STAFF PICKS
Lindsay – Michael Nau and Jackie Mittoo
Dario – Michael Nau and Big Thief reissue
Kimber – C-Clamp
Jake – Patrick Shiroishi and Michael Nau
Zach – C-Clamp and Denzel Curry reissue

Big Thief – Masterpiece [Reissue/2016] CD/LP+MP3 (4AD)
Masterpiece, Big Thief’s debut album, is filled with characters and visceral narratives, songs that pivot in the space of a few words. Adrianne Lenker’s voice and guitar playing speak of rich emotional territory with grace and insight. In her words, the record tracks “the masterpiece of existence, which is always folding into itself, people attempting to connect to both shake themselves awake and to shake off the numbness of certain points in their life. The interpretations might be impressionistic or surrealistic, but they’re grounded in simple things.”

Car Seat Headrest – Faces From The Masquerade 2xLP (Matador)
In March of 2022, Car Seat Headrest brought their “explosive” (Brooklyn Vegan) live show to Brooklyn Steel in New York in support of their 2020 LP Making A Door Less Open. Across three back-to-back nights, the band played revved up versions of tracks spanning their extensive back catalog. Faces From The Masquerade is a collection of recordings from those performances which includes fan favorites “Beach Life-In-Death”, “Crows”, “Something Soon”, and “Drunk Drivers / Killer Whales”.

C-Clamp – Dream Backwards LP (Numero)
Percolating in the same watery diner coffee that spawned American Football and Hum, C-Clamp shrugged on and off the ’90s slowcore and emo scenes in a hurry. Compiled here are the band’s two albums for the venerable Ohio Gold label – Longer Waves and Meander + Return, plus a third LP of singles and compilation tracks, and a meticulously annotated book stuffed with lyrics, photos, flyers, and ephemera from their all-too-brief existence. This one’s colder than a Chicago winter-better plug in that space heater. [A limited-edition white w/ blue splatter color vinyl pressing is available.]

Aaron Frazer – Bring You A Ring 7″ (Colemine)
The A side of this 45, a brand new track from Aaron Frazer, is about how pressure makes diamonds. The last couple years have been really challenging, especially for those navigating relationships amidst the chaos. This song celebrates the connections of love that are strong enough to weather any storm, and the certainty that comes from making it through together. The B side features a track from Aarons first solo LP, Introducing. Grab this 45, on either black and limited edition heart shaped vinyl, available 12/08/2023 from Colemine Records.

Michael Nau – Accompany CD/LP (Karma Chief)
Since the mid- 00s, Michael Nau has crafted a catalog of thoughtful, reflective songs as the frontman of indie-rock mainstays Cotton Jones, Page France, and Michael Nau & The Mighty Thread. All 11 tracks on his latest solo effort Accompany come together to paint a beautiful picture. The lyrics invoke the listener’s imagination throughout. They’re introspective, but vague and open-ended. The indie rock backdrop shows signs of psych-soul influence with dry and punchy drums, lush synth lines, and tastefully verb-soaked vocal production. [A limited-edition powder blue color vinyl pressing is available.]

James Elkington – Me Neither CD/2xLP (No Quarter)
Me Neither is a 29-track double album of instrumental guitar music. While juggling several other projects James Elkington began writing “music for which there was no purpose.” It became a new way of working for him – waking up each morning and improvising and recording the first thing that came into his head.

Hum – You’d Prefer An Astronaut [Reissue/1995] CD/2xLP (Earth Analog)
Hum’s sonic universe is a solipsistic world that exists on its own terms, a maelstrom of sensations and colors, a thick metallic vortex of fuzz-toned guitars with a silent core at the center like the eye of a hurricane – equal parts homegrown and high-tech. Hum serves up a cacophony of overlapping harmonics and dense shards of electric guitars providing a counterpoint to Matt Talbott’s reflective tales.

Neil Young – Before + After CD/LP/Blu-ray-Audio (Reprise/WB)
Consisting of 13 tracks, Neil Young’s 45th album Before + After features solo acoustic re-recordings of some of his past songs. [An indie store exclusive clear vinyl pressing is available.]

Fiona Apple – Tidal [Reissue/1996] 2xLP (Sony Legacy)
Fiona Apple – When The Pawn Hits [Reissue/1999] LP (Sony Legacy)
Fiona Apple – Extraordinary Machine [Reissue/2005] 2xLP (Sony Legacy)
Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver Of The Screw And Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do [Reissue/1999] LP (Sony Legacy)
180gm vinyl reissues of the singer-songwriter and pianist’s first four albums.

Boygenius – Boygenius [Reissue/2018] LP (Matador)
Yellow colorway. Boygenius celebrate five years of their iconic debut EP, capping off a triumphant 2023 in support of the record. The trio of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus headlined sold-out performances at Madison Square Garden in NYC and Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles this past October.

Denzel Curry – TA1300 [Reissue/2018] LP (Loma Vista)
Limited pink color vinyl pressing of the third studio album by the rapper.

Mark Lanegan Band – Phantom Radio [Reissue/2014] LP (Vagrant)
Mark Lanegan’s chief compositional tool on Phantom Radio was his phone – specifically an app called Funk Box. “I didn’t bother to hook up my 909 and 808 this time,” he says, “because the app had ’em. I’d write drum parts with it then add music with the synthesizer or the guitar.” The album grew organically from these synthetic roots, taking in Mark’s ongoing love of Krautrock and also an ’80s new wave show on Sirius satellite radio, his favored aural companion as he drove around Los Angeles.

Manchester Orchestra – The Million Masks Of God [Reissue/2021] LP (Loma Vista)
Two new colorways: clear w/ pink & blue; and red w/ black. The Million Masks Of God showcases the strength and boundary-pushing invention of Manchester Orchestra’s catalog, and is a testament to the kinship of its songwriting duo – the bond that enables them to take something so tragically personal and turn it into limitless, compassionate, communal, revelatory art.

Jackie Mittoo and The Soul Brothers – Last Train To Skaville [Reissue/2003] 2xLP+MP3 (Soul Jazz)
Transparent green colorway. Jackie Mittoo is one of the most important artists in the history of Jamaican music. As a founding member of the legendary Skatalites, as in-house arranger/producer at Studio One and as a solo artist in his own right leading groups such as the soul brothers, sound dimension and soul vendors. These classic and rare recordings were made in the mid- ‘60s at Studio One. The soul brothers bridged the gap between ska and the arrival of rocksteady mixing it all up with funk, jazz, and Latin styles.

Phish – Farmhouse (Stars So Bright) [Reissue/1999] 2xLP (Jemp)
Double color vinyl pressing of Farmhouse, Phish’s ninth full-length studio album. Most songs on the album, including the title track, were derived from 1997 writing sessions at Vermont farmhouses. ‘Farmhouse’ was recorded and mixed by John Siket in fall 1999 and winter 2000 at The Barn studio in Vermont.

The Toy Dolls – Another Bleedin’ Best Of [Reissue/2011] LP (Secret)
Yellow colorway. Formed from Sunderland in England’s formerly industrial northeast, the Toy Dolls put working-class humor at the forefront of their take on punk, the three-chord format a launching pad for witty originals and clever covers.

Various Artists – Studio One Roots 2 [Reissue/2005] 2xLP+MP3 (Soul Jazz)
Tranparent green colorway. Studio Roots 2 delves deep into the vaults of the legendary Jamaican Reggae label and features rare and classic roots as well as an unprecedented seven unreleased tracks that up till now had never seen the light of day.

Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster LP (Verve)
As critic Nat Hentoff makes clear, Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster were larger than life. Formidable, even forbidding presences, they revealed a depth of feeling in their playing that spoke of their vast life experiences, as great writers or painters speak through their work. Recorded in 1957. 

Augustus Muller (Boy Harsher) – My Animal LP Soundtrack (Nude Club)
Augustus Muller announces the score for the movie My Animal, directed by Jacqueline Castel feat. Amandla Stenberg (The Hunger Games, Star Wars) and Bobbi Salvör Menuez (I love Dick, Something In The Air). The score marks Muller’s debut as feature film composer.

Patrick Shiroishi – I Was Too Young To Hear Silence LP (American Dreams)
Fresh off a tour with The Armed, and on the heels of countless releases and collaborations, Patrick Shiroishi’s music is as vital and stirring as ever on I Was Too Young To Hear Silence. Where his breakout release, 2021’s Hidemi, used choruses of saxophones and vocals to memorialize his grandfather, I Was Too Young To Hear Silence expands the scope of his remembrance. Shiroishi’s chosen instruments are alto saxophone, glockenspiel, and a cavernous parking garage through which the former’s melodies reverberate. It’s an apt setting for Shiroishi’s continuing confrontation of the legacy of Japanese concentration camps.   

Red Red Meat – Bunny Gets Paid LP (Jealous Butcher)
Chicago rock ensemble Red Red Meat hit hard with 1995’s Bunny Gets Paid. Arguably the band’s most complete album, the record pairs Stones-indebted blues-rock roots with beautiful songs, sounding miles removed from the era’s grunge and radio-friendly alternative rock tropes. Colored reissue.

Killers – Rebel Diamonds LP (Island)
This album features 20 tracks, including the modern-day classics “Mr. Brightside,” “When You Were Young,” “All These Things That I’ve Done,” “Human,” “Read My Mind” and at least one song from each of the band’s seven studio albums. The album also carries through to the band’s most recently released, critically lauded single, “Your Side of Town,” and includes a brand-new anthem ready to be sung at festivals across the world called “Spirit.” The album is a curated dive into an impressive catalog of songwriting and musicianship – one that has solidified the band as one of the most important voices in rock n’ roll over the last two decades. 2 LP set on standard black vinyl in a gatefold jacket. Doubled-sided 11 x 11 photo collage insert included.

Max Roach – Moon Faced and Starry Eyed LP (Verve By Request Series)
Roach’s solid group featuring Ray Bryant, Julian Priester, and Stanley and Tommy Turrentine are joined by the great Abbey Lincoln on vocals for two tracks, “Never Leave Me” and Cole Porter’s “I Concentrate On You.” A fantastic and often overlooked album, this is the first US reissue since the album’s release in 1960. The Verve By Request Series features 180-gram vinyl, pressed at Third Man in Detroit.

COMING NEXT WEEK!
EELS – Eels So Good Vol 2 CD/LP
DISCLOSURE – Alchemy LP
MAC DEMARCO – One Wayne G Blu-Ray
MAC DEMARCO – Some Other Ones LP