New Releases for March 10, 2023
CDs + Vinyl:
Shana Cleveland – Manzanita CD/LP/Cassette (Hardly Art)
“This is a supernatural love album set in the California wilderness,” Cleveland explains.
Miley Cyrus – Endless Summer Vacation CD/LP (Columbia)
Introduced by the lead single “Flowers”, the collection marks Miley’s eighth studio album overall, and the follow up to 2020’s Plastic Hearts. Miley describes the album as her love letter to L.A.
Fever Ray – Radical Romantics CD (Mute)
Radical Romantics documents Fever Ray’s struggle with love, relationships, identity, and self-preservation. Featuring collaborations with Olof Dreijer (The Knife), Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Vessel, Aasthma and more, this album feels like the apex of their career, incorporating elements of The Knife and early Fever Ray, while looking steadfastly into the future.
Lonnie Holley – Oh Me Oh My CD/LP+MP3 (Jagjaguwar)
Oh Me Oh My is both elegant and ferocious. It is stirring in one moment and a balm the next. It details histories both global and personal. Lonnie Holley’s harrowing youth and young manhood in the Jim Crow South are well-told at this point – his sale into a different home as a child for just a bottle of whiskey; his abuse at the infamous Mount Meigs correctional facility for boys; the destruction of his art environment by the Birmingham airport expansion. But Holley’s music is less a performance of pain endured and more a display of perseverance, of relentless hope.
Van Morrison – Moving On Skiffle CD/2xLP (Virgin)
Several decades after his childhood hangouts in famed Belfast record store Atlantic Records, Van Morrison revisits his love of the genre with his new album Moving On Skiffle. Launching with lead single “Streamline Train”, the 23-track album takes a homemade style that exploded across Britain in the mid- ‘50s and infuses it with sophistication, soulfulness, and an underlying message on the importance of freedom and living on your own terms, his lifetime.
The Nude Party – Rides On CD/2xLP (New West)
They recorded over 20 songs, including some that dabbled in electro-pop and stripped-down country before settling on the final 14 songs containing the best elements of ’70s-driven blues rock. Sonically, the album is reminiscent of Sticky Fingers-era Stones, but the lyrics are mini-vignettes that embody the spirit of what The Nude Party are going for – and their growth as a band.
Art Pepper – Unreleased Art Volume 1: The Complete Abashiri Concert – November 22, 1981 CD (Omnivore)
Live archive release from the jazz legend. Recorded in Abashiri, Japan on November 22, 1981. The group’s line-up features Art Pepper, George Cables, David Williams, and Carl Burnett.
Sleaford Mods – UK Grim CD/LP+MP3 (Rough Trade)
Sleaford Mods return in with the new album, UK Grim. Throughout their music, the duo’s poetic protest and electronic resistance has seen them consistency chart and call out their times with an eloquence and attitude that has made them one of the most urgent and unique voices in modern music.
Suicide Silence – Remember… You Must Die CD/LP (Century Media)
Remember… You Must Die is the sound of extreme metal stalwarts Suicide Silence channeling the spirit of their classic albums like The Cleansing or No Time to Bleed and delivering a modern deathcore masterpiece.
Ali Farka Touré – Voyageur CD/LP (World Circuit)
Ali Farka Touré is well known as one of the most influential and talented guitarists that Africa has ever produced. His legacy and impact are hard to overstate Ali’s sound merged his much-loved traditional Malian musical styles with distinct elements of the blues, resulting in the creation of a groundbreaking new genre, now well known as the ‘desert blues’, earning him three Grammy awards and widespread reverence. Voyageur is the first release of previously unheard music since 2006’s Savane and features a collection of recordings captured at various points in Ali’s illustrious career.
Twice – Ready To Be CDEP (Jyp Ent/Republic)
12th mini-album from the K-Pop girl group. Edition-specific contents include a photobook, a folded poster, and a photo card set.
The War & Treaty – Lover’s Game CD/LP (Mercury Nashville)
Wielding a sound which cuts through the whole of Southern music tradition – from blues, soul, and R&B, to gospel, country, folk and rock, husband-and-wife duo Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter now reach the next creative level as their story plays out amid a transcendent sonic landscape.
Aesop Rock – Bazooka Tooth [Reissue/2003] 2xLP (Rhymesayers)
Aesop Rock – None Shall Pass [Reissue/2007] 2xLP (Rhymesayers)
Bazooka Tooth, Aesop Rock’s fourth album, originally came out on Def Jux in 2003. Produced by El-P, it features contributions from Cannibal Ox, DJ Cip One, DJ pawl, S.A. Smash, and Murs with illustrations from Tomer Hanuka. Aesop Rock’s fifth studio album, None Shall Pass- originally released in 2007 on Def Jux – features production by Blockhead, El-P, Rob Sonic, and Aesop Rock himself.
The Beths – Jump Rope Gazers [Reissue/2020] LP+MP3 (Carpark)
Limited red color vinyl pressing.
Cake – Prolonging The Magic [Reissue/1998] LP (Sony Legacy)
Prolonging The Magic, Cake’s third studio album, is being released for the first time on 180gm black vinyl. Remastered audio of the 13-track album includes “Never There”, “Let Me Go”, and “Sheep Go To Heaven”.
Mdou Moctar – Niger EP Vol. 1 12”+MP3 (Matador)
Mdou Moctar – Niger EP Vol. 2 12”+MP3 (Matador)
Rare slices of work from Tuareg songwriter and musician Mdou Moctar – material collected from tapes recorded between 2017 and 2020, often featuring the group in a range of different settings in their native Niger. The work throughout is filled with the sublime guitar of Mahamadou Souleymane – but the shift in setting makes for a strong sense of variety, especially as some of the titles feature more guitar lines than vocals.
Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars + Anderson.Paak with Special Guest Host Bootsy Collins) – An Evening With Silk Sonic [Reissue/2021] LP (Atlantic/WEA)
An Evening With Silk Sonic is a collaborative project featuring Bruno Mars and Anderson. Paak. The seeds of the collaboration were planted in 2017 when the two stars toured together in Europe. One late-night jam session on the road unlocked immediate chemistry. Just before the world slipped into quarantine, Bruno called Anderson: “Remember that idea we had back in 2017? Let’s do it.” One studio session grew into a months-long collaboration, culminating in the “setlist of doom”. Legendary Bootsy Collins christened Silk Sonic and came in as the “special guest host” for An Evening With Silk Sonic, their debut album.
Thrice – The Illusion Of Safety [Reissue/2002] LP (Hopeless)
Limited 20th Anniversary blue color vinyl pressing. Includes bonus track.
Unwound – Unwound [Reissue/1995] LP (Numero)
Vinyl reissue.
Various Artists – Pacific Breeze 3: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1975 – 1987 2xLP/Cassette (Light In The Attic)
An expertly curated selection of the most sought-after City Pop recordings-the mesmerizing and nebulous genre of Japanese bubble-era music of the ’70s – ’80s that encompasses AOR, R&B, jazz fusion, funk, boogie, and disco. [A limited-edition pink color vinyl pressing is available.]
Sleep – Dopesmoker [Reissue/2003] (Third Man)
Cassette reissue. Recorded in 1996 and not released (in slightly different edit/mix) until 1999 under the title Jerusalem, the legend and lore behind Dopesmoker would overshadow an LP of any lesser significance. But the 63-minute magnum opus dedicated exclusively to the sacrament of marijuana is not just the pinnacle of the goofily named stoner metal genre… it’s inarguably one of the most important and influential albums of all time.
