Oh, hello there newsletter readers. It's Thursday evening and it's time for a rundown of this week's incredible crop of new records! We hope you're in love with the latest from FONTAINES D.C. 'Romance' is in stock on limited pink color wax. and finds the Irish edgy rockers calling back to the classic early Arctic Monkeys. The lovely folks at XL sent us a package of wild items to give away with purchase of this one: stickers, totes, conversation hearts, etc etc. One things for sure about Philly trio SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE, they keep on busily humming along. We've come to expect just about anything from this beautifully manic mess of a band, and we get a little bit of everything on 'You'll Have To Lose Something'. The kaleidoscopic trip of Animal Collective, buckets of noisy pop slivers ala 90s Flaming Lips and Truman's Water, chugging melodies akin to the Unicorns and the like, all delivered on birthday cake splatter colored vinyl. Evolving teen-pop star SABRINA CARPENTER crests a new wave on a new funky pop album called 'Short 'N Sweet'. Like all of us former-teenagers, we can relate to hitting 25 and wanting to do things our way. We have a listening party for this one tonight at 11PM and if that's too late for you, this might not be the record you want this week. Rising country star LAINEY WILSON delivers a punchy new album of high-octane pop twang on 'Whirlwind', which really made me want to have a beer while I was listening to it, and it just so happens that we have some koozies to give away with this one (still some Post Malone koozies here too, please...take these from us!). Los Angeles duo MAGDALENA BAY make some lovely, futuristic dance-pop on their sophomore album 'Imaginal Disk'; the shimmer and sheen on hand here tempt me to call this "hyperpop" but it sounds more like hyperpop that's found a healthy dose of SSRIs. And speaking of pop, what about OLIVIA RODRIGO? Ya'll didnt forget about her did you? After hearing whispers about it for awhile, we finally have some limited color vinyl copies of 'Guts (Spilled)', which includes a second LP of additional songs not on the original album.

Not content to stick to bathing us in emotional ambient bliss as Huerco S, Kansas City native Brian Leeds reboots his LOIDIS alias for one of the year's top techno albums, hands down. If the press materials are to be believed, the eight tracks on 'One Day' were in fact all conceived in one day, and the persistent cohesion evident here would bear that out. Discerning listeners will draw parallels to the micro-house trend at the turn of the century (I definitely hear some Akufen and Taylor Deupree callbacks here), particularly where that genre flirted with the textures of dub techno. Crucially, you don't need to know any of that to enjoy this stuff: it's simply expertly crafted banger after banger. PORTER ROBINSON is no stranger to bangers, but the jury is quite divided on whether there are any on his latest album 'SMILE! :D'. Yes, that emoticon is a part of the title, which might explain why some fans are having a hard time dealing with the pop punk chiptune vibes of this one. I kinda dig it, but I am super old, so who knows? Sarah Tudzin has built quite a resume with producer credits on records by Boygenius, Weyes Blood, and Slowdive, and she saves some for herself on 'Power', the latest from her fuzz-punk solo project ILLUMINATI HOTTIES. Electro-pop duo SOFI TUKKER return with 'Bread' which, while a fine title on its own, actually stands for "Be Really Energetic And Dance". Little acronym there. KILO KISH's phenomenal 2016 album 'Reflections In Real Time' has never stayed in print for very long, so we're glad to have that one back in. Atlanta rapper GUNNA returns with 'One Of Wun', with features from Leon Bridges and Roddy Ricch.

Venerated reissue/compilation label Strut hands over curation duties to legendary East African selector KAMPIRE for a phenomenal new comp called 'A Dancefloor in Ndola'; two LPs packed full of classics and rarities from across the continent, from soukous to bubblegum and back. It pairs well with a fresh reissue of the compilation perhaps most responsible for spreading the South African pop style mbaqanga all around the world; 'The Indestructible Beat Of Soweto' was where most of us first heard Ladysmith Black Mambazo, including Paul Simon! The good-times psychedelia of the 70s Zamrock scene has stood the test of time, as well, with households worldwide rocking tunes from the NGOZI FAMILY all these decades later. It's always exciting to get a new piece of this limited pantheon, and '99% Confusion' has never been reissued before! The VP label delivers fantastic 80s digi-roots from WAYNE SMITH; Prince Jammy is at the controls on 'Youthman Skanking' so you know its a winner. HECTOR LAVOE's discofied salsa heater 'Revento' is back in print, and we've also got a new clear vinyl edition of the GANDALF reissue if you missed it on Record Store Day, which all but one of you did.

Legendary saxophonist and composer WAYNE SHORTER was working right up until he took his last breaths, curating a series of releases from his vast archive of live performances. The first set is here as 'Celebration, Vol 1', a 2014 performance with pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Brian Blade at the Stockholm Jazz Festival, with several pieces that set vectors for the stars. The dominant and diminutive pianist and composer PATRICE RUSHEN emerged fully formed with her debut album 'Prelusion', which has remained the hardest piece of her catalog to lay hands on, and now gets the Jazz Dispensary reissue treatment. PAT METHENY's 1976 debut 'Bright Size Life' aint no slouch either, and it comes back this week via the ECM Luminessence audiophile series. Icons of humanist minimalism LOREN CONNORS and DAVID GRUBBS collab for a rare live album called 'Evening Air', synth wizard STEVE MOORE lands on the Be With label with 'Cursed Objects', and we've got a nice reissue of the mid-90s JIMI TENOR classic 'Sahkomies', where he honed his peculiar blend of syrupy lounge and acid techno.

Nothing makes me feel more like a smug record store guy than when I say that my favorite COCTEAU TWINS album isn't 'Treasure' or 'Four Calendar Cafe' or 'Heaven or Las Vegas', but rather their collaboration with HAROLD BUDD from 1986 called 'The Moon and the Melodies'. Its true. The trio of Fraser, Guthrie and Raymonde paired with the master ethereal pianist Budd go places none of them ever went on any other album here; its a truly immersive listen that still manages to deliver one of the Cocteau's best pop tunes with opener "Sea, Swallow Me". A fresh 2024 remaster makes this unmissable. Plenty more great albums get remastered and re-released this week as well. We've got ORBITAL's massively influential 'Green Album', THE PRODIGY's 'Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned' has never been on vinyl, 311's 'Grassroots' and BUILT TO SPILL's 'There's Nothing Wrong With Love' are back on limited color pressings, and we've got rare indie pop with BIRDIE's 'Some Dusty'.

Here is your weekly update for August 22. We'll pickup where the Thursday night sneak peek video on our @StrictlyDiscs Instagram and Facebook left off. No frills. Just the artists. The rest is for your 500+ fresh-used digging pleasure downstairs. Some of the headliners this week:

Rock/Pop: Robert Palmer, Blondie, The Band, LiMahl, The Lightning Seeds, KISS, Julie Brown, Alan Parsons, Lowell George, John Lennon, David Bowie, Rush, Bob Dylan, Grateful Dead

Jazz/International/Reggae: Charles Lloyd, Alice Coltrane, Bobby Hamilton, Dave Brubeck, Dr. John, Andres Segovia, Gregory Issacs, Bob Marley

Folk/Country: George Strait, Dave Dudley, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Patsy Cline

Contemporary/Hip-Hop: Mdou Moctar, Lukas Nelson, Phish, Rufus & Chaka Khan

Soul/Funk/Blues: Booker T. & The MG's, Betty Everett, Stevie Ray Vaughan

Soundtracks/Misc: Voices of the Loon, Aliens Ate My Buick, Cobra

Happy Digging!

Yes, we are still buying! Call us at the shop to schedule: 608-259-1991