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Amen Dunes [Death Jokes] May 10 street date. First new album from acclaimed, forward-thinking indie artist Amen Dunes since the beloved 2018 album "Freedom", and his first album on Sub Pop Records. With "Death Jokes", for the first time since the project's incarnation in 2006, the spiritual reflections and meditations of Amen Dunes are turned away from himself, and out sharply towards the world. The album is also a drastic turn musically and thematically, rooted in the electronic music of raves and of rap music he grew up with but never imagined himself able to make, playing like a scathing electronic essay on America's culture of violence, dominance, and destructive individualism. The work on "Death Jokes" began just weeks before the first word of the pandemic came in the winter of 2019; it was completed three years later as we began to emerge from the worst. The album's meaning morphed as the pandemic went on, first a reflection on our attachment to form, and to ourselves, and then shifting into a solemn indictment of our culture's blind spots as we misjudge and attack, veiled self-centeredness and self-importance masquerading as morality. |
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Atmosphere [Strictly Leakage (2LP)] May 17 street date. "Strictly Leakage" was a 2007 Christmas gift to fans in the form of a free download. The title was a nod to both leaking their own music as well as to the golden era hip-hop that inspired them. It sounded uniquely different from Atmosphere's recordings around this time. Ant was back digging into the funk and soul crates, producing sample driven tracks that sounded as if they were birthed alongside early hip-hop classics. Slug was rapping with a renewed passion, yet somehow sounded more casual and carefree, delivering endless wordplay with more technical rhyme patterns than their recent releases. Together, they created 13 exclusive songs that sounded as if they were having fun flexing different creative muscles without the pressure of any official album expectations - undoubtedly as rewarding an exercise for themselves as it was for the listeners. Soon after release, "Strictly Leakage" was briefly pressed on a limited run of vinyl and CD, but it wasn't long before they sold out, and fans were left chasing streams and digital files in order to hear it. Finally, the project returns to vinyl and CD so fans everywhere can own and appreciate this unique chapter in Atmosphere's story. |
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Bibi Club [Feu De Garde] May 10 street date. The pair named themselves Bibi Club for the discotheque in their living room, where the couple's bibis - their loved ones - come and dance. The duo formed by Adèle Trottier-Rivard and Nicolas Basque explore emotional and physical territories, overcoming obstacles with intense, raw yet benevolent radicalism. A former member of the very first exclusively female scout group, Les Guides, Adèle reconnects with the values that made her who she is: courage, perseverance, sisterhood, friendship. The years she spent in that community, discovering nature and developing intense relationships, became part of her identity and informed her writing, all the way to the creation of "Feu de garde". The influence of Moondog, Stereolab, and, more than ever, Suicide can be heard in the direct, singular approach of the album, which also features group chants inspired by Girl Guide outings in the woods. Pushing back the boundaries of genres and letting their creativity run free, Bibi Club fill "Feu de garde"with relentless rhythms. On stage Adèle grabs percussion instruments and takes risks. Liberated, seductive, undeniable. |
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Bolshoi [Country Life (2LP colour)] May 3 street date. English pop/goth band The Bolshoi were different. Their songs were dark and subversive, sufficient evidence for many critics to corral them under the "gothic" banner at the time of their debut - but they really only "flirted" with goth. They oozed dark, pensive lyrics supported with inventive pop-goth guitar making them nearly impossible to categorize. They released three albums during their existence, but they also recorded a fourth album that was never officially released during their tenure. Provisionally titled "Country Life", the album was originally released in 2015 as part of a limited 5-CD box set. Beggars Arkive is excited to now release it on vinyl for the first time. "Country Life" consists of demos recorded for the album (many of these only survived on reference cassettes but were digitally restored), along with a brand new acoustic reimagining of the song "Dolores Jones" that singer/guitarist Trevor Tanner recorded specifically for this release. |
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Camera Obscura [Look To the East, Look To the West] May 3 street date. "Look to the East, Look to the West", the new album by Camera Obscura, is a revelation. The Tracyanne Campbell-led outfit, reuniting with producer Jari Haapalainen, have crafted an album that simultaneously recalls why longtime fans have ferociously loved them for decades while also being their most sophisticated effort to date. It is also the most hard-fought album of Camera Obscura's career. Following the 2015 passing of founding keyboardist and friend Carey Lander (to whom the penultimate track "Sugar Almond" is addressed), the band went into an extended hiatus. They remained in contact, but their status was uncertain until they announced their return, having been invited to perform as part of Belle And Sebastian's 2019 Boaty Weekender cruise festival, along with a pair of sold-out warm-up shows in Glasgow. "Look to the East, Look to the West" feels big, a widescreen reframing of Camera Obscura's sound that, paradoxically, saw the band go back to basics - there are no string or brass arrangements, with more emphasis placed on piano, synthesizers, Hammond organ, and drum machines, and, perhaps most strikingly, the group have dropped the veil of reverb that characterized their previous albums. |
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Carpenter, John [Lost Themes IV: Noir (black vinyl)] May 3 street date. It's been a decade since John Carpenter recorded the material that would become "Lost Themes", his debut album of non-film music and the opening salvo in one of Hollywood's great second acts. Those vibrant, synth-driven songs, made in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, kickstarted a musical renaissance for the pioneering composer and director. With "Lost Themes IV: Noir", they've struck gold again, this time mining the rich history of the film noir genre for inspiration. Since the first "Lost Themes", John has referred to these compositions as "soundtracks for the movies in your mind". On the fourth installment in the series, those movies are noirs. Like the film genre they were influenced by, what makes these songs "noirish" is sometimes slippery and hard to define, and not merely reducible to a collection of tropes. The scores for the great American noir pictures were largely orchestral, while the Carpenters and Davies work off a sturdy synth-and-guitar backbone. The noir quality, then, is something you understand instinctively when you hear it, as in connected in an emotional way. |
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Death Cult [Paradise Now (splatter)] May 17 street date. Southern Death Cult formed in 1981, releasing their sole, self-titled album posthumously in 1983. That same year, Death Cult formed, with Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy joining forces for the first time, releasing two 12-inches which were subsequently combined and released as a CD in 2008. Now, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of The Cult, the duo have compiled tracks from the Death Cult era for a special release, "Paradise Now". Death Cult is a vital transmission from the generation of Shamanic post-punk gothic futurists. In late 2023, Astbury and Duffy reformed the project for a series of live performances including a sole U.S. date at The Ace Hotel in Los Angeles, and a limited run of U.K. shows. Death Cult became The Cult in 1984, releasing "Dreamtime" that same year. The seminal post-punk band has gone on to sell more than four million albums, with numerous Canadian and U.S. gold and platinum certifications. Ian Astbury (vocals) and Billy Duffy (guitar) have released 11 studio albums over The Cult's 40-year career. |
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Death Lens [Cold World] May 3 street date. After successful tours with Militarie Gun and Together Pangea and hometown support, Death Lens is poised to release their latest album, "Cold World". Death Lens relentlessly seeks a place in your consciousness, a persistent presence whispering in your ear. Concealing ferocity beneath a stylish veneer, their live shows unleash energy and chaos, leaving spectators disarmed and forever transformed. In recordings, Death Lens forges unyielding rock, blending West Coast surf punk with Britrock's tight, bouncy rhythms. Despite their deceptive chill and vibe-focused portrayal, live performances brim with hardcore intensity. Rooted in slick guitar sonics and sugary backing vocal harmonies, reminiscent of indie punk and shoegaze, Death Lens channels the energy of bands like Turnstile and Militarie Gun on stage, creating soundtracks for indelible memories of high-energy, sweat-soaked singalongs. |
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Four Tet [Three] Please note new street date: April 26. Four Tet has announced a new album, "Three". Spanning eight tracks, it marks the UK producer's first full-length release since 2020's "Parallel". Recent singles "Loved" and "Three Drums" appear on the new record, in addition to the newly unveiled cut "Daydream Repeat". |
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Gendron, Myriam [Mayday] May 10 street date. “Mayday is an album that keeps on giving; every listen reveals additional nuances and every visit to the end- groove invites a return to the start.” -Lucy Sante In May 2024, Myriam Gendron comes back with her third full-length record, aptly titled Mayday. On Mayday, the artist showcases her love of traditional folklore music, drawing inspiration from the Appalachian variant of an English Christmas carol (“Lully Lullay”) and French Canadian sea shanties alike (“La belle Françoise (pour Sylvie)”). But the album is just as much an endorsement of Gendron’s talent as a singer-songwriter, as her bold poetic voice and musical arrangements shine on tracks such as country-folk ballad “Long Way Home”, rock and jazz infused closer “Berceuse”, cinematic 6-minutes long “Terres brûlées” or heartwarming instrumental interlude “La Luz”. On Mayday, she sings in both English and French, paying homage to various traditions across North America. Music critic Byron Coley writes: “Myriam has privately described the mood of Mayday as dark, in part due to the fact it was assembled after her mother’s passing, but she is always capable of balancing and blending emotional content in a way that makes it ultimately hopeful.” The album benefits from the precious contributions of renowned artists, collaborators and friends of Myriam, amongst which we can name Marisa Anderson, Jim White (‘Dirty Three’), Cédric Dind-Lavoie, Bill Nace and Zoh Amba. |
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Ibibio Sound Machine [Pull the Rope] May 3 street date. "Pull The Rope", the new record by Ibibio Sound Machine, casts the Eno Williams and Max Grunhard-led outfit in a new light. The hope, joy, and sexiness of their music remains, but, further honing the edge of their acclaimed 2022 album "Electricity", the connection they aim to foster has shifted venues from the sunny buoyancy of a sunlit festival to a sweat-soaked, all-night dance club. Williams and Grunhard attribute this shift to a matter of collaborators, recording "Pull The Rope" with Sheffield-based producer Ross Orton (Arctic Monkeys, M.I.A.) over the course of two weeks. The way the pair wrote songs changed significantly - rather than Eno penning lyrics to music generated by Max and company's jamming, Orton started with Eno and Max writing together before adding the band. With less time in the studio and a new way of considering how they built songs, the duo found making decisions about the sound of "Pull The Rope" quicker and more instinctual than before. |
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Iron & Wine [Light Verse] April 26 street date. When the pandemic began, and the world shut down, so did the process of creating for Iron & Wine's Sam Beam. In its place was a domesticity that the singer hadn't felt in a long time, and although it was filled with many rewards, making music was not one of them. The journey back began with a recording session in Memphis to record a handful of Lori McKenna tracks for the EP "Lori" with friend and producer Matt Ross-Spang. The cathartic experience reconnected Beam with his love for making music, and soon enough the paralysis had passed, and he was finishing lyrics and booking studio time for what would become "Light Verse". Beam lyrically once again takes focus on a series of both fictional and personal insights, filled with desperate characters and wide-eyed optimists, offering promise and a dose of heartache, tears and laughter, life and love. While this may be Iron & Wine's most playful record, Beam says the title mostly reflects the way the songs were born with joy after the heaviness and anxiety of the pandemic. Fashioned as an album that should be taken as a whole, it sounds lovingly handmade and self-assured as a secret handshake. |
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Khanate [Capture & Release (180g-black vinyl)] May 24 street date. Khanate are Stephen O'Malley (Sunn O))), Burning Witch, Thorr's Hammer), James Plotkin and Alan Dubin (OLD), and Tim Wyskida (Blind Idiot God, Manbyrd). Largely recognized as their breakthrough album, Khanate was confident enough by the two-song, forty-minute "Capture & Release" (2005) to peel back its layers of thick mossy drone and reveal the minimalist underpinnings, a change either interpreted as maturity or an implied threat. It's a grim, avant-garde exercise in tension and paranoia. Dense, leaden drones fill up the spaces between O'Malley's sparse, deeply sustained guitar chords. Vocalist Alan Dubin's anguished vocals seem to convey the tortures of the damned as if there were not a shred of hope left for existence in this world. "Capture & Release" is not dissimilar to black metal in how it so violently conveys such a bleak and ultra-nihilistic world outlook. But while the standard tempo on a black metal album typically strays into the triple digits in terms of beats per minute, Khanate's plodding pace keeps the BPM soundly within the single-digit range. |
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Kramar, Loren [Glovemaker (black vinyl)] April 26 street date. If the Chateau Marmont could sing. This would be it. Loren Kramar's voice vibrates with the shameless hum of a room after a celebrity exits. Ecstatic aspiration. Doubt. Proximity. Desire. The album "Glovemaker" is about the skins we craft to be seen by the world, and Loren reminds us that we are all in drag. All exposed. No matter what gloves we slip on. Loren has always been obsessed with fame. Not with famous people, but with the electricity that perverts attention - the crushing desire to be truly seen. And all of Loren, and this obsession, is in this album. He grew up in the Valley, forced to hide his Barbies from his father, so the closet was a gorgeous Spanish ranch house on a gilded cul-de-sac crawling with celebrities. Naturally this gay boy wanted to be a child star so his mother secretly shuttled him to tap and jazz and figure skating lessons. This is a songwriter's album. Loren's lyrics are all his, and you feel it with every bright, Maraschino-cherry-like word that falls from his lips. Part poet, part theatrical diva, Loren loops together the tragedy of breathing on this planet, because like Eartha Kitt or Cat Stevens, Loren is at his core an incredible story teller. This whole album is a shrine, a mantle atop a blazing fire of life, spread with the memorabilia of Loren; all of the pain and lust dazzling on unabashed view. |
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Lemon Twigs [A Dream Is All We Know] May 3 street date. Since the release of their debut studio album "Do Hollywood" in 2016, The Lemon Twigs have waved the same revivalist torch as Alex Chilton and his Big Star crew, working to prove that archaic music from the 1960s and 70s can still be relevant in the digital world. Alongside peers like Foxygen and Drugdealer, The Lemon Twigs have explicitly documented a synchronistic blend of contemporary narrative motifs, old-school recording techniques, and flawless, consistent attitudes collaged from various crucial stages of rock 'n' roll. After a whirlwind 2023, Brian and Michael D'Addario are continuing the momentum of their own evolving vision and voice, distilling a history lesson of baroque and power pop into "A Dream Is All We Know". The album is grandiose yet grounded; meticulous, yet wild and glowing. "A Dream Is All We Know" is a profoundly dense and charged album, rife with string arrangements and a sonic thesis statement that has quaked through phases of glam, conceptualism, baroque, and Mustang-loud, stone-cold rock 'n' roll for more than half a century. |
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Moctar, Mdou [Funeral For Justice] May 3 street date. Nigerien quartet Mdou Moctar present their blistering new album, "Funeral For Justice". Recorded at the close of two years spent touring the globe following the release of 2019's breakout album "Afrique Victime", it captures the band in ferocious form. The music is louder, faster, and more wild; the guitar solos are feedback-scorched and the lyrics are passionately political; nothing is held back or toned down. "Funeral For Justice" speaks unflinchingly to the plight of Niger and the Tuareg people. "This album is really different for me", explains Moctar, the band's singer, namesake, and indisputably iconic guitarist. "Now the problems of terrorist violence are more serious in Africa. when the U.S. and Europe came here, they said they're going to help us, but what we see is really different. They never help us to find a solution". "Mdou Moctar has been a strong anti-colonial band ever since I've been a part of it", says producer and bassist Mikey Coltun, who has been playing with Moctar since 2017. |
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Of Montreal [Lady On The Cusp (clear sky blue vinyl)] May 17 street date. Over the course of the last two decades, of Montreal's creative force, Kevin Barnes, has been wowing fans with their vast catalog of endlessly fascinating pop and mesmerizing live shows. Barnes' songwriting and production aesthetic has since become iconic in the industry and has garnered massive critical acclaim in publications such as Rolling Stone, The New York Times, NPR, and Pitchfork. Barnes' influence on pop music is undeniable, with multiple late night TV appearances, as well as brilliant collaborations with the likes of Solange, Janelle Monáe, Jon Brion, and others. On of Montreal's latest album, "Lady On The Cusp", Barnes shapeshifts between genres with each song. On some tracks, Barnes revisits sounds of late 1960s guitar pop and psychedelia reminiscent of 2013's "Lousy With Sylvianbriar", while other tracks showcase Barnes' love of experimental funk pop that has been present throughout much of the band's discography. "Lady On The Cusp" is another exciting listen from one of the most prolific and influential artists making music today. |
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Owen [The Falls Of Sioux] April 26 street date. Mike Kinsella's work over the years with his various musical endeavors has been nothing short of foundational, from early days with Cap'n Jazz right up until recently with American Football's unforeseen and excellent second act. On the new Owen album, "The Falls Of Sioux", Kinsella returns with the followup to 2020's critically acclaimed album, "The Avalanche", and delivers the most ambitious and varied album of his career. Produced by S. Carey, Zach Hanson, and Kinsella, "The Falls Of Sioux finds Mike taking risks like never before, both lyrically and musically. Featuring lavish string arrangements, vocal contributions from Cacie Dalager (Now, Now), Kinsella's iconic guitar and drumming styles, and even a spoken word vignette, the album is an exciting departure from Kinsella's previous work, while still retaining what makes Owen albums so fascinating and replayable. |
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P.O.D. [Veritas (clear vinyl)] May 3 street date. Five years removed from their previous studio album, "Circles", P.O.D. returns with arguably their hardest-hitting record yet. "We're still here and creating some of the best music we've ever made", says guitarist Marcos Curiel. This go-round, however, P.O.D. decided to get back to the basics. "These songs are a throwback to me and remind me of the raw, unbridled energy of classic South San Diego P.O.D.", offers bassist Traa Daniels. Written over several years, with the band typically writing a tune or two at a time in L.A. with The Heavy, "Veritas" is a cannon shot of adrenaline to the ear drums. And for a band that has never shied away from wearing their heart on their sleeve, it's also one of the most emotionally inspired albums of their career. |
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Shellac [To All Trains (180g)] May 17 street date. Shellac return with their sixth album, "To All Trains", their first album since 2014's "Dude Incredible". Shellac is still Steve Albini (guitar), Todd Trainer (drums), and Bob Weston (bass). Recording and mixing took place at Electrical Audio in Chicago over a bunch of long weekends between November 2017 and March 2022. The record was mastered by Bob and Steve at Chicago Mastering Service. As usual with Shellac, this record will have no formal promotion. There will be no advertisements, no press or radio promotion, no e-promotion, no promotional or review copies, no promotional gimmick items, and otherwise no free lunch. |
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Slash [Orgy Of The Damned (2LP)] May 17 street date. A collection of 12 dynamic songs that shakes up and revitalizes blues classics with a stripped-down, instinctive approach, Slash's "Orgy Of The Damned" creates a singular expression that pays homage to the blues. A great cover takes something old and makes it new again. This is the philosophy behind "Orgy Of The Damned", on which the acclaimed guitarist re-teamed with storied producer Mike Clink and enlisted the album's diverse guest vocalists, which include Gary Clark Jr., Billy F. Gibbons, Chris Stapleton, Dorothy, Iggy Pop, Paul Rodgers, Demi Lovato, Brian Johnson, Tash Neal, Chris Robinson, and Beth Hart. To round out his band in the studio and on the road, Slash reunited with two of his bandmates from his Blues Ball outfit in the 90s, bassist Johnny Griparic and keyboardist Teddy Andreadis, and brought on drummer Michael Jerome and singer/guitarist Tash Neal. |
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Stone, Angus & Julia [Cape Forestier (gatefold/gold/booklet)] May 10 street date. "Cape Forestier, our latest record, holds a really special place in our hearts - a chapter in the ever-unfolding book about the road we're traveling together. It feels reminiscent of our earlier records in terms of style; there's a real acoustic rawness to the sound. However, the songwriting and performances are naturally tied to the humans we are right now, with all the branches of experience hanging in there. We couldn’t be more excited to share this music. It’s been an incredible experience writing and recording these songs together." The Sydney-based sibling duo of Angus & Julia Stone have unfolded with an almost magical magnetism that has galvanized the world. Their albums have amassed multi-platinum sales and numerous ARIA and APRA awards at home and won a fanbase of millions over spiraling tours of the UK, Europe, and North America. Just last year, Angus shared the stage with Post Malone to perform their multi-platinum hit “Big Jet Plane,” a song that Malone fondly refers to as "probably my favorite song for-fucking-ever." Their indelible impact has been nothing short of timeless. |
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Sylvan Esso [Sylvan Esso (2CD-10 year anniversary edition)] May 17 street date. Recorded in a little bedroom studio out in Durham, North Carolina, Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn's debut LP as Sylvan Esso arrived in 2014 at the juncture of pop and experimental. Even now, years later, the LP remains an urgent and fitting introduction to a push-and-pull that would go on to inform the duo's sound - a thoughtful headiness that also wants you to get out on the dance floor. A blend of analogue and digital, Meath and Sanborn were two unexpected puzzle pieces fitting together with singular ease, producing a ten-track LP that was both minimalist and shimmering, with dark undulations rippling beneath the synthy-surface and crystalline quality of Meath's voice. In honour of the record's ten year anniversary, North Carolina-based indie label Psychic Hotline will release a deluxe reissue of "Sylvan Esso", complete with previously unreleased material. The expanded edition also includes remixes from J Rocc, Rick Wade, Helado Negro, Dntel, and more. |
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Washington, Kamasi [Fearless Movement (2LP)] May 3 street date. Los Angeles multi-instrumentalist, composer, and bandleader Kamasi Washington presents his new double-LP, "Fearless Movement", via Young. Washington calls "Fearless Movement" his dance album. "It's not literal. Dance is movement and expression, and in a way it's the same thing as music expressing your spirit through your body. That's what this album is pushing". Where previous projects dealt with cosmic ideas and existential concepts, this record focuses in on the everyday, an exploration of life on earth. The album features Washington's daughter - who wrote the melody to "Asha The First" during some of her first experimentations on the piano - as well as a host of collaborators new and old. André 3000 appears on flute, George Clinton lends his voice, as do BJ The Chicago Kid, Inglewood rapper D-Smoke, and Taj and Ras Austin of Coast Contra. Further enlisted are lifelong friends and collaborators Thundercat, Terrace Martin, Patrice Quinn, Brandon Coleman, DJ Battlecat, and more. |
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