Strictly Discs

  • NEW THIS WEEK AT THE SHOP

    Hello and thank you for opening your Strictly Discs newsletter this week. Your reward is a particularly sprawling rundown of new records in the shop, written by a human! Or, is that what a robot would want you to think. We start with an eagerly-awaited new one from Kentucky pop-psych legends MY MORNING JACKET, who have weathered the storm of malaise that threatened a lot of veteran rock bands post-pandemic to find a revitalized sound. Call it a second wind, although with gentle grizzly Jim James and company, it is likely their fourth or fifth. Production on 'Is' is entrusted to the legendary Pearl Jam-wrangling Brendan O'Brien, who whittles the band's cinematic epics down to something more mini-series level, focusing the band's punchy range. Limited blue iceberg vinyl on this one, plus we've got a couple MMJ slipmats left to give away. ## Philly indie-pop darlings JAPANESE BREAKFAST make their long-awaited follow-up to 2021's 'Jubilee', and true to it's title, 'For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)' is not as gleeful as its predecessor. Luckily, even Michelle Zauner and co. at their gloomiest still contains a remarkable potential for graceful ebullience, which this album has to spare. We'll have a listening event for this one Friday evening with limited giveaways, plus tickets to give away to their upcoming show at the Sylvee! More info on all that hub bub below. ## Veteran Boniverian multi-instrumentalist PHIL COOK moved to the Piedmont a few years ago, where he recorded the birdsong in his rural county and wrote piano pieces to accompany these recordings. I know, you're already sold on this one, and I haven't even mentioned yet that he took these pieces to old pal Justin Vernon at April Base Studios, whereupon the two of them produced the final edition of 'Appalachia Borealis' in a refreshingly minimalist mindset. Speaking of refreshment, not much goes down better than the YO LA TENGO soundtrack to the 2006 Kelly Reichardt film 'Old Joy', a lovely run of six loping instrumentals that find the trio joined by guitarist Smokey Hormel. Staunch outsider artist LONNIE HOLLEY is a revered icon of authenticity for his fellow musicians, who especially value his unflinching approach to making personal music. A lot of them join him on his latest album 'Tonky', and their diversity reflects his massive reach; Isaac Brock, Angel Bat Dawid, Mary Lattimore, billy woods, Saul Williams, and more. MJ LENDERMAN! We love him. You love him. "Manning Fireworks" = definitely goated. But what if you're more of a 'Ghost Of Your Guitar Solo' fan, you know, when he was more underground and lo-fi and wrote songs about basketball? You are covered this week with a long-overdue new pressing.
    Producer SOPHIE's speaker-enrapturing 'Oil Of Every Pearl's Un-Insides Non-Stop Remix Album' was released the year after the original, available only digitally or as a super-limited 3 CD version that came in a high-fashion clutch. At last, this turbo-boosted classic can be bought on the slightly more-accessible triple LP format. SELENA GOMEZ and BENNY BLANCO celebrate their blessed union with a new album, 'I Said I Love You First', on red wax. The ferocious BILLY WOODS & KENNY SEGAL rap realism classic 'Hiding Places' gets a fresh gatefold pressing from Backwoodz. Essentials from DE LA SOUL and DEAD PREZ are back in print, plus we've got the still ahead of its time hip-house session 'Information' by GALCHER LUSTWERK back in print on limited color wax.
    London producer STEVEN JULIEN has a pair of recent EPs, the swingbeat bliss of 'Wraap't' and the R&B glowstick of the 'Time EP', collected on a very fire single LP. Swedish disco-house consigliere AXEL BOMAN has been laying low for sometime, so we are very eager to wave his new EP 'Space Drag' in for a landing. Take me to your dealer; this one is sounding incredible. After taking a victory lap of the dance-pop world, what's left for LCD SOUNDSYSTEM to do than go back to square one, and release a killer EP of xeroxed electro punk? A new 12" called 'X-Ray Eyes' sounds like the demo of a long-lost Ann Arbor synth band who were friends with Adult. and broke up after a month. That's no better segue to our next record on the list, a reissue of THE FAINT's era-defining sophomore album 'Blank-Wave Arcade', which blended George Michael, Ministry and The Cars within the trappings of a gothy post-hardcore band from Omaha. Two veteran dance producers deliver fantastic double albums: Paris jazz-house producer AGORIA brings 'Unshadow', while Greek dub techno don FLUXION delivers 'Haze'.
    Melancholy art-punks STRAW MAN ARMY have already delivered two of the modern era's defining albums, and now close the trilogy with 'Earthworks', a spirited yet somber look into the future. Their rope-taut sound remains immovably present, their lyrics unrelentingly didactic; as ever, its like if Crass was a krautrock band. If that's too literary for you, cracked deathrock legends RUDIMENTARY PENI's notoriously challenging third album, 'Pope Adrian 37th Psychristiatric', from 1995, gets a much needed reissue, restoring a strangely hypnotic relic of outsider punk, recorded just before frontman and cover artist Nick Blinko got sectioned. Los Angeles noise-rockers EXPOSE make a fascinating debut with 'Etc', brutalist mathcore along the lines of Laddio Bolocko or the Dazzling Killmen. London duo RATTLE flex trancelike percussion and vox in a post-punk pumpfake on 'Encircle'. The meeting of the melted minds that is WOLF EYES and ANTHONY BRAXTON release one of their 2023 live sets on limited LP, and we've got a repress of the lovely collection of early FLYING SAUCER ATTACK singles, 'Distance'.
    Few artists move through the world with more creative mindfulness than London's ALABASTER DePLUME. His latest album, the sweepingly grand 'A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole', features a band that includes Macie Stewart (strings), Donna Thompson (backing vocals), Conrad Singh (guitar) and Momoko Gill (strings). Multi-instrumentalist JEFRE CANTU-LEDESMA's glistening catalog of ambient expressionism is unrivaled in the modern era, and any new album from him is a real treat. That certainly goes for 'Gift Songs', his latest for Mexican Summer; four new pieces that describe an immense, ornate interior in the spirit of Terry Riley. Bristol musician MEMOTONE continues to memorably hone his artful matrix of Artificial Intelligence era Warp and Jon Hassell's 4th world on 'Pruning'. The European duo of LUCID GREEN & IDEALISM render some incredibly relaxing piano/coffee/beach vibes on 'Unsaid'. Twenty five years ago, Austrian producer FENNESZ found the mythical conjoining of the Beach Boys and a melting PC tower with the ambient-glitch masterpiece 'Endless Summer', which still sounds oddly brand new on a 2025 repress.
    Bossanova heavyweight ARTHUR VEROCAI's 00's comeback album 'Encore', with guests like Ivan Lins and all of Azymuth, gets a repress this week. The always on-trend Brazilian label Far Out introduces us to a pair of moderns, CAIXA CUBO and NYRON HIGOR. Chilean nightingale and protest music original VIOLETA PARRA's most beloved works are available again on 'Las Ultimas Composiciones De Violeta Parra'. Drummer ROY HAYNES' 1971 funk-fusion rarity 'Hip Ensemble' gets a high-quality repro. French psych-garage veterans THE LIMINANAS return with an instant classic in 'Faded'.
    One of the best albums of American minimalism to emerge this century is the collaborative album 'Automaginary' by the Chicagoan (in Earth terms) ensembles NATURAL INFORMATION SOCIETY and BITCHIN BAJAS. Done in a small run that disappeared immediately in 2015, this hypno-folk marvel has gotten a few new mintings in the years since, and the artwork is always screened in a new color. If you haven't popped this one on it, now is the time. Pointillist guitarist OREN AMBARCHI pairs up with drummer ERIC THIELEMANS for a fresh and pattering excursion on the AD93 label. Japanese pianist HIRABAYASHI MAKIKO has a lovely new set on Enja; Italian producer PAOLO ZAVALLONE does an effectively funky take on classic jazz library styles on 'Paloma Supersound'. The UK label ACE collects a deep trove of UK library electronica, and Steven Wilson returns to ambient techno under his BASS COMMUNION alias on 'The Itself Of Itself'.
    Few duos did more to define the classic disco sound while remaining themselves obscure, than the production pairing of RINDER & LEWIS, who perfected the sultry bassline punch and saucy sleek lines of acts like El Coco, Le Pamplemousse, Saint Tropez and Tuxedo Junction in a torrid run across the late 70s. A longtime DJ fave from this era is the hard to find Rinder & Lewis album 'Seven Deadly Sins', which contains the seven appropriately named tracks, all careening from strength to strength, in the disco production equivalent of a gold-winning Olympic floor routine. Our friends at Be With Records have rustled up the first ever legit repress of this one, along with a couple other bangers: French funk from WHO'S WHO aka Daniel Vangarde aka Thomas Bangalter's DAD, and the Balearic beat sensation of the TUMBLACK album. We close out with some great regional comps: 'Mizik Maladi: Disques Debs International Volume 3' brings the zouk from Guadeloupe, plus we've got 'Singapore Nuggets. The Ladies: Vol. 2' and 'Horse Meat Disco Presents Disco & Boogie From Brazil Vol. 1', both of which do just as they say on the package.
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  • USED VINYL ALERT

    Here is your weekly update for March 20th. We'll pickup where the Thursday night sneak peek video on our @StrictlyDiscs Instagram and Facebook left off. No frills. Just the artists. The rest is for your 650+ fresh-used digging pleasure downstairs in our Madison shop.

    Rock: Lou Reed, Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band, Violent Femmes, Thin Lizzy, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Troggs, Richard Thompson, Beatles, Dokken, Gene Clark, Wall Of Voodoo, Rory Gallagher, Soft Cell, The Goners, Tangerine Dream, Jimmy Buffett, Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Van Morrison, Van Halen, Tommy James & Shondells, Iron Maiden

    Blues/Soul: Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Freddie King, Louisiana Red, Fred McDowell & Johnny Woods, Willie Williams, Bonnie Raitt, Masego, Brothers Johnson, Aretha Franklin

    Jazz/Vocals: Doug Carn / Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Adrian Younge, Gerald Cleaver, Dharma, Bautista, Baby Face Willette, Lenny Breau, Keith Jarrett, Thelma Houston & Pressure Cooker, Miles Davis, Pat Metheny, Wynton Marsalis, Charles Tolliver, Gerry Mulligan & Chet Baker, Don Shirley, Stanley Clarke / George Duke, Mongo Santamaria, Ella Fitzgerald

    Country/Folk: Jerry Jeff Walker, Lyle Lovett, Waylon Jennings, Doc Watson, Old & In The Way, Harry & Jeanie West, Hicks Family

    Classical: Paganini, Bartok, Rossini, Debussy, Prokofieff, Glenn Gould

    Happy Digging!
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