New release playlists from July–December 2016
We’ve curated Spotify playlists of our recormmended new releases so you can get a taste of the goodies on offer.
- Hundred Records playlists
- We’re also producing daily Spotify playlists. Click on the Spotify logo to find a list of all our playlists on Spotify, where you can feast on them for your listening pleasure – or otherwise! You’ll need a Spotify account to listen to the full tracks.
Releases for 4 November 2016
We have 8 lovely releases for 4 November for you. First, The Furrow Collective, featuring the golden voices and multi-instrumental prowess of Emily Portman, Rachel Newton and Lucy Farrell and Alasdair Roberts, release Wild Hog, one of the finest folk albums released this year. The formidable Honeyblood return with Babes Never Die; expect many a mention in best of 2016 lists. The Kentucky Headhunters release On Safari, a big meaty slab of southern rock. Robbie Williams’ Heavy Entertainment Show includes collaborations with songwriters Guy Chambers, Brandon Flowers and Ed Sheeran. Todd Snider is one of America’s sharpest and most provocative story-tellers; his latest, Eastside Bulldog, is a fine record in the folk-rock troubadour tradition. The Chris Robinson Brotherhood follow up the fabulous Any Way You Love, We Know How You Feel with a companion piece, If You Lived Here, You Would Be Home By Now; if you liked the first you’ll love the second! And the six sessions Queen recorded for the BBC between 1973 and 1977 – arguably peak Queen – finally see release in On Air.
Album of the week is unlikely to be surpassed for surprise release of the year: Shirley Collins, legendary folk singer and song collector, brings us Lodestar, her first recordings since losing her voice with dystonia and withdrawing from performing 38 years ago!
Click here to view the playlist on Spotify’s website if you can’t see the player embedded below.
Releases for 21 October 2016
First up for release on 21 October, Pretenders are back! Chrissie Hynde was in the process of recording a follow-up to her solo release Stockholm when she realised that the songs she’d written were perfect for the more muscular Pretenders sound, so Alone was born. Hooton Tennis Club’s sophomore effort, Big Box Of Chocolates, is full of bright, catchy songs which evoke northern England in their typically laconic style. Courteeners’ latest, Mapping The Rendezvous, is full of hooky guitar riffs and memorable lyrics; if you like The Maccabees or Blossom, this one will be right up your street. If, on the other hand, you like your nu metal, you’ll be excited about Korn’s return with Serenity Of Suffering – darkly atmospheric and brutal. Michael Bublé releases Nobody But Me, a collection of original pop tunes and beautiful standards that highlight his talent as a profound interpreter of the American songbook as well as gifted songwriter. Jimmy Eat World’s 9th studio album, Integrity Blues, is a more polished and melodic effort, with songs that run from jangly guitar to introspective balladry. Lazarus is the original cast recording of the musical co-created by David Bowie, inspired by the novel The Man Who Fell To Earth.
Album of the week is David Crosby’s Lighthouse, a masterful record which has been recorded in a stripped-down, intimate style that’s perfect for the songs on it.
Click here to view the playlist on Spotify’s website if you can’t see the player embedded below.
Releases for 14 October 2016
Kicking off our recommended releases for 14 October we have the unexpected duo of Dr John Cooper Clarke & Hugh Cornwell with This Time It’s Personal, a collection of much-loved tunes, sung – if you can believe this – by John himself, and a good job of it he makes too! Moby’s new album is all about how The Systems Are Failing because of humanity’s impact on the world around us. Kings Of Leon have stuffed Walls full of hooky, catchy riffs and heartfelt lyrics passionately sung. Two Door Cinema Club incorporate a wide and varied range of styles into Gameshow, and it remains great fun throughout. Jagwar Ma successfully mix dub-inflected guitar with smart pop psychedelia in Every Now & Then, and it’s always interesting and eminently listenable. Country superstar Dwight Yoakam does the bluegrass album he should have made years ago with Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars..., and Beth Hart’s Fire On The Floor is a shot of incendiary blues-rock delivered with a voice of burnt honey – fabulous.
Our album of the week is Conor Oberst’s spare and unadorned Ruminations – just Conor, his piano and harmonica, the album harks back to an earlier time and is a wonderfully intimate listen.
Click here to view the playlist on Spotify’s website if you can’t see the player embedded below.
Releases for 7 October 2016
Once again we’ve worked hard to recommend 8 albums for 7 October from the avalanche of new releases. First up, Green Day return with their 12th studio album, Revolution Radio – expect more ludicrously catchy, angsty guitar pop from the American trio. Norah Jones releases Day Breaks, in which she returns to the jazz roots of her debut, and it’s lovely. Alter Bridge have, while gaining massive success, squared the heavy metal circle of crunching guitars and overall loudness whilst adding a surprising melodicism; their latest, The Last Hero, continues in that vein. Meshuggah are a different kettle of fish, delivering massively overpowering progressive metal in The Violent Sleep Of Reason, all steeped in their Nordic roots, Seasick Steve’s Keepin’ The Horse Between Me And The Ground is the sound of a man still going strong and having the time of his life. The enigmatic Goat’s 3rd album, Requiem, is as intriguing and original as their previous two, it’s beyond categorisation and a must-listen. Don’t Let The Kids Win is Julia Jacklin’s assured debut album, a fine mixture of observational wit and – for want of a better phrase – indie folk, which deserves a wide audience.
Release of the week is C Duncan’s follow-up to last years Mercury-nominated Architect, the achingly beautiful Midnight Sun – a more expansive and richer listening experience.
Click here to view the playlist on Spotify’s website if you can’t see the player embedded below.
Releases for 30 September 2016
It’s been harder than ever to whittle down the wealth of new releases out on 30 September to just 8 to recommend, but here we go! Sir Van Morrison possesses one of the finest voices in all music, and he uses it to good effect on his 35th studio album, Keep Me Singing. By way of a complete contrast, alt-rock superstars Pixies release their second post-reformation album, Head Carrier, and it’s a monster! Opeth continue their journey from death metal to prog of the most engaging and intense type with the beautiful Sorceress, Slaves crank up the volume on their spirited and noisy second, Take Control, Ultimate Painting’s third album, Dusk, is intricate, involving and lovely guitar pop, Regina Spektor’s Remember Us To Life, her first for four years, is well worth the wait, and Joanne Shaw Taylor’s Wild is just that: wild blues/rock guitar and vocals which is a punch in the gut – in a nice way!
Release of the week is Bon Iver’s 22, A Million. Both album and tracks are oddly titled, but there’s nothing at all odd about the result, and it comes highly recommended.
Click here to view the playlist on Spotify’s website if you can’t see the player embedded below.
Releases for 23 September 2016
The quality new releases just keep rolling in! First up for 23 September is Young As The Morning, Old As The Sea, another fine album of ethereal folk from singer-songwriter Michael Rosenburg, better known as Passenger. Live At The Greek is the latest in a lengthy list of live albums from surely the hardest-working man in showbiz, Joe Bonamassa – one for all lovers of incendiary blues guitar. Marillion’s eighteenth studio album, FEAR, is a fine addition to their rich canon of epically listenable prog. Billy Bragg & Joe Henry breathed new life into some of Americana’s finest songs during their journey across the American railroad, collected on Shine A Light – see Billy’s work with Wilco for more like this. American indie darlings Warpaint return from their various solo projects with their third album, Heads Up, and a fine and feisty effort it is too. Devendra Banhart continues on his own idiosyncratic way on An Ape On Pink Marble, which manages somehow to be familiar, different and interesting all at the same time. Boxed In release their follow-up to last year’s critically acclaimed debut: think LCD Soundsystem crossed with Hot Chip.
Release of the week is Bruce Springsteen’s Chapter And Verse, a companion album to his autobiography, published the following week, and includes five previously unreleased songs by The Boss. Essential.
Click here to view the playlist on Spotify’s website if you can’t see the player embedded below.
Releases for 16 September 2016
Once again it’s been a real struggle to get down to just eight recommended releases. First up for 16 September is The Handsome Family with Unseen, which is Americana Gothic of the highest order – you can practically see the tumbleweed blowing whilst listening. The ever prolific Dawes release the cheerfully titled We’re All Gonna Die, managing the conjuring trick of sounding both vintage and modern all at the same time. Seth Lakeman’s eighth (how did that happen?), Ballad Of The Broken Few, benefits greatly from the addition of Wildwood Kin on harmony backing delivering a more intimate, soulful and emotional feel to this album. Hundred Records favourite Madeleine Peyroux has always managed to produce an sound all of her own, mixing jazz, blues and soul with impassioned vocals; her latest album, Secular Hymns, is no different. The Small Hours is Matt Berry’s most personal release to date, a reflection on those things that go through all our minds in the quiet hours of the night. Trentmøller’s Fixion takes his trademark melancholy and wraps it around an atmospheric and darkly romantic album, and might be his best yet. Silver Apples’ Clinging To A Dream is an album of unique electronic experimentation which is uniquely accessible at the same time.
Release of the week is Led Zeppelin’s Complete BBC Sessions, which represents peak Zeppelin in all their glory over 3 CDs expertly remastered under Jimmy Page’s guidance.
Click here to view the playlist on Spotify’s website if you can’t see the player embedded below.
Releases for 9 September 2016
It’s been a squeeze trying to reduce all the great releases due on 9 September to just eight, but we managed it eventually.
To kick off, Teenage Fanclub make a long-awaited return and – to our complete non-surprise – their 10th album is a beauty, chock-full of songs about the stuff that really matters: life and love. Wilco ring the changes again with the release of Schmilco, a mostly acoustic album with a spaciousness to allow the exceptional songwriting to breathe. Jack White’s Acoustic Recordings 1998–2016 represents an eclectic mix of his work from these years; in typical fashion he ranges from a bluegrass version of a Raconteurs song to a song written for a soft-drink ad. The Allah Lahs may not be a familiar name but they produce effervescent, thoughtful pop, so give then a listen. The haunting soundtrack from The Man Who Fell To Earth at long last gets a full release, for all the Bowie completists out there! St Paul & The Broken Bones are an eight-piece from Birmingham, Alabama who specialise in joyful rock’n’soul. We are longtime admirers of Okkervil River, whose new album, a follow-up to 2013’s Silver Gymnasium, won’t disappoint fans new or old. Finally there is a constant flood of reissued classics appearing on vinyl, and this week sees both Neil Young and The Verve release some albums that belong in any collection.
Release is Skeleton Tree by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, not because we have heard it – very few have – but because it’s Nick Cave. And what better reason could there be than that?
Click here to view the playlist on Spotify’s website if you can’t see the player embedded below.
Releases for 2 September 2016
September looks like being a monumental month for releases. Our recommended new albums for 2 September start with Ward Thomas, whose startling new album, Cartwheels, they say themselves, is not just a country album. Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy is one of the UK’s most accomplished and distinctive songwriters, and he’s in fine form on Foreverland. King Creosote’s Astronaut Meets Appleman explores the tensions between traditional and digital music-making, and is fabulously original because of it. Going, Going… tells the story of a US road trip undertaken by indie stalwarts The Wedding Present and represents one of the finest releases of their career, with each song accompanied by a video. Shaun Escoffrey’s Evergreen features his gorgeous voice, which mixes an undeniable power with soulful subtlety. Jamie T’s fourth album Trick is by some distance his darkest, and Messenger Of The Gods neatly ties up all Freddie Mercury’s solo singles into one package.
Our release of the week is Angel Olsen’s astonishing and exhilarating My Women.
Click here to view the playlist on Spotify’s website if you can’t see the player embedded below.
Releases for 26 August 2016
First of our recommended releases for 26 August is a covers record with a difference from The Devil Makes Three – each side of Redemption & Ruin has an old-fashioned concept all on its own: the songs chosen relate to either redemption or ruin. Neat! De La Soul release And The Anonymous Nobody, an album based on samples taken from a library of 300 hours of music covering every genre you can imagine, created by De La Soul themselves – a bold work. The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra return with a new album bursting with riotous ska energy and fun. Prophets Of Rage, comprising Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, Brad Wilk, Chuck D, B-Real, and DJ Lord are back and well named: The Party’s Over is brimful of anger at the state of the world. Britney Spears’s Glory is hi-definition pop produced to within an inch of its life to make your feet tap and your voice sing along almost without knowing! The Dillinger Escape Plan continue with what they do best with Disassociation: that is, thrilling heads-down no-nonsense rock’n’roll. The Minus 5’s Of Monkees And Men is a surreal album about the Monkees and the people who influenced them, written by Scott McCaughey with the usual help from both Mike Mills and Peter Buck of REM.
Release of the week is the surprisingly intense and emotional Winter by New Model Army.
Click here to view the playlist on Spotify’s website if you can’t see the player embedded below.
Releases for 19 August 2016
First up for release on 19 August is Slow Club’s cheerily titled One Day All Of This Won’t Matter Any More, which contains more of their gorgeous melodies. John Paul White releases his first solo album since the break up of the much loved Civil Wars; titled Beulah, this is a triumph of dark southern American gothic folk. Ed Harcourt’s seventh album, Furnaces, somehow manages to be both full of fire and brimstone and euphoric and celebratory all at the same time. Lisa Hannigan’s third solo effort, At Swim, is an album about isolation and love. A complete change of pace comes courtesy of Sabaton’s The Last Stand; ‘heroic metal’ describes it perfectly. Blood Orange’s Freetown Sound, which features a host of collaborators, is a musical tour de force – simple. Scott Walker follows his astonishing album with Sunn 0))) with an equally astonishing soundtrack, The Childhood Of A Leader.
Album of the week from a fine field this week is Ryley Walker’s Golden Sings That Have Been Sung, words that came to mind whilst listening: it’s supple, shimmering, intriguing and surreal.
Click here to view the playlist on Spotify’s website if you can’t see the player embedded below.
Other releases for 2016
Find playlist from 2017 | 2015.
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