New Releases & Staff Picks - 3/7/25

STAFF PICKS
Lindsay – Hamilton Leithauser and Original Sound Of Mali 2
Dario – Celia Cruz reissue
Kimber – Bob Mould
Jake – Glixen and Joe Henderson
Zach – Jason Isbell and Lust For Youth
Ash – De La Soul 12”

HAMILTON LEITHAUSER - This Side Of The Island CD/LP (Glassnote)
Hamilton Leithauser's (The Walkmen) 5th studio album, This Side of the Island (co-produced by Aaron Dessner of The National) boldly turns away from the folk-rock vibes of his two previous records and introduces a groovier, bass-heavy, modern sound - a sound undoubtedly influenced by several decades of music. Inspired by events in Hamilton's personal life, the album's lyrics showcase his unrelenting optimism and biting wit and as they consider heavy themes of solitude, love, loss, and resilience.

DE LA SOUL - Clear Lake Audiotorium CD/12" (Chrysalis)
de la Soul's Clear Lake Audiotorium is one of their most sought-after releases by super fans. The holy grail of de la Soul albums, it was released in 1994 exclusively as a promotional item to A-list DJs. It features four tracks from the group's Buhloone Mindstate album and two new tracks - "sh. Fe. Mc's" featuring A Tribe Called Quest and "Stix & Stonz" featuring The Fearless Four, Grandmaster Caz, and Prince Whipper Whip). While only 500 copies were pressed of the original, this legendary collector's item is now available as a limited edition release.

JUICE WRLD - The Party Never Ends LP (Interscope)
Double colored vinyl LP pressing. The highly anticipated, final Juice Wrld album has arrived. The Party Never Ends finds Juice diving down different alleyways of his colorful, complex psyche. With features from Eminem, Fall Out Boy, Nicki Minaj, Offset, The Kid LAROI, and production from benny blanco, Nick Mira, and Cashmere Cat among many more collaborators, the posthumous set is a fitting celebration of a once-in-a-generation artist.

JASON ISBELL - Foxes In The Snow CD/LP (Thirty Tigers)
After releasing multiple albums and touring the globe with his band, The 400 Unit, 2025 will begin with a change of form with Jason Isbell hitting the road on his own, performing at historic music venues across Europe and the US as a solo artist this Winter and Spring. Along with these much anticipated solo concerts, this new album Foxes In The Snow, showcases his song craft at its purest roots with just his voice and an acoustic guitar. Produced by Gena Johnson and Jason Isbell, and recorded at Electric Lady Studios in NYC,.

VARIOUS - Original Sound Of Mali 2 LP (Mr Bongo)
Following the success of The Original Sound of Mali compilation, Mr Bongo returns with another explorative delve into the wonders of Malian music compiled by French writer, journalist and Grammy-nominated compiler Florent Mazzoleni and Mr Bongo's very own David Buttle. Restoring, reissuing and contextualising iconic tracks from Ousmane Kouyaté & Ambassadeurs Internationaux, Rail Band, Les Messagers du Mali, Mystère Jazz de Tombouctou and many more, the second compilation in this series dives ever further into the richness of post-independence music emanating out of Mali. One in which traditional foundations and instrumentation, blended with modern musical advances and influence.Following Mali's independence, after ten years of maturation, the 1970s saw modern Malian culture revealed to the world through musical anthologies and overviews of national and regional productions. It was a remarkably fertile period of the country's musical history, with state-sponsored bands and orchestras now able to be documented and recorded by sound engineers.

KRAFTWERK - Autobahn 50th Anniv picturedisc LP (Warner)
To celebrate reaching its 50th Anniversary, Kraftwerk have announced a new edition of their landmark 1974 album Autobahn. For vinyl lovers, the stereo album is pressed as a highly attractive vinyl picture disc for the very first time, making it the only official picture disc in Kraftwerk's discography.

NEIL YOUNG - Oceanside Countryside LP (Reprise)
Oceanside Countryside is the latest of Neil Young's great "lost" albums to be released as part of his Analog Original Series. The album was recorded from May to December 1977, preceding the release of Comes A Time in 1978. The two albums share the same country/folk sound, and three songs ("Goin' Back", "Human Highway" and "Field of Opportunity") appear on both albums. The vinyl release of Oceanside Countryside includes some tracks that are on the CD of the same name in Neil Young's Archives Vol. III. However, this track list is how Oceanside Countryside was originally planned to be released. Recorded on tape, these are the original mixes done at the time of recording. All the songs on "Oceanside" are performed solo by Neil Young. On "Countryside," Young is joined by a band of his friends: Ben Keith (Steel Guitar), Rufus Thibodeaux (fiddle), Karl T. Himmel (drums), Joe Osborne (bass). On "The Old Homestead" Tim Drummond plays bass and Levon Helm plays drums. "Pocahontas" is Young solo. Please note that while the songs on Oceanside Countryside appear on Archives Volume III, the versions are not always the same and the track list is the running order for the original Oceanside Countrysidealbum.

DAVID BOWIE - Young Americans 50th Anniv picturedisc LP (Rhino)
DAVID BOWIE - Young Americans 50th Anniv Half-Speed Master LP (Rhino)
YOUNG AMERICANS will be issued as a limited edition 50th anniversary half-speed mastered LP and a picture disc LP with a poster pressed from the same master. The album saw Bowie broaden his musical horizons once more, embracing what he called 'Plastic Soul' and would give Bowie his first number one single in the U. S. , 'FAME', co-written with John Lennon and Bowie's then guitarist, Carlos Alomar. This new pressing of YOUNG AMERICANS was cut on a customised late Neumann VMS80 lathe with fully recapped electronics from 192kHz restored masters of the original Record Plant master tapes, with no additional processing on transfer. The half-speed was cut by John Webber at AIR Studios.

BOB MOULD - Here We Go Crazy CD/LP (BMG)
Alt-rock legend Bob Mould returns, on a major label, with his new album, Here We Go Crazy. The former frontman of Hüsker Dü and Sugar delivers 11 slices of anthemic, emotional driving alternative rock. Featuring singles "Here We Go Crazy," "When Your Heart Is Broken," and "Breathing Room," the album finds Bob in top form.

GLIXEN - Quiet Pleasures LP (Wichita)
Local shoegazers' EP is now available on vinyl.

SASAMI - Blood On The Silver Screen CD/LP (Domino)
Indie exclusive blood red vinyl. Two Sasamis exist in harmony. First is Sasami Ashworth, the conservatory-trained classical French horn player, producer, and composer—an artist with a studious approach to craft. And then there is all-caps SASAMI, the fearless performer and protagonist of her three increasingly audacious albums. For Blood On the Silver Screen, these two sides fused for her most epic and realized music to date: the all-out Sasami pop record.

JOE HENDERSON - Multiple (Jazz Dispensary Top Shelf Series) LP (Craft)
Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. Multiple finds saxophone virtuoso Joe Henderson operating in the sonic space between fusion and free jazz, joined by a world-class ensemble featuring Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette, Larry Willis, and James "Blood" Ulmer, who all heavily contribute to the momentum that makes the album a meeting of giants. This Jazz Dispensary Top Shelf reissue of Multiple was cut from the original analog tapes (AAA) by Kevin Gray, pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI, and comes packaged in a tip-on jacket.

LUST FOR YOUTH + CROATIAN AMOR - All Worlds CD/LP (Sacred Bones)
In June 2023, Lust For Youth and Croatian Amor shared the stage at the iconic Sydney Opera House during the Vivid Live Festival. This encounter reignited their creative partnership, laying the foundation for their collaborative new albumAll Worlds. Drawing inspiration from the Golden Record sent into space as humanity's message to the unknown, All Worlds mirrors this longing for connection and understanding. Each track captures a fragment of emotion, culture, or memory, offering a kaleidoscopic view of the human experience.

VARIOUS - Great Lakes Gospel: Cleveland LP (Numero)
An overflowing chalice of funky gospel gems from the Forest City. You could start a church with this thing. 

CELIA CRUZ - Son Con Guaguanco LP (Craft)
Celia Cruz's first solo album released in 1966 on Tico Records, now reissued on vinyl for the first time in the U.S. since its original pressing. Featuring (AAA) lacquers cut from the original master tapes and pressed on 180-gram vinyl, this reissue arrives in honor of the Queen of Salsa's centennial. Standout songs like "Bemba Colorá," "Oye Mi Consejo," "Se Me Perdió La Cartera" and the title track are staples of Celia's incredible repertoire. Remastered 2025.

JJULIUS - Vol 3 LP (DFA)
JJULIUS' Vol. 3 album is a big step forward, or a step up, out of the murky basement of the preceding two volumes. There's no time to acclimate. JJULIUS records have always arrived like meteors from another planet, an impression hammered home by the fact that they're titled like compendiums of artifacts. And while Vols 1 and 2 carried that notable tinge of darkness, Vol. 3 has (almost!) cast that shadow, adding elements of disco ("Dödsdisco") and dream-pop ("Etopisk hallucination") to his forever favorites Arthur Russell, African Head Charge, and The Fall.

FUST - Big Ugly LP (Dear Life)
Fust-the lyrical powerhouse Southern rock band from Durham, North Carolina-announce their new album Big Ugly, on Dear Life Records, the record label that launched the careers of MJ Lenderman and Florry and that has become a haven for contemporary songwriters.

GINGER BAKER TRIO - Going Back Home (forest green) LP (Real Gone)
Yeah, legendary drummer Ginger Baker was in a trio with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce. But would it be sacrilege to suggest that perhaps that outfit was the not the, ahem, cream of the crop when it comes to his career’s musical threesomes? For the Ginger Baker Trio, first heard on the 1994 album Going Back Home, featured Charlie Haden on bass and Bill Frisell on guitar! And that record lived up to its pedigree with a fascinating blend of British folk, Arabic-tinged melodies, and jazz, propelled by Baker’s astonishing jazz chops on his double bass kit (punctuated by some of his trademark tom-tom fills) and shot through with Haden’s melodic bass work and those impressionistic guitar textures that could only come from a Frisell axe. In short, if you’re a fan of any of these three guys, this album’s a must, and now it's been remastered for vinyl

LEE HAZLEWOOD - Live and Other Crimes LP (Real Good)
Lee Hazlewood made his bones producing and co-writing with guitarist Duane Eddy during the ‘50s, and then cemented his immortality with the classic sides he produced for Nancy Sinatra during the ‘60s. Over the past few decades, though, attention has turned to Lee’s idiosyncratic solo work, the heart of which he recorded for the Reprise label and his own LHI Records. Issued in 1968, Love and Other Crimes is one of his Reprise releases, and it’s one of the weirdest records in his entire catalog. On limited sea blue vinyl. 

SPIRITBOX - Tsunami Sea LP (Rise)
Spiritbox's sophomore album, Tsunami Sea, builds on the band's massively successful 2021 debut album, Eternal Blue, which topped charts and dominated critic's year-end lists, and 2023's Fear of Fear EP, which earned the band two consecutive Grammy nominations. The album, co-produced by Spiritbox's Mike Stringer and Dan Braunstein, features the band's signature visceral sound, elevated to new heights of intensity and musicality highlighted in singles "Soft Spine" and "Perfect Soul."

NOAH KAHAN - Live From Fenway Park LP (Mercury)
2LPs. Like the title says, Live From Fenway Park. Only got a few of these. Free patch with purchase!

ALTER BRIDGE - One Day Remains LP reissue (Craft)
Celebrate the 20th anniversary of Alter Bridge's Gold-certified debut One Day Remains with a deluxe 2-LP edition. Originally released in 2004, the album includes fan favorites like "Metalingus," "Open Your Eyes," and "In Loving Memory." This expanded edition offers six bonus tracks, including rarity "Save Me," and a five-song 2005 live set from Phase One Studios in Toronto, featuring never-before-released performances.

COMING NEXT WEEK
CLIPPING - Dead Channel Sky CD/LP
ALABASTER DE PLUME - Blade Because A Blade Is Whole LP
RED FANG - Deep Cuts CD/LP
THROWING MUSES - Moonlight Concessions CD/LP
CELIA CRUZ / JOHNNY PACHECO - Tremendo LP
COHEED + CAMBRIA - Father of Make Believe CD/LP
NELS CLINE - Consentrik Quartet CD/LP
CHARLIE CROCKETT - Lonesome Drifter CD/LP
FAINT - Blank Wave Arcade LP reissue
FAINT - Wet From Birth LP reissue
FUCKED UP - Disabuse 7"
OF MONTREAL - Sunlandic Twins LP reissue
POGUES - Rest Of The Best LP
SCRATCH ACID - Just Keep Eating LP
SCRATCH ACID - Self Titled and Berserker LP
TALK TALK - Very Best Of LP
MICROWAVE - Stovall LP reissue
CIRCUIT DES YEUX - Halo On The Inside CD/LP
MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT - Today LP
LONNIE JOHNSON - Blues + Ballads LP
JOE PASS - Virtuoso LP
ARCHIE SHEPP - Magic Of Juju LP
MEMPHIS SLIM - Memphis Slim USA LP