Happy Friday to all. Some fantastic records to run down in the newsletter this week, so let's rip 'er open. As dependable as the tides, TAYLOR SWIFT will not rest until she's washed the whole world in her versions. This week, we have '1989: Taylor's Version', an extensive remaking of her 2014 classic, about which your dutiful newsletter writer has absolutely zero worthwhile opinions. We have three color variants on this one: Crystal Skies Blue, Rose Garden Pink, and Aquamarine Green, and yes, each has a different cover, in case you forgot who you were playin with. Plenty of each to go around, so please make your way down here in an orderly fashion to claim one or multiple! Few upstart groups rocketed to success as quickly as THE BLACK PUMAS; their potent debut album went from a hushed rumor to a bestseller in just a few months, fueled by rabid reactions to the band's life-changing live show. To say their sophomore effort is eagerly awaited is a massive understatement, and early singles from 'Chronicles Of A Diamond' confirm another classic of genre-combobulating soulful rock in the making, and we've got ample copies of the midnight edition on clear with splatter vinyl (with slipmats while they last). To continue the theme of records that practically broke the world with anticipation, the mighty final NIRVANA album 'In Utero' celebrates its 30th anniversary this week with expanded deluxe editions loaded with the kind of overflowing bonus material, pomp and circumstance that Kurt Cobain would have absolutely hated. Sorry Kurt, we try to make it up to you every day by selling as many copies of the Raincoats LP as we can. Nirvana's swan song was an absolute bulldozer of anguished, artful rock-n-roll perfection, so perhaps its fitting that you can now own a version that is about as heavy as one. All the recent talk of artificial intelligence makes me yearn for the days of 1991, when the lifechanging technology sweeping the land was **holograms**, such as the one that adorned the cover of 'Diamonds And Pearls', PRINCE's first album with his new band THE NEW POWER GENERATION, which marked (somehow) an even more sexy, sultry side of the Purple One's glittering oeuvre. A deluxe edition of this one lands this week, along with a new standard LP edition on white vinyl.

We love our trusted bands that can do no wrong, don't we folks? Several of 'em check in this week with bangers. Dream pop wonderboy Jack Tatum revives his beloved WILD NOTHING project for a shimmering new record called 'Hold' that maintains the group's transcendent clarity, on blue and clear wax. Do I even need to tell you the latest disc from THE MOUNTAIN GOATS is a rock opera? Darnielle and Co have reclaimed the concept album so thoroughly, we'd be shocked if we got one without a concept at this point. 'Jenny From Thebes' revives its titular character from the classic 'All Hail West Texas', and comes on yellow and black wax. Ever the self-critics, SUPERCHUNK are calling their latest collection of b-sides "Misfits and Mistakes" even though they can make better roughed-up guitar pop gems in their sleep than most other bands. Dynamic duo THE KILLS sharpen their bluesy rawness on a new one called 'God Games', in on green vinyl.

Because I'm a poser, I first heard of the rapper MIKE when I saw him open up a day of the Pitchfork fest a few years back. "What kind of rap name is Mike?" I wondered, and I should have known that there would be a whole lot of substance backing up such a nondescript name. The New York rapper has the quintessential modern style: on 'Beware of the Monkey' he sounds slurred and relaxed, but delivers pinpoint rhymes that crackle with syllabic ingenuity, over phenomenally donked-out lofi production of his own making. Slightly more caffeinated is LARRY JUNE, who pairs up with ace producer THE ALCHEMIST for their latest, 'The Great Escape', which finally lands on vinyl this week. ODDISEE re-releases 'The Good Fight', perhaps the greatest conscious rap album of the last decade, on yellow vinyl, and we've got a new pressing of 'Beast Mode' by FUTURE, who emblemizes a slightly different kind of consciousness.

We embrace yet another banger from the International Anthem label (seriously, its gotta be a dozen great releases from them this year!) by a new-to-us artist named BEX BURCH, a German xylophonist, instrument builder and musician in the vein of Harry Partch or Glen Velez. Burch teamed up with an impressive roster of Chicago musicians like Dan Bitney, Macie Stewart and Ben Lamar Gay for 'There Is Only Love and Fear', a thoroughly immersive album that sounds like the Art Ensemble jamming with Hassell. Few artists expand and describe a space simultaneously quite like Swedish organist ELLEN ARKBRO, whose latest set, 'Sounds While Waiting', is another immediately engrossing deep listen. Philadelphia guitarist EMILY ROBB keeps redefining the idea of the "guitar album", embracing small depictions of big ideas on 'If I Am Misery Then Give Me Affection', which achieves startling clarity in abstraction. Pair it well with another classic Philadelphia guitar album that's back in print, Japan expat YUZO IWATA's incandescent 'Daylight Moon', which will have you throwing out your copy of "Loaded". Just kidding, don't do that...trade it in to us!

The angelic voiced LAUFEY levels up big time with the lavishly produced 'Bewitched'. A few years after lighting up the world with her sophomore album 'Legacy! Legacy!', JAMILA WOODS is back with the thematically copacetic 'Water Made Us', a deeply therapeutic set of conversational soul. In an era of shattered and sublimated electronic production, we live for the unabashed big beats of UK producer JAM CITY, who welcomes a slew of guest vocalists for 'Jam City Presents: Efm'. If you've not yet heard THE SERFS, you should try their latest stinger 'Half Eaten By Dogs', resting assured that they hail from Ohio, the only state in the union that is officially allowed to have good synth-punk bands.

Old school midi synthesist GREGG KOWALSKY has an amazing knack for brain-massaging melody, finely captured on the engrossing 'Eso Es'. Trumpet-and-processor whiz JUSTIN WALTER turns in an incredibly supple ambient record for Kranky called 'Destroyer', which luckily does not live up to its name. Pac NW producer SECRET PYRAMID returns with the gauzy, site-specific 'A Vanishing Touch', recommended for fans of Belong and Grouper's non-vocal stuff. DFA records takes a page from another classic three-letter label, namely ECM, launching their "new series" with a stunning clarinet drone album from studio sideman STUART BOGIE called 'Morningside'.

It's been many years since we've had a new album from the formerly prolific TOMB MOLD, and they turn the wait into a payoff with 'The Enduring Spirit', their grandest statement yet that combines technically peerless death metal with truly far out progressive, jazz, and shoegaze vibes. Limited color vinyl on this gem. Stoner rock titans EARTHLESS revive their 2018 classic 'Black Heaven', and we have a new pressing of the BOTCH non-album collection 'An Anthology of Dead Ends'. Only the most diehard Elliott Smith fans know that he was once billed as "The Dude from HEATMISER Gone Solo"; a new collection of early demos from the Portland unit capture a band that rather brilliantly combined the burgeoning grunge sound with a Husker Duvian hardcore snarl.

If you've ever lost your mind to the Death album "For The Whole World To See" or the music of Black Merda and wondered if there's anything else out there like it, Numero has you covered with a new compilation of rare 1970s black rock called 'If There's Hell Below'. TALKING HEADS's pop-forward classic 'Naked' is back in print on purple vinyl, along with the fan-favorite DEERHOOF album 'The Runners Four'. The early catalog of the mighty Scottish post-rockers MOGWAI continues to get a shine up, with new editions of the long out of print 'Ten Rapid' and 'Government Commissions', their collection of Peel Sessions and the like.

Plenty of fresh fire in the Used Vinyl Alert this week! We've got essentials from The Beatles (including some unusual boots), Neil Young, Rush, Steely Dan, Creedence, Jimi Hendrix, the Eagles, Led Zeppelin, Simon and Garfunkel, Jackson Browne, Lou Reed, The Box Tops, James Taylor, Jimmy Buffett, Cat Stevens, Janis Joplin, David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, The Who, the Allman Brothers, Dire Straits, Van Morrison, Carole King, and Billy Joel.

Plenty of heavy stuff in, from names like Deep Purple, Caravan, Ozzy and Black Sabbath, Wishbone Ash, Quicksilver, Soup, Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen, Kansas, Accept, Saxon, Hurricane, and Cinderella. Punk and new wave is in from Duran Duran, Talking Heads, Sex Pistols, Bryan Adams, Elvis Costello, R.E.M., Rick Astley, Eurythmics, B-52s, and Peter Gabriel.

Jazz is in from Shelly Manne, Hampton Hawes, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Wes Montgomery, Freddie Hubbard, Cal Tjader, and Kenny Burrell. Country comes through from Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams Jr, Steve Earle, Dottie West, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, and Kacey Musgraves.

Just in time for the Diamonds and Pearls reissue, we have a serious slew of collectible Prince in the house. Early album pressings, sealed titles, rare singles, and related artists like Vanity 6 and The Family. Soul is in from Tower Of Power, Stevie Wonder, Al Green, Ray Charles, the Undisputed Truth, and the Stylistics. Even more across genres, like Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, J Dilla, Solange, Darkside, Bonobo, Brian Eno, Atoms for Peace, the Chills, the Raconteurs and Jack White, Lapsley, Black Pumas, and the Flaming Lips.

Used CD Alert

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