It’s that time of the year, new releases are coming in every week and there have been some fantstic albums lately. I personally cant get enough of the new release from Man Man – On Oni Pond, and last weeks new release from Mazzy Star is just amazing. So here are this weeks latest vinyl and CD releases.
Phish – Junta – LP
Deluxe vinyl REISSUE of Phish’s first album. 3-LPs PRESSED ON 180g AUDIOPHILE GRADE BLACK VINYL. Junta was recorded at Euphoria Sound Studios in Revere, Massachusetts in 1987 and 1988 on 16-track 2″ tape and was mixed to 1/4″ stereo reels. In addition to writing and performing all the music, the band produced the album themselves. Junta was originally self-released on cassette tape in May 1989 with packaging created by the band (included in the new vinyl package). The album was remastered and rereleased as a double CD (and cassette) in October 1992. Junta was certified Platinum but, until this year, had never been heard on vinyl. The vinyl release was created from the original stereo master reels with lacquers cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. Each LP is pressed onto 180g audiophile grade vinyl and includes a free MP3 download of the entire album (transferred from the new vinyl master).
Dr. Dog – B-Room – LP and CD
First 5000 Limited Edition Vinyl LP contains 7″ and CD of full album. Dr. Dog’s third studio album on Anti, B-Room, marks the band’s greatest point of clarity in more than a decade of performing and recording. Their arrangements, while still ambitious, are much simpler, moving past the multi-tracked pastiche of earlier efforts into a unique and vibrant band voice. Indeed, it is this discovery of the band-collective as a compositional tool that makes B-Room the most cohesive, soulful, loose, and plain fun record of their career. The title of B-Room references the bands newly built studio, an integral part of making the new album; the band built the new studio themselves, from the studs to the sheet rock to the recording booth. As Leaman now understands, making a record is a lot like doing construction. Both require a similar amount of frustration, intensity, and cohesion. By building the space first and releasing all of that emotion, the band was then free to engage in their creative process without the expectation or preconception that they admittedly had brought into other sessions. Recording many of the album’s tracks as live takes, Dr. Dog discovered the soul roots always inherent in their Philadelphia background. ‘The Truth’, the Gamble and Huff inspired track that opens the album, is only the most obvious manifestation; on songs like ‘Minding the Usher’ and ‘Love’ the spontaneity of the band’s live performances seamlessly fuses with the intricacy of their kaleidoscopic composition. From the construction of the studio to the recording of the album that took place within its walls, the band has found that boundless moment of creativity where their spirit and soul coexist.
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Fuzz – Fuzz – LP and CD
Fuzz is Ty Segall (drums / vocals), Charlie Moothart (guitar / vocals) and Roland Cosio (bass). They’re heavy rock lifers- three Californiabred dudes who have been refining their riffs and getting weird together since high school (which wasn’t that long ago, actually). If you are not already aware of Segall, well, what’s up? He’s one of garage rock’s most prolific sons. He said he was going to take it easy this year, but by the time you finish reading this, the onesheet for his next record will have already arrived in your inbox. Moothart plays guitar in The Ty Segall Band and was also a member of The Moonhearts, which included Cosio on guitar. Way back in the early ’00s, all three played in the Epsilons. Fuzz was formed a couple years ago as a collaboration between Segall and Moothart, but only recently did the pair have sufficient time to guide the band out of side-project limbo and into a recording studio. Since then, they have released two singles, ‘This Time I Got a Reason’ (Trouble In Mind) and ‘Sleigh Ride’ (In The Red). Around the time of the latter, Cosio joined on bass. They are not dabblers or dilettantes. Fuzz flipped through used bins, hard drives and record collections of the world, seeking out the finest weirdo cuts. The band’s self-titled debut LP, which was recorded by Chris Woodhouse (Thee Oh Sees, The Intelligence), dives deep, drawing inspiration from the more esoteric reaches of heavy metal pre-history. There are Sabbath and Hendrix nods, obviously, but on ‘Sleigh Bells’ you might also catch a whiff of UK progressive blues business like The Groundhogs, particularly when the song quits its 10/4-time intro and reboots into fullbore choogle. Maybe you’ll even glimpse the ghost of Australian guitar legend / sharpie guru Lobby Lloyde sniffing around ‘Raise’. The mood is not light. The songs project a state of perpetual paranoia and eroding mental health. And as it should be, you know? It’s a record for the burners. Vinyl includes digital download coupon!
Saint Rich – Beyond the Drone – LP
Saint Rich is the musical partnership of Delicate Steve bandmates Christian Peslak and Steve Marion. Under the name Delicate Steve, Steve Marion recorded Wondervisions, an instrumental record released by David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label that entered the world via a glowing New York Times review. He followed it up with a second, equally heralded release, Positive Force. With vocal appreciation from many of the indie-rock world’s beloved bands and constant touring, the band began its own ascent into the indie pantheon. One day last year, during a pause in near constant touring for Delicate Steve, Marion began to work on some new material with Christian Peslak, the group’s guitarist and a musical collaborator of Marion’s since high school. At their rehearsal space in Marion’s home in rural Sussex County, New Jersey, the duo found themselves working together in ways that felt completely different than their work on Delicate Steve songs. Marion put down his guitar and got behind the drum kit. Peslak started strumming the opening chords to ‘Dreams’, a new song they’d finish within the hour. By the end of the weekend, neither had left the house. There were seven new songs. And a new band. They named it Saint Rich. Peslak has provided the rhythmic guitar bedrock to Marion’s wandering melody lines in Delicate Steve. On Beyond the Drone, the debut album from Saint Rich, it’s fair to say that Marion has created the bedrock for Peslak’s wandering. Vinyl includes album download code.
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