rock

Ben Folds | What Matters Most (2023)

rock
May 28, 2023May 28, 2023

“More than anything, I wanted to make an album that was generous, that was useful,” says Ben Folds. “I want you to finish this record with something you didn’t have when you started.”
Indeed, Ben Folds masterful new collection, What Matters Most, isn’t so much a statement as it is an offering, an open hand reaching out to all those wounded and bewildered by a world that seems to make less and less sense every day. Recorded in East Nashville with co-producer Joe Pisapia, the album marks Folds’ first new studio release in eight years, and it’s a bold, timely, cinematic work, one that examines the tragic and the absurd in equal measure as it reckons with hope and despair, gratitude and loss, identity and perspective. The songs are bittersweet here, hilarious at times, but often laced with a quiet sense of longing and dread: a text message goes unanswered; an old classmate descends into the dark depths of internet conspiracies; a relationship unravels in the middle of a lake.

art rock
May 17, 2023May 17, 2023

Funky Nothingness is the Frank Zappa “lost album” sequel to the iconic Hot Rats (1969). Primarily recorded at The Record Plant studio (1970) containing mostly unreleased compositions & jams featuring Don “Sugarcane” Harris & newcomer Aynsley Dunbar. Titled by Zappa himself, this compilation contains vintage FZ mixes with modern mixes by Craig Parker Adams. The expanded 3 CD, Mastered by John Polito, features audio not found on the 2LP & includes a 28 page booklet. Zappa Records
In the pantheon of jazz-rock, Frank Zappa’s 1969 LP Hot Rats is surely near the pinnacle. The primarily instrumental album recorded by Zappa, multi-instrumentalist Ian Underwood, and the top tier of L.A.’s session musicians melded the compositional and improvisational sophistication of jazz with Zappa’s gritty, searing, and blues-drenched electric rock style… The Second Disc

deluxe edition, rock
May 17, 2023May 17, 2023
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Little Feat’s Sailin’ Shoes have been newly remastered for upcoming Deluxe Editions that will introduce unreleased live and studio recordings that capture peak Feat. Released in 1972, Sailin’ Shoes was the second studio album from the founding quartet of singer-guitarist Lowell George, drummer Richard Hayward, keyboard player Bill Payne, and bassist Roy Estrada. Ted Templeman produced the record, which was the first to feature artwork by illustrator Neon Park, who created covers for nearly all of Little Feat’s albums. Sailin’ Shoes [Deluxe Edition] opens with a newly remastered version of the original album, which introduced signature tunes like “Easy To Slip,” the title track, and an updated version of “Willin’” a song that also appeared in 1971 on the band’s eponymous debut. Rhino

deluxe edition, prog-rock
May 7, 2023May 7, 2023

Packed full of bonus content, the album has had a fresh 2023 Stereo Remix by Mike Hunter, alongside a new documentary, liner notes by Rich Wilson, and brand-new artwork. Originally released in 1989, Seasons End was Marillion’s fifth studio album and first with Steve Hogarth fronting the band, following the departure of former frontman Fish, spanning three singles; Hooks In You, The Uninvited Guest and Easter which all went on to chart in the UK. As well as a change in vocals, Seasons End also marked a change in visual identity with the band, which has been reflected in the 2023 deluxe edition of the album. At the time there was a desire for a change of direction from the more illustrative style of Mark Wilkinson’s artwork & logo, replacing that with a more photographic graphic style provided by Bill Smith Studio & Carl Glover who went on to work with the band over the coming years.

live, remastered, rock
May 6, 2023May 6, 2023

The Grateful Dead‘s first true archival album, Bear’s Choice, was lovingly produced as atribute to Pigpen shortly after he passed by none other that the Dead’s original soundman and benefactor, Owsley Stanley, aka Bear. Drawing from live shows recorded three years earlier by Bear at the Fillmore East in New York City, Bear’s Choice captures the Dead at an essential moment of their history, as they were about to record Workingman’s Dead (and shortly thereafter, American Beauty), and were transitioning into becoming Americana pioneers, while never losing touch with their psychedelic improvisational roots. Three of the eight songs on the album are sung by Pigpen, with Side 1 being the definitive example of early Acoustic Dead, and Side 2 being electric blues and rock & roll, with Pigpen leading the charge on both tracks on the second side.This has been re-mastered by David Glasser using Plangent Processes from the original analog 2-track tapes recorded live by Bear and has never sounded better.

experimental, rock, world
May 6, 2023May 6, 2023

The second collaborative album from Laetitia Sadier and Brazil’s Mombojó.
Modern Cosmology is a musical ensemble composed of six individuals of the human race, none of which are cosmologists or astronomers, although Felipe S. – who sings and plays the guitar – knows quite a bit about reading astrological charts. He shares his frontperson duties with one Laetitia Sadier who, by virtue of her singer-songwriter career both as a solo artist and as part of the Stereolab ‘groop’, happens to be one of the key figures of her bandmates’ musical formation. “What will you grow now?” started in late 2016 on a recording session Mombojó did on a motorboat up the Capibaribe river in their Recife hometown. The title track was recorded there and then during this fluvial jam session, and the other backing tracks were recorded about a year later at a recording studio at the local University, after which Laetitia had a bunch of new material to add words and melodies to, from her Brazilian friends and bandmates with love.

alt-country, rock
April 15, 2023April 15, 2023

Lucinda Williams, a celebrated singer-songwriter known for her powerful storytelling and emotional authenticity is set to release her 15th studio album titled “Stories from a Rock N Roll Heart” on June 30th. This album will follow closely after the release of her highly anticipated memoir “Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You: A Memoir” due out April 25th. “Stories from a Rock N Roll Heart” features guest appearances from Bruce Springsteen, Margo Price, and Angel Olsen among others. This album features an all star cast of musicians as well, featuring members of Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers and The Replacements. Throughout her career, Lucinda has been honored with numerous accolades, including three Grammy Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association and induction into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone describes her as “one of America’s best songwriters.”

reissue, alt-country, remastered, southern rock
April 15, 2023April 15, 2023

In 2004 the Drive-By Truckers released what would become the best selling album in their illustrious catalog. The Dirty South is a concept album that examines the state of the South, and unveils the hypocrisy, irony, and tragedy that continues to exist. The album features live show staples like, “Tornadoes”, “Where The Devil Don’t Stay” and “Puttin’ People On The Moon” as well as rarities like “Goode’s Field Road” and “Daddy’s Cup.” The Complete Dirty South is a band-led rework of the original album. Principal member, Patterson Hood, took the reins and reimagined this record as it was originally intended. The complete version features resequenced audio, three additional tracks, four remixes along with updated vocals. The packaging comes with a perfect bound book featuring liner notes from Patterson Hood, track by track descriptions from Mike Cooley and Jason Isbell as well as never before seen photos along with updated artwork from the late Wes Freed. “This ‘Director’s Cut’ is the way it was always intended to be heard” – Patterson Hood

box-set, psychedelic rock
April 15, 2023April 15, 2023

Four-hour, 79-track CD devoted to the British psychedelic sounds of 1967. Follow-up volume to Grapefruit’s much-admired anthology ‘Let’s Go Down And Blow Our Minds’. In 2016, Cherry Red’s psychedelic imprint Grapefruit Records released the 3CD set ‘Let’s Go Down And Blow Our Minds’, a hugely successful, widely-acclaimed anthology of lysergically- inclined music made in Britain during the epochal year of 1967. Featuring 79 mind-melting tracks from British psychedelia’s key year, ‘Too Much Sun Will Burn’ covers all bases, incorporating the era’s big hitters (The Move, The Who, Small Faces, ISB, Pretty Things, The Zombies), huge singles (Traffic, Procol Harum, The Hollies, Eric Burdon & The Animals, The Troggs), cult 45s (Paper Blitz Tissue, Made In Sheffield, Caleb and many others) and such future legends as Bowie, Genesis, Alex Harvey and Elton John, with a track from his legendary aborted debut LP ‘Regimental Sgt. Zippo’. Cherry Red

rock

Ben Folds | What Matters Most (2023)

Frank Zappa | Funky Nothingness (2023)

Little Feat | Sailin’ Shoes [Deluxe Edition] (2023)

Marillion | Seasons End [Deluxe Edition] (2023)

Grateful Dead | History of the Grateful Dead Vol. 1 (Bear’s Choice) 50th Anniversary Edition (2023)

Modern Cosmology | What Will You Grow Now? (2023)

Lucinda Williams | Stories from a Rock N Roll Heart (2023)

Drive-By Truckers | The Complete Dirty South (2023)

VA – Too Much Sun Will Burn: British Psychedelic Sounds of 1967, Vol 2. (2023)