PREORDER UPCOMING RELEASES

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DRAIN – the Santa Cruz, CA based hardcore band, whose energetic live shows have propelled them to peak underground popularity (during a global pandemic) and they are ready to break wide open in 2023.

Living Proof is the band’s Epitaph Records debut and follow up to their 2020 breakout release, California Cursed. The new album is a testament to the hard work and heartfelt ethos that’s at the center of DRAIN’s good-time psyche. There are a couple surprises on the album. Rapper Shakewell appears on the track, “Intermission”. There’s also a cover of “Good, Good Things,” a nearly four-decade old melodic punk carol by the Descendents: slam-pit forebearers to DRAIN if there ever were any. “It’s crazy because the song’s been out like forty years, but lyrically it’s a DRAIN song!” exclaims vocalist Sam Ciaramitaro. “It just hits on everything that I love, that I’m about.”

What Sammy’s about is plenty wholesome. “I hope with this record that when someone hears it, it gives them hope,” beams. “If we were able to get through the tough times, anyone can. I can’t wait to play these songs and hear a room full of people singing back to us. We’re what the title says, the Living Proof.”

Produced by longtime friend and multi-instrumentalist Taylor Young (God’s Hate, Suicide Silence), then mixed by John Markson (Drug Church, Koyo), this is hardcore for everybody. “As the band gets bigger, I try and keep that feeling alive,” says the smiling singer. “Every night I set up the merch and run it until it’s time to play. I want to be the guy that everyone says hello to. I want to thank every single kid that comes out for being there.”

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Four Tet

Sixteen Oceans [LP]

Vinyl: $32.98 UNAVAILABLE

This is the new Four Tet album on double vinyl format. Pressed on 100% virgin black vinyl at RTI, packaged in a Stoughton full-color old-style tip-on gatefold jacket.

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Phoebe Bridgers doesn’t write love songs as much as songs about the impact love can have on our lives, personalities, and priorities. Punisher, her fourth release and second solo album, is concerned with that subject. To say she writes about heartbreak is to undersell her blue wisdom, to say she writes about pain erases all the strange joy her music emanates. The arrival of Punisher cements Phoebe Bridgers as one of the most clever, tender and prolific songwriters of our era.

Bridgers is the rare artist with enough humor to deconstruct her own meteoric rise. Repeatedly praised by publications like The New Yorker, The New York Times, GQ, Pitchfork, The Fader, The Los Angeles Times and countless others, Bridgers herself is more interested in discussing topics on Twitter, deadpanning meditations on the humiliating process of being a person, she presents a sweetly funny flipside to the strikingly sad songs she writes. Fittingly, Punisher is fascinated with, and driven by, that kind of impossible tension. Whether it’s writing tweets or songs, Bridgers’s singular talent lies in bringing fierce curiosity to slimy and painful things, interrogating them until they yield up answers that are beautiful and absurd, or faithfully reporting the reality that, sometimes, they are neither.

Bridgers pulls together a formidable crew of guests, including the Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, Christian Lee Hutson and Conor Oberst as well as Nathaniel Walcott (of Bright Eyes), Nick Zinner (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Jenny Lee Lindberg (of Warpaint), Blake Mills and Jim Keltner as well as her longtime bandmates Marshall Vore (drums), Harrison Whitford (guitar), Emily Retsas (bass) and Nick White (keys). The album was mixed by Mike Mogis, who also mixed Stranger In The Alps.

On the album’s epic, freewheeling closer, “I Know The End,” Bridgers orchestrates wails and horns, drums and electric guitar into a sumptuous doomsday swirl, culminating in her own final whispered roar. This is Punisher in a nutshell: devastating elegance punctuated by a moment of deeply campy self-awareness. 

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Lucky For You is Bully's most close-to-the-bone album yet. It's an album that's searing and unmistakably marked by it's creator's experiences, while still retaining the massive sound that Alicia Bognanno has become known for over the last decade. Her fourth album draws from personal pain and the universal struggle that is existing, learning, and moving on-and it's all soundtracked by Bognanno's rock-solid melodic sensibilities and a widescreen sound that's impossible to pin down when it comes to the textures explored. These ten songs are simply the most irresistible Bognanno's put to tape yet, making Lucky For You her greatest triumph to date in a career already packed with them. Work on Lucky For You began last year, when Bognanno brought some in-progress demos to producer J.T. Daly in his Nashville studio to see if they could strike creative kismet. "Authenticity is always on my mind, without even knowing it," she explains while discussing their recording process together. "It was g
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Jenny Lewis’ fifth solo album, Joy’All finds the singer-songwriter embarking on a new era, in a new town—and on a new label, as she joins the iconic roster of Blue Note/Capitol Records. While Joy’All pulls from a bounty of sonic inspiration–from classic soul to ‘90s R&B, from country legends to Jenny’s singer-songwriter peers–the album’s rich and intimate, warm live sound is the hallmark of eight-time GRAMMY-winning producer Dave Cobb. Joy’All was recorded at Nashville's historic RCA Studio A.

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"I Want It All Right Now" was produced by Grammy-winning producer John Congleton. They will be embarking on a North American stadium/arena tour with pop superstar P!nk. Los Angeles' Grouplove blend a quirky, '90s-style indie rock sensibility with a spirited, arena-ready roar. It's a sound they debuted on 2011's Never Trust a Happy Song, which spawned the number one Billboard Alternative Songs Chart hit "Tongue Tied." They have continued to straddle mainstream and indie success, playing festivals around the globe and remaining Top 20 Billboard Alternative chart regulars with albums like 2013's Spreading Rumours and 2020's Healer. In March 2021, Grouplove returned with their surprise fifth album, This Is This.

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Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real are back with Sticks and Stones, releasing 7/14 via 6ACE Records / Thirty Tigers. This self-produced, honest and emotional new album highlights Nelson's strength as a songwriter and the band's uncompromising commitment to clarity, compassionate tones, and exceptional melodic moments. Lyrically, Sticks and Stones spans the themes of Drinking, Heartbreak, Love, Lying, Hope, Nature, Self-Reflection, Work-Life Balance, Settling Down, Home, Time, Longing and more.

Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real - Sticks and Stones [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Dark Blue w/ White Swirl LP]
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As Milky Chance prepare to share the idiosyncratic and inventive alt-pop songs that populate their new album Living In A Haze, they proudly boast over 10 million monthly Spotify listeners, an enviable touring resume (including stops at Coachella and Lollapalooza), and an upcoming schedule of world-trotting 2023 dates featuring the biggest shows of their career. Over the past decade, they've proven themselves to be, in their own low-key way, one of the biggest bands in the world. Their runaway hit debut "Stolen Dance" - which recently surpassed over 1 billion streams on Spotify - gifted Rehbein and Dausch with a platform far beyond what the duo could have imagined. They capitalized on that momentum with their 2014 debut Sadnecessary, which broke them as a global streaming and touring act, and followed that up with 2017's Blossom and 2019's Mind The Moon, which found them taking advantage of new resources to collaborate with heroes like Jack Johnson and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. On their independent debut Living In A Haze, Milky Chance thrive on writing the tightest, most groove-forward alt-pop songs imaginable - and then going back and distorting each sound into it's wildest iteration. Recorded at Jazzanova Recording Studios in Berlin with production help from DECCO, Jonas Holle, Tobias Kuhn, and Dennis Neuer as well as guest appearances from Fatoumata Diawara and Charlotte Cardin, Living In A Haze applies the band's endless musical curiosity to the propulsive logic of the best club music while delivering masterful songcraft. There are sublime moments throughout: Album opener and lead single "Living In A Haze" is an economical haymaker of a track that unfolds with an enigmatic logic, going from elegiac triplet guitar figure to a tight, post-Strokes rhythmic feel that provides the ideal musical metaphor to accompany Rehbein's dreamy delivery. Afrobeat rhythms power both "Flicker In The Dark" and "Feeling For You" - on the first providing a canvas on which to liberally splatter earthy acoustic textures and a cartoonishly colorful guitar solo, on the second lending a swiveling counterpoint to a narcotized vocal. And on "History Of Yesterday," Milky Chance marry a UKG shuffle with sunny atmospherics and cascades of reverberating piano to propel the band's breeziest chorus to date. Living In A Haze vibrates with possibility and passion - it's a thrilling juncture for band as they look forward to a heavy touring schedule in 2023 and beyond.
Milky Chance - Living In A Haze [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Ocean Blue LP]
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Over the past 20 years, The New Pornographers have proven themselves one of the most excellent bands in indie rock. They've constantly offered new sonic surprises with every album, and Continue as a Guest is their greatest leap to date. The group's ninth album and first for Merge establishes them alongside modern luminaries like Yo La Tengo and Superchunk when it comes to their ability to evolve while still retaining what made them so special in the first place. A dazzling and intriguing collection of songs that are truly built to last, Continue as a Guest finds bandleader A.C. Newman and his compatriots Neko Case, Kathryn Calder, John Collins, Todd Fancey, and Joe Seiders exploring fresh territory and shattering the barriers of their collective comfort zone.
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Recorded at the band's show at the world-famous Wembley Stadium on 6th July 2019, The Who performed many of their greatest hits as well as songs from their acclaimed recent studio album with the help of the Isobel Griffiths Ltd Orchestra, which gave a new perspective to some of their best-loved material.

This release is available as a 2-CD + Blu-Ray containing an Atmos mix of the entire album and a 3-LP black vinyl edition. Both are housed in a trifold sleeve with an extensive booklet containing multiple photos from rehearsals, backstage, and the show.

The Who - The Who - With Orchestra Live At Wembley [3LP]
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During the 1980 spring/summer tour, Frank Zappa played a set at his favorite NYC nightclub - the famous Mudd Club. Zappa adored the place and ever wrote a song dedicated to it. The complete performance is included on two 45rpm 180-gram vinyl LPs and mastered by Bernie Grundman in 2022. The package features photography and memoir from George Alper (who worked for Frank Zappa and was at the event), along with liner notes from Arthur Barrow, Steve Vai and `Vaultmeister' Joe Travers.

Also Available: Zappa '80: Mudd Club/Munich [3CD], Zappa ’80: Mudd Club [2LP]

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This historic 1980 Munich concert has the distinction of being the first-ever live, direct-to-digital stereo recording of Zappa. The show was the last of the spring/summer tour with the group playing at peak performance. The entire show is featured on three 180-gram LPs and mastered by Bernie Grundman in 2022. The package features photography and memoir from George Alper (who worked for Frank Zappa), along with liner notes from Arthur Barrow and `Vaultmeister' Joe Travers.

Also Available: Zappa '80: Mudd Club/Munich [3CD], Zappa ’80: Mudd Club [2LP]

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Formed in 2003, The Hold Steady have released eight albums, numerous singles and played over 1000 shows. Their 9th studio album ‘The Price of Progress’ will be released on 3/31 via their label, Positive Jams. The new album comes as the band turns 20 years old. It is their third record with producer Josh Kaufman, and most expansive record yet, while also being unmistakably a THS record. The band wrote these songs mostly in 2021, and a few have been part of recent live shows. Craig Finn says “These are some of the most cinematic songs in The Hold Steady catalog, and the record was a joy to make. I feel like we went somewhere we haven’t before, which is a very exciting thing for a band that is two decades in.”

The Brooklyn-based band has performed in all 50 states in the USA and throughout Canada, Europe and Australia.  The Hold Steady music has appeared across movies, advertising and TV, including on Game Of Thrones and Billions, in addition to writing original material for Seth Meyers cartoon The Awesomes and Meyers’ 2019 stand-up comedy special Lobby Baby.

Released in early 2021, The Hold Steady’s most recent record Open Door Policy, achieved the band’s highest chart position of any album, debuting #6 on the Billboard Current Album Chart. Vulture gushed the record “expands their horizons,” and “gives the Hold Steady new heft and variety without undercutting the sharpness of the hooks or singer-guitarist Craig Finn’s heart-wrenching novelistic lyricism.”
 
The 20th Anniversary of The Hold Steady will see an expanded collection of activities and music release to celebrate the milestone with fans.  Year five of The Weekender, The Hold Steady’s annual visit to the UK with a 3-night stop in London, occurs March 10-12, 2023.  

The Hold Steady is: Bobby Drake (drums), Craig Finn (vocals), Tad Kubler (guitar, vocals), Franz Nicolay (keyboards, vocals), Galen Polivka (bass), and Steve Selvidge (guitar, vocals).
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“I felt a Funeral, in my Brain” is a rare duet in Andrew Bird’s deep discography. He and Phoebe Bridgers join forces to share a haunting reimagination of the Emily Dickinson poem, “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain.” Sparse and spectral, the arrangement pairs chilling, swelling shrieks of strings with the slight strum of guitar, as Bird and Bridgers trade verses and soar in harmony over Dickinson’s words. And paired with a B-Side rarity, "The Twistable, Turnable Man Returns", Andrew's tribute to the Shel Silverstein poem.

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With over 12 billion global streams, 4 billion official YouTube views, more than 53 million followers across social media platforms, and 27 million videos posted on socials using her music, Melanie Martinez reemerges with a spellbinding new trailer heralding the arrival of her hugely anticipated new album, PORTALS. 
 
Martinez lifted the curtain on PORTALS earlier this week with an instantly viral TikTok video confirming the death of her notorious alter-ego “Cry Baby,” last seen considering whether to walk into the light at the beguiling conclusion of 2019’s internationally acclaimed full-length film, K-12. Today’s exclusive trailer – directed by Martinez and streaming now - now sees the appearance of a mysterious egg from which an enigmatic figure emerges. 
 
“Portals screams death is life is death is life is death is life. A continuous loop. A circle.” – MELANIE MARTINEZ
 
PORTALS marks the 27-year-old NYC-born singer-songwriter-filmmaker’s first full-length release in nearly four years following her 2 billion-streaming, RIAA Gold-certified second album, K-12, which proved a sensation upon its September 2019 release, entering the Billboard 200 at #3 – Martinez’s highest chart placement thus far – with further debuts at #1 on the Alternative album chart, and #1 on the Soundtrack album chart.

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In a time when the popular choice is to chase the double yellow line down the road to country radio, Boy Named Banjo thrives on its fringes. The Nashville-raised five-piece is a fusion of contemporary country, Americana and folk-rock stacked on a foundation of bluegrass. The band, which has been together in some iteration since members were in high school, includes Barton Davies (banjo), Ford Garrard (bass/standing bass), Sam McCullough (drums) Willard Logan (mandolin, acoustic/electric guitar) and William Reames (acoustic guitar/harmonica). Reames and Logan played in a middle school garage rock band together, but it wasn't until Reames met Davies in high school that Boy Named Banjo started taking shape. Garrard and McCullough joined later and together the five guys comprise the band Boy Named Banjo that we know today. Boy Named Banjo has crafted a sound that incorporates an energetic blend of country, bluegrass, alt-rock, and folk-pop telling their stories through an honest, emotional, roots-driven perspective. In April 2020, Boy Named Banjo signed a record deal with Mercury Records Nashville and released their debut EP, Circles, the following year. Boy Named Banjo spent 2022 on the road playing some of country music’s largest festivals including Dierks Bentley’s Seven Peaks and Country Jam, Kip Moore’s Fire on Wheels Tour, they made their CMA Fest debut playing at the Ascend Amphitheatre Nighttime Concert, and played a sold-out hometown show at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl. The band most recently released the tracks “Heart In Motion” and “Heart Attack,” and is currently prepping its next project to be released in spring of this year.

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HOPE is the 5th studio album from Billboard chart-topping, multi-platinum rapper, NF. Known for rapping quick-witted lyrics over hip hop beats & cinematic production, NF has built a loyal fanbase that has earned him over 30 billion global streams & established NF as one of the most consumed artists today. NF’s HOPE is a 13-track album boasting instant hits, such as “HAPPY” “MOTTO” & notable Grammy-nominated features with singer/songwriter Julia Michaels on “GONE,” & rapper Cordae on “CAREFUL”.

NF - HOPE [Limited Edition White 2LP]
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Double vinyl LP pressing. 2023 release, the third album from the Grammy-winning singer/songwriter and musician. Includes the singles "Do You Like Me?" and "Let Me Go."
Daniel Caesar - NEVER ENOUGH [2LP]
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De La Soul

De La Soul Is Dead [2LP]

Vinyl: $34.98 UNAVAILABLE
LP x 2, 140 gram black vinyl in custom printed sleeves in a customer printed jacket. de la Soul quickly became one of the most revered, game-changing artists in hip-hop and forever cemented their legacy in the hearts and minds of fans around the world. Despite their rapid success and recognition, de la Soul continued to prove themselves as one of the most original, authentic and creative groups in hip-hop, with the release of their sophomore album, de la Soul is Dead on May 14, 1991. Featuring once again, the production of visionary producer Prince Paul, their second album further fanned the flames; landing on charts around the world, receiving a five-mic rating in The Source and securing Gold status by the RIAA. To this day, the project is considered one of the groups best albums to date, having left fans with several certified classics like, "A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturdays", "Ring, Ring, Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" and "Keepin' the Faith".
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Meteora, Linkin Park’s ground-breaking second album, was released in March 2003 and included the global hit singles “Somewhere I Belong”, “Faint”, “Numb”, “Breaking The Habit” and “From The Inside.” It has sold over 8 million copies in the US and has been certified multi-platinum, platinum, or gold in 15 countries. 
 
To mark the 20th anniversary of this landmark release, it is being re-issued in multiple formats: Limited Edition Super Deluxe Box Set, 4 LP Deluxe Vinyl Box, 3-disc Deluxe CD and digital: all containing a wealth of previously unreleased or rare tracks. Among the unreleased tracks are several gems unknown to Linkin Park fans, including “Lost” - a fully realized track from the 2002 album recording sessions featuring stunning vocals from Chester Bennington.
 
The Super Deluxe Box contains 5 LPs, 4 CDs and 3 DVDs:
VINYL: Meteora, Live In Texas – the full concert released on vinyl for the first time, and Live in Nottingham 2003, an unreleased legendary live concert from March 2003. The two live albums on vinyl are exclusive to the Super Deluxe Edition
CD: Meteora, LPU Rarities 2.0, Live Rarities 2003-2004, Lost Demos
DVD: 4 previously unreleased concerts, plus the new “Work In Progress” lifestyle documentary.
The beautifully designed box also includes many exclusive contents: 40-page book with band commentary, 36 x 24 poster, sticker sheet, stencil, and 12 x 12 litho designed by Delta: the renowned street artist featured on the album cover.
 
The 4-LP Deluxe Vinyl Box and 3 CD formats include:  Meteora, plus LPU Rarities 2.0 and Live Rarities 2003-2004 (unavailable on vinyl elsewhere). 

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Long Cool World is a blissful collection of instrumental folk tunes from Patrick McDermott and Barry Walker. This is the studio follow up to 2020's well-received, Roped In, which was covered by Uncut, Pitchfork, Shindig!, No Depression, Flood, LA Times, Glide, Mojo, and Aquarium Drunkard . 
 
Where Roped In was constructed in isolation with the two partners sharing their parts digitally, Long Cool World is the second collaboration for the song writing duo but the first where they actually recorded together in person, attempting to inject a more human element to the overall sound. 
 
North Americans continue to tip-toe the line between folk and ambient, carving out their space in the cosmic pastoral genre. Their ultimate goal being to mimic the rhythm and beauty of the small everyday moments in our lives. 
 
RIYL: Rose City, William Tyler, Silver Jews, Karen Dalton, Richard Thompson, Kevin Morby, Bill Callahan
North Americans - Long Cool World [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Cream LP]
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The Valley of Vision is a 27-minute, breakthrough salvo of six songs that finds the band re-inspired once again, & is accompanied by an album length film shot in VR + 3D computed radiography technology. Andy Hull was inspired to start writing the record while rummaging around in his suitcase looking for his lyric notebook & instead found The Valley of Vision, a 1975 book of old Puritan prayers his mom had given to him the previous Christmas. Capital Karma is the first new music from the project.

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Pushing forward with the intensely self-aware truth-telling he’s always brought to his music, Ruston Kelly immersed himself in the making of The Weakness: a blisteringly honest, but profoundly hopeful album that reveals our potential to create strength and beauty from painful experiences. “I hope this music helps people become the hero of their own lives by understanding their own weaknesses, and I hope it helps them to see that tragedy doesn’t have to be the period at the end of the sentence.”
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KISS's fifth authorized Soundboard live release is from the November 28, 1984 Animalize Tour show from the Mid-Hudson Civic Arena in Poughkeepsie, NY featuring the only known soundboard recording with Mark St. John. "Young And Wasted" and "Rock And Roll All Nite" are unfortunately incomplete recordings but due to the historical importance of this show with Mark we hope you all rock out to this as hard as we have. Available on 2LP 180G black vinyl.
KISS - KISS Off The Soundboard: Live In Poughkeepsie, NY 1984 [2LP]
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A Wednesday song is a quilt. A short story collection, a half-memory, a patchwork of portraits of the American south, disparate moments that somehow make sense as a whole. Karly Hartzman, the songwriter/vocalist/guitarist at the helm of the project, is a story collector as much as she is a storyteller: a scholar of people and one-liners. Rat Saw God, the Asheville quintet’s new and best record, is ekphrastic but autobiographical and above all, deeply empathetic. Across the album’s ten tracks Hartzman, guitarist MJ Lenderman, bassist Margo Shultz, drummer Alan Miller, and lap/pedal steel player Xandy Chelmis build a shrine to minutiae. Half-funny, half-tragic dispatches from North Carolina unfurling somewhere between the wailing skuzz of Nineties shoegaze and classic country twang, that distorted lap steel and Hartzman’s voice slicing through the din.

Rat Saw God is an album about riding a bike down a suburban stretch in Greensboro while listening to My Bloody Valentine for the first time on an iPod Nano, past a creek that runs through the neighborhood riddled with broken glass bottles and condoms, a front yard filled with broken and rusted car parts, a lonely and dilapidated house reclaimed by kudzu. Four Lokos and rodeo clowns and a kid who burns down a corn field. Roadside monuments, church marquees, poppers and vodka in a plastic water bottle, the shit you get away with at Jewish summer camp, strange sentimental family heirlooms at the thrift stores. The way the South hums alive all night in the summers and into fall, the sound of high school football games, the halo effect from the lights polluting the darkness. It’s not really bright enough to see in front of you, but in that stretch of inky void – somehow – you see everything.

The songs on Rat Saw God don’t recount epics, just the everyday. They’re true, they’re real life, blurry and chaotic and strange – which is in-line with Hartzman’s own ethos: “Everyone’s story is worthy,” she says, plainly. “Literally every life story is worth writing down, because people are so fascinating.”

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For nearly five decades, Dungeons & Dragons has inspired generations of creative people to make movies, novels and, yes, music. Now that relationship is even more distinct with the release today of an album of music created by cutting-edge bands and musical acts all inspired by Spelljammer: Adventures in Space. The far-out storytelling in the world’s greatest roleplaying game’s latest offering is fertile ground for composing some of the most original songs you’ll hear this year from bands like Magic Sword, Shabazz Palaces and OSEES. Spelljams features a double LP’s worth of tracks from artists all produced by Chris Funk, guitarist from The Decemberists who plays D&D with many folks in the music scene in Portland, Oregon. Chris Perkins, story architect at D&D and lead designer of Spelljammer, worked with Funk to bring the Flash Gordon-esque soundtrack to life.

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72 seasons. The first 18 years of our lives that form our true or false selves. The concept that we were told ‘who we are’ by our parents. A possible pigeonholing around what kind of personality we are. I think the most interesting part of this is the continued study of those core beliefs and how it affects our perception of the world today. Much of our adult experience is reenactment or reaction to these childhood experiences. Prisoners of childhood or breaking free of those bondages we carry.”

-James Hetfield

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Produced by Sean Ono Lennon and mixed by Dave Fridmann (Beach House, Spoon, The Flaming Lips) , Temples fourth full-length album takes place in an impossibly utopic island dreamed up by the four band members. With its resplendent collage of psychedelia, krautrock and time-bending dream-pop, Exotico brings that world to life in crystalline detail, all while exploring an entire spectrum of existential themes: impermanence, mortality, our connection with nature and the wild immensity of the mind.

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Last year’s Big Time brought Angel Olsen to a deeper, truer sense of self than ever before. Borne from the twin stars of grief and love, the album delivered beautiful sense of certainty, the sure-footed sound of an artist fully, finally at home with herself. But within that wisdom comes the realization that there is no finish line, no destination or static end point to life while you’re living it, and Forever Means collects songs from the Big Time sessions that hold this common theme. They are, in Olsen’s words, “in search of something else.”

“I was somewhere traveling,” says Olsen, “stopped for a few days and wandering the city, and I was thinking ‘what does ‘forever’ really mean? What are the things I’m seeking in friendship or love, and how can ‘forever’ be attainable if we’re always changing?’” Sitting with the reality of that entropy, Olsen realized “maybe the secret to ongoing love is to embrace change as part of love itself, that forever must have something to do with playing, looking, constantly searching things out for yourself, never letting yourself think you’re finished learning or exploring.”

Forever, says Olsen, “remains curious while trying also to be kind and honest.”

All this packs into the four precious songs that comprise Forever Means, songs from Olsen’s roads traveled and the ones ahead. “Nothing’s free / like breaking free” Olsen sings, comfortable with the costs of her clarity, her heart and voice fixed on the present, the future, the not-yet-known and the beautifully unknowable.

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Kristian Matsson has never remained in one place for very long. Having spent much of the last decade touring around the world as The Tallest Man on Earth, Matsson has captivated audiences using, as The New York Times describes, “every inch of his long guitar cord to roam the stage: darting around, crouching, stretching, hip-twitching, perching briefly and jittering away...Mr. Matsson is a guitar-slinger rooted in folk, and his songs are troubadour ballads at heart.”

Now, Matsson returns as The Tallest Man on Earth with Henry St., his sixth studio album following 2012’s There’s No Leaving Now, full of “vivid imagery, clever turns-of-phrase, and devastating, world-weary observations” (Under The Radar) and 2015’s Dark Bird Is A Home, his “most personal record... surreal and dreamlike” (Pitchfork). Henry St. notably marks the first time he recorded an album in a band setting. “My entire career I’ve been a DIY person––mostly fueled by the feeling that I didn’t know what I was doing, so I’d just do everything myself.” But now, longing for the energy that’s only released when creating together with others, Matsson invited his friends to come and play.

Nick Sanborn (of Sylvan Esso) produced Henry St., which includes contributions from Ryan Gustafson (of The Dead Tongues) on guitar, lap steel and ukulele, TJ Maiani on drums, CJ Camerieri (of Bon Iver) on trumpet and French horn, Phil Cook on piano and organ, Rob Moose (of Bon Iver, yMusic) on strings and Adam Schatz on saxophone.

The Tallest Man On Earth - Henry St. [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Translucent Red LP]
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A gorgeous and gripping portrait of Fenne’s last two years, Big Picture was pieced together in an effort to self-soothe. Tracked live in co-producer Brad Cook’s North Carolina studio, the album delineates the phases of love and becomes a map of comfort vs claustrophobia.

Though its creation took place amid personal and global turmoil, the ruminative yet candid Big Picture is Fenne’s most cohesive, resolute work to date, both lyrically and sonically. “This isn’t a sad album — it’s about as uplifting as my way of doing things will allow,” she says. “These songs explore worry and doubt and letting go, but those themes are framed brightly.” With confidence and quiet strength, each track provides an insight into Fenne’s ever-changing view of love and, ultimately, its redefinition — love as a process, not something to be lost and found. 

While the album was written alone in Fenne’s Bristol flat – a fact intentionally reflected in its compact sonic quality – Big Picture was transformed from a solitary venture into a unifying collaboration during the recording process when she was joined by her touring band, Melina Dutere of Jay Som (mixing), Christian Lee Hutson (guitar and co production), and Katy Kirby (vocals). 

Notably, these 10 songs are Fenne’s first and only to have been written over the course of a relationship; 2018’s On Hold and 2020’s BREACH both confront the pain of retrospection, saying goodbye to a love that’s gone. Big Picture does the exact opposite — rooted firmly in the present, it traces the narrative of two people trying their hardest not to implode, together.

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