Amason – Sky City CD/LP (Fairfax)
Tagged in the music press as a “Swedish supergroup,” Amason are the collective talents of Pontus Winnberg (Miike Snow), Gustav Ejstes (Dungen), Petter Winnberg (Little Marjorette), Amanda Bergman (Hajen, Idiot Wind), and Nils Tornqvist (Little Marjorette). With lyrics in both their native Swedish and in English, Amason create in the moment, record almost instantaneously, and soon after scan the horizons for a stage, where the music truly comes alive, where they can share their collected collective moments.

Jamie Cullum – Interlude CD/LP (Blue Note)
Interlude marks a rare focus upon largely straight-ahead jazz and a return to interpretation from an artist who has made a habit of bending genres, writing original material and bringing new sounds and new listeners to the music. Produced, engineered and mixed by Benedic Lamdin for Nostalgia 77 and featuring guest spots from Laura Mvula and Gregory Porter, the album repertoire choices were inspired by the music and musicians he’s featured on his award-winning UK jazz radio show over the last few years and his own crate digging tendencies.

Dengue Fever – The Deepest Lake CD (Tuk Tuk)
Dengue Fever is in the vanguard of an emerging global pop sensibility, making music that’s both familiar, yet eerily unique. The Los Angeles sextet blends the rhythms of ‘60s Cambodian pop — heavily influenced by American surf, rock and early psychedelic garage bands — with their own eclectic mix of American and international styles. Vinyl version due February 24.

Dodos – Individ CD/LP+MP3 (Polyvinyl)
For the Dodos “the best time to make a record is right after you’ve finished one” says vocalist and guitarist Meric Long. Having just wrapped up the sessions for their previous record Carrier, and fired up on the level of comfort achieved with brothers Jay and Ian Pellicci at Tiny Telephone studio, the duo immediately began laying to tape the batch of songs that would result in their latest and sixth record, entitled Individ. Continue reading →

Alphaville – So8os Presents Alphaville (Curated By Blank & Jones) 2xCD (Soulfood)
Alphaville, one of the most famous and successful German bands ever, are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year. For the first time ever So8os Presents Alphaville brings together all original 12” mixes from the ‘80s plus B-Sides.

Belle & Sebastian – Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance CD/2xCD/2xLP/4xLP+MP3 (Matador)
Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance is the long-awaited follow-up to 2010′s Write About Love. Produced and mixed at Maze Studios in Atlanta by Ben H. Allen III, best known for his work with Gnarls Barkley, Animal Collective, and Raury, among others, the band — who have been listening vintage Detroit techno and Giorgio Moroder — have brought a dance party element into their gorgeous tales of sensitive souls navigating a world gone awry. (Vinyl edition is available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe features four extra songs plus extended mixes of two album tracks and a poster. Packaged in an outer box with four individual LPs with unique album art. Includes a download card for all of the tracks.)

Ryan Bingham – Fear And Saturday Night CD/LP (Axter Bingham)
Recorded mostly live with a brand new backing band, Fear And Saturday Night shows Bingham facing down his past with a poetic grace throughout. The lead single “Radio” is about coping with a darkness that does not want to let go, searching for a safe place to make sense of your life and the strength to stay on the right track through it all. Some of the most affecting moments on the album are in the harmonica-driven, wistful waltz “Broken Heart Tattoos,” a song written to an unborn child, and in the title track, “Fear And Saturday Night.”

Norman Blake – Wood, Wire & Words CD (Western Jubilee)
With a career that started in the mid-‘50s and continues to this day, Norman Blake continues to astound with his country-folk-bluegrass guitar technique that transcends genre, technological changes and the whims of pop culture. Continue reading →

The Crown – Death Is Not Dead CD (Century Media)
Reactivated Swedish death/thrash metallers The Crown celebrate their 25th anniversary with a new studio album.

Justin Townes Earle – Absent Fathers CD/LP (Vagrant)
Following the success of his fifth-studio-album, Single Mothers, Justin Townes Earle releases the companion album, Absent Fathers. Comprised of 10 tracks, Absent Fathers was recorded alongside Single Mothers as a double album, but as Justin began to sequence it, he felt each half needed to make its own statement and they took on their own identities.

The Expendables – Sand In The Sky CD/LP (Controlled Substance)
Sixth album from the Santa Cruz reggae rock outfit. The Expendables formed in 1997 and have toured with acts such as 311, G. Love & Special Sauce, and Less Than Jake. Sand In The Sky was mixed by Butthole Surfer guitarist and producer Paul Leary (Sublime, Slightly Stoopid, U2, Weezer).

Guster – Evermotion CD (Nettwerk)
Produced by Richard Swift (The Shins, Foxygen, Stereolab), Evermotion bulldozes inhibitions, propelling the band to a harder-charging, more freewheeling sound as heard on lead single, “Simple Machine.” Packed with tight hooks, muscular guitar riffs, clanging percussion and surprisingly dark lyrics, the new album features adventurous turns on slide guitars, brassy trumpets and a glockenspiel, with sax and trombone accompaniment.  Vinyl delayed until February. Continue reading →