New Music Releases ~ January 18, 2010
16 Horsepower - Yours Truly
Alan Parsons Project - X2 (I Robot/Eye In The Sky)
Albert King & Stevie Ray Vaughan - In Session (vinyl)
Aquabats - Hi-Five Soup!
Audio Bullys - Higher Than the Eiffel
Aurelio - Laru Beya
Beep - City of the Future
Benjy Davis Project: Sincerely
Blackmore's Night - Autumn Sky
Booker T. & the MGs - McLemore Avenue (vinyl)
Boris - Live in Japan
(DVD)Braids - Native Speaker
Brandon Heath - Leaving Eden
Bridge and Powerlines - Eve
Clarence Johnson - Low Down Papa
Cobra Skulls - Bringing the War Home
Daniel Martin Moore - In the Cool of the Day
Disappears - Guider
Distractions - Dark Green Sea
Dolorean - The Unfazed
Ducktails - Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics
(vinyl)Electric Wizard - Black Masses Rise
Elvis Presley - Elvis Is Back: Legacy Edition
Eulogies - Tear the Fences Down
Farewell To Freeway - Filty Habits
Buy Fela Kuti Nusic Here
Fela Kuti - Army Arrangement (reissue)
Fela Kuti - Beasts of No Nation /O.D.O.O. (reissue)
Fela Kuti - Coffin For Head of State / Unknown Soldier (reissue)
Fela Kuti - Live in Amsterdam (reissue)
Fela Kuti - Original Suffer Head / I.T.T. (reissue)
Fergus & Geronimo - Unlearn
First Aid Kit - "Universal Soldier" b/w "It Hurts Me Too" 7''
Ghost - Opus Eponymous
Gilkyson-Gorka-Kaplansky - Red Horse (vinyl)
Gregg Allman - Low Country Blues
(2 LPs) (vinyl)Harry Belafonte - Sings The Blues (24k Gold Master)
Ian Axel - This Is The New Year
Ike & Tina Turner - Absolutely the Best: Live
James Blunt - Some Kind of Trouble
Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg - Je Taime Moi Non Plus (reissue) (vinyl)
Janis Ian - Between The Lines (Gold Disc)
Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall (Vinyl)
Jayhawks - Tomorrow The Green Grass (remastered with bonus CD)
Kidz Bop Kids - Kidz Bop 19
Klaxons - Surfing the Void (deluxe edition reissue)
Import! 'The album kicks off with "Echoes," a challenging first single that sees fuzzy electric guitars form the basis for which the often breathy vocals can overlap. Instantly, something hits the listener: the album seems to be rather poorly mastered, either deliberately to create a lo-fi sound or unintentionally as a result of Klaxons disputes with their label. I'd like to think that it is a deliberate move; it doesn't hurt the album to be a little grittier, and even benefits some of the tracks. "Surfing the Void," is an apocalyptic, riff-heavy beast that seems to thrive on the loudness that mastering would partially remove. Vocals come quick and fast, taking the shouting of older tracks like "Atlantis to Interzone" to new levels in this murky atmosphere. Overall, Klaxons seem to have gone for a dark, brooding sound that largely plays to their strengths. "Valley of Calm Trees" offers softer vocals and a reluctant, saddening tone as well as one of the most memorable Klaxons choruses so far. Klaxons embrace being British throughout the record; Jamie Reynolds sounds similar to Rob Dickinson of Catherine Wheel during select parts of "Future Memories," which shows influences in vocals and guitar-work. Elsewhere, the tension is broken in softer, percussion-led tracks such as "Twin Flames," that places vocals further in the mix and allows the glitch-like guitars to remain in the background, creating a wonderful rhythm.' - Alex Phillimore / OneThirtyBPM.com
Lady Lazarus - Mantic
Ladytron - 604 (reissue with bonus tracks)
Ladytron - Light & Magic (reissue with bonus tracks)
Ladytron - Witching Hour (reissue with bonus tracks)
Les Jupes - Modern Myths
Lionheart - Built on Struggle
Madlib - Low Budget High Fi Music (3xCD)
Magic Sam - West Side Soul: Special Edition
Modern Skirts - Gramahawk
Mogwai - Rano Pano (vinyl)
Mudhoney - Head on the Curb (reissue) (vinyl)
This beautiful 180 gram vinyl-only release is mid-period Mudhoney at its rawest. Original bass player Matt Lukin is in top form, as is the rest of the classic lineup, blasting out songs and ideas, some of which went on to be studio-fied for their Warner Bros. debut Piece of Cake, while others got lost to the dark crevices of time until now. Besides the cover of SCTV classic "I Hate The Bloody Queen", these recordings have never been released, and represent a sonic assault that is pure Mudhoney. Raw, unabashed, and sometimes downright no-fi. Head On the Curb writes a new chapter into Mudhoney's legendary past.
Neon Quartet - Catch Me
Night Ranger - Authorized Bootleg: Live Marquette, Michigan - 8/8/84
Norman Blake - Green Light On The Southern
Oh No Oh My - People Problems
Pearl Jam - Live On Ten Legs (vinyl)
Phish - Live Phish 6/27/10 Merriweather Post Pavilion
Phish - Live Phish 7/4/10 Verizon Wireless at Encore Park
Phish - Live Phish: 7/3/10 Verizon Wireless at Encore Park
Ponderosa - Moonlight Revival
Ringside - Lost Days
Robert Pollard -Space City Kicks
(vinyl)Roomful of Blues - Hook, Line & Sinker
Rory Gallagher - Irish Tour
Scars on 45 - Give Me Something (EP)
Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin - Je Taime Moi Non Plus (vinyl)
Serge Gainsbourg - Le Claqueur De Mots 1958-1959
Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B. (reissue) (vinyl)
Shalamar - Ultimate Best of (2 CDs)
Shilpa Ray And Her Happy Hookers - Teenage and Torture
Shirley Collins & Davy Graham - Folk Roots New Routes (vinyl)
Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde
Sparklehorse - Good Morning Spider (reissue)(vinyl)
On 180 gram vinyl! This reissue comes with a bonus 7" containing "Waiting for Nothing" (ghost song in the original vinyl version) and "Happy Place," plus download card of the entire album. 'Sparklehorse's 1996 full-length debut, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot, has even more sad, beautiful, weird moments of spacy, rural folk-rock than it does letters in its name. Primarily the project of singer/songwriter/guitarist Mark Linkous, Sparklehorse's sound embraces impossibly frail, cobwebby ballads like the album opener "Homecoming Queen," "Most Beautiful Widow in Town," and "Heart of Darkness"; sun-drenched, noisy pop like "Rainmaker" and "Hammering the Cramps"; and noise blasts like "Ballad of a Cold Lost Marble" and "850 Double Pumper Holley." The album's most powerful moments borrow from folk and country traditions, alluding to their universally understood poignancy, while updating and personalizing them with spacy arrangements, distorted vocals, and slivers of feedback. "Heart of Darkness" and "Homecoming Queen" in particular have a woozy, late-night sweetness that conveys a touching, if unstable, honesty. The single "Someday I Will Treat You Good" molds this vulnerability into a radio song, with catchy and affecting results, but it's the shambling, understated songs like "Saturday" and "Sad & Beautiful World" that define the group's down-to-earth melancholy. Despite covering some expansive musical territory, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot doesn't sound scattered so much as spontaneous, reflecting the happy, sad, noisy, and quiet moments in life.' - Heather Phares / All Music Guide
Sparklehorse - Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot (reissue)(vinyl)
Spiritualized - Lazer Guided Melodies (reissue)(vinyl)
Spiritualized - Pure Phase (reissue)(vinyl)
Steve Lukather - All’s Well That Ends Well
Tennis - Cape Dory
The Brute Chorus - How The Caged Bird Sings
The Carrier - Blind To What Is Right
On 180 gram gatefold vinyl! 'The Decemberists release their sixth album The King Is Dead via Capitol Records. The critically acclaimed Portland, OR alt-pop outfit, led by frontman and songwriter Colin Meloy, are joined by R.E.M.'s Peter Buck on three of the album's ten tracks. Meloy has mentioned that R.E.M. is an inspiration for the album, a claim that is backed up by the album's more straightforward, driving folk/rock sound on the songs like "Down By the Water," "This Is Why We Fight" and "Calamity Sound." The King Is Dead follows up The Decemberists' March 2009 album Hazards of Love.' - Direct Current
The Fall - This Nation's Saving Grace (Omnibus Edition)
The Frames - For the Birds (reissue) (vinyl)
The Script - Science & Faith
The Walkmen - You & Me (reissue) (vinyl)
Times of Grace - The Hymn Of A Broken Man (Special Edition)(CD/DVD)
Tokio Hotel - Best Of
Tony Bennet & Gene Krupa - Guard Sessions
Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death - Some of Are in This Together
Twilight Hotel - When the Wolves Go Blind
Various Artists - Disco Fever USA
Various Artists - Shots Of Blues Volume 1
Various Artists - Six Sessions (2 CDs)
Vusi Mahlasela - Say Africa (vinyl)
Warpaint - Exquisite Corpse EP (reissue)
White Fence - is growing faith (vinyl)
White Lies - Ritual (vinyl)
Young Prisms - Friends For Now (vinyl)
New Jazz Releases January 18, 2010
Remember, if you are a record company and have new releases or know of any I missed (especially vinyl), please email me and I will add your music to the list. I also do reviews of new vinyl, email me for more information.
Have new music for the list? Email me at rbenson30@wi.rr.com
