No band does sweeping grandeur like THE NATIONAL. The veteran rock academes have aged more than just gracefully, honing their bombastic balladry into a uniquely elevated type of pop, making each new record feel like a proper event. The Dessner brothers have put their makers mark on the modern metier many times over; their Long Pond Studios was the source of the latest RSD-frenzy-inspiring record from Taylor Swift, who turns up as a guest on 'The First Two Pages Of Frankenstein', alongside Sufjan Stevens and Phoebe Bridgers. Counting my free space, I believe that's a Bingo, everybody hold your cards. We have the limited red vinyl of this one in stock, and a limited number of what appear to be leather bookmarks to give away with purchase. The cathartic, catchy crunch of INDIGO DE SOUZA's modern take on classic indie continues with a great new record, 'All of This Will End', in on green vinyl, and we've got fresh folk-rock brilliance from JOSH RITTER with 'Spectral Lines', and sister trio JOSEPH, who return with 'The Sun', their first new album in nearly 5 years.

With each momentous album, post-pop stormbringer YVES TUMOR expands his vision of unusual anthemics, and the record titles get longer. That brings us to 'Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)', the latest and greatest from a shapeshifting musical being capable of quoting The Cure, Prince and the Thinking Fellers in the bat of an eye, while cloaked in tension already building up against the next millennium. We also have a long-awaited new album from FEVER RAY, the off-and-on solo project of Karin Dreijer from The Knife, who turns up as your friendly blind date on the cover once again, announcing another potent strain of mutant electro called 'Radical Romantics'. UK leftfield soul don SKINNY PELEMBE returns with 'Hardly The Same Snake', and we've got a reissue of the debut mixtape from hyperpoppers KERO KERO BONITO, 'Intro Bonito'.

It's been ten years since the release of the debut album from THE WORLD IS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE & I AM NO LONGER AFRAID TO DIE, the emo band which has included nearly all the able-bodied 20 somethings in eastern Connecticut. 'Whenever, If Ever' gets a limited reissue this week on clear/green marble vinyl with new cover art. We've got reissues of FALLING IN REVERSE's 2017 album 'Coming Home' and THE WEAKERTHANS' classic 'Reconstruction Site', plus a new fanclub pressing of the late 90s recordings by the WYLDE RATTTZ, a supergroup convened by Ron Asheton to do Stooges and Pretty Things covers for the film "Velvet Goldmine".

Living legend TAJ MAHAL returns to the studio for 'Savoy', his tribute to swing-era Duke Ellington and George Gershwin tunes. RICKIE LEE JONES continues her second or third wind with 'Pieces Of Treasure'. CIRCLES AROUND THE SUN picks the gear up again for the first time since the loss of Neal Casal on 'Language', and the French/North African quartet SISSOKO SEGAL PARISIEN PEIRANI turns in some gorgeous folk-jazz influenced by Django and the Sahel on 'Les Egares'.

A trio of Chicago synth nerds with many years in the game team up as THE CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY CONSORTIUM for an epic 3LP set of chase-scene funk and dystopian steppers called 'Panoramic Coloursound', on the Dark Entries label. Few producers deliver as consistently as LUKE VIBERT, who is back with a new full length called 'Machine Funk' that does what it says on the package. Classic salsa with a nocturnal edge is back in print with a nicely done edition of WILLIE COLON & HECTOR LAVOE's 'Crime Pays', plus we've got a new printing of the shudderingly cold industrial classic 'Front By Front' by FRONT 242.

In 1972, organist LARRY YOUNG convened a trio for an anti-war rally across the street from the White House, with the stated goal of making that building levitate and perhaps float away forever. The resulting performance, dubbed 'Love Cry Want', remains a key, if obscure pinnacle in the freeform fusion that emerged throughout that tumultuous decade. Another legend of the keyboard, LONNIE LISTON SMITH, steps in with the Jazz Is Dead crew for the latest installment of that series. JAKOB BRO & JOE LOVANO pay tribute to drummer PAUL MOTIAN on 'Once Around the Room', and we've got a nice new BYG pressing of the SUN RA classic, 'The Solar-Myth Approach Volume 2'.

'Origin Myths', the delightful collection of acid-rock, countrified instrumentals by BOBBY LEE eluded our shelves last year, but we've finally got a second pressing in the house. British ambianteur DANIEL O'SULLIVAN (Aethenor, Grumbling Fur) lands on venerated avant-psych label VHF with 'The Physic Garden', a lush set of library-style vignettes. NYC heavy psych band LAUREL CANYON turns in a debut LP of razored rockers not to far off from Place To Bury Strangers territory; come to think of it, that also nicely describes 'Nocebo' by Boston's ELIZABETH COLOUR WHEEL, which gets a repress this week.

Just about any rapper topping the charts these days was not even alive yet when the LA posse FREESTYLE FELLOWSHIP dropped their masterpiece of a debut 'To Whom It May Concern' back in 1991. We'll leave the editorializing aside and just say, they really don't make records like this anymore, and they also don't stay in print too long! AESOP ROCK's 2021 banger 'Garbology' re-emerges in its instrumental form this week, a full slate of mind-bending bangers just waiting for someone to emcee over them. What's that? We've also got fresh editions of two spoken word classics by WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS, 'Break Through In Grey Room' and 'Nothing Here Now But The Recordings'? Why, that gives me a clever idea...

Used vinyl alert time! Right off the top: we put out such a deep trove of rare used vinyl on RSD, so we are leaving them in the New Arrivals section in case you haven't gotten a look (or second look) yet. A couple hundred very choice LPs here, think collectible Hip-Hop, Soul, Jazz, Metal, and Rock titles.

But that's not all of course. We've filled up the remaining allotment with our usual spread of prized catches. This week our rock selection features loads of scarce titles from the heavy end of the spectrum with The Misfits, Sleep, The Sword, The Stooges, Black Sabbath, King Gizzard, Power Trip, Harms Way, Earthless, and Terror. Plus plenty of classics from the likes of David Bowie, Sade, Kraftwerk, Led Zeppelin, Black Keys, The Beatles, King Crimson, Electric Light Orchestra, The Black Keys, and The Scorpions.

There are plenty of great country titles from recent heroes like Colter Wall, Charley Crockett, Sturgill Simpsons, and Hank III, and plenty of classics from Johnny Cash, Red Simpson, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, David Allan Coe, Tex Ritter, Jeannie C Riley, and Johnny Horton.

We round out the week with plenty of great soul, jazz, folk, soundtracks, and international titles.

Used CD Alert

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