Keyboardist, composer, improvisor, and bandleader Lafayette Gilchrist has amassed numerous credits since first hitting the scene in the 1990s, including soundtracking the television work of David Simon and playing in the band of jazz titan David Murray. Amongst Gilchrist’s earliest achievements is the formation of his own band the New Volcanoes. After a seven-year break, the New Volcanoes are back on record with the live set Move With Love, which is out on vinyl, compact disc, and digital July 25 through Morphius Records. It’s a bright and energetic dive into positivity at the crossroads of jazz and funk.

One of Lafayette Gilchrist’s main objectives with the New Volcanoes was to interweave jazz, funk, hip-hop, and DC go-go. He’s been successful in this goal, and the latest iteration of the band continues the winning streak, featuring Gilchrist on keyboard, Carl Filipiak on guitar, Leo Maxey on trumpet, Christian Hizon on trombone, Anthony “Blue” Jenkins on bass guitar, Shaquim Muldrow on tenor sax, Kevin Pinder on drums, Bashi Rose on percussion and guests Ebban Dorsey on alto sax and Efraim Dorsey on tenor sax for four of the six tracks on the album.

Recorded live on September 6, 2024, at the Baltimore venue, the ClubCar, “Cut Through the Chase” kicks off the set with a sturdy groove, loose and lively but focused, with the guitar establishing ties to 1970s funk that are strengthened by the grand sweep of the horns. “Move With Love” keeps the party cooking, Gilchrist out front early before the horns seize the spotlight. Midway through, Filipiak gets a solo spot, and then Pindar and Rose work it out.

“Bamboozled” has Filipiak setting the tone as the Dorseys enter the scheme, the ensemble blowing vibrant and unified as Gilchrist swings into a lengthy excursion in the driver’s seat, mingling composed elements with improvisational spark. It’s in “Basta” that the go-go influence bursts through vividly, though the band augments the thick groove with jazzy flair and even some rock action in the guitar department. Maxey’s late trumpet solo is a treat.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Buckingham Nicks, the only studio album by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks as a duo, will be reissued for the first time on September 19. Originally released in 1973 and unavailable for decades, the album has been sourced from the original analog master tapes for its long-awaited return to vinyl, as well as hi-res digital files for its CD and digital release.

Released on September 5, 1973, Buckingham Nicks quickly faded from commercial view but never disappeared from the cultural conversation. Recorded at Sound City Studios in Los Angeles and produced by Keith Olsen, the album introduced Nicks and Buckingham’s tightly wound harmonies and sharply contrasting songwriting voices across 10 tracks—ranging from the folk-rock shimmer of “Crystal” to the sunbaked strut of “Don’t Let Me Down Again.”

Its legend only grew with time. In late 1974, Mick Fleetwood visited Sound City while scouting studios to record Fleetwood Mac’s next album. To showcase both his production work and the studio’s sound, Olsen blasted “Frozen Love” for Fleetwood in Studio A. The song reflected the full scope of the album’s ambition and chemistry—and immediately caught the drummer’s attention.

Soon after, when Fleetwood Mac guitarist Bob Welch left the band, Fleetwood reached out to offer Buckingham the spot. Instead of agreeing, Buckingham insisted that he and Nicks were a package deal. Fleetwood agreed, and on New Year’s Eve 1974, the two officially joined Fleetwood Mac—launching one of the most celebrated chapters in the band’s history.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | When the Grateful Dead took a self-imposed hiatus in 1974 after their farewell run at Winterland, they left the road with no clear sense of when—or if—they’d return. A year later, the band surprised everyone when they reemerged with Blues for Allah, one of the most forward-thinking, sonically adventurous albums of their career.

Blues for Allah (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) will be available as a 3CD set and digitally on September 12—just days after the album’s original 1975 release. It features a newly remastered version of the original album by GRAMMY® Award-winning engineer David Glasser, sourced from the original analog tapes with speed correction and tape restoration by Plangent Processes.

The set also features almost two hours of unreleased recordings. Among the highlights are rehearsals from the band’s August 12, 1975, soundcheck at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall, including the album tracks “Sage & Spirit,” “Help On The Way,” “Slipknot!,” and “Franklin’s Tower.”

The collection continues with performances from the June 21, 1976, show at the Tower Theatre in Pennsylvania, spotlighting five Blues for Allah songs alongside favorites like “Eyes Of The World.”

Rounding out the set are selections from Bill Graham’s SNACK (Students Need Athletics, Culture, and Kicks) Benefit at Kezar Stadium on March 23, 1975. Previously only available on the 2004 Beyond Description box set’s Bonus Disc, the recordings include one of only three known performances of “King Solomon’s Marbles.” Pre-order HERE.

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Remembering Ozzy. —Ed.

Ozzy Osbourne almost bit my earlobe off during an interview once. One minute we were talking about Master of Reality and the next he was lunging across the table to take my left ear—an easy target seeing as how I suffer from Meniere’s Disease, which causes radical enlargement of the earlobes—and shaking it, while growling like an angry Rottweiler. It was like a scene straight out of Dostoevsky, to be precise the moment in The Devils when Nikolai Stavrogin bites the governor’s ear. Anyway, I cried “Mercy!” as he literally lifted me out of my chair and led me around the room, my earlobe clenched in his slavering mouth. He finally let go and apologized afterwards, but offered no explanations. Then again, what can you expect from the guy who once said, “Off all the things I lost I miss my mind the most.” I consider it an honor.

Okay, so the above never happened. (I feel obligated to say this because in another article I swore my adolescent skull secreted sperm, that’s how horny I was, and a few folks actually wrote to tell me this was impossible. Duh.) But the Ozzy earlobe biting could have occurred. He once ate the heads off two live doves, and famously bit the head off a dead bat on stage, an act that led him to quip, “I got rabies shots for biting the head off a bat but that’s OK—the bat had to get Ozzy shots.” And then there’s the time he thought it would be a good idea to snort fire ants. In short, in Ozzy World, biting off a journalist’s earlobe would be child’s play.

I love Ozzy’s work with Black Sabbath, but have always avoided his solo stuff, although I love “Crazy Train.” Why? Because after being fired by Black Sabbath in 1979, one would have expected Ozzy to continue in the grand Sabbath tradition of releasing records filled with songs so monolithically slow and heavy they sounded like mammoth King Tiger tanks grinding up unlucky Poles. But Ozzy took a radically different path. His solo albums were lighter, in fact almost dainty; compared to the relentless eardrum-pummeling crunge of Black Sabbath they sounded spritely, bouncy even. In short, he gave up mastodon metal for regular old metal, which in that time and place was as much about hair spray as it was gargantuan guitar wank. If Sabbath’s albums are pig iron, Osbourne’s solo LPs are aluminum, and I for one wasn’t crazy about Ozzy’s transformation from Iron Man to Tin Man.

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Yes is arguably the most successful, popular, and longest-running progressive rock group in history. While groups like the Moody Blues and Jethro Tull have had equal success, they have explored other musical sounds. King Crimson has also been around for a long time and released an enormous amount of music, including a large number of fulsome reissues and archival material, but has never achieved much in the way of popular success. Emerson, Lake, and Palmer are a group that rivals Yes in many ways, but their heyday was short-lived. Although they have released a healthy number of reissues and archival material, there haven’t been nearly as many mammoth releases with vinyl as Yes or the amount that has come from Tull and King Crimson.

Over the past couple of years, bespoke reissues of what many considered the group’s zenith—The Yes Album, Fragile, and Close to the Edge—came out. This roundup will focus on those three releases and the group’s most recent live Record Store Day release, Live at the Rainbow, London, England 12/16/1972.

All of the reissues of the classic studio albums are multi-disc sets. The Yes Album (2023) and Fragile (2024) sets are 1 vinyl album/4 CD/1 Blu-ray sets. The Close to the Edge (2025) set is a 1 vinyl album/5CD/1 Blu-ray set. All three sets come in a sturdy gatefold package, with the vinyl albums housed in poly-lined sleeves. The Yes Album comes with an album-sized 12-page booklet.

The Fragile set comes with a 16-page album-sized booklet and debuts the iconic album art of Roger Dean. Dean has gone on to have a long, fruitful career as an album art designer, but is most associated with Yes. The Close to the Edge set also comes with a 12-page album-sized booklet. They all also come with a Blu-ray that includes at least a new Dolby Atmos mix by Steven Wilson, along with a 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound mix and a Hi-Res stereo mix. All of the sets come with a plethora of bonus material which will be detailed below.

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Harpist, composer, and sound artist Shelley Burgon has contributed to a slew of recordings ranging from art-pop to the avant-garde, but on July 25, she releases her debut solo album The In Between. It consists of one continuous piece spread across four sides of 180gram vinyl, the records cut at 45rpm and released by Thin Wrist Recordings. The music, which consists of Burgon alone, is unmistakably created with an acoustic harp, although Burgon prefers space to the more florid outpourings that have long been associated with the instrument. That’s not to suggest there is a lack of gorgeousness in store for the listener as the composition unfolds. It is an altogether brilliant and unpredictable work.

Shelley Burgon studied at Mills College with teachers that included Pauline Oliveros, Fred Frith, Alvin Curran, and Maryanne Amacher; she received an MFA in electronic music and has subsequently played and recorded with Bjork, Elysian Fields, Trevor Dunn, Anthony Braxton, John Zorn, Butch Morris, Joan LaBarbara, and Christian Marclay.

Burgon was also a member of the band Stars Like Fleas and its pared-down offshoot Family Dynamics, who released Service in October 2023 as a limited edition LP through the Whatever’s Clever label, with copies still available exclusively on Bandcamp. On the album, Burgon contributes vocals, acoustic and baritone electric guitar, keyboard, and sound design in addition to harp.

In February 2025, Burgon’s recordings with guitarist Fred Frith were compiled on the CD The Life and Behavior by Relative Pitch. The music dates back to a pair of sessions, the earliest from 2002 and the second from 2005. Burgon has recorded extensively with Dunn and Braxton, but her first solo piece, “LOVEHER,” was released in 2013 by the In Context label as a 33 1/3 rpm single-sided lathe cut 10-inch in an edition of 25 copies.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | In 2005, Felt 2: A Tribute to Lisa Bonet brought together two of underground hip-hop’s most respected voices of the time—Murs and Slug—for a second collaboration that felt looser, livelier, and more charismatic than its predecessor. Today, Rhymesayers Entertainment has announced a 20th Anniversary edition vinyl reissue of the record, due out October 17 and featuring the bonus track “20 Answers.”

The limited vinyl variant will be available via rhymesayers.com and atmospheresucks.com and is capped at a pressing of 500. The release will also be available on cassette for the first time ever. The album captures a moment of creative freedom, where both MCs were firing on all cylinders, trading verses with sharpness, humor, and effortless chemistry. Their interplay reflects a deep mutual respect and a shared drive to push boundaries while keeping things rooted in style and substance.

Working with different producers for each volume allowed Murs and Slug to bring a unique energy to each release, and Ant’s masterful production was central to the chemistry of Felt 2. With roots in classic soul and West Coast bounce, his beats created a warm, funk-laced foundation that allowed both rappers to experiment with new cadences and ideas. Rather than lean on moodiness or melodrama, the soundscape of Felt 2 is expansive, colorful, and rooted in rich, infectious rhythm—an aesthetic that has aged gracefully and continues to draw new listeners into its orbit.

While undeniably fun, Felt 2 is also structurally tight and full of moments that reward repeat listens. The chemistry between Murs and Slug is effortless, and their shared sense of humor, timing, and respect for the craft creates a lasting impression. It’s a standout entry in the canon of early-2000s indie hip-hop, and one that’s long overdue for a proper vinyl reissue.

VIA PRESS RELEASE | In celebration of its 20th anniversary, Keyshia Cole’s game-changing debut album, The Way It Is, is back on vinyl for the first time since its original release on June 21, 2005.

The new 20th Anniversary Edition is available now as both a double LP on black vinyl or on limited edition Rose Garden Pink translucent color vinyl via A&M/UMe. The limited edition color version features a gatefold sleeve with photos from the classic CD release and includes the rarity “Love (Acapella)” as a bonus track. The Way It Is is available to purchase HERE.

Two decades after her breakthrough debut album changed the R&B game, Keyshia Cole is taking it back to where it all started and going on the road to celebrate the anniversary.

The GRAMMY®-nominated singer, songwriter, and “Princess of Hip-Hop and R&B” will kick off The Way It is 20th Anniversary Tour, presented by AEG Presents and Free Lunch on July 1 at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore.

The North American arena tour will visit key cities, including Brooklyn, Atlanta, New Orleans, Detroit, and Houston, before wrapping up August 8 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. After performing throughout the US and Canada, Keyshia will hit the road in Europe starting September 19 at Adidas Arena in Paris, continuing at arenas in Amsterdam, London, and Manchester, and finishing September 26 in Birmingham, UK.

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Celebrating George Clinton on his 77th birthday. —Ed.

Funkadelic—and Parliament as well, naturally—were America’s go-to bands for psychedelic funk at the dawn of the Seventies; their acid-fried, groove-based jams came complete with fries, shake, and a generous helping of raunchy high humor, and you would practically have to be a member of the KKK to deny them. Theirs wasn’t just the sound of Black Liberation, it was the sound of Human Liberation, because as George Clinton understood only all too well, we all need to free our asses.

If 1970’s Free Your Ass… And Your Mind Will Follow isn’t my favorite Funkadelic album it’s not for lack of good old-fashioned genius. It’s just a mite uneven. Side One’s as great a one-two punch as you’re ever likely to bump your ass against. Side Two, with the notable exception of the brilliant “Funky Dollar Bill,” not so much. That said, this six-song LP—weaker second side and all—still constitutes an essential addition to any sentient life form’s home musical library. Believe me when I say the people on Venus (they prefer to be called people; “alien” is considered a racial slur) will want to purchase this album if they haven’t already. People from Venus are in need of some ass freeing too.

Robert Christgau once said of this baby, “Not only is the shit weird, the weirdness signifies,” and to that I can only add “Amen.” Opener “Free Your Ass and Your Mind Will Follow” is a 10-minute freak-out over which the brilliant Eddie Hazel plays blistering guitar of the sort that will make you forget all about Jimi Hendrix. He’s joined by a madcap chorus of vocalists (I count eight in the band’s lineup) repeating slogans (“Free your mind!”, “The kingdom of heaven is within!”, “Open up your funky mind and you can fly”), uttering paradoxes (“Freedom is free of the need to be free”), and generally getting all hotted up. It also boasts great bass by Billy Nelson and some very fuzzy organ by his magnificentness Bernie Worrell, and may well constitute the coolest dime bag of music you’ll ever snort up your ears.

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Manslaughter 777 is the duo of Lee Buford (The Body, Sightless Pit, Dead Times, Everyone Asked About You) and Zac Jones (Braveyoung, Nothing, MSC). Both are drummers and programmers, and with their second album God’s World, which comes out on vinyl (orange or black) and digital June 25 through Thrill Jockey, they continue to hone a sound that’s wild, raw, and groove-laden. The ten tracks hit the sweet spot between infectious and pummeling as Buford and Jones blend live playing and samples and draw upon elements from over a half dozen complementary genres.

The first record by Manslaughter 777, World Vision Perfect Harmony, came out in March 2021, also on Thrill Jockey. Befitting what’s essentially a side project, there have been no EPs or singles or stray compilation tracks, just a solitary album until the arrival of God’s World, which picks up where its predecessor left off, but with aspects of refinement in the scheme.

In the promotional text for God’s World, Zac Jones states that he wanted the new album to include cuts that could function as the musical backdrop at parties, and the results pass that test without a hitch. But really, ‘twas not much different with the debut LP; it’s just that the party in World Vision Perfect Harmony’s case is being held in a concrete bunker, with the music handed off to the evening’s DJ on an unlabeled cassette. Whenever somebody asks about the makers of the music, the reply is very short: “Oh, just some people I know.”

In short, the first album has a decidedly underground feel to it, registering as appropriately fucked up for the year of its making without straining for rawness, getting too damaged, or adopting any edgelord qualities. The debut is raw but not especially abrasive, and it flows rather than flails, but it’s still a beautifully unpolished thing. The new record doesn’t locate that polish but instead leans even deeper into the groove imperative so that it becomes irresistible, even as its true commercial prospects (and intent) are basically nil.

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