New Releases & Staff Picks - 7/15/23
STAFF PICKS
Lindsay - Colter Wall, Adrianne Lenker/Buck Meek, and Clark
Dario - Jim O’Rourke
Kimber - Pharoah Sanders reissue
Caleb - Jim O’Rourke
Zach - Clark, Death Cab reissue
COLTER WALL - Little Songs CD/LP (RCA)
Available on black and indie exclusive blue vinyl. Little Songs is the highly anticipated album from Canadian singer-songwriter, Colter Wall. On Little Songs, fans of Wall's will find the same hardscrabble voice they've loved over the years connecting the contemporary world to the values, hardships, and celebrations of rural life. The album is produced by Wall and Patrick Lyons, and features 8 new original songs, as well as two fan-favorite covers - Hoyt Axton's "Evangelina" and Ian Tyson's "The Coyote & The Cowboy."
CLARK - Sus Dog CD/LP (Throttle)
Clark recruits none other than Thom Yorke as Exec Producer for his first album centred on his own singing. It combines his trademark searing synth melodies and beats with vocal hooks. Thom says "the way he approached it all wasn’t the usual singer songwriter guff thank god; it mirrored the way he approached all his composition and recording, but this time it had a human face. His face." Chris says "I kept on thinking what would it sound like if The Beach Boys took MDMA and made a rave record"
ADRIANNE LENKER & BUCK MEEK - A-Sides and Besides CD/LP (Saddle Creek)
a-sides and besides provide an early glimpse at what was soon to come, while standing on their own as documents of a deeply meaningful time in the creative lives of Adrianne Lenker and Buck Meek of Big Thief.
LUKAS NELSON & PROMISE OF THE REAL - Sticks and Stones CD/LP (6Ace)
This self-produced, honest and emotional new album highlights Nelson's strength as a songwriter and the band's uncompromising commitment to clarity, compassionate tones, and exceptional melodic moments. Lyrically, Sticks and Stones spans the themes of drinking, heartbreak, love, lying, hope, nature, self-reflection, work-life balance, settling down, home, time, longing and more.
CLAUD - Supermodels CD/LP (Dead Oceans)
No matter your age or station, Supermodels is the sort of record you can hear yourself in. Claud's engrossing and poignant second album is a confident diary of the mercury of life and love in one's early 20s, whether it's the self-doubt that creeps through it's tunes or the place of compromise they try to find. These are familiar topics for Claud, covering some of the same terrain as 2021's Super Monster. But there is a newfound confidence to the ideas here, rendered in structures and hooks that do not equivocate as they move from frowning folk to boisterous pop to twisted piano curios.
WIZ KHALIFA - Multiverse CD/LP (DiggersT-Gang)
Multi-platinum selling, GRAMMY and Golden Globe nominated recording artist Wiz Khalifa has released his new album, Multiverse! The new album features previously released singles "Iced Out Necklace", "Bad Ass Bitches", and "Memory Lane". The 17-track album includes features from THEY. and Girl Talk, who Wiz teamed up with earlier this year on their joint album, Full Court Press. The highly anticipated album is Wiz's seventh studio album and first full length album since the release of Rolling Papers 2 in 2018. On the album, Wiz reunited with Hitmaka to produce five songs. The pair have a long history of successful collaborations, including 2017's "Something New" and "Still Wiz" released in 2020.
R.E.M. - Around The Sun LP [Reissue/2004] (Craft Recordings)
Around The Sun is R.E.M.'s 13th studio album, released in 2004. The album hit #1 on the UK albums chart and #13 on the Billboard 200. Includes the singles "Leaving New York," "Aftermath," "Electron Blue," and "Wanderlust." Also features "The Outsiders" with guest vocals from Q-Tip. This 2-LP set is pressed on 180-gram vinyl and comes housed in a gatefold package with printed inner sleeves.
R.E.M. - Collapse Into Now LP [Reissue/2011] (Craft Recordings)
Collapse Into Now is R.E.M.'s fifteenth and final studio album, released in 2011. Produced by Jacknife Lee, the record features singles "Überlin," "Oh My Heart" and "It Happened Today," with guest appearances from Patti Smith, Eddie Vedder and Peaches. This edition is pressed on 180-gram vinyl with a printed insert.
JIM O'ROURKE - Hands That Bind Soundtrack LP (Drag City)
O’Rourke’s process – sourcing resonant sounds to enmesh together into a music that supersedes their resident parts – makes a fitting soundtrack for Kyle Armstrong’s “prairie gothic” tale of down-on-the-farm horror way up north in Canada. His minimalist score inhabits the wide open, big sky landscape, flowing into suddenly-deep (and opaque) emotional waters, then panning out to a chilly omniscient remove. RIYL: Ambient, new age, all mod comp
PHAROAH SANDERS - Black Unity (Verve By Request Series) LP (Verve)
Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. For 1971's Black Unity, Pharoah Sanders added groove to the foundation of spiritual and free jazz he had explored on his previous Impulse! Albums. The result is a piercing and emotive 37-minute title track exploration of African, Latin, aboriginal and Native American sounds, driven by rhythm. Verve By Request Series features transfers from the analog tapes remastered.
DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE - Open Door EP LP [Reissue/2009] (Barsuk)
Originally released as a companion to 2008's Narrow Stairs, Barsuk is excited to get The Open Door EP back into print on standard weight vinyl. This release features 4 studio tracks (“Little Bribes”, “A Diamond and a Tether”, “My Mirror Speaks”, “I Was Once a Loyal Lover”), plus a demo version of the Narrow Stairs track “Talking Bird”.
DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE - Narrow Stairs LP [Reissue/2008] (Barsuk)
Barsuk Records is pleased to reissue Death Cab for Cutie’s Narrow Stairs, the band’s sixth studio album, on standard weight vinyl. Released in the spring of 2008, Narrow Stairs is the follow-up to the band’s classic major-label debut Plans. Debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200, the album was a commercial and critical success with Pitchfork calling it “one of the darkest and most muscular in the band’s discography”.
DEFTONES - Deftones LP (Maverick)
Limited ruby red colored vinyl LP pressing. Deftones' self-titled 4th studio album, featuring the songs "Hexagram" and "Minerva," celebrates it's 20th anniversary with a limited-edition vinyl pressing.
CHARLI XCX - Pop 2 LP (5 year Anniv) (Atlantic)
Limited fifth anniversary colored vinyl LP pressing. The 2017 album, which contains collaborations with Caroline Polachek, Kim Petras, Carly Rae Jepson and Tove Lo, is a firm fan favorite and features popular Charli XCX cuts "Out Of My Head" and "Unlock It".
RUSSIAN CIRCLES - Station LP (15th Anniv. Blue) [Reissue/2008] (Sargent House)
Originally released in 2008, Russian Circles’ Station marked the second album in an eight LP journey that’s tracked the band’s rise to the upper echelon of heavy music. Fifteen years later, the beloved album is set to be reissued on vinyl via Sargent House. Lumbering layers of chiseled post-rock and feathery psychedelic infusions continue to rev and entice listeners new and old.
VARIOUS - Please, Please, Please: A Tribute To The Smiths LP (American Laundromat)
On vinyl for the first time since 2017. Remastered collectors edition. Exclusive second pressing on 3-color splatter vinyl (clear base with blues, black and white). Only 350 pressed. Featuring tracks from Kitten, Joy Zipper, Tanya Donelly, William Fitzsimmons, Telekinesis, Wedding Present, Cinerama, Doug Martsch and more!
XXXTENTACION - Presents: Members Only Volume 3 LP (Bad Vibes Forever)
Double vinyl LP pressing. Members Only is a group XXXTentacion formed as he was still bubbling beneath the surface of the mainstream. The album features XXXTentaction, Ski Mask The Slump Godd, Kid Trunks, Robb Bank$, Craig Xen, Bass Santana, Flyboy Tarantino, Kin$oul, Killstation, Coolie Cut, Tank Head.
COMING NEXT WEEK!
BLUR - Ballad Of Darren CD/LP
GRETA VAN FLEET - Starcatcher CD/LP
MOLLY TUTTLE + GOLDEN HIGHWAY - City Of Gold CD/LP
TESKEY BROTHERS - Winding Way CD/LP
OMARA PORTUONDO - Vida CD/LP
GUIDED BY VOICES - Welshpool Frillies CD/LP
NINA SIMONE - You've Got To Learn CD/LP
MORT GARSON - Journey To The Moon and Beyond CD/LP
CONVERGE - Axe To Fall LP reissue
DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE - Transatlanticism LP reissue
OXBOW - Love's Holiday LP
VARIOUS - BARBIE: THE ALBUM LP