Upcoming Releases

Odyssey Cult, The

Vol. 3

Silver Current

“The Odyssey Cult Volume 3 ignites visceral fires of fuzz, pumped-up motorik, shimmering noise and hazy vocals, just in time to send up the last intoxicating smoke of summer. As for those of us still piecing our skulls back together after the ecstatic ’90s-pummel of Ethan Miller’s previous project (the zonked supergroup of Orcutt Shelley Miller), we forgive ourselves for not anticipating this, a meltdown-psych re-fusion of Ethan and Ben Flashman, two of the principals in Comets On Fire, the premier purveyors of early-aughts American guitar mayhem. “Featuring Ethan Miller (Howlin Rain, Heron Oblivion) on guitar, loops, vocals, Ben Flashman (Comets On Fire) on bass, Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) on drums, Anthony Taibi (Carlton Melton/White Manna) on keys, Zoh Amba on sax and Brigid Dawson (OSEES), Paula Frazer (Tarnation), Inna Showalter (Magic Fig) on vocals. “Miller and company layer psychedelic murk of the highest order into a neon rock monolith, its components spanning coasts and generations of musicians. Depending what angle you look at it, Volume 3 glitters with facets reflecting all corners of sonic psychedelia, fusing the best of all post-hippy/punk eras, complete with earworms that sound equally great by the pool, on headphones, or blasting in the sled cruising down the 5, the 10, or whatever freeway of your dreams. Whether or not you’ve heard Orcutt Shelley Miller, Comets On Fire, Tarnation, or the OSEES, this LP stands out like a life buoy (or, occasionally, a shark fin) in a sea of wax.” —Tom Carter

Dragnet

Dragnet

Total Punk

***After an 8 year absence Gary Wrong comes barreling out of the wild’s of Alabama with his new project DRAGNET. New collaborator Matt Leary standing at his side laying down the licks and making the beats, while Gary’s throbbing baselines do the driving. Trudging the empty beer cans and filthy muck, that line the murky swamp floor, behind their beat-up airboat while slinging Gary’s signature harsh vibes. They shout in unison about the end of the world on lead single ‘Para-noid.’ Bummer punk with a bit of sunshine slipping into the sludge courtesy of some catchy hooks. Pulsing, hypnotic, and 100% TOTAL PUNK! 12” out on TOTAL PUNK on August 7th, but get your preorder in now. Limited to 300 copies!

Rusty

s/t

Just Add Water

***This Rusty album is proof that the well is truly bottomless. There's still unheard gold out there waiting to be discovered. It's 54 years late but worth the wait! Ex-Sheephouse, Blitzkrieg and future National Flag members. Recorded in 1972 in Switzerland during a year-long stay. After returning to London, the band pressed up just 25 copies to send to labels in the hope of getting signed only to have some of the tracks released by a library music label in 1974 in bastardized remixed and sped-up forms. Rusty supported the likes of Dr. Feelgood, Brinsley Schwarz, Hawkwind, Barclay James Harvest, Colin Blunstone, and Climax Blues Band but, until now, their music has never been widely available. These incredible UK glam-tinged original recipe power pop gems are finally getting a well-deserved wide release as they were originally intended to be heard. Painstakingly restored and remastered by GRAMMY-nominated engineer Jessica Thompson. Expansive liner notes by Plastic Crimewave from fresh interviews with band members Danny Edwardson and Seamus Sell. Edition of 500 copies on black vinyl.

Little Gold

Public Dog

Tall Texan

***Athens, Georgia’s Little Gold, established in 2011, is a collective of musicians with Christian DeRoeck, a founding member of Woods and Meneguar, at its center. On Public Dog, They play power pop with a lo-fi country heart, drawing from the lyrical virtuosity upon which DeRoeck and Davis built their friendship when they first met fifteen years ago. With the easygoing eloquence of a barstool storyteller, Public Dog tackles addiction, early ’90s mixtapes, lost-and-found pets (on the triumphant “Cochise”), invasive wildflowers, and misspelled tattoos (on “Born to Loose,” which echoes the hook-heavy sensibilities of Blunt Bangs, DeRoeck’s band with Black Kids’ Reggie Youngblood).According to Ryan Davis, “It’s like boiling a John Hughes movie down to only its funniest, saddest, most action-packed moments. There’s no set-up, no filler, no wind-down. Just a whirlwind of curious little details and feelings and explosions. Just the good shit.”

Cuticles

More Joy

Siltbreeze

With the breakout enthusiasm for the Cuticles debut LP, 'Major Works' back in 2023, Siltbreeze could hardly wait for a followup, & here it is. Entitled 'More Joy' it more than lives up to its name. The ensuing years have seen some changes however; gone is Lisa Preston (Nux Vomica, The Portage) & in her place has come Albert King (keys 'n git ) + vocalist & poly instrumentalist/whip snapper, Folina Vili. So the names have changed, but the attack is still rapid fire, gnarled pop corkers, 21 this time to be exact. Should you be totally unfamiliar, imagine an enlightened Dunedin Sound on Adderall; the chassis might resemble 80's Doublehappys or Goblin Mix, but that hemi'd combustion is firing straight up Cuticles 2026 horsepower. Warts & all, never looking back, 'More Joy' is roaring straight for thine skull & you could do worse than hop on & enjoy the ride. It's a doozy.

Arnocorps

Big Noodle Energy

Alternative Tentacles

Alternative Tentacles Records is proud to present Big Noodle Energy, the new double A-side from ArnoCorps.There are bands that are funny. There are bands that are heavy. There are bands that build genuine community around a shared, joyful mythology. ArnoCorps has spent 25 years being all three at once—and doing it better than anyone.The premise is this: ArnoCorps are Austrian expat action hero musicians. Their ancient alpine folklore, heroic legends of survival, strength, and defiance, has been brazenly exploited by Hollywood and, as this release makes clear, by Japanese megacorporations. The band exists to reclaim those legends and deliver them the way they were meant to be heard: as Action-Adventure Hardcore Rock 'n' Roll. If those legends happen to bear a striking resemblance to the filmography and commercial work of Arnold Schwarzenegger, that is a matter for the press to foolishly debate.Here's what is not up for debate: ArnoCorps is a real band, with a real catalog, a ferocious live show, and a global audience that has been showing up with face paint, camouflage, and smiles for over two decades. They have earned a perfect 10/10 from the BBC. Kerrang! called them enough to leave Manowar sweating in their loincloths. Metal Hammer said they were the most fun live show you could imagine. Alternative Tentacles does not sign gimmicks. We sign bands.Big Noodle Energy features two new tracks. "Alinamin Bui” is the world’s first song sung entirely in Japanese with a ballsy Austrian accent. It is a driving anthem of...

Dupree, Alex

Talking to the Dog

Scissor Tail Editions

“Hank Williams once said that writing a song is just talking to the dog. That little piece of absurdist wisdom has become a title and guiding principle for Alex Dupree’s latest LP.“What does it mean? Hank was likely just promoting his then-hit single “Move It On Over” to a radio interviewer. But Alex’s answers veer quickly into the mystical and visionary. He is a poet of rare composure and grace, and maybe for the first time in his 20+ year career, he’s found the band, the chords, and the arrangements to inject an almost inconceivable richness of color into his musical ideas.“The result is a legitimate mid-career masterpiece that announces Alex as a talent capable of equaling the brilliance of Cass McCombs, Bill Callahan, Neko Case, Ryan Davis, Joanna Newsom, Will Oldham, and other leaders of modern song.“You can throw a rock at Talking to the Dog and anywhere it lands you will find something inspired and kinetic. “Voyager Blues” channels the blurry but assured ecstasy of Jim Sullivan’s U.F.O.. “New Meaning” has a fucked up, hearty wistfulness to it that lives somewhere between the tender, booze-soaked domesticity of Music from Big Pink and the wiry, cosmic range of Gene Clark’s No Other. And “Zodiac” rides the hallucinatory astral plane that David Crosby blissfully floated on throughout If I Could Only Remember My Name.“You might think I’m crazy to compare a relatively unknown forty-something year old songwriter’s output to some of the greatest guitar-led songwriter records in collective memory. I’m...

Bubble Dagger

Brief Transmission for the Woefully Hopeful

Tall Texan

***Carly Putnam, formerly of Helpful People (a duo with The Reds, Pinks & Purples' Glenn Donaldson) and The Mantles (Slumberland/Siltbreeze) returns with her newest band, Bubble Dagger. Fans of the Helpful People LP will find lots to love here. Warm, yet melancholy indie pop that's heavier than most in the genre.

Darlynn

Dyke Den

Dark Entries

***Dark Entries is proud to host Darlynn’s debut album, Dyke Den. Darlynn is an Oakland-based duo composed of Daria Lourd (aka Bored Lord) and her wife, vocalist Jaelynn Walls. Dyke Den is a lesbian love story about two creative individuals finding each other and themselves through effusive and contemplative sonic avenues. Created in their home over the course of two years, this album speaks to the journey of Daria and Jaelynn’s romantic relationship as well as their evolving combined creative impulses.On Dyke Den, Darlynn display their influences—from Janet Jackson and Sly & the Family Stone, to Frankie Knuckles and Larry Levan—in a sophisticated, fully realized, and overtly queered fashion. Joyous dancefloor moments are abundant. Tracks like “Make Yr Move” and “Like A Summer” celebrate deep house vibes a la Alleviated Records, while sultry R&B moves are flexed on “Girl 2 Girl” and “Alright With Me.” But longing and yearning exist within this joyous arc, and the question arises: “How can I get you to love me?” More than an idealistic narrative of girl meets they/them, Dyke Den paints a portrait of love in all its multifaceted moments: the bids for commitment, the stagnation of years going by, the wormholes of desire. Yet the album maintains its thesis of hope. The sweet, layered harmonies of closing song “Love Letter” display the power of life partnership: “My whole life is a love letter to you.” Dyke Den features artwork by Hailee Va in a sleeve designed by Eloise Shir-Juen Leigh. Darlynn’s final...

Grandma Love

Grandma Love

Constellation Tatsu

***Setting aside the dread-soaked UK atmosphere of his Karkossyn moniker, Tavis Hitchcock introduces Grandma Love. In stark contrast to his previous work, Grandma Love welcomes listeners home for a warm, hearty stew just before the streetlights come on. Drawing from childhood nostalgia, Cornish summers, and family day trips, Hitchcock pulls the plug on a reservoir of mood and atmosphere that sits somewhere between post-club sofa lounging and early morning coffee mug steam.Following his appearance on Northfield Records' Gilbert Road EP with the track "A2," this self-titled debut album dawns the opening chapter in the Grandma Love story. Filled with field recordings, delicate percussion, washed-out pads, and fragments of home-video VHS recordings, the album opens a time capsule of lost memories, coastal daydreams, and a longing for a time washed far away with the tide.

Sachi's Mirror

Talking in a Different Way

Constellation Tatsu

***Talking in a Different Way is the debut full-length release of sachi’s mirror, the creative alias of multi-instrumentalist, producer, and composer Shaina Pan. Melding disparate elements of ambient, electronic, dream-pop, and avant-garde classical, Pan beckons us into sonic worlds equally enigmatic and emotive.Across a collection of self-produced songs and vignettes that began to take form during a month-long residency in Vallejo, CA in the spring of 2025, she explores a theme of constant and quiet evolution, posing the question: What are we if the world we were born into no longer exists? How do we relate to one another and ourselves? Using field recordings and looped textures as sonic blueprints, she patiently constructs dimly lit, spiraling paths that simultaneously churn inward towards memory and outward towards the cosmos.Pan studied violin performance at Indiana University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, specializing in contemporary classical music. After nearly two decades of performing in classical ensembles, Pan left the path to becoming a symphony violinist, burnt out and frustrated by a culture of rigidity. She settled in Oakland where she eventually began writing and performing in post-punk quartet Juicebumps.Emboldened by her peers in the Bay Area scene, she found herself shifting towards composition and improvisation, using her violin, voice, and laptop to explore electroacoustic composition. From those efforts emerged room to receive, her 2025 debut EP on Cone Shape Top Imprint. Talking in a Different Way arrives one year later on Constellation Tatsu, a woozy 35-minute spell sparkling with the same...

Takahashi, H.

Body Trip (Remixed & Remastered)

Constellation Tatsu

***Originally released in 2016 on Constellation Tatsu, Body Trip introduced Japanese ambient composer H.Takahashi’s quietly immersive approach to minimal electronic composition. Built from delicate synth tones, meditative repetition, and understated melodic movement, the album has become a lasting favorite within contemporary ambient circles.Over the past decade, Takahashi has developed an internationally respected body of work spanning releases such as Raum, Low Power, Escapism, Elegy, and Paleozoic. Beyond his solo output, he has collaborated through projects including UNKNOWN ME, ATORIS, and H TO O, contributed music for installations and exhibitions, and performed throughout Japan’s experimental and ambient music communities.Body Trip (Remixed & Remastered) revisits the original 2016 album with a newly remastered edition alongside reinterpretations from a cross-generational group of contemporary electronic artists. The collection connects H. Takahashi’s meditative ambient language with artists working across contemporary experimental electronics, dub-informed minimalism, ambient techno, and modern new age composition, extending the album’s original aesthetic into a broader contemporary context. Fans and listeners have frequently described Takahashi’s music as calming, minimal, comforting, and deeply transportive, with recent online discussions continuing to highlight Body Trip and Escapism as standout works in modern Japanese ambient music.

V/a

Sweet Peace

Mississippi

***Amazing blues field recordings made by Bengt Olsson in the late 1970's! Stunning songs, 80% of which are completely unreleased until now. Blues like you've never heard them. Rocking, contemplative, deep and wide. Comes in an old school "tip on' cover.

V/a

Wouldn't Be Ready To Go

Mississippi

***Amazing blues field recordings made by Bengt Olsson in the late 1970's! Stunning songs, 80% of which are completely unreleased until now. Blues like you've never heard them. Rocking, contemplative, deep and wide. Comes in an old school "tip on' cover.

Duffy X Uhlmann

Hot Creek

Orindal

***The second collaboration between guitarists Meg Duffy (Hand Habits, Perfume Genius) & Gregory Uhlmann (Extra Stars, SML). Moving deeper into the duo's improvisatory musical language & dream-like effects processing, Hot Creek moves like water across thirteen kinetic yet soothing instrumental tracks.

Orcutt, Bill

Four Louies Live

Fake Estates

“Upon seeing the Instagram post announcing the upcoming LP release of Bill Orcutt’s The Four Louies, an inspired mashup plonking excerpts from Steve Reich’s epochal Minimalist slo-mo phase variant Four Organs onto the Kingsmen’s equally canonical garage/frat/mumblecore chestnut 'Louie Louie,' I immediately commented 'Kingsreich as opposed to Qüeensryche' (not even realizing the Kingsmen and Qüeensryche both hailed from the Pacific Northwest). My bon mot was seemingly rewarded with a mailed copy, and upon receipt I luxuriated in Bill’s latest open-source leveling of rock and classical minimalist tropes, a worthy successor to A Mechanical Joey’s tautological tomfoolery. I was jazzed when a year or so later he inquired if I would be up for taking part in Louies live in New York. I wasn’t sure how familiar Bill was with my checkered history of untutored organ playing (both in Run On and solo contexts, not to mention a short-lived go at the pipe organ with Connie Burg and Haino Keiji), but he also tapped fellow guitarists/non-organists Wendy Eisenberg, Mari Maurice, and Cyrus Pireh, plus a couple of ringers (David Golightly and musical director Eli Knowles). So that’s already six organs instead of four, flanked by a full-fledged rock trio (the nimble Gumby’s Junk), a noise-tablist (Bryan Day), master percussionist William Winant, and frequent Orcutt sparring partner Chris Corsano—a veritable Orcuttstra, whose ranks exceeded the lineups of the Kingsmen and Qüeensryche put together.With the performance scheduled as the fulcrum of a three-day weekend residency of various artists/projects on Bill’s label (which I...

Bikini Kill

Reject All American

Bikini Kill Records

New 30th Anniversary Edition pressed on rainbow splatter vinyl. BIKINI KILL's final studio album originally released in 1996 on Kill Rock Stars. Bikini Kill was a feminist punk band that was based in Olympia, WA and Washington, DC, forming in 1990 and breaking up in 1997. KATHLEEN HANNA sang, TOBI VAIL played drums, BILLY KARREN (aka BILLY BOREDOM) played guitar and KATHI WILCOX played bass. Bikini Kill is credited with instigating the Riot Grrrl movement in the early ’90s via their political lyrics, zines, and confrontational live performances.

Steve

Out Of The Closet

Dark Entries

Dark Entries helps Suzanne Ciani come out of the closet as Steve! Legendary composer, sound designer, and Buchla maestra Suzanne Ciani has a staggering list of accolades and accomplishments, from scoring Hollywood films to releasing influential new age records to literally designing the Coca-Cola bottle-opening sound. In the late 70s/early 80s, Ciani, while living in New York, acquired an Eventide H 949 harmonizer, which offered high fidelity pitch-shifting. In her words, “When I adjusted the pitch of my voice to 0.80, my natural voice became re-invented as what was clearly a gay man, who I called Steve. I became Steve; and Steve expressed himself as only he could.” Ciani adopted the male persona and collaborated with Peter Baumann of Tangerine Dream on “Steve Goes to a Party.” The track features Ciani-as-Steve ad-libbing in decadent and delirious fashion alongside Baumann’s robotically funky beats. Steve would emerge again a few years later at George Louvis’s Stardust Studios in New Jersey, to create “Steve Saves the World,” an absurdist and ecstatic proto-house groover complete with a gospel-esque chorus from the Stardust All-Stars. This EP is rounded out by a birthday wish to Ciani’s then-boyfriend Alfred on “Steve Happy Birthday Wishes” featuring Suzanne. Steve’s Out of the Closet perfectly captures the delirious techno-poptimism of the 1980s downtown avant-garde, with parallels in Robert Ashley’s Perfect Lives or Lynn Goldsmith’s project Will Powers, responsible for the track “Adventures in Success.” The Steve sleeve was designed by Eloise Shir-Juen Leigh, and the record also includes a birthday...

Lay, Shannon

Past The Veil

All The Best

***"Shannon Lay’s seraphic voice and fingerpicking has long been a guiding spirit—a compassionate steward of tender hearts and minds. For the last decade, her music has tendered a retreat from one’s worries, and created a refuge out of delicate and minimalist arrangements. With her new studio album, Past the Veil, she proffers the same care and understanding, and a similar emotional timbre, but from an entirely different sonic vantage point. Rather than weaving a safe cocoon in which listeners may hide out, Past the Veil rips it apart, offering a bold invitation to move through our discomfort and uncertainty. It is the sound of rebirth. It is a chance to stand up, join together, and maybe even dance."—Erin Osmon. Co-Written and Produced by Rob Shelton at Altamira Sound in Alhambra, CA.

Cramps

Gravest Gravy

Vengeance

***ORDERS FOR BLACK VINYL PLACED AFTER AUGUST 10 WILL SHIP AROUND THE LAST WEEK OF AUGUST!***COLORED VINYL IS SOLD OUT “In October 1977, the Cramps ventured into Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee with producer and Cramps translator extraordinaire, Alex Chilton. The band had planned on recording their song ‘TV Set,’ as an A side, along with another track or tracks. Mr. Chilton told them the way he liked to work was to have a band record a lot of songs and from that they would pick the best of the bunch. Luckily for Cramps fans everywhere, the band did just that. The first evidence of these sessions was unleashed upon an “unsuspecting human world” in April 1978 on the band’s own Vengeance Records label. It was a two song 7-inch with a version of the Trashmen’s 1963 classic ‘Surfin’ Bird,’ pushed well beyond its breaking point, forcing it to mutate into a much higher form of lowdown, and Jack Scott’s 1959 cool burning ‘The Way I Walk,’ dragged back into the Stone Age... After one listen, it was clear the Cramps had absolutely tapped into Rock ’n’ Roll’s mainline. In November of the same year, and again from the October 1977 sessions came another two song lesson in how it’s done, or undone, with easily one of the greatest A sides of all time: ‘Human Fly.’ The B side was held hostage by “Domino,” originally sung by Roy Orbison. The Cramps’ version swaggers with infinite confidence and is an absolute...

Hayes, Liam

Dancing Backwards

Weird Vacation

A brand new album from acclaimed American musical artist Liam Hayes (Plush). Liam Hayes is an acclaimed American musical artist known for his songwriting and uncompromising approach to making records.Hayes’ songs are recognized for their exquisite melodies, poetic lyrics and distinctive vocals. He’s released seven albums, two singles and a soundtrack, and applies his craftsmanship to a variety of genres from orchestrated pop to stripped down rock. Comparisons to Brian Wilson, Laura Nyro, Carole King, Harry Nilsson, Badfinger (and even Prince) are numerous. His music takes the best of radio and stellar classic pop records of the 60’s and 70’s and brings it into the present.Along with making records Hayes has appeared on screen performing his music in High Fidelity (directed by Stephen Frears) and A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III (directed by Roman Coppola) which he also wrote the soundtrack for.His latest album, Dancing Backwards, sees Liam stepping through the shadows in his life and into a new musical day.Reunited with legendary arranger TOM TOM 2084 (Chi-Lites, Phil Collins), and in this, their first production for Hayes are TOM’s son, Terrence Washington and multi-instrumentalist / producer / arranger Vincent Carlo.

Atlas Moth

An Ache For The Distance

Profound Lore

Vinyl repress of the long out-of-print landmark release from The Atlas Moth "An Ache For The Distance”. For the first time pressed on vinyl by Profound Lore to commemorate the album’s 15th anniversary, “An Ache For The Distance” vinyl -reissue is presented in two new limited colours, packaged in a gatefold jacket and with a full vinyl sized 12-page booklet. What has been seen as The Atlas Moth’s most celebrated and acclaimed second full-length album (which saw the band tour with the likes of Gojira, Devin Townsend, Intronaut, Ken Mode, and Altar of Plagues along with playing notable festivals such as the Pitchfork Fest and the Scion Rock Fest) “An Ache For The Distance” is a singular vision of psychedelic, ultra-heavy and wondrous post-metal. ORIGINALLY RECEIVED AN 8.1 FROM PITCHFORK. 

Hulder

Verbolgen

20 Buck Spin

Answering the call of the ancestral fires and forest spirits, Hulder returns with its third full length statement Verbolgen. Over the course of those three albums, Hulder has evolved from the vision of a solitary black metal entity into something more expansive and collaborative, though still guided by the strident vision of its creator and namesake. On Verbolgen long-time session member Necreon steps forward to join Hulder as full-fledged co-conspirator, amplifying the duos sweeping solemnity.Across nine tracks, Verbolgen deepens Hulder’s characteristic balance of scathing black metal and windswept melancholy through increasingly layered arrangements and ritualistic atmosphere. Whether with the brutal immediacy of “View from Nemeton” or the ceremonial mid-paced summoning of “In Blood and In Earth,” Hulder’s signature sound is more immense and malevolent than ever. Joined on session drums by both Vapula (the band’s live drummer) and Vrolok of the legendary Aeternus as well as live second guitar player Keld (Majesties, Obsequiae), who here contributes additional leads, keys and hurdy gurdy, the Hulder universe widens its collaborative disposition to a new creative level.As with the previous album Verses In Oath the mix has been handled by Ahti Kortelainen at Tico Tico Studio in Finland, giving the album an earthy resonance befitting its obsessions with blood, landscape and spiritual inheritance. Verbolgen also features cover art created by Morrigan of Aeternus, her first cover work since contributing art for the earliest Aeternus LPs nearly thirty years ago. The result is a towering and immersive work that cements Verbolgen as the most...

Great Lakes

Fear of the Fear

HHBTM

***Fear of the Fear is the 9th album by Great Lakes, my long-running band and recording project. I think of it as my Memphis Record, since the bulk of it was written and recorded there. Like 2022's Contenders, Fear of the Fear was mixed by Luis Leal. In fact, while thematically it is very different, aesthetically it could almost be considered Contenders II, even though 2025's Don't Swim Too Close came out in between. It features two musicians I've been working with for nearly 20 years, drummer Kevin Shea and vocalist Suzanne Nienaber. It also benefits from the contributions of two of my favorite go-to multi-instrumentalists, David Gould and Petter Folkedal. Some talented Memphis-based musicians grace the record, as well, including Leah Keys, Andrew Geraci, Seth Moody, and John Whittemoore. Finally, my old friends Kyle Forester and Steve Silverstein each play on a few songs. Fear of the Fear is a collection of songs mostly about the death of my close friend, Ryan Trammel. As such, it deals thematically with loss and grief. A very personal album, it touches on feelings of anxiety, brokenness, and the role of the subconscious in our lives-be it subconscious memory or subconscious knowledge/wisdom ("there is a truth we have known without knowing it" is how I put it in the album opener). This is an idea I find especially potent. Maria Montessori wrote that as babies we are as smart as we are ever going to be. When I read that in one of...

Riviera Gaz

Catacroma

Vampire Blues

Multi-national trio Riviera Gaz (Gustavo Riviera of Forgotten Boys, Paulo Kishimoto of Pitty, Forgotten Boys, and Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth) have pieced together a psychedelic collective consciousness where fuzzy riffs, glam rock energy, fearless studio experimentation, and Can-inspired grooves all melt together to form new unstable elements. The group’s second album Catacroma elevates their sound even further, intentionally avoiding sterile digital recording crutches and instead using extensive editing and mixing to shape the songs into sprawling cosmic experiences. The album is a hall of fun house mirrors where killer songs break apart and come back together organically, never taking expected turns and always ending up somewhere even more interesting than where they began.

Xelta

B.D.S.M.

Körperspannung

Bézier’s Body Tension / Körperspannung enters its second year with ‘B.D.S.M.’, the debut recording from XELTA—a new collaboration between vocalist and performer Sharlese Metcalf and producer Bruno Coviello, known for his bliscord project and former work alongside Light Asylum and more recently composer for the film’s soundtrack ‘My Brother’s Killer’—which recently premiered at SXSW.This EP is five tracks of precision-engineered industrial, EBM, and darkwave. The music carries the body-first ferocity of Front 242 and Nitzer Ebb—pulse-driven, commanding, relentless—but filtered through something distinctly femme: a leather-gloved hand on the frequency dial. Think the dancefloor of a Chicago Medusa night, 1987. Think ritual. Think consent as choreography.B.D.S.M. opens the record with a power exchange already in motion. Metcalf's vocals arrive as commands—spoken, precise, syncopated against a delay echo that throws each word back like an afterimage. Coviello's production doesn't accompany her; it responds. Call and response as dominance and submission, built into the architecture of the music itself.EXQUISITE S3RVIC3 is the record's most visceral moment—percussion that punctuates the air like a crack of leather, rhythm used not as framework but as sensation. There is genuine playfulness here beneath the intensity, a knowing wit running through the whipcrack and chain. It hurts in the best way and knows it.MYY KONTROLL offers a brief reprieve—not a release, but a change of register. The pace pulls back, the approach becomes more deliberate, more methodical. The intensity doesn't leave; it migrates into melody and rhythm and texture, held there with a tighter grip than anything that...

Altarage

Cogwheel

Sentient Ruin Laboratories

***Basque experimental death metal behemoths Altarage return to crush the earth under their gargantuan hooves of dissonance. Packing in a staggering one hour and fourteen minutes of tectonic extreme metal upheaval, their seventh full length album "Cogwheel" not only represents the longest, and most imposing work in their career, but also their most defiant and visionary. Since 2015, and across six genre-defining full length releases and the spawning of countless imitators, Altarage have brilliantly and mercilessly ploughed through the barriers of convention and tradition, setting in motion one of the most revolutionary ruptures in recent death metal history, and redefining the very architecture of heaviness and of their long standing dual mandate of destruction through transformation, and transformation through destruction. "Cogwheel" reinvents this dismal trajectory once again, representing yet another rift in Altarage's enigmatic and oppressive conquest for innovation. Tempos slow down, forms sprawl, deconstruct and convulse. Abstraction and morphing compositional frameworks expand. Echoes of Swans, Sunn O))), Scott Walker and Godflesh accrete into structural elements while lyrical themes and concepts mirror this process of rehumanization, shifting from the supernatural and the imaginary, to real, blood-pumping societal struggle that embodies the very notion of suffering and anger inside the cogwheel of transactional industry slavery. And at the center of all of this, always them: the riffs. The eternal centerpiece and engine to Altarage's tyrannical decade-long conquest. Colossal, implacable, inescapable uranium-depleted hammers of creation and destruction, demolishing and flattening everything in their wake. Conventions and their vestiges, wiped off the earth....

I Will Die In This Jean Jacket

Hang From A Cloud

Swami

I Will Die In This Jean Jacket is a testimony of how the lines between commitment and attachments are often blurred. It is the new gloom-punk project from Jim Blaha (The Blind Shake, Green/Blue). Blaha has collaborated with luminaries including Michael Yonkers, John Reis, Shannon Selberg, Dale Flattum and Zak Sally and has released records on Goner, Castle Face, Dirtnap, Hozac, Feel It, Slovenly and Swami. On Hang From A Cloud he concludes over three years of artistic solitude by heading back into the basement to create in an even deeper state of isolation. Formed in Minneapolis this past December, the late-night sessions gradually revealed a concept: capturing the feeling he had from the mixtapes a friend used to make during their teenage skateboarding years—where late ’70s post punk sat comfortably alongside the more exposed underground sounds of the ’80s and ’90s and every song seemed to come from the same hazy, imaginary city somewhere far, far away.Recording onto a 1/4” tape machine and mixing everything down to the all important cassette, Blaha emerged with an indiffussable sound. Hang From A Cloud is a long-lost pirate radio transmission from an alternate 1980s universe. The album is entirely analog by design. Guitars, vocals, drums, drum machines and bass all captured on cobbled together equipment in a cinder block bunker on a frigid midwest, winter night. There is a one dimensional resonance with a sheen of distortion and rust that is betrayed by the direct and simplistic beauty of the songwriting. Hang...

Swami John Reis

Navajo White

Swami

Navajo White is a color. It’s the color of an off white, interior, house paint. Throughout his teens into adulthood, John Reis was as a house painter by trade. The soiled walls of evacuated apartments was his canvas. Here he would cover up the residue of life’s stains with a fresh coat of the beige, human white-out that is Navajo White. Amongst the vacated, drywall chambers littered with the scant detritus of a fleeing existence is where this record began. It started as road noise, a repetitious hum of a fictional dialogue. A languageless, argument of noise that took shape as a disconnect between two people. They are both barricaded by an impenetrable surface tension that harbors the distortion of their prolonged isolation from the world beyond their self imposed exile. For all that can’t be solved or thrown away here’s a thick coat of Navajo White to cover our tracks as if to say “we were never here and this never happened.” This is the fifth Swami John Reis album and features Jason Kourkounis (Hot Snakes, Delta 72, Night Marchers) on drums as well as contributions from Rick Froberg (Hot Snakes, Drive Like Jehu, Obits) on guitar, Gar Wood (Hot Snakes, Tanner, Night Marchers) on bass, Joe Guevara (Jejune, Swami and the Bed Of Nails) on piano and keyboards and Rob Crow (Pinback, PLOSIVS) and Jacob Turnbloom (Mrs. Magician) on backing vocals. Taking musical cues from later period Wipers, the more low key Saints songs, early recordings of The...

Empanadas Ilegales

LABORATORIO TROPICAL

We Are Time

***Somewhere between Vancouver and Montreal, between cumbia and the cosmos, between the apocalypse and the dancefloor, there is a laboratory.Inside it, Empanadas Ilegales have spent nearly a decade breaking tropical music down to its bones, recombining it under pressure, and testing what comes out the other side. LABORATORIO TROPICAL, their fourth album, is the report from the lab.The record came together in the way the band works best: in motion. The first sessions happened at the tail end of their Fall 2025 tour, tracked at Sud Ouest Studios in Montreal with engineer William Poulin, with ideas channelled straight from the road. The stems then traveled west to Vancouver's Afterlife Studios, where the record took shape over a handful of sessions that were mixed by John Raham. These sounds were fine-tuned by Grammy Award-winning mastering engineer Adam Ayan; the resulting album is a dramatic journey through Empanadas Ilegales’ expanding psychedelic universe.

Bitchin Bajas

Isle Peaks

Drag City

***In the wake of the acclaimed Inland See, the on-growing analog ecosystem being animated for ten albums now by Bitchin Bajas boasts new high energy views. Isle Peaks speaks of directions in beats of time, weather and the heart to wherever coast they found themselves when they got it all laid out. Sourced from Inland See sessions, these cuts were subjected to further edits and tweaks, with electroacoustic textures of sampled kalimba, field recordings, autoharp and EWI to activate and transport divergent quadrants of the Bajas cinematic universe. The first two songs were previously released digitally on Qobuz in Jan ’26. “Watch your Step” has been added to balance scales and acidity for the Isle Peaks vinyl edition.

Totalitar

s/t

Prank

***Swedish Punk legends TOTALITÄR return with their first new album in twenty years! Nine rampaging tracks, crafted with their trademark sublime innovation, where something beautifully and wonderfully simple as D-beat hardcore is innovated on, changed up and perfected again and again. That's the brilliance of Totalitär, their world renowned old master innovation, and this welcome return finds them in fine form, encased in distortion with Poffen's shouts firing an abrasive volley of anger and reflection at the state of the world. Recorded and mixed by Kenko at Communichaos in 2025/2026.

Rahaty

Bestial Lustmord

Sentient Ruin Laboratories

***Rahaty is the alter ego of Belarusian raw black metal tomb-walker Pa Vesh En, here wielding the unholy hellfires of death metal's most deranged and enigmatic frontier. Convergent evolution through common origin and a shared creative reclusiveness, have ensured the preservation of Pa Vesh En's familiar sonic septic fog, but far more violent intents have ensured the gruesome rise of Rahaty through unceremonious realms of brutality. Here proclaimed is thus an unholy conquest within death metal's most pestilent drift, disgorged from beyond the shreds of sanity. Putrid atmospheres drenched in sickness. Downpours of death-reeking riffs collapsing into mangled, deformed aberrations. A tectonic rhythm section rupturing into seismic deflagrations, and a bestial vocal regurgitation retching obscenities through the disemboweled carcass of oblivion. Where Drawn and Quartered, Profanatica, and Imprecation had already established a violent frontier for death metal's most vile instincts, Rahaty extends that wretched shadow further, tracing the ghastly lineaments of death metal's most violent and deranged deviations.

Generacion Suicida

Hombre Nuevo

Vitriol Records

***The new LP from LA’s Generacion Suicida is released along with a bunch of shows, a tour and various LA shows before then. The new record Hombre Nuevo is ten new songs and the first album to be released following Regeneracion in 2021.

Opera De Nuit

Opera de Nuit

Dark Entries

Opéra de Nuit emerge from their long slumber to grace Dark Entries with the frostiest of reissues. Formed in 1982 in Valréas in the southeast of France, Opéra de Nuit only released 3 records throughout their career: EPs in 1984 and 1986, with a full LP following in 1988. But devotees of dark music will need no introduction to this band, who are almost definitional of the coldwave genre, and whose rabid cult following has each record readily trading for three-digit prices. Opéra de Nuit’s sound is pure hellish heaven: frigid synths, jangly guitars, and sorrow-laden vox. Check out the pummelling desperation of “Annabella,” the uber-brooding vibes of “Boris Transylvania Camp,” or the elegant anthem “Karen Lloyd” (and don’t forget to watch the video!). This reissue collects their entire newly remastered discography - thirteen lucky tracks. This reissue marks the first time that their work will be reissued on vinyl and digital, and is presented in gatefold jacket with lyrics and photos. Whether you’re new to the genre or a veteran of the coldest waves, Opéra de Nuit brings the essential sound of immortal despair.

Segall, Ty

Chrome

Drag City

***In the spring of 2025, right around the release of Possession, Ty Segall started hearing voices, calmly at first, but soon screaming: “Get the band back together!!!”Immediately, his mind began working, creating, collecting and collat- ing riffs for songs, an album that he and the band—Ben Boye, Evan Burrows, Mikal Cronin & Emmett Kelly—will come to all call Chrome.Chrome—the element, not the album—is shiny, reflective, resistant to corrosion. Chrome the album’s got that too: in hard-springing rock strung with lyrically allusive passages moving furtive and bleak through labyrinthine paths in the darkness. Joining social phenomena and autobiographical dream imagery in song-sequenced, head-snapping flashes, hitting left/right hemispheres fast and furiously. In massive riffs and thudding power in the rhythm core, twin-guitar attack and parry, tightly arrayed lines of fuzz distortion, keyboard textures of bright and thickness. All mixed immediate and flexible, colorful and clean, spicy-sweet, with Ty’s vocals of vinegar and sand, wine and grains of silver nitrate, pointing the way. That’s Chrome.

Faun Fables

The Transit Rider

Drag Cty

***Arriving right on time for its 20th anniversary, Faun Fables’ musical theater work The Transit Rider returns in a lovely 2xLP vinyl edition that dimensionally burnishes the bristling performances and elevated chamber/cabaret folk sounds of the original CD-only release. At once a work of theatre, allegory and autobiography, The Transit Rider amplifies Faun Fables’ distinctive electroacoustic wash of Anglo-European folk sounds, shimmering allusively from traditional to Kurt Weill to folk-rock and back again. This new 2xLP edition features revamped artwork with previously unseen photos of the original show.

Go Public

You Are Traffic

HHBTM

***The past isn't real, the future ain't happening, all we've got is right now and Go Public and You Are Traffic: Hey now, don't dream it's over. An Atlanta band naming a record after traffic might be like dropping a two-ton anvil right on the biggest Bozo-red clown nose imaginable, but there are levels to every parking deck. Maybe it's a gridlock of the soul? The close-together shame of becoming a stranger, a slow motion accident of skeleton details? This band's business—skronky contortions and nope wave deconstructions, prickly wisdom and post-punk pith—is ageless yet absolutely right this very moment, distilling the cosmically unique pointlessness of this number that never should've become a year, and magnifying the microscopic glimmer of hope at its furthest corner. Call it dice-roll politics: a saving throw at a craps tempo—bleakly vibrant jams for endtime dance parties.These men have been in bands. You have maybe heard those bands, if you live in Georgia, or are their friends. Their bands were good; this band is great. Go Public can drop names, a whole catholic education of influences and inspirations, from every acre of the radio dial; but what matters is what comes out, not what goes in. You Are Traffic has few peers; brittle but hard-boiled, it's a swinging splatterhouse of booksmart, tough guy art with the jittery anxiety of Talking Heads and the restless musicality of This Heat in equal measure. The guitar sounds like a dayglo glass sword, for Christ's sake. Sean Rawls and Adrian...

Truly

Twilight Curtains

Bang

***First time ever on vinyl, Twilight Curtains presents a long-overlooked chapter in the legacy of Truly, the acclaimed Seattle band formed by songwriter Robert Roth alongside Hiro Yamamoto, co-founder of Soundgarden, and Mark Pickerel, founding drummer of Screaming Trees. Originally released in 2000 as a CD-only collection, Twilight Curtains gathers rare, unreleased and alternate recordings captured between 1991 and 1997, documenting the band during its most creative and exploratory period. More than simply another Seattle group, Truly forged a singular sound that blended heavy psychedelic rock, grunge-era intensity, damaged pop and expansive melodic textures. Featuring the contributions of three key figures from the Pacific Northwest underground, this collection offers a fascinating glimpse into the band's evolution through alternate versions, lost recordings and previously unavailable material. Twilight Curtains finally makes this missing piece of the Truly catalogue available on vinyl.

Stoltz, Kelley

If You Don't Know Me, Buy Now

Dandy Boy / Agitated

***Kelley Stoltz is an American songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and DIY innovator whose career stretches back to the late 1990s, when he began self-recording lush, psych‑tinged pop and garage rock in his San Francisco home studio. Born in New York City in 1971, and raised in Michigan, Stoltz has released a remarkable catalog of albums on labels including Sub Pop, Third Man, and Castle Face Records often playing all of the instruments himself and drawing comparisons to the melodic craftsmanship of the major 60’s pop auteurs and the quirkiness of lesser known 80’s power-pop & new wave.After issuing his 18th album, La Fleur in 2024 to critical notice, he returns in 2026 with his 19th full‑length release, If You Don’t Know Me, Buy Now, a collection that continues his long exploration of hook‑laden psych‑pop, introspective lyrics, and richly textured arrangements that both honor his influences and push his sound forward, reinforcing his status as one of the most prolific and singular voices in underground rock.Often compared to everyone from Alex Chilton to Brian Wilson, Nick Lowe to Martin Newell- Stoltz is a pop chameleon. His constant reshuffling of the deck finds him in a constant flux of creativity. If You Don’t Know Me… weaves through his brand of sardonic and playful humor and vulnerable, introspective late night musings. The lead off track and first single from the album, "Competitive Bastard” is a groovy reflection of a musician throwing his hands up at the music industry and the notion of working for exposure...

Biafra, Jello And The Guantanamo School Of Medicine

Audacity Of Hype

Alternative Tentacles

***BACK IN PRINT ON BLACK OR LIMITED SOLID BABY BLUE VINYL!!! In the twenty or so years since his brainchild, The Dead Kennedys, officially disbanded, Jello Biafra has made a career of spoken word gigs interspersed with musical collaborations with some of the most compelling figures in underground music. Recording projects and touring with the likes of Melvins, NoMeansNo, DOA, Mojo Nixon, and Lard (with Ministry's Al Jorgensen) among others have kept his "punk as political weapon" message sharp, but the lack of his own band made these collaborations usually short-lived and left Biafra with a ton of songs that never saw the light of day.Inspired by The Stooges gig on Iggy Pop's 60th birthday in San Francisco, Biafra laid plans for his own 50th birthday party and finally decided it was time to start a band of his own. After cramming practices for a month, the four-piece dubbed themselves Jello Biafra and the Axis of Merry Evildoers! and featured Biafra, Ralph Spight (Victims Family, Freak Accident, Hellworms), Jon Weiss (Sharkbait, Horsey), and Billy Gould (Faith No More) The band took the stage in a sold-out two-night stand at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall. Flush from that exhilarating triumph, nine months of rehearsal and writing followed; they added ace guitarist Kimo Ball (Freak Accident, Carneyball Johnson, Mol Triffid, Griddle), and christened themselves Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine. The Audacity of Hype was produced by Biafra and engineered by hip hop producer and longtime co-conspirator Matt Kelley...

Burnside, R.L.

Too Bad Jim

Fat Possum

***BACK IN STOCK!!! R.L. Burnside's album Too Bad Jim is a record worth owning. “I didn't mean to kill nobody ... I just meant to shoot the sonofabitch in the head.

Kimbrough, Junior

God Knows I Tried

Fat Possum

***BACK IN STOCK!!! "...we went into the backwoods of the Delta, where there was an illegal Sunday Juke Joint run by Junior Kimbrough, who was a contemporary of Muddy Waters...The whole thing was extraordinary - like an IV introduction to the blues." - Bono (of U2)

Unknown Mortal Orchestra

s/t (Black Vinyl)

Fat Possum

***BACK IN STOCK ON BLACK VINYL!!! UMO was initially conceived by New Zealand native, Ruban, to release some tracks via a Bandcamp page to promote his limited addition vinyl in 2010. He pieced a band together, with a skilled producer, Jake, on bass and a brilliant teenage drummer named Julian to fill out the band. They are based in Portland.

Ultha

Belong

Vendetta

***ULTHA's ninth release in five years and features two extended tracks—"No Fire, Only Smoke" (17:04) and "Constructs of Separation" (21:07). “Ultha have done it again, somehow. Converging Sins is the sort of album that any band would be lucky to release once in their career, but with Belong, Ultha proves that they are among black metal’s most inspired forces. This is atmospheric black metal, with strong elements of doom intertwined now and again, that you do not simply listen to—no; you feel it. Ultha are communing with some unseen force, and through their dense sonic tapestries, they afford us the same opportunity. Recommended!”—Ippocalyptica

Totalitar

Sin Egen Motstandare

Prank

***BACK IN PRINT!!! Sin Egen Motstandare was originally released in 1994 on CD-Only By Finn Records. A reunion album of sorts, the reconstituted band sought to get back their original hardcore roots, while at the same time sparking a direct reaction to the rising right wing political climate of time in Sweden. One of the all-time most rampaging Swedish Punk albums, it affirmed the band's template of D-beat hardcore that they continually challenged and re-imagined for another decade and a half of releases, and inspired a legions of bands worldwide. This 30th Anniversary edition is a 1-time press at RTI with a stoughton tip-on gatefold with spot gloss, new liner notes from the band, unique center labels for the release, a printed inner sleeve, a reprint poster of the flyer for the original CD release show.

Amp

Stenorette

Kranky

***The third album from this UK dream'n'drone duo returns to the drifting sound of their first album with an emphasis on rhythms, lock stepping, and clattering percussion to move the music through. Many of the songs were composed on the piano for a more delicate sound to loop drones, grooves, guitar and vocals around. Twelve dreamable tracks.

Water Damage

Repeater

12xu

***"There is something really special about music based on drones. Whether it's the vocals of Pandit Pran Nath, the ARP 2500 of Eliane Radigue, or the nearly-blown amps of Sunn O))), by changing the listeners's focus on details to one that favors flow, drones are uniquely capable of transporting our brains far far away. The debut LP, 'Repeater', by this loudly droning Austin septet is a goddamn splendid example of how the process works. Using the motto, “Maximal Repetition Minimal Deviation,” Water Damage create glowing fields of post-rock lava that pretty much suck you right in and boil you alive. Water Damage, while technically a septet, actually operate in various configurations, with the proviso there should always be two drummers and two bass players on hand. They prefer if each of their sonic ideas takes up a whole reel of tape, and once they start they don't look back. Everything proceeds towards an imaginary end point that is only achieved when the tape starts flapping. What a way to run a railroad! But the folks in the band are all vets of various projects—Spray Paint, USA/Mexico, Marriage, Black Eyes, Thor & Friends, among others—so let's assume they know what they're doing. And why not? They sound fucking great. Their approach to the form is less front-loaded than most of their peers, and the surface of their sound is sometimes ruffled by aural events of an un-drone-like nature. But the main gush is usually a blend of harmonic tones and textures pointing towards...

Sex Messiah

Metal Del Chivo

Nuclear War Now

***Sex Messiah returns from the Satanic brothels of Japan to satiate our depraved appetites for morally-corrupt black metal with four new tracks and five live tracks. Although their overall sadistic formula remains consistent with prior atrocities, their language of choice has shifted to Spanish, providing a new vehicle to spread their gospel of fornication and degradation.

Carter, Daniel / Evan Strauss / 5-track / Sheridan Riley

The Uproar In Bursts Of Sound And Silence

577 Records

***The Uproar in Bursts of Sound and Silence is a sort of emergent collage that came together over four years of composition, improvisation and production. The foundations for this album were initially recorded in 2018 by producer/engineer Jack Endino (Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Skinyard) at Soundhouse in Seattle, WA with myself (Evan Strauss, electric bass and upright bass), 5-Track (Guitar) and Sheridan Riley (Drums). The initial foundations of this music consisted of my long-form graphically notated conceptual compositions based on the calls of the Veery songbird (Catharus fuscescens), the astrological transits at the precise time of the recording session and some thematic elements from Ursula K. Le Guin’s novel The Dispossessed.   In 2019 the album was given the working title Bird Songs for the Stars and I commissioned the cover art, Night Fisher, from Jeane Cohen. Also around this time, Daniel Carter had emphatically told me, “I’m going to become a rapper by the time I turn 90.” So, a few weeks later Daniel and I were hanging out, recording music and eating stir fry in my Ditmas Park apartment and I convinced him to make some progress on his goals by recording his voice into a microphone. Daniel began by recording an excerpt from Virginia Woolf’s The Waves and continued by recording some of his own poetry.  The recordings of Daniel from that afternoon would eventually make their way onto this album alongside my own experimentations in production inspired by Lee Scratch Perry, J Dilla and Ingram...

White Lightning

Thunderbolts Of Fuzz

Riding Easy

Standout favorites of Riding Easy Records’ Brown Acid compilation series, White Lightning’s stellar discography of rare and under-appreciated heavy psych, proto-metal rock gets a vital revival for new generations to learn how swinging, swaggering and often blazingly fast rock’n’roll is done. White Lightning was formed in Minneapolis, MN in 1968 by guitarist Tom “Zippy” Caplan and bassist Woody Woodrich after leaving garage psych band The Litter (themselves popular standouts from the Nuggets and Pebbles series of garage rock rarities.) Originally a power trio, the band later expanded to a five-piece in 1969 while shortening its name to Lightning. The quintet’s brilliant and rare 1970 self-titled album on Pickwick International’s P.I.P. imprint provides six of the ten tracks on Thunderbolts Of Fuzz. The original White Lightning trio only released the one 45-rpm single “Of Paupers And Poets” during their existence (on local Hexagon label in 1968, later reissued by major label ATCO Records in 1969.) A long out-of-print posthumous album released in 1995 gathered unreleased recordings, three of which are found here. This rounds out this collection of recorded highlights from the band’s rocky history. Taking their name from a particularly potent type of LSD, White Lightning laid out from the start that it was not cute and cuddly ’70s rock. In fact, the band’s aggressive tempos are like punk rock way before punk. However, their dirty blues groove and musical prowess shows the band was more than unrefined ne’er-do-wells, they had true versatility.

Ruth, Rich

I Survived, It's Over

Third Man

***Recorded under a loft bed in the guest bedroom of his Nashville home, MICHAEL RUTH aka RICH RUTH's I Survived, It’s Over starts in a humble space. And while many contemporary music projects are produced in such an environment, I Survived, It’s Over sets itself apart in its transformative properties as well as its transparency. What we have here is honest sound exploration, session musician-level instrumentation, and a true love for nature run through the fingers of a dude who can channel some acute and undeniable magic. Underneath the swell of the strings and the shredding of the guitars, this record has hard working, rustbelt, drum-heavy roots all over it (which makes sense as Ruth hails from outside of Toledo, the album was mixed by JOHN MCENTIRE from Chicago band Tortoise). Many of the flutes, saxophones, pedal steel, and other instruments were recorded remotely because we live in the future, but this only adds to the collage of sampled and sample-able material that Rich Ruth has to offer. The organic relationships between the artist and other musicians on the album is evident even in the compilation style sampling that needs to occur in putting such a project together. I Survived, It’s Over is a record you should buy for your friend, your foe, and yourself. It’ll sit perfectly on your shelf between Alice Coltrane and Hiroshi Yoshimura.

Dead Void

Volatile Forms

Dark Descent

After some silence since their magnificent demo, Dead Void return from the depths to bestow a crushing debut album—Volatile Forms—upon the world. Drawing in on doomy, yet certainly not meek, atmospherics—the sheer monstrous tone of which will pin one to the wall—it is clear this is something unwieldy. Murmuring bass seeps through buzzing guitars in a manner that sounds profoundly unwelcoming, while the daunting vocals and crashing drums give no alleviation from the bludgeoning force. While the hostile and claustrophobic sounds of this record cannot be ignored, equally impactful are the grooves which hit like a hammer of pure malice when carefully spliced with the caverns of eerily contorting death metal. When the pounding drums break through the guitars, they have a real hard tone, while the seeping filth of the strings is not overshadowed. Clearly the three demos and spacing between them have allowed the band to develop into the best version of themselves, as on this debut album one hears a refined but unpolished and inhospitable cut of truly awesome music taking form. Moving forth, the hooks, the grooves, the expanses of doom and desolation, all conjure something inescapable and dread-tinged while the malignant hammering of pure old school violence is not lost or forgotten, as warped riffs and blast-beats meet gutturally-spewed vocals and occasional lead oddities. Contrasting often nuanced moments with an assault of bestial ferocity, there is no predictability or obvious pattern, rather a chaotic and honest approach to all of the songs. These tracks move...

Warmers

s/t

Dischord

***The Warmers' full-length record, released in 1996.

Juliff, Simon

Stars

Dog Meat Records

Much-loved Melbourne rock 'n' roll label Dog Meat Records returns with first solo release from former singer/guitarist/songwriter of The Roys and God / Hoss / Powder Monkeys associate, Simon Juliff The first new Dog Meat release in over a quarter of a century is the new single “Stars”, taken from the forthcoming album of the same name, from reticent Melbourne pop-rock singer/songwriter Simon Juliff. Juliff, who was singer/guitarist/songwriter for Melbourne band The Roys in the ‘00s, was a friend of many of the ‘90s Melbourne bands on Dog Meat and nearly a Dog Meat signing with his first band The Evil Dead. Produced by long-time friend Joel Silbersher (God, Hoss, Tendrils etc) and featuring backing from members of Hoss and Kim Salmon & the Surrealists, “Stars” – both the new single and the forthcoming album - combines brightly dappled glimmers of classic pop-rock melodicism with a darkened, frazzled vibe.

Doomsayer

Awake In Darkness

Nuclear War Now

***In celebration of the 30th anniversary of their sole demo from 1992, Awake in Darkness, NWN is proud to present Doomsayer’s legacy on LP for the very first time! This burning triumph- described as “Pestilential Death Metal” by the band back in the early ’90s when they were establishing themselves in the Italian extreme metal scene- combines all of the power of their varied influences, giving both a perfect snapshot of the heavy metal and occult tinged nascent scene in their country as well as an image of a power, creative band that managed to create a single work that still resonates now decades later. Though Doomsayer fits squarely in the saga of other cult Italian bands, it has plenty of its own voice to offer and fans of early extreme metal will be pleasantly surprised at the strength of this long-hidden obscurity. For fans of Varathron, Sadist, and Necrodeath.

Owners, The

s/t

Dischord / Red Room Records

***THE OWNERS are a band from Washington DC, featuring DANTE and CATHERINE FERRANDO, ALEC BUDD and LAURA HARRIS. Over the years, they have played in bands ranging from IRON CROSS, GRAY MATTER, THE SHIRKS and EX HEX. Their first full-length is a split between Red Room Records and Dischord The vinyl is a limited edition pressing on splatter vinyl.

Raffa, Ryan J

4 e and a

Group Tightener

***4 e and a is about the infinite spaces between. As a classically trained percussionist, RYAN J RAFFA has sat in front of a metronome for the majority of their life. In their mind, they would play with the spaces between those clicks. In especially challenging times, they would attempt to expand and stretch those spaces into forever. Just existing in the between. This record is about these moments (and places) living in those infinite spaces. The title "4 e and a" is a play on words, in reference to counting and subdividing rhythmic patterns. Ryan would need to play these patterns on a drum as a child. “4 e and a” is also a reference to a country or a place with a name. Like Argentina is a place, "4 e and a" (said run all together) sounds like a country. A place we all know about and sometimes go to because it's beautiful and full of spirit, but it also can be a bit unnerving, uneasy, and eerie when we explore new places there. In mathematics, we have Cantor's diagonal argument and the understanding that the infinity between each integer (such as between 1 and 2) is larger than the infinite space that every integer that exists can fill. Like, one infinity is larger than another infinity? Huh?! When you start subdividing time (like 1 e and a, 2 e and a, 3 e and a, 4 e and a), you start creating those ever-expanding spaces, one larger...

Paranoid

Satyagraha

Paranoid Northern Discs

***PARANOID's first album is a manic, noise-drenched d-beat assault. 10 tracks that capture us at our rawest and most aggressive period up to this date. Part of the band's First Ten Years 2012-2022 vinyl reissue series. "Whether you’re the old guy at the bar with the Discharge tattoo, or the 14 year-old who just discovered punk, Paranoid will bring out your inner discontent. D-beat is an interesting genre, either you do it well, or you don’t. Paranoid, dare I say, have completely mastered the genre and everything from their tone to their album artwork embodies what it means to be in a d-beat band. There is no bullshit attached to this record"—CVLT Nation

Amba, Zoh + William Parker, Francisco Mela

O Life, O Light Vol. 2

577 Records

***New York-based Zoh Amba first cultivated her musical passion in the lush forests of the Appalachian mountains, playing to the woods around her home, before she studied at classical conservatories. Her music honors her roots, full of folk melodies, mesmerizing refrains, repeated incantations and powerfully-executed Free Jazz. Her sound is courageous and bold, soaring from muted hums to squeaky trebles, producing a confident sound imbued with an innate spirituality. On this project, Zoh Amba is joined by legendary artists William Parker (Bass, Gralla) and Francisco Mela (Drums), named the 2021 musician of the year by The New York City Jazz Record, who temper her daring saxophone with a lush percussive foundation and a steady bassline.

Fossilization

He Whose Name Was Long Forgotten

Transylvanian Recordings

***Ritualistic, Primeval Death Metal from Brazil. Featuring members of Jupiterian. For fans of Dead Congregation & Portal.

Black Witchery

Holocaustic Death March To Humanity's Doom

Nuclear War Now

***Fifteen years ago, Black Witchery and Conqueror, both still virtually unknown outside of a small cult of maniacal blasphemers, united for the split release entitled “Hellstorm of Evil Vengeance.” Exploring a style that few North American bands dared approach at that time, Black Witchery and Conqueror inherited their extremist tendencies from the likes of Blasphemy and Sarcofago among others. Looking back, the release can now be regarded as something of a statement of intent in that it signified the establishment of a second wave of Bestial Black Metal and set the course for the future of the genre. Although external circumstances would necessitate the termination of Conqueror’s mission immediately following the release of the split, J. Read continued treading the path of the Superion with Revenge and R. Forster was initiated into the ranks of Blasphemy. Black Witchery also persisted through the years, assuming a well-deserved, prominent place among the bestial legions. Since the split release in 2000, Black Witchery and Revenge have shared numerous stages all over the world and maintained a united front within the underground. Similarly, NWN!, which also began its campaign of atrocities in 2000, established its dominion over the chthonic depths of the Bestial Black Metal underground. Having settled into their respective roles as progenitors of a particular faction of extreme metal, it is time to assemble the unholy triumvirate of Black Witchery, Revenge, and Nuclear War Now! once more. For this release, Black Witchery turn in one of the band’s most primitive and punishing...

Darts, The

Snake Oil

Alternative Tentacles

***NOW ON LIMITED GREEN VINYL!!! Note new price.At last! The Darts return from their Bat Cave Covid lair, with Snake Oil—by far their best album to date. The Darts formed in 2016 with the goal of getting some solid female musicians together to make garage punk rock and roll noise, see the world, and basically have a super-fun slumber party every night. They are now hands down one of the best garage bands in the world. This is a much fuller sound than any Darts disc before, courtesy of their longtime collaborator Bob Hoag (FB Rec) and some remote control co-production wizardry from Jello Biafra himself. Featuring the return of Nicole Laurnne on vocals / Farfisa and Hammond organ, Christina Nunez on bass / vocals, and Meliza Jackson on guitars / vocals, Snake Oil is the debut of new drummer Mary Rose Gonzales. The result? It comes out smoking as if the band had been in a pressure cooker throughout the pandemic. Expect the wider sound and sparkle of Laurnne and Nunez’s previous band, The Love Me Nots (which was also recorded by the brilliant Bob Hoag), but with way more raunch—and Laurnne’s voice has never sounded better. Snake Oil is for fans of agile, sultry vocals and beefy, vintage rhythm sections paired with razor-tone guitars. This Snake Oil was concocted to remedy the most unaffected and stiff-legged garage rockers out there!

V/a

Heroes of the Night Vol. 2

Reminder

***The sequel without equal: the second installment in the Heroes Of The Night compilation universe is now here! Picking up exactly where the first volume left off and featuring a cast of twelve of the best and scarcest D.I.Y., powerpop, punk and new wave 45 tracks from the likes of JACKIE, L’HOMME DE TERRE, BRENDA PRESCOTT, AQUILA and more. Something for the girl with everything or the boy who thinks he’s heard everything, Heroes Of The Night Volume 2 continues Reminder Records’ campaign to showcase the talents of post-punk’s female musical innovators and pioneers.

Kimbrough, Junior & Soul Blues Boys

Sad Days Lonely Nights

Fat Possum

A reissue of the infamous late Kimbrough's second album. Raw rocked, and laid bare blues recorded at Junior's juke joint and produced by Robert Palmer.

Militia

Regiments of Death / No Submission

Nuclear War Now

***Though they were a favorite around their hometown of Austin and nearby San Antonio, Militia received scant attention outside of Texas during their short-lived existence from 1984-1986. Formed in 1984 when bassist Robert Wellingham (who, at the time, neither owned nor knew how to play a bass) met drummer Phil Achee, Militia’s origin is inseparable from the story of the heavy metal scene in and around Austin, Texas during the 1980s. With the inclusion of vocalist Mike Soliz, whose powerful, Halford-esque shrills became a defining feature of Militia’s sound, the band established itself as a fixture of the regional metal scene, sharing members and performing live with many notable acts around the area, including Watchtower, Wyzard, and S.A. Slayer, among many others. Militia swiftly progressed, writing original material and perfecting their live performances. During the three years they were together, they recorded two demos—Regiments of Death and No Submission released in 1984 and 1986, respectively—and the highly coveted MLP, The Sybling, privately pressed by the band in an edition of just 100 copies. The two demos, the band’s first and last recordings, depict Militia’s evolution during its brief lifespan. On Regiments of Death, Militia displayed a unique fusion of skill and passion, an amalgamation of the most potent elements of aggressive speed metal and melodic power metal. The second demo, recorded in the wake of several lineup changes, displayed a more “progressive” approach, drawing inspiration from early Queensryche and other similar acts. Now that NWN! has established its permanent base...

Underground River

Life Cycle, Delicate Song

Nudie Records

***Underground River is the solo project of Johnson City, NY based artist, multi-instrumentalist, and recording engineer, Hunter Davidsohn. On his album, Life Cycle, Delicate Song Hunter weaves a sonic tapestry combining elements or baroque pop, chamber psychedelia, and left field recording techniques to take the listener on a surprisingly romantic journey through heartbreak and self reflection. The whole affair is anchored by Hunter’s unmistakable and singular baritone voice that washes over you and sends you adrift. From the Syd Barrett-esque stroll of “Pour Some Tea” to the tormented and clear eyed beauty of “It Continues” the album moves through styles effortlessly without ever feeling like anything less than a cohesive and exquisite portrait by a rare artist. In the words of Hunter, “It’s an album for people who have been saved by music” and we couldn’t agree more.

Abhorrent / Thyabhorrent

Occultus Brujeria

Nuclear War Now

***Abhorrent formed in Sarpsborg, Norway in 1989, during a period in which the now-famous black metal scene was developing in the same area. The most renowned of its founding members was Stian “Occultus” Johansen, who has also been active in Perdition Hearse and co-founded the infamous Helvete record store in Oslo with Øystein “Euronymous” Aarseth (of Mayhem notoriety) and Geir “Thrasher” Bratteli. In fact, Occultus was also briefly an official member of Mayhem following Dead’s untimely demise. Abhorrent recorded one live and one studio demo in 1990 before adopting the moniker of Thyabhorrent for an EP and another demo in 1991. Their music reflected the transitional nature of the moment and location, as the more traditional form of death metal assumed an increasingly evil nature, while black metal was taking hold of the Norwegian underground. “Occultus Brujeria” documents this obscure entity’s existence as a compilation of the band’s “Occultus Brujeria” demo, which also includes the same three recorded tracks from its “Death Rides at Dawn” 7″, and some additional bonus tracks. Given that these recordings have not been officially available for well over two decades, “Occultus Brujeria” is an overdue reissue that is sure to satiate all appetites for early Norwegian extreme metal.

Les Lullies

Mauvaise Foi

Slovenly

****As smokin’ as they are, previous releases from LES LULLIES were rushed through with impossible deadlines and little time to consider the ends. Mauvaise Foi—their new LP with resolutely French title (and their first record almost fully sung in the tongue)—takes a more laid back approach to manifest the desired energy, finding the boys swimming in a sea of change from their usual methodology. The result is streamlined rock’n’roll with a new purpose: a stark contrast from yesterday’s news while remaining truly Lullies. Mauvaise Foi sounds more personal and fleshy, dabbling in influences from Phil Spector to the Real Kids, classic punk from the Normandy scene (Fixed Up, Dogs, Sub Kids), and brimming with subtle, headphone-worthy layers and details. Mauvaise Foi (“Bad Faith”) as a title sums up this full-length with accuracy. Sometimes tackling somber subjects with tongue planted firmly in cheek, has no qualms breaking free to resonate with hilarity and their trademark cockiness like a brakeless derailing bullet train. Contained herein are stories about real-life characters sung by slightly mendacious rock’n’roll adventurers.

50 Miles Of Elbow Room

Issue # 2

50 Miles of Elbow Room

***The second issue of this "lively and thoughtful" magazine is a 112-page book with extensive features on HAMID DRAKE (11,000 word historical and philosophical interview), OTHA TURNER (excellent interview wth the 90+year-old fife player), REVEREND CHARLIE JACKSON (untouchable '70s gospel guitar scorcher), LOUIS MOHOLO (WILLIAM PARKER interviews the great South African expatriate drummer), JUNE TYSON (a hail to SUN RA's righteous and radiant singer, dancer, and violinist, includes PHIL SCHAAP's never-before-published interview from '87), and ROBERT PETE WILLIAMS (retrospective on this blindingly original improvising bluesman). 8" x 8", perfect bound.

Afterhours

Collaborations of Sound And Visuals

Afterhours

***Japan’s Afterhours Magazine celebrates twenty issues with a special book-and-CD issue. Includes collaborations between fifteen international illustrators and fifteen international musicians with beautiful visuals and wonderful sounds. Includes music from MICE PARADE, ISAN, MONTAG, JOSHUA LA RUE, MUM + ADAM PIERCE, ULTRA LIVING, LONESOME ORGANIST, HIM, SPOOMBUG (aka KEV HOPPER), and more. Japanese import.

Svenonius, Ian F.

Supernatural Strategies For Making A Rock’n’Roll Group

Akashic

Badaboom Gramophone

Issue # 5

Ba Da Bing!

***The long-anticipated fifth issue comes out cracking with a wide range of subjects, including Cognitive Abnormalites Relating to Music, RAYMOND SCOTT, the newly discovered "No Exit Act II" by JEAN PAUL SARTRE, Twisted Village Records, MATMOS & FRANKLIN BRUNO, DAVID FOSTER WALLACE, a Consumer's Guide to ROBERT CHRISTGAU's Consumer Guide, and more. Includes a tribute to Raymond Scott CD with unreleased tracks from SOLEX, CEX, AROVANE, GEOMETRIC FARMS, ENSEMBLE, TELSTAR PONIES, BOGDAN RACZYNSKI, and more.

Blank Forms

Blank Forms, Vol. 3: Henning Christiansen: Freedom is Around the Corner

Blank Forms

Brother Jt

Black Journal / Non Compos Mantis

Brother JT Inc.

***The Brodge's second book of "Spirit Transcriptions and Advice For Living" is a spiffy, 5 1/2 X 8 1/2, 148 page, b&w expressway to the Id. Much the same in spirit as the larger, more colorful (and pricey) Orange Journal, Black Journal's main departure is the extensive use of typeface instead of direct scannings from the hand-scrawled journal, so as to make the maddening gibberish a might bit easier to read. Of course there are still some pages left un-transcribed for authenticity's sake, and many original and collages as well. Automatic writings, drawings, collages, and pure BROTHER JT magic. Companion CDR, Non Compos Mantis, which derives many song lyrics from Black Journal, is also included.

Mr. Pottymouth

Pussy Pow Wow

Chronoplastics

***The long-awaited (?) testimonial of the enigmatic MR. POTTYMOUTH, frontman for the rock outfit ARAB ON RADAR. A volatile collection of depraved poetry, lyrics and prose, delivered with candor, emotion, retarded adolescence and twisted morality.