HOLIDAY GROOVE 2018:

After the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001, we launched this holiday tradition to spread some much needed joy and spirit. This year's holiday groove is in its 18th edition and we hope the effect remains the same...happy holidays from all of us at Strictly Discs.

2018 Holiday Groove Tracklisting:

1. Red Simpson - Out On The Road For Christmas

2. Jessie Mae Hemphill - Merry Christmas, Pretty Baby

3. Ende Shneafliet - X-Mas Card From Outer Space

4. The Snowmen - Hokey Cokey

5. The Emotions - What Do The Lonely Do At Christmas

6. Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson - Winter Song

7. Eric Frostic - Winterlude

8. Toms Mucenieks - Jingle Bells: Sad Christmas

9. Billy Joe Shaver - You Just Can't Beat Jesus Christ

10.The Everly Brothers - Christmas Eve Can Kill You

11. Simon & Garfunkel - 7 O'Clock News / Silent Night

12. Mary Gauthier - Christmas In Paradise

13. Casiotone For the Painfully Alone - Traveling Salesman's Young Wife Home Alone on Christmas in Montpelier, VT

14. Rodney Crowell - Come Christmas

15. Jeremiah & the Red Eyes - Townes, Jesus and Me

16. My Dear Wormwood - Cold White Christmas

17. Old 97s - Blue Christmas

18. Amos Pitsch - It's XMAS (Today)

STRICTLY DISCS 2018 STAFF TOP 10s - ANGIE:

STRICTLY DISCS 2018 STAFF TOP 10s - RON:

STRICTLY DISCS 2018 STAFF TOP 10s - RYAN:

STRICTLY DISCS 2018 STAFF TOP 10s - EVAN:

STRICTLY DISCS 2018 STAFF TOP 10s - MICHAEL:

STRICTLY DISCS 2018 STAFF TOP 10s - MATT:

STRICTLY DISCS 2018 STAFF TOP 10s - BEN:

STRICTLY DISCS 2018 STAFF TOP 10s - ED:

STRICTLY DISCS 2018 STAFF TOP 10s - ISAAC:

STRICTLY DISCS 2018 STAFF TOP 10s - WILL:

NEW THIS WEEK AT THE SHOP:

Major Lazer celebrates ten years of action with a massive vinyl collection called 'Essentials' that is studded with guest stars. Ice Cube returns to his dark side with a new album of gritty rap called 'Everythang's Corrupt'. We feel you, Cube. Two classic Lil Uzi Vert mixtapes hit vinyl for the first time: 'Perfect LUV Tape' and 'LUV Is Rage'. 6Lack's 2018 release 'East Atlanta Love Letter' is now in the house on LP, plus we have vinyl reissues of two early albums from Doomtree: 'False Hopes' and 'Doomtree'. Lastly, we finally have the vinyl version of a digital release folks have been asking for all year, 'Iridescence' from the pill-stealing sons of Eminem, Brockhampton.

Monsters of rock let loose this week with a huge, huge vinyl box set from King Crimson. '1969-1972' contains the group's first four earth-shaking albums on 200 gram, remixed by the god Steven Wilson, plus a 2LP of Crimson rarities that have never appeared on vinyl before. Swedish heavy psych pioneers Baby Grandmothers make a surprise return with a new album, plus we have the latest disc from metal legends Venom.

Fall Out Boy's breakout album 'Save Rock and Roll' turns ten years old this year. Which apparently now means its reissue time! We've also got the ten year anniversary of The Killers' 'Day & Age' in a very cool looking hardbound, silver foil 2LP edition, and the latest live album from Volbeat on CD and LP.

Indie and folk styles this week come in from Decemberists, who deliver 'Traveling On', a 10" companion to their last LP with five new songs. The Brazilian group Boogarins have a fantastic new record that blends the psych pop of their forbears Os Mutantes with some Tame Impala vibes. About ten years ago, the elusive folk guitarist Willie Lane released 'Known Quantity', one of his best albums of abstract cosmic blues, and that one's back in print on LP for now. New Zealand's Maxine Funke delivers another incredible LP of her reliably diverse, honest and compelling homemade folk pop. 'Silk' sounds like Grouper channeling Sibylle Baier. We've also got a limited white vinyl 12" with etching announcing the lead single from the new project of Karen O and Danger Mouse, called 'Lux Prima'.

Lovely British drone comes from the very appropriately named Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society, and we've got a new CD from Can keyboardist Irmin Schmidt called '5 Klavierstucke'. If highbrow, listenable ethnological forgeries are your bag, check out the incredible LP reissue of Michael Snow's 'The Last LP', purported to be a collection of the "dying gasps of ethnic musical cultures from around the globe" but was in fact a set of multi-track recordings of Snow himself. You'll want to read the extensive liner notes anyway! And speaking of extensive, the Belgian label Stroom continues its impeccable 2018 run with a collection of music from the 1980s art/sound/poetry group 48 Cameras. 'Chosen Songs' collects haunting electro-acoustic and poetic ambient from a group led by a proud non-musician.

Japanese producer Foodman releases his second mind-bending album of the year with 'Moriyama', an idea-rich record of pointillistic organic techno. Susumu Yokota's landmark early ambient techno masterpiece 'Acid Mt Fuji' is finally here on LP. We've got a great new EP from German producer SVN that pulls three dreamy head-expanding long tracks from his archives. Always-on mixer Kassem Mosse returns to the Workshop label alongside label honcho Lowtec for a new duo called Kolorit. Their generously sized 2LP release offers more cerebral, funky minimal techno than you can perhaps handle it, recalling Kassem's epic Workshop release from several years ago. We've also got a real authentic official copy of the fabled Mutant Beat Dance box set, the two-inch thick 4LP/10"/7" package from a trio of Chicago underground producers, Traxx, Beau Wanzer, and Steve Summers. On packaging alone this is one of the top releases of the year but once you crack it open, its a multi-faceted diamond of mutoid techno and playful industrial sketches, plus so much more.

 

Silent Servant returns with his first longplay record in many years, 'Shadows Of Death and Desire' which, despite its title, is quite a joy to listen to, if you dig sinister, expert EBM. Dutch group Filmico bring us 'In The Senses', an awesome LP of sleazy, sweet Balearic synth, highly recommended to fans of Com Truise. German post-punk pioneer Gudrun Gut is still pushing boundaries, 30 years on from her time spent in the groups Einsturzende Neubauten and Malaria! Her latest, 'Moment', is a fantastic record of tightly coiled synthpop. The Portuguese label Principe has become a "must listen" anytime they issue one of their bewitching hand painted sleeves, and the latest from RS Producoes is no different; a heady, neo-tropical trip thru breaky techno.

Three reissues from deep, deep left field this week. We're talking like..the t-shirt vendor in the parking lot left field. Israeli composer and vocalist Judith Ravitz joined forces with a band of Brazilian's for 1983's 'Bolerio', an album of Jorge Ben covers. Funky and light and timeless, this one is. Speaking of, the honey-baked debut album of country crooner Larry Jon Wilson gets an LP repress. You may remember Mr. Wilson from the first volume of the Country Funk compilation. We've also got a Finders Keepers brokered compilation of music from the fringe-y ambient/dub/progressive musician Denis Wize, who did time in the band Gong, and appeared on Herbie Hancock's 'Rockit' single.

The hottest are saved for last, as we see three very cool reissues of some very rare Afrofunk records: Bayete's anthemic 'Blue Monday' EP, the smoking, psychedelic funana of Cape Verde's Americo & Djarama, and an utterly undeniable disco record from 1980 South Africa via Night Force and the Tom Cats!