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This Week's New Releases
Music Releases 04-04-25

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Forever Howlong is Black Country, New Road’s first studio release since 2022's UK #3 album Ants From Up There, which gave the band their second Top 5 UK album in 12 months alongside their Mercury Prize shortlisted debut For the first time, and follows 2023's Live at Bush Hall, an album The Guardian claimed was a “magical resurgence” in a triumphant five-star review. Now, on studio album three, the band are once again building from the ground up in yet another miraculous musical transformation.

The long-awaited new record was produced by James Ford (Fontaines D.C., Arctic Monkeys, Depeche Mode, Blur) and sees Black Country, New Road settled into a new shape in which vocal duties – and most of the song writing – is split between Tyler Hyde, Georgia Ellery, and May Kershaw. “It created a real through line for the album, having three girls singing," says Ellery. "It's definitely very different to Ants From Up There, because of the female perspective - and the music we've made also compliments that."

Forever Howlong is an ambitious, meticulously detailed record that includes everything from folk to prog via baroque pop and touches of alt-rock – with nods to everything from Joanna Newsom to Randy Newman via Fiona Apple and Janis Ian – yet all the while retaining that unmistakably unique sound that only this combination of musicians can come up with. Although hugely varied and expansive, the album also feels deeply cohesive and focused, as it takes three distinct voices and styles and seamlessly intersperses them into a new collective sound.

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Written and recorded over 20 days, ‘Who Believes In Angels?' is a collaborative studio album between Elton John and Brandi Carlile. It mixes Elton-led songs and Brandi-led songs, with long term collaborator Bernie Taupin and Brandi both contributing lyrics, and producer and co-writer Andrew Watt acting as the producer, mediator and creative conduit. They are backed by a world class band of musicians comprising of Chad Smith, Pino Palladino and Josh Klinghoffer.
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Djo

The Crux [LP]

Vinyl: $29.98 UNAVAILABLE
Djo, the musical project of Joe Keery, returns with his third studio album, 'The Crux' —a deeply reflective and sonically adventurous body of work. Following the massive success of his single “End of Beginning” which topped the Global Spotify chart and amassed over 1.5 billion streams worldwide, 'The Crux' was crafted at the legendary Electric Lady Studios in New York. Drawing inspiration from the turbulence and growth of navigating one’s 20s, the album explores themes of self-discovery and connection, all wrapped in a narrative that serves as a love letter to those who matter most to Djo. Aptly titled 'The Crux', this album captures a moment suspended between the past and an undefined future.
New Vinyl: $29.98
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2004 Album Reimagined as Originally Intended on Black Vinyl 2LP! Features Resequenced Audio, 3 Additional Tracks, 4 Remixes & Updated Vocals! In 2004 the Drive-By Truckers released what would become the best selling album in their illustrious catalog. The Dirty South is a concept album that examines the state of the South, and unveils the hypocrisy, irony, and tragedy that continues to exist. - The Complete Dirty South is a band-led rework of the original album. Principal member Patterson Hood took the reins and reimagined this record as it was originally intended. The complete version features resequenced audio, three additional tracks, four remixes along with updated vocals.
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Anika channels her frustration, anger, and confusion with the world into her third album, Abyss. Recorded live to tape at Berlin's legendary Hansa Studios, the album captures raw energy with minimal overdubs, resulting in a visceral and urgent 10-track journey fueled by intense emotions. The recording process, done in just a few days with a live band, emphasizes immediacy, offering a sound that's both physical and direct. Abyss reflects Anika's desire to create a space where people can unite and feel free to express themselves amidst the chaos of the world. With influences ranging from 90s grunge and Courtney Love to Patti Smith and Genesis P-Orridge, the album is driven by a rebellious spirit. Tracks like "One Way Ticket" critique the rise of fascism, while "Hearsay" takes on the divisiveness of fake news, revealing Anika's determination to confront the complexities of our current moment. The album's raw, emotional power is matched by it's physicality. Anika's goal is to take listeners out of their heads and back into their bodies, offering a release through the music and live performances. This is a space to reclaim the connection between mind and body-something she feels is increasingly lost in today's world. Her desire to create that energy on stage is reflected in Abyss's dense, pounding rhythms, which build on the energy of 90s alt-rock. Abyss also delves into the intense tensions between the left and right in contemporary society, exploring the complexities of human imperfection and healthy debate. From the thrashing intensity of "Oxygen" to the melancholic "Buttercups," the album refuses to shy away from uncomfortable truths. Anika boldly confronts her own raw emotions, as exemplified in the candid lyrics of "Walk Away," where she reflects on discontent with herself and the world. With Abyss, Anika invites listeners into a space for release, rebellion, and honesty, creating an album that speaks to the turmoil of our times while offering an emotional outlet. As she puts it, "This is a space for you."
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Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing housed in a deluxe tip-on jacket. Recorded in Hollywood, California between two sessions in December 1956 and January 1957, Art Pepper's Modern Art for the Intro label featured his melodic alto saxophone flights atop cool jazz, bebop, and blues in the company of a quartet with Russ Freeman on piano, Ben Tucker on bass, and Chuck Flores on drums. This mono Blue Note Tone Poet Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tapes.
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Babe Rainbow’s ‘Slipper imp and shakaerator’ is a sun-soaked celebration of psychedelic acid-pop, infused with the laid-back magic of Australia’s Gold Coast. A return to their roots, the album blends nostalgic riffs, shimmering ‘80s funk, flowing rhythms, and lysergic jams into an effortlessly joyful, homegrown album that’s wild, radiant, and ready to be shared.
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Limited Zoetrope vinyl LP pressing. Dub music is a genre and production technique that emerged in Jamaica in the late 1960s and early 1970s, evolving from reggae and the wider ska and rocksteady traditions. It focuses heavily on instrumental remixes, emphasizing studio effects, echoes, and reverb. As a creative and experimental form of music, dub has had a profound influence on many other genres, including electronic music, hip hop, and dancehall. This album features the works of some of the key pioneers of the genre, including the likes of King Tubby, Scientist, Dennis Bovell and Roots Radics.
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"Jellywish" is the fifth record from NY based indie folk quartet Florist, out April 4th 2025 via Double Double Whammy. "Jellywish" sees a departure of Florist's former foray into meandering soundscapes and improvisational tendencies of their previous self-titled album, instead embracing shorter stripped back song structures and an emphasis on melody. The result is a succinct and focused 10 track album showcasing Florist's dynamic growth and Emily Sprague's gift of empathic songwriting.

New Vinyl: $28.98
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Jerry Garcia & David Grisman - "Bare Bones: Volume II - Other Tunes and Arrangements" [2 LP] Bare Bones: Volume II - Other Tunes and Arrangements is the next release within the Bare Bones collection, capturing the magic of Jerry Garcia and David Grisman's spontaneous musical reunion. This volume features Nunreleased recordings, including original versions of songs that became staples of the Garcia/Grisman repertoire - "Grateful Dawg," "Dawg's Waltz," and "Arabia" - plus other duo renditions. Including "Two Soldiers," "Take Me," and "Friend of the Devil." 2 LP set. ATO Records/Round Records; Bluegrass; Catalog
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Jerry Garcia & David Grisman - "Bare Bones: Volume II - Other Tunes and Arrangements" [2 LP] Bare Bones: Volume II - Other Tunes and Arrangements is the next release within the Bare Bones collection, capturing the magic of Jerry Garcia and David Grisman's spontaneous musical reunion. This volume features unreleased recordings, including original versions of songs that became staples of the Garcia/Grisman repertoire - "Grateful Dawg," "Dawg's Waltz," and "Arabia" - plus other duo renditions. Including "Two Soldiers," "Take Me," and "Friend of the Devil." 2 LP set Virgin Music Group; ATO Records/Round Records; Bluegrass; Catalog.
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When you hear music like this—the wild, loose and woozy drags of guitar; the impossible beauty of it all—what kind of landscape presents itself in your mind? Vistas big enough to be forgotten in. Deserts which stretch back to the beginning of time. Infinite horizons melting into pink bokehs. It’s Texas, isn’t it? Formed in 2017 in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley Glare aren’t so much genre traditionalists as they are painters of wide realms and intense moods. The four-piece band has already accumulated a large audience, both in the flesh with their reputation for sell-out shows, and on the internet, a place where people go to short-circuit feelings through their screens. Sunset Funeral, the band’s debut LP, is a fog of dreamy grief, where feeling supersedes language. It’s music, as guitarist Toni Ordaz puts it, “for people who don’t know how to talk about how they feel.” An album that’s been years in the making, Sunset Funeral is a document of unspeakable grief, charting the process of mourning and how it travels through our subconscious and dreams. One of the great charms of Sunset Funeral, and of Glare overall, is how they approach such a large, celestial sound with humble materials. Among the shoegaze revivalists, Glare come to the canvas with a more resourceful, DIY perspective than many of their peers. Glare’s music is too sublime, too huge to sound like it came from any kind of man made instrument, tiny amp box or otherwise. On first listen, Sunset Funeral—which scans as vast as desert sand—may overwhelm the senses. But look closer, and you’ll find a multiplicity of heavily crushed textures, treasures. ‘Guts’, with its sweetly chugging guitar line, dissolves the borders between bliss and despair. ‘2 Soon 2 Tell’, one of the album’s most gauzily romantic tracks, is both tense and transcendent. Nü Burn, a crunchy and lilting number, harkens back to the band’s grittier hardcore roots. But even when they deign to go hard, you can hear a softening in Glare’s sound compared to any of their previous releases, as well as an attempt to lean into more traditional pop song structures. The music drifts heavenward, to be sure, though it’s still tethered down by steady foundations. It’s beautiful. It’s humid. It’s delirious. It’s music made by people whose feelings speak louder than their words.

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Hiromi

OUT THERE [2 LP]

Vinyl: $32.99 UNAVAILABLE
World-renowned pianist, Hiromi, releases her 13th studio album OUT THERE, a vivid display of electrifying fusion jazz. Joined by her band Hiromi’s Sonicwonder, the album features Adam O’Farrill (trumpet, w/pedals), Hadrien Feraud (bass) & Gene Coye (drums), following the release of Sonicwonderland (2023). Available as a 2-LP, CD and digitally. Hiromi has performed at the world’s finest jazz festivals and has been celebrated by the New York Times, NPR, NPR Music, the Washington Post and beyond.
New Vinyl: $32.99
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J.O.Y.S

J.O.Y.S

Vinyl: $26.98 UNAVAILABLE
New Vinyl: $26.98
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Joan Sutherland - "The Complete Decca Recordings: Operas 1959-1970" [49 CD Boxset] The Complete Decca Recordings: Operas 1959-1970 includes an early example of her Mozart, singing Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (with Giulini, 1959), a 'live' Alcina recorded the same year with Fritz Wunderlich, the first of two recordings of Lucia di Lammermoor (Pritchard), as well as Faust, Norma, Semiramide, Lakmé and Les Huguenots (all conducted by Bonynge). No Sutherland offering would be complete without rarities, and this volume includes highlights from Graun's Montezuma and Bononcini's Griselda. Accompanying each edition are insightful notes from Raymond McGill, an introduction by Richard Bonynge, and an audio documentary by Jon Tolansky. The booklets accompanying this 49-CD set are lavishly illustrated with photographs, some from the Richard Bonynge archive which have not previously been published.
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Marianne Faithfull - "Marianne Faithfull's Greatest Hits" [LP] The original Greatest Hits collection from Marianne Faithfull is available on vinyl for the first time since it's 1969 release. This 11-song compilation of her '60s recordings features five UK and US Top 40 hits, including "As Tears Go By," "This Little Bird," "Summer Nights," "Come and Stay With Me," and "Yesterday." A must-have for fans of 1960s baroque pop and folk, this collection captures Faithfull's rise to fame before her artistic revolution in the decades to come. ABKCO Records; ABKCO; Pop; Catalog
        
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