It’s the weekend and we’ve got some new and recent releases to dig into. With that huge release day last Saturday there’s always a few regular releases from the Friday before that get lost in the shuffle so we’ll feature those today along with a couple other fresh albums. This week we’ve got the latest from Wintersleep, Drugdealer, Proper Ornaments, The Drums and Cage The Elephant.
There’s a big new vinyl restock and additions list down below.
Let’s get on to the new stuff!
Wintersleep – In the Land Of
Wintersleep’s seventh full-length record, In The Land Of, was recorded between Bath, Ontario’s Bathouse Recording Studio and Toronto’s Revolution Recording, with Scottish producer and longtime collaborator Tony Doogan (Belle + Sebastien, Mogwai) back at the helm. The record’s cover features an image captured by photographer Richard Carey. It’s an underwater shot of garbage and debris floating just below the surface; the ocean as a component of our geography.
It’s an example of how In the Land Of doesn’t inhabit one terrain, but many. It might also be why none of these terrains feel comfortable. “I don’t really feel 100% at home anywhere,” says vocalist and guitarist Paul Murphy. “Over time, that’s something that weighs a lot on me, not feeling really connected to my environment.”
Drugdealer – Raw Honey
After becoming enmeshed in the Los Angeles underground scene after 2013’s The End of Comedy, Raw Honey (Michael Collins second album as Drugdealer) sees Collins once again leading an ace crew of collaborators to coalesce the spirit of Drugdealer’s classically modern pop with lush arrangements, memetic melodies, and a vulnerable tunefulness that tries to make sense of self-doubt and connected loneliness in our shared simulacra. Raw Honey features contributions of Josh Da Costa (drums), Jackson MacIntosh (guitar), Danny Garcia (guitar), Michael Long (lead guitar), and Benjamin Schwab (backing vocals, guitar, organ, piano, wurlitzer), as well as guest vocalists like country balladeer Dougie Poole (“Wild Motion”), Harley Hill-Richmond (“Lonely”), and frequent collaborator Natalie Mering (Weyes Blood) whose dulcet tones sing low before soaring on “Honey,” a track as silky as the nectar itself.
Proper Ornaments – 6 Lenins
6 Lenins, the third album release from The Proper Ornaments, sees the band master their seemingly effortless but finely-wrought sound. The London jangle pop group led by James Hoare (also of Ultimate Painting/Veronica Falls) and Max Claps (Toy) went into James’ home studio in London and made their finest recordings to date. What their supremely melodic work suggests is a nonchalance or naivety but is in fact an expensively-bought slice of coherence and clarity within a constantly shifting backdrop to their lives and landscapes. This is well-crafted songwriting and controlled sonics despite a zealous analog sensibility.
The Drums – Brutalism
Brutalism is quite possibly the best collection of songs in The Drums’ ten-year career. The album is defined by growth, transformation and questions, but it doesn’t provide all the answers. Brutalism is a form of simplistic architecture defined by blocks of raw concrete. Brutalism is rooted in an emotional rawness but its layers are soft, intricate and warm, full of frivolous and exquisitely crafted pop songs that blast sunlight and high energy in the face of anxiety, solitude and crippling self-doubt. Even the fact that Brutalism sounds intentional, focused and efficient is a symbol of how Pierce’s prioritizing of his own health and well being has bled into how he makes music. For the making of this album, between his lake house in Upstate New York and a studio in Stinson Beach, California, Pierce was more open than ever, keeping his control freakery at bay, working with others to produce and record the album. He brought in Chris Coady (Beach House, Future Islands, Amen Dunes) to mix it. If there was a guitar part he wanted to write but couldn’t play, he brought in a guitarist. It’s also the first Drums record with a live drummer. Delegating freed up Pierce’s time to produce a more specific vision. Brutalism is the fifth studio album from The Drums.
Cage The Elephant – Social Cues
Social Cues was produced by John Hill (Santigold, Florence + The Machine, Portugal. The Man, tUnE-yArDs), recorded at Battle Tapes Recording, Blackbird Studio and Sound Emporium in Nashville and The Village Recording Studio in Los Angeles, and mixed by Tom Elmhirst and mastered by Randy Merrill in New York City. Deeply inspired by punk music, brothers Matt and Brad Shultz began playing music in high-school with fellow students Jared Champion and Daniel Tichenor. Shortly after forming the band, they made the bold move to London to begin their career. Their self-titled debut album gained them international attention, catapulting them up the Billboard Alternative and Rock charts and achieving RIAA Platinum certification. Cage the Elephant has released three additional studio albums – 2011’s Thank You, Happy Birthday, the Gold-certified Melophobia and the GRAMMY®-winning Tell Me I’m Pretty. At radio, Cage The Elephant holds the record for the most #1 Alternative songs of any artist this decade. Based in Nashville, Cage The Elephant is vocalist Matt Shultz, rhythm guitarist Brad Shultz, drummer Jared Champion, bassist Daniel Tichenor, lead guitarist Nick Bockrath and keyboardist Matthan Minster.
Restocks and Additions to the new record selection here at Backbeat.
ARTIST | TITLE |
Alice In Chains | Dirt |
Alice In Chains | Jar Of Flies |
Arcade Fire | The Suburb |
Baby Huey | The Living Legend |
Baker, Chet | Chet (colour Vinyl) |
Baker, Chet | Sings (colour Vinyl) |
Band | Music From The Big Pink |
Beach Boys | Pet Sounds |
Beastie Boys | Paul’s Boutique |
Beastie Boys | Solid Gold Hits |
Beatles | Abbey Road |
Bjork | Debut |
Black Keys | Brothers |
Blur | Think Tank |
Bowie, David | Changesonebowie |
Bowie, David | The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust |
Brubeck, Dave | Time Out |
Cornell, Chris | Chris Cornell |
Def Leppard | The Story So Far (RECORD STORE DAY) |
Deftones | Around The Fur |
Eilish, Billie | When We All Fall Asleep |
Florence & The Machine | Lungs |
Gorillaz | Demon Days |
Gorillaz | Gorillaz |
Gorillaz | Plastic Beach |
Grateful Dead | Sage & Spirit (RECORD STORE DAY) |
Guns N Roses | Appetite For Destruction |
Hancock, Herbie | Headhunter |
Hendrix, Jimi | Are You Experienced |
Hendrix, Jimi | Axis: Bold As Love |
Johnson, Robert | Me And The Devil |
Karen O & Danger Mouse | Lux Prima |
Kraftwerk | The Man Machine |
Lamar, Kendrick | Good Kid, M.A.A.D City |
Led Zeppelin | Houses Of The Holy |
Led Zeppelin | Led Zeppelin II |
Led Zeppelin | Led Zeppelin III |
Mazzy Star | So Tonight That I Might See |
Milk Carton Kids | All The Things I Did |
Modest Mo | Good News For People Who Like Bad News |
Motorhead | Overkill |
Mumford & Sons | Babel |
Mumford & Sons | Delta |
Neutral Milk Hotel | In The Aeroplane Over The Sea |
Nine Inch Nails | Pretty Hate Machine |
Pearl Jam | Vitalogy |
Pink Floyd | Animals |
Pink Floyd | The Dark Side Of The Moon |
Queen | A Night At The Opera |
Rage Against The Machine | Rage Against The Machine |
Rage Against The Machine | The Battle Of Los Angeles |
Reed, Lou | Transformer |
Rolling Stones | Sticky Fingers |
Slayer | Reign In Blood |
Slipknot | All Hope Is Gone (10TH Anniversary 3LP) |
Smiths | Strangeways, Here We Come |
Soundtrack | Pulp Fiction |
Soundtrack | Reservoir Dogs |
Soundtrack | Tron: Legacy |
Soundtrack | William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet |
Soundtrack | Judgement Night |
Stone Temple Pilots | Stone Temple Pilots |
System Of A Down | Steal This Album |
Tea Party | Splendor Solis |
Tragically Hip | Fully Completely |
Tweedy, Jeff | Warm |
Van Morrison | Astral Weeks |
Various Artists | American Epic: The Best Of The Blues |
Various Artists | Mickey Mouse Disco (RECORD STORE DAY) |
Vaughan, Stevie Ray | IN Step |
Walker, T-Bone | T-Bone Blues |
West, Kanye | My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy |
White Stripes | Get Behind Me Satan |
White Stripes | Icky Thump |
White Stripes | White Blood Cells |
Winehouse, Amy | Back To Black |
Zombies | Odessey & Oracle |
I’m the real Easter Bunny…Hop Hop