New releases for March 8, 2011. Would you like your vinyl releases included in the weekly list? Email us at nashville@thevinyldistrict.com and remember: Support your local RECORD STORE!
Pop/Rock/Metal
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – House Arrest /The Doldrums – Paw Tracks
B Lan 3 – Library Catalog Music Series – Asthmatic Kitty
Beady Eye – Different Gear, Still Speeding – Dangerbird
Candy Snatchers – Down at Delilah’s – Drug Front Records
Exene Cervenka – The Excitement of Maybe – Bloodshot
The Dodos – No Color (12′) – French Kiss
Forever The Sickest Kids – S/T – Universal Motown
Jag Panzer – The Scourge of Light – Steamhammer
Jib Kidder – Library Catalog Music Series – Asthmatic Kitty
Jorma & Movie Bare – Lollipop Gold – St. Ives (Jorma Whittaker of Bloomington, IN’s Marmoset)
Winter death brings us future life, and thus sprang forth Lollipop Gold. Recorded on 8-track, 1-inch tape in a warehouse in Indianapolis, just a few months after the scheduled producer passed away in the studio, this record was made with lonely grit and a determination to do something unusual for that beloved lost friend and for the band itself in the middle of a cold Midwestern winter. Like multiple transmissions of alien radio channeled through a dysfunctional family band, the 17 songs on Lollipop Gold are as strange a mix as you can find nowadays coming from one body. Formed from the bellybutton of Marmoset songsmith Jorma Whittaker with a little help from friends, this cauldron of material was brought into light with a distinctly male/female, death/life, able/unable articulation. Comprised of half boys/half girls, some band members literally divorced while the band recorded. Jorma & Movie Bare are bound to be your fave new misanthropic do-gooders this side of nowhere, if you can find them. As with all St. Ives releases, Lollipop Gold is a limited edition (250 copies) with art hand-wrought by the band.
Little Feat – Waiting for Columbus – Mobile Fidelity
Masochrist – Two Thousand Years of Pain – Give Praise Records
Memphis – Here Comes A City – Arts & Crafts
Murder Junkies (GG Allin) – Road Killer – Merle Allin
Naked Heroes – 99 Diamond – Drug Front Records
Nightlands – All The Way/Buggin Out 7″ – Secretly Canadian
Nightlands’ David Hartley is in the creative pocket at the moment. On the heels of his lovely Secretly Canadian debut, Forget the Mantra, and at the precipice of Nightlands first-ever live engagements, Hartley gives us the All The Way 7″. It’s Forget the Mantra’s strange lil’ bro, doing all sorts of interesting, unknowable shit in his room all night long.
“All The Way” is an ode to pain and reinvention, a joyful noise about hopelessness. Written, recorded and mixed in one day. Like Jeff Lynne floating down Billy Joel’s River of Dreams on a drone raft. It’s flipside, “Buggin Out,” absolutely comes from an obsession with Bo Hansson’s Lord of the Rings (1970), the epic Swedish instrumental masterpiece. The skeleton of the track was played live on Hartley’s Hammond 144, originally clocking in at almost 16 minutes of synth/organ madness. After some Casio/Korg overdubbing, the piece was chopped to the still-epic, seizure-enducing 6 minutes we have before us.
Parts & Labor – Constant Future – Jagjaguwar
Constant Future is the career-defining statement from Brooklyn-based noise-pop trio Parts & Labor. The album’s 12 tracks deliver the bare essentials that made them sui generis totems of modern art-punk: synthesized keyboard riffs distorted into oblivion, percussion pummeled hypnotically, crackling drones that haunt and soothe, fearless melodies hollered skyward. Their last release, 2008’s acclaimedReceivers, saw Parts & Labor blasting off in all directions and creating collage art from hundreds of fan-curated samples. But fifth albumConstant Future finds them crashing back to earth, focusing pointedly on what they do best: unique, electronic landscapes melded with buzzing, anthemic hooks. Parts & Labor have distilled the lessons and experiences of nearly 10 years as a band into a catchy, blown-out masterwork.
R.E.M. – Collapse Into Now – Warner Bros
Rival Schools – Pedals (180 gram) – Photo Finish Records
Think Twice – National Sacrifice Zone 7″ – Give Praise Records
Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo – Matador
Western Hymn – Out of the Way/Underground 7″ – K Records
Born in a cold, dark basement in 2009, Western Hymn is the uncouth union of two Olympia thoroughbreds: The Old Haunts and Bangs. A classic three-piece jammer, shaking spooky riffs and thundering rhythms, Western Hymn digs on Northwest punk staples — reverb, rain, motorcycles and minivans. Craig Extine works the Hagstrom-hybrid, Sarah Utter switches her riffs to bass, and Kris Cunningham brings the beat as only a ‘seasoned professional’ can. Western Hymn strikes up from underground with vocals that beg and snarl, backed by a thundering guitar propulsion and call and response swagger
Wolf People – Silbury Sands/Dry 7″ – Jagjaguwar
Recorded on the grounds of a 17th Century Welsh mansion, “Silbury Sands” is the lead track off Wolf People’s debut album, Steeple, which was unleashed in October 2010 to huge acclaim from the BBC, Metal Hammer, MOJO, NME, Sunday Times and Uncut, among others. With low, heavy churning guitars and warm, epic psych acumen abound, “Silbury Sands” serves as a fine thesis statement for the album.
Young Widows – Future Heart/Rose Window 7″ – Temporary Residence
It’s hard to believe it’s been over two years since Young Widows threw down the proverbial gauntlet of with their breakthrough album, Old Wounds. But here we are with a teaser of what’s to come from their brand new forthcoming album, In and Out of Lightness and Youth, due in stores April 12! This limited edition 7” single features the face-melting standout “Future Heart,” as well as an exclusive, non-album b-side, “Rose Window”. This is a darker, moodier and more inspired Young Widows. Limited to 1,000 copies and housed in 1 of 3 different screenprinted cover variants, this morsel of what’s to come will be gone before you’re finishing reading this.
Rap/Hip Hop/R&B
Ancient Astronauts – Into Bass and Time – ESL Music
Cut Copy – Zonoscope – Modular Records
Grails – Deep Politics (2xLP) – Temporary Residence
Deep Politics was conceived during the lengthiest gestation period between Grails albums, and reflects a deeper, more educated level of concentration. In their ongoing exploration of occult/fringe culture and the rich history of film music, they have cultivated a unique environment that inspires both an eternal sense of longing and an indelible sense of dread. Produced by the band, as always, the most immediately noticeable advances are the lush string arrangements (courtesy of acclaimed composer Timba Harris) and increasing use of the same kind of fetishistic cut-and-paste production techniques that made producers like RZA and MF Doom hip-hop legends. It’s a seemingly unlikely twist to the Grails aesthetic, but not unusual given the size of the pot in which they’ve stirred just about every genre imaginable. Through tireless exploration and awe-inspiring execution, Grails have found their true calling as purveyors of a new kind of library music, to be discovered by future generations of crate diggers and curious forward-thinkers.
Lupe Fiasco – Lasers (2xLP) – ATL
Lupe Fiasco – The Show Goes On (12 Single) – ATL
Gil Scott Heron & Jamie XX – We’re New Here – XL Recordings
Folk/Bluegrass/Country
