New Releases for July 8, 2022
CDs + Vinyl:
James Bay – Leap CD/LP (Mercury/Republic)
Three-time Grammy Award-nominated and BRIT Award-winning multiplatinum singer/songwriter, producer and guitarist James Bay releases his third full-length album. For Leap, Bay worked with some of the most sought-after producers and songwriters including Foy Vance, Dave Cobb, Ian Fitchuk, Joel Little, and FINNEAS.
Big Star – Complete Third [Reissue/2016] 3xCD (Omnivore)
Complete Third includes every demo, rough mix, outtake, alt take and final master from the Third sessions known to exist. While some demos and alternate versions of songs have dribbled out over the years on various compilations, all extant recordings made for the album are presented on Complete Third. The collection boasts 69 total tracks, 29 of which are previously unheard session recordings, demos and alternate mixes made by producer Jim Dickinson and engineer John Fry. The set allows the listener to track the creation of the album from the original demos, through sessions and rough mixes, to the final masters of each song.
Blind Channel – Lifestyles Of The Sick And Dangerous CD/LP+CD (Century Media)
Furiously fighting their way into the worldwide mainstream, the Finnish six-piece alt metal band has always embraced their influences, from nu-metal iconoclasts to pop and hip-hop behemoths. Lifestyles Of The Sick & Dangerous is a lashing, brutal, bravado and swagger filled, sincere depiction of their lives, backed by their trademark unforgiving “violent pop music”.
Delicate Steve – After Hours CD (ANTI-)
Written and recorded on a 1966 Fender Stratocaster that reignited his love for the instrument, Delicate Steve’s captivating new album, After Hours, marks a first for Steve Marion, an earnest, easygoing collection that revels in the simple joys of plugging in and playing. The songs are sweet and breezy here, pairing vintage soul grooves with mesmerizing, wordless melodies, and
The Deslondes – The Ways & Means CD/LP (New West)
The Deslondes is a five-piece band from New Orleans. Ways & Means finds the band leaning on the country-folk of their debut along with the sometimes-psychedelic, electrified gospel-soul sound of Hurry Home. The sound will continue to draw comparisons to the country-funkiness of The Band, Link Wray, and others but Ways & Means is the sound of a band that understands the history of American music, while embracing their own contemporary approach.
Dio – Holy Diver (Joe Barresi Remix Edition) 4xCD/2xLP (WB)
The Super Deluxe 4xCD edition features two versions of Holy Diver. The first is a new mix of the album made by Joe Barresi (Tool, Queens Of The Stone Age, Slipknot) and is also available on stand-alone vinyl. The second is a newly remastered version of the original 1983 mix. The Super Deluxe Edition also features a previously unreleased recording of the quartet performing live in 1983 at Selland Arena in Fresno, California during the Holy Diver Tour. This set also revisits the Holy Diver recording sessions to uncover unreleased outtakes for several album cuts, including unheard takes.
Richie Furay – In The Country CD/LP (BMG)
In The Country is country-rock pioneer Richie Furay’s ninth solo album, standing apart from his collaborations with groundbreaking groups Buffalo Springfield and Poco. It finds Furay interpreting country hits including Keith Urban‘s “Somebody Like You”, Garth Brooks‘ “The River”, Alabama‘s “I’m in a Hurry And I Don’t Know Why”, and Lee Ann Womack‘s “I Hope You Dance”, as well as crossover hits like John Denver‘s “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, and Marc Cohn‘s “Walking in Memphis”.
Yves Jarvis – The Zug CD/LP+MP3 (ANTI-)
Called a “magical mood conductor” by The Fader, Yves Jarvis’ music is critically acclaimed, with Under The Radar saying that he is “an enthralling and surprising listen…coming from the same Afro-futuristic camp as Thundercat and Kendrick Lamar” while Pitchfork added that he creates “fluid, soul-inflected folk – like if Toro y Moi produced early Iron And Wine.”
Elton John – Regimental Sgt. Zippo CD/LP (Mercury)
Regimental Sgt. Zippo is the legendary “album that never was” for Elton John. Signed to DJM as an artist in early 1968, he cut 12 tracks at DJM Studios in London’s New Oxford Street for a debut album that was never released. As part of the excavation of material for Elton’s Jewel Box collection, the original running order was located. After the success of its limited release in mono for Record Store Day 2021, it is now available on CD and contains both stereo and mono mixes.
Journey – Freedom CD (BMG)
Emerging from the pandemic with a supercharged new studio line-up, Freedom brings back the grand scale of Journey’s greatest moments, along with updated and bold new directions and sounds.
Metric – Formentera CD (Metric Music International)
Even real places become imaginary when they are so far out of reach. Named for an idyllic island near Ibiza off the coast of Spain, Formentera is a place that, for Metric, only existed on a page in a “dream destinations” travel book that lay open on a desk in the new recording studio that guitarist Jimmy Shaw built in 2020, in a rural hamlet north of Toronto. This is the setting where the band’s eighth album took shape.
NoSo – Stay Proud Of Me CD/LP (Partisan)
Stay Proud Of Me is the debut album from L.A.-based Korean-American artist NoSo (real name, Abby Hwong). Their stage name is shorthand for North/South: a nod to their Korean heritage, and the inane origin question (“which Korea are you from?”) that so many Korean Americans inevitably face at some point in their lives
Laura Veirs – Found Light CD (Raven Marching Band)
Found Light may be Laura Veirs’ 12th studio album, but it also, in many ways, feels like her debut. If 2020’s My Echo – written and mixed just prior to her 2019 split from her longtime husband, her longtime producer, and the father of her two sons – was her divorce album, Found Light is about what comes after.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Toast CD/2xLP (Reprise/WMX)
For the past two decades, Toast has been whispered about in collectors’ circles in hushed tones, as Neil Young has dropped pieces of information about it here and there, especially as it contains three never-before-released songs. In 2021, in his online daily newspaper, The Times Contrarian, Young wrote about the album in-depth. “The music of Toast is about a relationship,” he said. “There is a time in many relationships that go bad, a time long before the breakup, where it dawns on one of the people, maybe both, that it’s over. This was that time.” Many songs share a bluesy, jazz-tinged vibe as a common thread. Three solid rockers are interspersed in the mix. Other songs are long with extensive explorations between verses, a Crazy Horse trademark, kind of like a down-played Tonight’s The Night, except these songs deal directly with love and loss, not drugs.
Bad Brains – Bad Brains – Punk Note Edition LP (Org Music)
Bad Brains is the self-titled debut studio album recorded by hardcore punk/reggae band Bad Brains. Recorded in 1981 and released on (then) cassette-only label ROIR on February 5, 1982, many fans refer to it as The Yellow Tape because of its yellow packaging. In coordination with the band, Org Music has overseen the restoration and remastering of the iconic Bad Brains’ recordings. This Punk Note edition comes with alternate packaging artwork from designer John Yates (Stealworks).
Andrew Bird – Shoulder Mountain 7” (Loma Vista)
Limited red color vinyl pressing. Andrew Bird blends his virtuoso violin playing with folky guitar and his signature whistling to create a new sound, never afraid to experiment with new ways to make music. “Shoulder Mountain” was a bonus track on the Deluxe Edition of Andrew’s Grammy-nominated album, Are You Serious.
Cake – Fashion Nugget [Reissue/1996] LP (Sony Legacy)
Limited 180gm vinyl pressing. Digitally remastered edition of Cake’s second studio album, which includes hits “The Distance”, “Frank Sinatra”, and “I Will Survive”.
Billy F. Gibbons – Hardware LP (Concord)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl (three different colorways).
Indigo Girls – Look Long 2xLP (Rounder)
Violet color vinyl pressing. Indigo Girls’ 2020 album Look Long was their first new studio album in five years and is a testament to their storied career. Produced by John Reynolds at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studio in England.
The Record Company – All Of This Life [Reissue/2018] LP (Concord)
White color vinyl pressing. Gritty, rock ‘n’ roll, blues from Los Angeles.
Refused – Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent [Reissue/1996] LP+MP3 (Epitaph)
Limited baby blue color vinyl pressing of the second full-length album by the Swedish hardcore punk band.
Σtella – Up And Away LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)
Released last week on CD – now available on limited-edition ‘loser edition’ blue color vinyl.
The Who – Sell Out [Reissue/1969] 2xLP (Geffen)
The Who – Tommy [Reissue/1969] 2xLP (Geffen)
Abbey Road Studios Half-Speed Mastering.
