New Releases & Staff Picks - 6/13/25

STAFF PICKS
 DARIO - Mary Halvorson
 ASH - Witch
JAKE - Sault
 KIMBER - Budos Band
MARY - Roland Kirk Reissue
 ZACH - Bug Club
DREW - Master Wilburn Burchette Reissue

CURE - Mixes Of A Lost World CD/LP (Capitol)
Conceived and compiled by Robert Smith, new remix collection from 2024 album Songs Of A Lost World, featuring remixes from Four Tet, Paul Oakenfold, Orbital, and more. Double CD in 6-panel digisleeve includes foldout CD poster / Double 180g heavyweight half-speed mastered black bio vinyl in gatefold sleeve. ALL CURE RECORD ROYALTIES FROM MIXES OF A LOST WORLD WILL BENEFIT WAR CHILD.

KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD - Phantom Island CD/LP (P(DOOM) RECORDS)
The follow up LP to 2024's Flight B741, and initially recorded during the same sessions, Phantom Island sees King Gizzard expanding their sonic landscape to include a full blown orchestra across it's 10 tracks. Blending their signature psych-rock energy with sweeping orchestral arrangements, King Gizz take you on a symphonic journey embroidering their tangles of lysergic riff & melody with strings and horns and woodwind. Phantom Island will be supported by a Global tour running May-Dec '25. Available on 180g recycled black vinyl with customer inner sleeve, housed in a premium printed cardboard outer sleeve.

SAULT - Acts Of Faith LP (Forever Living)
Acts of Faith is the eleventh studio album from Sault. Originally previewed in December 2023 at a one-night only concert in London (which was the group's first performance).  Infectiously funky, Sault's surprise project Acts of Faith is a kiss of deep soul and modern-day gospel, further solidifying Sault as a once-in-a-lifetime act.

BUDOS BAND - VII CD/LP (Diamond West Records)
Two years after releasing the Frontier's Edge EP, The Budos Band are returning with their first full-length since 2020's Long in the Tooth. Titled simply VII, the new album sees them doing what they do best:laying down hypnotic, horn-spiked grooves that menace and mesmerize in equal measure. Produced by Budos guitarist Tom Brenneck with Simon Guzmán engineering, VII features 11 tightly constructed new tracks that draw on the group's wide range of influences, sounding like only the Budos can. It's music for getting down, for nighttime drives, and for alternate head-spaces, a beguiling mix of mystery and rhythm that stands with the formidable work they've released in their two decades of recording. VII was recorded in California and serves as The Budos Band's first full-length album on Diamond West, the independent label founded in 2023 by Tankel and Brenneck. It's also the group's first album to include instrumental contributions from percussionist Rich Tarrana, who previously played in The Frightnrs. All told, it succeeds in opening up some new sonic spaces while staying tethered to the intuitive, unique musicality that made them such a sensation from the jump.

BUG CLUB - Very Human Features - LP (Sub Pop)
[Limited Loser Edition on purple vinyl.] The Bug Club are back, again, for their annual appointment at the garage rock makers' market, where they're flogging yet another pedigree record. LP number four, Very Human Features, arrives hot on the heels of the band's first Sub Pop release, 2024's On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System. That record saw the band continue their love affair with BBC Radio 6, start up a new one with KEXP thanks to a session with them, and crop up in the pages of the NME. This record - a new batch of typically playful, riff-laden, smart Bug Club tunes - gives the band an excuse to continue their never-ending tour and feed their baying fans, engorged and expectant thanks to this band's relentless record-releasing hot streak.

MURDER BY DEATH - Egg + Dart LP (Many Hats)
[Canary Yellow Vinyl.] Murder by Death has earned a much needed break. The 25 years the band has spent on the road have been catching up to them lately, so they've decided to take a step back from touring before it grinds them to dust. This year, they'll be embarking on a massive farewell tour, hitting more than 50 cities in the US, UK, and Canada. And as their parting gift, they are leaving behind their tenth album, Egg & Dart. “The album is basically an elegy,” frontman Adam Turla explains. “The songs are about goodbyes and the different ways we think about that concept.” And while Turla has often spun yarn about fictional sinners and tragic tales in the band's albums, the themes of Egg & Dart hit a bit closer to home than usual. It's certainly our most personal collection of songs. It's probably our saddest and most beautiful album, but it also has moments of real triumph and joy in the darkness.

RAY LAMONTAGNE - Trouble LP [Reissue /2004] (Liula Records)
Celebrated Grammy award winner Ray LaMontagne will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the release of his seminal debut album, Trouble, with a special remastered vinyl edition. Additionally, LaMontagne will embark on the Trouble 20th Anniversary Tour, performing the album in it's entirety for the first time since it's release. On the remastered vinyl, LaMontagne continues, When Trouble was initially released Vinyl was considered a dead format, never to breathe again. Digital audio was the new King. As we know this has proved untrue. Each year more and more music lovers are listening to vinyl and appreciating it for it's depth and breadth of sound, for it's physical heft, for it's tangible realness.

WITCH - Sogolo LP (Partisan Records)
Zamrock pioneers Witch formed in '70s Zambia, their name an acronym for We Intend To Cause Havoc. Led by Emmanuel Jagari Chanda and Patrick Mwondela, SOGOLO (which translates to future, or front) is their second 21st century release, following-up 2021's Zango. Recorded in Berlin mid-tour, SOGOLO blends garage rock, Afrobeat, funky, well-tooled, tight rock 'n roll, and (of course) Zamrock, featuring global collaborators. Jagari sees it as a new lease on life: The legacy continues.

GRATEFUL DEAD - Gratest Hits LP (Grateful Dead)  
[Limited blue colored vinyl LP pressing.] Celebrate Grateful Dead's 60th Anniversary with a collection of the band's Gratest Hits, available for the first time on 1 LP.

MARY HALVORSON - About Ghosts CD/LP (Nonesuch)
Nonesuch Records releases About Ghosts by Brooklyn-based guitarist, composer, and MacArthur fellow Mary Halvorson on June 13, 2025. The album features eight new compositions by Halvorson, performed with her sextet Amaryllis, the improvisatory band that also was featured on her critically praised albums Amaryllis, Belladonna, and Cloudward. Amaryllis comprises Halvorson, Patricia Brennan (vibraphone), Nick Dunston (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums), Jacob Garchik (trombone), and Adam O'Farrill (trumpet). Saxophonists Immanuel Wilkins and Brian Settles join the ensemble on five tunes. Halvorson's last three records were named Jazz Album of the Year in DownBeat's annual Critics Poll, where she was also named Guitarist of the Year in 2023 and 2024.

OASIS - Time Flies 1994-2009 4xLP (Sony)
[Limited four vinyl LP pressing, second black vinyl pressing of the 2025 RSD title. SUPER LIMITED] Time Flies... 1994-2009 is Oasis' complete singles collection. Now with remastered audio, the track listing spans fifteen years across Oasis' staggering seven consecutive number one albums. 1994's Definitely Maybe, 1995's (What's The Story) Morning Glory?, 1997's Be Here Now, 2000's Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants, 2002's Heathen Chemistry, 2005's Don't Believe The Truth and Dig Out Your Soul from 2008. Starting with their irresistible debut, 'Supersonic' and finishing with their last release 'Falling Down', the compilation features all 26 singles - including 'Whatever' and 'Lord Don't Slow Me Down', which have previously never appeared on an Oasis studio album.

C418 - Minecraft Alpha / Beta 2xCASS (Ghostly)
[First official release on cassette! Special 2x cassette set] Minecraft is a dreamscape, a limitless world where anything is possible. Minecraft is a tool, a means of bringing the imagination to life. Minecraft is a community, a platform on which inventive minds of all ages can share their creations and ideas. Minecraft, of course, is also a game, the most popular and best-selling video game of all time. Created in 2009 by Swedish programmer Markus Notch Persson, this cultural phenomenon speaks volumes of our current zeitgeist’s love for virtual spaces, but it's unprecedented success couldn't be pinned on one factor alone. Countless layers of thoughtful artistry flow through Minecraft's singular experience, not the least of which is it's transportive soundtrack by C418, the project of German composer and musician Daniel Rosenfeld.

WILBURN MASTER BURCHETTE - Psychic Meditation Music LP [Reissue/1974] (Numero)
After three albums of reverberated guitar wandering, Master Wilburn Burchette's Psychic Meditation Music takes a turn towards the kosmiche. Two side-long synth explorations transport the listener to the avocado hues of 1974, expanding consciousness one oscillation at a time. Bug out your third eye!

MISTER ROMANTIC - What’s Not To Love? LP (Eternal Magic)
In this vaudevillian marvel, the esteemed Academy, Grammy, and Tony award nominee John C. Reily takes spectators on a whimsical quest for love—any love! Accompanied by a band of Grammy-winning virtuosos, Reilly breathes life into cherished melodies from the Great American Songbook, conjuring an atmosphere of romance and mirth sure to warm the heart.

ROLAND KIRK - We Free Kings (Verve Acoustic Sounds Series) LP [Reissue/1962]  (Verve)
Known as one of then-young Kirk's more consistent works, 1962's We Free Kings is a solid balance of bop with complimenting soul, backed by two different rhythm sections - one including Hank Jones (piano) and Wendell Marshall (bass), and the other with Richard Wyands (piano) and Art Davis (bass) - while Charlie Persip (drums) maintains throughout. The repertoire is primarily a showcase of Kirk's skill as a composer, though his take on ‘Bird's Blues For Alice’ is not to be missed. Verve Acoustic Sounds Series features transfers from analog tapes and remastered 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.

ALL THAT JAZZ - Ghibli Jazz LP [Reissue/2009] (P-Vine)  
You'd be forgiven for not knowing about these Studio Ghibli commissioned jazz reworkings of much-loved classic soundtracks with the three-piece All That Jazz being one of Japan's best kept secrets until now. Originally put together by the power-house animation studio for a series of jazzed-up covers, the group took off with their simple yet moving set-up of piano, bass and drums, and afterwards went on to do another record of anime classics. Sprinkled with complementary instruments, the project is tied together by the soothing vocals of Yukiko Kuwahara.

COMING NEXT WEEK!
U.S. GIRLS - Scratch It CD/LP
HOTLINE TNT - Raspberry Moon CD/LP
TROPICAL FUCK STORM - Fairyland Codex CD/LP
MJ LENDERMAN / WEDNESDAY - Guttering EP Reissue CASS/CD/LP
SUZZALLO - Quiet Year CD/LP
NATHAN SALSBURG - Ipsa Corpora CD/LP
JAMES MCMURTRY - Black Dog And The Wandering Boy LP
VOLCANO - Self Titled LP Reissue
ODESZA - Music To Refine To LP
LUKAS NELSON - American Romance LP
S.G. GOODMAN - Planting By The Signs CD/LP
GROGANS - Stagger LP
FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM - Burning The Fields LP Reieu
BENSON BOONE - American Heart CD/LP
MATMOS - Metallic Life LP