New Releases - 3/11/22
Hitting The Racks
Here's your weekly rundown of what's hitting the new release racks at Grimey's
New Releases
A Place To Bury Strangers – See Through You CD/LP (Defari/Dedstrange)
A Place to Bury Strangers defund post-punk orthodoxy with the most audacious and varied songwriting of their career on their sixth album, See Through You. Following up on 2021's highly acclaimed Hologram EP, the rebooted lineup - vocalist/guitarist Oliver Ackermann plus drummer/vocalist Sandra Fedowitz and bassist John Fedowitz (both of Ceremony East Coast) - delivers an overclocked set of futuristic electronic punk music encoded with punishing industrial rhythms, swirling voltage-starved guitars, and unclassifiable auditory annihilation. Across thirteen tracks recorded in seclusion throughout the nihilistic absurdity of the coronavirus pandemic, See Through You is proof-positive that the group hailed as 'The Loudest Band in New York' is still finding new ways to push the needle deeper in the red. [Indie store exclusive yellow w/ black color vinyl.]
Bryan Adams – Soy Happy It Hurts LP (BMG)
So Happy It Hurts is the highly anticipated 15th studio album from acclaimed singer-songwriter Bryan Adams. Co-written and produced by Adams, the album features 12 newly recorded tracks including “So Happy It Hurts”, “Always Have, Always Will”, and “Never Gonna Rain”. [Deluxe CD version is available for special order.]
Alanna Royale – So Bad You Can Taste It CD/LP (Soul Step)
Alanna's voice takes center stage while being supported by blaring horns and a thumping rhythm section. Everything you could want in a soul record; you will find on So Bad You Can Taste It. For fans of Sharon Jones, Lady Wray, and The Monophonics. [Released locally last week, now available everywhere!] See details below on how to win a Soul Step Records vinyl prize pack!
Bastards Of Soul – Corners LP (Eastwood Music Group)
Bastards of Soul released their debut album in February 2020, a week before the US went into lockdown. Despite that, Spinnin' became a hit for the band, selling through two pressings despite no live support. They spent the remainder of the year writing their second album and as Summer 2021 approached, they hit the studio to record Corners at famed Niles City Studio in Ft. Worth, Texas. Corners shows the band hitting their stride as songwriters, weaving together 9 tunes that are intricate yet always soulful.
Blu - For Sale EP (Nature Sounds)
Acclaimed L.A. rapper Blu has crafted a remarkable discography, partnering with a series of exceptional producers to deliver cohesive collections showcasing his vivid lyricism and effortless flows. Now, Blu is turning to talented SoCal beatsmith Sirplus, a protégé of famed producer Exile who has worked with the likes of Planet Asia, Edo G, MED, Cali Agents, and more. "For Sale" is a new EP from Blu entirely produced by Sirplus, featuring appearances by Nolan The Ninja, Johaz of Dag Savage, Scienze, Noveliss, and more.
Alex Cameron – Oxy Music CD/LP+MP3 (Secretly Canadian)
Alex Cameron has always been a great storyteller, finding his ways into the depths of the places where not many others are looking, and Oxy Music continues that trajectory. It's filled with stories of people who fall outside the system and exist in the grey areas of life. And much like 2017's Forced Witness, Oxy Music is a work of fiction. In its design - it's music, lyrics and tracklist - lies the journey a person can take, if the circumstances present themselves - down the road of heavy drug and alcohol abuse. Initially inspired by Nico Walker's Cherry, Cameron was spurred into yet another commentary on American Life, this time about the opioid crisis that has taken over the country. [Limited-edition teal color vinyl.]
Disassembler – A Wave From A Shore CD/LP (Western Vinyl)
Via tape loops and synth motifs sent from LA to NY, sound artist Christopher Royal King has teamed with violinist and composer Christopher Tignor toward richly timbral, emotionally gripping works of spontaneity that unfurl immense details with each replay while marrying west coast outboard-ambient to studied east coast modern classical. The resulting debut album, A Wave From A Shore, exhibits both artists' sonic identifiers falling in and out of cooperation before binding into a new entity distinct from either's solitary palettes. [Limited-edition ‘bleeding glacier’ color vinyl.]
The Districts – Great American Painting CD/LP (Fat Possum)
Great American Painting is the rare album that shines a bright light on all that's wrong in the world but somehow still channels a galvanizing sense of hope. With equal parts nuanced observation and raw outpouring of feeling, the Philadelphia-based band confront a constellation of problems eroding the American ideal (gentrification, gun violence, the crushing weight of late capitalism), ornamenting every track with their explosive yet elegant breed of indie-rock/post-punk. [Indie store exclusive gold vinyl.]
Kit Downes/Petter Eldh/James Maddren – Vermillion CD (ECM)
Kit Downes joins forces with long-time collaborators Petter Eldh on bass and James Maddren on drums for a carefully assorted piano trio program that treads gentle lyricism and bold creative outbursts in equal measures. Replete with subtle twists and turns, the trio offers its idiosyncratic take on the piano trio format, producing unexpected harmonic alterations and animated rhythmic flashes as they flesh out distinct musical forms.
Drug Church – Hygiene CD/LP (Pure Noise)
Everyone's favorite punk rock agitators, Drug Church, have returned. Hygiene is their highly anticipated fourth full-length. Drug Church is one of the most singular bands in modern guitar music and on Hygiene the band's uncompromising nature has resulted in a bold leap forward. The Albany and Los Angeles-based five-piece has a unique ability to make distinctly outsider music that's also welcoming and instantly satisfying, as evidenced by Hygiene's lead singles "Million Miles Of Fun" and "Detective Lieutenant". The two songs represent the essential tension between overt melody and visceral aggression that fuels Drug Church - the former pushing the band's seamless blend of hardcore bite and massive, '90s-indebted hooks to its most anthemic point, while the latter shows off a level of tunefulness never heard in their catalog. [Limited-edition indie store exclusive bone, blue & yellow twist color.]
Drunk Uncle – Look Up (Blue Skies) LP (Count Your Lucky)
Drunk Uncle hail from Austin, TX, but their namesakes are probably drawn from someone you know. Think about your last family get together - Uncle Bill is halfway through a six-pack when the alien conspiracy theories start pouring out of his mouth. He starts chaotic and loud, then gets quiet and sad as he keeps drinking. His mood will swing wildly in-between emotions. His speech is raw, and his vulnerability is beautiful. Bottle that energy up into music form and you have Drunk Uncle. [Limited edition blue skies color vinyl.]
Michael Feinstein – Gershwin Country CD (Craft Recordings)
Michael Feinstein reimagines the timeless Gershwin songbook through the contemporary lens of country music. Co-produced by Kyle Lehning, Gershwin Country pairs Feinstein with the biggest names in country, including Dolly Parton, Alison Krauss, Brad Paisley, and Rosanne Cash.
Maia Friedman – Under The New Light LP (Last Gang)
Following a breadth of experience as a collaborator and multi-instrumentalist, Maia Friedman's densely textured pop is wise and evokes the sensuality of touch, feeling and image - a sonic form of empathy. Maia has spent the past four years as a member and co-vocalist of Dirty Projectors and Coco (ft. members of Lucius). [CD version due March 25.]
Kenny G – New Standards LP (Concord)
Released last December on CD – now available on vinyl. Since releasing his self-titled debut in 1982, Kenny G has become the top instrumental musician of the modern era and one of the best-selling artists of all time. His first new album in six years, New Standards, features 11 original compositions inspired by the jazz ballads of the '50s and '60s. These new 'standards' capture the sophistication, style, and romance of this amazing time period in jazz and combine it with Kenny G's signature sound.
Ghost – Impera CD/LP/Cassette (Loma Vista)
Grammy-winning Swedish theatrical rock outfit Ghost, one of the most esteemed and celebrated bands in the world today, return with their fifth psalm, Impera, fronted by the newly anointed Papa Emeritus IV. Produced by Klas Åhlund and mixed by Andy Wallace, its dozen songs take on themes of isolation and demigod worship, as well as colonization of both space and mind. And all with the infectious hooky brand of rock their fans have grown accustomed to. Impera finds Ghost transported hundreds of years forward from the 14th century Europe Black Plague era of its previous album, 2018's Prequelle. [A limited-edition indie store exclusive orchid color vinyl pressing and cassette edition are available as well as standard black vinyl.]
Hell Militia – Hollow Void LP (Season Of Mist)
Ten years have passed since French underground black metal Hell Militia released their previous studio album Jacob's Ladder. Since the band regrouped in 2018, the tumult of recent years, the pandemic and real life's comings-and-goings were perfect ammunition for the creation of Hollow Void. The band's orthodox, unrelenting approach coalesce into an album that exploits the true nature of black metal: savage, unforgiving, and grim.
Jenny Hval – Classic Objects CD/LP (4AD)
Classic Objects is a map of places; past places, like the old empty Melbourne pubs Jenny Hval's band used to play in, public places the Norwegian musician missed throughout lockdown, imagined, future places, and impossible places where dreams, hallucinations, death, and art can take you. It is interested in combining heavenly things and plain things. Classic Objects is Hval's version of a pop album. Every song has a verse and a chorus. There are interchangeable moments of complexity, interesting melodies throughout, and a feeling of elevation and clarity in the choruses. [Indie store exclusive blue vinyl.]
Jeremy Ivey – Invisible Pictures CD/LP+MP3 (ANTI-)
Juxtaposing raw, unflinching personal reckonings with jaunty, buoyant melodies and rich, kaleidoscopic production, Invisible Pictures is indeed a revelation. Though the songs are rooted in a 21st century swirl of chaos and uncertainty, the record is, at its core, an undeniably feel-good collection, one that refuses to surrender to the existential ache it so artfully captures. Instead, Ivey embraces the sheer, unmitigated joy of creative freedom and sonic exploration here, drawing on everything from flamenco and classical music to vintage indie rock and British Invasion tunes to craft a passionate, transcendent album more reminiscent of John Lennon or Elliott Smith than anything coming out of Nashville these days. [Limited-edition indie store exclusive coke bottle clear vinyl. All vinyl copies at Grimey’s include an autographed print and are available in the shop and in the Grimey’s webstore.]
Park Jiha - The Gleam LP (Tak:Til/Glitterbeat)
The luminous third album from the acclaimed Korean multi-instrumentalist and composer Park Jiha. The beauty of light is the inspiration for The Gleam. Park Jiha distills light into sound, from the first flicker of morning on the horizon in "At Dawn" all the way to the moment when full darkness falls again in "Nightfall Dancer", capturing the essence of it in notes and silence. Like its predecessor Philos, The Gleam is a completely solo work, all the music composed and played by Park Jiha on the piri, a type of oboe, the saenghwang, a mouth organ, the hammered dulcimer known as the yanggeum, and glockenspiel. There's a stark clarity to the sound, yet it's never spare or empty. It's minimal without being minimalist, occasionally presenting itself with the formality of traditional Korean music that is her background, although she feels that the distance she's put between herself and that teaching is "really what made my music what it is now".
Konvent – Call Down The Sun LP (Napalm)
After their debut full-length album Puritan Masochism took the entire doom and heavy metal scene by storm upon its release in 2020, critically acclaimed Danish blackened death doom outfit Konvent return with a sophomore offering that doubles down on the band's songwriting talent and brutal, heavy sound.
Ned Ledoux – Buckskin CD (Powder River)
The third full-length album from country music singer Ned Ledoux (son of late rodeo champion/country singer Chris LeDoux) delivers songs that transcend mere entertainment to celebrate a life that many aspire to, but few actually live.
Carson McHone – Still Life LP+MP3 (Merge)
Limited-edition indie store exclusive purple color vinyl pressing. Carson McHone’s new album, Still Life, quivers like a tightrope, with songs about existing within the tension of the in between and surviving beyond the breaking point. These are stories of sabotage, confusion, and surrender. The album is a testament to the effort of reaching, sometimes flailing, for understanding and for balance. Still Life invites us to gasp at our own reflection and acknowledge the unsettling beauty in this breath. McHone wrote the songs of Still Life in quiet moments between tours in her hometown of Austin, then recorded in Ontario with Canadian musician and producer Daniel Romano. The phrasing and tones recall John Cale, The Kinks, Richard and Linda Thompson – like-minded artists of the late '60s and early '70s, another era of transition and innovation.
Messa – Close CD/LP (Svart)
Messa's rising trajectory hits the stratosphere on their immense new album Close. Soaring out of the Italian doom rock underground in 2014, Messa has been rapidly garnering a frenzied throng of devotees, in thrall to their monumental and broad-ranging soundcraft. [Limited-edition gold vinyl.]
Methyl Ethel – Are You Haunted? LP (Future Classic)
Recently released on CD – the new album from the Australian art rock band is now available on purple color vinyl.
Lewis Ofman – Sonic Poems CD/2xLP (Virgin)
Lewis Ofman, a young French electronic music artist and multi-instrumentalist, finally unveils his first album Sonic Poems. Co-produced by Tim Goldsworthy (Massive Attack, LCD Soundsystem, The Rapture...), Sonic Poems wonderfully takes up the universe that the youngster has been building for everything over the past few years.
Origami Angel – Gami Gang 2xLP (Counter Intuitive)
Whether you're on a journey towards self-acceptance, or locking yourself away for days, it's safe to say the human experience can be an emotional rollercoaster; Gami Gang explores the highs and lows, and all the twists and turns in between. In similar fashion, joyous and anthemic tunes find themselves winding their way into their somber and soft-spoken counterparts, swerving through explosive bridges along the journey.
Penelope Antena - Beamorose LP (Youngbloods)
Purple vinyl pressing. Existing in the liminal space between Bon Iver, James Blake, and Imogen Heap, "Beamorose" builds upon the signature shape-shifting vocals of Penelope Antena (heir to the famed synthpop band Antena and Marc Moulin's "Placebo") by twisting Americana, gospel, and folk through a kaleidoscopic lens, crafting a unique & soulful form of Avant-Pop. Penelope Antena is the heiress to a musical legacy of mythical stature, living and creating on a mountaintop in the Occitanie region of southern France. Her grandfather, Belgian pianist and Jazz-Rock Pioneer Marc Moulin (Placebo, Telex, Aksak Maboul) and mother, founding member of the 80s electro-samba group Antena, Isabelle Powaga, played a tremendous role in supporting and inspiring Penelope to shine in the shadow of their creative heritage.
People Years – XIV LP (Cornelius Chapel)
Released last November on CD – now available on vinyl. People Years is a dream of an amalgamated spitball wadded by the nerdy version of you and made from subterranean and atmospheric particles of bands like Luna, Pavement, Pink Floyd, and LCD Soundsystem, loaded into a straw, and launched into the midnight hair of that Robert Smith-worshipping goth girl named Summer, who sat a few rows in front of you in class.
Rex Orange County – Who Cares? CD/LP (RCA)
Who Cares? is Rex's first studio album since 2019's critically acclaimed album, Pony. Who Cares? was made in close partnership with musician Benny Sings, over the course of a few sessions in Sings' Amsterdam studio. After spending the bulk of 2020 quarantined back home in the UK due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Rex made the trek to Amsterdam that fall to record with Sings. What started as sessions without expectations turned into an incredibly productive 48-hour window of recording with Benny, prompting a follow-up trip to Amsterdam. The subsequent 10 days of work together produced his fourth album, made in close partnership with Benny, that is a playful record by an artist in a playful mood. The album also finds Rex reunited with Tyler, The Creator, who contributes a verse to "Open A Window", which marks the first time the two have collaborated since Tyler's 2017 album Flower Boy.
Darone Sassounian - Prerequisite #1 b/w Prerequisite #2 12" (Rocky Hill Records)
Darone Sassounian, an L.A.-based DJ and crate digger who recently curated the Silk Road compilation for Terrestrial Funk, births Rocky Hill Records with a moody cornerstone. The hypnotizing two track 12” sets the tone for a three part series exploring the expressions of man over a trying few years. These tracks are an ode to the dance floors and the dim-lit basements. Nothing but raw music that encompasses a feeling, a moment. This is Rocky Hill.
Shaman’s Harvest – Rebelator CD/LP (Mascot)
The storyline seems obvious: The Missouri based hard-rockers, Shaman's Harvest, assembled this project during a global pandemic that debilitated the entire music industry. "This was the hardest record we've ever made, on every level," says the lead singer Nathan Hun. "Hard" has kinda been universal lately. But the road to Rebelator was even rockier than the band expected: natural disasters, logistical nightmares, an extreme case of collective writer's block. "We struggled the whole way," Hunt adds with a gruff baritone chuckle. Luckily, they had time on their side. After a couple grueling years of touring behind their last album, 2017's Red Hands Black Deeds, Shaman's Harvest were creatively and personally drained. So, founding members Hunt and Hamler, along with guitarist Derrick Shipp and drummer Adam Zemanek hit the reset button hard, and wound up with their richest, most well-rounded album to date. [Limited-edition multi-color splatter vinyl is available for special order.]
Soul Revivers – On The Grove 2xLP (Acid Jazz)
Soul Revivers's On The Grove is an ambitious and passionate collaboration project from Nick Manasseh and David Hill. It features musicians spanning seven decades, including Jamaican legends Ernest Raglin, Ken Boothe, Earl 16, and Devon Russell alongside contemporary artists including jazz trumpeter Ms. Maurice and vocalist Alexia Coley.
Suff Daddy - Basically Sober LP (Jakarta)
Berlin-based producer, beatmaker, and all-around big papa Suff Daddy returns with an irresistibly-bouncy instrumental long player, the followup to 2020's Pompette (meaning 'tipsy' in French). The instrumental album combines an ingenious, laid-back R&B / Hip-Hop vibe with a pulsing, electronic soundscape that is full of bubbly beats, syncopated drums and synthesized grooves to keep bodies moving and heads nodding.
Trace Mountains – House Of Confusion LP (Lame-O)
Pink color vinyl pressing. Trace Mountains’ new album evokes the free-flowing nature of influences like Tom Petty or Built To Spill, all-throughout imbued with the energy of country icon Emmylou Harris' cult classic and band favorite, Wrecking Ball.
Adia Victoria – A Southern Gothic LP (Atlantic)
A Southern Gothic was executive produced by T Bone Burnett, and features guest contributions from Jason Isbell, Margo Price, and Matt Berninger of The National. A Southern Gothic is Adia's third album and marks the follow up to 2019's critically acclaimed Silences, produced by Aaron Dessner. Around its release, The Songwriters Hall of Fame presented Adia with the Holly Prize which recognizes and supports a new "all-in songwriter." [All copies of A Southern Gothic at Grimey’s are autographed by Adia! Available exclusively in the shop for now. Hopefully we’ll put some up in the Grimey’s webstore soon.]
Marcin Wasilewski Trio – En Attendant LP (ECM)
Released last October on CD – now available on vinyl. The multifaceted Polish group illuminates a characteristically wide span of music on En Attendant, an album of collectively created pieces other works including Carla Bley's timeless “Vashkar”, The Doors' hypnotic “Riders On The Storm” and a selection from Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations.
Widowspeak – The Jacket CD/LP (Captured Tracks)
On Widowspeak’s sixth album, they expertly pepper in slow-core, dream-pop, Pacific Northwest indie, and outlaw country, resulting in a ‘60s-meets-‘90s aesthetic. But the duo also wields their own aesthetic feedback loop as a tool of its own, a way to better tell multi-layered stories in their own RIYL language. This sense of sonic nostalgia adds another layer to lyrics that reflect on old selves, invented and true. The Jacket is a present and comfortable record, imbued with a sense of collective pause and the ease of a band at the top of their game. For all its familiar textures, it still feels entirely fresh within that canon: proudly a guitar record, a rock record, a songwriter's record. [Limited edition coke bottle clear vinyl.]
Woo – Paradise In Pimlico LP (Quindi)
After their celestial Arcturian Corridor opened proceedings on Quindi Records, London-based brothers Clive and Mark Ives are back with a new record. When Woo first began recording at home in the early ‘70s, Clive and Mark were the embodiment of furtive genius. Since re-emerging in 2013, they've released scores of albums, collaborated with Seahawks, and have now struck up a productive relationship with Quindi. On Paradise In Pimlico, you're hearing a very different sound to the one gently creaked out on early classics like “Into The Heart Of Love”. This is fulsome, contemporary production rich in detail and artful sound design, but crucially, Clive and Mark's gorgeously melodic approach remains open and inquisitive, even with the sheen and shimmer of modern studio techniques.
Reissues & From The Archives
Byrds – Byrds [Reissue/1973] LP (Friday Music)
Limited 180gm color vinyl LP pressing in gatefold jacket. Celebrate the Byrds' 1973 reunion album produced by David Crosby (The Byrds, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Crosby, Stills & Nash). Remastered impeccably by Joe Reagoso (The Byrds/Souther Hillman Furay) from the original Asylum Records tapes. [Two color variants are available.]
Billy Cobham – Spectrum [Reissue/1973] LP (Friday Music)
Limited edition clear blue vinyl pressing. On his aptly titled 1973 solo debut, Spectrum, Billy Cobham revealed his interest and aptitude for the rock, jazz, and funk genres. Cobham's impressive list of collaborators here include keyboardist Jan Hammer, guitarist Tommy Bolin, electric bassist Lee Sklar and Ray Barretto on congas. Cobham was fresh off his success with the Mahavishnu Orchestra when he recorded Spectrum. The guitar licks from Bolin (Zephyr, James Gang, Deep Purple), who overdosed three years later, are particularly memorable and he merges beautifully with Cobham's Mahavishnu band mate Hammer.
Duke Ellington & John Coltrane – Duke Ellington & John Coltrane [Reissue/1962] LP (Verve)
The classic 1962 album Duke Ellington & John Coltrane introduces the rising jazz saxophone innovator performing with the long-established piano institution Duke Ellington.
Franz Ferdinand – Hits To The Head CD/2xLP+MP3 (Domino)
Hits To The Head is a 20-track greatest hits collection showcasing the world-conquering success of Franz Ferdinand's career to date. Alongside 18 classics the album features two brand-new tracks "Billy Goodbye" and "Curious" co-produced by Alex Kapranos, Julian Corrie and Stuart Price. Talking about the process of picking tracks for the album, Kapranos said: "It's the same as writing a set-list for a festival: you want to play the songs you know people want to hear. The hits. Bring the hits to the head. The heart. The feet.” [A deluxe CD edition featuring book packaging and a limited-edition indie store exclusive red color vinyl pressing are available.]
PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project – Demos CD/LP+MP3 (Island)
A collection of unreleased demos written for the ninth PJ Harvey studio album The Hope Six Demolition Project, originally recorded in London and Dorset in 2012, including demos of “The Wheel” and “The Community Of Hope”. Features brand new artwork with cover art based on a drawing by Polly Jean Harvey, plus previously unseen photos by Maria Mochnacz and Seamus Murphy. [A vinyl reissue of the original version of The Hope Six Demolition Project is also available this week.]
Kiss – Off The Soundboard: Live In Virginia Beach 2xCD/3xLP (UMe)
Off The Soundboard documents a live recording from Kiss' mighty Rock The Nation Tour in Virginia Beach, Virginia on July 25, 2004. The set features explosive takes of all-time classics like "Rock And Roll All Nite", "Detroit Rock City", "Deuce", "Love Gun", "Shout It Out Loud", "Lick It Up", "I Love It Loud" and more performed by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer.
The Knitters – Poor Little Critter On The Road [Reissue/1985] LP (Fat Possum)
It's been 37 years since the release of Poor Little Critter On The Road, the debut album from The Knitters, the original alt-country band comprised of three members of X, one Blaster and a Red Devil. It was in 1985 that Exene Cervenka, John Doe and DJ Bonebrake joined Dave Alvin and Jonny Ray Bartel to record the critically acclaimed debut for a sound that Alvin described as "It's like if the guys at Sun Records dropped LSD and made a record with Lead Belly and the Carter Family. That's what The Knitters sound like."
The Mars Volta – Tremulant [Reissue/2002] 12" (Clouds Hill)
Limited color vinyl LP pressing. From the very beginning, The Mars Volta was conceived as more than simply a new vehicle for Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala. The group was to be a rebirth, a redrawing of their creative frontiers, a repudiation of the stylistic provincialism that had ultimately spelled the end of their previous band, At The Drive-In, a year earlier.
Melvins – Five Legged Dog 4xLP (Ipecac)
Multi-color vinyl pressing. A four-LP set of the Melvins greatest hits and cover songs, all done acoustically.
Midlake – The Trials Of Van Occupanther [Reissue/2006] LP+7”+MP3 (Bella Union)
Limited 180gm gold color vinyl LP pressing w/ 7” single. Includes a B2 pull-out poster, handwritten lyrics and previously unseen photos. The cover artwork has been reimagined in a fittingly flushed, hallucinatory painting by neo-impressionist (and pavement-scorching skateboarder) Brian Lotti. The bonus 7” features two previously unreleased tracks: the plaintive rolling lament of “The Fairest Way” and the revelatory psychedelic swirl of “Festival”, both of which were recorded before original vocalist Tim Smith departed the band.
Necrophobic – Hrimthursum [Reissue/2006] CD/LP (Century Media)
Recently reissued on vinyl – now available on CD. With thirty years of active, nefarious service under their bulletbelts, Necrophobic are undisputed legends of the death and black metal underground. With 2006's Hrimthursum, their fifth full-length album, Necrophobic injected its blasphemous attack metal with melody and atmospherics, not to mention a great attention to instrumental detail.
Teddy Pendergrass – John Morales Presents Teddy Pendergrass: The Voice - Remixed With Philly Love 2xCD/3xLP (Barely Breaking Even)
This exploration of 1970s Philly soul at its apex focuses on one of the era's defining voices, Theodore DeReese Pendergrass. Born in Philadelphia in 1950, Pendergrass sang church music at age two, and was ordained a minister at ten years old. Having learned drums and played in local bands during his teens, at 20 he was hired as a drummer for the Blue Notes by group leader Harold Melvin. After being spotted singing along onstage, he was soon appointed lead singer, and the rest is history... The masterful, revealing remix work of John Morales affords these classic songs improved clarity, allowing each individual player more space to be heard and modernizing the recordings without ever losing sight of the original spirit.
Phil Ranelin & Wendell Harrison - Message from the Tribe LP (Now Again)
Genius work from the Detroit underground of the 70s – one of the greatest records ever on the now-famous Tribe Records label, and a masterpiece of soul, jazz, and righteous spirit! The session’s headed by tenor player Wendell Harrison – and it’s got an all-star Motor City lineup that includes Marcus Belgrave on trumpet, Phil Ranelin on trombone, Jeamel Lee on vocals, Charles Eubanks on electric piano, and Charles Moore on flugel horn. The tracks have a spacious spiritual approach that recalls some of the later Archie Shepp on Impulse – a blend of soul jazz with slight touches of electric instrumentation, some vocals, and a very progressive spirit overall – stepping proud in the new freedoms of the 70s, yet still swinging and very groovy.
Irma Thomas – Full Time Woman: The Lost Cotillion Album LP (Real Gone Music)
Limited-edition blue color vinyl pressing. Irma puts her own distinctive, ever-soulful stamp on such tunes as the standard “Time After Time”, Bobbie Gentry's 1969 hit, “Fancy”, and Billy Walker's country hit, “Tell Me Again”, alongside the funky “She's Taken My Part”, (the flipside of “Full Time Woman”), and R&B-flavored original material including the highlights “Waiting For Someone”, “Our Love Don't Come Easy”, and two early '70s Philly soul cuts, “No Name” and “Adam And Eve”.
Various Artists – V4 Visions: Of Love & Androids 2xLP (Numero)
During the UK house rave-olution of the early '90s, London's V4 Visions imprint documented the confluence of street soul, deep house, swingbeat, and jungle sounds emanating from the clubs and pirate radio signals. Over the course of half a decade, V4's unparalleled 12" output referenced every significant Black British music scene: from lover’s rock to jazz-funk, sound system reggae to hip-hop, new jack swing to garage, from artists Ashaye, Julie Stapleton, Maureen Mason, Rohan Delano, The Wades, and Endangered Species. This 18-track double LP is the first critical overview of the label, with extensive notes by Simon Reynolds, era-defining photographs, and fresh remasters, all housed in a glorious foil-stamped gatefold tip-on sleeve. [Limited-edition rotary heart red vinyl.]