New Releases & Staff Picks – 5/28/21
Staff Picks
Lindsay – Bachelor and PJ Harvey Reissue
Dario – Dungen and Animal Collective Reissues
Zach- King Gizzard, Bachelor, and Animal Collective Reissues
Kimber – PJ Harvey Reissue
Bachelor – Doomin Sun CD/LP/CASS (Polyvinyl)
Bachelor, the new project from Melina Duterte (Jay Som) and Ellen Kempner (Palehound), is not a band, it’s a friendship. In January of 2020, the duo packed the entirety of Duterte’s recording equipment into two cars and headed to a rental house in Topanga, CA where over the course of two weeks, they wrote and recorded their debut album Doomin’ Sun. In this space, Kempner and Duterte hybridized their individual songwriting talents, producing a collection that slips between moods with ease and showcases their lyrical prowess.
PJ Harvey – The Peel Sessions 1991-2004 LP (Island)
Reissue on vinyl of the 2006 collection of PJ Harvey sessions with the late BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, spanning recordings from the start of her career in 1991 up to 2004. Originally released two years after Peel’s death in 2004, the record came with a tribute message from Harvey in the liner notes which read, “More than I would ever care to admit for fear of embarrassment to both sides, but I sought his approval always. It mattered. Every Peel Session I did, I did for him. It is with much love that I chose these songs, in his memory. A way of saying ‘Thank You,’ once more. Thank You, John.”
Black Midi – Cavalcade CD/LP (Rough Trade)
Black Midi’s follow-up to Schlagenheim is a dynamic, hellacious, inventive success. Cavalcade, their second studio album for Rough Trade, scales beautiful new heights, reaching ever upwards from an already lofty base of early achievements. Free bonus flexidisc with purchase!
Fountains of Wayne – Welcome Interstate Managers LP (Real Gone Music)
Limited edition red vinyl pressing. It’s the most popular album by one of the greatest power pop bands of all time…and it’s never seen a widespread vinyl release. Welcome Interstate Managers was hailed a classic from the day it came out in 2003, and featured Fountains of Wayne’s biggest hit with “Stacy’s Mom.” The song craft and lyrical wit of Chris Collingwood and the late, great Adam Schlesinger have never been sharper; there’s not a bad song on this record and lot of them (e.g. “Bright Future in Sales;” “Hackensack”) rise to the same lofty perch as “Stacy’s Mom.” Real Gone Music presents this landmark album in a 2-LP set pressed in red vinyl at Gotta Groove Records, and housed inside a gatefold jacket with two printed inner sleeves featuring lyrics. Also included as a bonus track: the non-LP b-side to the “Stacy’s Mom” single, “Elevator Up!” One of the 21st century’s greatest rock albums.
Lou Barlow – Reason To Live CD/LP (Joyful Noise)
Available on indie exclusive blue LP, while supplies last. After decades on the road and the never-ending hustle of life as an artist, Lou Barlow has tapped into a new confidence in the chaos. In 2021, the concept of balance feels particularly intimidating. Now more than ever, it’s clear life isn’t just leveling out a pair of responsibilities. Instead, we’re chasing after a flock of different ideals with a butterfly net. On Barlow’s new solo album, Reason to Live, he has come to an understanding of that swirl rather than trying to contain it.
Limited edition Silver Anvil version available while supplies last. Freewheeling six-headed freak-rock movement King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard return with 17th album “L.W.” Serving as both a standalone work and a companion piece to 2020 predecessor K.G., L.W. sees the Melbourne based innovators produce a truly original album. As the band enter their second decade, the creative future of this most 21st century of outfits only promises to be bolder, madder and more imaginative than ever.
Khruangbin – Pink Label 12″
Super limited series of 12″s. 5 different releases. This is the fourth, with pink label. Super limited. Available in-store only.
The Beths – Jump Rope Gazers LP (Carpark)
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. Their most emotive and heartfelt work to date, Jump Rope Gazers stares down all the hard parts of living in communion with other people, even at a distance, while celebrating the ferocious joy that makes it all worth it.
Exclusive Special Deluxe Limited Edition Psychedelic Multicolor Splatter Vinyl edition. Presented in its original 2 x LP format and gatefold sleeve.
Have you ever felt like you’re being watched? Have you felt unseen eyes staring at you, monitoring your every move? Composer and guitarist Daniel Davies reflects on this familiar paranoia on his new EP, Spies. Across its five stirringly atmospheric tracks, the frequent John Carpenter collaborator evokes the tingle you get on the back of your neck when you sense you’re under surveillance – a feeling some psychologists have dubbed the “psychic staring effect. The songs for Spies were composed in the fall and winter of 2020, in the depths of pandemic lockdown. Working in isolation in his L.A. studio, Davies composed the five tracks entirely alone. With no collaborators, his gaze turned inward, and the songs feel intimate and intense.
Animal Collective – Sung Tongs LP reissue (Domino)
Sung Tongs is the band’s fifth studio album originally released in 2005 and features Avey Tare and Panda Bear.
Feels is the band’s sixth studio album originally released in 2008 and features all four band member – Avey Tare, Deakin, Geologist, and Panda Bear.
COMING NEXT WEEK!
CZARFACE + MF DOOM – Super What CD/LP
JAPANESE BREAKFAST – Jubilee CD/LP/CASS
RISE AGAINST – Nowhere Generation CD/LP
CHRIS THILE – Laysongs CD/LP
CROWDED HOUSE – Dreamers Are Waiting CD/LP
MIKE COOLEY/PATTERSON HOOD/JASON ISBELL – Live at the Shoals Theatre 4P
GARY LOURIS (JAYHAWKS) – Jump For Joy CD/LP
MNDSGN – Rare Pleasure CD/LP
NIGHT BEATS – Outlaw R&B CD/LP
RED FANG – Arrows CD/LP
NILS FRAHM – Tripping With Nils Frahm CD/LP
BEACHY HEAD – Self-Titled (Slowdive, Flaming Lips, Casket Girls) CD/LP
LANTERNA – Hidden Drives CD/LP
OF MONTREAL – Sunlandic Twins LP reissue
LIZ PHAIR – Soberish CD/LP
ROSTAM – Changephobia CD/LP
KOOL KEITH – Keith’s Salon CD/LP
ORCHESTRA BAOBAB – Mouhamadou Bamba CD/LP
YELLE – L’ere Du Verseau LP
BAD BRAINS – Into The Future LP
BETHS – Future Me Hates Me LP
WOLF ALICE – Blue Weekend LP
FRANK TURNER – England Keep My Bones LP