Releases from September–October 2020
Great albums from around the world
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Find releases from 2021 | 2019.
Also check out some of the great reissues of classic albums.
The hottest pre-sale releases
Pre-sale of the week is Hurry Up Tomorrow by The Weeknd, out on 24 January.
Jump to: 30 October | 23 October | 16 October | 9 October | 2 October | 25 September | 11 September | 4 September
Releases for 30 October 2020
We kick off this 30 October’s new releases with Earth To Dora, the highly anticipated new album from Los Angeles indie rock outfit Eels. “These songs came about just before the pandemic hit and changed everything,” said E. “I’m hoping it can be soothing to hear songs dealing with things we are dreaming about getting back to.” Archives Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963–1967) features nearly six hours of unreleased recordings that paint a rich portrait of Joni Mitchell’s rapid growth as a performer and songwriter during the period leading up to her debut album in 1968, including 29 of her compositions that have never before been released with her vocals. A companion piece, Live At Canterbury House 1967, includes Joni’s entire, previously unreleased three-set performance from 27 October 1967. All-round boundary-breaking innovator Dizzee Rascal brings us his 7th studio album, E3 AF, a layered, purposeful statement of intent, rooted in Dizzee’s indelible ties to both east London and Black British music’s legacy and featuring a sound sharper, stronger and more self-assured than ever. Daniel Lopatin is making the most enlightened music of his career, with his anxiety-driven soundtrack to the Safdie Brothers’ noir thriller Uncut Gems and now an even deeper journey inwards on Magic Oneohtrix Point Never – a collage of maximalist baroque within atmospheric glitter. A remastered reissue celebrates the 20th anniversary of U2’s glorious 10th studio album All That You Can’t Leave Behind, which brought us the hit singles ‘Beautiful Day’, ‘Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of’, ‘Elevation’ and ‘Walk On’.
Our release of the week comes from the Grammy- and Brit Award-winning artist Elvis Costello, whose new album, Hey Clockface, was recorded during a weekend session at Les Studios Saint Germain in Paris. “I sang live on the studio floor, directing from the vocal booth. We cut nine songs in two days. We spoke very little. Almost everything the musicians played was a spontaneous response to the song I was singing. I’d had a dream of recording in Paris like this, one day.”
- Elvis Costello Hey Clockface
- Grammy- and Brit Award-winning artist Elvis Costello announces his new album, Hey Clockface, recorded during a weekend session at Les Studios Saint Germain in Paris.
- “I sang live on the studio floor, directing from the vocal booth. We cut nine songs in two days. We spoke very little. Almost everything the musicians played was a spontaneous response to the song I was singing. I’d had a dream of recording in Paris like this, one day.”
- Eels Earth To Dora
- Los Angeles indie rock outfit Eels have announced details of the release of their highly anticipated new album Earth To Dora. “These songs came about just before the pandemic hit and changed everything,” said Mark Oliver Everett, also known as E. “I’m hoping they can be, maybe kind of soothing or something. To hear songs dealing with things we are dreaming about getting back to. Or maybe people are dealing with some of the topics right now as well. Just one song was done in the thick of the early pandemic days, ‘Are We Alright Again’, which is kind of a quarantine daydream I desperately needed to have.” The album was recorded at the band’s studio in Los Feliz, Los Angeles.
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- Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 1 / Live
- Archives Volume 1 5-CD Box set £69.99
- Dizzee Rascal E3 AF
- East London-born music legend and all-round boundary-breaking innovator Dizzee Rascal brings us his 7th studio album, entitled E3 AF, which includes the hot new single ‘L.L.L.L (Love Life Live Large)’.
- This new release marks the genesis of a new era for Dizzee and is the first album of his in more than a decade to be wholly written, recorded and produced in the UK. E3 AF is a 10-track layered, purposeful statement of intent, rooted in Dizzee’s indelible ties to both east London and Black British music’s legacy. His sound is sharper, stronger and more self-assured than ever, and it is obvious that he has poured the creative energy of the past few years into E3 AF as a body of work.
- Oneohtrix Point Never Magic
- The end of 2019 was soundtracked by one of the most unanimously critically acclaimed film scores of recent history, Daniel Lopatin’s anxiety-driven joyride paired to the Safdie Brothers’ noir thriller Uncut Gems. Unknowingly, Lopatin had captured a universal feeling of dread that cuts even deeper in the current state of world affairs. And now, just as many artists are leaning into a newly discovered darkness as this year closes, Lopatin turns his dial towards a frequency of profound self-awareness on an even deeper journey inwards towards peace. With the backdrop of re-imagined programming for a soft rock-era format that symbolically spans from morning drive into late night hours, Magic Oneohtrix Point Never – the name a reference to a misheard play on words of Boston’s Magic 106.7 – is a nostalgic and self-referential career-defining body of work, collaging maximalist baroque within atmospheric glitter. Here Lopatin has mastered his own autobiography; an ornate musical double entendre from an artist making the most enlightened music of his career.
- U2 All That You Can’t Leave Behind (20th Anniversary)
- Celebrating the 20th anniversary of U2’s 10th studio album All That You Can’t Leave Behind, which was released on 30th October 2000 and reached Number 1 in 32 countries. The album brought us the hit singles ‘Beautiful Day’, ‘Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of’, ‘Elevation’ and ‘Walk On’ and has sold over 12 million copies to date.
- Produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, it was recorded in Dublin (HQ, Windmill Lane, Westland and Totally Wired) and the South of France. It won 7 Grammy Awards, including Best Rock Album, and is the only album in history to have multiple tracks win the award for Record Of The Year (‘Beautiful Day’ in 2001 and ‘Walk On’ in 2002).
- This multi-format anniversary reissue includes a brand new remaster of the album as a 12-track version globally, to include ‘The Ground Beneath Her Feet’, and is to be released on the actual date of the 20th anniversary – 30th October 2020.
Releases for 23 October 2020
We kick off our six sensations for 23 October with Off Off On, the richly illuminating and acutely sensitive latest from remarkable storytellers This Is The Kit (led by Kate Stables): it’s a lifeline, moving against the tide, standing against the storm. Sunset In The Blue is an orchestral celebration of Melody Gardot’s jazz roots, showing her determination to create and evolve her craft in spite of all obstacles in a stunning new body of collaborations in this most challenging of times. songs and instrumentals is two distinct collections from Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker, written and recorded in a one-room cabin in the mountains of western Massachusetts after the band’s last tour was abruptly cut short by coronavirus. My Echo turned out to be a subconscious pre-emptive break-up album for Laura Veirs: “my songs knew I was getting divorced before I did.” By the time the album was completed, she and husband/producer had decided to go their separate ways, and that struggle is reflected in the album. The iconic, award-winning Faithless return with their first album in ten years, All Blessed, an immaculate love letter to electronic music delivered across twelve highly collaborative and intelligent tracks of ‘music with feeling, words with meaning’.
Our release of the week feels like an early Christmas present! Letter To You is the brand-new studio album from Bruce Springsteen with the E Street Band, a rock album fuelled by the band’s heart-stopping, house-rocking signature sound, recorded live in the studio with no overdubs. The Boss described this as one of the greatest recording experiences he’s ever had, and it shows.
- Bruce Springsteen Letter To You
- Letter To You is the brand-new studio album from Bruce Springsteen with the E Street Band, a rock album fuelled by the band’s heart-stopping, house-rocking signature sound. Springsteen’s 20th studio album was recorded at his home studio in New Jersey, and is his first album including the E Street Band since 2012’s High Hopes and their first performances together since 2016’s The River Tour.
- “I love the emotional nature of Letter To You,” says Springsteen. “And I love the sound of the E Street Band playing completely live in the studio, in a way we’ve never done before, and with no overdubs. We made the album in only five days, and it turned out to be one of the greatest recording experiences I’ve ever had.”
- Letter To You includes nine recently written Springsteen songs, as well as new recordings of three of his legendary, but previously unreleased, compositions from the 1970s, ‘Janey Needs a Shooter’, ‘If I Was the Priest’, and ‘Song for Orphans’. Springsteen is joined on Letter To You by Roy Bittan, Nils Lofgren, Patti Scialfa, Garry Tallent, Stevie Van Zandt, Max Weinberg, Charlie Giordano and Jake Clemons. The album was produced by Ron Aniello with Bruce Springsteen, mixed by Bob Clearmountain and mastered by Bob Ludwig.
- This Is The Kit Off Off On
- Since their 2008 debut album Krülle Bol, This Is The Kit (led by Kate Stables) have unpicked emotional knots and woven remarkable stories. Even by her high standards, however, Off Off On is a beautifully clear distillation of Stables’ song-writing gifts.
- By the end of 2018, the band had finished touring their last album, the talismanic Moonshine Freeze – leading to Kate’s Ivor Novello nomination. Stables’ natural impulse to start her next record became diverted by an invitation to join The National on the road for multiple tours and TV appearances – a continuation of the role she took on their album I Am Easy To Find. “It was so brilliant when I was writing to be away from my songs and the responsibility of being in charge of a band or a project – I think it really helped my writing and my getting through whatever I needed to get through.”
- Richly illuminating and acutely sensitive to the pulses and currents of life, Off Off On shows This Is The Kit overflowing with ideas. In difficult times, it’s a record that feels like a lifeline, moving against the tide, standing against the storm. Keep going.
- Melody Gardot Sunset In Blue
- Sunset In The Blue is an orchestral celebration of Melody Gardot’s jazz roots. She is reunited with the multi-Grammy award-winning production team of her platinum-selling album My One And Only Thrill: producer Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock), arranger and composer Vince Mendoza (Björk, Robbie Williams, Elvis Costello) and the legendary engineer Al Schmitt (Frank Sinatra, Joao Gilberto, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney). An underlying theme of determination to create and evolve her craft has always been present in Melody Gardot’s work but never more so than during the production of Sunset In The Blue. In spite of all obstacles, she has assembled a stunning new body of collaborations in this most challenging of times.
- Adrianne Lenker songs and instrumentals
- Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker announces two new albums, songs and instrumentals. This is two distinct collections, both written and recorded in April after Big Thief’s last tour was abruptly cut short due to coronavirus. After returning to the States from Europe, Lenker decamped to a one-room cabin in the mountains of western Massachusetts.
- This recording is 100% analogue (AAA), with no digital process used. The album’s stunning artwork are watercolour paintings done by Adrianne’s grandmother, Diane Lee.
- Laura Veirs My Echo
- Laura Veirs says of her new album, My Echo: “It’s my ‘my songs knew I was getting divorced before I did’ album. My conscious mind was trying as hard as I could to keep my family together but my subconscious mind was working on the difficult struggles in my marital life. I was part of a ‘Secret Poetry Group’ that met and wrote poems monthly for a year during the writing of this record. Many of my poems turned into songs for this album. By the time the album was being mixed last fall, my ex-husband/producer Tucker Martine and I had decided to go our separate ways. We were a great musical team for many years but we struggled to be compatible in our marriage and family life and that struggle is reflected in this album.”
- Faithless All Blessed
- The iconic, award-winning Faithless return with their first album in ten years, All Blessed, an immaculate love letter to electronic music delivered across twelve highly collaborative and intelligent tracks which perfectly captures the Faithless manifesto of ‘music with feeling, words with meaning’.
- In a history that stretches back some 25 years, Faithless have long occupied a pivotal position in the world of British electronica accomplishing seven Top 10 singles, six Top 10 albums (3 at number 1) and selling over 15 million records worldwide.
Releases for 16 October 2020
Our pick of the best for 16 October starts with Sundowner, which came quickly and effortlessly to Kevin Morby: “Sundowner is my attempt to put the Middle American twilight – it’s beauty profound, though not always immediate – into sound. It is a depiction of isolation. Of the past. Of an uncertain future.” Emmylou Harris’s leftfield masterpiece from 1995, Wrecking Ball, is the most wide-ranging, innovative, and daring record from in a career built on such notions. Rich in atmosphere and haunting in its dark complexity, producer Daniel Lanois taps into Harris’s essence while opening up innumerable new avenues: the songs shimmer and swirl. The Rockfield Files was recorded in the same studio in which The Damned recorded The Black Album, the Friday 13th EP & Strawberries, with three of the four members who were at the original sessions: David Vanian, Captain Sensible and Paul Gray. Wildflowers & All The Rest is a vastly expanded version of Tom Petty’s seminal album, including all songs from the original album sessions, plus much more in the deluxe editions. Katie Melua’s brand new studio album, Album No. 8, is a record that represents the culmination of a prolonged period of musical rediscovery by one of Britain’s most successful musical artists, who has received over 56 platinum awards.
Our album of the week is Serpentine Prison, the debut solo record from Matt Berninger, front-man of internationally acclaimed group The National. It was produced by Booker T. Jones and features contributions from a wide array of notable and respected artists.
- Matt Berninger Serpentine Prison
- Serpentine Prison, the debut solo record from Matt Berninger – front-man of internationally acclaimed group The National – is produced by Booker T. Jones, and features contributions from a wide array of notable artists, including Matt Barrick (The Walkmen, Jonathan Fire*Eater), Andrew Bird, Mike Brewer, Hayden Desser, Scott Devendorf (The National), Gail Ann Dorsey (David Bowie, Lenny Kravitz), Booker T. Jones, Teddy Jones, Brent Knopf (EL VY, Menomena), Ben Lanz (The National, Beirut), Walter Martin (The Walkmen, Jonathan Fire*Eater), Sean O’Brien, Mickey Raphael (Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan), Kyle Resnick (The National, Beirut), Matt Sheehy (EL VY, Lost Lander) and Harrison Whitford (Phoebe Bridgers). Additional production on the album was provided by Sean O’Brien.
- Kevin Morby Sundowner
- Sundowner came quickly and effortlessly to Kevin Morby as he did his best not to resist or refine the songs but instead let them take shape all on their own. As the songs kept coming he converted his garden shed into a makeshift studio. “Sundowner is my attempt to put the Middle American twilight – it’s beauty profound, though not always immediate – into sound. It is a depiction of isolation. Of the past. Of an uncertain future. Of provisions. Of an omen. Of a dead deer. Of an icon. Of a Los Angeles-themed hotel in rural Kansas. Of billowing campfires, a mermaid and a highway lined in rabbit fur. It is a depiction of the nervous feeling that comes with the sky’s proud announcement that another day will be soon coming to a close as the pink light recedes and the street lamps and house lights suddenly click on.”
- Emmylou Harris Wrecking Ball
- Wrecking Ball is a leftfield masterpiece from 1995 – the most wide-ranging, innovative, and daring record from Emmylou Harris in a career built on such notions. Rich in atmosphere and haunting in its dark complexity, much of the due credit belongs to producer Daniel Lanois; best known for his work with pop superstars like U2 and Peter Gabriel, on Wrecking Ball Lanois taps into the very essence of what makes Harris tick – the gossamer vocals, the flawless phrasing – while also opening up innumerable new avenues for her talents to explore. The songs shimmer and swirl, given life through Lanois’ trademark ringing guitar textures and the almost primal drumming of U2’s Larry Mullen. The fixed point remains Harris’s voice, which leaps into each and every one of these diverse compositions – culled from the pens of Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Steve Earle, and others – with utter fearlessness, as if this were the album she’d been waiting her entire life to make. Maybe it is.
- The Damned The Rockfield Files
- In 1980–81,The Damned went to Rockfield studios for a series of sessions that eventually became The Black Album, the Friday 13th EP & Strawberries. Their time there produced some of the Damned’s greatest musical moments and memorable stories of horses, cows, vampires, rifles and Lemmy.
- In 2019 The Damned returned to Rockfield to record the first new music since 2018’s Top Ten “Evil Spirits” album. The line-up included three out of the four Damned members that were at the original sessions – David Vanian, Captain Sensible and Paul Gray. There was also Monty Oxymoron on keyboards and Pinch on drums. Unbeknown to the band, this was to be the last recordings with the long-time drummer Pinch, who departed The Damned after their legendary show at The London Palladium, last Halloween.
- Tom Petty Wildflowers & All The Rest
- 16 October sees the release of an expanded version of Tom Petty’s seminal album Wildflowers. Entitled Wildflowers & All The Rest, this release finally gathers together all 25 songs from the original recording sessions: the 15 songs from Wildflowers, plus All The Rest – the 10 songs that were left off the original release.
- The deluxe editions of the CD and vinyl also adds the Home Recordings disc which includes 15 intimate demos of the songs recorded solo by Tom, plus Wildflowers Live – 14 songs played live by Tom and the Heartbreakers from 1995 to 2017.
- Tracklist: CD1: Original Album. CD2: All The Rest. CD3: Home Recordings. CD4: Wildflowers Live.
- Katie Melua Album No.8
- Katie Melua’s brand new studio album, Album No. 8, is a record that represents the culmination of a prolonged period of musical rediscovery by one of Britain’s most successful musical artists, who has received over 56 platinum awards.
- The Deluxe CD is housed in a casebound 24-page book and fold-out concertina poster. The LP is pressed on black 140g vinyl and is housed in a wide-spine gatefold sleeve, with two-fold square poster. Neither version uses any plastic in the packaging.
Releases for 9 October 2020
As the weather turns colder, 9 October brings some hot new releases to warm your ears at least. Ozric Tentacles’ latest exploratory and diverse musical adventure Space For The Earth comprises seven new tracks inspired by the landscape surrounding Ed Wynne’s Scottish studio, with lockdown providing space for the Earth to breathe again and for people to rediscover its healing frequency. “My story begins with the moon,” says Emmy The Great of her latest album, April. “In Spring 2017, I visited China and realised that Hong Kong, my birthplace, had an identity quite separate from the mainland, and I began to come to terms with that identity, which I’ve always felt complicated about.” Nobody Lives Here Anymore, the latest and greatest from Max Clarke as Cut Worms, is the haunted reverie of a deserted American landscape, as well as a snow globe of mid-twentieth-century popular music filled with chiming guitars, honkey-tonk pianos and Telstar organs. 10 Songs, the brand-new album from Travis, holds you in its own emotional microclimate at the outset and keeps you there. It’s also a grown-up record about the way life comes at love and what love does to weather those challenges. The Best Of Rory Gallagher features the most legendary songs compiled from across his extraordinary recording career, from his seminal first band Taste through to his last studio album Fresh Evidence (1992). The 2-CD version even unearths a never-heard-before out-take featuring Rory from Jerry Lee Lewis’ 1973 London Sessions.
Our release of the week comes from Leeds’ finest, Foals, who have consistently explored their interest in dance and electronica and now chart the most essential remixes from their career in Collected Reworks Vol 1, remixed by an eclectic range of artists who have uncovered new angles to Foals’ discography. It’s a fresh perspective on the band’s music that’s well worth hearing.
- Foals Collected Reworks
- From their early days hosting parties in Oxford through to the huge success of their two-part Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost album, Foals have consistently explored their interest in dance and electronica. Now the band chart the most essential remixes from their career so far in the new remix package Collected Reworks Vol 1.
- The tracks on this set feature an eclectic range of artists who have uncovered new angles to Foals’ discography. It includes one of the earliest remixes of their music, in which Ewan Pearson blends Balearic bliss into ‘Olympic Airways’, as well as Solomun’s huge version of ‘Late Night’, which has been viewed over 50 million times at YouTube. Another standout moment is Hot Chip’s inventive interpretation of ‘My Number’.
- Note: the three discs in this set are pressed on mint green, yellow and pink vinyl.
- Ozric Tentacles Space For Earth
- Written, programmed, recorded and produced throughout 2019–20 by Ed Wynne in Blue Bubble Studios by the sea, Ozric Tentacles’ latest exploratory and diverse musical adventure Space For The Earth comprises seven new tracks spanning 45 minutes. Inspired by the Scottish hills, valleys and beaches surrounding his studio, Wynne feels that lockdown in a strange kind of way has provided space for the Earth to breathe for a while and for people to rediscover its resonant healing frequency. “This is space music for people from the Earth to enjoy.”
- Emmy The Great April
- “My story begins with the moon,” says Emmy The Great of her latest album, April. “In September 2017, I travelled to Hong Kong from New York, where I’d lived for three years, for the mid-autumn festival. I was planning to visit my parents and take some time off to write my fourth album. I arrived in time for the full moon – Chang-E’s moon – at a time of year when the heat breaks and the city seems alive with possibility.
- That Spring, I’d visited China and accidentally become somewhat fluent in Cantonese again, though the goal had been to speak Mandarin. I was there for a music residency, and had expected to feel an instant click. Instead, I realised that Hong Kong had an identity quite separate from the mainland, and with my mother tongue reinstated, I was beginning to come to terms with that identity being a part of mine. This was tough – I was born in Hong Kong but I’ve always felt complicated about it.”
- Cut Worms Nobody Lives Here Anymore
- The shopping malls have closed down, the dressing rooms are filled with ghosts, and the carousel is covered in cobwebs. Nobody Lives Here Anymore, the latest and greatest from Max Clarke as Cut Worms, is the haunted reverie of an American landscape in and out of Clarke’s mind. Recorded between May and November 2019 in Memphis, Tennessee, the album is a snow globe of mid-twentieth-century popular music filled with chiming guitars, honkey-tonk pianos and Telstar organs. A constant creator – be it his Cut Worms alter-ego or his day-job illustration work (designing brand logos and beer labels with madhouse technicolor pictures) – writing and making records has always been Max’s driving force. So after an extensive eighteen-month tour in support of 2017’s Alien Sunset and 2018’s Hollow Ground, he set about sifting through the fragments and sketches of tunes he’d accumulated, along with a jet stream of new compositions, mining his life-long devotion to the lost American songbook for inspiration. By the time he flew to Memphis to work with producer Matt Ross-Spang at Sam Phillips Studio, he’d stockpiled more than thirty new songs.
- Travis 10 Songs
- 10 Songs, the brand-new album from Travis, holds you in its own emotional microclimate at the outset and keeps you there. It’s also a grown-up record about the way life comes at love and what love does to weather those challenges. Every track on this album carries an even load. No passengers here. Nowhere to hide.
- The deluxe versions include an extra disc containing demo versions of the 10 songs. The deluxe CD comes in a clamshell box, and the deluxe LPs are pressed on coloured vinyl: 1 red and 1 blue.
- Rory Gallagher The Best Of
- The Best Of Rory Gallagher features the most legendary songs compiled from across his extraordinary recording career, from his seminal first band Taste through to his last studio album Fresh Evidence (1992). Unearthed from the archives is a special bonus track on the 2-CD version of the collection, a never-heard-before out-take featuring Rory singing and playing the Rolling Stones’ hit ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ with the legendary Jerry Lee Lewis from Lewis’ 1973 London Sessions.
Releases for 2 October 2020
Our pick of 2 October’s new releases start with Live Around The World, which presents a compilation of concert highlights from Queen + Adam Lambert captured the world over, with several available for the very first time. Good Luck With Whatever, the seventh studio album by the Los Angeles-based rock band Dawes, sets a tone all its own with a real live feel: it’s fresh, it’s raw, it’s a four-tiered seafood tower of all-American ear candy. After a ten-year spell in the house underground, Groove Armada are back with the eleven-track melting pot Edge Of The Horizon, with a stylistic thread lying somewhere between Hall and Oates, Prince and Roxy Music. Shiver is the exciting and beautiful second solo record from Sigur Rós frontman Jónsi, who teamed up with iconoclastic producer A.G. Cook of the PC music collective in what proved to be a perfect collaboration. Rodrigo y Gabriela bring their Grammy-winning latest album to the live arena with thrilling results: Mettavolution Live captures the Mexican acoustic guitar masters in all their blazing glory, playing right at the top of their game to a passionate audience.
Our album of the week is Us + Them, which presents the powerful music of Roger Waters – founder member and main creative force behind Pink Floyd – in stunning form. The album chronicles Waters’ acclaimed 2017–2018 tour and highlights a message of human rights, liberty and love, and is well worth a listen.
- Roger Waters Us + Them
- Us + Them presents the powerful music of Roger Waters, founder member and creative force behind Pink Floyd, in stunning form. The album chronicles Waters’ acclaimed 2017–2018 tour and highlights a message of human rights, liberty and love.
- Queen + Adam Lambert Live Around The World
- As hinted at in interviews recently, Queen + Adam Lambert have now confirmed they will release their first-ever live album, Live Around The World. The set presents a compilation of concert highlights captured the world over personally selected by Taylor, May and Lambert from over 200 shows they have performed, with several featured here becoming available for the very first time.
- Dawes Good Luck With Whatever
- From the first downbeat, Good Luck With Whatever, the seventh studio album by the Los Angeles-based rock band Dawes, sets a tone all its own. The album unfurls with the crunchy chordal cadence of what could only be Taylor Goldsmith’s guitar. As the band quickly hop their way aboard this rhythmic rail car, we find ourselves thinking “Hey, these guys are pretty good. I’m so glad you dragged me to see some live music!” – ‘Still Feel Like A Kid’ serves as a reminder that we all love a good fillet steak, but there’s no shame in still ordering off the kids’ menu from time to time. You can hear the eye contact in the room, you can see the lyrics as they fly from Goldsmith’s mouth straight into your ears, you’ll find yourself singing along to a song you’re hearing for the first time. It’s fresh, it’s raw, it’s a four-tiered seafood tower of all-American ear candy. Think ‘I Don’t Wanna Grow Up, I’m A Toys R Us Kid’ meets ‘I Wanna Be Sedated’.
- Groove Armada Edge Of The Horizon
- After a ten-year spell back in the house underground, Groove Armada’s Tom Findlay and Andy Cato are back with the eleven-track Edge Of The Horizon. As with all Groove Armada albums, it’s a melting pot of styles, but in contrast to the guitar-laden sound of the Grammy-nominated album Black Light, the uniting stylistic thread here lies somewhere between Hall and Oates, Prince and Roxy Music. Groove Armada’s flair for blending electro elements with the energy of a live band remains at the heart of the record.
- Jonsi Shiver
- Shiver is the exciting and beautiful second solo record from LA-based Sigur Rós frontman Jónsi. Not too long ago Jónsi was travelling through London where he met up with iconoclastic producer A.G. Cook, whom he admired for his boundary-breaking work with the PC music collective. He had no expectation of the meeting, but the more they talked, the more he realized they might be perfect collaborators. “I’ve been doing this for 30 years,” Jónsi says. “I get tired of everything really easily. I always want things to be fun and exciting and fresh, and doing another album … I just wanted to have a different approach.”
- Rodrigo y Gabriela Mettavolution Live
- Rodrigo y Gabriela bring their Grammy-winning latest album Mettavolution to the live arena with thrilling results. Recorded on their 2019 world tour, Mettavolution Live captures the Mexican acoustic guitar masters in all their blazing glory. Featuring, as it does, all the songs from the latest record, including their epic, no-safety-net, version of Pink Floyd’s ‘Echoes’. Add in some of Rod and Gab’s biggest hits, with the dazzling duo playing right at the top of their game, plus a passionate audience and it all comes together as the ultimate live album from one of the world’s most beloved live acts.
Releases for 25 September 2020
Our pick of 25 September’s releases start with This Dream Of You, on which Diana Krall performs variously in a quartet, a trio, duos both with a bassist and pianist, and an ensemble featuring guitar, fiddle, bass and drums – it’s music that’s both immediate and a slow burn. Blue Hearts is the fourteenth solo album by the former Hüsker Dü and Sugar frontman Bob Mould, and is “the catchiest batch of protest songs I’ve ever written in one sitting,” and indeed here are some of the most direct, confrontational lyrics of his four-decade career. Back with their first new album in 12 years, a confident and revitalised ACR jumped back into the studio following their most successful tour in over 20 years to produce ACR Loco, an album to dance to, cry to, fall in love to and most importantly, to party to. Universal Beings E&F Sides brings us fourteen new pieces of organic beat music from the sessions that produced Chicago-based drummer/producer Makaya McCraven’s critically acclaimed 2018 release. By The Fire, the seventh solo album from Sonic Youth front-man Thurston Moore, was being produced in London right up until the third week of March 2020 when Covid lock-down was imposed and features Deb Googe, Jon Leidecker aka Wobble, James Sedwards, Steve Shelley and Jem Doulton.
Our release of the week comes from the highly acclaimed IDLES, whose third album, Ultra Mono, doubles down on the vitriolic sneer and blunt social commentary of their past work. Not far beneath the surface of their self-admitted sloganeering lies a deeply complex and brutally relevant album that chews up clichés and spits them out as high art for the masses.
- IDLES Ultra Mono
- Following Brutalism (2017) and Joy as an Act of Resistance (2018), two releases that garnered global critical acclaim, IDLES return with their highly anticipated third album, Ultra Mono. Sonically constructed to capture the feeling of a hip-hop record (including production contribution from Kenny Beats), the album doubles down on the vitriolic sneer and blunt social commentary of their past work. Not far beneath the surface of their self-admitted sloganeering lies a deeply complex and brutally relevant album that chews up clichés and spits them out as high art for the masses. This is momentary acceptance of the self. This is Ultra Mono.
- Tracklist: / 1. War / 2. Grounds / 3. Mr. Motivator / 4. Anxiety / 5. Kill Them With Kindness / 6. Model Village / 7. Ne Touche Pas Moi / 8. Carcinogenic / 9. Reigns / 10. The Lover / 11. A Hymn / 12. Danke
- Diana Krall This Dream Of You
- This Dream Of You was produced in May 2020 by Diana Krall from sessions recorded in 2016 and 2017, on which she worked with her friend and longtime creative partner, Tommy LiPuma. The album features Krall in a quartet with long-time colleagues, John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton and Anthony Wilson on ‘Almost Like Being In Love’ and ‘That’s All’, as well as a trio with Christian McBride and Russell Malone on ‘Autumn In New York’ and ‘There’s No You’. The duos include a wonderful first-take performance of ‘I Wished On The Moon’ from Krall and bassist John Clayton, and two vocal cuts – ‘More Than You Know’ and ‘Don’t Smoke In Bed’ with accompaniment by pianist Alan Broadbent, who also provided the string orchestration for ‘But Beautiful’ and string arrangement on ‘Autumn In New York’. The final session for this album took place at Capitol Studios with an ensemble featuring guitarist Marc Ribot, the fiddle of Stuart Duncan and a rhythm section of Tony Garnier on bass and Karriem Riggins on drums. This Dream Of You is music for right now but it is also a “long playing record”, one that feels like a movie that you might share with someone because you know they’ll stay with it until the final reel. As Diana says, “If ‘But Beautiful’ is the overture, then ‘Singing In The Rain’ is the end title.”
- Bob Mould Blue Hearts
- Blue Hearts is the fourteenth solo album by the former Hüsker Dü and Sugar frontman Bob Mould – the raging-but-catchy yin to the yang of 2019’s Sunshine Rock. Where that album was Mould’s most melodic and upbeat album in ages, he describes Blue Hearts as “the catchiest batch of protest songs I’ve ever written in one sitting.” Through some of the most direct, confrontational lyrics of his four-decade career, Mould makes his point of view clear: “I never thought I’d see this bullshit again / To come of age in the ’80s was bad enough / We were marginalized and demonized / I watched a lot of my generation die / Welcome back to American crisis.”
- A Certain Ratio ACR Loco
- Back with their first new album in 12 years, a confident and revitalised ACR jumped back into the studio following their most successful tour in over 20 years. ACR Loco feels like an accumulation of ACR’s DNA from point zero in 1977 through to 2020 and sounds like a band who have effortlessly perfected their craft. An album to dance to, cry to, fall in love to and most importantly, to party to. On the album, core ACR members Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop and Donald Johnson are joined by long-term partners Tony Quigley, Denise Johnson and Matt Steele, plus special guests Sink Ya Teeth’s Maria Uzor and Gemma Cullingford, Factory Floor’s Gabe Gurnsey and Manchester luminaries Mike Joyce and Eric Random.
- Makaya McCraven Universal Beings E&F Sides
- Universal Beings E&F Sides is an addendum to Chicago-based drummer/producer Makaya McCraven’s critically acclaimed 2018 release Universal Beings, which The New York Times said “affirms the drummer and beatsmith’s position as a major figure in creative music.” But it’s more than a simple extra disc: here are fourteen new pieces of organic beat music cut from the original sessions, prepared and produced by Makaya as a soundtrack to the Universal Beings documentary film.
- Thurston Moore By The Fire
- By The Fire, the seventh solo album from Sonic Youth front-man Thurston Moore, features musicians Deb Googe (My Bloody Valentine) on bass and backing vocals, Jon Leidecker aka Wobbly (of Negativland) on electronics, James Sedwards on guitar, and Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley and Jem Doulton alternating on drums. ‘Hashish’ is the first single from the album to be released and is described by Moore as “an ode to the narcotic of love in our shared responsibility to each other during isolation.” Prior to isolation during the Covid pandemic, Thurston worked in recording studios in North London until the third week of March 2020 to complete this album.
Releases for 11 September 2020
The first of 11 September’s releases comes from Everything Everything, whose approach to Re-Animator was to streamline the creative process by focusing on harmonies and melodies over synths and programming. Inspiration came thick and fast: wonderment at the wider world despite the horror of its politics; existentialism and the prolonged, if fading, youthfulness of being in a touring band; and the ominous threat of climate change. Produced by P J Harvey with Flood and John Parish, and originally released in February 1995, To Bring You My Love features the singles ‘Down By The Water’, ‘C’mon Billy’ and ‘Send His Love To Me’. The album – which celebrates its 25th Anniversary this year – received wide critical acclaim on release, with nominations for Grammy Awards and the Mercury Music Prize. The accompanying 10-track collection of previously unreleased demos features brand new artwork with previously unseen photos by Maria Mochnacz. Is Love Enough? is Stone Foundation’s sixth studio album continues their fruitful collaboration with Paul Weller, who contributes vocals and guitar on several tracks. Actor Peter Capaldi provides a spoken word coda to the album, and two rising stars of the soul scene, Durand Jones and Laville, sing lead vocals on a track each. The first three albums by Richard & Linda Thompson get a welcome reissue on LP. Their debut, I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight is a dark and eclectic affair with very little light, despite the uplifting and almost commercial nature of the title track. Hokey Pokey is a much jollier release than its predecessor: a mixture of darkly comic songs and more world-weary, sombre numbers. Pour Down Like Silver, also known as the Sufi album due to Richard’s recent conversion to Islam, is more restrained and spartan, and contains some of Richard’s most beautiful songs and some beautiful guitar work.
- Everything Everything Re-Animator
- The band’s approach to Re-Animator was to streamline the creative process by focusing on harmonies and melodies over synths and programming. Inspiration came thick and fast: wonderment at the wider world despite the horror of its politics; existentialism and the prolonged, if fading, youthfulness of being in a touring band; and the ominous threat of climate change. All things which contribute to a sense of one door closing while another awaits.
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- P J Harvey To Bring You My Love
- To Bring You My Love LP £24.99
- Stone Foundation Is Love Enough?
- Is Love Enough? Is Stone Foundation’s sixth studio album and was recorded at Paul Weller’s Black Barn Studios in Surrey and produced by Stone Foundation’s founding members Neil Jones and Neil Sheasby. It continues their fruitful collaboration with Paul Weller, who produced 2017’s Street Rituals and played on 2018’s Everybody Anyone – both of which have streaming figures in the millions. Paul contributes lead vocals to ‘Deeper Love’ and also prominent backing vocals on ‘Picture A Life’, and plays guitar on three other tracks. Stone Foundation are renowned for their collaborative approach and this time is no exception. Legendary actor Peter Capaldi provides a spoken word coda to the album, reading words by Vincent Van Gogh written about love. Additionally, two rising stars of the soul scene feature on the record. Durand Jones joins for a lead vocal on ‘Hold On To Love’ and Laville sings lead on ‘The Light In Us’.
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- Richard & Linda Thompson The First Three Albums
- I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight LP £21.99
Releases for 4 September 2020
We’ve got a little batch of gems for you released on 4 September. For his first record in just over a year, Bill Callahan has given us an album on which each of the songs has a standalone feel, like singles, giving you a sudden, deep encounter from start to finish. And what better title for a record full of singles – and let’s face it, hit singles, at that – than Gold Record. Sun Racket is Boston trio Throwing Muses’ follow-up to 2013’s Purgatory/Paradise, and it’s an outpouring of modal guitars, reverbed shapes, echoey drums and driving bass set behind Kristen Hersh’s well-thumbed notebook of storylines and haunting vocals that get into your psyche. The Pineapple Thief raises the bar again, with one of the most important albums of 2020. Versions Of The Truth represents a conceptual progression from Dissolution (a contemplation on our ‘post-truth’ world) and lyrically tackles similar themes, but from a more personal perspective. Oranges & Lemons gets the loving 200g-vinyl touch, remastered by Jason Mitchell at Loud Mastering with input from Andy Partridge, and fully approved by XTC. The album was released towards the end of the first vinyl era and was, as a result, never available as a decent quality pressing until now. All Them Witches have built a career out of playing music that cannot be pigeonholed into one specific genre. Nothing As The Ideal features the band’s signature psychedelic blues riffs, relentless drums, melodic bass lines and non-linear lyrics, resulting in a thought-provoking head-banger that is the band’s most cohesive album to date.
Our release of the week is A Dark Murmuration Of Words from the wonderful Emily Barker, which contends with a modern era built on racial and gender inequality, poverty and slavery, environmental exploitation and the climate crisis, finding them all connected by the dark shadow of patriarchy, pursuits of power, and the suppression of history. Barker draws connections between the familial, the local, and the global.
- Emily Barker A Dark Murmuration Of Words
- A Dark Murmuration Of Words contends with a modern era built on racial and gender inequality, poverty and slavery, environmental exploitation and the climate crisis, finding them all connected by the dark shadow of patriarchy, pursuits of power, and the suppression of history. “Finding meaning becomes challenging with the deafening clamour of social media in this age of fake news,” says Emily Barker, “but it’s important to try discerning the patterns, learning to pay attention to things closer to home as well as to overwhelming global issues.” Referencing Emily Dickinson’s assertion that “If you take care of the small things, the big things take care of themselves,” Barker draws connections between the familial, the local, and the global.
- Bill Callahan Gold Record
- For his first record in … uh, well, just a little over a year(!), Bill Callahan has given us his first Gold Record. They can’t all be gold, and they’re not all six years apart either – all good! You could probably call the album ‘Gold Records’, too: all the songs have a standalone feel, like singles, meant for you to have a deep encounter with all of a sudden, from the start of the song to the finish. And what do you got when you have a record full of singles – and let’s face it, hit singles, at that? That’s a Gold Record for you.
- Throwing Muses Sun Racket
- Sun Racket is Boston trio Throwing Muses’ follow-up to 2013’s Purgatory/Paradise, and it’s an outpouring of modal guitars, reverbed shapes, echoey drums and driving bass set behind Kristen Hersh’s well-thumbed notebook of storylines and haunting vocals that get into your psyche.
- The Pineapple Thief Versions Of The Truth
- With the release of their new album, The Pineapple Thief raise their exceptional standards further, having produced what may be one of the most important albums of 2020. Versions Of The Truth represents a conceptual progression from Dissolution (a contemplation on our ‘post-truth’ world) and lyrically tackles similar themes, but from a more personal perspective. Reflecting on how there can be more than one ‘version of the truth’, the album’s songs revolve around the impact the media can have on our lives and the people we love. Recording began at Bourne Place in London and Soord Studios in Yeovil after the band had completed its US tour (October 2019 to April 2020), with engineering handled by Bruce Soord and Gavin Harrison. The album has been mastered by Steve Kitch.
- XTC Oranges & Lemons
- Oranges & Lemons is the eighth in a series of classic XTC albums to be issued on 200g vinyl. The album has been mastered by Jason Mitchell at Loud Mastering with input from Andy Partridge, and is fully approved by XTC. Oranges & Lemons is one of the most requested vinyl reissues as it was only on vinyl for a short period towards the end of the first vinyl era and was, as a result, never available as a decent quality pressing and poorly presented in a single sleeve. The sleeve has been re-worked to present the front colour image in all its psychedelic glory – and expanded to a gatefold to accommodate both the weight of the vinyl and the inclusion of song lyrics.
- All Them Witches Nothing As The Ideal
- All Them Witches have built a career out of playing music that cannot be pigeonholed into one specific genre. Nothing As The Ideal was recorded in Studio 2 at the world-famous Abbey Road with the help of long-time mixing engineer Mikey Allred. The history and vibe of that setting laid the groundwork for what was to come. The band’s signature psychedelic blues riffs, relentless drums, melodic bass lines and non-linear lyrics are all present. The resulting album is a thought-provoking head-banger that is the band’s most cohesive album to date.
Other releases for 2020
Find releases from 2021 | 2019.
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