RSD Black Friday - November 24, 2023

Welcome to the weekend. We've got more new records than ever to offer this week so on with the marathon rundown! SUFJAN STEVENS has rediscovered his spark again, tossing us a 'Javelin', his first proper solo singer/songwriter style album since his classic 'Carrie and Lowell'. Ten expansive songs here captures Stevens' unique ability to tease meaning out of the mundane, and strength out of grief; lemonade color vinyl on this one, and a large booklet of essays by Stevens that further illuminate these songs. The bashful Parquet Courts frontman A. SAVAGE turns in a stripped-down solo album about leaving NYC behind; 'Several Songs About Fire' was recorded with Cate le Bon and members of her band, continuing Cate's streak of getting a mention in the last 4 newsletters. Dang, woman! Master of melancholy TIMBER TIMBRE returns with 'Lovage', another smoky set of Cohen-esque crooning. Singapore pop experimenter YEULE ups her game with 'Softscars', a heady and engaging album of shoegazey hyper-pop, in on white/blue swirl wax. We're big fans of the UK act VANISHING TWIN, who make deliciously angular abstract pop, carrying on traditions of Stereolab and Broadcast on their latest, 'Afternoon X'. Michigan emo band CITIZEN sharpens their yearning grunge on 'Calling the Dogs', channeling The Replacements and Samiam in equal measure.

Harpist MARY LATTIMORE continues to elevate her perceptive style, conflating the sentimental and the surreal on 'Goodbye, Hotel Arkada', in on inkwell color vinyl, and featuring guest musicians Meg Baird and Walt McClements. The subdued, twilit guitarscapes of JONNY NASH evolve into an expressive form of dream pop on the instant classic 'Point Of Entry', which we have finally roped in from overseas. Composer PETER BRODERICK & ENSEMBLE 0 dive into one of the richest songbooks in the modern classical oeuvre, Arthur Russell's underappreciated chamber piece 'Tower Of Meaning', on an expanded investigation called 'Give It To The Sky'. On the heels of 'The Moon and the Melodies', his iconic collab with the Cocteau Twins, HAROLD BUDD recorded 1988's 'The White Arcades' in the Cocteaus studio as well, resulting in one of his most vividly expressive ambient works. Composer SPENCER DORAN takes time out from his work in Visible Cloaks to create a deeply immersive soundtrack for the open-plot video game 'SEASON: A letter to the future', drawing on Satie, Debussy, and his expert-level knowledge of Japan's Kankyo Ongaku style. Fusing together fragile elements of dream pop, forlorn DIY, and distant breakbeat, the Aussie band HYDROPLANE made tiny but powerful songs destined, seemingly, to languish in obscurity until now; get the full rundown on this incredible group with 'Selected Songs 1997-2003'.

Chitown drummer DANIEL VILLARREAL's 2022 debut is firmly lodged in the Strictly playlist until the end of time, a lively set of funky, latin-tinged instrumentals from a Pilsen backyard so vividly captured, you can smell the fresh tortillas. He returns to the International Anthem label with another banger, joined by like-minded groovers JEFF PARKER and ANNA BUTTERSS for a new trio session called 'Lados B'. Melodic beatmaker MNDSGN returns with 'Snaxxx', and we've got a cracking Tone Poet reissue of the HERBIE NICHOLS TRIO's '65 hard bop beast, featuring Max Roach on the skins. Ahead of a hotly-anticipated new record from her, we've got the first vinyl edition of Chinese-Icelandic jazz singer LAUFEY's debut EP, 'Typical Of Me'. Richmond boom-bap jazz-rap ensemble BUTCHER BROWN level up with a huge new record called 'Solar Music', and we've got a delightful new mini-album from the Portuguese balearic poppers GALA DROP, full of chugging, dubwise production.

We celebrate the lasting impact of rapper and songwriter MAC MILLER this week, who left us far, far too soon and just as his creative potential was beginning to flourish. A few days after the release of his critically acclaimed album 'Swimming' in 2018, Miller stepped into the DC zone of NPR's Tiny Desk Concert with his band, Thundercat included, cutting a session that would become the long-running series' most-viewed clip. That set is captured on vinyl for the first time this week on blue vinyl, and we also have new color editions of some of his other faves: 'Circles' is in on silver wax, 'The Divine Feminine' is light blue, and 'GO:OD AM' is green. PORTUGAL THE MAN's breakout album 'Woodstock' is back in print on clear wax, and we have the debut album of young popper CLAIRE ROSINKRANZ, with 'Just Because'.

If there was a Nobel Prize awarded for album titles, DANNY BROWN and JPEGMAFIA would run away with it this year with 'Scaring The Hoes', the perfectly apt name for their collaborative album of madcap, chaotic rap chock-full of industrial noise and punk-pop tropes that's achieved universal online acclaim. It's been a decade since the dynamic duo RUN THE JEWELS stepped on the scene with their bracing debut, which now gets an expanded anniversary edition on multi-color wax. The hip-hop at 50 celebration continues with a repress of 2 CHAINZ platinum debut 'Based On A T.R.U. Story', FREEWAY's legendary Jay-and-Beanie studded 'Philadelphia Freeway', LUDACRIS' hit-laden crossover smash 'Word Of Mouf', and REDMAN's berserk 1992 debut 'Whut? Thee Album', which set the bar for scaring people quite high early on in the nineties.

Genre-crushing electronic composer ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER has done it 'Again'. As with other classics in his immense catalog ('Replica', 'R Plus Seven', and the 'Uncut Gems OST' jump to mind), he's reinvented himself anew, and made a type music that we've never heard before, defying easy description. His granular handle on strange synth patterns remains, but he's added more guitar and vocals to the mix, creating his most soaring, not-of-this-Earth work yet. The original synthetic world-building homie JOHN CARPENTER is celebrated afresh with 'Anthology II (Movie Themes 1976-1988)', in stock on blue vinyl just in time for spooky season. JON HOPKINS trancey techno gem 'Immunity' gets a new vinyl remaster on purple wax. SHANTI CELESTE & HODGE team up for a slab of summer-ending club slappers on 'Bounce', Munich producer POLYGONIA hones her sensual, organic electro on 'Otro Mundo', and we've got a darkly dubby, fogged out excursion from MEMOTONE on the mighty Finnish label Sahko.

Before he began bewildering the entire globe as one half of Death Grips, drummer Zach Hill held court in the beloved math rock band HELLA, who had to be seen to be believed. Their charmingly frantic debut album 'Hold Your Horse Is' turns 21 this year with an expanded gold vinyl deluxe edition. UK punkers IDLES' sophomore album 'Joy As An Act Of Resistance' celebrates five years with a deluxe edition. X-RAY SPEX legendary 1978 'Germ Free Adolescents' helped define the brainy, thought-provoking side of postpunk, and is back in print this week. We've got more new editions of long out of print post-hardcore classics from A DAY TO REMEMBER, with 'For Those Who Have Heart', COHEED + CAMBRIA's 'In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3', and a deluxe edition of THE BLOOD BROTHERS's 'Burn, Piano Island, Burn', all in on limited color vinyl.

A righteous wave of compilations hits this week, including the second volume of David Byrne's pop samba overview 'Beleza Tropical', and an incredible collection called 'Middle Eastern Grooves' selected by DJ Kobayashi. Numero calls their latest collection 'Eccentric Boogie' the only boogie record you'll ever need, and as long as you havent spent years collecting hundreds of boogie 12"s that is definitely true! Globetrotting DJ Young Marco did the dance world a huge solid with his 'Welcome To Paradise' compilations a few years back; trawling through the often inscrutable world of 90s Italian house and plucking out just about every gem there was to be found there across three elegant volumes, all of which are back in print now for a limited time.

The TALKING HEADS renaissance continues with new color vinyl editions of their mid-80s leftfield pop classics 'Little Creatures' and 'True Stories'. The eclectic output of legendary Japanese producer HARUOMI HOSONO veered into atmospheric IDM on the 1995 album 'N.D.E.', reissued on vinyl for the first time ever this week. The Skaters's Spencer Clark teams up with Sun Araw's Cameron Stallones as MONOPOLY CHILD STAR SEARCHERS for the full on immersion of 'Barbados Wild Horses', recorded on the island of Tenerife. England experimental rock group THE SHADOW RING began their mysterious career with the head-scratcher albums 'Put The Music In Its Coffin' and 'City Lights', both out of print since the 90s and back in action this week with nice editions from Blank Forms.

The opening of the JONI MITCHELL archives continues with 'Volume 3 Highlights Asylum Years 72-75'. The 4-LP set includes unheard sessions with Graham Nash, James Taylor, Neil Young & Tom Scott, scads of demos, and live recordings from Carnegie Hall, Wembley, and the Royal Festival Hall. Joni's in the mix as well on THE BAND iconic live recording 'The Last Waltz', back in print this week in an audiophile-grade 3LP set. It's not just the tapes getting baked on a new and improved edition of THE GRATEFUL DEAD's 1981 set at Madison Square Garden, which runs the length of five LPs. Rocktober gets into full swing with new color editions of BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD's 'Buffalo Springfield Again', 'Yessingles' from YES, and 'The Best of ZZ TOP', plus more from

The blistering early run of the post-hippie, pre-punk Michigan iconoclast MC5 gets a fresh look, with new mintings of 'Kick Out the Jams', 'Back In The USA' and 'High Time'. Explore the earliest sounds of the mighty MEAT PUPPETS with new editions of their debut 7" 'In A Car', unheard live recordings on 'Camp Songs', and their incredible 1985 album 'Up On The Sun', a masterpiece of insouciant jangle with the sneer of punk and the musicianship of the jazz masters.

Last up, a bunch more Rocktober hitters! MATCHBOX TWENTY's chart-lathering 'Yourself Or Someone Like You' gets a fresh edition, along with classics from the COWBOY JUNKIES, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, BAD COMPANY, FOREIGNER, and A-HA!

Another world class selection in the Used Vinyl Alert this week. All bases are covered, but this week the standouts are the jazz LPs. We've got dozens and dozens of essentials from a variety of eras, including many that don't come around often from Roy Ayers, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Gary Burton, Gabor Szabo, Bobby Hutcherson, Carla Bley, Don Cherry, Larry Young, Milt Jackson, Patrice Rushen, Shirley Scott, Norman Connors, Donald Byrd, Idris Muhammad, Flip Nunez, John Coltrane, Rodney Foster, Jaco Pastorius, Bernard Wright, Hampton Hawes, John Patton, Art Blakey, Willie the Lion Smith, Herbie Hancock, Ornette Coleman, and dozens more. Lots of small label releases and lesser known names in the mix as well.

An equally impressive spread of blues this week from Willie Dixon, BB King, Otis Spann, Josh White, Bukka White, Alan Lomax, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Mayall, Roosevelt Sykes, Gary Davis, Blind John Davis, the Neville Brothers, Taj Mahal, Sid Hemphill, Professor Longhair, John Lee Hooker, Taj Mahal, Sunnyland Slim, and plenty of cool compilations from Yazoo, Folkways, Mississippi and the like.

Folk and country is in from John Renbourn, John Fahey, Leo Kottke, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Porter Wagoner, Dolly Parton, and others. Plenty of classic rock and pop is in from the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Doors, The Band, Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders, Hall & Oates, Steely Dan, Yes, the Kinks, Neil Young, Black Sabbath, and Sammy Hagar.

A cool selection of classic prog is in from Gong, Gentle Giant, Fred Frith, Robert Fripp, Mr. Fox, Mike Oldfield, King Crimson, and Brian Eno, leads us to even more variety from U2, Depeche Mode, the B-52‘s, Violent Femmes, Flaming Lips, Nine Inch Nails, Archers of Loaf, the Dream Syndicate, The Dandy Warhols, the Streets, Nirvana, NOFX, Sleater Kinney, Massive Attack, Billie Eilish, Lana Del Rey, Horsegirl, Gary Clark Jr, PJ Harvey, Deerhoof, Blonde Redhead, the Illuminati Hotties, Current 93, Tokimonsta, Prince, Kool and the Gang, Stevie Wonder, the Blackbyrds, and Ray Charles!

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