New Release Round-Up 07-21-23
Blur - The Ballad of Darren - Warner Records
Since announcing their arrival with debut album in 1991, Blur went on to revolutionise the sound of English popular music with six successive UK #1 albums and a string of Top 10 singles, including two No 1s, helping to propel the band to mass popularity at home and abroad. One of the biggest British bands of the last three decades, Blur have released eight studio albums and collected ten NME Awards, six Q Awards, five BRIT Awards and an Ivor Novello Award, and played live to millions of devoted fans across the globe. Whilst they are an iconic band, the new music truly feels like they have re-invented their sound for 2023 and we should really amplify the commercial viability and youthful leaning sound to reach new audiences. The Ballad of Darren is truly incredible body of work which is beautifully layered, with real stand-out singles which is understandably described by the band as one of their best creations.
Greta Van Fleet - Starcatcher - Republic Records
GRAMMY-winning band Greta Van Fleet consists of 3 brothers – Josh Kiszka (vocals), Jake Kiszka (guitar) and Sam Kiszka (bass/keyboards) – as well as Danny Wagner (drums). Together, they have performed across multiple continents, sold over 3.5M records and 1M tickets worldwide. Their much anticipated 3rd studio album Starcatcher, produced by Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile) and recorded at RCA Studios in Nashville, is set for release via Lava/Republic Records.
Nina Simone - You've Got To Learn - Verve
The Newport Jazz Festival had always brought the best out of Nina Simone. On July 2, 1966 the audience was treated to the full range of her artistry – from the opener, a breathtaking version of “You’ve Got To Learn” to a swinging take on “Mississippi Goddam.” After the standing ovation, her fans were rewarded with the show- stopping encore, “Music For Lovers.” This previously unreleased recording makes it clear why hearing Nina Simone in concert was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
ALSO OUT THIS WEEK
Various Artists - Barbie The Album
Danny Elfman & Chris Bacon - Wednesday
Lori Mckenna - 1988
Oxbow - Love’s Holiday [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Red LP]
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway - City of Gold [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Light Blue LP]
Nils Lofgren - Mountains
Ultravox - Quartet: Deluxe Edition
Cut Worms - Cut Worms
NewJeans - NewJeans 2nd EP ‘Get Up’
The Teskey Brothers - The Winding Way [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition White LP]
The Vandals - Hitler Bad, Vandals Good.: 25th Anniversary Edition
Guided By Voices - Welshpool Frillies
Saul Williams - Martyr Loser King [RSD Essential Indie Colorway Red Galaxy LP]
Saul Williams - The Inevitable Rise And Liberation Of Niggy Tardust [RSD Essential Indie Colorway Cat's Eye Galaxy 2LP]
Montell Fish - Jamie [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Cream LP]
Ornette Coleman - Something Else!!!! The Music of Ornette Coleman (Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds Series)
The Isley Brothers - Make Me Say It Again, Girl
Exo - Exist
Illa J - Yancey Boys [RSD Essential Indie Colorway Coke Bottle Clear 2LP]
Madlib - Rock Konducta Pt. 1 [RSD Essential Indie Colorway Clear LP]
& More .....
UPCOMING RELEASES
High Pulp - Days In The Desert - ANTI
Los Angeles-based experimental jazz collective High Pulp will release their new album Days In The Desert in peak sweltering summer heat on July 28. The titular desert is both literal and metaphorical: it's the Mojave Desert that the band powers through on their many DIY tours around the country, and the band's founder / drummer Bobby Granfelt perceives the desert as "a spiritual quest" as well. Amid the trials of our present moment, you must look within, relying solely on your own instincts to keep moving forward. "You're in the desert and it's a long, lonesome process and a lot of times you have to check yourself to ask 'Is this right? Is this good? Is it too out?'" he says.High Pulp's Days in the Desert makes this vision come true, finding the West Coast band fully emerging into their own sound. Rooted in the jazz tradition while also smitten by indie-rock and electronic music, High Pulp was willing to grab from all these sounds at once to pursue something truly their own. Their third full-length album (following 2022's promising Anti- debut Pursuit of Ends), Days in the Desert reveals the band realizing their strengths, deepening their own bonds, and pushing all these skills into a thrilling new sonic vista all but unimaginable just a few years before.
Miya Folick - Roach - Nettwerk Records
Roach is Miya Folick's clearest and most direct work yet, eschewing some of the lyrical and musical obfuscations she layered onto her 2018 debut album, Premonitions. With ear-worm melodies, heart-wrenching poetry, eclectic production and anchored by Folick's once-in-a-lifetime voice, Roach straddles a line between pop and something more experimental. She enlisted a team of collaborators who she trusted to bring out the grittier side of her artistry, including Gabe Wax (War on Drugs, Fleet Foxes), Mike Malchicoff (King Princess, Bo Burnham), Max Hershenow (MS MR) and a team of some of LA's best players. The result is an album that sounds as honest and intimate as the subject matter at hand, a candid snapshot of where she is now and what it took to get there.
The Rolling Stones - Forty Licks - ABKCO Records
The Rolling Stones - "Forty Licks", the compilation that gathered three dozen of the most enduring and anthemic songs from the group's peerless career and added four then-new tracks to their incredible story, is presented for the first time in a lavish, limited edition four-disc, 180-gram black vinyl set, housed in a wide spine gatefold sleeve. The collection, which times out at over 2 and half hours, features no fewer than 20 Top 10 singles, including "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," "Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Miss You" and more.
