New Releases & Staff Picks - 4/5/24

STAFF PICKS
Lindsay - Pernice Brothers and Calexico
Dario - Animal Collective reissue
Kimber - Khruangbin and Sinkane
Jake - Mount Kimbie and Animal Collective reissue
Zach - Vampire Weekend, Jordana, and Novo Amor

Khruangbin – A La Sala CD/LP (Dead Oceans)
Khruangbin's fourth studio album, A La Sala ("To the Room" in Spanish), is an exercise in returning to go further and doing so on your own terms. It continues the mystery and sanctity that is the key to how bassist Laura Lee Ochoa, drummer Donald "DJ" Johnson, Jr. and guitarist Mark "Marko" Speer approach music. [An orange-in-yellow color vinyl pressing is available.]

The Black Keys – Ohio Players CD/LP (Nonesuch)
Ohio Players is the multiple-Grammy Award-winning, Akron, OH native band’s twelfth studio album. Written by The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney with longtime friends Dan “The Automator” Nakamura and Beck, the celebratory, joyful “Beautiful People (Stay High)” is one of several songs on the album that feature collaborations between the band and various additional friends and colleagues, including Noel Gallagher, Greg Kurstin, and others. Speaking on the collaborative nature of the album, Carney shares, “We had this epiphany: ‘We can call our friends to help us make music.’ It’s funny because we both write songs with other people – Dan all the time [as a solo artist and producer], me when I'm producing a record. That’s what we do.” Auerbach adds, “No matter who we work with, it never feels like we're sacrificing who we are. It only feels like it adds some special flavor.” [An indie store exclusive red color vinyl pressing is available.]

Vampire Weekend – Only God Was Above Us CD/2xLP (Columbia)
Only God Was Above Us is the fifth studio album by American indie rock band Vampire Weekend. Ezra Koenig, Chris Baio, and Chris Tomson recorded the follow-up to Father Of The Bride in New York, Los Angeles, London, and Tokyo. It sees the return of their longtime collaborator and producer, Ariel Rechtshaid and it was mixed by Dave Fridmann and mastered by Emily Lazar. Koenig wrote most of the lyrics for Only God Was Above Us in 2019 and 2020. The album’s title comes from a newspaper headline featured in a 1988 photograph by Steven Siegel. The photograph, called Subway Dream 11, doubles as the new Vampire Weekend album cover. [An indie store exclusive vinyl edition featuring alternate cover art is available.]

Old 97s – American Primitive CD/LP (ATO)
The 13th studio album from Old 97's arose from what vocalist/guitarist Rhett Miller refers to as a "de-evolution." "As much as I want us to calm down and grow up, the songs that felt right for this record were mostly big and loud and brutal and dirty." Produced by Tucker Martine and featuring appearances from Peter Buck (R.E.M.) and Scott McCaughey (The Minus 5), American Primitive is gloriously rowdy, revealing a band more attuned than ever to the raw, reckless energy of timeless rock-and-roll. [A green color vinyl pressing is available.]

Sinkane – We Belong CD/LP (City Slang)
We Belong is the eighth studio album from Sinkane, a band led by multi-instrumentalist Ahmed Gallab. And like many of Sinkane's previous releases, it resists genre. It's pop. It's funk. It's electronic. It blends the gritty punk newness of a ‘70s and ‘80s New York with the steady, foundational soul of the rhythms of his native Sudan. [A purple color vinyl pressing is available.]

Mount Kimbie – The Sunset Violent CD/LP+MP3 (Warp)
The Sunset Violent began in a disused frat house in the American Yucca Valley. Kimbie’s founding members Dominic Maker & Kai Campos began work on their first proper album together since 2017’s Love What Survives – the decision was made to leave London. Campos and Maker relocated for a month to a town in the middle of a desert. The resulting album, finished in London with longtime confidante Dillip Harris and their bandmates Andrea Balency-Béarn and Marc Pell, is 37 minutes of Mount Kimbie at simultaneously their most daring and their most giddily infectious. [An orange color vinyl pressing is available.]

Pernice Brothers – Who Will You Believe CD/LP (New West)
Joe Pernice has been writing for a long time—most of his life, in fact—and has crafted a remarkable catalog that boldly reinterprets and recasts classic American pop. Who Will You Believe may be his most moving and nuanced album yet; it’s certainly his timeliest. “These songs were all written during the same time period,” he says, “and they all seemed to tap into a mood I was in at the time. I go through spells where I’m a certain way for three or four months. I might be more reticent than usual, or more outgoing. With all of my records—and especially with this one—the songs all feel like they belong together, probably because they all arrived during the same stretch of time.” Pernice has been releasing albums for over 25 years. And with age comes a greater patience and an immense appreciation for the act of creation. Who Will You Believe showcases a beautiful balance between such sadness and moments of solemnity with warm humor and camaraderie. [Two indie store exclusive versions are available: autographed CD; and an autographed clear vinyl pressing.]

Animal Collective - Prospect Hummer [Reissue/2005] LP (Domino)
Prospect Hummer was recorded by the band's friend Rusty Santos (co-producer of 2004's Sung Tongs) and originally released in May 2005. The EP features singer-songwriter Vashti Bunyan on three of the four tracks and was released shortly before the band's 2005 release Feels. All four band members - Avey Tare, Deakin, Geologist, and Panda Bear - feature on this release.

Katie Pruitt – Mantras CD/LP (Rounder)
Katie Pruitt is living proof of music's power to transform the way we experience the world. With her sophomore album Mantras, mainly produced by Collin Pastore and Jake Finch (boygenius, Lucy Dacus), Pruitt looks inward to explore such matters as gender identity, self-compassion, or the lack thereof, and the struggle for peace in times of chaos and uncertainty-ultimately arriving at a body of work that speaks to the strength in undoing harmful self- beliefs and fully living your truth.

Phosphorescent – Revelator CD/LP (Verve Label Group)
Revelator is an album that speaks to “the grand sadness in life” — perennial Phosphorescent subject matter, by Matthew Houck’s estimation. In some ways, Revelator extends seamlessly from the story begun by Muchacho and continued by C’est La Vie. It finds Houck further mastering his unique blend of ragged, experiment-y classicism intertwined with ethereal, lachrymose atmospherics. Across Revelator, Houck sings from a woozy, worn headspace, but leads us to a place where dreams and reality mingle. [An indie store exclusive black ice color vinyl pressing is available.]

Cedric Burnside – Hill Country Love CD/LP (Provogue)
Hill Country Love is the latest studio album from Grammy-Award Winning Bluesman, Cedric Burnside. To Cedric, it is a culmination of a career that's already seen astonishing accomplishments and only keeps growing. When Cedric prepared to record Hill Country Love, the follow-up to his 2021 Grammy-winning album I Be Trying, he set up shop in a former legal office located in a row of structures in the seat of Tippah County, a town with 5,000 residents that's known as the birthplace of the Hill Country Blues style. The fourteen songs on the record were finished in two days, but in addition to being satisfied with the sound, Burnside believes that his eleventh album represents real creative progress.

The Libertines – All Is Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade CD/2xLP (Republic)
The quartet of unlikely lads have gathered from their newfound homes in France, Denmark, Margate and London to solder a strongest-ever internal bond and scale new creative heights. All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade began its formation in September 2022 when Pete and Carl traveled to Port Antonio, Jamaica. Away from any distraction, the chemistry between the infamous songwriting duo began to bubble in earnest. [An indie store exclusive clear vinyl pressing is available.]

No Doubt – The Singles 1992-2003 [Reissue/2003] 2xLP (Interscope)
Double 180gm vinyl LP pressing. No Doubt's greatest hits album, The Singles 1992-2003, is now available for the first time on 180gm heavyweight black vinyl. The double-LP set features a 12-page booklet with lyrics, liner notes and photos.

Jordana/TV Girl – Summer’s Over LP (Grand Jury)
To celebrate the launch of their sold-out US tour, NYC indie pop upstart Jordana and L.A.-based TV Girl surprise-release a collaborative EP entitled Summer's Over. Across its seven songs, the pair mesh TV Girl's hypnotic, sample-heavy production aesthetic with Jordana's plaintive-yet-playful vocal to form the perfect ode to the turning of the seasons, and the perfect celebration of their epic trek across America.

Novo Amor - Collapse List LP (Believe)
Novo Amor is Ali Lacey, who began Novo Amor as a project of sorts, an act of defiance in the wake of a break-up, but along the way he found something quite unexpectedly rich and rewarding. Years ago, a summer spent by an evergreen-surrounded lake in upstate New York supplied both the impetus and imagery that he would use to craft his debut albumBirthplace (2018), and the follow-up, Cannot Be Whatsoever (2020) in a house in Cardiff that was part home, part-studio. On Collapse List, Lacey reflects on the record and how it "speaks of my recognising what needs to change in my life, from my location, my feelings towards making music, the nature of my relationships and such... It started to feel like a catalog of personal growth; my own little collapse list. "

Elliott Smith - Either/Or: Expanded Edition [Reissue/2017] (Kill Rock Stars)
[Limited Maroon colored vinyl] To commemorate the 20th Anniversary of Elliott Smith’s best-selling and greatly beloved album, Either/Or, Kill Rock Stars proudly presents Either/Or: Expanded Edition. This album features the original tracks carefully remastered from the original source material under the supervision of Larry Crane, owner of Jackpot! Studios and archivist of the Estate of Elliott Smith. The second disc features five live multi-track recordings from the Yo Yo A Go Go Festival in Olympia, WA in 1997, as well as three previously unreleased studio recordings and one b-side gem. The double LP includes an insert of the original liner notes. This gorgeous collection is an essential listen for longtime fans and newcomers alike.

Freddie Gibbs – You Only Live 2Wice LP+MP3 (Esgn)
Limited opaque red color vinyl pressing. You Only Live 2wice is the third studio album by Freddie Gibbs. Following a tumultuous time in Gibbs' personal life, the album focuses on Freddie overcoming his obstacles and rising from the ashes anew, as reflected in the album art depicting the resurrection of Jesus. At eight tracks, the album has no features, instead using the space to let Gibbs bear his soul.

Dinosaur Jr - Black Session: Live In Paris 1993 LP (Cherry Red)
Never before released! Recorded in Paris - nine urgent Dinosaur Jr classics performed at arguably the band's 90s peak as a live outfit. Produced in conjunction with the band and INA, France. A companion piece to 2022's best-selling 'Seventytwohundredseconds' MTV EP.

Jim White – Drill A Hole In That Substrate And Tell Me What You See[Reissue/2004] 2xLP (Luaka Bop)
Grab your safety goggles and your hi-viz gear, because it's time to Drill A Hole in That Substrate And Tell Me What You See. Erstwhile druggie, drifter, storyteller, taxi-driver, and recovering Pentecostal maverick from Pensacola, Florida. It's the 20th anniversary of Jim White's haunting outer space alt-country classic that has a title so long nobody can remember the name of it. Featuring Aimee Mann, M. Ward, Bill Frisell, and the Barenaked Ladies-to name a few of the artists here-this album quickly rose to cult status.

Tosca – No Hassle [Reissue/200] 3xLP (!K7)
15th anniversary reissue. Multi-instrumentalists Richard Dorfmeister and Rupert Huber have been friends since their Vienna schooldays. Richard later became half of the globally acclaimed DJ-producer duo Kruder and Dorfmeister, while Rupert worked in piano composition and sound-art installation.

Fucked Up - Being b/w Annoying 7” (Fucked Up Records)
"Being Annoying" is the 54th 7" single of Fucked Ups career, and is the spiritual sequel to 2003's instant classic "Baiting The Public". Self-released by the band on April Fools day 2024, begging the question: "is anything real?" Limited to 1000 copies.

Rail Band – Rail Band [Reissue/1973] LP (Mississippi)
One of the greatest, heaviest, and hardest-to-find guitar records from 1970s West Africa, available on vinyl for the first time in over a decade. A product of Mali's golden age, "Rail Band" is a relentlessly soulful and hypnotic blend of American funk, jazz horns, and Afro-Cuban music, reflected through centuries-old Mandé tradition and blasted at top volume by some of the continent's greatest artists.

LCD Soundsystem - pow pow (idjut boys remix) 12”  (DFA)
From the depths of the DFA vault (really just an assortment of poorly organized hard drives of varying vintages), we found this gem, a version of “pow pow” made all squirrely by master squirrels the Idjut Boys. Why we kept this a secret for 14 years will forever remain a mystery. It’s a distant cousin of the original - vocals gone, drums looped out, squelch and delay coming down like rain. A real chugger. What better to pair it with, then, than Rub-N-Tug’s remix of “too much love,” long out of print from its original pressing in 2005 and still a complete monster meant for dark rooms and cranked up smoke machines. It lives on wax once again, now with a like-minded buddy. Both tracks were recut at 45 rpm by Bob Weston and pressed with care by the good humans at Third Man Pressing in Detroit, MI. Hand-stamped at DFA and limited to 1000 pieces.

Calexico - Feast of Wire (Bonus Track Version) [Reissue/2003]
ORIGINAL LP REMASTERED AT 45 RPM WITH BONUS TRACK "ALONE AGAIN OR", PACKAGED IN A FULL-COLOR GATEFOLD JACKET WITH METALIC GOLD AND SILVER In 1996, Joey Burns and John Convertino formed Calexico as a side project to pursue while they had time off from Giant Sand. Calexico eventually grew into a full-time pursuit, recording and releasing multiple, excellent, full-length albums and EP's for Quarterstick Records. Originally released in 2003, Feast of Wire is their fourth album, and it is a masterpiece of remarkable beauty and diversity. Each song presents a new and evocative vision for the listener, deftly playing across genre lines with startling virtuosity. 

Various Artists – Eccentric Soul: Consolidated Productions Vol. 1 LP (Numero)
Operating in the farthest margins of L.A.'s cutthroat music business from 1961-1991, Mel Alexander's Consolidated Productions was among the longest running Black-owned independent record conglomerates of the 20th century. [An opaque tan colorway is available.] 

Fields of Nephilim - Elizium (Deluxe Edition) [Reissue/1990] LP (Beggar’s Banquet)
Formed in 1984, Fields of the Nephilim is the creation of vocalist and front man Carl McCoy. Highly influential, especially in the world of goth, but also within the metal and electronic genres, their legacy endures to this day. Elizium is one of their most beautiful albums and considered by many to be their best. This is an expanded deluxe reissue, now on double LP for audio clarity, pressed on brick red vinyl and containing four bonus tracks. 

Fabiana Palladino - Fabiana Palladino CD/LP (XL)
Made in the wake of the end of a long relationship, the album is an intimate record that sees Fabiana Palladino confront complex questions about love, loneliness and normativity in relationships. The result is a 10-track full-length of shapeshifting sonics that draws inspiration from the big R&B, Soul, Pop and Disco studio productions of the 80s and 90s and filters them through a modern lens. Written and self-produced by Palladino, the album features performances from renowned musicians and close friends including Paul Institute co-founder Jai Paul, her father and legendary session bassist Pino Palladino, brother and Yussef Dayes bassist Rocco Palladino, renowned drummer Steve Ferrone and strings from Rob Moose.

Piano Magic - Part Monster LP (Second Language)
First time on vinyl. Remastered for vinyl in 2023 by Antony Ryan at RedRedPaw. Limited edition of 500 copies. Redesigned for vinyl by Maria Makripoulias from Paul Heartfield's original CD photography. Printed inner sleeve with lyrics. Includes a previously unreleased track (digital only) from the same recording sessions, 'Blank Page (Board Mix).'

COMING NEXT WEEK!
GIRL IN RED - I'm Doing It Again Baby CD/LP
JAMES - Yummy CD/LP
NOAH KAHAN - Stick Season (we'll all be here) LP
NOAH KAHAN - Busyhead LP
MAGGIE ROGERS - Don't Forget Me CD/LP
LEYLA MCCALLA - Sun Without The Heat CD/LP
METZ - Up On Gravity Hill CD/LP
PATRICK SHIROSHI/EMMA RUTH RUNDLE - Sparrow In A Swallows Nest 7"
SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE - Diary colored LP reissue
CLIPPING / COOLING PRONGS - Tips 7"
NIA ARCHIVES - Silence Is Loud LP
BEYONCE - Cowboy Carter CD