New Releases for March 31, 2023
CDs + Vinyl:
Altin Gün – Aşk CD/LP (ATO)
An exuberant return to the ‘70s Anatolian folk-rock sound that characterized Turkish psych-folk innovators Altin Gün’s landmark first two albums, Aşk finds the band veering away from the electronic, synth-drenched sound of their critically acclaimed 2021 albums, Âlem and Yol, to capture all the infectious power and urgency of the Amsterdam-based band’s famously propulsive live performances. Recorded using vintage equipment and techniques, the album’s ten groundbreaking tracks all represent visionary new readings of traditional Turkish folk tunes, revealing how these ancient songs remain eternally resonant and ripe for reinterpretation.
Botch – American Nervoso [Reissue/1998] LP+MP3 (Sargent House)
Released last week on vinyl – now available on CD. 15th anniversary edition. Legendary Tacoma, Washington mathcore/hardcore/metal band Botch’s debut full-length American Nervoso features white-hot guitar action, scathing vocals, sweet bass moves, and torrential drums, smashing existing precepts of hardcore and redefining both the word and the music for a generation of kids and grizzled vets alike.
Boygenius – The Record CD/LP (Interscope)
The Record is the debut full length album from indie supergroup Boygenius. Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus formed Boygenius after booking a tour together, but the trio had subconsciously been in the works for longer than that. Through a series of tours and performances together, and chance encounters that led to friendships – including Bridgers’ and Dacus’ first in-person meeting backstage at a Philadelphia festival, greenroom hangouts that felt instantly comfortable and compatible, a couple of long email chains and even a secret handshake between Baker and Dacus – the lyrically and musically arresting singer-songwriters and kindred spirits got to know each other on their own terms. [An indie store exclusive clear vinyl pressing is available.]
Cave In – Until Your Heart Stops [Reissue/1999] 2xCD/2xLP (Relapse)
Digitally remastered and edition featuring the original track sequence. Until Your Heart Stops is the debut album by metalcore band Cave In, originally released in 1999. It has been regarded as a landmark release in the metallic hardcore genre. [The expanded CD version contains a bonus CD of never-before released 4-track instrumental demos. A limited-edition red w/ blue color vinyl pressing is available.]
City And Colour – The Love Still Held Me Near CD/2xLP (Still/Dine Alone Music)
New album by this folky solo project from Alexisonfire co-vocalist Dallas Green.
Deerhoof – Miracle-Level CD/LP (Joyful Noise)
After 28 years, Deerhoof records their studio debut and it’s all in Japanese. Musically, Miracle-Level is vulnerable, brave, and brimming with spicy surprises. Deerhoof once again speaks in a secret code that only their fans understand, in which hooks abound, and genre is nonexistent.
Fantastic Negrito – Grandfather Courage CD/LP (Storefront)
“Grandfather Courage is the acoustic version of my album White Jesus Black Problems. It is reimagined through the lenses of my touring band.”
The Hold Steady – The Price Of Progress CD/LP (Positive Jams/Thirty Tigers)
The Price Of Progress stands as their most sonically expansive record thus far, while also remaining unmistakably The Hold Steady, showcasing narrative rock ‘n’ roll tales of ordinary people struggling and surviving in a modern world. “These are some of the most cinematic songs in The Hold Steady catalog,” says Craig Finn, “and the record was a joy to make. I feel like we went somewhere we haven’t before, which is a very exciting thing for a band that is two decades into our career.”
London Brew – London Brew 2xCD/2xLP (Concord Jazz)
London Brew is inspired by the legendary Miles Davis album Bitches Brew, one of jazz’s greatest albums. Recorded in December 2020 at The Church Studios in London, the recording session brings together 12 all-star London based artists including Nubya Garcia, Shabaka Hutchings, Theon Cross, Dave Okumu, Benji B, and Tom Skinner among others. The group is collectively known as London Brew. “Sometimes the music is uncomfortable,” producer Martin Terefe describes, “other times it’s familiar and joyous and other times it’s like deep meditation.”
Melanie Martinez – Portals CD/LP (Atlantic)
“Portals screams death is life is death is life is death is life. A continuous loop. A circle,” Martinez shares.
Meshuggah – ObZen [Reissue/2008] CD/2xLP (Atomic Fire)
It is impossible to talk about experimental or avantgarde metal without mentioning this truly groundbreaking act: Meshuggah mix ultra-complicated rhythmic patterns with massive riffs and aggressive growls, combining death metal, mathcore, thrash, and progressive metal to create their unique style.
The New Pornographers – Continue As A Guest CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)
Over the past 20 years, The New Pornographers have proven themselves one of the most excellent bands in indie rock. They’ve constantly offered new sonic surprises with every album and Continue As A Guest is their greatest leap to date. A dazzling and intriguing collection of songs that are truly built to last, Continue As A Guest finds bandleader A.C. Newman and his compatriots Neko Case, Kathryn Calder, John Collins, Todd Fancey, and Joe Seiders exploring fresh territory and shattering the barriers of their collective comfort zone. [An indie store exclusive blue w/ green color vinyl pressing is available.]
Puscifer – Existential Reckoning: Re-Wired CD/2xLP (BMG)
Puscifer continue their series of album remixes with the release of Existential Reckoning: Re-Wired, a track-by-track reinterpretation of the 12 songs from 2020’s Existential Reckoning. Puscifer band members Mat Mitchell and Carina Round, along with current touring musicians Greg Edwards (Failure, Autolux) and Gunnar Olsen, reinterpret the tracks from the prophetic, electro-heavy album. Puscifer is one of the many musical projects by Maynard James Keenan, who is also a member of the rock bands Tool and A Perfect Circle.
Samiam – Stowaway CD/LP (Pure Noise)
Samiam wouldn’t be the same without a little bit of chaos. Over their three decades together, the Oakland, CA-based band have specialized in energetic hard luck songs that are as hooky as they are relatable, so perhaps it’s fitting that the creation of Stowaway, the band’s first new album in 12 years and their ninth full-length overall, wasn’t the easiest. But there are very few bands better at capturing the feeling of stumbling only to get up again.
William Tyler & The Impossible Truth – Secret Stratosphere CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)
Recorded live at Yellowhammer Brewing in Huntsville, Alabama, in May 2021, Secret Stratosphere finds William Tyler and fellow psychedelic dreamers The Impossible Truth refashioning prime cuts from the Nashville guitarist’s rich catalog, casting new light onto once-familiar songs. Featuring the crackling combo of Jack Lawrence (Raconteurs, Dead Weather), Brian Kotzur (Silver Jews, Country Westerns), and Luke Schneider (solo, Margo Price), the quartet stretch the dynamics of Tyler’s compositions to their fullest interdimensional potential, exposing a deep undercurrent of kosmische and post-rock influences (with the right amount of grit from the nitrous corner of the Dead Lot).
Nick Waterhouse – The Fooler CD (Innovative Leisure)
The title of the sixth album from Californian singer-songwriter Nick Waterhouse is more than just the name of one of its tracks. The Fooler is both a clue and a red herring. The Fooler is the observed and the observer, narrator and subject, truth and lie. The Fooler is the shadow and reflection of a city the artist knows sufficiently well to wander with his eyes closed, and a place which very possibly never even existed.
The Who – The Who With Orchestra: Live At Wembley 2xCD+Blu-ray/3xLP (Geffen)
On July 6, 2019, The Who headlined a sell-out show at the world-famous Wembley Stadium in London for the first time in 40 years. Performing many of their greatest hits, the show featured the band as they’ve never been seen before, accompanied by the 57-piece Isobel Griffiths Ltd. Orchestra. The Who With Orchestra: Live At Wembley relives that iconic show.
The Zombies – Different Game CD/LP (Cooking Vinyl)
New release from the veteran psych-popsters. Different Game is the follow-up to their 2015 studio release Still Got That Hunger. This album is what the current-day Zombies were meant to make. It has the vintage qualities that made them stand out in the 1960s, yet still sounds modern and reflects their continued development as songwriters and musicians. Nine of the 10 tracks are written by Rod Argent, with the closer, “The Sun Will Rise Again”, by Colin Blunstone.
Andrew Bird – I Felt A Funeral, In My Brain b/w The Twistable, Turnable Man Returns 7” (Loma Vista)
“I Felt A Funeral, In My Brain” is a rare duet in Andrew Bird’s deep discography. He and Phoebe Bridgers join forces to share a haunting reimagination of the Emily Dickinson poem of the same name. Sparse and spectral, the arrangement pairs chilling, swelling shrieks of strings with the slight strum of guitar as they trade verses and soar in harmony over Dickinson’s words. Paired with a B-side rarity, “The Twistable, Turnable Man Returns”, Bird’s tribute to the Shel Silverstein poem.
Alice Coltrane Featuring Pharoah Sanders – Journey In Satchidananda [Reissue/1971] LP (Verve)
One of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, Alice Coltrane’s fourth Impulse! album finds her on piano and harp in the company of saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. “Almost 50 years after [it] was released, the album remains a vision of universal healing, spiritual self-preservation in times of trouble and the god that appears when you seek her out.” (NPR). This reissue is part of Verve’s Acoustic Sound Series featuring transfers from analog tapes and remastered 180gm vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.
Jerry Garcia – Reflections [Reissue/1976] LP (ATO)
New 2023 pressing on pink vinyl. Originally released in early 1976, Reflections features a diverse mix of roots-oriented styles with contributions from Garcia’s two primary vehicles of musical expression – the Grateful Dead and the Jerry Garcia Band. As writer Steve Silberman noted while Reflections was effectively two half-albums in one, “it’s one of Garcia’s most artistically unified statements of harmony, affirmation and joy.”
Jerry Garcia – GarciaLive Vol. 14: January 27th, 1986 – The Ritz [Reissue/2020] 2xLP (ATO)
GarciaLive Vol 14 showcases a buoyant acoustic performance from Jerry Garcia and longtime friend John Kahn during the middle of a rare duo tour recorded on January 27, 1986, at The Ritz in NYC.
KMD – Bl_ck B_st_rds [Reissue/1994] 2xLP (Rhymesayers)
Following their 1991 debut album, Mr. Hood, KMD shed one member leaving two remaining – Subroc and his brother, Zev Love X (better known today as MF DOOM). Originally scheduled for release in 1994, their sophomore album Black Bastards showed clear progression from their debut. It was a truly amazing record, both sonically and lyrically, full of youthful creativity and tinged with the stresses of growing up as Black men in urban America. [A limited-edition red colorway is available.]
Metro Boomin – Heroes & Villains LP (Republic)
The follow-up to his 2018 full-length debut, Not All Heroes Wear Capes, Heroes & Villians includes features from John Legend, Future, Chris Brown, Don Toliver, Travis Scott, 21 Savage, Young Thug, A$AP Rocky, Gunna, and the late Takeoff.
Mac Miller – Blue Slide Park [Reissue/2011] 2xLP (Rostrum)
Double transparent splatter color vinyl pressing in die-cut gatefold jacket. 10th Anniversary edition of Mac Miller’s debut studio album Blue Slide Park. Features a recreation of 2011’s Blue Slide Park US tour poster.
Raven – All For One [Reissue/1983] LP (Culture Factory)
Two colorways (split red/black and full red) of the British heavy metal band’s third album.
The Rolling Stones – Aftermath [Reissue/1966] LP (Abkco)
180gm vinyl pressing. 1966’s Aftermath represented a milestone for The Rolling Stones as it was the first to consist solely of Jagger/Richards original songs. The US version was fleshed out with hit single classics like “Paint It Black”, an eerily insistent #1 hit graced by some of the best-ever use of sitar (played by Brian Jones). Aftermath also strongly features the baroque charm of “Lady Jane.
Tomahawk – Tomahawk [Reissue/2001] LP (Ipecac)
Tomahawk – Oddfellows [Reissue/2003] LP (Ipecac)
Tomahawk is the debut studio album by American experimental rock band Tomahawk, originally released in 2001. Recorded after a meeting between vocalist Mike Patton and guitarist Duane Denison, the album features members of Faith No More, The Jesus Lizard, Helmet and Melvins.
Frank Zappa – Zappa ’80: Mudd Club/Munich 2xLP (Zappa Records)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Zappa ’80: Mudd Club/Munich combines two historic performances from the 1980 spring/summer tour. The first is a set at FZ’s favorite NYC nightclub, the famous Mudd Club, presented from a hi-res transfer of the original master tape. The second, from Olympiahalle in Munich, is the first-ever direct-to-digital live stereo recording of Zappa. Mastered by Bernie Grundman in 2022, with photography and memoir from George Alper, and liner notes from Arthur Barrow, Steve Vai & ‘Vaultmeister’ Joe Travers.
Frank Zappa – Zappa: ’80 Munich 3xLP (Zappa Records)
This historic 1980 Munich concert has the distinction of being the first-ever live, direct-to-digital stereo recording of Zappa. The show was the last of the spring/summer tour with the group playing at peak performance. The package features photography and memoir from George Alper (who worked for Frank Zappa), along with liner notes from Arthur Barrow and ‘Vaultmeister’ Joe Travers.
