New Releases & Staff Picks - 2/14/25

STAFF PICKS
Lindsay – Horsegirl, Altons, Califone
Dario – Horsegirl
Kimber – Altons
Jake – Horsegirl
Zach – Richard Dawson and John Glacier
Ash – Fania All Stars comp

ALTONS - Heartache In Room 14 CD/LP (Daptone)
After several wildly popular singles out on Penrose Records, alongside labelmates Thee Sacred Souls, The Altons gear up to release their debut album on Daptone Records. With lead vocals shared between Adriana Flores and Brian Ponce the interplay between their unique timbres brings a romantic quality to the music that is absent in many of today's soul offerings. Steeped with moody ballads, soulful, tejano-kissed duets and Bond theme psychedelia–Heartache in Room 14 is poised to be the "must have" album of 2025.

HORSEGIRL - Phonetics On and On CD/LP (Matador)
There is something about the bitter cold in Chicago that unites the city in January— the two weeks in 2024 that Horsegirl spent recording Phonetics On and On were some of the coldest days in Chicago that year. With the heating off in The Loft to avoid sound interference, the band was bundled in multiple sweaters and sitting on their hands between takes. Working closely with musician/producer Cate Le Bon (Deerhunter, Kurt Vile, Wilco) Horsegirl found focus and intimacy in the studio that can only arise when it’s simply too cold to step outside. Abandoning the heavy saturation and character studies of Versions of Modern Performance, Le Bon leads them into new, bright, clear, sonic territories that highlight the inventive nature of these new songs. After playing together for four years, Horsegirl explores the limits of the trio configuration within Phonetics On and On— what if instead of filling out songs with distortion, they utilized the expanse that the three of them didn’t occupy? This question seems to be the motivating force behind the record, and the songs are a testament to experimenting with space and texture while maintaining a pop song at the core.

CALIFONE - The Villagers Companion LP (Jealous Butcher)
Like a passenger riding shotgun on a road trip, The Villagers Companion offers its own unique perspective and story to tell. Featuring tracks recorded alongside last year’s acclaimed Villagers, TVC captures the miles between the start and destination—the faded gas station pit stops, the plastic saint statue stuck to the dashboard for safe travels or luck. It embodies the essence of the journey without the burden of driving—the experience of the ride itself. The album takes us through the heart of Califone’s magic: reverb-drenched piano chords, electronic whirs, and layers of experimental noise. Guided by Tim Rutili’s abstract, fragmented lyrics—both strange and familiar—delivered through his warm, well-worn vocals, it creates an experience as evocative as it is haunting.

LUMINEERS - Automatic CD/LP (Dualtone)
Since their breakout 2012 self-titled debut album, The Lumineers have achieved some incredible milestones: twenty-four number one hits, billions of streams, packed global arena tours, multi-platinum releases, Grammy nominations, and, most important to core members Jeremiah Fraites and Wesley Schultz, numerous beloved, timeless songs. The band's fifth studio album Automatic out February 14, is being released in a music landscape that has become dominated by solo artists dependent on other writers. Schultz says being one of the few groups touring who write all their own material, is "a unique badge of honor." But that's not to say they won't collaborate with other artists; Schultz and Fraites have recently written and appeared on songs with pop icon P!nk, as well as rising singer-songwriters James Bay and Zach Bryan

GARY LOURIS - Dark Country CD/LP (Sham 2)
Third solo album from singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer Gary Louris, inspired by and dedicated to his wife Stephanie, this is the most intimate and romantic album from The Jayhawks' frontman. "Dark Country is a love letter to my wife Steph, plain and simple," Louris explains. "It was written and recorded in my little studio in our home in the mountains of Quebec. Just my guitar and my voice, occasionally piano, and on two songs a bit of magic from my friends. It is the most intimate and straightforward record I have ever made.

SONNY ROLLINS - Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders (Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds Series) LP (Craft)
Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders was originally released in 1959 by West Coast jazz label Contemporary Records. Rollins is backed by a who's who of the label's players, including Hampton Hawes (piano), Barney Kessel (guitar), Leroy Vinnegar (bass) and Shelly Manne (drums). This edition, released as part of the Acoustic Sounds Series, features (AAA) lacquers cut from the original master tapes by Bernie Grundman and is pressed at RTI on 180-gram vinyl, and presented in a tip-on jacket.

VARIOUS - Fania Records: The Latin Sound of New York - Singles Collection (1964-1978) LP (Craft)
This collection features 16 of the most renowned salsa and Latin soul singles released on Fania Records, and its subsidiaries, between 1964-1978, making it the perfect introduction to the legendary catalog. It celebrates the trailblazing label's 60th anniversary, and iconic artists Willie Colón, Héctor Lavoe, Rubén Blades, Johnny Pacheco, Celia Cruz and more. Archival images and new liner notes, in English and Spanish, by New York-based music historian Aurora Flores are also included.

FATHER JOHN MISTY - I Love You Honeybear LP (Sub Pop)
Father John Misty's landmark 2015 sophomore album, I Love You, Honeybear, is back on vinyl, remastered and repackaged as a single LP. On limited, red vinyl.

LEGENDARY PINK DOTS - So Lonely In Heaven CD/LP (Metropolis)
So Lonely in Heaven is The Legendary Pink Dots' second album since the World stopped for a Global Pandemic. With members scattered across three countries and two continents, our guilty confession is that quite a few Air Miles were consumed in its creation. Ideas were spun across Cyberspace for months, but the magic happened collectively in small spaces with the tape running. THE MESSAGE The machine is everything we are. It sees everything, hears everything, knows everything and feeds, speeds, drinks us down, spits us out - You may cough, curse and die, but the machine will resurrect you without the flaws, at your peak, smiling from a screen, bidding someone in a lonely room to join you. It's an invitation from Heaven, where anyone can be anything they want to be, but it's a Nation of One. You'll be everything we are. You'll be a shadow of yourself. You'll repeat yourself- endlessly. You'll be desperate for some kind of explanation.

BARTEES STRANGE - Horror CD/LP (4ad)
Bartees Strange was raised on fear. His family used scary stories to teach life lessons, and at an early age, Strange started using scary movies to practice being strong. - Follow-up album to Farm to Table, which was released to much critical acclaim earning best-of nods from the likes of The New York Times, Rolling Stone and NPR Music - Co-produced with Jack Antonoff

JOHN GLACIER - Like A Ribbon CD/LP (Young)
Since 2021’s Shiloh, John Glacier has been an underground icon. Aloof, icy, magnetic. Now, she is ready to take you deeper into her unique world. Following selling out her headline show at London’s iconic ICA, being the face of the new Alexander McQueen campaign, and blowing everyone out the water with a verse on Jamie xx’s new single ‘Dafodil’, John Glacier returns with Found. Released ahead of her debut at Club2Club in Turin, Found is taken from her as-yet unannounced third EP of the ‘Like A Ribbon’ trilogy and showcases the nostalgic side of John’s eclectic lyricism, perfectly laced over distorted drums and uplifting piano riffs.

VELVETEERS - A Million Knives CD/LP (Easy Eye)
The Velveteers bring a visceral energy to their explosive sophomore album, A Million Knives, loaded with blistering rock anthems infused with melodic indie songwriting. With GRAMMY Award-winning producer Dan Auerbach at the helm, the Boulder, CO trio encapsulates the raw, forceful, and profoundly heavy power of their live performances and laser-focuses a spotlight on tightly crafted songs as they carve out their own distinctive niche.

MARINERO - La La La LP (Hardly Art)
As Jess Sylvester finished his Hardly Art debut as Marinero in the fall of 2020, he realized it was time for a change. Sylvester grew up in Marin County, on the doorstep of San Francisco. It was a nurturing community for a high-school punk with a pompadour and, later, for a sober songwriter with a proclivity for moody psychedelia. But he wanted to be challenged and inspired by a new setting and new people who would prompt him to approach his music in unexpected ways. So, in September 2020, as the world continued to reel in lockdown, Sylvester headed to Los Angeles, a city that, despite the relative proximity, he knew more from classic and cult films set there. When he arrived, he dug deeper into that cinematic past: Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye, or classic 90s movies about East LA, many featuring Edward James Olmos. They shaped his understanding of his new town as he began to experience it firsthand.

OPEN MIKE EAGLE + PAUL WHITE - Hella Personal Film Festival LP (Mello Music Group)
Open Mike Eagle might not have all the answers, but few in life ask smarter questions. Recorded in London with producer Paul White, Hella Personal Film Festival artfully dissects modern life's banalities and perils. Continuing where his 2014 Dark Comedy left off, it blends whimsical anxiety, social media addiction, and scorn. Known for collaborations with artists like Danny Brown and Mos Def, Eagle and White create tense, emotionally rich anthems that capture the disorientation of daily life and examine societal double standards and casual bigotry.

WOMBATS - Oh The Ocean CD/LP (The Wombats)
The Wombat's sixth album Oh! The Ocean, is a project that grooves with social anxiety, internal strife, compulsive behaviours and the dilemmas and tribulations of Los Angeles life, where Murph and his family live. From behind the band's deceptively cuddly façade, Murph has always written openly about his anxiety, depression and addictions , but with this collection there's a sense of progress towards confronting, accepting and coping with his issues. Alongside familiar sounds they explore new genres from glistening tech rock to sci-fi pop, futuristic fuzz rock to bluesy rock'n'roll, with touches of disco and hip-hop-inflections.

RED CLAY STRAYS - Made By These Moments LP (Colored reissue) (RCA)
Limited transparent white colored vinyl LP pressing. Made by These Moments is the second studio album from Mobile, Alabama natives The Red Clay Strays, and the band's debut album on RCA Records. This collection celebrates all the incredible moments that have defined the band's fast-rising success.

WAR AND TREATY - Plus One CD/LP (Mercury Nashville)
The War And Treaty return with their new album, Plus One. The album includes "Can I Get An Amen," "Leads Me Home," "Stealing A Kiss," "Called You By Your Name," and "Carried Away." 2 LP set.,"Every song on this album deals with some aspects of him and some aspects of her and some aspects of us. The ideal of sharing space with someone can be challenging no matter how short or long. We've had moments of doubt, moments of clarity, moments of regret and moments of solid faith." - Michael and Tanya.

MARSHALL ALLEN - New Dawn LP (Mexican Summer)
Two days after his 100th birthday, Marshall Allen embarked on a remarkable journey with the creation of New Dawn, his debut solo album. A revered member of The Sun Ra Arkestra since 1958 and the ensemble's leader since Sun Ra's departure from this realm in 1993, Allen's career has spanned nearly seventy years, yet this marks the first time he has released a solo record under his own name. Rather than bookending an era, New Dawn presents itself as a new chapter for Allen - a love letter to spacetime that channels a century of musical transience and transcendence into seven outer dimensional tracks.

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS - Flight of the Conchords LP reissue (Sub Pop)
Flight of the Conchords' 2008 self-titled debut album is back on LP with a limited-edition gold-vinyl pressing, limited to 1,000 copies!

SOUL COUGHING - Ruby Vroom LP (Round Hill)
Soul Coughing is reuniting for a tour around the 30th anniversary of their critically acclaimed debut album Ruby Vroom. The album is now available in a stunning new remastered package with three previously unreleased bonus tracks: "Murder of Lawyers", "Amy Fisher" and "Rachel". It also contains two other tracks from these sessions. "Buddha Rhubarb Butter", previously only available on the greatest hits.

RICHARD DAWSON - End Of The Middle LP (Domino)
End of the Middle is a wonkily beautiful peer into the workings of the family unit, perhaps several generations of the same family: "I wanted this record to be small-scale and very domestic", Dawson explains, "to be stripped back, stark and naked, and let the lyrics and melodies speak for themselves and for the people in the songs". By paring things right back what is revealed is a suite of remarkably poised, oddly elegant, beautiful music.

FKJ - 22_23 Live Sessions LP (Mom + Pop)
An accomplished musician with one foot in the new world and one in the old; FKJ makes soulful, limitless music for a restless, genre-fluid generation. His songs blur jazz, classical music, soul, 70’s rock and experimental beats that combine intricacy and intimacy. In the fall of 2022, he embarked on a new era by forming a live band for the first time.

COMING NEXT WEEK!
CINDY LEE - Diamond Jubilee CD/LP
YOUTH LAGOON - Rarely Do I Dream CD/LP
PATTERSON HOOD - Exploding Trees + Airplane Screams CD/LP
CAP'N JAZZ - Burritos Inspiration Point 30th Anniv LP
GLIXEN - Quiet Pleasures CD
MURDER CAPITAL - Blindness CD/LP
PAINKILLER - Equinox CD/LP
SUNNY WAR -  Armageddon In A Summer Dress CD/LP
TIM HECKER - Shards CD/LP
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE - This Consequence LP
Q LAZZARUS - Goodbye Horses: Many Lives of Q Lazzarus LP
SILVERSTEIN - Antibloom LP
APHEX TWIN - Blackbox Life Recorder 21f LP
FRED AGAIN - Ten Days LP
DEXTER GORDON - Our Man In Paris LP
SONNY ROLLINS - Vol 1 LP
JOAN SHELLEY - Mood Ring LP
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT - Dream Requiem Class CD/LP
STEVEN WILSON - Overview CD/LP
TATE MCRAE - So Close To What LP