New Releases & Staff Picks - 2/20/26

STAFF PICKS
DARIO - Messthetics
ASH - Daniel Villarreal
JAKE - Daniel Villarreal
KIMBER - Thelonious Monk reissue 
MARY - Danny Brown and Sugar reissues
ZACH - Altin Gun, Hen Ogledd, and Beggar Weeds
DREW - Altin Gun

ALTIN GUN - Garip LP (ATO Records)
Since bursting onto the scene in 2018 with their debut album, On, Amsterdam-based Altın Gün have been at the vanguard of the 21st century revival of Turkish-influenced psychedelic grooves. Now, the Grammy-nominated quintet return with their sixth studio album Garip - their most ambitious and diverse release to date, and a heartfelt tribute to Neşet Ertaş - a revered and much-loved Turkish singer, lyricist and bağlama player who recorded more than 30 albums and wrote hundreds of songs.

DANNY BROWN - Stardust CD/LP (Warp Records)
Danny Brown's last albums Quaranta and Scaring The Hoes bookended the end of the XXX era. Enter Stardust - Danny's first album since entering sobriety sees him rediscover his love of music, curating the next wave of star talent, who were heavily inspired by his music while exploring their own journey. The album features collaborations with underscores, Quadeca, Femtanyl, Jane Remover, Frost Children, 8485, JOHNNASCUS, IssBrokie, Nnamdi, Ta Ukarinka and Zheani - a hand-picked lineup curated by Danny Brown, as diverse as they are in the cohesive in the universe of Stardust.

MX LONELY - All Monsters CD/LP (Winspear)
In MX Lonely's world, monsters are multifaceted things. They're the creatures we used to imagine lurking in the shadows as a child; the all-too-real evildoers who abuse their power or line their pockets with sufering; the vices and flaws that we grapple with throughout our lives, and what we can become while under their grip. On their debut full-length album All Monsters, the Brooklyn-based band search dark corners, force open doors and exhume these monsters, via a heavy, murky alt-rock sound that's equally streaked with beauty. As their first entirely self-recorded release, All Monsters sees the band - synthesist/vocalist Rae Haas, guitarist Jake Harms bassist Gabriel Garman and drummer Andy Rapp - capturing a live, immediate, analogue sound which embodies the feeling of their live show, while also creating a more longform and nuanced experience than they have before. Going forward, they aim to keep heading out on the road and building a community based on mutual catharsis. I think that's kind of the manifestation or the prayer in this, is for everyone to have the space and tools to work through their own monsters, Haas says. Though committed to introspection, ultimately MX Lonely want to bring others into their world.

MUMFORD & SONS - Prizefighter CD/LP (Glassnote Music)
Grammy and BRIT award winners, Mumford & Sons return with their 6th studio album Prizefighter. Co-produced by Mumford & Sons and Aaron Dessner, and featuring Hozier, Gracie Abrams, Gigi Perez, and Chris Stapleton.

BEGGAR WEEDS - Tragedy In US History LP (Strolling Bones Recs)
L.H. Buddy & Debra Hough opened the Museum of Tragedy in U.S. History in their own home, next door to the Old Jail in St. Augustine in 1965. Buddy's acceptance into the Chamber of Commerce, after years of fighting the old city's take on his collection's articles of dubious authenticity and decidedly bad taste briefly improved traffic at the museum. Beggar Weeds grew up on Florida field trips to roadside attractions, citrus stands and critter zoos, and together they celebrated the music and stories of their shared Panhandle roots. Their telling is urgent, driven by tuneful voices of three brothers from other mothers baying over taut beats, forecasting the imminent alt-country movement. The yarns and their delivery are fresh and unburdened by pomp and wizardry. David Fricke writes of the band in Melody Maker, In short, a delightful surprise that flies in the face of fashion.

PEACHES - No Lube So Rude CD/LP (Kill Rock Stars)
A brash, unapologetic blend of electronic, dance, punk, industrial, and pop music, No Lube So Rude exists at the intersection of the personal and the political, where the body serves not only as a sexual and spiritual vessel, but also as the front line in a battle for basic human rights. Peaches' lyrics are bawdy and explicit here, laced with biting sarcasm and clever wordplay, but they're also surprisingly vulnerable, offering up a candid look in the mirror from a post-menopausal queer icon reckoning with a society that's come to expect silence, if not outright erasure. The result is a deliberately provocative exploration of identity, sexuality, and bodily autonomy from a trailblazer, a singular work of emotional and sonic alchemy that balances the poetic and the profane in equal measure as it transforms all the friction and frustration of modern life into joy and transcendence.

HEN OGLEDD - Discombobulated LP (Domino)
Discombobulated is the confounding and haunting new album from Hen Ogledd, the collaborative project of artists Dawn Bothwell, Rhodri Davies, Richard Dawson and Sally Pilkington. It's perhaps their most complex and emotionally charged record to date, involving meditations on political tumult, personal crisis and mental wellbeing in a world gone mad, yet also their most warmly inclusive and accessible. It features collaborations from avant-garde legends, family members, animals and even elements. By turns emphatic and vulnerable, subtle and direct, joyous and furious, Discombobulated is as strange, complex and moving a record as we have come to expect from Hen Ogledd.

DANIEL VILLARREAL - Panama 77 LP (International Anthem)
Panamá 77 - a vibrant and verdant suite of multi-textural, jazz-laced psychedelic instrumental folk-funk - is the debut album by Panamá-born drummer and DJ Daniel Villarreal. At the time of the album's 2022 release, Villarreal was one of the busiest players on the Chicago scene, primarily known for work behind the kit with Dos Santos, Neal Francis, Wild Belle, Valebol, Rudy de Anda, and many more.For this lead artist debut he engages a diverse array of friends and collaborators - including Bardo Martinez (Chicano Batman), Jeff Parker (Tortoise), Marta Sofia Honer (Adrian Younge), Anna Butterss (SML, Jeff Parker ETA IVtet), and Aquiles Navarro (Irreversible Entanglements) - to create a vibrant and verdant suite of multi-textural psychedelic instrumental folk-funk.Long out of print, dig this fresh Baby Blue color vinyl pressing for 2026 (chosen in honor of DV's classic baby-blue Mercedes), a limited edition of 1000 copies worldwide.RIYL: Herbie Hancock, William Onyeabor, Francis Bebey, Dos Santos, Makaya McCraven, Jeff Parker, El Michels Affair, Willie Colon, NOMO, Roy Ayers

VARIOUS - O Brother Where Art Thou O.S.T. LP [Reissue/2003] (Lost Highway)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? sparked a 21st-century cultural renaissance. The soundtrack, which is certified 8 times platinum by the RIAA, reintroduced traditional American roots music to the masses and brought genres like bluegrass, gospel, blues, country, and folk back to the mainstream. The album's critical success took the world by surprise, and subsequently by storm, influencing the next wave of popular music, rooted in the American South. 2 LP set on standard black vinyl in bona fide gatefold jacket.

MESSTHETICS & JAMES BRANDON LEWIS- Deface The Currency LP (Impulse)   Deface the Currency is the second collaboration between The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis. It captures the sound of what the forge of 150 shows in a year can do to a band. They have become a unit designed to destroy on stage. This record is expansive, ambitious, and spontaneous.

PHISH - New Year's Eve 1993 Live At Worcester Centrum 5xLP (JEMP RECORDS)
Limited five 180gm Seaweed + Water colored vinyl box set with lift off lid. Includes 'cut out' Phish aquarium. New Year's Eve 1993 Live at Worcester Centrum was recorded live December 31, 1993, and the release includes 30 complete tracks, recorded + mixed from band's original 2-inch 24-track reels. Phish's first show at Worcester Centrum, a 14,800-capacity hockey arena, was their fifth annual New Year's Eve show, and was the band's biggest headline gig to-date. The stage set for the entire 4-show 1993 holiday tour was an aquarium, complete with seaweed, rocks, swimming fish and a giant clam built by Chris McGregor and J.W. Nickel of Rocket Science.

THELONIOUS MONK - Genius Of Modern Music Vol. 2 LP [Reissue/1956] (Blue Note Records)
This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is mono, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal. - Thelonious Monk was a little-known figure on the New York City bebop scene when Blue Note founder Alfred Lion discovered and fell in love with the pianist's utterly unique music and offered Monk his first opportunity to record as a leader in 1947. Over the next five years Lion recorded Monk in a variety of different settings performing his singular compositions. In 1956, Blue Note transitioned from the 10 to the 12 LP and began the 1500 Series releasing two expanded Monk compilations including Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 2 which presented classic Monk tunes like ‘Straight No Chaser,' 'Four in One,’ and ‘Monk's Mood’ and featured one of Reid Miles' earliest cover designs for the label.

TOPS - I Feel Alive  LP [Reissue/2020] (Ghostly)
Released in 2020, I Feel Alive marks a shimmering return for Montreal indie-pop band Tops, blending their signature soft-focus synths, bright guitar lines, and Jane Penny's emotionally direct vocals into their most vibrant work yet. The album balances glossy pop warmth with introspective lyricism, exploring themes of desire, transformation, and self-realization. With a sound that feels both nostalgic and refreshingly modern, I Feel Alive captures the band at a new creative peak-lush, intimate, and effortlessly cool, reaffirming Tops as one of the most compelling voices in contemporary dream-pop.

J.J. JOHNSON - Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Vol. 2 [Reissue/1955] LP (Blue Note Records)
J.J. Johnson adapted the language of bebop to the trombone winning the admiration of Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. After playing on Miles Davis' first Blue Note session, J.J. led several dates from 1953-55 with the likes of Clifford Brown, Charles Mingus, Horace Silver and Hank Mobley that were compiled on The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Vol. 2. This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is mono, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original masters, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.

BLACK MARBLE - It's Immaterial (10th Anniversary) LP [Reissue/2016]  (Ghostly)  Released in 2016, It's Immaterial found Black Marble refining it's coldwave and synth-pop foundations into a warmer, more melodic expression of isolation, longing, and quiet resilience. Guided by Chris Stewart's unmistakable baritone and a palette of analog synths, pulsing basslines, and minimalist rhythms, the album feels simultaneously nostalgic and forward-leaning. It's songs drift between shadowy introspection and subtle hope, creating a cinematic atmosphere that's both intimate and hypnotic. With It's Immaterial, Black Marble deepened it's signature sound, offering a collection that resonates like a faded memory-soft, hazy, and endlessly replayable.

VARIOUS - Walk Don't Run LP  (Numero)
Unfolding over twelve nocturnal and nostalgic hours, Walk Don't Run is a buddy-comedy thriller chronicling the unraveling of a life long friendship one manic diner dash, hijacked Woodie Wagon, Big Dipper roller coaster ride, and 3am surf sesh at a time. Soundtracked by demos culled from the Ry-Ko discard pile, Moody's instrumental shortcut is a snapshot of the mid-'60s surf music crash. In keeping with the film's overnight theme, Walk Don't Run trades in the loping, dreamy balladry of the era, shooting the echo-y curls of the private beach underground well after dark. If you want to stay friends-Walk Don't Run. 

JHENE AIKO - Chilombo LP [Reissue/2020]  (Def Jam)
Chilombo is the third studio album by Jhené Aiko. It was released by ArtClub International, ARTium Recordings, and Def Jam Recordings. Following the release of Trip and her split with rapper Big Sean, with whom she formed the duo Twenty88, Aiko began work on Chilombo.

LUCID EXPRESS - Instant Comfort LP (Kanine Records)
Lucid Express are a group of five young dreamers from Hong Kong creating soaring, bittersweet gaze-soaked rock. The follow up to their 2021 self-titled debut album, Instant Comfort, will be released on February 20, 2026 via Kanine Records. With Instant Comfort featuring their most intricately layered arrangements to date, Lucid Express enlisted shoegaze-auteur Kurt Feldman (The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Depreciation Guild) to mix and master - resulting in elevating the band's sound to it's clearest and most exhilarating yet.

SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON  - Real Folk Blues LP [Reissue/1966] (Chess)
Assembled less than a year after his passing, The Real Folk Blues is an essential overview of Sonny Boy Williamson II's brief but incendiary career as a frontman for the Chess family of labels. Having contributed notable harmonica solos to works by Howlin' Wolf and Elmore James, Williamson is in rare form on classic cuts like Bring It On Home, One Way Out, That's All I Want and more. This reissue faithfully replicates the album's original sleeve, with liner notes by Chess songwriter Willie Dixon. Bring home the sound of America's greatest blues label in high fidelity with the Chess Records 75th Anniversary Series. These audiophile reissues of classic albums and compilations from the Chess discography are remastered from the original analog tapes and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Quality Record Pressings (QRP). Each disc is packaged in tip-on gatefold sleeves printed on high-grade board.

SUGAR - Copper Blue LP [Reissue/1992] (BMG)
SUGAR - Beaster LP [Reissue/1993] (BMG)
SUGAR - File Under: Easy Listening LP [Reissue/1994] (BMG)
Limited color vinyl reissues of the three Sugar albums (Bob Mould)

CLIPSE - Lord Willin LP [Reissue/2002] (Sony)
CLIPSE - Hell Hath No Fury LP [Reissue/2006] (Sony)
Limited color vinyl reissues.

COMING NEXT WEEK
MITSKI - Nothing’s About To Happen… CD/LP
NOTHING - Short History Of Decay CD/LP
BECK - Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime CD/LP
BUCK MEEK - Mirror CD/LP
GORILLAZ - The Mountain CD/LP
IRON AND WINE - Hen’s Teeth CD/LP
LALA LALA - Heaven 2 CD/LP
BILL CALLAHAN - My Days Of 58 CD/LP
BRUNO MARS - Romantic CD/LP
GEESE - Live At Third Man CD/LP
ANDREW BIRD - Mysterious Production of Eggs (20th Anniversary Edition) LP Reissue
CROOKED FINGERS - Swet Deth LP