New Releases & Staff Picks – 8/9/24
STAFF PICKS
Lindsay – La Lom and Justin Townes Earle
Dario – Wayne Shorter reissue
Kimber – Fruit Bats
Jake – Eric Bachmann reissue and La Lom
Zach – Thee Marloes, King Gizzard, Louis Cole, Fucked Up
Ash – Osees
BEABADOOBEE – This Is How Tomorrow Moves CD/LP (Dirty Hit)
Red and indie exclusive light blue vinyl. Free poster with purchase, while supplies last. This Is How Tomorrow Moves is the forthcoming third album from artist beabadoobee, recorded at Shangri-La in Malibu and set to release on her long-standing label, Dirty Hit. This album captures beabadoobee’s confidence and introspection, with themes of self-acceptance and personal growth woven throughout. It stands as a testament to her artistic evolution and resilience, marking a significant milestone in her career
THEE MARLOES – Perak CD/LP (Big Crown)
Big Crown Records is proud to present Perak, the debut album from Thee Marloes. When you first hear Thee Marloes, their particular soul sound may seem familiar enough. There are the weighty drums, a crooning guitar, and a beautiful voice singing about unrequited love and the complications inherent in affairs of the heart. But then there is something undeniably different about Thee Marloes and their music, something new and distinct. And while you may be acquainted with soul music, you’ve probably never heard it from Surabaya, Indonesia – the place they call home.
QUIVERS – Oyster Cuts CD/LP (Merge)
Oyster Cuts, the Merge Records debut of Quivers, finds the Melbourne, Australia-based outfit awash in the kind of emotions people tend to fear losing themselves in. Finding love after grief, the outsized guitar pop of Quivers gleams like the surface of an ocean, beneath which lies a reef that is at turns beautiful and painful, its features alien and sharp enough to wound. Propelled by melodies that at times recall Galaxie 500 and The Pretenders, Quivers make music that is tender and tough, compelling the listener to dive in again and again, each song a new angle on all of your feelings.
DAVID KILGOUR – A Feather In The Engine [Reissue/2002] LP (Merge)
Originally released in 2002, A Feather in the Engine followed two full-band efforts-1997’s David Kilgour & the Heavy Eights and The Clean’s 2001 album Getaway-and is thus almost startling in its intimacy. Recorded at home and mostly alone (The Verlaines’ Graeme Downes provides lush string arrangements), Kilgour once called A Feather in the Engine “the most solo LP I’ve made.” Interpolating his genius for guitar pop through acoustic guitars and gorgeous instrumentals, its melodies unfold gently, suggesting that the 13 songs here, written over the course of four years, were searching Kilgour as much as he was searching them. Lovingly remastered (and in some cases remixed) from the original tapes by Tom Bell at Port Chalmers Recording Services, the vinyl reissue of A Feather in the Engine is a crucial opportunity to rediscover one of David Kilgour’s best records, a handcrafted gem that perfects guitar pop’s past while pointing to its future, idiosyncratic in its making and tantalizing in its potential.
FRUIT BATS – Starry Eyed CASS (Merge)
Super limited cassette only release. Twenty choice cuts culled from the awe-inspiring Fruit Bats 2022–2023 live shows.
OSEES – Sorcs 80 CD/LP
Available on limited edition colored vinyl. “This album [SORCS 80] was a self imposed ambitious project for us [OSEES]. Something to kick in the creative flow. The last few years, having been a challenging time in general, felt like a good time for a pivot. The last two albums were so guitar and keyboard centric, I wanted a weird and fun set of parameters for us to work with. I demoed everything at home on cassette four track (harkening back to simpler times) using drum loops, and just had at it ’til I had a pile of ‘songs.’
ART BLAKEY – Moanin’ LP reissue (Blue Note)
Blue vinyl reissue. This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal. More than any other album in the canon of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, 1958’s Moanin’—featuring the great drummer with trumpeter Lee Morgan, tenor saxophonist Benny Golson, pianist Bobby Timmons, and bassist Jymie Merritt—was the perfect crystallization of the band’s bluesy, soulful sound, and it still stands today as perhaps the most quintessential hard bop recording of all-time.
JON LANGFORD & THE BRIGHT SHINERS – Where It Really Stars LP (Tiny Global)
Jon Langford’s been in more bands than you have digits – and that’s true even if you were born with a few extras! From his early days in Mekons, Delta 5, Three Johns and even Sisters Of Mercy (booted for not wearing black) to a veritable explosion of one-off recordings and performances with more names than we could ever hope to list in full. A Wikipedia description for this group, The Bright Shiners (described therein as ‘circa 2022 through at least 2023, in Northern California’) provides some sense of the complex taxonomy needed just to keep track of Jon’s massive oeuvre. Happily, that’s an understated description of a serious new outlet for his endless creativity, and The Bright Shiners’ recording activities have produced a full album, Where It Really Starts, the first recording in a collaboration with Tamineh Gueramy, Alice Spencer, and Jon’s frequent musical partner, John Szymanski.
KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD – Flight B741 LP (KGLW)
For their 26th album, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard swap the widescreen concepts of their recent albums for the intimacy of six good friends collaborating on the most bonhomie-laden set they’ve yet committed to wax. For Flight b741, bandleader Stu Mackenzie says King Gizzard “wanted to make something that was primal, instinctual, more ‘from the gut’ – just people in a room, doing what feels right. We wanted to make something fun.” Available on 180g recycled black vinyl with printed inner sleeve and housed in a brown paper bag.
LA LOM – Los Angeles League Of Musicians CD/LP (Verve)
The Los Angeles League Of Musicians La Lom DEBUT ALBUM The Los Angeles League of Musicians coming August 2024! The roots of La Lom reach back to 2019, when the band was assembled to play five nights a week in the lobby of the historic Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard. Initially tasked with providing background music for hotel patrons, tourists, and passersby off the street, La Lom soon began experimenting with a genre-transcending repertoire that reflects the diverse musical diaspora of Angelenos. La Lom have quickly ascended to playing to thousands of people and have captured the attention of Beck, Vampire Weekend and Zane Lowe.
JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE – All In: Unreleased And Rarities (The New West Years) CD/2xLP (New West)
Justin Townes Earle – All In: Unreleased & Rarities (The New West Years) is a fitting tribute to Justin’s legacy – The collection features many never heard before songs, demos, and cover tunes, spanning his time as a New West Records recording artist.
FUCKED UP – Another Day LP (Fucked Up Records)
Clear vinyl. Like springtime in the Canadian prairies, Another Day is fleeting but buzzes with activity—it’s Fucked Up’s shortest album ever and arrives the most quickly after a previous album by the band. One Day emerged in the winter of 2023. Each band member separately recorded all their respective parts in a single, presumably rather cold day. It’s a powerful document of a band known for elaborate, dense albums and (over-?) thinking everything through, instead letting go and trusting that they’d made the most of the time they assigned themselves to work with and against.
MILTON NASCIMENTO & ESPERANZA SPALDING – Milton + Esperanza CD/2xLP (Concord)
For years, Esperanza Spalding dreamed about making music with Milton Nascimento, the revered Brazilian singer-songwriter. Milton + Esperanza is the moving culmination of Spalding’s long-held admiration. Produced by Spalding, the album is a mixture of classics from Nascimento’s catalog, new songs from Spalding, covers from other artists including The Beatles and Michael Jackson, and features special guests including Dianne Reeves, Paul Simon, Lianne La Havas and more.
PHARAOH SANDERS – Thembi [Reissue/1970] LP (Verve)
Released in 1971 on Impulse and recorded with two different ensembles, Thembi marked a departure from the slowly developing, side-long, mantra-like grooves Sanders had been pursuing for much of his solo career. Instead, it offers an intriguingly wide range of relatively concise ideas resulting in something of an anomaly in Sanders’ prime period.
WAYNE SHORTER – Speak No Evil [Reissue/1966] LP (Blue Note)
Blue colored vinyl reissue. This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal. When Shorter entered Van Gelder Studio on Christmas Eve 1964 with Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Elvis Jones, they created a masterpiece with Speak No Evil, a transcendent set of six Shorter originals, including the swinging title track, “Witch Hunt,” and the sublime ballad, “Infant Eyes.”
SMASHING PUMPKINS – Rotten Apples: Greatest Hits [Reissue/2001] 2xLP (Virgin)
First-ever official vinyl release of The Smashing Pumpkins’ Rotten Apples: Greatest Hits collection. Originally released in 2001, it features the hit singles, “Today,” “Bullet with Butterfly Wings,” “1979,” “Tonight, Tonight,” and many more. The album’s concluding track, “Untitled”, was the Pumpkins’ final recording before their first breakup.
LOUIS COLE – nothing CD/LP (Brainfeeder)
Grammy darlings Louis Cole, Jules Buckley and the Metropole Orkest team up on nothing for a raucous musical trip that veers from funk-fueled mayhem to somber balladry with the orchestra dialing up the emotional power to 11. Louis Cole is an LA-based Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and sickeningly talented multi-instrumentalist with a strong DIY aesthetic. He is on a mission to create deep feelings through music. Thundercat describes him as “one of Los Angeles’s greatest musicians”. [A white color vinyl pressing is available.]
ERIC BACHMANN – To The Races [Reissue/2006] LP reissue (Saddle Creek)
Available on limited Orange Vinyl. Originally released in 2006, Eric Bachmann’s debut solo album To the Races returns to vinyl nearly eighteen years after its original pressing.Returning home from tour to no commonly-defined home, Eric Bachmann largely wrote To the Races in June and July of 2005 while voluntarily living in the back of his van. Bachmann made the best of the hospitable Northwestern summer by setting up home and shop in his vehicle, and found that living like a makeshift Siddhartha worked well for him: he used the time to craft the unadorned and unapologetically forthright collection of songs that compose his first solo release.
COALESCE – Live At BBC’s Maida Vale Studios LP (Relapse)
Gold color vinyl pressing. Coalesce’s Live At BBC Maida Vale Studios captures the band’s ferocious live radio performance for BBC radio, featuring 4 tracks from the band’s OX period including “Wild Ox Moan”, “Through Sparrows I Rest”, and “The Villain We Won’t Deny”.
PETER BROGGS – Progressive Youth [Reissue/1979] LP (Diggers Factory)
Originally released in 1979 on the ITAL MUSIC label, this cult album was reissued only on CD in 1998 by the RAS label. Recorded at CHANNEL ONE and mixed at KING TUBBY studios by Scientist, it features THE original ROOTS RADICS backing band with Flabba Holt on bass, Style Scott on drums, Bingi Bunny and Jah Sowell Tempo on guitar, Winston Wright on keyboards, Bongo Herman on percussion, Glaston Anderson on piano and, of course, Peter Broggs on vocals. This magic formula, which combines the best engineers and musicians on the island, hits the nail on the head and delivers a real DIAMOND in the rough, 100% pure ROOTS, where everyone excels.
ELZHI – The Preface [Reissue/2008] CD/LP (Nature Sounds)
By the time his 2008 solo debut The Preface was released, eLZhi was already recognized as one of hip-hop’s most gifted lyricists. The Detroit emcee was still a member of Slum Village at the time, having replaced hip-hop icon J Dilla in the legendary group earlier that decade. The Preface showcases eLZhi’s undeniable talent and impressive creative flair, foreshadowing the exciting solo career that would follow.
CONWAY THE MACHINE – Slant Face Killah 2xLP (Drumwork Music Group)
Following his most commercially and critically successful year to date, Conway The Machine returns with his first full length offering of 2024, Slant Face Killah. Long teased as the second half of the chart-topping 2023 album, Won’t He Do It, fans see Conway the Machine embracing his killer instincts on the mic, and doing so with versatility – rapping over the familiar gritty, dark beats.
AMOS LEE – Transmissions CD/2xLP (Thirty Tigers)
On his eleventh studio album, Transmissions, singer-songwriter Lee continues to expand his sonic range while sharpening his closely observed lyrics that squarely address death, aging, and love. The force behind such acclaimed albums as Mission Bell and Mountains Of Sorrow, Rivers Of Song, ever since his gold-selling 2005 debut Lee has been known for his association with a long list of collaborators and touring partners, from Paul Simon to Zac Brown Band. For the new project, he craved a return to an old-school style of recording, working with his longtime band in a studio in rural Marlboro, New York that was built by drummer Lee Falco and his dad out of reclaimed wood from an old church (“it’s exactly what you’d think a studio in upstate New York should be,” notes Lee). Playing live on the floor for long hours, in close quarters, they were able to capture the album’s twelve songs in less than a week. [An indie store exclusive blue color vinyl pressing is available.]
SANDY HARLESS – Songs [Reissue/1973] LP (Numero)
Arriving as the hippy movement was discovering it’s peaceful easy ’70s feelings, Sandy Harless’ Songs LP is Chillicothe, Ohio’s lone contribution to the Cosmic American Music movement. Financed from a 27-aquarium fish breeding business, the album shows its Appalachian roots with a tight weave of mountain folk, rural rock, and pastoral country. Real people music. [Multiple colorways are available.]
ZERO BOYS – History Of [Reissue/1984] LP (Secretly Canadian)
When the Ramones lost it, the Zero Boys found it; Adding a slam brigade fist to the Blitzkrieg Beat. The Zero Boys managed to come with one of the best early ‘80s punk records, or one of the best records ever, period. From 1979 to 1983, the Indianapolis-based Zero Boys were the finest hardcore blitz in the Midwest if not all the lower 48 states. Compiled and released as a post-mortem following the band’s breakup, History Of is the proof, if more was needed, that their take of American hardcore wasn’t all white bread numbers.
COMING NEXT WEEK!
RAY LAMONTAGNE – Long Way Home CD/LP
BLIND PILOT – In The Shadow Of The Holy Mountain CD/LP
FOSTER THE PEOPLE – Paradise State of Mind CD/LP
POST MALONE – F-1 Trillion CD/LP
ALBUM LEAF – In A Safe Place LP reissue
FATHER JOHN MISTY – Greatest Hits CD/LP
NEW YORK DOLLS – Too Much Too Soon LP
PANSY DIVISION – Undressed LP reissue
VELOCITY GIRL – Ultracopacetic CD/LP reissue
WISHY – Triple Seven Rock CD/LP
AFRIKA BAMBAATAA + SOUL SONIC FORCE – Planet Rock LP reissue
LEE MORGAN – Gigolo LP reissue
WAYNE SHORTER – JuJu LP reissue
SHELBY LYNNE – Consequences Of The Crown LP