News
New Release Round-Up 04-26-24
St.Vincent - All Born Screaming
St. Vincent’s first self-produced record, All Born Screaming is Annie Clark at her most unfiltered. All Born Screaming is an invitation to test the limits of what is possible–and to then keep going; Brought to life with the aid of a highly curated dream lineup of friends — Rachel Eckroth, Josh Freese, Dave Grohl, Mark Guiliana, Cate Le Bon, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Stella Mogzawa and David Ralicke — the album is an unadulterated expression of St. Vincent’s singular vision.
Charley Crockett - $10 Cowboy - Son of Davy
With $10 Cowboy, Charley Crockett didn’t set out to make a themed record. He had released a concept album in 2022, the critically acclaimed Man From Waco, propelling Crockett to new heights and establishing him as one of the leaders of a sparkling revival of traditional country and folk music.
For the follow up album, Crockett wrote freely, over a two-month period, as he wound his way across the United States on the back of a tour bus. The resulting songs—raw, personal, vivid portraits of a country in transition—ended up being connected after all.
As the album unfolds, you begin to understand that a $10 Cowboy is anyone who has hustled to get by, who didn’t fit in, who has slept on other people’s couches, or the street, who has fallen down, gotten up, and ventured from home chasing a paying gig, or a new start.
The album was recorded at Arlyn Studios in Austin, produced by Crockett and his long-time collaborator Billy Horton. It was recorded live to tape, with anywhere from 6-12 musicians and backup singers on each track, giving the songs the feel of a live performance. It’s a sound Crockett has been after for years. “Reason I cut it on tape is because when you got the right people in the room, and the great players rise to the occasion when that red light is on and the tape is rolling, you get the magic of a great performance.”
It's exactly what he achieved with $10 Cowboy. Regular bandmates Fox, Nathan Fleming, and Mayo Valdez are joined by some of the genre’s most talented players—Rich Brotherton, Kevin Smith, Dave LeRoy Biller, T. Jarrod Bonta and others, including a string quartet. Lauren Cervantes and Angela Miller sing on the album. While the musicianship and accompaniment are exquisite, they are also subtle, placed joyously, yet judiciously across the album.
No, Crockett didn’t set out to write a themed record. Or, through his studied eye, to find America. But with $10 Cowboy, he might have done both.
Laufey - Bewitched: The Goddess Edition - LAUFEY LLC
Composer, singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Laufey continues her story with Bewitched: The Goddess Edition, an expanded version of her 2023 critically celebrated and GRAMMY-winning second album. Since the release of Bewitched, Laufey has proven how staying true to oneself can result in creating a space where people can find themselves. Bewitched has been wildly successful around the world, appearing on multiple year-end best-of lists, sparking an immediately sold-out tour and reaching No. 1 on Billboard’s Jazz charts. The Goddess Edition features four brand-new original songs including lead single "Goddess" and will be available on vinyl, cassette, and CD. The expanded package includes dark blue vinyl, an updated booklet, and a custom board game.
Billy Idol - Rebel Yell (Expanded Edition) - Capitol/UME
Rock legend Billy Idol is set to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his landmark album Rebel Yell with a deluxe expanded edition due April 26 via Capitol/UMe. Available for pre-order on Friday, March 8, the reissue includes a selection of previously unreleased songs and demos, the Poolside remix of Idol's smash hit "Eyes Without A Face" and the never-before-heard Billy Idol/Steve Stevens original "Best Way Out of Here" from the original sessions. Idol's never-betore-released cover of the Rose Royce single "Love Don't Live Here Anymore"
Iron & Wine - Light Verse [Colored Vinyl]
Hovvdy - Hovvdy (Blue) [Clear Vinyl] [Limited Edition] [Indie Exclusive] [Download Included]
ScHoolboy Q - BLUE LIPS [Translucent Blue 2 LP]
The Veronicas - Gothic Summer [Blue LP]
Neil Young with Crazy Horse - Fuckin' Up [2 LP]
PARTYNEXTDOOR - PARTYNEXTDOOR 4 [LP]
Charles Bernstein - April Fools Day (OMPS) [Deluxe Edition 2LP]
Pet Shop Boys - nonetheless [Indie Exclusive Opaque Gray LP]
Eric Slick - New Age Rage [Translucent Pink LP]
Houses Of Heaven - Within/Without [Grey Marble LP]
Deicide - Banished By Sin [Indie Exclusive Opaque Gold LP]
Microwave - Let's Start Degeneracy [Indie Exclusive Baby Pink / Clear w/ Purple Splatter LP]
ILLit - ILLIT 1st Mini Album ‘SUPER REAL ME’ [SUPER ME Ver.]
The Men - Manhattan Fire [Limited Edition Indie Exclusive Clear LP]
THE RED GARLAND TRIO - Groovy (Original Jazz Classics Series) [LP]
Full Of Hell - Coagulated Bliss [Indie Exclusive Neon Yellow, White and Olive Green Mix LP]
Darkthrone - It Beckons Us All [Indie Exclusive Purple LP]
Cab - Whisper War [Indie Exclusive Black and Light Blue LP]
Yusuf ( Stevens, Cat ) - Izitso [Limited Gatefold with Lenticular Cover]
Yusuf ( Cat Stevens ) - Numbers [Limited Edition]
Judith Hill - Letters from a Black Widow [2 LP]
Lost Dog Street Band - Survived [LP]
For more information on these and other releases out this week, check out our New Releases charts by week section.UPCOMING RELEASES
What's New 4-19-24
This is a fretful and ferocious record, lyrically much preoccupied with things having ended or appearing about to end, but musically much more blaze of glory than any kind of funeral pyre. Producer Andrew Watt helps the grunge stalwarts with what he did for The Rolling Stones last year: roll years back while avoiding parody.
Orchestras documents two inspired concert-hall engagements arranged by Michael Gibbs. Sweeping orchestration evoking landmark film scores and Gil Evans alike move nimbly within and around the trio’s telepathic rapport, and Frisell’s shimmering trademark tone melds gorgeously with symphonic strings and brass.
No need to fix what isn’t broken. For a decade plus, Cloud Nothings have delivered catchy, energetic songs without getting stale or repetitive. There’s something to be said for their ability to continue delivering hook-filled records with intelligent and heart-rending lyrics; and their latest installment, Final Summer, keeps that streak alive.
Based on the 2018 Broadway musical adaptation of the 2004 film. Features songs from the movie’s stars including Reneé Rapp as Regina George, Angourie Rice as Cady Heron, Auli’i Cravalho as Janis ‘Imi’ike, Avantika as Karen Shetty, and more. Includes “Not My Fault” by Rapp and rap superstar Megan Thee Stallion.
On Coup de Grace, Connie Sgarbossa’s most private and innermost thoughts are funneled through the lives of fictional characters within a noir-inspired world. Sgarbossa’s hold nothing back attitude combined with the band’s intensely dark blend of sasscore, punk, mathcore and metalcore, makes for profound and devastating listening.
Cometh The Storm is an absolute monster of an album, a ten-ton aural leviathan, a thundering colossus in audio form, the sonic equivalent of an end-times harbinger of death from the second the listener hits 'play' and is walloped into consciousness to the last dying strains of the final track as everything fades to black.
New Release Round-Up 04-19-24
Pearl Jam - Dark Matter - Republic Records
Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductees, Pearl Jam, return with their highly anticipated new album Dark Matter. The band’s 12th studio album was produced by Grammy® Award Winning Producer, Andrew Watt.
Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department [Ghosted White 2 LP Bonus Track]
Bruce Springsteen - Best Of Bruce Springsteen [2 LP]
Reneé Rapp / Auli’I Cravalho - Mean Girls (Music From The Motion Picture) [Candy Floss LP]
Melvins - Tarantula Heart [Ipecac 25th Anniversary Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Silver Streak LP]
Various Artists - Live On Mountain Stage: Outlaws & Outliers [LP]
Judith Hill - Letters from a Black Widow [2 LP]
Thomas Csorba - Windchimes [Denim Color LP]
Stephanie Lambring - Hypocrite [LP]
Cloud Nothings - Final Summer [Indie Exclusive Half Clear / Half Orange w/ Black Splatter LP]
Jan Garbarek Quartet - Afric Pepperbird (ECM Luminessence Series) [LP]
T Bone Burnett - The Other Side [LP]
Bill Frisell - Orchestras [2 LP]
Raffi & Good Lovelies - Penny Penguin [CD]
SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY - COUP DE GRÂCE [Indie Exclusive Black Ice w/ Heavy White Splatter LP]
BOYNEXTDOOR - HOW? (Indie Exclusive Earth ver.)
BOYNEXTDOOR - HOW? (Indie Exclusive Wind ver.)
BOYNEXTDOOR - HOW? (Indie Exclusive Fire ver.)
Life's Question - Life's Question
For more information on these and other releases out this week, check out our New Releases charts by week section.UPCOMING RELEASES
What's New 4-12-24
Don’t Forget Me’s 10 brisk, lightly rocking songs evoke the radio-friendly pop-rock of early-2000s Sheryl Crow or Jewel while sometimes looking further back to ’70s soft rock a la Carole King. It’s a breezy, contemplative soundtrack for the open road that captures the freedom of hitting the pavement and the dizziness of moving on.
Lifeless Birth is a vision of what metal can be and do in 2024. It tears down old barriers and keeps those traditional elements that make it stronger while pivoting fluidly between technical intricacy, progressive poise and all-out brutality. Necrot continue their ascent to the forefront of American aural extremity.
Through an inimitable voice that the New York Times touts as, "a smooth, dark alto possessed of qualities you might associate with barrel-aged bourbon or butter-soft leather," acclaimed vocalist and songwriter Lizz Wright sings with a soaring reflection of the cultural fabric of America.
One Deep River offers an unstoppable flow of future Knopfler (Dire Straits) classics, with their customarily learned lyrics and refined guitar textures. They draw on a lifetime of genre-crossing ingredients and influences in blues, folk, rock and beyond, and as usual, reveal their charms with unhurried grace and depth.
New Release Round-Up 04-12-24
Maggie Rogers - Don't Forget Me - Capitol
Don’t Forget Me:
01 It Was Coming All Along
02 Drunk
03 So Sick of Dreaming
04 The Kill
05 If Now Was Then
06 I Still Do
07 On & On & On
08 Never Going Home
09 All the Same
10 Don’t Forget Me
Mark Knopfler - One Deep River - Blue Note
One Deep River offers an unstoppable flow of future Knopfler classics, with their customarily learned lyrics and refined guitar textures. They draw on a lifetime of genre-crossing ingredients and influences in blues, folk, rock and beyond, and as usual, reveal their charms with unhurried grace and depth.
Tyler Hubbard - Strong - EMI Nashville
With more than 1 billion streams as a solo artist and two back-to-back #1 singles, Tyler Hubbard's sophomore solo album, Strong, features 13 brand-new songs, including "Back Then Right Now," "Turn" and "Wish You Would."
Beyoncé - COWBOY CARTER [2 LP]
Noah Kahan - Stick Season (We'll All Be Here Forever) [Black Ice 3 LP]
Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch - All of Us Strangers (Original Motion Picture Score) [LP]
Harold Land - The Fox [Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds Series LP]
Leyla McCalla - Sun Without The Heat [LP]
Aaron Lee Tasjan - Stellar Evolution [LP]
Necrot - Lifeless Birth [Violet Purple LP]
Willie Colon - La Gran Fuga / The Big Break [180g LP]
Belmont - Liminal [Indie Exclusive Electric Blue & Violet Pinwheel LP]
girl in red - I’M DOING IT AGAIN BABY! [Standard LP]
BLUE ÖYSTER CULT - Ghost Stories [LP]
Shabaka - Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace [LP]
Nia Archives - Silence Is Loud [LP]
Linkin Park - Papercuts [Indie Exclusive Black & Red Splatter]
James - Yummy [Marbled Red LP]
For more information on these and other releases out this week, check out our New Releases charts by week section.UPCOMING RELEASES