May 13, 2021
NEW THIS WEEK AT THE SHOP:
- a magnificent weekly round of new releases kicks off with a new album from THE BLACK KEYS. On 'Delta Kream', the duo pay tribute to the Mississippi hill country songs that first inspired them, on a dozen covers of tunes by Junior Kimbrough, RL Burnside, and others. Apparently the fellas cut this whole album in just two short days, and it definitely has that casual, natural feel. We have a few copies of the limited color vinyl up for grabs, and plenty of standard black vinyl.
- ST. VINCENT changes up her musical persona so drastically with each record, I'm not totally sure if the debauched, 72-hours of party vibe she's giving off on 'Daddy's Home' is yet another character or the real her. The songs on this twistedly funky record seem as personal as ever. We have the limited color vinyl edition on this one, which has a special alternate cover, plus CDs and cassettes.
- the UK jazz unit SONS OF KEMET, led by reedist and composer Shabaka Hutchings, returns to the Impulse label with 'Black to the Future', an explosive new record of fulminating groove, joined by a righteous cast of poets, MCs, and vocalists like Lianna La Havas and Angel Bat Dawid.
- overachieving slacker PHOEBE BRIDGERS is back with a new EP called 'Copycat Killer', featuring four "orchestral reworks" of songs from her last album. Seems some folks have been paying over 3 digits for this one online. Don't do that, come snag one here for $16.99. Our copies are on 'Mountain Blast' colored vinyl while they last.
- worldwide pop phenom and now a triple Grammy winner DUA LIPA returns with an expanded 'Moonlight Edition' of her 2020 album 'Future Nostalgia' with a second LP of singles and new cover art
- another limited edition remix EP is in from KHRUANGBIN, featuring reworks from Soul Clap and Natasha Latasha Diggs
- some definitive editions of records (nearly) everyone ought to own this week! PAUL and LINDA McCARTNEY pert near invented the homebrew indie pop genre with their 1971 album 'Ram', which now gets a 50th anniversary half-speed remaster on 2LP; ELLIOTT SMITH's 3rd solo album 'Either/Or' is back in print, featuring many of the songs that first catapulted him into the mainstream; 'Genius + Soul = Jazz', the 1961 big band masterpiece by RAY CHARLES with arrangements by Quincy Jones, gets a gorgeous new audiophile edition on the Verve/Acoustic Sounds label.
- its been a long while out of the spotlight for songwriter EDDIE CHACON, who gained worldwide renown in the 90s as one half of Charles & Eddie with the hit 'Would I Lie To You' and its variety of remixes that were for a time utterly ubiquitous, from the club to the grocery store. Decades later, he returns with a stellar album of ethereal electronic soul, 'Pleasure Joy Happiness', produced by John Carroll Kirby for maximum soothification
- we're elated to have, once again, a reprinted edition of one of the greatest albums ever, BEVERLY-GLENN COPELAND's 1986 masterpiece 'Keyboard Fantasies', a cozy blanket of a record that blends spectral folk and warm synth to timeless effect
- LA producer TOKIMONSTA sees her newest album of poppy club thumpers 'Oasis Nocturno' finally get a vinyl release, on color wax
- in one of the types of coincidences we really like around here, we have not one but two reissues of scarce records featuring Philly flute and saxophonist BYARD LANCASTER. His 1992 CD only release 'My Pure Joy' gets a new vinyl edition on Strut, overflowing with spirited creativity. He's also enlisted on the KHAN JAMAL rarity 'Infinity', one of the Philly vibraphonist's most spellbinding (and rare) albums, now given a much needed reissue. We've also got an incredible 4 CD set of the complete Stockholm 1960 sessions from MILES DAVIS, and the first-ever vinyl reissue of alto saxophonist KOHSUKE MINE's first album, 'First'.
- 'Round the Wheel', an early album from jammers STRING CHEESE INCIDENT gets its first ever vinyl edition; a new record from UK lo-fi whiz BOBBY WOULD features gleaming guitar and would sound right at home in the 90s Siltbreeze/Flying Nun catalog, while also giving off vibes like the earliest Kurt Vile tunes; veteran songwriter DAMIEN JURADO flexes his storytelling chops on 'The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania'
- SEEFEEL are a largely underrated element of the 90s UK electronic scene, and their mid-90s output in particular has been hard to come by in any format. Frequent collabs with Richard D. James aka Aphex Twin led the group from a woozy downtempo sound into something more like the solipsistic dreams of intelligent machines. On artfully designed "REDUX" editions, rare albums like 'Succour' and '(Ch-Vox)' are revived and expanded considerably, in addition to a collection of EP only tracks called 'St/Fr/Sp', and a lovely CD box set combining them all.
- a new 45 from AESOP ROCK in the house; folkie SARAH JAROSZ' breakout album 'Build Me Up From Bones' finally gets a vinyl reissue, and we have the LP soundtrack from the ScarJo movie 'Her', done by none other than THE ARCADE FIRE and OWEN PALLETT.
- electronic pop sounds from the Netherlands and even netherer lands this week, starting with THE ZENMENN, a new duo on the Music From Memory label, who knock it out of the park with their debut 'Enter the Zenmenn'; the third installment of boogie dreamer GARRETT aka DAM-FUNK's 'Private Life' series is here; dub-dance duo PEAKING LIGHTS once called Madison home but now bless their new hometown label Dekmantel with a killer new LP called 'E S C A P E'; deliriously great, archival (? I think) digi-dance comes from the Italian Nico Mecca on 'Floppy Computer'
- Long out of stock, we're thrilled to have a nice lengthy run of golden era Ethiopian soul-jazz collections in from the Heavenly Sweetness label. MULATU ASTATKE's 'Ethio-Soul' album is likely the most sought-after of any LP in this genre, and the rest collections feature one ear-bending delight after another, from essential names like Mahmoud Ahmed, Gétatchèw Mèkurya, and the Walias Band.
- Norwegian musician BIOSPHERE has released several seminal albums of glacial ambient, but his latest record, a collection of Beethoven-inspired pieces called 'Angel's Flight', might be his best release in many many years; Czech husband-and-wife duo IRENA & VOJTECH HAVLOVI have created beautiful, antique folk music since the early 90s and now have a compilation of their early material called 'Melodies in the Sand'; iconoclastic jazz-rocker ANNETTE PEACOCK's 1979 avant-garde soul album 'The Perfect Release' was a bit ahead of its time, confusing critics with its stream of consciousness funk which sounds right at home today; Belgian electronic-pop pioneers TELEX finally get their complex essence distilled into one compilation, 'This Is Telex', which collects their disco, electro, and other pop experiments.
- A trio of absolute heaters from the golden age of Brazilian funk roll through this week! SANDRA SA's jazzy, piquant 1982 album 'Vale Tudo' is in, MARCOS VALLE's jubilant and juicy 1983 boogie bomb is back, in two different color variations, and we have a fresh pressing of the iconic psychedelic jazz masterpiece from ARTHUR VEROCAI.
- last up, a pair of stoner rock titans have new live albums in a series called 'Live in the Mojave Desert': EARTHLESS and NEBULA; a great new EP from JESU is in called 'Never', and we've got the first-ever vinyl edition of one of the greatest American death metal albums of the 90s, 'Cult of the Initiated' by PESSIMIST.
USED VINYL ALERT:
Downstairs we go for this week's edition of the Used Vinyl Alert. It's a banner week for jazz, blues, rock and soul!
A super deep selection of classic and (some) rare jazz includes LPs from Michael White, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, Stan Getz, Dave Brubeck, Yusef Lateef, Sonny Rollins, Jimmy Smith, RandyWeston, George Duke, Larry Coryell, Ron Carter, Cecil Taylor, Pharaoh Sanders, Horace Silver, Stanley Cowell, Bobby Hutcherson, Jack DeJohnette, Steve Tibbetts, Dave Liebman, George Russell, Charlie Haden, Archie Shepp, Donald Byrd, Herbie Hancock, and Bill Evans. I mean...wow! That ain't even all of it.
An equally impressive spread of blues LPs includes titles from Freddie King, Taj Mahal, Lightning Slim, Junior Wells, Sonny Terry, Koko Taylor, Johnny Winter, Bonnie Raitt, John Mayall, Paul Butterfield, JB Hutto, Josh White, Sonny Boy Williamson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and more. Some great soul LPs from names like Stevie Wonder, War, the Isleys, Isaac Hayes, Aretha Franklin, the Commodores, Earth Wind and Fire, the Temptations, Sly and the Family Stone, Al Green, Carla Thomas, and more.
Plenty of classic rock and pop this time around, including nice runs of catalog LPs from the Beach Boys, Neil Young, Rush, Tom Petty, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Canned Heat, Fleetwood Mac, Queen, the Beatles, the Kinks, the Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, and AC/DC!
BILLBOARD MAGAZINE'S BIWEEKLY FEATURE ON STRICTLY DISCS:
As part of Billboard’s efforts to best cover the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on the music industry, Chris Eggertsen has been speaking with Angie every other week to chronicle the experience of an independent record store throughout the crisis. Here is a link to the stories in the series so far:
Billboard Article #5 June 12th
Billboard Article #6 June 19th
Billboard Article #7 June 26th
Billboard Article #8 July 10th
Billboard Article #9 July 30th
Billboard Article #10 August 13th
Billboard Article #11 August 28th
Billboard Article #12 September 11th
Billboard Article #13 September 25th
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
Billboard Article #22 April 1st
Billboard Article #23 April 19th
RECORD STORE DAY DROPS 2021 & WISHLISTS x2:
RECORD STORE DAY 2021 DROPS ARE JUNE 12 & JULY 17:
Our plan for the days are still to be determined but as always our primary goal for the day will be to get you the records you are seeking as safely as possible. Thank you for your support. Stay strong & have #hope.
WISHLISTS FOR BOTH DAYS CAN BE MADE HERE (deadline for BOTH DATES was 5PM Wednesday April 14th).
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 & Ben
