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Strictly Discs

March 25, 2021

NEW THIS WEEK AT THE SHOP:

Hello from the record store! Lots of selections this week, starting with a surprise new release from THE MOUNTAIN GOATS. With covid lockdown in place, John Darnielle revived his earliest approach to his lifelong project, recording solo acoustic straight to boombox on 'Songs For Pierre Chuvin'. The NEIL YOUNG live archive opens up again with 'Young Shakespeare', a solo 1971 recording from just days after his historic Massey Hall show. Intimate, wrenching performances of classics like 'Old Man', 'Cowgirl in the Sand', and more here, with a deluxe set that includes a complete film of the performance that aired just once on German TV. The delightful 90s solo record from MARTIN NEWELL, 'The Off White Album', gets a limited white vinyl pressing, and offering a fresh reminder of the overlooked brilliance of the frontman for early DIY heroes The Cleaners From Venus.



- eclectic indie-poppers TUNE-YARDS try a more band-oriented sound on their first new album in a couple years, 'Sketchy', on colored vinyl
- experimental pop stalwart XIU XIU is as unhindered as ever on the shapeshifting 'Oh No'
- stunning new record from R&B gem SERPENTWITHFEET is a wonderful, if all too rare, devotional to gay black love. "Me and my boo wear the same size shoe". 'Deacon' is here on opaque brown vinyl


- unsolvable pop-folk riddle LANA DEL REY has her strongest record in a while, 'Chemtrails Over the Country Club', taking a imaginational journey through (extremely heavy air-quotes) "middle America"
- one of the most gorgeous and overlooked records in the WEYES BLOOD catalog is her solo acoustic EP 'Cardamom Times', out of print forever and back in a limited press
- SARA WATKINS of Nickel Creek fame has a new family oriented album of folksong


- timeless rock elegance is back on SPOON's exquisite 2005 album 'Gimme Fiction', back in print on limited white vinyl. Turn your camera on again with a fresh vinyl master of this sleek thumper
- a pair of later-period classics from THE CLEAN are back on LP, 1996's cannily motorik 'Unknown Country' and the delightfully playful 'Mister Pop', from 2009. There isn't a single album from these New Zealand legends that can't become your new favorite record overnight.


- ahead of news that their next album will be coming via Brainfeeder in the summer, we have a new pressing of HIATUS KAIYOTE's potent debut LP, 'Tawk Tomahawk'
- the first new album from Mike Patton's group TOMAHAWK in eight years turns the weirdness to the maximum, on coke bottle green vinyl
- EVANESCENCE remain in classic, emotive form on 'Bitter Truth'


- new CDs and LPs from AARON LEE TASJAN, THE ANTLERS, BEN HOWARD, DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979, EL MICHELS AFFAIR, and CITIZEN, all in stock on limited color variants


- Indonesian duo SENYAWA continue to take their fascinating melange of traditional Javanese music and metal/noise corrosion to new heights/depths on 'Alkisah'
- a new LP from LAMB OF GOD, 'Live in Richmond', contains a full live performance of last year's album, recorded for a lockdown livestream
- beautiful, perplexing synthpunk in the vein of Devo or Crash Course in Science from the Philly group WRITHING SQUARES on 'Chart for the Solution'


- been a while since we've seen a new volume of the SECRET MUSIC OF MANKIND compilations, the ethnic/traditional music overviews which began appearing on Yazoo Records in the 90s. A new set called 'Guitars Vol 1: A Prologue to Modern Style' collects early 20th Century guitar sounds from 78s culled from around the world
- a rare 1965 Copenhagen radio session from DON CHERRY is back in a limited print on 'Cherry Jam'
- finally reprinted, the astonishingly great disco-jazz classic from South African saxophonist Teaspoon Ndelu as TEASPOON AND THE WAVES, sounds like nothing else ever will
- also back in print, one of the definitive compilations of Latin dance music, 'CUMBIA CUMBIA 1+ 2'


- plenty more classics across genres get new vinyl editions this week, like LORD FINESSE ('Awakening' turns 25 and gets a fresh remaster on color wax), PANIC AT THE DISCO, BOSTON, and CARL PERKINS


- seminal blog turned record label THE GROWING BIN has been turning the world on to the potent strain of 'esoteric jazz' that thrived in Central Europe in the 1980s, in the fruitful wake of Can, Faust, and ECM. A new compilation, 'Lucky Are Those Who Hear the Birds Sing' showcases seven obscure dreamy, rhythmic tracks, perfect for a session
- also from the Growing Bin, an LP version of a 2018 tape by Australian Minna Wight aka THE PERSON. 'Tide Life' is a eye-brightening collection of ramshackle Balearic and bedroom Badarou
- 'Scissortail' is a sensual set of synth meditations from known associate of both Sufjan and T-Swift JAMES MCALISTER, via the Dessner/Vernon label P30PLE


- fiery UK jazz duo BINKER & MOSES see their epic modern fusion joint 'Journey to the Mountain of Forever' get a quick repress
- Ecuadorian folk-tronic composer NICOLA CRUZ takes a righteous turn towards tribal house on 'Subtropique', a new mini album for Rhythm Section
- Neo-soul future classics abound on a new record from longtime lowkey legend TIOMBE LOCKHART, who welcomes guests like Bilal and Robert Glasper on 'The Aquarius Years'
- a new trio LP led by MARK DE CLIVE-LOWE called 'Dreamweavers' delivers a potential overdose of Rhodes bliss


- bitcrushed breaks and amniotic haze envelop on a remarkable new record from Berlin producer and known Huerco S accomplice EXAELcalled 'Flowered Knife Shadows', sounding like Basic Channel on a tab
- 25 plus years on from its release, few techno records summarize the potency and potentiality of Detroit techno like KENNY LARKIN's 'Azymuth', which is now expanded to 3LPs
-same time period but lesser known is the 'Time Is Right' EP from UK braindancer STASIS, back with a fresh 2021 cut




USED VINYL ALERT:

Phenomenal digs from near and far in this week's Used Vinyl Alert! This week we see a lot of our favorites come through, with some unusual (or just unusually clean) pressings in the mix. Classics come through from the Doors, the Allman Brothers, the Beach Boys, the Beatles, Steely Dan, the Byrds, the Rolling Stones, Prince, Buffalo Springfield, the Black Keys, the Kinks, George Harrison, David Bowie, The Grateful Dead, Mark Knopfler, John Denver, Foghat, Foreigner, Tim Buckley, and King Crimson.

Classic hard rock is in from AC/DC, the Scorpions, Def Leppard, Quiet Riot, Bon Jovi, Guns n Roses, Van Halen, Twisted Sister, Motley Crue, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, and Alice Cooper, while we welcome punk and 80s wave from Sisters of Mercy, the Specials, XTC, the Clash, George Michael, Sinead O'Connor, Wham, Prefab Sprout, REM, Wall of Voodoo, Depeche Mode, and the Cure.

Lovely jazz LPs are in from Miles Davis, Bola Sete, Shirley Scott, Donald Byrd, Ornette Coleman, Art Blakey, Antonio Carlos Jobim, McCoy Tyner, King Curtis, Willis Jackson, Jack McDuff, and Herbie Hancock, while we've got some soul and vocal records from Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Minnie Riperton, Terry Callier, Bobby Womack, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Stevie Wonder, Barry White, and Whitney Houston.

Country is in from Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Lyle Lovett, plus a nice spread of old time fiddle, early folk/bluegrass, blues from Leadbelly, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Willie Dixon and some polka! Compilations from a few spots on the globe are in, plus some great early dancehall comps and calypso, LPs from King Sunny Ade, Bob Marley, and Manu Dibango, a couple of Indian pop records, some great electro, disco and modern soul 12s, plus a couple of must-own electronic records from Suzanne Ciani and Kraftwerk!




RECORD STORE DAY DROPS 2021 - SAVE THE DATES:



BILLBOARD MAGAZINE'S BIWEEKLY FEATURE ON STRICTLY DISCS:

As part ofBillboards efforts to best cover the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on the music industry, Chris Eggertsen has been speaking withAngieevery otherweek to chroniclethe experience of an independent record storethroughout the crisis. Here is a link to the stories in the series so far:

Billboard Article #16 November 16th

Billboard Article #17 December 14th

Billboard Article #18 December 23rd

Billboard Article #19 February 5th

Billboard Article #20 February 23rd

Billboard Article #21 March 12th




SELL US YOUR CDS & LPS:

Yes, we are still buying! Call Ron to schedule (608.213.3610).




Ron, Ryan, Angie, Marty, Evan, Matt, Ed, Jack, Eric, Steve, Atticus & Ben

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