Indie Exclusive Releases

The fictional band from the NBC series Parks & Recreation is finally getting their due with a new album set to arrive on Aug. 27. And to mark the 10th anniversary of their Pawnee reunion performance where they debuted "5,000 Candles in the Wind" after the death of town mascot Lil' Sebastian, a new video and digital release for the song has arrived.

Led by Andy Dwyer, who previously fronted A.D and the D Bags, The Andy Andy Andies, Andy Dwyer Experience, Angelsnack, Crackfinger, Death of a Scam Artist, Department of Homeland Obscurity, Everything Rhymes with Orange, Fiveskin, Flames for Flames, Fleetwood Mac Sexpants, Fourskin, God Hates Figs, Handrail Suicide, Jet Black Pope, Just The Tip, Malice in Chains, Muscle Confusion, Ninjadick, Nothing Rhymes with Blorange, Nothing Rhymes with Orange, Penis Pendulum, Possum Pendulum, Punch Face Champions, Puppy Pendulum, Radwagon, Razordick, Scrotation Marks, Tackleshaft, Teddy Bear Suicide, Threeskin, Two Doors Down and Scarecrow Boat, the group is finally issuing their debut album.

The buzz from Mouse Rat’s performances at Pawnee’s Snakehole Lounge led to Dualtone’s partnership with Entertainment 720 co-founder and Snakehole Lounge part owner Tom Haverford. “Any creative business coming out of Pawnee is tied to Haverford” said Dualtone President Paul Roper, “From Rent-a-Swag to Tommy Fresh cologne and Tom’s Bistro, not to mention his business ideas not yet formed like the scented phone, talking tissues, contact lenses that display text messages and the glitter-infused laundry detergent Sparkle Suds, partnering with Entertainment 720’s hype machine was essential. The man is an idea factory.”

Roper continues, “This is about the team as much as it is the music. Andy’s wife and manager April Ludgate Dwyer is a marketing genius. Selling CDs at the Parks and Recreation shoeshine stand for $18 each, $40 for the set?? I don’t know anyone else who could pull that off.”

Mouse Rat's The Awesome Album will feature guest turns by Duke Silver and Land Ho!. The album will be available via Dualtone in partnership with Entertainment 20.

Single LP on orange vinyl in same jacket as standard LP w/ plain-sleeve CD of bonus tracks & 24” x 24” folded poster insert. Full album download included. Ltd edition. Indie Only.

From Mac McCaughan of Superchunk: To write the songs for Here's to Shutting Up, we gathered in Jim's garage (he lived way out in the woods) a couple times a week for what seemed like months. We started from actual scratch with no demos or concepts, just playing instrumental music with our usual gear plus a Casio. We recorded the album in the Cabbagetown neighborhood of Atlanta at Zero Return, the studio built by Brian and Rob (aka Birdstuff and Coco the Electronic Monkey Wizard) of Man or Astro-man? Brian Paulson came with us to produce it.Here's to Shutting Up was meant to be released on September 18, 2001. On September 11, the world changed. Our release date moved a couple weeks, but our tour dates remained and we flew to Japan in October. It was a WILD time to be traveling the world. Receptions ranged from "thank you for giving us something else to think about" to "why are you here?" We flew home from Japan and left for the UK the day the US started bombing Afghanistan. This was the climate, and the climate was not great for playing rock music.

“Devolution Series #2 - Galactic Quarantine” was recorded between July and September 2020 in various places around the world. Originally streamed on September 5th, 2020 on StageIt.com as a replacement show for the COVID affected “Empath Vol 2 European Tour” and various cancelled Summer festivals. The show features Devin on vocals and guitars, Samus Paulicelli III on drums, Wes Hauch on guitars and Diego Tejeida on keys.

On Fast Idol, LA-based Black Marble reaches back through time to connect with the forgotten bedroom kids of the analogue era, the halcyon days of icy hooks and warbly synths. Harmonies are piped in across the expanse of space, and lyrics capture conversations that seem to come from another room, repeat an accusation overheard, or speak as if in sleep of interpersonal struggles distilled down to one subconscious phrase. At the same time, percussive elements feel forward and cut through the mix with toms counting off the measures like a lost tribe broadcasting through the bass and tops of a basement club soundsystem. 

Melodies roll with the fizz and charm of Jacno and phrases repeated are electric torchlight ballads sung after hours in William Gibson’s San Francisco. ‘Somewhere’ opens in sombre herald, before dropping into a fast freeway tempo; the glassy synths and crisp beats cut through the anxious moods on ‘Bodies’ and ‘Try’ sits in a lineage with cult bands like Asylum Party. ‘The Garden’ is a journey through a post-apocalyptic cityscape, earthed by the pulse of a drum machine whereas ‘Ship To Shore’ could be a lost Oppenheimer Analysis B-side, and the album’s closer ‘Brighter and Bigger’ catches a sentiment like The Dadacomputer has learned to feel emotions. He captures the loneliness of Ray Bradbury’s atomic-era sci-fi and the apocalyptic but revolutionary spirit of Godard’s Sympathy for the Devil, as in ‘Preoccupation’, the beating heart of the album, which conjures ambivalent scenes of an empty world and the comfort to be found in a shared humanity.

Emerging from the early 2000s New York synth scene, Black Marble carried on the tradition of early synthwave pioneers like Martin Dupont and Modern Art who repurposed synths once reserved for expensive studios and stadium rock superstars. Seeking to channel this spirit, Black Marble recalls the gauzy tape wow and flutter of The Membranes and the warbling VCO of Futurisk, carrying on a sound that seeks to channel the future while imprinting residue of the past.

The Pretty Reckless’ fourth full-length album, 'Death By Rock And Roll,’ is proving to be the band’s most ambitious release yet. With earliest ideas for the album tracing back to 2017, Taylor Momsen and co had to write through the heartbreaking loss of Chris Cornell, who was one of frontwoman Taylor Momsen’s musical muses. Shortly after, producer and longtime collaborator Kato Khandwala passed in a motorcycle accident. Despite the setbacks, the group pushed through the tragedy to complete the record; as soon as the band released the titular first single, they were launched into the spotlight once again. “Death By Rock And Roll” became the band’s fifth #1 song at Active Rock radio, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished by a female-fronted band. The album also features the singles “And So It Went” (featuring Tom Morello), “Only Love Can Save Me Now (featuring Matt Cameron and Kim Thayil)” and “25.” 

The Record Company have outgrown the home recording of previous records and enlisted producer Dave Sardy (Fall Out Boy, A Perfect Circle, Modest Mouse) to work with them on their third studio album, Play Loud. The result is a sonic growth both in music and in songwriting, highlighting an ever-evolving band bringing rock back to the masses.

In December of 2020, The Wild Feathers hauled off to a pre-civil war built cabin in VanLeer, TN where the ideas and songs from Alvarado met for the very first time. In the past, the band typically liked to collect all the tunes they’ve written over the past year, brainstorm, conceptualize, and rehearse isolated in a cabin before heading into the studio. This time for their 4th studio album, they decided to bring the studio to the cabin. The guys spent a week jamming and creating while having the ability to capture the performances while they were fresh. Produced by the band, Alvarado is the truest representation of The Wild Feathers to date. No outside musicians, no outside opinions, just us playing our new songs in a room with the best mics they could find.

Back in September 2020, OSEES performed a blistering set out in the desert at Pappy & Harriet’s California, which aired on the LEVITATION Sessions streaming series.  Pressed on glorious 12" swirl colored vinyl, each record includes a bonus encore 7” with the final track from the show, "Block Of Ice" pressed on Milky-Clear vinyl.

"During this particularly hard year (2020), it was a pleasure to work with our good friends over at Levitation and Pappy and Harriet's to reach out to some of our fans, if only for a fleeting hour. This is the proper plastic that came from that evening. We are trying to keep some of our favorite haunts, dives, glorious old venues and bars open through this triail, as it's obvious the lizards that make up the current administration have no real interest in extending any realistic help to struggling businesses. Take care, be well and keep your eyes on the horizon." - John Dwyer

OSEES return for another blistering LEVITATION Session, this time from the depths of a cavernous Los Angeles factory. The performance features a fresh batch of tracks spanning over a decade of the band's expansive discography with a handful of never-before-played-live tunes & some new surprises and is presented in its entirety here, pressed on a glorious Double 12" vinyl LP!

“OSEES pine for our fans and friends out there in the world, so we have come together for another stream with the mighty Levitation. I personally got stoned and stuck my face into the muck of our past catalog to bob for some dusty tumescent gems. There will be some oldies, and some moldies and some surprises along the way. I’m quite happy with how this one turned out. Shot in an insane old factory warehouse in Los Angeles (it looks like a fight scene set from Point Blank or the John Wick trilogy :) If you had told me a year ago we'd be doing these streams now i would have thought you were crazy, but, egg on my face, and here we are. I’m so glad to have this little thing to share a moment with y’all until we can meet face to face on the field of battle again. Mastered by the Guru JJ Golden, it will hopefully turn some frowns inside out and upside down....grossssss” - John Dwyer

The 11 track studio album titled 'Time Flies' will be released by Mid Century Records under exclusive license to BMG. 

Time Flies, is an extraordinary collection that fuses intimate subject matter and upbeat guitar-led rock with irresistibly catchy electronic elements. In the half decade since her acclaimed 2016 album Wild Things, Pip has gone through a personal transformation. 

Pip has openly struggled with mental health, anxiety and depression for a long time and, after dealing with severe postnatal depression + a serious skin cancer condition which has thankfully seen a full recovery, was able to successfully procure the right balance of therapy & medication which is so individually specific. When she embarked on writing songs for this new record in 2019, there was a sense of freedom in the work. “I was feeling pretty grateful to be alive and making music, so I felt like I didn’t ‘care’ anymore - not in a bad way, I just stopped overthinking it.”

Time Flies was produced with a host of incredible collaborators including, LA songwriter and producer Tommy English (K.Flay, Carly Rae Jepsen, Kacey Musgraves, Adam Lambert, Broods etc), Auckland based Josh Fountain (Leisure, Benee),  Jeremy Toy (Leonard Charles, She’s So Rad) , Sydney's Chris Stracey (Bag Raiders, Paloma Faith, Diplo.) and  Jono Sloan (Empire Of The Sun, PNAU) 

Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin began their musical journey together over 10 years ago in a Miami after-school music program. Connecting through their shared music tastes, the two formed a band that endured until the two parted ways for college. Not long afterward, Tenenbaum and Lewin reconnected and formed what we now know as the indie-pop duo Magdalena Bay.

The duo released their EP truly moments before the pandemic pervaded through North America, bringing their tour to an abrupt end. Resiliency illustrated at its peak, Magdalena Bay dipped their heads into a focused timeline, coming out of the pandemic with their debut album, Mercurial World. Magdalena Bay peruses the sound of experimental pop, crafting a synthy world that shatters genres and bends time to the pair’s will, elevating their sound to match their philosophical reflections. Lewin shared, “We spend all of our time together, and in some ways Mercurial World is about that particular sense of madness in containment. We live together and make art together; this immerses you in our creative, insular universe.”

Billy Bragg will be releasing a pandemic blues LP on 10/8 via Cooking Vinyl. This is his 10th studio album. The Million Things That Never Happened was produced by Romeo Stodart and Dave Izumi at Echo Zoo studio in Eastbourne, England. Bragg wrote the entire album solo, aside from “Ten Mysterious Photos That Can’t Be Explained,” which he co-wrote with his son Jack Valero.

To emerge from a global pandemic with a renewed sense of situational awareness, hard won insight, and a new album is the kind of move we’ve come to expect from THRICE over the last twenty years. With Horizons/East, Dustin Kensrue and his bandmates address, with candor and courage, the fragile and awkward arrangements that pass for civilization, while inviting us to dwell more knowingly within our own lives. Without surrendering any of the energy and hard edge of their previous albums, they’ve given us a profoundly meditative work which serves as a musical summons to everyday attentiveness.

Since forming THRICE with guitarist Teppei Teranishi, bassist Eddie Breckenridge, and drummer Riley Breckenridge in 1998, Kensrue has never been one to back down from a mental fight. This mood is set by the opening synth-driven number “Color of the Sky,” which sounds well-suited to accompany the closing credits of the Stranger Things season finale. Think Flying Lotus giving way to Elbow and setting the listener down in a new dimension. A self-recorded effort, Horizons/East conveys a palpable sense of danger, determination, and possibility.

Natalie Hemby will be performing at the Newport Folk Festival on July 24. She won a GRAMMY for Country Song of the Year for “Crowded Table,” the song she wrote with Lori McKenna and performed as a member of The Highwomen. 180-gram Clear Smoke LP. Indie Exclusive.

Colors II - Between the Buried and Me - - Fourteen years after releasing their progressive metalcore masterpiece, Colors, Between the Buried and Me have returned with it's epic sequel, Colors II.

Why Do Birds Sing? is the 5th studio album from the textbook American cult band, Violent Femmes. It was their last studio album with original drummer, Victor DeLorenzo. Featuring the fan favorite “American Music,” which reached #2 on Billboard’s Modern Rock Chart, as well as a cover of Culture Club’s “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me.” “The momentum of the song [“American Music”] and the album that spawned it provided a springboard for the band to bona fide cult status.” – Rolling Stone.

In Pond’s universe nothing stays still for long. Although no one who heard 2019’s “Tasmania” could possibly describe its pulsating psych - pop as straight, Pond wanted to try a more spontaneous way of working for their next record.

Taking a leaf out of krautrock outliers Can’s book, at the start of 2020, Pond embarked on a series of totally off-the-cuff jam sessions from which songs and ideas could be pulled out.

Given the pace at which ideas whizz past your head, it makes for a dizzying listen. Opener Song For Agnes explodes out the speakers like an intergalactic rock opera, running a synapse-tingling gauntlet through bubbling synth pop, 80s hair metal and blissed out saxophone before you know what’s hit you.

It’s an apposite curtain-raiser for an album that can encompass pounding techno (Human Touch), elastic hipped robo-funk (America’s Cup), tripped out motorik (Czech Locomotive) and acres more besides without even topping for breath. Take lead single Pink Lunettes, which opens up thumping like ESG eight hours into a session at Berghain before climbing aboard a gargantuan synthship and disappearing off over the horizon.

Lyrically, too, 9 takes Pond into uncharted territory. Allbrook’s songs here take a more impressionistic tack than before, resulting in both the hilarious one-liners within Human Touch’s gonzoid thrash (sample lyric: “she was jacking a car but she seemed quite nice so I let her use the toilet in my place”) and the social and environmental concerns of blissed out closer Toast, which addressed both last year’s bush fires and the appalling wealth divide in Allbrook’s childhood home in Western Australia.

Above all though, what you get from “9” is a sense of creative abandon and just plain fun. If it was only a fraction as enjoyable to make as it is to listen to then they must have been having a hoot.

To say In Heaven is about conquering grief would be oversimplifying everything Tim Showalter has achieved on the eighth studio album from Strand of Oaks. A stunning, hopeful reflection on love, loss, and enlightenment, In Heaven is a triumph in music making, and a preeminent addition to the Strand of Oaks discography.

In late 2018, Showalter’s wife, Sue, lost her mother in a car accident. Soon after, Stan, the cat they both adored, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Showalter quit drinking so he could take better care of his wife and help rebuild the life they shared. And within months, they decided to pack up and move across the country from Philadelphia to Austin, Texas. It was an irrational decision made at the height of a terrible time, but it’s one that shaped so much of what In Heaven is about.

In Heaven was recorded in October 2020 with Kevin Ratterman at Invisible Creature in Los Angeles. Carl Broemel (My Morning Jacket) is featured on guitar throughout the record, while James Iha (The Smashing Pumpkins) contributed vocals and guitar for “Easter.” Bo Koster (MMJ, Roger Waters) provided keyboards, Cedric LeMoyne (Alanis Morrissette, Remy Zero) bass, Scott Moore violin, and Ratterman monstrous drums. Showalter also played a lot of synth on this record, which he hasn’t done since 2014’s HEAL. With clean sounds, Jeff Lynne-esque acoustics, and sophisticated songwriting, he approached In Heaven in a more poised and pop-leaning way than his past releases.

“I wanted to strive for something greater than what I thought I was capable of.”

The result is something extraordinary, as Showalter has crafted a poignant narrative that transcends his personal experiences and achieves a universality rooted not only in loss but joy, celebration, and newfound strength. The gorgeous opener “Galacticana” finds him telling us “I don’t want to drag you down,” a reassurance that his intentions lie in uplifting. But there’s a duality present throughout In Heaven that is palpable, as felt on “Easter,” an exuberant pop anthem featuring jaunty guitar and ethereal vocals courtesy of Iha, that both celebrates Showalter’s new life and references his efforts to “stop the boat from sinking.” It’s a powerful sentiment echoed in slow burner “Hurry,” which showcases some exceptional shredding by Broemel, and beyond, as Showalter explores mortality and a heightened sense of his own existence, intensified by a world where he no longer uses alcohol to cope.

Pairing smart, imaginative lyrics and striking arrangements, tracks like “Carbon” and its magnificent violin stand out, as does “Sister Saturn” with its funky, sinuous groove, and the sublime “Horses at Night,” which features one of Showalter’s most exquisite melodies to date. There’s also a discernible current running through In Heaven of homage to some notable losses in music—John Prine, Jeff Buckley, and Jimi Hendrix all play a part—for In Heaven is about moving beyond sadness or anger to a state of gratitude that we ever had these people to begin with. And while every song provides some clue to Showalter’s personal heaven, the jubilant “Jimi and Stan” says it all, wherein Hendrix and his beloved cat Stan are hanging out, going to shows, and looking at stars together.

And as our musical odyssey ends in the warm embrace of “Under Heaven,” the weight of everything Showalter has manifested—the beauty, and the sadness, and the immensity of it all—hits with tremendous impact. But any sense of hopelessness or melancholy yields to a different feeling entirely, just as he intended. Perhaps we’re feeling stronger, more prepared for something. Or maybe it’s just a reminder: call your parents, text your friends, hug your pets. Listen to your favorite records. And think about what it means to be alive. 

Austin indie folk duo make their Grand Jury debut with True Love. Recorded over winter 2020 in LA with Andrew Sarlo (Big Thief, Bon Iver, etc.). This album is about growth and nostalgia. Both band members got married. One had a kid. They’ve found themselves individually away from the band, but settling into their most creatively fertile moment as a duo. Artwork by Bradley Pinkerton (Harry Styles, The Weeknd, etc.).

John Prine's 2005 album, Fair & Square, available on LP from Oh Boy Records. Winner of the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.

Distant Populations, just the fourth full-length album of Quicksand’s career, comes as a comparatively swift follow-up to Interiors--which itself came a full 22 years after its predecessor, 1995’s Manic Compression. Critically lauded and deemed very much worth the wait, Interiors succeeded in reestablishing the band as the powerful and contemporary entity they had always been.

Distant Populations has a punchier, more up-tempo sound than its predecessor; its 11 songs are concise, carved sonic jewels boasting not a single wasted note; and its raw power, its gripping lyricism, leaps out from the very first listening. It is a striking step up for the band.

The songwriting itself had been no minor process: Following the release of Interiors, the band successfully toured around the world and in the process fully re-established their chemistry together. Looking forward to making the next album, the three of them—frontman/ guitarist Walter Schreifels, bassist Sergio Vega, and drummer Alan Cage—had methodically recorded various soundchecks, improvisations, and show rehearsals, and compiled the results. “Eventually, when it came time to make a record,” Schreifels says, “we would just edit down to the ones that were most exciting to us all, and then refocus on them and see if we could recapture the magic from it.” 

There may be a final irony in the title of Distant Populations. Practically speaking, that’s precisely whom Quicksandrecorded it for: Listeners very far away. Not a single one of these songs has ever been played live onstage. The band has dates on hold for the fall, notes Schreifels, and fingers are crossed Quicksandwill be out there performing very soon. They will likely be the most memorable shows of the band’s career. 

Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie has teamed up with solo artist and Savages vocalist Jehnny Beth to release the collaborative album Utopian Ashes, due July 2, 2021 via Third Man Records. The album is heralded by lead single "Remember We Were Lovers" alongside an official video by Douglas Hart (The Horrors, Paul Weller). 

I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground & Nico, is a contemporary tribute to the Velvets debut, with each of the album’s songs performed by one of the band’s noteworthy artistic descendants. Featured artists include Kurt Vile & the Violators, Sharon Van Etten, Iggy Pop & Matt Sweeney, Michael Stipe, Matt Berninger of The National, Courtney Barnett, King Princess, Fontaines D.C. and more. Wide Spine Jacket. Indie Exclusive Yellow 2 LP.

With a list of credits from Kesha, Dolly Parton and Deer Tick, Miranda Lambert and Little Big Town, pedal steel savant Spencer Cullum is one of Nashville’s most in-demand session cats. That’s in addition to making up half of the space-country duo Steelism. Clearly he’s had little trouble fitting in since moving from his native London to Music City. Now, with a debut solo album that pays homage to the ’60s and ‘70s psych-pop, folk and proto prog heroes of his homeland, this Nashville sideman’s stepping out from the shadows into the spotlight. Along with a supporting cast of guitarist Sean Thompson and multi-instrumentalist Luke Reynolds, as well as singing and writing partners like Caitlin Rose, Andrew Combs and Erin Rae — he’s bringing a bit of Britain to TN.

Recorded in the San Fernando Valley just a stones throw away from the infamous Van Nuys Blvd. cruising scene, it’s no wonder from the debut long player from The Rugged Nuggets hits hard and demands to be turned up loud with the windows rolled down. Delivering west-coast cool at it’s finest. With swooning strings, breezy guitars and tough as nails drums, Odds & Ends epitomizes a mellow vibe, but is undeniably cool.

Mute are excited to announce the release of José González’s fourth studio album Local Valley, out September 17th on limited edition indie exclusive green vinyl, black vinyl, CD and digital formats.

Local Valley is a natural continuation of the styles that José has developed over the years both solo and with his band Junip. The album strikes a balance between stripped back arrangements—just Jose’s intimate vocal and exquisite nylon string guitar work—and tracks driven by groovy drum machine loops and other percussive elements.

With songs sung in English, Spanish and Swedish, Local Valley invites us to look beyond our tribal instincts and join together in a more harmonic state. The album explores our shared humanity and the scientific-based existential questions we face together on our quest to understand ourselves and our place in the cosmos.

José González has tallied over 1 billion streams, 150+ licensed TV, film, and video game uses, and has a major presence at radio stations around the globe. This year, he has been selected by National Geographic to be an Earth Day Ambassador alongside Willie Nelson, My Morning Jacket, Yo Yo Ma, and more.

The album cover and physical packaging of Local Valley showcases the beautiful hand drawn artwork of Swedish designer Hannele Fernström.

José plans to tour with Rufus Wainwright in the Fall of 2021.

The album cover you’re looking at might lead you to conclude Charley Crockett is on one hell of a roll. You wouldn’t be wrong. Ten records in six years is some kind of prolific. The latest, a double album, suggests the artist has some songs worth paying attention to. It’s clear that he’s invested as much time in the studio, recording storytelling songs, and making storytelling videos, as he has barnstorming around the United States and Europe playing live shows.

Not bad for a thirty-seven-year-old late bloomer.

Charley Crockett has been a fairly remarkable artist to follow. He’s got a sound. He’s got something to say. He has a look. And there’s a gauzy veil of mystery surrounding him suggesting he knows more than he’s letting on.

All those records in such a short amount of time have come with a “No Two Alike” guarantee, particularly the last three releases: the darkly prescient Welcome to Hard Times; the semi-autobiographical, hard-core country-roots The Valley; and 10 for Slim, his tribute of songs by the obscure and wholly authentic Texas honky-tonk maestro James Hand.

His voice is one-of-a-kind. His distinctive, plaintive vocals crack unapologetically with emotion, and he phrases his lines around the beat like a jazz singer, while he expounds upon personal relationships and the world beyond.

Now comes Charley’s tenth album in his six-year career. In the Crockett tradition, it is as ambitious and ground-breaking as each piece of recorded music he’s put out so far. And it’s not just an album. It’s a double album of Charley Crockett originals, each song going the distance to further define this singer-songwriter-performer-artist who came out of the proverbial nowhere.

Charley has endured the collapse of the recording industry, no money, petty crime, societal ennui, the Covid-19 pandemic, open heart surgery, one-night stands, long distance rides in a van, loud truck stops and diners serving stale lukewarm coffee to get to where he is now.

His reward – and yours – is this collection of Charley Crockett originals.

Sad, uplifting, hard, and sweet, complex and delicate all at once, his songs are like life its ownself, just like the songs’ creator: like nothing you’ve heard or seen before, a genuine Texas original.
JOE NICK PATOSKI 

Eternal Blue - Spiritbox - After being named among Exclaim!'s New Faves last year, Spiritbox have detailed their debut album. The Victoria, BC-based metal outfit will share Eternal Blue from Rise Records.

The 12-track Eternal Blue includes previously shared singles "Holy Roller," "Constance" and "Circle with Me." "Yellowjacket" boasts a feature from Architects' Sam Carter, while the latest to arrive from the LP, "Secret Garden," can be heard alongside a music video below.

Vocalist Courtney LaPlante said of the song: "I think this is the most scared I've been to put out a song... I want to continue to showcase the fluidity that is inherent in heavy music, and even though this is just one part of a full body of work that may not sound exactly like this song, it is a song that we love and are obsessed with. I celebrate variation."

LaPlante added of Eternal Blue, "I must say that although we never intended to wait so long to do this record, I think it did help the songs become stronger... We have had enough time to release the exact music we would like to put out into the world, with no need to compromise. Every single note and every single syllable is the music that we have always dreamed of making and we are very proud of it."

Get yo ass in the house, robot-- you cyber-spectre, you outhouse prime minis- ter, you hard-headed mirror ninja, snapping selfies, living in the pixelated seams between bursts the of flashing images, birthed in a pool of TV static and Tik Tok dust. BLACK ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE AIR is here, not to save but to drown you. Heads better learn how to swim cause listen, this record is beat soup, hearty yet still minimal, a sonic mirage of prophetic soul that drop kicks your “chill beats to study to” Youtube playlist and hyper-intellectual rap podcasts into a hadron collider; it’s only black matter on the other side-- 13 mesmerizing tracks about memory and imprinting and the future, all of them wafting through untouched space like the ghostly cinders of a world on fire, unbound and uncharted, vast and stretching across the universe.

Moor Mother is a holographic figment of an Afrotopian dream, all at once god- dess and warrior, mystic and cyborg, griot and future time traveller, etching noisy pieces of reverie into our consciousness for decades now. But check it: on BLACK ENCYCLOPEDIA she’s joined by a wide-range of friends, collaborators and co-conspirators on a trip through the murky cosmos, navigating the black universe with stardust as currency. In these times, they’ll say, as they click and mash their way through the same inter-webs that seek to strangle them, BLACK ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE AIR is just what we need: a post-everything, 12:01 on the doomsday clock, anti-trip hop type of situation. “We ain’t gotta fight no more,” they’ll say; the rest of us, we’ll put this record on and imagine again that it’s real.

Walkman showcases Bad Bad Hats'. Kerry (guitar/vo­cals), Chris (bass), and Con (drums) let their collective hair down on Walkman, bringing raucous and explosive riffs alongside witty lyrics. Though you might not notice from their indie rock exterior, Bad Bad Hats draws a heavy influence from classic pop songwriting that shines through in their hooky choruses and strong me­lodic sensibilities. Walkman is the group's fourth time working with producer Brett Bullion, including their previous two LPs, Psychic Reader and lightning Round, and the Wide Right EP. Bullion and the band use the studio as an instrument, resulting in their most polished work to date. 

Swan Song is the 5 th  studio album from Ohio based metalcore act The Plot In You. It is the follow up to the four piece’s 2018 Fearless Records debut Dispose and will be released on September 17.

On Slothrust’s latest album, bandleader Leah Wellbaum pushed herself to try and understand her own spirituality on a deeper level, putting a lens on the core wound of the human experience, the idea that we’re alone. With Parallel Timeline , Wellbaum explores the feeling of being trapped inside her own consciousness while simultaneously searching for a meaningful connection to the universe, and all the mysteries it contains.

Pokey LaFarge’s 7th studio solo album, In the Blossom of Their Shade, showcases the positivity of coming out of the darkness and into the light. When the 2020 global pandemic hit, LaFarge’s rigorous work ethic powered him through the potentially challenging creative period. As days became a couple months, songs blossomed from embryonic ideas into full-formed ones and he was ready to move on, which typified his mindset as a working artist. With this record LaFarge captures the thematic notion of being the perfect summer afternoon soundtrack...the type of music you want to listen to while having a cocktail with your significant other. It makes sense musically as well — LaFarge intentionally crafted songs that created space and have melodies that can glide throughout a composition that’s a far cry from the swing and blues-infused songs of his earlier work. LaFarge is an artist who refuses to rest on his laurels and compromise. He’s always motivated and ready to create. With In the Blossom of Their Shade the album is one of LaFarge’s strongest and most mature efforts to date.  

A Beautiful Life is the first new music from Heartless Bastards since 2015’s Restless Ones. The album was produced by Kevin Ratterman (Strand Of Oaks, Jim James, White Reaper). Album performers include Andrew Bird on “The River,” Greggory Clifford (White Denim) on drums, Jesse Chandler (Mercury Rev, Midlake) on keys, flute, clarinet; David Pulkingham (Patty Griffin) on guitar, Bo Koster (My Morning Jacket) on keys. The music is a melange of blues rock, rock and singer-songwriter which surround themes about self-love and awareness, mental health, the environment, and consumerism.

Clear Vinyl. Originally released in 1975, Force It is UFO's fourth studio album. Produced by Ten Years After's Leo Lyons, it was their first album to chart in the US and enabled the band to kick up a rockier gear. Containing many classic tracks still in their live set today, such as "Shoot Shoot" and "Let It Roll", this newly remastered 2LP gatefold deluxe version includes the Record Plant live set and bonus track "A Million Miles" which were previously unavailable on vinyl.This limited-edition version is pressed on clear vinyl.

On her new album Faster, Samantha Fish joins forces with superproducer Martin Kierszenbaum (Lady Gaga, Sting) and imbues even more intensity into her electrifying brand of blues/rock-and-roll. With Fish accompanied by legendary drummer Josh Freese (Guns N’ Roses, Nine Inch Nails, The Replacements), bassist Diego Navaira of The Last Bandoleros, and Hannah Brier on backing vocals, the result is a singular body of work both irresistibly galvanizing and emotionally raw.

"I've got plenty of energy, it's my currency" sings Amy Taylor on the opening track of Comfort To Me. After the release of Amyl and The Sniffers (2019), the band conquered the world one club gig and festival stage at a time. Their unrelenting, jaw dropping live show propelled them to must see status and prompted The Guardian to declare AATS “the single most exhilarating rock’n’roll show I’ve seen in years.”  Comfort To Me is somehow both heavier and more awesome than their debut and fully captures the chaotic energy of their live show.

Amyl And The Sniffers - "Amyl and The Sniffers" [Gold LP] Amyl and The Sniffers are a grimy pub rock band from Melbourne, Australia. The band take their cues from a diverse mix of hard rock, Aussie punk, and country. They set out to have as much fun as possible and scared up a whole lot of fans along the way. Limited Edition Gold LP pressing of their 2019 debut album from ATO Records. Indie Exclusive Limited Edition version Title: [Gold LP]

The Spaceman Reissue Program edition of Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space promises to give those recordings the fullest spectrum audio and physical treatment they’ve deserved since the original release. It will be the third in this series of 180g double albums with the lacquer cut from original sources by Alchemy Mastering, presented in a gatefold jacket adorned by reworked art by Mark Farrow, and available in both a standard black vinyl pressing and limited edition Neptune Blue vinyl, as well as CD.

Hayley Williams, lead singer of Paramore, recently celebrated the surprise release of her second solo project, FLOWERS for VASES / descansos. The gripping album was written and performed in its entirety by Hayley Williams, a career first for the music industry titan. Recorded at her home in Nashville, the 14-track album spans from stories of love to stories of loss. “In a world that often requires us to ignore our deepest needs, Hayley Williams does not provide a light at the end of the tunnel or a closed door, but a new body, a new tongue, and possibly a new frame of reference to survive and even thrive,” writes NPR. Named one of the best albums of the year so far by outlets such as Rolling Stone and SPIN.

At the top of 2020, after a year of traversing the globe in support of 2019’s Run Fast Sleep Naked, Nick Murphy began creating music that simply felt good. Though the singer had retired his billionstreaming Chet Faker project four years prior, the new songs he was working on in his New York City studio had an energy reminiscent of his earlier work. Reviving the project “wasn’t on my radar” at the time, Murphy admits, but the next thing he knew, he had a full album. The result is Hotel Surrender, a radiant 10-track LP full of swaggering bass lines and electrifying melodies that reintroduces Chet Faker to the world – and to Murphy himself. Like his debut LP, 2014’s Built on Glass, Murphy wrote and produced Hotel Surrender solely on his own, finishing most of the songs before COVID-19 hit in March 2020. He admits that before Hotel Surrender, he had never approached his process with such ease. This time, as the album title suggests, he surrendered to the music. “There was this, like, unconsciousness—not thinking, but just feeling, letting it come out and letting it steer itself,” Murphy says. “The great lesson for me was that I could write from a place of joy. I was also just being kind to myself. None of this music was hurting, it just felt good. It made me feel better, and it helped me be better.”

Swedish musician and producer DJ Seinfeld (Armand Jakobsson) rose to prominence in 2016 through the so-called 'lo-fi house' scene, inadvertently helping define its sound. His debut album 'Time Spent Away From U' (2017) received support from Pitchfork, Resident Advisor and Crack Magazine with Rolling Stone describing the album as 'one of the best proper dance-music albums of the year' whilst FACT called it 'a victory lap'. Contemporaries like Aphex Twin (who played his track 'Sakura' in recent live shows), Flying Lotus, Four Tet, Flume, Bonobo, Hot Chip, Benji B, Marcel Dettmann, ODESZA, PatrickTopping are all known fans and supporters of his music. Now having transcended early labels, his long-awaited new album 'Mirrors' is set to be released on Ninja Tune in September.

Over the course of her lush, expansive, defiantly sprawling new album, "Sometimes I Might Be Introvert", released on Age 101, the Ivor Novelloaward-winning, Mercury nominated Little Simzdelivers an undeniable modern classic, effortlessly condensing any number of disparate styles and genres into music which thrillingly broaches the gap between urgent modern treatise and hip hop. A bold, quantum leap forward from the critically beloved "Grey Area", this is hardly music aiming simply for the pop charts; rather, it is turbo charged with the kind of fury and potency, confusion and anxiety that make up the modern experience of being Black, British and female at this particular point in time. This is no mere philosophical exercise, however - the result is her most ambitious and soaring body of work to date, one which operates at the very heights of what rap can be

Ronnie Wood and the Ronnie Wood Band is back with the second installment of his live album trilogy, ‘Mr Luck - A Tribute to Jimmy Reed: Live at the Royal Albert Hall’, to be released 3 September 2021. The Ronnie Wood Band with special guests Mick Taylor, Bobby Womack, Mick Hucknall and Paul Weller. Live from the Royal Albert Hall on 1st November 2013. A ‘Tayle’ of Two Sidemen ‘When self-taught guitarist Eddie Taylor imparted his skills onto his friend Jimmy Reed, he surely couldn’t have imagined the effect this was to have on the Chicago blues scene. Backing up such luminaries as John Lee Hooker, he is best remembered for his work with his former student. Sweet coincidence, then, that in 1974 another Taylor, Mick, would make way for Ronnie Wood in the Rolling Stones, paving the way for these two friends and celebrated guitarists to work on projects ever since. The culmination of this to date is surely Taylor’s place in The Ronnie Wood Band at the Royal Albert Hall for 2013’s Bluesfest, where they played the now-legendary set that would come to give birth to this recording.’

Early James released his Dan Auerbach-produced debut album, Singing for My Supper, via Easy Eye Sound at the onset of the pandemic on March 13, 2020. A pair of bonus tracks – "Tumbleweed" and "Mama Can Be My Valentine" – were shelved after the full year of touring was cancelled. Those tracks are finally available on 7" vinyl and span hard-charging blues, wistful folk, & ages-old pop crooning, anchored by a voice that oscillates from gravel- gruff shout to a honey-smooth whisper. Indie Exclusive.

Layla Revisited (Live at LOCKN') captures Tedeschi Trucks Band at their incendiary best, together with Phish’s renowned guitarist/vocalist Trey Anastasio. Recorded August 24, 2019, the performance of the legendary album in its entirety was kept secret until the moment the band took stage. One listen and it’s clear that their surprise performance that night - which included close TTB collaborator Doyle Bramhall II on guitar - meant something special to the astonished fans who were lucky to experience it.

Halsey’s fourth studio album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power is a career-defining body of work. Produced By Trent Reznor And Atticus Ross, the album is a bold concept record that pushes creative boundaries. Halsey has surpassed 60 million RIAA-certified units across albums, singles and features. Worldwide, she has sold over 150 million adjusted singles. If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power follows Manic, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Current Albums chart.

Legendary British producer Kevin Martin is back with his first new full-length album under The Bug moniker in seven years. “Fire”, the third album to his urban triptych (“London Zoo” & “Angels & Devils”) will be released on Ninja Tune in August 2021.

Rage, confusion, despair, self-deception, and introspection—Madi Diaz cycles through the full spectrum of emotions on History Of A Feeling, her debut on ANTI-. It’s an album that undeniably marks Diaz’s status as a first-rate songwriter, a craft she’s spent years refining, and one wherein Diaz establishes herself as an artist capable of distilling profound feelings with ease.

Diaz pulls from a range of folk, country, and pop leanings—she is as much influ- enced by Patty Griffin and Lori McKenna as she is the sonics of PJ Harvey and di- rectness of Kathleen Hanna. On History Of A Feeling, the Nashville based songwriter comes to terms with the dissolution of a meaningful relationship. By the end of it, she wills herself into a self-reflective state where she doesn’t hate herself for being so heartbroken.

The songs on History Of A Feeling, are the most direct and introspective songs Diaz has ever written. In the few times she’s gotten to perform them live in front of an audience, Diaz describes the experience as one where she feels acutely present even though she’s singing about emotions that started to take root years ago. It’s relatable to anyone who has experienced heartbreak and great change in some manner, and this profound sense of intimacy and camaraderie she seamlessly weaves into the songs was important to her. “I wanted it to sound conversational, like I had just walked over to your house and we’re sitting and at the end of your driveway talking—just like we’re hashing it out in the same way that you’d call a best friend at one in the morning because you needed to talk about what just happened.”

Kerber is a new chapter in Yann Tiersen's career - if Portrait was revisiting & reassessing the past, Kerber draws a line under that and looks to the future. Both a follow up to EUSA and an album unlike any Yann has made before. Kerber takes its name from a Chapel in a small village on Ouessant. Influenced by the close geographical area around him, each track is tied to a place, mapping out the direct landscape around Yann’s home. Rather than being a reflection on isolation, the record is an expression of being conscious of your own direct environment and your place within it. The album takes the solo piano themes from EUSA and marries them with electronics. The electronic samples are enhanced by the acoustic elements - it’s the reverse process to what Yann has done before. This is a piano-centred electronic album.

This Limited Signed Edition contains a print signed by Toyah, limited to 1000. For over a year one of the most watched 'YouTubers' and internet sensations has been Toyah Willcox. Toyah's 'Sunday Lunch' performances with Robert Fripp and weekend broadcasts have been seen by 38 million. Simultaneous to creating consistently unique online videos, Toyah made the album Posh Pop with her long-term songwriting partner Simon Darlow. Posh Pop is a strong collection of infectious and affirmative pop songs that are as joyous as they are reflective, from the cosmic groove of "Space Dance", to the sun-kissed anthem of unity "Summer Of Love". The album is crafted with evocative storytelling and musicianship from Toyah, Simon Darlow (guitars, keyboards, cello), Bobby Willcox (guitar) and Jeremy Stacey (drums). Posh Pop opens with the energy-burst of "Levitate" and leads the listener on a journey that climaxes in the soaring, intergalactic-tinged "Take Me Home". The album was inspired by the world we find ourselves in today and touches on the ever-present desire to be 'famous for fifteen minutes' a la Andy Warhol, escaping the everyday, but above all staying connected to humankind beyond computer screens and geography. Produced by Simon Darlow, Posh Pop is Toyah's first brand new studio solo album since 2008 and twenty-fifth album since 1979. Pressed on 180 gram space grey vinyl.

Formed in 1992, Boris boldly explores their own vision of heavy music, where words like "explosive" and "thunderous" barely do justice. Using overpowering soundscapes embellished with copious amounts of lighting and billow smoke, Boris has shared with audiences across the planet an experience for all five senses in their concerts, earning legions of zealous fans along the way. This is the first-ever and particularly-anticipated official vinyl release of Boris's essential 2000 album, Flood. The album was originally released in Japan, only on CD. Delivered in four equally important movements, Flood is simultaneously delicate, dense, undulating, devastating, emancipating, hypnotic and triumphant. Each season of the album has its own sense of place, best revealed listen-by-listen. With the album, Boris broaden their vision of musical possibility, with a notable and imaginative influence from visionary American minimalist Steve Reich, weaving in prog, drone and slowcore into a multifaceted symphony. There simply has never been another piece of music like Flood.

Formed in 1992, Boris boldly explores their own vision of heavy music, where words like "explosive" and "thunderous" barely do justice. Using overpowering soundscapes embellished with copious amounts of lighting and billow smoke, Boris has shared with audiences across the planet an experience for all five senses in their concerts, earning legions of zealous fans along the way. Furiously recorded in the early days of the covid-19 pandemic and surprise-released in July 2020, NO was met with immediate and widespread praise. Meant to serve as a mirror that redirects the negativity of the global lockdown to something more positive, the content on NO can be characterized as “extreme healing music”. Musically, it draws from influential noise-heavy hardcore group Gudon, even including a cover of their song “Fundamental Error”. NO is a classic hardcore thrash record and is one of the band’s strongest efforts from start to finish. This will also serve as the release of NO on streaming services worldwide. "Their most compelling album in more than a decade." - Pitchfork

Through their relentless hard work, non-stop touring and critically acclaimed/chart-topping releases gaining them over 250 million cross-platform streams/views - Jinjer are inarguably one of modern metal's hottest and most exciting bands active today. The band has become synonymous with doing things their own way and breaking every rule in the heavy metal handbook, which is keenly evident on their highly anticipated fourth studio album and follow up to the groundbreaking Macro album, Wallflowers. The new album not only presents a methodical and premeditated next step in the band's already imposing career, but moreover, it mirrors the personal adversities they've faced due to the worldwide events over the last year. Wallflowers is not only an upgrade to the progressive groove metal sound that all Jinjer fans crave, but also a sonic pressure cooker of technical musicianship, emotional fury and an intense soundtrack befitting the harrowing state of the world today. Hailing from the conflict-ridden Ukrainian region of Donetsk but now calling Kiev their home base, Jinjer truly do not mince words - or riffs - on Wallflowers. Their exceptional precision of modern metal paired with tough as nails attitude has earned them a fiercely loyal, rabid fanbase and massive critical acclaim, making Jinjer one of the most talked about bands today and garnering them many sold out performances across the globe. With nearly all of Jinjer's releases composed between vans, backstage rooms and constant touring, Wallflowers continues where it's predecessor Macro left off, only this time with less distraction and more time to focus on songwriting. Once again produced together with longtime friend and mastermind Max Morton, Wallflowers is fueled by the pressure and frustration of real life and embodies a core theme, which Jinjer approach from multiple perspectives, including their own. These are subjects that are often kept quiet in society, especially in times of crisis at a collective and individual level - from the antithesis of expectations, ideologies and self-determination, to the personal pressure of self-discovery, recharging batteries and the courage to assert oneself, to cry out and stand up to the suffocating honesty of reality. From the blast beat laden banger "Colossus", 90s grunge vibe of "Disclosure!" and dynamically blazing "Mediator", to the dark and gloomy psychedelic ride of "Wallflower" and blistering urgency of tracks such as "Vortex" and "As I Boil Ice" - the unbridled heaviness and personality of Wallflowers is sure to overwhelm hardcore fans while winning over new ones as well. The album proves another standout addition to Jinjer's already widely celebrated catalog, and a new standard for creativity in modern heavy metal as a whole.

Twiztid -"Rose Petal" - This die-cut picture disc with 2 singles and remixes for "Rose Petal" and "Corkscrew" is sure to get fans excited for their new album, Unlikely Prescription, coming out September 10th. Twiztid has been teasing this new album since December 2020 with plenty of media coverage and growing support from fans of both rap and rock. Indie Exclusive.

The album follows Stevenson's 2019 career milestone The Big Freeze, celebrated for its 'finely detailed, wrenchingly intimate songwriting' (All Songs Considered), and a 2020 NPR Tiny Desk (counted as one of the year's 20 Best). Produced by John Agnello (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Kurt Vile,) at The Building in Marlboro, NY, Laura Stevenson is an altogether beautiful record, a sincere portrait of a human heart in all its vibrant colors. More than anything, it is about bearing one's whole self in the face of those you love'uncomfortable, and exposed, but vital, present. Here.

In a surprise move, GRAMMY® Award-winning, multiplatinum artist LORDE released new song “Solar Power.” The song, which appropriately dropped timed to the only solar eclipse of the year, came alongside the announcement of her highly anticipated third studio album of the same name, Solar Power. The artist revealed the album release date as August 20th and announced her 2022 World Tour dates. The album includes 12 tracks and is produced by Jack Antonoff who she collaborated with on her chart-topping last album, Melodrama. Indie Exclusive Brown LP. Limited Edition.

IIUII is a retrospective, but it’s just as much about the here and now. To re-record those songs with the maturity that Fin and his band members have achieved is about viewing the past through the lessons it has taught, not just remastering and repeating it. This was a chance to listen back through all the records, appreciate them for what they are, separate from the usual demands of which songs work on stage – and then give each song the treatment it deserves.
With a solid fan base worldwide, Fin and his band have played the venues and festivals they want, and if not plain sailing, then certainly they've been in a space where they can operate with confidence, soaring with shoegaze layers one minute, back to purist blues basics the next. Fin has also participated in a sideline in co-writes on records by the likes of John Legend, a few soundtracks and the occasional excursion into dub or techno to keep things interesting.