed by American Songwriter as “one of America’s most intriguing, creative, and idiosyncratic voices,” Eilen Jewell rises from the ashes on her captivating new album, Get Behind The Wheel, picking up the pieces of her shattered world and finding new purpose after watching her marriage, her band, and what felt like her entire career fall apart in a series of heartbreaking implosions. Co-produced by multi-instrumental wizard Will Kimbrough (Todd Snider, Hayes Carll), the 11-song collection pushes the acclaimed singer and songwriter’s trademark blend of vintage roots-noir into more psychedelic territory, with spacious, cinematic arrangements complementing her revelatory explorations of grief, loss, resilience, and redemption.

Cian Nugent She Brings Me Back To The Land Of The Living CD/LP (No Quarter)
Meaning can come from surprising places. In 2020 the Irish guitarist Cian Nugent moved back into his family home in Dublin to care for his mother, Kathy, who was then recovering from a stroke and experiencing aphasia (difficulty with speech). She began saying: “she brings me back to the land of the living” seemingly out of nowhere and with little knowledge of its origin or meaning. “It stuck with me,” says Cian, who at the time was working on songs for what would become his fourth album and felt it would make an apt title for that record. “The songs here act as a way of processing change and accepting new futures.” Kathy also provides the cover art, a painting she made while still in the hospital. Seven years since Nugent’s previous album, She Brings Me Back To The Land Of The Living merges the previously explored styles across Night Fiction (2016), the expansive Born With The Caul (2014) and his enigmatic debut Doubles (2011).

AtmosphereSo Many Other Realities Exist Simultaneously CD/2xLP (Rhymesayers)
The new album from hip-hop duo Atmosphere, So Many Other Realities Exist Simultaneously, opens with veteran rapper Slug and seasoned producer Ant taking a gentler approach. A departure from the brute intros of earlier works, the lead-off track “Okay” sounds focused on comforting and reassuring the listener, as if informed by fatherhood and implicit duty. With Slug rapping over one of the most twinkling productions Ant has released, the song lays the groundwork for an album-length exercise in fumbling consciousness without setting a precedent for how they intend to navigate it. Yet, as gently as the album begins, there’s an unmistakable sense of unease from the onset that continues to evolve throughout the project, as Slug and Ant weave the listener through indistinct themes of insomnia and woe. So Many Other Realities is an almost unnerving excavation of paranoia that can be grafted onto the general malaise of a pandemic weary society full of civil unrest.

Rodney Crowell The Chicago Sessions CD/LP (New West)
Produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, The Chicago Sessions is a throwback to Crowell’s early days of making records, but it’s no nostalgia trip. The songs here are vital and timely, touching on everything from love and mortality to race and religion, and the performances are nothing short of intoxicating, fueled by raw guitars, honky-tonk piano, and tight, punchy drums. Tweedy wields a light touch as a producer, his influence subtle yet unmistakable, and engineer Tom Schick’s mixes are dynamic and alive, alternately lush, and spacious in all the right places with a spotlight fixed firmly on Crowell’s warm, weathered vocals throughout. [An indie store exclusive blue color vinyl pressing is available.]

Karate Unsolved [Reissue/2000] 2xLP (Numero)
Whatever sense of unity bound a hodgepodge of underground American punk sounds in the 1990s like a Duct-tape wallet began to come unglued by the end of the decade. A couple years into the new millennium and the emo scene that once had enough space for a band as brazen in their fusion of slowcore, jazz, and post-hardcore as Boston’s Karate would barely be reflected in a cookie-cutter style commercialized by major labels and mid-level indies that acted like the majors. The part of punk that overlapped with indie rock would begin a slow ascent from its comfortable home on college radio charts to the soundtrack of American Apparel shops and eventually the Billboard charts. In this strange, stratifying milieu, Karate, a band that seemed to thrive by cleaving to a nether zone between several sounds that otherwise never touched, delivered an engrossing constantly shifting shot of rock that covered three sides of 12” vinyl: Unsolved.

The Lemon Twigs Everything Harmony CD/LP (Captured Tracks)
New York duo The Lemon Twigs return with their first new release since 2020’s Songs For The General Public. On Everything Harmony, their fourth full-length studio release, the prodigiously talented brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario offer 13 original servings of beauty that showcase an emotional depth and musical sophistication far beyond their years as a band, let alone as young men. [A limited-edition clear vinyl pressing is available.]

SQÜRL Silver Haze CD/LP+MP3 (Sacred Bones)
Silver Haze is a dazzling poetic journey of spoken words, dynamic instrumentals, drone riffs and distorted effects. It features Charlotte Gainsbourg, Anika, and Marc Ribot on some of the tracks. This is their first studio album not associated with a film or character tribute. [A limited-edition silver color vinyl pressing is available.]

Waco BrothersThe Men That God Forgot LP (Plenty Tuff)
Shaking off the plague days like a snake sheds its skin, the Waco Brothers stumble out of the empty, burning desert with a fierce thirst and an epic new album: The Men That God Forgot. It’s their first collection of original tunes since 2016’s Going Down In History.

Dex Romweber Good Thing Goin CD/LP (Propeller Sound Recordings)
Good Thing Goin is the first new studio album in 7 years from the punkabilly guitar legend. On this album, Dex finds a balance between battered guitars, piano ballads, and reverb-drenched vibes while powered by the inspiration of classic gospel and soulful R&B. Good Thing Goin’ is a solid collection of new original songs and covers that work as a genre-blending playlist of his entire career. Sounds shift from primitive rockabilly to swinging instrumentals to surf rock to crooning ballads.

Petite NoirMotherfather CD/LP (Roya)
MotherFather is his long-awaited second album, and it has a subtitle: ‘The darkness is comforting sometimes’. As Petite Noir explains: “It’s about going through the darkness. But it’s also about rebirth. Because the dark times are needed for us to grow.” Production by Dave Sitek of TV On The Radio, CID RIM, Moshik Kop, Tropics, Futura, guest features from rising star Sampa The Great, and Grammy-nominated Florida jazz musician Theo Croker. Physical formats include an exclusive bonus track ‘Lili’.

Therapy?Hard Cold Fire CD/LP (Marshall)
As Therapy?’s fourth decade finally gets underway in earnest, sixteenth album Hard Cold Fire, written and pre-produced during an unprecedented time for music, is hefty, compact, and accessible, a distillation of everything that has made them what they are – hewn from County Antrim basalt, still possessed of their stoicism, but casting a renewed focus on catharsis and healing.

BodegaXtra Equipment LP (What’s Your Rupture?)
Xtra Equipment is a new collection of Bodega tracks from the same 2020-2021 Trout Studio sessions that spawned Broken Equipment. Much like the songs on Broken Equipment, we were trying to make these tracks extra breezy and hooky as well as more philosophically ambitious than our previous recordings.

Various ArtistsStudio One Space-Age Dub Special CD/2xLP+MP3 (Soul Jazz)
Studio One Space-Age Dub Special is a brand-new Studio One release on Soul Jazz Records which draws on more rare and classic dubs from the mighty vaults of Studio One Records. Most of these tracks are taken from Studio One’s superb long out-of-print series of dub albums released between 1974 and 1980 such as Zodiac Sounds, Ital Sounds and System, Roots Dub, Dub Store Special, Juks Incorporation and others.

The Good SamaritansNo Food Without Taste If By Hunger (Analog Africa Dance Edition no. 20) [Reissue/1982] LP+MP3 (Analog Africa)
180gm orange color vinyl pressing. The intoxicating highlife music known as Edo Funk from Benin City, Nigeria is back in print. The Good Samaritans first album, one of the most obscure Nigerian albums ever recorded. Originally released in 1982 and pressed in a very small edition, this funk experience is full of bouncy basslines, raw trance-like grooves, and tripped-out psychedelic guitars. This is funk stripped down to its primal essence, driving rhythms mixed with highlife horns and sweet keyboards.

Butthole SurfersWeird Revolution LP (RSD Essentials)
Indie exclusive white vinyl reissue

Wu-Tang Chamber Music LP (RSD Essentials)
Indie exclusive red vinyl reissue

Wu-Tang Legendary Weapons LP (RSD Essentials)
Indie Exclusive silver vinyl reissue.

The New DawnThere’s A New Dawn LP (Jackpot)
Indie exclusive orange metallic swirl reissue. After being highly sought after by collectors, Jackpot Records is proud to release this definitive reissue. The New Dawn’s There’s A New Dawn is hailed as one of the rarest and best psych/garage private press albums to come out of the late 60s/early 70s. Fuzz guitar, minor-chord organ dirges, and monumental bass are the calling cards of this private press gem. Includes full download with 4 bonus tracks.

Stone RosesSally Cinnamon LP (RSD Essentials)
Indie exclusive red vinyl reissue. Bonus Tracks! Sally Cinnamon is acknowledged as the first release in the style which would come to be recognized as the Stone Roses’ trademark sound. This EP includes 12″ single mix, all the B Sides and additional live tracks. This is the first time this new configuration has ever been released. Exclusive Red heavyweight 180g vinyl. Half-speed mastered to the highest possible quality and DMM – Direct Metal Mastered with protective polypropylene inner bag. There will be other colored variants in the marketplace 90 days after this is released.

Debbie HarryKooKoo [Reissue/1981] 2xLP (Chrysalis)
Clear vinyl pressing housed in a lenticular sleeve. Debbie Harry was a household name back in the late ‘70s/early ‘80s through her work with Blondie. For her first solo album she teamed up with Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic to produce an album fusing funk, rock, disco and new wave.

MastodonLeviathan [Reissue/2004] LP (Relapse)
MastodonCall Of The Mastodon [Reissue/2006] LP (Relapse)
Blue and yellow colorways (respectively). Vinyl reissues of the Atlanta heavy metal band’s second album, Leviathan, and compilation of early tracks, Call Of The Mastodon.

Medeski Martin & WoodShack-man [Reissue/1996] LP (Real Gone Music)
For the last 30 years, Medeski Martin & Wood have explored the boundaries of modern jazz, incorporating hip hop, avant-garde, world music, and electronic funk influences into their fearless improvisational style.

ToscaDehli 9 [Reissue/2003] 4xLP (!K7)
To celebrate the 20-year anniversary of Tosca’s landmark third studio album Dehli 9, !K7 is proud to present a fully remastered edition of this magical Tosca release. Carefully reworked by Bo Kondren at Calyx Mastering in Berlin, this 2023 master purposely avoids any modern hi-fi tricks and techniques and is committed to the sound of the early 2000s.

Touché Amoré Parting The Sea Between Brightness And Me [Reissue/2011] LP (Deathwish)
Touché Amoré Is Survived By [Reissue/2013] LP (Deathwish)
Limited-edition clear and blue, respectively, color vinyl reissues of the L.A. post-hardcore band’s second and third albums.

TreepeopleGuilt Regret Embarrassment [Reissue/1991] 2xLP (K. Records)
Treepeople was a band of their time, the late ’80s and early ’90s, and their place, Boise, ID and Seattle, WA, who created punk music that lives on into a future they never imagined. Members Scott Schmaljohn, Pat Brown, Wayne Flower and Doug Martsch went on to form prominent ’90s Northwest combos Built to Spill, Stuntman, Violent Green, The Halo Benders, and Hive. Treepeople was a major influence on many Northwest artists who followed in their wake including Sleater-Kinney, Modest Mouse, Unwound, Death Cab For Cutie, Built To Spill, and Lync. The debut Treepeople album, Guilt Regret Embarrassment, originally released on Toxic Shock Records, has been given the Deluxe Edition treatment, expanded to a double album with the inclusion of songs originally appearing on singles and compilations from their earliest years.

Type O NegativeDead Again [Reissue/2007] 2xLP/Cassette (Nuclear Blast)
Reissue of the seventh & final studio album from New York metal legends.

Young The GiantAmerican Bollywood 2xLP (Jungle Youth)
2022 release – the fifth album from the Southern California-based rock band. [An indie store exclusive yellow colorway is available.]

Tom ZéBrazil Classics 4: The Best Of Tom Zé [Reissue/1990] LP (Luaka Bop)
Tom ZéThe Hips Of Tradition – Brazil 5: The Return Of Tom Zé [Reissue/1992] LP (Luaka Bop)
Limited-edition colorways: blue and green, respectively. Brazil Classics 4: The Best Of Tom Zé was Tom Zé’s first release on Luaka Bop after being discovered by David Byrne and was the first introduction of Zé’s music to a wider US audience.

COMING NEXT WEEK!
DAFT PUNK
Random Access Memories CD/LP (10th Anniv)
ANIMAL COLLECTIVESpirit They’ve Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished LP reissue
ALISON GOLDFRAPPLove Invention CD/LP
THE FORMATDog Problems LP reissue
THE FORMATInterventions and Lullabies LP reissue
FUN. – Aim and Ignite LP reissue
MIKE GORDONFlying Games CD/LP
BELA FLECKAs We Speak CD/LP
PARKER MILLSAP Wilderness Within You CD/LP
SYD BARRETTAn Introduction To Syd Barrett CD/LP
WESTERMANAn Inbuilt Fault CD/LP
CURREN$YDrive in Theatre Pt 2 CD
ELUVIUMConsensus Reality CD
PIGFACEGub LP
CULTCult LP reissue
DILLINGER ESCAPE PLANOption Paralysis LP
JOJISmithereens LP
RUN DMC Tougher Than Leather LP reissue
KACEY MUSGRAVES – Golden Hour (5th Hour) LP