May 12, 2022

NEW THIS WEEK AT THE SHOP:

 

 

An incredible week of new records kicks off with the long-awaited vinyl release of 'Motomami', the new album from ROSALIA that follows her revelatory 2018 release 'El Mal Querer' that garnered global acclaim. The Spanish artist trained as a flamenco singer before embarking on a one-woman mission to expand the genre her own way: incorporating elements of trap, dance pop, bachata and reggaeton. There's even a track on here that re-interprets a track from Burial, similar to how she interpolated Justin Timberlake on the last one. Rosalia's making music that nobody else on Earth is making, with incredible style to boot. We have limited red vinyl on this one. FLORENCE & THE MACHINE breaks a long silence with an explosive new record of emotionally gripping electro-pop on 'Dance Fever', in the shop on indie-only grey vinyl, and also in a limited CD run with an autographed booklet. The handymen in THE BLACK KEYS are back on the job with a refreshingly straight new album called 'Dropout Boogie' that hews close to the original formula that made them stars. There's a limited white vinyl pressing of this which we only have just a few left of after filling preorders, so be swift to snag one of those if you can. Otherwise, we have plenty of black vinyl copies, and some super cool bumper stickers to give away with purchase. In honor of the band's 60th anniversary, THE ROLLING STONES roll out the first ever release of a classic small-room live set; 'El Mocambo 1977' captures a full soundboard performance and comes on a 4LP set including an etching and a die-cut cover.

 

 

When he's not doing nunchuck routines on social media, pride of Kansas KEVIN MORBY is some kind of unstoppable force of songwriting. His latest album 'This Is A Photograph' is easily one of his strongest album's yet, springing unplanned from looking through an old box of family photos, in the shop on gold nugget color vinyl. Kevin is a countrified straight-talker a bit out of the mold of one LYLE LOVETT, who returns this week with his first record in 11 years. Bluegrass champion MOLLY TUTTLE brings her star-studded new record 'Crooked Tree' to vinyl, and we've got an incredible archival overview of the work of little-known folk singer NORMA TANEGA, who rose to post-career fame when her iconic tune "You're Dead" began turning up in soundtracks and playlists everywhere. 'I'm the Sky: Studio and Demo Recordings, 1964-1971' collects 2 discs of incredibly expressive folk-rock, influenced by none other than Dusty Springfield, Tanega's lover and muse for many years. 

  

 

Renowned surfer and rock-n-roll frontman EDDIE VEDDER also shreds a mean uke, as revealed on his 2011 solo debut 'Ukelele Songs', which at last gets an affordable US repress this week. THE WALKMEN bring out a fresh edition of their 2008 classic 'You & Me', with an extra side of unheard material recorded at the legendary Sun Studios around the same time. Southern jam-rock institution WIDESPREAD PANIC open up the vaults for 'Miss Kitty's Lounge', an expansive collection of unheard demo recordings from 1990, and for the first time in a very long time, we have a new printing of FLEETWOOD MAC's sprawling White Album-ish epic 'Tusk'.

  

Enchanting ambition and range is on offer from UK-Nigerian artist OBONGJAYAR, who sings and rhymes with equal skill on 'Some Nights I Dream Of Doors'. Bay Area instrumental soul assassins return with a beast of a Budos-esque record called 'Sage Motel', and TANK AND THE BANGAS continue on their ascension from Tiny Desk to Grammy Nom on the eclectic and funky 'Red Balloon'.

  

As they have championed bygone obscurities from the fringes of ambient pop, the Music From Memory label has also kept a keen eye out for contemporary producers keeping the sound current. Los Angeles deejay ALEX HO makes quite the splash with his debut 'Move Through It', a gently vibey album of chugging Balearic chill that might just be the most relaxing album of 2022. Active since the early 80s when he founded the pioneering Spanish new age group Orquesta de las Nubes, guitarist and producer SUSO SAIZ is still making stunning ambient sounds at the cutting edge on a new record called 'Resonant Bodies'. Back in stock for the first time since it vanished quickly back in 2019, we have 'Broken Belief', the incredible collection of 80s neo-classical, neo-funk new age from Japanese composer TOSHIFUMI HINATA.

 

 

Avant-garde jazz guitarist MARY HALVORSON  explores tension and beauty on 'Amaryllis & Belladonna', her first record for the Nonesuch label. The all time dinner jazz classic from the duo of DUKE ELLINGTON & COLEMAN HAWKINS gets an audiophile repress via the Acoustic Sounds/Verve partnership. Upgrade dinner to a party with DINNER PARTY, the ad-hoc studio group of Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, Kamasi Washington, and 9th Wonder, who roll out another limited vinyl release of their recent record 'Dessert'. Longtime bad boys of the Estonian jazz scene unite as the TONU NAISSOO ELECTRIC TRIO on a crisply grooving record called 'Different Directions', led by Tonu on Rhodes, Moog and Prophet synth. 

 

 

The first time I ever read a mention of the brief New York experimental rock act LADDIO BOLOCKO; the instructions for how to listen to them began with "make sure your front door is locked". All these years later, that is still the most effective description of this otherwise baffling unit, who bottled up all the misdirected power and exploration of the 90s noise rock underground into a pair of lethal CD-only releases now collected on vinyl for the first time on 'Laddio Bolocko '97-'99'. Similarly genius-outside-their-time was the San Fran group SAVAGE REPUBLIC, who celebrate the 40th anniversary of their experimental post-punk masterpiece 'Tragic Figures' with a gorgeous new edition designed by bandleader Bruce Licher, who had an outsized influence on album design with his long-running Independent Project Press. Before they split to form Born Against, LIFE'S BLOOD cranked out a 7" and demo considered to be the pinnacle of the late 80s NYC hardcore scene, all collected on 'Hardcore A.D. 1988', and back in print this week, alongside an early classic from the DC mandala punk legends LUNGFISH, 'Sound In Time' from 1996. 

  

  

Police guitarist ANDY SUMMERS has traded riffs for fusion on a new record 'Harmonics of the Night'; Big Star's ALEX CHILTON returned to garage with a little more cheek on 1987's 'High Priest', back in print this week; ANNA VON HAUSSWOLFF brings her characteristic intensity to 'Live At Montreux'; JAN STEELE & JANET SHERBOURNE reprise their performances alongside John Cage on Eno's Obscure label on 'Distant Saxophones'; THOMAS LEER & ROBERT RENTAL recorded what's likely the first LP in the minimal synth canon with 1979's 'The Bridge', and it sounds just as starkly haunting on its first-ever vinyl reissue; a host of modern electronic producers (Pantha Du prince, Henrik Schwarz, etc) take on material from ERIK SATIE on 'Fragments'.

  

  

Hard 'n heavy vinyl in this week includes a new pressing of BABYMETAL's 'Budokan', a new color vinyl pressing of 'Irony Is A Dead Scene' from DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN and MIKE PATTON;  PINEAPPLE THIEF's 'Give it Back' and ROXY MUSIC's 'Stranded' are both back in print, and we've got limited reissues of some electric blues classics from MUDDY WATERS and ALBERT COLLINS.

 

 

Run The Jeweler KILLER MIKE sees his breakout 2012 album 'R.A.P. Music' get a solid reissue on green vinyl. SF rapper LARRY JUNE sees his phenomenal debut full-length 'OrangePrint' land on clear orange wax, plus we've got new records from KYLE DION and $UICIDEBOY$, also both on color. 

  

Nice up your reggae shelf with some stone classics from the lovers rock and rocksteady end of things: BOB ANDY & MARCIA GRIFFITHS' 'Young Gifted & Black', DESMOND DEKKER's oddly misspelt debut 'This Is Desmond Dekkar', and JOHN HOLT's '1000 Volts Of Holt' all get quality represses this week.

 

 

Excited to have back in stock a limited repress of the ADMAS album 'Sons Of Ethiopia', a one of a kind record of Ethio expats playing synthy jazz and reggae in 80s Washington DC, beloved by nearly everyone who hears it. Zambia is best know in the west for its heavy psych-rock scene, but it also has a rich tradition of Afrocentric folk as heard on the excellent reissue of 'Mandela' by THE MASHABE BAND. Across four long jams, LES VOLCANS DU BENIN craft quite a tapestry of Afro-Cuban rhythms on their 1980 album 'Vol. 1', repressed this week alongside the infectiously groovy organ funk from Bamako, Mali's IDRISSA SOUMAORO on 'Le Tioko-Tioko'

  

A Numero Group collection of tunes by the EBIRAC ALL STARS collects the best of the late 70s Chicago salsa scene. Go deep with Colombian cumbia legends LOS GOLDEN BOYS on a new comp of their 60s classics called 'Cumbia De Juventud', and cap it off with a fresh edition of the afro-cuban classic 'Sofrito' by MONGO SANTAMARIA.

 

 

A nice trio of Japanese electronic records this week: HOSHINA ANNIVERSARY delivers two sprawling sidelong excursions in machine funk on 'Hyakunin Isshu', house pioneer SOICHI TERADA turns in fresh takes on chiptune, electro and nu-disco on 'Asakusa Light', and we've a new pressing of SUSUMU YOKOTA's 2005 album 'Symbol', serging classical and ambient fabrics together as one. Also new in: a rather stunning sampler of mid-90s abstract IDM by INTERACTIVE MUSIC, one of the dozens of monikers adopted by Atom TM aka Uwe Schmidt.

  

  

Gorgeous piano and guitar from JONNY NASH pair well with the voice of ANA STAMP on 'There Up, Behind The Moon', a new one on Nash's always-dialed in Melody As Truth label. Jazz composer SAM GENDEL teams up with a 13 year old named ANTONIA CYTRYNOWICZ on a new record called 'Live A Little' which must be something else. Every new album from PAN AMERICAN (Mark Nelson of Labradford) is a fresh reminder of his singular take on snow-drifted, expressive ambient with transporting rhythmic subtlety; he returns to Kranky with 'The Patience Fader', which pairs nicely with a beautiful new one from longtime abstract guitar whiz STEVEN R. SMITH (Hala Strana, Thuja) called 'Spring'. Swedish hypnagogic folkies TREASURY OF PUPPIES (what a name!) see their incredible and rare 2020 debut finally get a US pressing, and we also welcome their German partners in strangeness, the hauntingly beautiful chamber-folk duo FREUNDLICHE KREISEL, who illuminate lucid dreams on a new self-titled LP.

 

 

Last up, some lovely compilations! Seasoned UK chillout DJ Paul Hillery covers the earth looking for funky soft rock and turns up gem after gem after gem on WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE SUN. The fertile 80s experimental fusion scene of Argentina is celebrated on the lovely VIENTO SUR collection. Dark Entries does us a major solid with a collection of hard to find Mexican 'Tecno Pop' from the 80s on BACK UP, while the continuously stimulating Dutch label Knekelhuis delivers an eclectic avant-pop loveletter on AND FELT LIKE...

USED VINYL ALERT:

Heavy hitters galore in this week's edition of the Used Vinyl Alert! Annoy your neighbors (or maybe make a new friend?) with some strong stuff from AC/DC, ZZ Top, Van Halen, Dio, Aerosmith, the Scorpions, Alice in Chains, Captain Beyond, Smashing Pumpkins, the White Stripes, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Cream, the Foo Fighters, Stone Temple Pilots, Metallica, the Clash, the Fall, Fugazi, the Groundhogs, the Cult, and more.

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