Recent Releases From Superorganism, Oneida, King Gizzard and Nathaniel Rateliff Are Here.

This week we’re featuring four new vinyl releases from Superorganism, Oneida, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats. The usual list of restocks and additions to our selection here at Backbeat are further down the page.

Of course the big news this week was the release of the Record Store Day 2018 list. We received a load of feedback from you as to what you’d like us to stock for the big day on April 21. A big thank you for letting us know! It’s a deep list with some really excellent releases that you will only be able to get at your local indie record shop (like us). We’re are still waiting on some details on several releases but once we have it all hammered down we will provide a huge update on what we have on order with prices. Stay tuned! If you are hoping for us to stock something on Record Store Day let us know really soon, like yesterday soon, so we can put it on our radar. Check out the list here: http://recordstoreday.com/SpecialReleases

On to the new releases.

Superorganism – Superorganism
Occasionally, along comes a band that perfectly captures so much of what is thrilling about music right now. Superorganism is a sprawling, multi-limbed collection of international musicians and pop culture junkies. They number eight in total – recruited from London, Japan, Australia and New Zealand – seven of whom now live together in a house-stroke-DIY studio-stroke-band HQ in Homerton, east London.

It was in this house, in January 2017, that the collective had their Big Bang moment. Though they’d previously created music and visuals together, this was something distinctly fresh. They sent the track to their friend Orono, a Japanese student who at that time was studying at high school in Maine, New England. Orono wrote and recorded a vocal part and pressed ‘reply’. What came back across the Atlantic was an intoxicating piece of idiosyncratic, technicolor pop. That track was ‘Something For Your M.I.N.D.’. Superorganism was born.

At that point it’s unlikely any of the members would have expected to hear that track – or its follow up AA single ‘It’s All Good’ / ‘Nobody Cares’ – played by Frank Ocean or Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig themselves on their respective radio shows. Or that the band’s identity would be the subject of so much speculation. Or that they would sign a deal with the legendary independent Domino label. Or that there’d be such demand to see Superorganism live that their debut UK show would take place at London’s 700 capacity Village Underground venue. But over the last few months, such is the trajectory of this unique band, that that is exactly what has happened.

Oneida – Romance
Oneida has been a cornerstone of the Brooklyn underground for nearly two decades. Always evolving, the group has been a beacon of musical exploration and enthralling unpredictability, gaining legendary status among heads that know and expanding the limits of what it means to be a rock band. With a discography spanning over a dozen full-lengths, plus live releases, EPs, singles, and limited one-offs, Oneida has demonstrated a mastery of collective improvisation, off-kilter songwriting, complex composition, and everything in between.
Recorded over several years in various locales, the 11 songs on Romance are built around deeply developed long-arc rhythm/phase concepts, noise, yearning, blind guitar rage, longing, the lurch of dying electronics, and a multi-modal embrace of human fallibility and artifice. From the crackling synth-led opener “Economy Travel” to the expansive 18-minute epic “Shepherd’s Axe,” Romance is an album in constant flux. On “Bad Habit” the band employs phasing between organ and guitar to great, disorienting effect, while the primitive riffs of “Cockfight” offer a contrasting vision of rock minimalism. Listen closely on “Lay of the Land” and you will hear constant rhythmic development, with drummer Kid Millions eschewing repetition in favor of morphing patterns of hi-hat and snare. As with all mystery, Romance reveals more through closer attention and multiple listens.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Polygondwanaland
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s fourth album of 2017, Polygondwanaland, is now finally on vinyl.
A few special things that are included in each vinyl package:

Exclusive back cover design by WeBuyYoursKids
Exclusive fold-out poster photographed by Jamie Wdziekonski
Includes a digital download card for lossless downloads of King Gizzard live @ KEXP Recorded 4/10/17 and Live @ KEXP Gathering Space Recorded 10/11/17

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats – Tearing At The Seams
Tearing at the Seams follows the band’s critically and commercially lauded self-titled debut album.
Initial writing and recording sessions for Tearing at the Seams took place in Rodeo, New Mexico where Rateliff & The Night Sweats re-established their dynamic off the stage and in the studio.
“For the first record, I demo’ed everything up and created most of the parts,” said Rateliff. “This time, I felt like we’ve all spent so much time on the road that we should all go off somewhere together. We should all have that experience together.”
The band finished recording with producer Richard Swift—who has helmed records for the Shins and Foxygen in addition to The Night Sweats’ debut—collectively creating a group of songs that capture the band’s emotion and intensity.
Of the new album, Rateliff reflects, “I want—and I need—everybody to feel like they’re a part of this band. I want them to feel like they’re contributing artistically and emotionally to the experience of writing and creating this music. We’ve all had to make sacrifices to be in The Night Sweats and I want them all to know that it’s worth something.”

This Week’s New Vinyl Restocks and Additions
Adele – 25
Air – Moon Safari
Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color
Awolnation – Here Come The Runts
Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
Bjork – Homogenic
Clash – London Calling
Decemberists – Crane Wife
Demarco, Mac – Salad Days
Dr. Dre – Chronic
Eminem – Encore
Funkadelic – Maggot Brain
Gaye, Marvin – Whats Going On
Guns N Roses – Appetite For Destruction
Hancock, Herbie – Headhunters
Iron Maiden – Number Of The Beast
James, Elmore – The Sky Is Crying
Jones, Sharon & The Dap-Kings – Dap-Dippin’
Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory
Marley, Bob – Legend
Metallica – Kill ‘Em All
Mgmt – Little Dark Age
Motorhead – Overkill
Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
Muse – Origin Of Symmetry
Pixies – Wave Of Mutilation: Best Of Pixies
Redding, Otis – Lonely And Blue: Deepest Soul
Sheepdogs – Changing Colours
Soundtrack – Suicide Squad: The Album
Soundtrack – V2 Guardians Of The Galaxy
Soundtrack – O Brother Where Art Thou?
Soundtrack – Pulp Fiction
Soundtrack – Sid & Nancy: Love Kills
Soundtrack – Singles Soundtrack
Soundtrack – V1 Guardians Of The Galaxy
Soundtrack – Commitments
Specials – Singles
Spoon – Kill The Moonlight
Tosh, Peter – Legalize It
Tragically Hip – Phantom Power
Tragically Hip – Up To Here
Velvet Underground – And Nico
Velvet Underground – Loaded
White Zombie – La Sexorcisto: Devil Music
Withers, Bill – Just As I Am

gimme a drink…