Latest New Releases – Black Mountain, Pixx, Eagles of Death Metal and more

It’s the weekend and we’ve got some new and recent releases to dig into. This week we’ve got the latest from Pixx, Black Mountain, Eagles of Death Metal and Sonic Youth. Plus, the 25th Anniversary Limited Edition of Pink Floyd’s Division Bell is out today.

There’s a new vinyl restock and additions list down below all the new release info.

Let’s get on to the new stuff!

Pixx – Small Mercies
Hannah Rodgers returns with a new Pixx album, Small Mercies, released on 4AD.

Although love lives at the heart of her second album, it has little to do with romance. Small Mercies is absolutely not a heartbreak record, nor is it a celebration of new love, or sisterly call-to-arms or vengeful catharsis. Instead, it is a series of poetic examinations of love across the experiential spectrum, from the micro (self-love) to the macro (devotional faith-inspired love, love for this planet), set to a soundtrack that mixes electronic pop and grungy guitar rock with aplomb.

Small Mercies follows the 23 year-old’s debut album, The Age Of Anxiety (2017) – an unsettling synth-pop record fuelled by Pixx’s own debilitating experience of angst – and 2015’s forlorn and folk-edged Fall In EP. Co-produced by Simon Byrt (who worked on both her EP and debut album) and Dan Carey, it sees Pixx assuming different personas to examine the damage done by religion, gender-based power hierarchies and stereotypes, the tipping point of Earth’s destruction and love.

Black Mountain – Destroyer
Black Mountain’s Stephen McBean turned 16 after Woodstock but before Varg started burning down Norwegian churches. And yet, until just two short years ago, McBean had lived his entire adolescent and adult life without a proper driver’s license, that first and most coveted ticket to personal independence. When he did finally take the wheel in 2017, he essentially became a sixteen year old for the first time, blowing out the doors off the DMV like a pyrotechnics display at a W.A.S.P. gig. Black Mountain’s new album, Destroyer, named after the discontinued single-run 1985 Dodge Destroyer muscle car, is imbued with all that wild-ass freedom and newfound agency (and anxiety and fear) that comes with one’s first time behind the wheel. Collectively, there’s a renewed vitality to Black Mountain on Destroyer — a seasoned, veteran of heady hard rock that’s found new, young muscles to flex and roads to explore.

Eagles Of Death Metal – Presents Boots Electric Performing The Best Songs We Never Wrote
Hughes has recorded and produced electrifying renditions of 13 songs he loves, joined by special guests for some tracks and flying solo for others. All but one song were recorded in California at Brunswick House of Dangerous Thoughts, Valentine Studios, and Rancho De La Luna. The album was mixed and engineered at Valentine Studios by Nic Jodoin (who also co-produced six of the album’s tracks with Hughes).

Hughes blasts off with KISS’ “God Of Thunder,” Guns N’ Roses’ “It’s So Easy,” AC/DC’s “High Voltage” / “It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘N’ Roll),” Love & Rockets’ “So Alive,” and The Ramones’ “Beat on the Brat.” He lets the fire get higher on Steve Miller Band’s “Abracadabra” and delivers a breathtaking turn on George Michael’s “Careless Whisper.” Hughes’ inspired cover of Mary J. Blige’s “Family Affair” leads to two songs keeping it in the family: he gives love to his musical brother and EODM co-founder, Joshua “Baby Duck” Homme, and Josh’s wife, Brody Dalle, with his versions of Queens of the Stone Age’s “Long Slow Goodbye” and The Distillers’ “The Hunger.” Bringing the album home, Hughes salutes Kenny Rogers & The First Edition’s “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Is In),” Cat Stevens’ “Trouble,” and David Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream,” which Hughes recorded in Third Man Records’ Record Booth in Nashville while on tour.

Formed in 1998 in Palm Desert, California by best friends Jesse Hughes and Joshua Homme, Eagles Of Death Metal (EODM) is not a death metal band. The story goes that a friend was introducing Homme to the death metal genre, and Homme wondered what a cross between the Eagles and a death metal band would sound like. With that, EODM was born. The band released Peace Love Death Metal in 2004, followed by Death By Sexy in 2006, Heart On in 2008, and ZIPPER DOWN in 2015.

Sonic Youth – Battery Park, NYC: July 4th 2008
Battery Park, NYC: July 4th 2008 features material culled from their show at Battery Park’s River to River Festival. The tracks found on this live release span the group’s thirty year career, available as a stand alone release for the first time.
“Lee Ranaldo broke guitar strings, bassist Kim Gordon howled and sneered, Thurston Moore stumbled and blinked as he coaxed massive, sustained squeals from his guitar. Electrifying. The New York noise legends – joined by Pavement’s Mark Ibold on bass – started the night with 1982’s She Is Not Alone before playing lotsa tunes from their newest, The Eternal. Gordon, on her knees and stretching her pale arms toward front-row fans, moaned, “You make me feel so good. You make me feel so crazy.” The sentiment felt genuine… and mutual.”
– NOW Magazine

“In Sonic Youth world little changes. Thurston Moore is a 52 year old man trapped in lanky 20 year old’s body and Kim Gordon is also ageless. They are the sex couple of the noisenik fringe and they still ooze a highbrow NYC cool as they preside over their sprawling noise empire. Thurston still sings with that cool hipster sneer and Kim’s voice is pure sex.The stage set is simple, just bright piercing lights and the band dressed down apart from the effortless glam of Kim Gordon who looks perfect swinging her bass with a toxic cool.”
– Louder Than War

“Just when we thought the band was settling down with its last few records, it reaches back to the “Daydream Nation” days with a new album, “The Eternal,” that blends well-placed, drifting melodies with its traditional noise-punk, and slams our ears by playing almost the entire new record on stage. That’s a sure sign that a band is more concerned with moving forward: proudly presenting the new stuff and getting people on the same page with the 2009 version of Sonic Youth. With a band like Sonic Youth, it’s almost impossible to really get into a new record until you see them play it live, because CDs just can’t replicate their live power. Even though Sonic Youth is a guitar band, drummer Steve Shelley really drives the new material. There was lots of tom beats and tempo pushing on “Antenna,” which was a necessary grounding of the song while Moore went crazy sliding his guitar up and down his amp.”
– East Bay Times

Pink Floyd – The Division Bell
LIMITED EDITION – 25th Anniversary Translucent Blue 2 LP

Available on translucent blue vinyl, echoing the original limited blue vinyl release in 1994, this multi-million selling album includes the Grammy Award-winning track Marooned (Best Rock Instrumental Performance).

As with the 2014 vinyl reissue, it’s a 2-LP set containing all full-length versions of the tracks, as opposed to the original 1994 LP, which featured some edited tracks in order to fit the album on one LP.

The album was remastered for the 2014 release by James Guthrie, Joel Plante and Doug Sax at The Mastering Lab from the original analogue tapes. Bob Ezrin and David Gilmour produced the original album, with orchestral arrangements by the late Michael Kamen.

Latest Restocks and Additions to our new vinyl selection

You want more vinyl? No problem, we just loaded up the used browser this week. Check out our “flippin’ video” for the latest arrivals.

Sun is shining, the weather is sweet
Make you want to move your dancing feet