New Year – New Music (mostly)

Welcome to 2017, let’s bring on the new tunes. Like most years there often aren’t a lot of new releases then things pick up steam heading into the summer when all the major releases start coming out. What I like most about the early months of the year is, if you are digging you can find the lesser known gems that often come out around now.
Here are four recent albums to start your year off right, the first 2 are from the end of 2016 and the other 2 are fresh this week. After the new releases you’ll find a list of all the recent restocks and additions to our new vinyl selection here at Backbeat.

Recent New Vinyl Releases - Jan 13


A Tribe Called Quest – We Got If From Here.. Thank You 4 Your Service

A Tribe Called Quest‘s final album and first in 18 years: We Got it From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service.
“The album’s star-studded roster was revealed, confirming the presence of all four tribesman [Phife Dawg, Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed and Jarobi] along with helping hands from Andre 3000, Kendrick Lamar, Jack White and Elton John amongst others.

 


Woods – Live at Third Man

There are certain bands in this supersaturated, hyper-fragmented, temperamental internet era that rise above ephemeral popularity not because they perpetually reinvent themselves or stay ahead of trends or make headlines with crazy antics or write a mega hit or have a super dreamy front-person… there are certain bands that rise above because of one characteristic that trumps all others: consistency. Woods is one of those bands, and their wheelhouse is a decidedly mellow blend of folk, psych, soul, and funk that’s wise beyond it’s years in timbre and lyric. It’s a comforting kind of music Woods makes. It doesn’t take you anywhere you don’t want to go, even if they world they depict is less and less hospitable with every passing day. It’s a soundscape reflective of the world it was created in, and it’s lack of call-it-action and angst makes it endlessly listenable for those of us with regrettably overactive minds. With over ten years and nine studio records under their belt, this Brooklyn band also runs their own label and 2-day festival at Big Sur, and has carved out a loyal legion of appreciators who extol their steadfast artistry and work ethic. We got to see the Nashville Chapter of this legion, as well as a whole slew of new members, at their live taping in our Nashville Blue room, Monday May 2nd. All captured on their Live at Third Man Records LP.

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Allison Crutchfield – Tourist in This Town

The debut full-length by Allison Crutchfield titled Tourist in This Town sonically pulls back the curtain on her life and places Crutchfield center stage, fully revealing her power, conviction, and grace. The Alabama native has immersed herself in music since her teenage years, forming notable bands such as P.S. Eliot and Bad Banana (both with her twin sister Katie of Waxahatchee). In 2012, she co-founded Swearin’—the band in which she would truly begin to formulate and understand her full potential as a songwriter—and in 2014, she recorded and released her first solo EP Lean In To It. Her debut album is an accomplished work that integrates her past musical experiences with a pronounced growth in arrangement and instrumentation. Tourist in This Town was made at Uniform Recording in Philadelphia with Jeff Zeigler, who is known for his work with Kurt Vile, Steve Gunn, and Mary Lattimore, among others. His synthesizer collection and related expertise proved an alluring draw for Crutchfield, who had started incorporating synths into her work when she branched off into a solo career. “This record marked a sonic transition in the way I think about the element of space in music, and I attribute that mainly to Jeff,” says Allison. “His arsenal and knowledge of analog synths, along with his ear for spatial addition and subtraction within a song, really sculpted this album and impacted me artistically forever.” “Tourist in This Town is completely made up of heightened anxiety and became a clearly defined puzzle that I slowly put together over the course of a year,” says Crutchfield. “It’s a record about change— change of scenery, of partner, of band, of home, of friends, of outlook—and how that change can cause a temporary panic but ultimate triumph in most of us.”

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The XX – I See You

The xx release their third album, I See You, via Young Turks. I See You is the follow up to The xx’s two previous albums – xx and Coexist – both gold certified in Canada, having sold over 3 million copies globally between them, winning a host of accolades along the way. I See You marks a new era for the London trio of Romy Madly Croft, Oliver Sim and Jamie Smith, both sonically and in terms of process. For while xx and Coexist were both made in relative isolation in London, I See You was recorded between March 2014 and August 2016 in New York, Marfa TX, Reykjavik, Los Angeles and London, and is characterised by a more outward-looking, open and expansive approach. Produced by Jamie Smith and Rodaidh McDonald, I See You is The xx at their boldest, performing with more clarity and ambition than ever before.

 


Re-Stocks and additions to our new vinyl selection that have arrived this week.

Adele – 25
Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls
Arcade Fire – Funeral
Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
Arcade Fire – Reflektor
Beatles – Abbey Road
Beck – Sea Change
Big Star – #1 Record
Black Mountain – IV
Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath – Paranoid
Blink 182 – Enema Of The State
Blitzen Trapper – Live At Third Man Records
Brian Jonestown Massacre – Third World Pyramid
James Brown – 20 All Time Greatest Hits!
Car Seat Headrest – Teens of Denial
Johnny Cash – American Iv: Man Comes Around
Cocteau Twins – Heaven or Las Vegas
Cure – Disintegration
FKA Twigs – LP1
Florence And The Machine – How Big How Blue How Beautiful
Florence And The Machine – Lungs
Vince Guaraldi – Vince Guaraldi Trio
Billie Holiday – Lady Sings The Blues
B.B. King – Live At Cook County Jail
Melvins – Live At Third Man
Misfits – Static Age
Wes Montgomery – Full House
Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
Mumford & Sons – Babel
Oasis – What’s The Story Morning Glory?
Racontwoers – Live at Third Man
Stone Roses – Stone Roses
Straight Outta Compton – Soundtrack
White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan
White Stripes – Elephant
Neil Young – Peace Trail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey The XX that shiny album cover is hard to photograph, just though you’d want to know.