Welcome back to the newsletter! Vacation time is over, and just in time to catch up with an absolutely incredible week of new releases, leading off with one of the most anticipated albums of the year, KENDRICK LAMAR's 'Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers'. According to co-worker Mark, who has listened to it the most out of anyone on staff, 'It's incandescent. Kendrick packs enough psychotherapy into this record to help even the most traumatic scars begin to heal." Not bad for a vinyl eh? Even longer awaited is the LP edition of the SILK SONIC album, 'An Evening With Silk Sonic', which lands at last this week, alongside a daring new album from LUPE FIASCO called 'Drill Music In Zion', and a reissue of the modern classic 'Clouds' from smooth instrumentalist APOLLO BROWN.

Pride of South Carolina MARCUS KING delivers on the promise of his early records with high-powered Dan Auerbach-produced album called 'Young Blood', an overwhelmingly soulful effort with the tight-knit oomph of ZZ Top, in on color vinyl. STEVE EARLE pays tribute to a legend who just left us on 'Jerry Jeff'. MAVIS STAPLES' elegiac return to form 'We'll Never Turn Back' turns 15 and comes back to us on aqua blue vinyl. REGINA SPEKTOR first turned heads with her 2001 self-released CD '11:11', which she only sold at shows. Heavily influenced by jazz and blues singers and Joni Mitchell, the album differs a great deal from her later albums while remaining a fan favorite, and it lands here in the shop this week on vinyl for the first time!

Savvy neo-soul singer VALERIE JUNE releases an album of covers that will deeply satisfy her fans and likely make her some new ones. 'Under Cover' comes on blue vinyl and features Val's takes on classics by Mazzy Star, Gillian Welch, Nick Drake, and Frank Ocean. Aussie singer JULIA JACKLIN puts some mighty relatable emotions into her endearingly fuzzy slow-core on 'Pre Pleasure', and we've got great new pop slabs from LIZZY McALPINE and SOFI TUKKER.

CURTIS MAYFIELD's titanic soundtrack for 'Superfly' hits the 50 year mark this week, and gets a lush reissue via the Run Out Groove label, in a lovely gatefold with a huge poster and a limited slipmat. One of the most important bands in American pop history gets the full treatment this week with their first ever archive dip. 'Against The Odds' tells the story of BLONDIE in complete detail on a 10 LP set that includes expanded editions of their first 6 albums, 36 unreleased tracks, plus a 120-page discography and a 144-page hardback book. A nice gatefold edition of a record everyone needs in their home, FUNKADELIC's 'Maggot Brain' is back in stock, and we've got more copies of the comprehensive SADE box set, 'This Far' back in as well.

Philadephia guitarist CHRIS FORSYTH has honed a measured approach to his instrument that hits a pleasurable new spike on 'Evolution Here We Come'. Stylistically, Chris is proudly indebted to the early psych/trad masters like Richard Thompson and John Cipollina, but his albums unfold much more tantrically; meditations on space and time you might find in the middle of the Soft Machine catalog, helped along by the stardusted hands of producer Dave Harrington. Baltimore bluesy doomers WINDHAND deliver a nice live album on their installation of 'Levitation Sessions', and guitar popper DELICATE STEVE gets extremely loose on the lovely instrumental session 'After Hours'. And would you look at that, those pink clouds can mean only one thing: we've got TURNSTILE back in stock! Some copies of 'Glow On' land on Friday in a very limited amount, so we will be limiting these to those who show up in-store only, ideally via skateboard.

The healing music of KAITLYN AURELIA SMITH has drawn ably on the influence of synthesists like Laurie Spiegel and Suzanne Ciani, but the explosive neon cover of her latest, 'Let's Turn It Into Sound', indicates that there might be a bit more action afoot on this one. Reliable dance-pop dons HOT CHIP return with 'Freakout / Release' on limited brown vinyl, and we've got a new hypnotic delight in stock from psychedelic techno prince RICARDO VILLALOBOS with 'Microgestures'. Danish producer CENTRAL has built a reliable rep for limber, atmospheric house with his productions for Erika De Casier and releases on his own Help Recordings label; 'Softness' is the first release from him in quite awhile and delivers two LPs full of chilly, brainy beat perfection.

Rockers MUSE return with 'Will of the People' on color vinyl, plus country rising star MORGAN WALLEN sees his 'Dangerous: The Double Album' expanded to triple LP. Baltimore funksters PIGEONS PLAYING PING PONG come correct with 'Perspective', a fun and jamtastic album that sounds like a less world-weary Chi Peps. With a name like that, TEEN SUICIDE had better be good. Find out for yourself with a copy of 'Honeybee Table At The Butterfly Feast'.

Easily the most fascinating album in this week's update is a 50th anniversary musical tribute to ALLEN GINSBERG's 'The Fall of America: Poems of These States, 1965-1971', in which an impressively diverse spread of musicians (Yo La Tengo, Mickey Hart, Angelique Kidjo, and Andrew Bird, to name but a few) render their musical interpretations over and under Ginsberg's recorded readings. A fitting partner perhaps is a new color vinyl edition of TORTOISE's classic century-opening and flag-remixing album 'Standards', on red white and blue swirl. The clever indie pop of THE DRUMS' 'Portamento' turns ten with a fresh reissue on ultra clear wax, and we've got a nice new edition of the Brazilian pop samba of MARIA DE FATIMA's 'Bahia Com H', which dates to the early 80s but sounds like it could have come out yesterday.

Detroit techno legend KENNY LARKIN keeps getting his propers, as his 2008 classic 'Keys, Strings, Tambourines' gets an expanded reissue with a few extra tracks included. French producer MARC ROMBOY sees his 2017 gem 'Voyage De La Planète' get a fresh pressing, full of stunning neo-classical electronics in the vein of Nils Frahm. We close out with a pair of enormous new EPs from two of our fave producers around here: ANTHONY NAPLES delivers the ravey 'Swerve', while FELIPE GORDON drops the tribal, chuggy 'Superimposition'.

Heading downstairs, we get things started with Rock, where you'll catch artists like Roxy Music, David Byrne, Prince, Electric Light Orchestra, Grateful Dead, Steely Dan, Bruce Springsteen, Velvet Underground, Fleetwood Mac, Devo, & The Beatles (including a rare first press Mono edition of Revolver!).

In addition, a hefty supply of 60s psychedelia & sunshine pop is in this week, with some seldom-seen artists & titles. You'll see names like Chocolate Watch Band, Del Shannon, The Seeds, United States Of America, 13th Floor Elevators, West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, J.K. & Company, among others.

Soul is in from Smokey Robinson, Sly & The Family Stone, Johnny Guitar Watson, Stevie Wonder, Sam Cooke, The Supremes, Otis Redding, and a slew of others.

Our steady stream of solid Jazz titles continues this week with the likes of Miles Davis, Sun Ra, John Coltrane, Art Pepper, Max Roach, Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and much more. Country classics are here, including Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, Porter Wagoner, Merle Haggard, & Faron Young.

A nice stash of experimental / 20th century is here, with some heavy ones from Terry Riley, Karlheinz Stockhausen, John Adams, & Morton Subotnick. Contemporary electronic & hip hop is in from Burial, DJ Koze, Caribou, Wolfgang Voigt, RZA, Childish Gambino & Kanye West.

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