Staff Picks

"epic represents a crossroads for me as an artist. Going from intern to artist at Ba Da Bing, from solo folk singer to playing with a band for the first time and beginning to play shows on tour where people showed up. I am in awe of the artists who wanted to participate in celebrating my anniversary and reissue, from young inspiring musicians, to artists who took me under their wing, who I met on tour, and to artists I've looked up to since I was a teenager. Each one of these artists continue to influence my writing and provide a sense of camaraderie during this new era of sharing music." -Sharon Van Etten. Sharon Van Etten's career since the release of her second album, 2010's epic, is well-known; critically lauded albums, films, and television shows have continually displayed her expanding artistry. Upon it's release, epic laid a romantic melancholy over the gravel and dirt of heartbreak without one honest thought or feeling spared. Her songs covered betrayal, obsession, egotism, and all the other emotions disliked in others and recognize in oneself. Van Etten's grounded and clenched vocals conveyed a sense of hope-the notion that beauty can arise from the worst of circumstances. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of this special album's release, and to acknowledge the convergence of Van Etten's present and past work, she asked fellow artists she admired to participate in an expanded reissue, where each artist would cover one different song from epic in their own style. Some are musicians Van Etten herself admired in her early days (Fiona Apple, Lucinda Williams, and Aaron Dessner and Justin Vernon of Big Red Machine), some are peers (Courtney Barnett, IDLES), and others are part of a younger generation of innovators (Shamir, St. Panther). What they all share is embodied by epic-a musician frankly communicating the power of music. The resulting epic Ten is a double album featuring the original plus the new album of epic covers and reimagined artwork.

Recorded Live at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy WI at Phish's concert on July 14, 2019

Recorded live at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, Bethel, NY during Phish's tech rehearsal on May 26, 2011.

Limited silver colored vinyl LP pressing. Take This to Your Grave is the debut studio album by rock band Fall Out Boy, originally released on May 6, 2003. When the band was signed to Island Records, the label employed an unusual strategy that allowed them to sign with independent label Fueled by Ramen for their debut and later move to Island for their second album. Sean O'Keefe had helped with the band's demo, and they returned to Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin to record the bulk of their first album with him. Living on a stranger's floor for part of the time and running out of money halfway through, the band recorded seven songs in nine days, bringing them together with the additional three from the demo.

Sleater-Kinney's 10th studio album was recorded in Portland, Oregon during the summer of 2020 ' against a backdrop of social unrest, devastating wildfires, and a raging pandemic. It's music for an imagined togetherness. This marks the first Sleater-Kinney album produced by the band members themselves.

Hardcore, hard partyin' punk rock outfit, Green Jelly (formerly Green Jello) - best known for their 1993 hit "Three Little Pigs" - are back to blow your house in with this brand new studio album, their first since 2009!Includes guest musical performances by members of Trailer Park Boys, Suicidal Tendencies, Fishbone, The Dwarves, Plethora, Hacksaw Jim Duggin, Kittie and other PLUS special cameos by "Weird Al" Yankovic and Wink Martindale!Full color illustrations by the artists who created the '80s trading card phenomenon Garbage Pail Kids, including unique drawings for each song which can be cut out to create trading cards! Available on both CD and COLORED vinyl with full-color printed sleeves!

For Leslie Jordan, it was the hymnal, not the radio, that soundtracked life in rural Tennessee. 'There was so much comfort in those old songs,' says Jordan. 'I'd sing them out loud with the congregation on Sunday mornings, and then softer to myself on the weekdays in between.' And while the Emmy Award-winning actor ultimately left the church as a teenager, he held onto those timeless hymns like a lifeline, clutching them close to his heart every step of the way on his unlikely path to Hollywood stardom. Now, at 65, Jordan is breathing new life into the music that raised him, teaming up with an all-star cast of duet partners to release his debut album, Company's Comin'. Features on the album include Dolly Parton, Eddie Vedder, Brandi Carlile, Morgane & Chris Stapleton, Tanya Tucker & TJ Osborne.

Limited 180gm orange colored vinyl LP pressing. Includes insert. Jack's Mannequin is the side project of Andrew McMahon from pop punk band Something Corporate. Their final album, People and Things, was released in 2011. For People and Things, the band worked with some notable guest musicians.

Double vinyl LP pressing. Housed in gatefold jacket. The first-ever physical release of Mac Miller's seminal mixtape K.I.D.S., will be available in celebration of it's' 10-Year Anniversary. Double LP with three sides of music and one silkscreen side.

Overview

Rick Nielsen Cheap Trick 1978 Checkered EXP Hamer Mini Guitar Replica Collectible.

Axe Heaven teamed up with the one and only Rick Nielsen to bring you some of his world famous guitars in miniature! All officially licensed and blessed by Rick himself!

Features

• Brand: Axe Heaven
• Size: Each guitar model is approximately 10" in length.
• Each AXE HEAVENr ornamental replica guitar is 1:4 scale and is individually handcrafted from solid wood, with metal tuning keys.
• Includes a high-quality miniature adjustable A-frame guitar stand for display.
• Packed in an AXE HEAVENr guitar case gift box stamped with silver foil.
• All mini guitars are packed in the same style box measuring 11.75" W x 4.5" D x 1.25" H
• AXE HEAVENr Miniature Replica guitars look great but are Not playable.
• These ornamental miniature replica guitar collectibles make great gifts for musicians & music aficionados alike!
• A must for Rick Nielsen & Cheap Trick fans & collectors.
• Weight: approximately 14 oz.
• Officially licensed
• Product materials are sourced from Brazil & Indonesia then assembled & packaged in the USA.

With over 5,000 performances spanning four decades, 20 million records sold worldwide, and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, CHEAP TRICK is undoubtedly one of the most influential classic rock groups of the past 50 years. The band was formed in 1974 and while it has evolved throughout the years, CHEAP TRICK has continued to reach mainstream and critical success. Hits such as “I Want You To Want Me,” “Dream Police,” and “Surrender” have cemented the group as one of America’s top rock ‘n’ roll bands of all time. 

Deluxe Edition comes with spinning wheel gatefold jacket with die-cut front cover, 12 page booklet, bonus 7" single featuring two "Nowhere Session" versions of album standouts "Nowhere Generation" + "Broken Dreams, Inc”. Black & White Smoke LP.

Nowhere Generation’s unabashedly outspoken 11 songs explore the tight bonds and the distances we share, the struggles of everyday life, our personal failings and triumphs, as well as how the social and economic decks can be stacked against us. But Nowhere Generation also hints at the reclamation of ourselves, a call to resurrect who we are at our core, who we want to be and what we want to do with our lives, despite the rampant weaponizing of our culture. As lyricist Tim McIlrath wrote on “The Numbers”:  …these cold nights are almost unbearable, but purpose keeps us warm.

Nowhere Generation was recorded at The Blasting Room in Fort Collins, Colorado under the tutelage of Jason Livermore, Andrew Berlin, Chris Beeble and long-time producer/engineer Bill Stevenson (Black Flag, The Descendents) who has worked with the band on nearly all of their acclaimed releases since their sophomore effort, 2003’s Revolutions Per Minute, and is often described as Rise Against’s fifth member.

Taylor Swift has announced her ninth studio album, evermore; folklore's sister record. These songs were created with Aaron Dessner, Jack Antonoff, WB and Justin Vernon.

The deluxe physical edition will include two bonus tracks on 2 LP green vinyl.

Picture disc version of The Man Who Sold The World album featuring the striking black and white imagery of the 1972 reissue

Reissue on vinyl of the 2006 collection of PJ Harvey sessions with the late BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, spanning recordings from the start of her career in 1991 up to 2004. Reissue is faithful to the original recording and package, with cutting by Jason Mitchell at Loud Mastering under the guidance of longtime PJ Harvey producer John Parish.

Mute are delighted to announce the release of Can Live in Stuttgart 1975, the first in a series of Can live concerts available in full for the first time on vinyl, CD and digital formats. Originally recorded on tape, these carefully restored live albums will comprise the entirety of each show in the format of a story with a beginning, middle and end, with Can’s performances taking on a life of their own. Can Live in Stuttgart 1975 will be available on limited edition triple orange vinyl and double CD. Both formats include booklets with extensive sleeve notes by novelist Alan Warner, archivist Andy Hall and manager Sandra Podmore Schmidt. The band’s line up for this legendary 1975 performance features all four original members— Irmin Schmidt on keys, Jaki Leibezeit on drums, Michel Karoli on guitar, and Holger Czukay on bass. Can’s powerful influence has never diminished, and their indelible mark is apparent in the bands who freely acknowledge their importance - from Portishead, James Murphy, Sonic Youth, New Order, Factory Floor, Public Image Ltd, Mogwai, Madlib and Radiohead - as well as across other disciplines such as visual art and literature.

Vinyl LP pressing. 1959 album from the acclaimed jazz vocalist.

THE ICONIC GARY NUMAN is set to release his brand new album Intruder on May 21st. Intruder is Numan’s 18th solo studio album and follows 2017’s Savage: Songs From A Broken World, which became his highest charting set in almost forty years when it debuted at #2 on the Official Albums Chart. That commercial success was complemented with wide-reaching critical acclaim from Mojo, The Quietus, Rolling Stone and more. Whereas Savage depicted earth as a barren wasteland in which humanity and culture had been largely crushed by the effects of global warming, Intruder presents a fresh but complementary narrative. It’s a philosophical examination of a potential future apocalypse: the planet can only survive by purging its inhabitants. Numan explains: “‘Intruder’ looks at climate change from the planet’s point of view. If Earth could speak, and feel things the way we do, what would it say? How would it feel? The songs, for the most part, attempt to be that voice, or at least try to express what I believe the earth must feel at the moment. The planet sees us as its children now grown into callous selfishness, with a total disregard for it’s well being. It feels betrayed, hurt and ravaged. Disillusioned and heartbroken it is now fighting back. Essentially, it considers human kind to be a virus attacking the planet. Climate change is the undeniable sign of the Earth saying enough is enough, and finally doing what it needs to do to get rid of us, and explaining why it feels it has to do it.”

After seven years, Adam Duritz and Counting Crows return with their latest record, Butter Miracle, Suite One. Written on a remote farm in the United Kingdom’s countryside in 2019, the four-track, 18-minute suite was artfully composed so that each track flows without interruption from one song to the next. The result, "The Tall Grass," which leads to "Elevator Boots," which segues into "Angel on 14th Street," whose climatic crash is the first power chord to the intro to the final song, "Bobby and the Rat-Kings."

The B side of the vinyl includes “August & Everything for the first time on Vinyl!!!

Take a trip inside the mind of psychedelic rock legend Dave Wyndorf with MONSTER MAGNET’s A Better Dystopia – a delightfully psychotic selection of proto-metal and late-era psych songs that fit the band like a glove! With wonderfully obscure song choices and excellent sequencing, the mighty Magnet pay homage to some of their favorite songs of all time, crafting another exciting and unique listening experience alike what they’ve become famous for. While the album marks a new frontier for MONSTER MAGNET as their first covers record, this is not your typical set of standards released to pass time. Wyndorf is at the top of his game on A Better Dystopia – howling, crooning, speaking… whatever it takes to get the emotional message of these very special tunes across, delivering each lyric in his own inimitable style. Musicians Phil Caivano, Bob Pantela, Garrett Sweeney and Alec Morton own the sound on A Better Dystopia – vintage and old school, dense and heavy, with searing fuzz leads and pounding bass and drums all played in a deft style that's almost been lost in modern music. Drop the needle on any song, and A Better Dystopia comes up winning. The album opens with “The Diamond Mine”, as Dave Wyndorf recites a classic monologue by Dave Diamond, an American radio DJ whose programs in the late 1960s and early 1970s helped popularize many psychedelic and acid rock bands. At this point the real trip begins, as the opening chords of the Hawkind classic “Born To Go” gear up for launch. Tracks like standout “Mr. Destroyer” (Poo-Bah) boast swaggering riffs and swirling vocals, spurring visions of some untold Freak revolution – or perhaps dinosaurs battling on a burning planet at the end of time – creating a perfect blend of hard rock and psychedelia. Feverish “Motorcycle (Straight To Hell)” (Table Scraps) is pure punk fury of the old school tradition, evoking a cross between Iggy Pop and Motörhead as Wyndorf wails "I'm gonna drive it straight to HELL!" Falling even further down the mind-bending rabbit hole, Magnet offers their stunning, whirlwind take on the often-overlooked hard rock classic "Learning To Die" (Dust) and a masterful version the Stooges meets Goth epic, "Solid Gold Hell" (The Scientists). The album closes with a nuclear cover of Morgen’s “Welcome To The Void”, inviting you to restart the ride again and again. Take a sonic journey to another time and space and experience what has made MONSTER MAGNET tick since day one with A Better Dystopia!

LP Gatefold jacket, Black heavyweight LP, includes a set of 5 prints [w/ download card]

m b v is the highly anticipated and long awaited 2013 album from the British Alt-Rock icons led by the esteemed Kevin Shields. MBV is the follow-up to their genre-defining 1991 album Loveless.

Nf - Clouds (The Mixtape)

Daddy’s Home, the sixth album from St. Vincent, is the latest facet of an ever-evolving artist regarded by many as the most consistently innovative and intriguing presence in modern music. The album was pro-duced by Annie Clark and Jack Antonoff, recorded by Laura Sisk, mixed by Cian Riordan, and mastered by Chris Gehringer. The music was performed by Annie, Jack, Cian, Thomas, Evan Smith, Sam KS, Greg Leisz, Daniel Hart, Michael Leonhard, Lynne Fiddmont and Kenya Hathaway.

"Daddy's Home collects stories of being down and out in downtown NYC. Last night's heels on the morning train. Glamour that's been up for three days straight.”—St. Vincent

To mark the 50^th anniversary of the release of RAM, the album will be pressed from a master cut at half speed using the original master tapes at Abbey Road.

The only album credited to both Paul and Linda McCartney, RAM reached Number 1 in the UK and stayed in the US Top 10 for five months. Recording after he’d left The Beatles and before the formation of Wings, Paul initially flew with Linda to New York to record the songs they’d written but arrived without a band. As Paul recalls, “We were thinking of forming a group at that time, Wings. We went to New York, found a really grotty little basement somewhere and auditioned a bunch of people. We got someone to throw a lot of drummers at us, out of which we picked Denny Seiwell who’s one of the best, and his personality fitted. Then we went in, worked with him, Hugh McCracken, Dave Spinozza, a couple of New York session men, and did RAM.” To avoid arousing too much interest, the auditions were held under the guise of a session for a commercial jingle. As well as Paul’s lead vocals there are harmonies from Linda. “I gave her a hard time, I must say, but we were pleased with the results. Elton John later said somewhere that he thought it was the best harmonies he’d heard in a long while. It was very much the two of us against the world at that point.”

Violet Transparent Vinyl. Like a Phoenix, DOMKRAFT rise from the ashes of their previous apocalyptic-themed albums with third full-length "Seeds". The latest album from the psychedelic riff-doom trio focuses on the idea of emerging from the ruins to start anew, building something different and better beyond the cataclysm. In the midst of 2020's summer heatwave, the Swedes headed to Welfare Sounds Studio in Gothenburg for three days to nail down a new epic that feels raw and alive with studio heads Kalle Lilja and Per Stålberg. With due credit to the mixing wizardry of Karl Daniel Lidén (GREENLEAF, KATATONIA, LOWRIDER), DOMKRAFT's trademark heft is more prominent than ever, and the ambitious lyrical themes add context to the always-massive riffs and hypnotizing flow. Originally, DOMKRAFT bonded over a mutual love for SPACEMEN 3, MONSTER MAGNET, SLEEP, and HAWKWIND among others. Drawing from the heaviest of their combined influences, the trio from Stockholm crafted a sound that blends towering dirges, mind-bending psychedelia, and hypnotic minimalism, which is embodied by their monolithic 2016 debut album "The End of Electricity" and 2018 follow-up "Flood". With "Seeds", DOMKRAFT have drawn a detailed map to a groove-driven heavy rock utopia, where humankind can evolve and unite. Better living through monolithic volume!