STAFF PICKS
Lindsay – Bill Fay, Julian Lage, Sheer Mag
Dario – Faye Webster and Julian Lage
Kimber – Julian Lage
Jake – Yard Act, Mannequin Pussy, and STRFKR
Zach – Mannequin Pussy, Sheer Mag

Faye Webster – Underdressed At The Symphony CD/LP/Cassette (Secretly Canadian)
Faye Webster’s songs are direct lines to the human subconscious, and Underdressed At The Symphony documents what happens once you begin to build a new self from the ashes of your old routines. This rebirth isn’t flashy or definitive but is instead a series of seemingly mundane moments that, scattered across weeks and months, sneak their way toward something like healing. Yes, there’s a breakup in play, but Webster is not documenting the heartbreak of a breakup so much as she’s navigating the contours of heartbreak itself. Recorded at Sonic Ranch Studios in Texas with her longtime band, Webster is accompanied on Underdressed At The Symphony by Matt Stoessel’s arcs of shimmering pedal steel, the plaintive, unhurried drums of Charles Garner, and, occasionally, additional guitarwork from Wilco’s Nels Cline. The title of the album refers to Webster’s post-breakup compulsion to visit the symphony on a whim, usually buying a ticket at the last possible second. [A limited-edition blue color vinyl pressing is available.]

Yard Act – Where’s My Utopia? CD/LP (Republic)
Where’s My Utopia? is the follow up to the Leeds band’s critically acclaimed debut album The Overload which arrived in January 2022. Written in snapshots of time between a relentless touring schedule and produced jointly by the band and Gorillaz’ Remi Kabaka Jr, the quartet’s second act is a giant leap forward into broad and playful new sonic waters. Across the record, influences ranging from Fela Kuti to Ennio Moricone via Spiller’s ‘00s pop smash “Groovejet” make themselves known. [An indie store exclusive orange color vinyl pressing is available.]

STRFKR – Parallel Realms CD/2xLP+MP3/Cassette (Polyvinyl)
Prolific and constantly evolving, Portland, OR’s STRFKR has continued to release music that consistently connects with music lovers all over the globe. The band started out in a time when a co-sign from blogs and music outlets of note were all but mandatory for new music to be heard and accepted. On their latest full-length album, Parallel Realms, STRFKR embrace a more pop-forward approach as heard on their recent single “Running Around,” while also hinting at experimentalism and the gentler textures on 2020’s heralded, Future Past Life. Tracked by the band in their home studio in Portland, with additional engineering in Joshua Tree, CA, and mixed by Chris Coady (Beach House, The Drums), the new album feels exciting, cohesive, and familiar with immediate, yet diverse qualities that can only be found on STRFKR records. [A limited-edition violet & cobalt blue color vinyl pressing is available.]

Liam Gallagher & John Squire – Liam Gallagher & John Squire CD/LP (WB)
Liam (Oasis) and John (The Stone Roses) have been friends for years but when Liam invited John to join him on stage at Knebworth in 2022, it reignited a long-running ambition of writing and recording an album together. The demos were written at John’s home studio in Macclesfield and then recorded with legendary producer, Greg Kurstin and mixed by Spike Stent. Joey Waronker (Atoms for Peace, Beck, R.E.M.) plays drums on the album. [An indie store exclusive white color vinyl pressing is available.]

Jahari Massamba Unit – YHWH is LOVE CD/LP (Law Of Rhythm)
Madlib and Karriem Riggins are Jahari Massamba Unit, a collaboration between two beacons of modern music joined by an unwavering passion for pushing the boundaries of traditional music. Beginning as a genuine friendship and mutual admiration for one another’s craft, Jahari Massamba Unit became a project with no rules or guidelines. The result is an extraordinary fusion of creativity, an embrace of artistic freedom, and a testament to what music can be when given the chance to roam beyond convention.

Sheer Mag – Playing Favorites CD/LP (Third Man)
Playing Favorites is Sheer Mag’s third full-length and first with Third Man Records. The band capitalize on a decade’s worth of devotion to their own collective spirit-a spirit refined in both the sweaty trenches of punk warehouses and the larger-than-life glamour of concert halls-emerging with a dense work of gripping emotions, massive hooks, and masterfully constructed power-pop anthems. This is the record the Philadelphian rock and roll four-piece has always been destined to make. [An indie store exclusive translucent orange color vinyl pressing is available.]

Squarepusher – Dostrotime CD/2xLP+MP3 (Warp)
Dostrotime is Squarepusher-style fun. Heavy, intense, tear out experimental electronic music for the sheer exhilaration of it. In early 2020, Squarepusher had just released Be Up A Hello to huge acclaim, and was gearing up for a worldwide tour featuring some of his biggest shows to date. Then the pandemic hit, and it was all off… Devoid of distractions, naturally the artist headed to the studio to begin recording.

Carla Morrison – Dejenme Llorar LP [Reissue/2012] (Diggers Factory)
What Carla Morrison wants today is to be happy, and for her listeners to find happiness for themselves, too. Welcoming a long-standing love of R&B and pop into the mix-styles she used to shut out for fear of alienating fans-was a boon to the process. “I wanted to put more rhythm, more sassiness, in the music,” she says, adding that a universal appeal was also a goal. With her newfound sharpness of self comes an acceptance that perfection isn’t possible, but unabashedly being yourself is the closest thing to it. Standing in that knowledge, nobody can shake Carla Morrison’s self-confidence now.

The Bevis Frond – Focus On Nature CD/2xLP+MP3 (Fire)
Focus On Nature is the new studio album from celebrated post-psyche singer songwriter Nick Saloman and his band The Bevis Frond. 75 minutes of glorious melodies that span ‘60s psych, English folk, Seattle art-punks The Wipers, the buzzsaw pop of Dinosaur Jr and Hendrix-esque explorations. There’s always an element of playful Englishness to their music. [A limited-edition purple color vinyl pressing is available.]

Julian Lage – Speak To Me CD/2xLP (Blue Note)
Julian Lage returns with Speak To Me, his remarkable fourth release for Blue Note, which finds the guitar virtuoso broadening his sonic palette in collaboration with esteemed producer Joe Henry who enhances Lage’s trademark melodic lyricism on this wide-ranging set of compelling new originals. In addition to Lage’s longtime trio with Jorge Roeder on bass and Dave King on drums, the album also features contributions from saxophonist Levon Henry, keyboardist Patrick Warren, and Kris Davis on piano. [An indie store exclusive bone white color vinyl pressing is available.]

Mannequin Pussy – I Got Heaven CD/LP (Epitaph)
Mannequin Pussy’s music feels like a resilient and galvanizing shout that demands to be heard. Across four albums, the Philadelphia rock band that consists of Colins “Bear” Regisford (bass, vocals), Kaleen Reading (drums, percussion), Maxine Steen (guitar, synths), and Marisa Dabice (guitar, vocals) has made cathartic tunes about despairing times. “There’s just so much constantly going on that feels intentionally evil that trying to make something beautiful feels like a radical act,” says Dabice. “The ethos of this band has always been to bring people together.” Over ten ambitious tracks which abruptly turn from searing punk to inviting alternative pop, I Got Heaven is deeply concerned with desire, the power in being alone, and how to live in an unfeeling and unkind world. It’s a document of a band doubling down on their unshakable bond to make something furious, thrilling, and wholly alive. [An indie store exclusive clear w/ black smoke color vinyl pressing is available.]

Cannonball Adderley – Know What I Mean? [Reissue/1960] LP (Craft Recordings)
Know What I Mean? was originally released in 1960 as a collaboration between jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley and legendary pianist Bill Evans, along with the rhythm section of the Modern Jazz Quartet, Percy Heath (bass) and Connie Kay (drums). This new edition is released as part of the Original Jazz Classics Series and is pressed on 180gm vinyl at RTI with all-analog mastering from the original tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and presented in a tip-on jacket.

Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers – Caravan [Reissue/1963] LP (Craft Recordings)
Originally released in 1963, Caravan is Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers’ first album for Riverside Records. Featured in addition to Blakey are Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Curtis Fuller (trombone), Wayne Shorter (sax), Cedar Walton (piano) and Reggie Workman (bass). This new edition is released as part of the Original Jazz Classics Series and is pressed on 180gm vinyl at RTI with all-analog mastering from the original tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and presented in a tip-on jacket.

Ruth Goller – Skyllumina LP (International Anthem)
Skyllumina represents a new evolution of London-based, Italian-born composer, bassist, and vocalist Ruth Goller. Goller is known for her bass and vocal work with Alabaster DePlume, whose music she elevates in live contexts with her genre-less improvisational intuition, and an incredibly diverse résumé that includes performance and recording with Bex Burch’s Vula Viel, Shabaka Hutchings, Rokia Traore, Melt Yourself Down, Sam Amidon, and even a very brief moment with Paul McCartney. Skyllumina, despite its highly conceptual origins, is heavy with human emotion. Its dark washes of melody and contrapuntal percussion could fit easily into a mixtape with indie downbeat / ennui royalty like Grouper or Low, while also being right at home next a Cage-Tudor prepared piano piece. And the piercing, sibilant ice age siren song heard in Goller’s powerfully feminine vocal arrangements find her in an otherworld only occasionally inhabited by the likes of Björk and The Knife.

The Donnas – Early Singles 1995-1999 LP (Real Gone Music)
Purple colorway. 14 non-LP sides. Blessed with a formidable front woman in Brett Anderson, a guitar heroine in Allison Robertson, and a pummeling rhythm section in bassist Maya Ford and drummer Torry Castellano, The Donnas were one of the greatest punk bands of the ’90s.

Jackie McLean – Action [Reissue/1967] LP (Blue Note)
Tone Poet series release. Alto saxophonist Jackie McLean’s 1960s output ran the gamut from hard bop to the avant-garde with his 1964 post-bop dates It’s Time! and Action splitting the difference. Trumpeter Charles Tolliver had appeared alongside McLean in the horn frontline on It’s Time! And returned once again for Action the next month, with McLean opting for Bobby Hutcherson’s vibraphone in place of piano, as well as Cecil McBee on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums.

Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below [Reissue/2009] 2xLP (BMG)
Vinyl reissue of the debut full-length album by the alternative/indie/folk Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros. [An indie store exclusive blue w/ black colorway is available.]

Linda Smith – Nothing Else Matters [Reissue/1995] LP (Captured Tracks)
Linda Smith – I So Liked Spring [Reissue/1996] LP (Captured Tracks)
Color vinyl pressings (green and white, respectively). A pioneer of the home recording movement, Linda Smith released several collections of delicate, bewitching solo music on cassette in the 1980s and 90s. The 2021 release of Till Another Time: 1988-1996 has helped bestow rightful critical acclaim to the ahead-of-her-time artist. Now, dive deeper into Smith’s catalog with the release of two full-length companion albums, Nothing Else Matters and I So Liked Spring, available for the first time on vinyl.

Various Artists – Eccentric Soul: The Tragar & Note Labels [Reissue/2008] 2xLP (Numero)
Atlanta’s original Eccentric Soul labels, Jesse Jones’ Tragar & Note, captured critical regional R&B, soul, and funk from 1968-1976. Compiling 34 tracks and sprawled across two LPs, this 15-year anniversary deluxe edition appears on vinyl for the first time. Featuring rare-as-hens-teeth 45s by Eula Cooper, Tee Fletcher, Richard Cook, Frankie & Robert, Tokay Lewis, Nathan Wilkes, Chuck Wilder, Bill Wright, Sonia Ross, Sandy Gaye, Four Tracks, Young Divines, and several others we can’t fit on a hype sticker. [A limited-edition orange colorway is available.]

Karen Dalton – It’s So Hard To Tell Who’s Going To Love You The Best LP (Light In The Attic)
Karen Dalton’s 1969 Capitol debut is finally back in print! Light in the Attic is thrilled to present a brand new edition of this heart-wrenching & bluesy introduction to the intoxicating world of Dalton and her deep well of musical secrets. World-weary and filled with the blues, Dalton’s unsurpassed interpretive depth and emotional range were like no other. Recorded for Capitol in 1969, It’s So Hard To Tell Who’s Going To Love You The Best spans generations of classic American songwriting-covering classics by Lead Belly, Fred Neil, and Tim Hardin. While no longer with us in the physical, Karen’s growing musical presence is stronger than ever and worthy of re-examination by both the converted and the uninitiated alike. This new re-release serves as the definitive, all-analog version of Dalton’s stunning debut, featuring remastered audio from the original Capitol masters, the original 1969 artwork in an expanded gatefold jacket, unseen photos by album photographer Joel Brodsky, and an essay interviewing Karen’s friends and music collaborators.

Puscifer – Global Probing Live CD/Blu-ray/LP (Puscifer Entertainment)
Available on 3 different LP colorways. Special live album from the wild “Existential Reckoning” tour. Recorded on the final date of the 2022 tour in Prescott, AZ and features 16 songs, and spans the band’s vast catalog. Originally offered as an exclusive in conjunction with a Pay Per View live stream that aired around Halloween 2023 and is now being released to the general public.

Slayer – Reign In Blood LP reissue (American Recordings)
Clear with red splatter. For over four decades, Slayer has remained the most important and influential Speed Metal band in history. Reign In Blood is their 1986 mind-numbing opus featuring 10 tracks including ‘Angle Of Death’, ‘Necrophobic’, ‘Altar Of Sacrifice’, and more. RSD Essentials is excited to bring you an exclusive Clear w/ Red Splatter colorway.

Beach Boys – Pet Sounds LP reissue (Capitol)
LP reissue on coke bottle clear vinyl. The Beach Boys’ iconic 1966 album Pet Sounds, is universally hailed as one of popular music’s most important recordings of all time. Remastered in stereo with faithfully replicated original artwork.

General Patton VS The X-Ecutioners – Self Titled LP (Ipecac)
First time on vinyl! Ipecac is celebrating their 25th Anniversary in 2024 with special indie exclusive vinyl throughout the year. We’re starting it off with one from label co-founder, Mike Patton and his 2005 project with The X-Ecutioners, which has never been on vinyl before!

Steve Kilbey – Eleven Women CD/LP (Easy Action)
Recorded over just three days, with little more than two takes making up each tune, the album is an exercise in the immediate, capturing both Kilbey (The Church) and his accompanying musicians performing tracks while they’re still fresh. The result is one of the most pure records you’ll find anywhere.

Danny Elfman – Corpse Bride–Original Motion Picture Soundtrack LP (Real Gone)
It’s not too soon to put Tim Burton and Danny Elfman on the short list of the greatest director-composer collaborations in history, right up there with Hitchcock-Herrmann, Spielberg-Williams, Leone-Morricone, and Demy-Legrand. And Elfman’s score to this 2005 stop-motion animated gem is one of his best, displaying his amazing versatility and boundless emotional range with numbers that range from somber chamber music (“Victor’s Piano Music”) to darkly macabre yet somehow jaunty pieces (“Remains of the Day”). And let’s not forget the swing jazz homages performed by Bonejangles (a.k.a. Elfman) and His Bone Boys as bonus tracks (or should that be bone-us tracks?)! We’ve, er, exhumed this fantastic soundtrack in eerily iridescent blue vinyl with a full-color insert. 2-LP set!

COMING NEXT WEEK!
BLEACHERS – Self Titled CD/LP
DRY CLEANING – Boundary Road + Sweet Princess LP
NOTHING – Guilty Of Everything LP reissue
NORAH JONES – Visions CD/LP
KIM GORDON – Collective CD/LP
PIXIES – At The BBC CD/LP
BLINK 182 – Buddha LP reissue
DEERHOOF – Reveille LP reissue
XMAL DEUTSCHLAND – Early Singles CD/LP
BACAO RHYTHM + STEEL BAND – BRSB CD/LP
JPEGMAFIA – Ghost Pop Tape LP
MOOR MOTHER – Great Bailout CD/LP
VIAGRA BOYS – Welfare Jazz LP reissue