Music Releases 01-20-23
Describing their first three albums as a trilogy that is now complete, Meath and Sanborn see No Rules Sandy as the beginning of a new period, with songs that are “wilder and stranger and more cathartic than the band used to be,” as Nick Sanborn puts it. “It feels like who we actually are,” Amelia Meath adds. “It just feels like us. We’re not trying to fit into the mold, just happily being our freak selves.”
Cruel Country–Wilco’s universally-acclaimed 12th studio album will be available for the first time on vinyl and in a standard retail CD format via dBpm Records on January 20th. The double-disc packages are comprised of 21 Country Music inspired tracks, recorded at the band’s Chicago studio–The Loft.
Originally released in May 2022 (digital only) and in a limited “pre-release” CD edition for the June RSD drop, lead tracks “Falling Apart (Right Now)” and “Tired Of Taking It Out On You” have already become staples on non-commercial, public and AAA radio. Cruel Country songs and graphics have been featured throughout the band’s June European tour and August/September/October North American tour.
A new music video for “A Lifetime To Find” will be released in conjunction with the pre-order announcement.
Bandleader Jeff Tweedy has commented a length on the concept and recording process of Cruel Country in numerous podcasts, online interviews and print articles:
“There have been elements of Country Music in everything we’ve ever done. We’ve never been particularly comfortable with accepting that definition, the idea that I was making Country Music. But now, having been around the block a few times, we’re finding it exhilarating to free ourselves within the form, and embrace the simple limitation of calling the music we’re making Country.”
Jon Pareles in The New York Times wrote: “Wilco makes an understated magnum opus. Its tone is naturalistic and understated; the album was recorded largely with Wilco playing live in the studio as a six-man band, quietly savoring the chance to make music together after pandemic isolation.”
Jon Dolan in Rolling Stone wrote: “Their latest is a beautifully rootsy album with a broken sense of patriotic concern.” ****
Tagged in multiple publications’ mid-summer Best of Albums of 2022 (so far) Lists including
Variety, Rolling Stone, Spin, Uproxx and Paste.
“The plan was to start driving north and not go home to Los Angeles until I was done with a record,” Five Easy Hot Dogs is a collection of instrumental recordings from Mac’s time on the road. “Kind of like being on tour, except there weren’t any shows and I’d just be burning money.” All of the songs on Five Easy Hot Dogs were recorded and mixed in the corresponding city from each song title and the tracklisting reflects the chronological order in which the songs were produced.
Darker and more danceable and demonic than 2021’s “Huffy,” We Are Scientists’ new album “Lobes” features the singles Operator Error, Settled Accounts & Less From You. On their second self-produced outing, the band’s assurance and perversion have blossomed. Limited edition, 140g Cathode Blue translucent vinyl available exclusively for indie record stores.
Beauty, disposability and fragility of the culture that surrounds us, and the exhilaration of freeing yourself from those structures… these are the themes Ladytron return to on Time’s Arrow, their seventh album.
Driven by analogue synths, distorted chimes and hallucinogenic soundscapes, Ladytron crash-landed into electroclash at the turn of the century, using the dancefloor as a bridgehead to the collective unconscious. On Time’s Arrow the group add new richness, distant shimmers and a shoegaze-adjacent glow with Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo’s trademark understated voices now inhabiting a space somewhere between cloudscape and dream.
Announcing their debut album Leisure in 1991, Blur continued to revolutionise the sound of English popular music with second release Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993). Five successive UK #1 albums followed - with Parklife (1994) and The Great Escape (1995) helping to propel the band to mass popularity in the UK and beyond. The eponymous Blur was released in 1997 and seventh album Think Tank (2003). In 2015 the band returned with The Magic Whip It was the band's first studio album in 12 years.The album received acclaim from music critics. It debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, marking Blur's sixth UK number-one album. It has been certified Gold.
In recent years, his film and TV composing work has included soundtracks for Netflix sci-fi series The One and BBC One’s technological crime thriller The Capture.
Bryan Adams has re-recorded a selection of his biggest hits and deep cuts, now featured on vinyl! The 2LP package features 14 tracks including classic hits like “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You,” “Summer of ‘69” and “Heaven.” Side D features an etching.
Deluxe Hardcover Casebook CD with 32-page Booklet and 5 Photo Cards
After stepping into the spotlight thanks to her own cover versions of blues & rock classics on YouTube (500K subscribers - 105 million views), Laura Cox managed to become the guitarist & singer with the most views in the French rock scene thanks to her amazing first albums Hard Blues Shot (2017) & Burning Bright (2019).
After outstanding performances at renowned European festivals (Hellfest, Pol'and’Rock, Rock Palast...), not only the honor of interviewing the legendary SCORPIONS for Arte followed, but also an own documentary for one of the biggest German TV stations, WDR.
In 2022, she is the rising star of rock in Europe with her new album 'Head Above Water'.
With 11 sparkling new tracks recorded at the legendary ICP studio in Brussels by Erwin Autrique and mastered by multiple GRAMMY award-winning Ted Jensen, 'Head Above Water' breaks all boundaries and proves Laura Cox's undeniable talent.
Fan favorite dark dance outfit Boy Harsher have contributed a sumptuously eerie track for the David Gordon Green directed finale to the iconic Halloween franchise. Sacred Bones and Nude Club (Boy Harsher’s imprint) are joining forces and releasing a proper 12” maxi single containing four versions of the track “Burn it Down,” to be released in tandem with the original score provided by John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter, and Daniel Davies.
Boy Harsher said of the experience: “During an extremely brief period of rest between tours, we got this call from the music supervisor of Halloween. The director, David Gordon Green, had listened to our music and wanted to use something for the final installment in the trilogy - Halloween Ends. We flew to New York the next day to meet the team and discuss the possibilities. It was totally surreal. Obviously we’re huge fans of Carpenter and the franchise is a fav, but to work with Gordon Green was also so special, his early films (George Washington, Undertow, Snow Angels) were heavy influences on our work. The real kicker is that Halloween Ends was shot in Savannah, GA - the birthplace of Boy Harsher and where we met. Unbelievable. It all felt too synchronous, and we knew we had to make something work although we were about to leave for a multi-month tour that week. We flew home to Massachusetts, dug through old demos, and found Burn It Down. In the end it was the perfect energy for the bittersweet love affair between Allyson and Corey, so during a couple days off - we cleaned it up and made it come alive."
Sampa the Great
As Above, So Below [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Seaglass Blue LP]
Vinyl: $25.98 Buy
Having started her professional career outside of her home of Zambia, Sampa The Great returned at the beginning of the pandemic to Africa. As Above, So Below is the result of this return to her roots, embracing the sounds and themes of her origins. Sampa has reconnected with a different side of herself, one closer to the younger artistry that was nourished growing up. Now, in an age of authenticity, meet a 360 Sampa, a higher version of herself. No mask on, or role to play.
Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein
Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1 [Max's Blue World 2LP]
Scored by Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein of S U R V I V E!
Stranger Things is the breakout Netflix original series set in 1983 Indiana where a young boy vanishes into thin air. As friends, family and local police search for answers, they are drawn into an extraordinary mystery involving top-secret government experiments, terrifying supernatural forces and one very strange little girl. A love letter to the '80s supernatural classics that captivated a generation, Stranger Things stars Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Matthew Modine, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton.
- Stranger Things Season Four is split over two volumes!
- LPs contain 80 tracks, about three hours of music, on both Volumes 1 & 2!
- Stranger Things has won seven Emmy Awards, and has been nominated for 216 various awards, with 77 wins.
- Stranger Things 4 is Netflix's most-viewed English-language series of all time.
Features
- Double Vinyl LP
- Transparent 'Max's Blue World' Vinyl
- Gatefold Jacket
- Printed Inner Sleeves
STRANGER THINGS SEASON 4 VOLUME 1 - VINYL LP
Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein
Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2 [Vecna's Red World 2LP]
Vinyl: $34.98 Buy
The Murder Capital’s second studio album Gigi’s Recovery, produced by John Congleton, will be released on January 20, 2023 via Human Season Records. The black LP will be housed in a printed inner sleeve in a single-pocket jacket. Painting by Peter Doyle and designed by Aidan Cochrane.
What does John Cale have that the rest of us don’t—some gene that engenders infinite restlessness, a rapacious mind that is never satisfied? For nearly 60 years, or at least since he was a young Welshman who moved to New York and joined The Velvet Underground, Cale has been reinventing his music with dazzling and inspiring regularity. Once again, here is Cale, reimagining how his music is made, sounds, and even works. His engrossing 12-track MERCY—his first full album of new tunes in a decade—moves through true dark-night-of-the-soul electronic blues toward vulnerable love songs and hopeful considerations for the future with the help of some of music’s most curious young minds.
One amp. One mic. One person. Countless hooks. That’s the Dazy formula. Since first releasing the single "Bright Lights b/w Accelerate" in August 2020, Dazy mastermind James Goodson has been writing, recording, and releasing new music like a man on the hunt to find the best pop hook, and he won’t stop until he’s put all of them into his songs. Showcasing a unique set of influences, Dazy’s sound marries thumping drum machine beats, blasts of feeding back guitar, and sugar-sweet hooks into something that sounds like Godflesh covering Oasis—or maybe the other way around. With lean songwriting that recalls Teenage Fanclub but a home-recorded production style better suited for Big Black, Goodson builds a constant churn of abrasive, consuming noise and then makes it catchier than anyone else would ever dare to.
Dazy released two EPs, Revolving Door and The Crowded Mind, in 2021, the latter of which landed on Stereogum’s ‘25 Great EPs From 2021’ list.’ Ever-prolific, all of those songs and more appeared on Dazy’s August 2021 collection, MAXIMUMBLASTSUPERLOUD: The First 24 Songs (Convulse Records), which was also included on multiple year-end lists such as Paste’s ‘50 Best Albums of 2021’ and ‘40 Best Rock Albums of 2021,’ and The Alternative’s ‘50 Top Records of 2021’—in addition to garnering praise from Stereogum (“...sticky, fuzzy, overwhelmingly catchy power-pop, and it’s got hooks for days”), Bandcamp Daily (‘New & Nota-ble’), and MAXIMUMROCKNROLL (“Absolutely ridiculous ‘90s college rock hook-laden pop”), among others.
Disclaimer, Seether’s debut breakthrough album features the singles “Gasoline,” “Fine Again” and “Driven Under”. To celebrate it’s 20th Anniversary, the album has been completely remastered and expanded. This new Deluxe Vinyl will span 3 12” LP’s and feature a host of bonus content including an entire live show from the era as well as a rare B-side cover of Nirvana’s “Something In The Way.” The package will also include exclusive liner notes from acclaimed rock journalist Katherine Turman.
Jerry Lee Lewis
Live At The Star Club Hamburg [RSD Essential Indie Colorway White LP]
Vinyl: $34.99 Buy
Praised as one of the greatest records of all time, this newly remastered, 180-gram edition includes bonus material and a gatefold jacket.
A remastered classic from the quintessential American girl group of the 1960s. Features the original European cover artwork.
Don Covay & The Jefferson Lemon Blues Band
Different Strokes For Different Folks [RSD Essential Red LP]
Vinyl: $27.99 Buy
Masters Of Reality
Masters Of Reality [RSD Essential Indie Colorway Translucent Blue LP]
Vinyl: $27.99 Buy
One can't speak of California's famed desert rock movement without mentioning the visionary producer/musician Chris Goss. The so-called Godfather of the Joshua Tree-centered scene, Goss has produced famed and acclaimed albums by groups like Queens Of The Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Kyuss, Screaming Trees, and numerous others. Before he was known as a renowned producer though, he was the singer/guitarist and only consistent member of one of the most influential-yet-forgotten hard rock groups of all time: Masters of Reality. Masters Of Reality (Whose name was appropriately taken from a Black Sabbath song) had the distinction of being the only group signed to two different hip-hop labels of historical note: Def Jam and Delicious Vinyl. Originally label mates with Public Enemy and Slayer, Masters Of Reality's self-titled debut album was released by Def American in 1988. Two years later, Delicious Vinyl founders Matt Dike and Mike Ross, huge Masters fans, bought the band's contract from Rick Rubin and re-released the album with new cover artwork to renewed acclaim and commercial success. So many years later, Masters Of Reality's debut still feels like a hard-hitting breath of fresh air in a modern landscape of over-produced rock music
Nathaniel Merriweather Presents...Lovage
Music To Make Love To Your Old Lady By [RSD Essential Indie Colorway Turquoise 2LP] [Repress]
Vinyl: $33.98 Buy
“Lovage” is defined as “an herb that is said to be a benefit for relieving abdominal pains due to gastrointestinal gas…also touted to reduce flatulence when consumed as a tea.” But when placed in the able hands of sonic mastermind Dan “The Automator” Nakamura, recording under the guise of musical lothario Nathaniel Merriweather, the result is a concept album of “music to make love to your old lady by.” With the help of collaborators such as Mike Patton (vocals), Jennifer Charles (vocals) and Kid Koala (turntables), Merriweather serves as your personal guide to the sensual side of life, painting a satirical, darkly funny portrait of love and sex with left-field hip-hop and instrumentals as only he can do.
Originally released in 2009, this "25 Years of Twiztid" version of W.I.C.K.E.D. is the 2nd in a series of 5 albums to be re-released in celebration of Twiztid's 25 years as a band. Limited Edition 2 LP pressed on black and red vinyl in a gatefold jacket.
Two decades into delivering social commentary via their blistering brand of punk rock, Rise Against's most recent album Nowhere Generation may in fact be their most poignant, as it sums up the struggles, injustices, and collective action of a whole generation. Their most recent single Last Man Standing is smooth in its most sensitive moments and roaring like a tempest at its peak. Brimming with punk rock spirit, it begs that we answer who and what is left if we continue on the current path.
The B-52's
Whammy!: 40th Anniversary [SYEOR 23 Exclusive Green/Black Splatter LP]
40th Anniversary Edition of the acclaimed third B-52's album in Green/Black splatter vinyl. Includes "Legal Tender" and "Whammy Kiss."
"Indie Exclusive * Released in 1973, this record was the first Al Wilson LP for the Rocky Road label. The hit title track ‘Show and Tell’ shot to the top of the US pop charts, and also reached top ten in the R&B charts. Due to some poor business decisions by his label, Wilson never truly got the credit he deserved as a contending hitmaker, but Hidle Brown Barnum’s arrangements here come packed with gritty horns, lustrous strings and sultry soul vocals. These 11 sides are certainly worth collecting for any true fan of mid-70s soul music. Pressed for the first time in five decades and reissued on heavyweight white virgin vinyl."
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Cloud Nothings' seminal album, Attack On Memory, the band has announced a very special limited edition vinyl pressing. It’s housed in a foil jacket with all new colorized artwork, is pressed on Sky Blue vinyl, and includes two bonus flexi 7"s with two never-before-released tracks, "You Will Turn" and "Jambalaya" from the original sessions at Steve Albini's Electrical Audio. In 2009, Cleveland’s Dylan Baldi began writing and recording lo-fi power-pop songs in his parents’ basement, dubbing the project Cloud Nothings. His music quickly started making the Internet rounds, and fans and critics alike took note of his pithy songcraft, infectiously catchy melodies, and youthful enthusiasm. After the release of 2011's Cloud Nothings, Baldi toured widely and put a great deal of focus on his live show, a detail that heavily shapes the music of his follow-up album, Attack On Memory. After playing the same sets nightly for months on end, Baldi saw the rigidity of his early work, and he wanted to create arrangements that would allow for more improvisation and variability when played on the road. To accomplish this desired malleability, the entire band decamped to Chicago--where the album was recorded with Steve Albini. The songs move along fluidly, and Baldi sounds assured as he brings his vocals up in the mix, allowing himself to hold out long notes and put some grain into his voice. For all of early Cloud Nothings' fun and fervor, Baldi admits that it never sounded like most of the music he listens to. With Attack On Memory, he wanted to remedy this anomaly, and in setting out to do so, Baldi and co. created an album that showed vast growth for a very young band.
David Byrne is a modern renaissance man - and that’s not just a cliché. From the heady days as co-founder of the celebrated art new-wave group Talking Heads (1976-88) through his own constantly evolving and innovative solo music career, he has pursued his muse on many different artistic fronts. He’s been the driving force behind a body of work that has been both intellectually daring and commercially successful...and he shows no signs of slowing down decades later. This show, captured on November 28, 2001, came on the heels of his hit single, “Like Humans Do” and the release of the album Look Into The Eyeball, which was another typically eclectic musical stew reflecting a variety of styles and influences, from Philly soul to a D.C. Go-Go inspired groove and his first-ever Spanish composition, “Desconocido Soy.” Critics at the time called it his best work in years, and his performance on the Austin City Limits stage shows why. Joined by Austin’s own eclectic tango ensemble Tosca, Byrne takes us down many different musical roads in his ACL debut. Of course, besides the brilliant songwriter and performer that he is, he’s also an accomplished performance artist, photographer, web journalist, film writer / director, composer of motion picture soundtracks, and founder of his own world music label, Luaka Bop Records. He also has a collection of Grammys, Oscars and Golden Globes on his mantel. His music may be complex and poetic, but he makes no bones about his ultimate intent: “I want to move people to dance and cry at the same time. - Terry Lickona (Producer Austin City Limits)
For the past couple of years Ghost Woman has been Evan Uschenko's outlet for his interest in songwriting and recording, which began after years spent playing as a sideman in various Canadian indie ensembles, most notably in Michael Rault’s band, a group that displays a similar affinity for perfectly dialed, partially yesteryear-looking guitar pop. Following 2022's self-titled debut which was released to great critical acclaim, the new album – Anne, If – presents a slightly more expansive vision of what Ghost Woman can offer. Indie Exclusive Recycled Random Color LP.
John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter & Daniel Davies
Halloween Ends (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Pumpkin Orange LP]
Vinyl: $25.98 Buy
After 45 years, the most acclaimed, revered horror franchise in film history reaches its epic, terrifying conclusion as Laurie Strode faces off for the last time against the embodiment of evil, Michael Myers, in a final confrontation unlike any captured on-screen before, one where only one of them will survive.
As Halloween Ends marks the last chapter of the David Gordon Green trilogy, so it ushers the essential return of original director and composer John Carpenter to score the iconically hair-raising soundtrack alongside Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies.
Recorded in its entirety at Carpenter’s home studio and Davies’ studio, the unmistakable mix of software synths, vintage analogue equipment, and live instrumentation once again provides the signature sound of Halloween, one of the most distinctive aspects of the movie franchise to date.
The soundtrack was tracked scene by scene but the album itself plays like a standalone piece of music. The general atmosphere is one of dread yet the record includes some groove laden moments reminiscent of Escape From New York or some of Carpenter’s other more dance-able scores. Exquisite and delicate ambient pieces weave their way between some of the score’s more arresting moments and yet maintain a subtle pop sensibility. The overall achievement showcases three master musicians, one of whom invented the entire horror-synth genre, crafting an evocative, playful and deeply listenable score that honors a legacy and expands on the decades of work that have been leading to this triumphant climax.
Gilles Peterson re-imagines Lionel Loueke’s incredible and acclaimed album HH, released in 2020, featuring the music of his long-term mentor, the legendary Herbie Hancock, for release in 2022.
Gilles Peterson and Lionel Loueke have long term respect for each other's music and when an opportunity to collaborate together came about, both jumped at the chance. The result is a brilliantly chaotic clash of worldwide club rhythms and guitar loops.
The connection is the master Herbie Hancock - a massive influence on the London based DJ and the Beninese guitarist. Performing the music of his mentor HH, released on Edition Records in Sept 2020, was a pivotal album in Loueke's already fascinating journey from humble roots to illustrious career.
Reimagined, refocused and reinvented by Gilles and co-producer Alex Patchwork (Ninja Tune) with parts re-recorded by Lionel, this is a kaleidoscopic view of HH which realises the full range of colours inherent within it.
For Maeson, the making of ‘Never Had To Leave’ fulfills the restless creativity that’s relentlessly fueled his musical output. As he reveals, the process of creating Never Had To Leave reaffirmed the need to work at his own pace and follow his instincts without compromise. Never Had To Leave takes on a stunning tenderness as Maeson opens up about the infinite complexities and nuances of love. “This record taught me to take as long as I need to make the album I want, instead of pushing out something because of outside pressure,” he says. “I’ve never been someone to try and force the inspiration; I think you’ve got to go out and experience life to find something to write about. So for the most part, I just wait for the song to start writing itself, and hold onto the hope that it’ll keep happening that way for the rest of my life.”
My Kid Brother
Happy.Mad.Weird.Sad [Indie Exclusive limited Edition Opaque Serenity LP]
Vinyl: $22.98 Buy
After much enthusiasm that helped foster the band’s self-titled 2020 EP, My Kid Brother are branching out themselves. MAD HAPPY WEIRD SAD, recorded with producer Eric Palmquist (Thrice, Bad Suns, Mutemath), builds on their EP’s polished, hooky rock with heavier riffs ("Roots") and thicker grooves ("High Society"), colorful and quirky arrangements, lyrics that span stalker tales to unfiltered love songs, and choruses that punch with a newfound intensity ("Shoulders").