February 10, 2022
NEW THIS WEEK AT THE SHOP:
So much great music is coming out these days, and it is once again our pleasure to bring you as wide and curated a selection as we can get our hands on. With the topic of music consumption and compensation in the news lately, we are happy to re-emphasize that by shopping with independent retailers, you turn your entertainment dollars into income for artists, as well as for folks at their labels, store clerks, pressing plant workers, art departments, delivery drivers, box factory employees, and so on. We are all grateful! But enough rambling, there's a new BIG THIEF record to talk about. Hold your breath and say 'Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You', the tumbling title of the quartet's fifth and most ambitious album. Led by Adrianne Lenker's ecstatic Ferlinghetti-like lyricism, the unit is as unnervingly close-knit as ever, covering a wild amount of ground on a record that feels intentionally, yet naturally eclectic, like Pavement's Wowee Zowee or (why not) The Beatles' White Album. Laser-focus is the order of the day on the latest from indie stalwarts SPOON, who bake a bit of rasping blues into 'Lucifer On The Sofa', their most stinging record in quite a long time. Melodic cool-crushers ALT-J are back with 'The Dream', in the shop on milky clear wax, and we've finally got vinyl copies of the fantastic debut album from the LA lofi modern soul group LOS RETROS.
Last year's record from the DELVON LAMARR ORGAN TRIO ended up being a shop fave, likely to get played at least once a day around here, just to reset the mood. A fresh slab from them, 'Cold As Weiss', keeps the vibes crystal clear. Long rumored, we now have copies of the incredible 'Notes With Attachments' LP from longtime session men PINO PALLADINO and BLAKE MILLS, which sparkles with drifting, amorphous notes of West African folk, cuban jazz, and post-bop groove. German future jazz five-piece FAZER evolve their sound with similar multi-directional energy, delivering organic, Krauty fusion on 'Plex' that's quite in keeping with the ECM label that also calls Munich home. Producer ANTHONY NAPLES' full-length releases have become increasingly rewarding experiences, as a talented mixer branches out to make ever more confident-sounding investigations of instrumental post-rave mood, kinda like Four Tet, Laurel Halo, or Jean Michel-Jarre before him. His new record 'Chameleon' is easily a 2022 highlight so far. With the future of The Chromatics in ever-perilous states, founding guitarist ADAM MILLER steps out on his own with a beautiful album of trance-setting instrumentals called 'Gateway'. Been awhile since we've heard from the delicate techhouse producer FORT ROMEAU, who rewards us with a gorgeous new album called 'Beings Of Light'.
The reverent, ceremonial guitar of JOE PASS has seldom sounded better than on his scarce 1964 album 'For Django', which now gets the Tone Poet audiophile treatment. CAT STEVENS' soundtrack for the beloved film 'Harold and Maude' is back in print on LP. One of the strangest, funkiest one-off albums from the 1970s is WILLIAM S. FISCHER's swinging psychedelic jazz-funk gem 'Circles', which gets a limited edition 'black ice' vinyl repress, alongside a fresh edition of the legendary private press surf-punk classic 'Get Stoned Ezy' by HIGH SPEED & THE AFFLICTED MAN.
Beloved indie songwriter David Bazan returns with his band PEDRO THE LION this week, on a crisp new record called 'Havasu' that will reward longtime fans of his personal lyrics. 90s sharp dressed men URGE OVERKILL break a decade of silence with a new LP called 'Oui', and 16 Horsepower's David Edwards returns with his cult-fave project WOVENHAND, on a brilliantly ashen new disc of country noir called 'Silver Sash'. With his long-running project MY DAD IS DEAD, Mark Edwards pioneered the one-man new wave band sound that illuminated long corridors of the 80s/90s US underground, while also eerily predicting the vocal stylings of Interpol's Paul Banks. The band's first release, 1985's '...And He's Not Gonna Take It Anymore', gets a generously expanded 2LP reissue this week.
Plenty more heavies this week include a new LP from ZEAL & ARDOR on white vinyl, the LP edition of '333' from the Ty Segall related group MEATBODIES, a new pressing of 'Interdimensional Extinction' by the internet's favorite cosmic death metal band BLOOD INCANTATION, the first ever vinyl reissue of influential hard rock band AXE's 1979 debut, a bristling new doom record from CULT OF LUNA ('Eternal Kingdom' is back in stock as well), and the latest album from RIVERS OF NIHIL on pee colored vinyl. Hope someone is eating their vegetables.
More new LPs in this week from indies and folkies old and new include WHITE DENIM, AMOS LEE, EMPATH, and SOPHIE + THE BROKEN THINGS.
Over her long career, folksinger JOSEPHINE FOSTER has tried a wide variety of approaches to making records, from blazing psych to lilting fado, somehow succeeding every time. On her latest record 'Godmother', she delivers a very down to earth brand of organic synth-pop, composed entirely on a cheap keyboard she bought at a thrift store. Russian producer KITO JEMPERE wrong-foots expectations with the oddly titled 'Yet Another Kito Jempere Album', a massive session of leftfield house with tons of guests like Jimi Tenor and Lipelis. Houston R&B ingenue PEYTON brings us 'PSA' via the Stones Throw label. FAT JON's 'Rapture Kontrolle', lowkey one of the nicest instrumental hiphop records ever made back in 2013, finally gets a vinyl release this week. New Zealand-based Maori musician MARA TK's delivers a heady session of nu-soul on 'Bad Meditation', standing out of the pack with vocals actually in Maori. The producers behind MYSTIC JUNGLE craft some of the most authentic sounding replicas of what's known as Neapolitan Funk, the energetic and hearty form of disco that took shape on the Mediterranean coast in the 1970s.
Munich producer SKEE MASK got a ton of well deserved pub for his 2016 album 'Shred', a vast double album of breaky, filleted dub techno, but man was it impossible to stock here in the states! Five years on, we've finally got the repress of this gem. BOY HARSHER delivers their soundtrack for 'Runner' on color wax. Veteran Swedish producer PORN SWORD TOBACCO got that name from a sign on a store that only sold those three things and I just love that anecdote. His latest double 12" for the Workshop label is a masterclass in longform ambient electro. We've also got essential techno in from STEVE O'SULLIVAN, plus new ones from a pair of Russians, NINA KRAVIZ and HOAVI.
Meditative desert blues is in from IMARHAN with 'Aboogi', we've got a nice repress of the Turkish psych-folk belter 'Yeni Bir Gun' from BARIS MANCO, the latin meets bossanova gem of NICO GOMEZ' 1972 album 'Soul of Samba' gets a nice repress from Mr. Bongo, and Canadian arranger MIHO HAZAMA re-invents the big band sound for the 21st century on 'Imaginary Visions'.
Last up, some crucial reissues! We've got VITALIC's classic 'O.K. Cowboy', a tenth anniversary re-release of GROUPLOVE's 'Never Trust A Happy Song', plus nice ones from SOULWAX and MEGALON.
USED VINYL ALERT:
Lots of heat in the new arrivals this week, with a special emphasis on punk and country. Classic punk, underground, and early indie includes LPs from Silkworm, the Scientists, the Effigies, the Ramones, Redd Kross, X, Iggy Pop, Robyn Hitchcock, Prong, Pussy Galore, Die Kreuzen, Lime Spiders, Swans, the Meat Puppets, Pavement, Flaming Lips, Melvins, King Gizzard, Guided By Voices, Girls Against Boys, Dinosaur Jr, Mark Lanegan, and more.
Some classic and deep country is in from Bob Wills, Waylon Jennings, Roy Rogers, Hank Thompson, Guy Clark, the Carter Family, George Strait, Wanda Jackson, Bobby Bare, and Ernest Tubb. Lots of cool, little known private press folk is joined by classics from Maria Muldaur, Steven Grossman, Vassar Clements, Sandy Bull, Odetta, and Fairport Convention. A lot of blues is in this week, including LPs from Jimmy Reed, Albert Collins, Howlin Wolf, Lightnin Hopkins, Sunnyland Slim, BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jack Dupree, Willie Dixon, and John Lee Hooker.
Plenty of our customary classics this time round, such as the Rolling Stones, Paul Simon, Queen, Rush, the Band, Frank Zappa, The Who, the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Wings, Moby Grape, Saxon, Black Sabbath, Tommy James, and Kiss. A nice spread of jazz includes Herbie Mann, Ernie Watts, Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter, Dave Brubeck, Oliver Nelson, McCoy Tyner, Hank Mobley, and Mal Waldron. We close it out with some great classical and soundtracks, plus a great crop of international LPs including a lot of Latin and Tex-Mex treasures, plus bits from South America, Sweden, Israel, and Ireland!
TOPS AT THE SHOP:
2021 STAFF TOP 10S can be found HERE
STRICTLY DISCS IS HIRING:
VINYL PRICING SPECIALIST AND/OR SHOP CLERK:
Required skills:
Excellent customer service skills; retail experience with ability to anticipate customer needs
Extreme Computer proficiency
A passion for music, and a broad, deep base of recorded music history
Knowledge of Goldmine standards & experience grading and pricing records
Knowledge of stereo equipment/functionality
Availability to work weekends
Ability to lift and carry 50 pounds repeatedly
To apply, submit letter of interest & resume to angie@strictlydiscs.com
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, Shep, Matt B. & Mark
