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LISTINGThis is a limited edition Metallic Gold vinyl pressing. This is the first time this record has been pressed on color vinyl.
Steve Earle
I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive [Limited Edition Cherry Red LP]
Vinyl: $28.98 Buy
This is a first time color vinyl pressing of the anticipated follow up to the Grammy® Award-winning 2009 release Townes titled, I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive . This 11-track set was produced by T-Bone Burnett and was Earle's first collection of original material since his 2007 Grammy® Award-winning album, Washington Square Serenade. The album includes the celebrated song" This City," written for the HBO Original Series, TREMÉ, which Earle also appeared in as an actor. "This City" features horn arrangements by Allen Toussaint and has garnered a Grammy® Award Nomination in the Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media Category. Other highlights include the ballad "Every Part of Me" and the ode to those who make their living on The Gulf Of Mexico.
30 is the first new music from Adele since the release of her third studio album 25 in November 2015. The album is produced with former collaborators Greg Kurstin, Max Martin and Shellback and Tobias Jesso Jr., as well as new collaborators Inflo and Ludwig Goransson.
U2
Achtung Baby: 30th Anniversary Edition [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition 2LP]
Vinyl: $49.99 Buy
A limited-edition black vinyl release of the Grammy-award winning U2 album Achtung Baby, to celebrate its 30th Anniversary.
Produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and recorded between Berlin’s Hansa Studios and various locations in Dublin, Achtung Baby was released to critical acclaim in 1991 & is regarded as one of U2’s most seminal albums. The album featured five singles: ‘The Fly’, ‘Mysterious Ways’, ‘One’, ‘Even Better Than The Real Thing’ and ‘Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses’.
Please note product includes explicit content.
KISS
Destroyer: 45th Anniversary Edition [Super Deluxe 4CD + Blu-ray Audio]
In 1976, KISS dropped the bombshell on the world being DESTROYER, an album that originally received resistance from fans due to the band exploring a new sound and has long become the quintessential and all-time best selling KISS studio album.
Exploding with concert staples and KISS Army favorites like “Detroit Rock City,” “Shout It OutLoud,” and “God Of Thunder” – the album’s new sounds came from the softer side of songs like “Do You Love Me?,”and songs heavy with orchestral arrangements including “Great Expectations” and their surprise hit single “Beth.”
For the 45th anniversary, UMe is releasing the most comprehensive Super Deluxe Edition 4CD + Blu-ray Audio boxset that will melt the KISS Army’s minds. The original album on CD 1 is newly remastered by Abbey Road Mastering, CD 2 features 15 demos from Paul Stanley’s and Gene Simmons’s personal archives – 9 of which are unreleased. CD 3 loads up with studio outtakes, alternate versions / mixes and single edits – most notably a brand-new stripped-down mix for “Beth (Acoustic Mix)” where we found the acoustic guitar stems recorded for the entire song but originally only used in the last several closing notes of the song on the album. CD 4 features a ripping performance from the band’s visit to Paris France at the L’Olympia on May 22, 1976.
Steven Wilson was brought in to create a first-ever Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround mix of the original studio album plus 2 bonus tracks “Beth (Acoustic Mix)” and “Sweet Pain (Original Guitar Solo)” the latter featuring Ace Frehley’s original recorded guitar solo that was not released on the studio album (this track is available on the 2012 Destroyer: Resurrected project.)
Packaging features a lift top-style box loaded with so much ephemera even KISS fans may need to seek medical advice upon receiving this boxset
Few artists are storytellers as deft and disarmingly observational as Andy Shauf. The Toronto-based, Saskatchewan-raised musician’s songs unfold like short fiction: they’re densely layered with colorful characters and a rich emotional depth. Like he’s done throughout his career, Shauf wrote, performed, arranged, and produced every song on his new album Wilds at his studio space in the west end of Toronto.
Over the course of a year-and-a-half, Shauf had written more than 50 songs, and pared down this massive body of work, into a single album’s worth of material, which became 2020’s highly acclaimed The Neon Skyline album. These songs focused on a theme by intertwining the individual characters stories of a group of friends who gathered for one night at the same local bar. Wilds includes songs from those same writing sessions, that did not fit into the Skyline storyline and had their own singular identity apart from that album, though he does revisit with his old friends Judy and Jeremy in this outing.
Steve Earle was nineteen and had just hitchhiked from San Antonio to Nashville in 1974. Back then if you wanted to be where the best songwriters were you had to be in there. Guy Clark had moved to Nashville and if you were from Texas, Guy Clark was king. Flash forward more than forty years. In the fall of 2018, Steve and The Dukes went into House Of Blues studio in Nashville and recorded GUY in six days. 'I wanted it to sound live...When you've got a catalog like Guy's and you're only doing sixteen tracks, you know each one is going to be strong.'
Earle and his current, perhaps best-ever Dukes lineup, take on these songs with a spirit of reverent glee and invention. But in the end Guy leads the listener back to its beginning, namely Guy Clark, which is what any good 'tribute' should do. Guy is a saga of friendship, its ups and downs, what endures. We are lucky that Earle remembers and honors these things, because like old friends, Guy is a diamond.
A collection of holiday classics reimagined earnestly and passionately by beloved indie rock stalwarts Manchester Orchestra. Familiar, inclusive, and the essence of holiday spirit, regardless of one’s beliefs. Holiday Red LP with B-Side Etching.
HuDost’s new album defines real, honest love and is a lush, breathtaking original collection of compositions that ask important questions and evoke the imagery of dreams. Special guests include Jars of Clay, The Accidentals, Christie Lenée and others. The music video for the first single ‘Our Words Will Be Louder’, included additional cameos from Kevin Clash (Elmo), Kevin Hearn (Barenaked Ladies), Cy Curnin (The FIXX), GangstaGrass, Alana Bridgewater, Nawal, Hymn for Her, Jai Uttal, and more.
Hand Habits, the project of Los Angeles-based musician Meg Duffy (they/them), is back with their new album Fun House - the most ambitious Hand Habits album to date. Produced by Sasami Ashworth (SASAMI) and engineered by Kyle Thomas (King Tuff), the record was not intended as a reaction to the pandemic, but it was very much the result of taking a difficult, if much-needed, moment of pause. Emboldened by going into therapy and coaxed by Ashworth to push the songs into unexpected new shapes, the resulting music is more acutely personal and stylistically adventurous than anything you’ve heard from Hand Habits before. The push/pull of styles, paired with songs that move deftly between the present and past, give the record a wildly diverse, hall of mirrors quality that befits its name. Where previous Hand Habits records could be fairly insular affairs, Fun House feels ebullient, lush, a fully-realized conversation.
Super Deluxe contains 5 CDs showcasing the newly remastered album from the original analog tapes along with 4 complete concerts on the Nevermind Tour from Amsterdam, Melbourne, Tokyo and Del Mar, California. Additionally, a Blu-ray of the complete Live in Amsterdam concert video (newly remastered in HD) is included along with a 40-page hardcover book with unreleased photos.
"Musically and lyrically, Red resembled a heartbroken person. It was all over the place, a fractured mosaic of feelings that somehow all fit together in the end. Happy, free, confused, lonely, devastated, euphoric, wild, and tortured by memories past. Like trying on pieces of a new life, I went into the studio and experimented with different sounds and collaborators. And I'm not sure if it was pouring my thoughts into this album, hearing thousands of your voices sing the lyrics back to me in passionate solidarity, or if it was simply time, but something was healed along the way...This will be the first time you hear all 30 songs that were meant to go on Red. And hey, one of them is even ten minutes long." - Taylor Swift. Includes 9 unreleased songs from the vault.
Book is a new phase They Might Be Giants album presented on 180-gram audiophile vinyl LP with package design by Paul Sahre. Featuring "I Broke My Own Rule," "I Lost Thursday," and "I Can't Remember the Dream," Book is billed as a beacon of light amid a pretty unanimously rough period of time with the band's John Linnell describing it's songs as "humorously germane to the catastrophe going on around us."
Courtney Barnett
Things Take Time, Take Time [ALL EYES ON THE PAVEMENT BLUE LP]
Vinyl: $25.99 Buy
Things Take Time, Take Time is an assured leap forward for Barnett; a breakthrough really. This is Barnett at her most relaxed, creative and joyful. An exquisite look at the intimate, private world created by Barnett and drummer/producer Stella Mozgawa (Warpaint, Cate le Bon, Kurt Vile). It's consequently her most beautiful and intimate record to date.
"Woke up singing a dead man's song..." is the opening line from the Warren Haynes original "Heavy Load," a line of imagery that feels like the beginning of dirt. Blues. On this album, the iconic American band puts their unique musical stamp on an incredible collection of Blues covers and originals. Haynes, the leader of Gov't Mule, hails from a Southern rock tradition of scruffy virtuosity. Gov't Mule is Warren's show, and the Blues is the informing foundation, personal and universal.
Original remastered album, previously unreleased full live concert and BBC Session Recorded in 2012, 2011 Electro-Vox Session, limited-edition poster and lithograph, “new car scent: air freshener, 100-page photo book.
The Black Keys release a special tenth anniversary edition of their landmark seventh studio album El Camino via Nonesuch Records on November 5, 2021. El Camino (10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) will be available in several formats including a Super Deluxe edition of five vinyl LPs or four CDs, featuring a remastered version of the original album, a previously unreleased Live in Portland, ME concert recording, a BBC radio Zane Lowe session from 2012, a 2011 Electro-Vox session, a limited-edition photo book, poster, and lithograph, and a “new car scent” air freshener. A three-LP Deluxe edition, which includes the remastered album and the live recording, also will be available.
The Black Keys won three awards at the 55th annual GRAMMY Awards for El Camino— Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock Album—among other worldwide accolades. In the UK, the band was nominated for a BRIT Award (Best International Group) and an NME Award (Best International Band).
El Camino was produced by Danger Mouse and The Black Keys and was recorded in the band’s then-new hometown of Nashville during the spring of 2011. In the UK, the record gave the band their first top 10 hit, and in the US it debuted at # 2 on the Billboard Top 200. The band was also the # 1 most played artist at Alternative and AAA radio formats for 2012 in the US. The album’s first single, “Lonely Boy,” reached # 1 on the Alternative and AAA charts; it also entered the top 10 at Rock radio. The second single, “Gold on the Ceiling,” also reached # 1 on Alternative radio and the third single, “Little Black Submarines,” reached the top 3 at Alternative radio. El Camino has been certified Double Platinum in the US, Australia, and New Zealand; Platinum in the UK, France, Ireland, and Belgium; Quadruple Platinum in Canada; and Gold in Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain. Of the album’s singles, "Lonely Boy" was certified nine-times platinum in Canada, triple-platinum in Australia, platinum in New Zealand, and gold in Denmark. "Gold on the Ceiling" was certified platinum in Australia and Canada.
Rolling Stone hailed El Camino for bringing “raw, riffed-out power back to pop’s lexicon,” and called it “the Keys’ grandest pop gesture yet, augmenting dark-hearted fuzz blasts with sleekly sexy choruses and Seventies-glam flair.” The Guardian said, “They sound like a band who think they've made the year's best rock'n'roll album, probably because that's exactly what they've done.”
Beautiful Garbage is the third studio album from Garbage, initially released on October 1, 2001. The album expanded on the band's musical variety, with stronger melodies, more direct lyrics, and sounds mixing rock with electronica, new wave, hip hop, and girl groups. Featuring newly remastered audio by Billy Bush & Butch Vig, this deluxe edition includes Beautiful Garbage on 2 x 180g Black Vinyl, as well as a 12" 180g of B-Sides and memorabilia.
Bullet For My Valentine
Diana Ross sings “Thank You” to the world. “This collection of songs is my gift to you with appreciation and love. I am eternally grateful that I had the opportunity to record this glorious music at this time,” said Ms. Ross. Her new album, “Thank You” is scheduled for release this fall through Decca Records / Universal Music Group. The title track and first single,” Thank You,” will be available for streaming and download on June 17.
Recorded in her home studio, “Thank You" offers a powerful, inclusive musical message of love and togetherness. With its songs of happiness, appreciation and joy, it wholeheartedly acknowledges that we are in this all together. Her family, friends and loyal and loving audiences all around the globe have been an integral part of her wonderful life’s story. In this special moment, it is time to step into the light.
Ms. Ross co-wrote and collaborated on the 13 songs along with award-winning songwriters and producers including: Jack Antonoff, Troy Miller,Triangle Park, Spike Stent, Prince Charlez, Amy Wadge, Neff-U, Freddie Wexler, Jimmy Napes, Tayla Parx, Fred White, and Nathanial Ledgewick.
Let us come together in harmony and gratitude with Diana Ross now and for the future. “I dedicate this songbook of love to all of you, the listeners. As you hear my voice you hear my heart. "Let Love Lead the Way”
Simply calling Curtis Harding a soul man feels reductive. Harding's voice conveys pain, pleasure, longing, tenderness, sadness and strength-a full gamut of emotions. Today his voice takes on an optimistic lilt with his his new album, If Words Were Flowers. If Words Were Flowers is Harding's first new music since 2018, a follow up to his critically acclaimed 'Face Your Fears" album. It features songs like " Hopeful", where Harding croons with devotion over a classic soul groove, textured with infectious horn playing, background singers and modern psychedelic flourishes. Harding fuels his psychedelic sound with the essence of Soul but isn't bound by it. Instead, his songs convey an eclectic blend of genres leaping from the many musical lives he has lived from following his evangelical Gospel-singing mother on tour around the country as a child to rapping in Atlanta, forming a garage band with The Black Lips' Cole Alexander to singing back-up for Cee Lo Green. Through these experiences he fully embraces life's darkest intricacies and conjures dynamic, addictive melodies
Steve Earle & The Dukes (& Duchesses)
The Low Highway [Limited Edition Butter Cream LP]
Vinyl: $24.99 Buy
The Low Highway was the follow-up to 2011's Grammy Award-nominated album I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive and was the first billed as "Steve Earle & The Dukes (& Duchesses)." The album is also the first to feature "The Dukes" band name since 1987's Exit 0. This is the first color pressing for this record.
Arlo Parks
My Soft Machine [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Transparent Green LP]
Vinyl: $24.99 Buy
AJJ
Disposable Everything [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Strawbably Red LP]
Vinyl: $24.99 Buy
At long last, the classic Steely Dan catalog is back on vinyl. Led by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, Steely Dan released 7 albums from 1972-1980. The vinyl series continues with Countdown to Ecstasy, the band's sprawling 1973 sophomore LP with standouts such as "Bodhisattva," "Show Biz Kids" and "My Old School." 180-gram vinyl.
The Exploding Hearts
Guitar Romantic: Expanded & Remastered [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Pink/Yellow Wisp Clear LP]
The thought of how an underground power/pop/punk band should exist in the aftermath of the Green Day Nineties was a proposal that hung heavy with apprehension, confusion and bewilderment. While a difficult construct to navigate, this is the unlikely Portland, Oregon setting we see the Exploding Hearts erupt from.
Drawing spiritual inspiration from the likes of the Buzzcocks, Undertones, and Nick Lowe, the attitude and implied delinquency of the Exploding Hearts was more in line with that of au courant Naughties Warped Tour line-ups. The band also considered themselves peers with the scuzzier side of “The” rock bands at the top of the 2000s. The intersection between Detroit garage punk, Goner Records and the shelves at Hot Topic is a seldom tread land, but it was fertile with potential.
With ten undeniable songs clocking in at just 28 minutes, the Hearts' indisputably essential Guitar Romantic operated as the punk rock equivalent of Ernest Hemingway’s writing: Nothing extraneous, simple, straightforward, to the point, deserving of no additional flourish or accoutrement, with every creative decision pushing forward the work as a whole. Arguably, perfect.
The album immediately felt strong. It felt classic. It felt…destined for bigger things.
Yet barely three months after its domestic release, with momentum building and Lookout! Records sniffing around, band members Jeremy Gage, Adam Cox and Matt Fitzgerald, all barely in their twenties, would die in a tragic van accident that ended the band.
The intervening two decades has found Guitar Romantic bubble up from a below-the-radar cult classic to a genuinely acknowledged and appreciated touchstone of its time. As years have carried on with the album rightfully landing on countless “Best of” lists, this record is somehow still ascending and growing.
With that in mind, the passing of Guitar Romantic co-writer “King” Louie Bankston in 2022 served as inspiration for Six to place the album with an appropriate and caring long-term home after years of planning to self-release. Six approached only one label - Third Man Records - who immediately agreed to take up the mantle of the record that was near and dear to their collective hearts.
Guitar Romantic (Expanded & Remastered) doesn’t just present the album with a sharp, spiffed up remastering. It also found original album producer Pat Kearns spinning the old reel to reel and archived DAT tapes for the first time in twenty years. This enabled Six to drop in nuggets like little snippets of pre-and-post-take studio dialogue amongst band members, adding audible life to a record that for too long has been overly-associated with death.
If that weren’t enough, the remastering uncovered the previously forgotten organ-heavy “King Louie Mix” of the fan favorite “I’m A Pretender.” Even more intriguing was the discovery of a completely unheard take of “So Bored", previously not even known to have been recorded at the Guitar Romantic sessions. Of most excitement though is a remastered version of “Busy Signals” (a song originally released on a small-quantity 7-inch in January 2003).
All of these songs are included here, housed in a beautiful gatefold packaging and still all fitting on a single LP.
With plans to play a handful of select tribute shows across the US to honor the Guitar Romantic material, Terry Six continues to carry the torch for the Exploding Hearts and the countless fans who count this album as a quintessential touchstone.
Recorded at Ardent Studios and released in 1972, the album has gone on to become one of the most influential and iconic debut albums of all time. This 50th-anniversary edition is pressed on 180-gram metallic gold with purple smoke vinyl and features all-analog mastering by Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl. The album has been included in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, with the song “Thirteen” featured in its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Def Leppard / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Drastic Symphonies [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Clear 2P]
Vinyl: $41.99 Buy
Strap yourselves in for the sonic ride of your life. Rock and classical royalty unite on brand new album Drastic Symphonies. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, Def Leppard have drastically deconstructed and reimagined some of their biggest hits, collaborating with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. This bold new approach to the orchestral hits formula sees new vocal and guitar recordings from the band.
Ghost follows last year’s international chart-topping opus IMPERA as intended from the start with PHANTOMIME, a diverse and spellbinding sampling of the GRAMMY Award-winning band’s musical DNA. Featuring covers of classics by Television, Genesis, The Stranglers, Iron Maiden and Tina Turner, PHANTOMIME pays tribute to these unlikely bedfellow influences while stamping them all with Ghost’s undeniable sonic signature.
Dave Matthews Band
Walk Around The Moon [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Clear LP]
Vinyl: $27.99 Buy
Dave Matthews Band’s 10th studio album, Walk Around the Moon, took shape during the pandemic and is as much a reflection on the current times as it is an urge to find common ground. Walk Around the Moon will be released to coincide with the start of the band’s 2023 summer tour.
On the heels of his newest single release “Forget Me,” Lewis Capaldi returns with his sophomore album, Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent.
Recorded entirely on acoustic instruments, and predominantly performed by Paul, Seven Psalms showcases Simon’s craft at its finest and most captivating, simply with his voice and guitar. Intended to be listened to as one continuous piece, the 33-minute, seven-movement composition transcends the concept of the “album".
A stunning, intricately layered work, it’s a record which establishes an engaging and meditative, almost hymnal soundscape, with Paul’s lyrics providing the gravitational center for constellations of sound woven from guitar strings and other acoustic instrumentation – including choral elements from the highly-regarded British vocal ensemble VOCES8, and a beautiful vocal appearance by Edie Brickell.
True to the origin of psalms as hymns meant to be sung rather than spoken, Seven Psalms reaches back to the very genesis of folk music: King David’s Psalms. The result is a quietly moving musical experience which uncovers a wealth of subtle details with every repeated listen. A step apart from anything Paul Simon has released before, Seven Psalmsdefies categorization.
The record’s tone is complemented by its artwork, which features a close-up extract of “Two Owls” by the celebrated landscape artist Thomas Moran.
The FAST X Official Motion Picture Soundtrack is the latest global, multi-genre soundtrack from The Fast Saga franchise. The compilation features the hottest emerging and international superstar recording artists in the world, spanning Phonk, Latin, Hip Hop, R&B, EDM, Country and Pop.
The Jonas Brothers took the world by storm in 2019 with the surprise release of their critically acclaimed and widely successful single "Sucker" following a six-year hiatus. The triple-platinum single debuted at #1 on Billboard's Hot 100. Their third #1 album ‘Happiness Begins’ went platinum, and they recently celebrated receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Their next album 'The Album' will release on May 12, 2023 and was produced by Jon Bellion.
Island of Love
Island Of Love [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Piss Yellow LP]
Vinyl: $24.99 Buy
You know a band has to be one of the most incredible live outfits in the country when they get signed immediately after a show in the time it takes to pop outside for a cigarette break. This is exactly what happened to Island of Love after they were invited to play The Blue Basement venue in Third Man Records - which opened in September 2021 in London as the third Third Man store after Nashville and Detroit. Island of Love were second only to Jack White himself to play the room and it was still so new that the drummer even left with paint on his back from where he’d been pressed up against the wall playing. With that on-the-spot offer, they became the first band signed to Third Man London.
The band are a unique proposition in many ways. While countless London bands continue to go down the same tired path of churning out spoken word post-punk, Island of Love marry raw, primal noise led by crunchy guitars with intrinsically melodic sensibilities - recalling the sound and spirit of peak-era Dinosaur Jr. or Husker Dü.
Moby’s second album on Deutsche Grammophon following 2021’s Reprise. Digging further into his catalog, Moby has reimagined fifteen of some if his most iconic tracks for his new album, Resound NYC. The album features tracks that he wrote between 1994-2010 while living in New York City, and the new versions feature a vibrant, brass-heavy sound.
Alison Goldfrapp has set a towering bar for British synth-pop in the 21st century and she’s only just getting started. The magnetic London-born singer, songwriter and producer’s seven albums with Goldfrapp were fuelled by an unfailing modernity and a sixth sense for sounds that were more timeless than any trend. With the release of her debut solo album The Love Invention—an electrifying dance-pop suite—her multi-faceted musicianship reaches a new peak.
The Love Invention marks Alison’s reawakening as a dancefloor priestess, in an intoxicating showcase of the disco and house influences that have always been at the heart of her musical DNA. “So Hard So Hot” bottles the ephemeral joy of a dancefloor with its anthemic house beat, disco handclaps, and an exquisitely alluring vocal from Alison. The sense of uninhibited liberation courses through album highlights like “In Electric Blue,” a yearning synth-pop confection with a chorus as blissful as love’s first butterflies. On “Never Stop,” she is flooded with the rush of an all-encompassing love over a buoyant, rubberised beat; the sublime synth-pop of “Fever” is an ode to the intoxicating majesty of the dancefloor, with a chorus that explodes as if setting off a glitter cannon.
Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Parker McCollum is following up his breakout major label debut, Gold Chain Cowboy, with his forthcoming studio album, Never Enough, out May 12 (MCA Nashville). McCollum earned his first-ever No. 1 hit with his double-platinum certified premiere single, “Pretty Heart,” and his follow-up gold certified single, “To Be Loved by You,” also hit No. 1 on the charts.
Parker Millsap
Wilderness Within You [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Autographed Maroon LP]
Vinyl: $22.99 Buy
It’s been a time of intense, worldwide change over the past few years… or maybe it all depends on scale. Zooming out to a geological timeline, maybe not much has changed at all. On his sixth album Wilderness Within You, acclaimed singer/songwriter Parker Millsap explores this flux between the here and now and the big BIG picture, while reckoning with questions about humanity’s place on this planet. The result is a study in contrasts: the personal versus the cosmic, sparse acoustic compositions sitting next to lush psychedelic improvisations. Above all, Wilderness Within You is an understanding of darkness while expressing an abundance of gratitude for life itself.
Born and raised in Purcell, Okla., a tiny town with a huge sky, Millsap learned early on how to express gratitude through song while playing gospel in the church band. Long-time fans will recognize the album’s foundations – acoustic instrumentation and solid songwriting centered around Millsap’s show-stopping voice. They’ll also spot the evolution towards more experimentation and sampling from other musical cultures. Beyond the opening “Greetings and Thanks,” which puts to music “The Thanksgiving Address” of the indigenous peoples of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy — all proceeds from the song will be donated to the Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force — the album continues on with a series of auditory landscapes and thoughtful insights including “Running on Time,” which contrasts a sweet message about patience with distorted electronic harmonies. The second half of Wilderness turns darker and moodier with the industrial, buzz-saw “Half a World Away,” which finds Millsap questioning “who murders for my meat? who gets it here from there?” At the other end of the sonic spectrum is the beautiful, roots-y title track, a duet with the legendary Gillian Welch. The track illustrates Millsap’s understanding of nature as something that humans are not separate from - that life is stunningly beautiful most of the time, but does contain streaks of darkness that are just as natural: “There’s a field that’s full of violets, there’s a bruise that’s purple brown / There’s a little bit of violence, and a lot of fertile ground.”
In a broader sense, Wilderness Within You poses many weighty questions without easy answers. While Millsap can feel deeply discouraged by the way things are going wrong in the world, especially with the climate crisis, Wilderness Within You is threaded with hope and thankfulness for all we do have. This idea is beautifully etched on “Magic,” an anthem about the power of paying attention – a torch song perfect for listeners to join in and belt along to.
“I really do want people to feel the magic,” Millsap said, echoing lyrics from the song. “It’s out there.”
Celebrate the 5th Anniversary of Kacey Musgraves’ Grammy Award-winning Album of the Year, Golden Hour, with a glittery, limited-edition sky-blue vinyl pressing.
Ed Sheeran is set to release his new album ‘-‘ (Subtract) - the last in his decade-spanning mathematical album era - on May 5, 2023. An album that revisits Ed’s singer/songwriter roots, and one that was written against a backdrop of personal grief and hope, ‘-’ (Subtract) presents one of the biggest stars on the planet at his most vulnerable and honest.
Smashing Pumpkins
ATUM [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition 4LP w/ Exclusive Inserts]
The indie variant includes three exclusive screen-printed inserts, each inspired by the three acts of ATUM.
Over 3 decades ago, Peter One was a STAR. A country music star, in West Africa. With his singing partner Jess Sah Bi, Peter played to sold out arenas. In 1985, Our Garden Needs Its Flowers, launched the two Ivory Coast musicians into regional stardom across greater West Africa. Now solo, Peter One ultimately decided to emigrate to the US to further his music career. Come Back to Me features songs in English, French and his native African language.
The group's third studio release, Buhloone Mindstate released on September 21, 1993, saw the group evolve into a new sound as they continued to grow stylistically and musically. There were several moments on the album which proved the band had matured. "I Be Blowin'" was a departure as the track was an instrumental featuring saxophone playing by Maceo Parker. The introspective "I Am I Be" showed de la Soul at their most self-referential to date. "Long Island Wildin'" was a collaboration with Japanese hip hop artists Kan Takagi (Major Force) and trio Scha Dara Parr (SDP). The album's first single, "Breakadawn", used a sample of Michael Jackson's "I Can't Help It" and Smokey Robinson's "Quiet Storm". de La Soul collaborated for the first time with Gang Starr's Guru on "Patti Dooke", and female MC Shortie No Mas who was prominent on many tracks on the album and showcased particularly on "In The Woods". The album ended with an old school Biz Markie collaboration called "Stone Age".
The third full-length from Olivia Jean, Raving Ghost, is an album populated by mysterious characters in various states of danger: cursed lovers, doomed souls, women deliriously haunted by unseen forces. Over the course of its 12 spellbinding tracks, the Detroit-born singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist amplifies that drama with her wildly melodic take on garage-rock, handling each riff with the power and precision she’s previously shown as a member of the Black Belles (and as an in-demand session/touring musician who’s played with legends like Wanda Jackson). A stunning evolution of the retro-surf sound of her past solo work, Raving Ghost ultimately makes for the most magnificently heavy and mesmerizing output yet from an endlessly fascinating artist.
DRAIN – the Santa Cruz, CA based hardcore band, whose energetic live shows have propelled them to peak underground popularity (during a global pandemic) and they are ready to break wide open in 2023.
Living Proof is the band’s Epitaph Records debut and follow up to their 2020 breakout release, California Cursed. The new album is a testament to the hard work and heartfelt ethos that’s at the center of DRAIN’s good-time psyche. There are a couple surprises on the album. Rapper Shakewell appears on the track, “Intermission”. There’s also a cover of “Good, Good Things,” a nearly four-decade old melodic punk carol by the Descendents: slam-pit forebearers to DRAIN if there ever were any. “It’s crazy because the song’s been out like forty years, but lyrically it’s a DRAIN song!” exclaims vocalist Sam Ciaramitaro. “It just hits on everything that I love, that I’m about.”
What Sammy’s about is plenty wholesome. “I hope with this record that when someone hears it, it gives them hope,” beams. “If we were able to get through the tough times, anyone can. I can’t wait to play these songs and hear a room full of people singing back to us. We’re what the title says, the Living Proof.”
Produced by longtime friend and multi-instrumentalist Taylor Young (God’s Hate, Suicide Silence), then mixed by John Markson (Drug Church, Koyo), this is hardcore for everybody. “As the band gets bigger, I try and keep that feeling alive,” says the smiling singer. “Every night I set up the merch and run it until it’s time to play. I want to be the guy that everyone says hello to. I want to thank every single kid that comes out for being there.”
Durand Jones’s Wait ‘Til I Get Over is a memoir and a love letter. It is the story of Jones’s life, his growth and revelations, the wisdom of his hometown and the wisdom he could only gain once he left. In it, he writes through Hillaryville’s contradictions: the pristine beauty and the ragged roads; his teenage desire to leave and his adult desire to honor his tangled roots; the plantation history and the ups and downs of the Black community that made homes of this reparation town. “Hometowns have a way of keeping a part of you,” says Jones, “and if I’m making something young-me would be proud of, Hillaryville is a big part of that.” Jones finds something transformative in his memories there and the life he has led since, ultimately claiming and embracing his whole self.
The result is vulnerable, personal, touching on Jones’s relationship to church life, to his mother, to his queerness, to his worth. “I wish I could tell my younger self ‘you don’t have to stick to the dreams people have for you,’” says Jones, “’you can dream bigger. You are more than capable, you are more than able. I think about some nerdy punk kid in the rural south who needs to hear that now.’” Wait ‘Til I Get Over does exactly that.
Emily King has a near-magical gift for digging into life's deepest sorrows and uncovering unexpected beauty and illuminating truth. The NYC-bred artist brings ever-evolving levels of depth and nuance to her songwriting, rooting each revelation into a mesmerizing blend of soul, R&B and forward-thinking pop. Special Occasion - the follow-up to the multiple GRAMMY-nominated Scenery (2019) - is an intimate look at the ways we love, grieve, and stumble toward a greater sense of self-understanding.
Hailed by American Songwriter as “one of America’s most intriguing, creative, and idiosyncratic voices,” Eilen Jewell rises from the ashes on her captivating new album, Get Behind The Wheel, picking up the pieces of her shattered world and finding new purpose after watching her marriage, her band, and what felt like her entire career fall apart in a series of heartbreaking implosions. Co-produced by multi-instrumental wizard Will Kimbrough (Todd Snider, Hayes Carll), the 11-song collection pushes the acclaimed singer and songwriter’s trademark blend of vintage roots-noir into more psychedelic territory, with spacious, cinematic arrangements complementing her revelatory explorations of grief, loss, resilience, and redemption. The band’s performances are electrifying here, resulting in Jewell’s boldest album yet, a powerful work of artistic alchemy that transforms heartache into genuine creative rebirth.
Single-sided 12" EP featuring two new originals from RSD US Ambassadors Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires, a reimagined version of "Tour of Duty" from the Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit album Here We Rest, and a cover of Richard Thompson's "Beeswing". Side B holds a stunning vinyl etching designed by Pearl Rachinsky-Moreland.
1. Old Habits (Amanda Shires)
2. Hired Gun (Jason Isbell)
3. Tour of Duty
4. Beeswing (Richard Thompson)
Logan Halstead will release his anticipated debut album, Dark Black Coal, May 5 via Thirty Tigers.
Age is a number, and Logan Halstead constantly reminds us of that. At just 15 years old, he wrote his first song, "Dark Black Coal", a powerful and haunting song about life for many of the people where he is from who had to work in the coal mines of southern West Virginia. Logan Halstead, 18 years old, is a country/folk/americana singer-songwriter who grew up in Comfort, WV. Logan pulls most of his music from the struggle and hardship of his life and those around him. Small-town living isn't intensely stimulating socially or economically, but spiritually there is always a yearning for more.
Being from WV and KY, it's no surprise that Tyler Childers and Sturgill Simpson influence him, but he has also found a lot of inspiration from Nicholas Jamerson and Cole Chaney. "All these folks mentioned have laid a path and shown that it's okay to be from these parts; we're not so looked down on anymore..." says Logan. It's given him the ability to be proud of who he is and has led him to be a driving force in the scene of young artists from the Appalachian region.
Logan doesn't like to put himself in a box sonically or stylistically. Still, many would adorn it as Appalachian/Americana music. Above all, it is raw and honest, and the writing wrapped in wisdom one might only think someone two decades older than could conjure. While the masses clamored for more content, Halstead took his time and found the right partners for his debut album. He decided to cut his project at the famous Sound Emporium Studios in Nashville, TN. He was accompanied by the one and only Lawrence Rothman (Amanda Shires, Margo Price, Angel Olson, and many more). When asked about the recording process, Logan said, "It was a great experience; Lawrence is top-notch. They made me feel comfortable just to go in and do what I do, and to get to record in a place like that is a dream come true, especially for a holler kid". Lawrence, who saw success at a very young age, was a perfect fit because they understood Logan's position and angst and allowed Logan to express himself freely.
In 2020 Logan released "Dark Black Coal" on Youtube, which has since amassed almost 6 million views. The success of that single has allowed Logan to build a great fan base through YouTube, touring, and opening for folks like Zach Bryan, Charles Wesley Godwin, Town Mountain, and many more. With the record's release over a year after he created the album, Our Vinyl came into his life at the perfect time. Halstead released a taste of his upcoming project, and with that four-song EP, Logan gained over 120,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.
With the success of "Dark Black Coal" it's no surprise that it became the title for his first album. He signed with Thirty Tigers and is excited to partner with them on his release. The release date is slated for May 5th, and he will be touring those songs throughout May. Expect to see his name on festival billings, support tours, and in a town near you. "I want my music to keep evolving and improve my craft. I want to be the best I can be and give my fans shows to remember" says Halstead. Like all musicians, they hope to achieve a successful career but don't expect Logan Halstead to change who he is or what he believes in to reach it. Authentically himself, he strives to always be honest and authentic to his fans.
The Milk Carton Kids
I Only See the Moon [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Maroon LP]
Vinyl: $23.98 Buy
Completing their seventh studio album was a hard-won victory for The Milk Carton Kids, but I Only See the Moon was worth the effort for Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan. “It feels like returning to something that’s natural and comfortable, and also just as inspiring and new as when we first met,” says Pattengale, who formed The Milk Carton Kids with Ryan in 2011.
What started as a three-week recording session in the fall of 2021, with Pattengale producing the contemporary folk duo himself for the first time, stretched into a monthslong project that found the pair digging deeper into their craft than ever before. With a new studio of their own in Los Angeles and the realization that they were in no hurry, The Milk Carton Kids took the time they needed to be fully satisfied with I Only See the Moon.
“I haven’t been as happy with the collection of songs that we’ve put on record probably since our first record, and it’s because of a lot of the lessons we’ve learned over the years, including giving yourself time and space,” Ryan says.The three-time Grammy nominees sound refreshed on 10 new songs distilled to the essence of The Milk Carton Kids: two voices blended together in spellbinding harmony, accompanied by subtly perfect acoustic instrumentation. Turns out that’s a tough sound to get just right, but I Only See the Moon shows just how much Pattengale and Ryan were willing to work for it.
The National
First Two Pages of Frankenstein [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Red LP]
Vinyl: $25.99 Buy
First Two Pages of Frankenstein is The National’s ninth studio album. This 11-song collection signals a new chapter in the band’s discography. Anchored by evocative melodies and an enthralling lyrical narrative, First Two Pages of Frankenstein finds The National sounding more creatively energized than ever and poised to earn them even more fans. The album was produced by the band at Long Pond Studios in upstate New York and features guest appearances by Taylor Swift (“The Alcott”), Phoebe Bridgers (“This Isn’t Helping” and “Your Mind Is Not Your Friend”) and Sufjan Stevens (“Once Upon a Poolside”).
The Signals Super Deluxe celebrates 40 years with a brand-new Hugh Syme cover & the 2015 remaster on CD for the first time. The album vinyl was cut for the first time at half-speed via DMM & pressed on 180g black vinyl for optimal vinyl quality with new Hugh Syme art in a premium tip-on jacket. A Blu-ray Audio disc features brand-new immersive Dolby Atmos & 5.1 surround mixes by Richard Chycki, the 2015 48kHz 24-bit stereo remaster, new animated visualizers for each song & 2 bonus music videos for “Subdivisions” and “Countdown”. Bonus items include a 40-page hardcover book with new song illustrations and unreleased photos from the Signals Tour, four 7-inches with new art, three lenticulars that transition from the original black & white band headshots into the original album “Digital Man” color headshots, four Signals Tour band lithos, Hugh’s original album cover sketch litho & a double-sided 24-inch by 24-inch poster featuring Hugh’s new art on one side and an outtake photo from the original album cover shoot on the other side.
Kip Moore will be releasing his 5th studio album, Damn Love, on April 28, 2023. The album will feature 13 tracks including the single “Kinda Bar.” Kip Moore’s four studio albums include: Up All Night, Wild Ones, Slowheart, and Wild World. Moore has charted a total of 12 entries on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts including the number-one "Somethin' 'Bout a Truck" and four additional top-ten hits. He has also written songs for Frankie Ballard, Thompson Square, and James Wesley.
Stephen Stills is an unyielding force of nature.
The amount of music pouring out of this man could’ve fueled a half-dozen bands. Following the June 1971 release of his second solo album, Stephen Stills 2, he announced his first solo tour designed to showcase all aspects of the ever-growing artist. Fans who were lucky enough to catch his historic debut trek, dubbed “The Memphis Horns Tour,” were treated to the balladeer, the raving troubadour, the acoustic bluesman, the soul driver, and by far the most passionate music maker offering his goods across the better auditoriums and arenas that summer.
This previously unissued live album, with performances hand-picked by Stills from his personal archives, was recorded on August 20 and 21, 1971 at The Berkeley Community Theater. This 3,500-seat venue made this one of the most unique and intimate stops on the tour that included his iconic concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden. In many ways, these Northern California shows in Berkeley sound as if Stills is leaving it all on the stage during a hometown gig.
In addition to The Memphis Horns, Stills is backed by a loyal cast of friends, including his usual steady rhythm section—drummer Dallas Taylor and bassist Calvin “Fuzzy” Samuels—along with keyboardist Paul Harris, guitarist Steve Fromholz, and percussionist Joe Lala. Guesting on both nights of these recordings was David Crosby, singing on his own nautical classic “The Lee Shore,” and the Stills-penned “You Don’t Have To Cry,” a Crosby, Stills & Nash favorite.
The music on these grooves—timeless and era-defining performances— “Word Game,” “Love The One You’re With,” “Sugar Babe,” “Cherokee,” among others, hasn’t aged a day since they were captured on tape. This album, rather than being an artifact from a bygone era, sparkles and stimulates. It cajoles you into thinking, feeling and—most importantly—moving. This is music that’s been unearthed because it’s simply too good not to be blasting out of cars and exploding from apartment windows and onto the streets.
Stephen Stills Live At Berkeley 1971 is a cornucopia of priceless sound—and all of it bears the distinct and loving fingerprint of Stephen Stills.
—Howie Edelson, New York City, December 2022
“I was finally able to trust myself fully,” says Indigo De Souza of making her masterful third album All of This Will End. Across 11 its songs, the LP is a raw and radically optimistic work that grapples with mortality, the rejuvenation that community brings, and the importance of centering yourself now. These tracks come from the most resonant moments of her life: childhood memories, collecting herself in parking lots, the ecstatic trips spent wandering Appalachian mountains and southern swamps with friends, and the times she had to stand up for herself. “All of This Will End feels more true to me than anything ever has,” she says.
In many ways, All of This Will End has become a personal motto for Indigo. “Every day I wake up with the thought that this could be the end,” she says. “You could look at it as a sad thing, or you could look at it as a really precious thing: Today I'm alive and at some point, I will not be in this body anymore. But for now, I can do so much with being alive.” There’s a peacefulness in acceptance throughout. As she sings on the title track, “I’m only loving only moving through and trying my best / Sometimes it’s not enough but I’m still real and I forgive.” She describes the experience of writing this song as “magic,” as if everything about it from the words and melody had felt timeless and intangible and that she was just writing it down. Like the hues of reds and oranges that her mother painted on the LP cover, All of This Will End marks a warmer and unmistakably audacious era for her. It’s a statement about fearlessly moving forward from the past into a gratitude-filled present, feeling it all every step of the way, and choosing to embody loving awareness.
Renowned singer, songwriter, musician, artist and best-selling author Josh Ritter will release his anticipated new album, Spectral Lines, April 28 via Thirty Tigers.
Produced by Ritter’s longtime collaborator Sam Kassirer (Lake Street Dive, Langhorne Slim), Spectral Lines finds Ritter expanding beyond the bounds of his previous work to create a record both atmospheric and profound. Dedicated to the memory of his mother, Ritter searches for commonality across these ten seamless tracks by exploring life’s most universal ideas—love, devotion and what it means to be connected, to both each other and to ourselves.
“I think it’s important for us to share some of our most basic and common experiences with each other, however we can. That’s what we really, really need right now. I know we have common experiences, and it’s important to telegraph those back because they don’t have to be lonely experiences.” - Josh Ritter
One of today’s most thoughtful and prolific voices, Ritter has released ten studio albums including 2019’s widely acclaimed, Fever Breaks, of which NPR Music praised, “He remains a hydrant of ideas while embodying an endless capacity for empathy and indignation, often within a single song.” In addition to his work as a musician, Ritter is also a national best-selling author, having released two novels to date: 2011’s Bright’s Passage and 2021’s The Great Glorious Goddamn of It All, for which the film rights have recently been optioned for development. Released to critical attention, Stephen King wrote in The New York Times Book Review that Bright’s Passage “shines with a compressed lyricism that recalls Ray Bradbury in his prime…This is the work of a gifted novelist.”
In celebration of the new record, Ritter and his band, the Royal City Band, will return to the road in spring ‘23 with headline shows at Chicago’s Thalia Hall, Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium, Washington, DC’s Lincoln Theatre, Philadelphia’s Keswick Theatre, Boston’s House of Blues and New York’s Beacon Theatre among others. Visit www.joshritter.com for full details.
In addition to Ritter (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar) and Kassirer (piano, organ, mellotron, synthesizers, drums), Spectral Lines also features Jocie Adams (clarinet, synthesizers, background vocals), Matt Douglas (woodwinds), Zachariah Hickman (upright bass, electric bass), Rich Hinman (electric guitar, pedal steel), Shane Leonard (drums, percussion, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass), Kevin O’Connell (drums, percussion, electric bass, electric guitar) and Dietrich Strause (acoustic guitar, electric guitar).
The Sun is the fourth studio record from Joseph (sisters Natalie, Meegan and Allison Closner) and the follow-up to Good Luck, Kid (2019). It builds on its predecessor’s cinematic pop, bringing a thrilling new energy into each of the albums ten elegantly sculpted tracks. Joseph worked with acclaimed producers Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket, First Aid Kit) and Christian “Leggy” Langdon (Amos Lee, BANKS) to build an irresistibly vibrant sound ranging from moody grandeur to pure anthemic glory.
Nigerian-American musician, songwriter and producer Joy Oladokun announces her new album, Proof of Life, out April 28, 2023 on Amigo/Verve Forecast/Republic Records. Her third original full-length album vividly captures the human experience with a profound simplicity, celebrating the little details and simple pleasures of being alive, while giving voice to some of life’s most complex experiences in a way only she can. The album boasts feats from Chris Stapleton, Noah Kahan, Mt. Joy and more.
Yves Tumor
Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) [45RPM 2LP]
Vinyl: $35.99 Buy
Everything but the Girl return in 2023 with the new album Fuse, after a 24-year hiatus. Written and produced by Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn over the spring-summer of 2021, Fuse is a modern take on the lustrous electronic soul the band first pioneered in the mid-90s. Thorn's affecting and richly textured voice is once again up front in Watt's glimmering landscape of sub-bass, sharp beats, half-lit synths and empty space, and as before, the result is the sound of a band comfortable with being both sonically contemporary, yet agelessly themselves.
Rodrigo Y Gabriela
In Between Thoughts…A New World [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Gold Nugget LP]
Vinyl: $24.98 Buy
Guitar virtuosos Rodrigo y Gabriela have announced the follow-up to the GRAMMY-winning album Mettavolution. In Between Thoughts…A New World is the duo’s first full-length album in four years. It is a spontaneously composed, yet unified work which brings the same expansion of consciousness that inspired its creation. Self-produced in Ixtapa, Mexico, the album sees Rodrigo y Gabriela building on their original sound to include electronics and orchestral elements.
St. Paul & The Broken Bones
Angels In Science Fiction [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Black & White LP]
Vinyl: $23.99 Buy
When Paul Janeway learned he was going to be a father he decided to scribe his thoughts (joy, fear, confusion) as messages to his then-unborn daughter. Those letters became Angels in Science Fiction, the stunning fifth album from St. Paul & The Broken Bones. Produced by Matt Ross-Spang at the legendary Sam Phillips Recording Studio in Memphis, it finds the band stretching further out, building on the shadowy psychedelia and intricate, experimental R&B of 2022’s The Alien Coast. Indie Exclusive Black & White LP.
Enter Shikari
A Kiss for the Whole World [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Transparent Violet Sparkle LP]
Vinyl: $28.98 Buy
+++ (Crosses)
PERMANENT.RADIANT EP [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Neon Green Vinyl]
Vinyl: $22.99 Buy
“PERMANENT.RADIANT is the newest EP from the darkly cinematic duo ††† (Crosses) featuring Chino Moreno of Deftones on vocals and Shaun Lopez on production and instrumentation. This project features the previously released singles “Vivien” and “Sensation,” along with the once exclusive vinyl track “Day One.” Eerie synth arrangements and pulsating percussion culminate in a lush, sprawling soundscape captured throughout this collection of songs. Chino Moreno's lyrics and vocal textures combined with Shaun Lopez's immersive production and sound design create a world that will likely transport anyone who listens to places both familiar and new.
ALL HANDS_MAKE LIGHT is the recently minted duo of Ariel Engle (La Force, Patrick Watson, Broken Social Scene) and Efrim Manuel Menuck (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt. Zion). Longtime friends, collaborators, and stalwarts of the Montréal post-punk community, this is their first full-fledged project together. AH_ML weaves these two unique voices through lustrous tendrils of blown-out tones and drones, expanding on Menuck’s eponymous modular and analog synth-based work of recent years, now imbued with an additionally searing, soulful warmth and melodicism through Engle’s singing. Darling The Dawn is a spellbinding album of preternaturally genre-bending sonics and songwriting: a sort of electronic shoegaze suffused with freak-folk, kosmische, darkwave and post-industrial, flowing from ambient minimalism to pulsing maximalism, conjuring traditionals sung in the haze of earliest light accompanied by overdriven circuit boards powered with ungrounded wires.
Metallica
72 Seasons [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Midnight Violet 2LP]
72 seasons. The first 18 years of our lives that form our true or false selves. The concept that we were told ‘who we are’ by our parents. A possible pigeonholing around what kind of personality we are. I think the most interesting part of this is the continued study of those core beliefs and how it affects our perception of the world today. Much of our adult experience is reenactment or reaction to these childhood experiences. Prisoners of childhood or breaking free of those bondages we carry.”
-James Hetfield
The Tallest Man On Earth
Henry St. [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Translucent Red LP]
Vinyl: $25.99 Buy
Kristian Matsson has never remained in one place for very long. Having spent much of the last decade touring around the world as The Tallest Man on Earth, Matsson has captivated audiences using, as The New York Times describes, “every inch of his long guitar cord to roam the stage: darting around, crouching, stretching, hip-twitching, perching briefly and jittering away...Mr. Matsson is a guitar-slinger rooted in folk, and his songs are troubadour ballads at heart.”
Now, Matsson returns as The Tallest Man on Earth with Henry St., his sixth studio album following 2012’s There’s No Leaving Now, full of “vivid imagery, clever turns-of-phrase, and devastating, world-weary observations” (Under The Radar) and 2015’s Dark Bird Is A Home, his “most personal record... surreal and dreamlike” (Pitchfork). Henry St. notably marks the first time he recorded an album in a band setting. “My entire career I’ve been a DIY person––mostly fueled by the feeling that I didn’t know what I was doing, so I’d just do everything myself.” But now, longing for the energy that’s only released when creating together with others, Matsson invited his friends to come and play.
Nick Sanborn (of Sylvan Esso) produced Henry St., which includes contributions from Ryan Gustafson (of The Dead Tongues) on guitar, lap steel and ukulele, TJ Maiani on drums, CJ Camerieri (of Bon Iver) on trumpet and French horn, Phil Cook on piano and organ, Rob Moose (of Bon Iver, yMusic) on strings and Adam Schatz on saxophone.
Last year’s Big Time brought Angel Olsen to a deeper, truer sense of self than ever before. Borne from the twin stars of grief and love, the album delivered beautiful sense of certainty, the sure-footed sound of an artist fully, finally at home with herself. But within that wisdom comes the realization that there is no finish line, no destination or static end point to life while you’re living it, and Forever Means collects songs from the Big Time sessions that hold this common theme. They are, in Olsen’s words, “in search of something else.”
“I was somewhere traveling,” says Olsen, “stopped for a few days and wandering the city, and I was thinking ‘what does ‘forever’ really mean? What are the things I’m seeking in friendship or love, and how can ‘forever’ be attainable if we’re always changing?’” Sitting with the reality of that entropy, Olsen realized “maybe the secret to ongoing love is to embrace change as part of love itself, that forever must have something to do with playing, looking, constantly searching things out for yourself, never letting yourself think you’re finished learning or exploring.”
Forever, says Olsen, “remains curious while trying also to be kind and honest.”
All this packs into the four precious songs that comprise Forever Means, songs from Olsen’s roads traveled and the ones ahead. “Nothing’s free / like breaking free” Olsen sings, comfortable with the costs of her clarity, her heart and voice fixed on the present, the future, the not-yet-known and the beautifully unknowable.
Produced by Sean Ono Lennon and mixed by Dave Fridmann (Beach House, Spoon, The Flaming Lips) , Temples fourth full-length album takes place in an impossibly utopic island dreamed up by the four band members. With its resplendent collage of psychedelia, krautrock and time-bending dream-pop, Exotico brings that world to life in crystalline detail, all while exploring an entire spectrum of existential themes: impermanence, mortality, our connection with nature and the wild immensity of the mind.
A gorgeous and gripping portrait of Fenne’s last two years, Big Picture was pieced together in an effort to self-soothe. Tracked live in co-producer Brad Cook’s North Carolina studio, the album delineates the phases of love and becomes a map of comfort vs claustrophobia.
Though its creation took place amid personal and global turmoil, the ruminative yet candid Big Picture is Fenne’s most cohesive, resolute work to date, both lyrically and sonically. “This isn’t a sad album — it’s about as uplifting as my way of doing things will allow,” she says. “These songs explore worry and doubt and letting go, but those themes are framed brightly.” With confidence and quiet strength, each track provides an insight into Fenne’s ever-changing view of love and, ultimately, its redefinition — love as a process, not something to be lost and found.
While the album was written alone in Fenne’s Bristol flat – a fact intentionally reflected in its compact sonic quality – Big Picture was transformed from a solitary venture into a unifying collaboration during the recording process when she was joined by her touring band, Melina Dutere of Jay Som (mixing), Christian Lee Hutson (guitar and co production), and Katy Kirby (vocals).
Notably, these 10 songs are Fenne’s first and only to have been written over the course of a relationship; 2018’s On Hold and 2020’s BREACH both confront the pain of retrospection, saying goodbye to a love that’s gone. Big Picture does the exact opposite — rooted firmly in the present, it traces the narrative of two people trying their hardest not to implode, together.
Fruit Bats
A River Running To Your Heart [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Opaque Blue & Bone LP]
Vinyl: $22.99 Buy
A River Running to Your Heart represents the fullest realization of Johnson's creative vision to date. It's a sonically diverse effort that largely explores the importance of what it means to be home, both physically and spiritually. Self-produced by Johnson-a first for Fruit Bats-with Jeremy Harris at Panoramic House just north of San Francisco, A River Running to Your Heart is Fruit Bats' tenth full-length release. The album finds the project in the middle of a people-powered climb leading to the biggest shows, loudest accolades, and most enthusiastic new fans in Fruit Bats history! It's hard to pinpoint a single reason for this mid-career resurgence. But after two decades of making music, hard-earned emotional maturity has clearly seeped into Johnson's already inviting songs, resulting in a sound that's connected with audiences like no other previous version of the band.
Various Artists
8 Mile (Music From & Inspired by The Motion Picture): 20th Anniversary Edition [Deluxe 4LP]
Vinyl: $99.99 Buy
The 8 Mile Deluxe Edition 4LP (180g) is the Official soundtrack to the (Eminem) semi-autobiographical film of the same name; originally released on October 29, 2002. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, and eventually became the fifth best-selling album in the US in 2002. Certified 6x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Apart from tracks by Eminem himself, the album also features hard-hitting tracks with Jay-Z, Macy Gray, Boomkat and more..."
The Wood Brothers have learned to trust their hearts. For the better part of two decades, they've cemented their reputation as freethinking songwriters, road warriors, and community builders, creating a catalog of diverse music and a loyal audience who’ve grown alongside them through the years. That evolution continues with Heart is the Hero, the band's eighth studio album. Recorded analog to 16-track tape, this latest effort finds its three creators embracing the chemistry of their acclaimed live shows by capturing their performances in real-time direct from the studio floor with nary a computer in sight. An acoustic-driven album that electrifies, Heart is the Hero is stocked with songs that target not only the heart, but the head and hips, too.
"We love records that come from the era of less tracks and more care," explains co-founder Oliver Wood. "When you use a computer during the tracking process, you have an infinite number of tracks at your disposal, which implies that nothing is permanent, and everything can be fixed. Tape gives you limitations that force you to be creative and intentional. You don't look at the music on a screen; you listen to it, and you learn to focus on the feeling of the performance.”
Throughout Heart is the Hero, those performances are matched by the visceral storytelling and songwriting chops that have turned The Wood Brothers into Grammy-nominated leaders of American roots music, even as their music reaches far beyond the genre's borders. The stripped-down swagger of "Pilgrim'' underscores Oliver's reminder to slow down and experience each moment as an interactive observer, rather than a passive tourist. A similar theme anchors “Between the Beats," where Oliver draws upon a meditation technique — maintaining one's focus on the space between heartbeats — to reach a new level of presence. The gentle sway of country soul gem “Rollin’ On,” featuring horns by Matt Glassmeyer and Roy Agee, expounds on the time-honored tradition of love as the guiding light through darkness, while ”Mean Man World" finds Chris Wood singing about his responsibilities as a father whose young daughter is poised to inherit an uncertain future. "Line Those Pockets'' is a universal call for mercy and understanding over materialism. "Everybody's just trying to be happy, so put your money away; line those pockets with grace," the band sings in three-part harmony during the song's chorus, which emphasizes compassion over cash as the world's true currency. Together, these songs offer a snapshot of a spirited, independent-minded group at the peak of its powers, always pushing forward and seeking to evolve beyond what’s come before.
"There's still acoustic guitar, upright bass, and percussion on this album — things people use all the time — but we're always thinking, 'How can we make this sound like us, but not like something we've already done?'" Oliver says. "Sometimes, the only way to do that is to get weird.”
That sense of exploration pumps its way through Heart is the Hero like lifeblood. Arriving on the heels of 2019's Live at The Fillmore, 2020's Kingdom In My Mind, and Oliver Wood's solo album Always Smilin' — all of which were released on Honey Jar Records, the band's independent label— Heart is the Hero is bold, bright, and singularly creative, a fully realized collective effort ultimately greater than the sum of its parts. Perhaps that's to be expected from a group whose willingness to experiment has earned acclaim from Rolling Stone and NPR, as well as an annual touring schedule of sold-out music halls and theaters on both sides of the Atlantic. Ask The Wood Brothers, though, and they'll tell you to expect the unexpected.
"We are never satisfied if we are not searching for new musical recipes," says Jano Rix, nodding to the uncharted territory that Heart is the Hero covers. Chris Wood agrees, adding, "We are one of those bands that isn't easily categorized. We know what our strengths are, but we can’t help but push the envelope, as well. It’s too much fun."
Neil Young and The Santa Monica Flyers
The Legendary Tonight’s The Night Tour
The Rainbow Theatre - London, England
November 5, 1973
Neil Young and the Santa Monica Flyers (Neil Young, Nils Lofgren, Ben Keith, Billy Talbot, Ralph Molina) played London’s Rainbow Theatre on November 5th, 1973, with the first half of the concert dedicated to Neil Young’s masterpiece album Tonight’s The Night. The intense concert was recorded by Pete Long, and includes riveting versions of the Tonight’s The Night tracks, plus Young classics “Cowgirl In The Sand”, “Don’t Be Denied” and “Flying On The Ground Is Wrong”. (2 LP, 2 CD)
Neil Young - Guitar, Vocals
The Santa Monica Flyers:
Nils Lofgren - lead and rhythm guitars, piano, accordion, vocals
Ben Keith - steel guitar, vocals
Billy Talbot - bass, vocals
Ralph Molina – drums, vocals
Recorded by Pete Long at The Rainbow Theatre, London, November 5, 1973
Mixed and Mastered by The Volume Dealers: Neil Young and Niko Bolas
This is the first official release by The Ducks - a short lived group that Neil played with in 1977. The Ducks featured Neil (guitar, harmonica and vocals), Bob Mosely (bass and vocals), Jeff Blackburn (guitar and vocals) and Johnny Craviotto (drums). Mosely was an original member of Bay Area band Moby Grape; Blackburn had previously fronted his own band and co-wrote with Neil the classic track “My My Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)”.
The band played several shows in Santa Cruz, CA and other California venues during two months in 1977, and this 3-LP, 2 CD, 25-track live album features highlights from those shows. The set lists were very democratic, with each member of the band taking the lead in turn. 5 Neil Young songs are showcased, including a rocking version of “Mr. Soul”, plus beautiful renditions of “Are You Ready For The Country”, “Little Wing”, “Sail Away” and “Human Highway”. (3 LP, 2 CD)
The Ducks:
Neil Young - Guitar, Harmonica & Vocals
Bob Mosley - Bass & Vocals
Jeff Blackburn - Guitar & Vocals
Johnny Craviotto - Drums & Vocals
Produced by Tim Mulligan with Jeff Blackburn & Neil Young
Live from Santa Cruz, Summer 1977
At The Catalyst, The Crossroads, The Steamship, Veterans Auditorium and Magic Devices Studio
Sticker Copy:
Jeff Blackburn
Johnny Craviotto
Bob Mosley
Neil Young
25 tracks on 2 CDs (or 3 LPs)
Recorded Live in California, 1977