Available now from I94 Recordings – the Guitarist from Detroit Glam Punks The Trash Brats delivers his second full length solo LP of catchy melodic tunes.
3 variants – grab them while they are HOT!
Gotta Groove Records
Record Pressing Specialists – The Best Sounding Records On Planet Earth.
Vinyl Pressing: Nate Najar – Jazz Samba Pra Sempre
New Vinyl Pressing: 2022 marks 60 years of Jazz Samba – the landmark 1962 album by Charlie Byrd and Stan Getz that launched Bossa Nova to international stardom.
Nate Najar pays homage to the spirit and iconic repertoire of Jazz Samba with Jazz Samba Pra Sempre (Jazz Samba Forever!), a loving “reimagining” of this seminal album. Playing Charlie Byrd’s own guitar, Najar is joined by Jeff Rupert on tenor sax, Herman Burney on bass (playing Keter Betts’ bass played on the original Jazz Samba) and Chuck Redd on drums (previously of the Charlie Byrd Trio) navigating the track list with equal parts reverence and invention. Brazilian vocalist Daniela Soledade guests on two tracks, Joao Gilberto’s O Pato and Ary Barroso’s É Luxo Só, with her own unmistakeable warmth and intimacy.
R.I.P. Abdul Wadud
Our hearts are heavy learning of the loss of Abdul Wadud. He was an extraordinarily talented musician, opening the ears and eyes of the world to a sound and sight never before encountered, and we are honored to have known and worked with him.
Vinyl Pressing: Cadabra / Bleak December – Dracula
Vinyl pressing: Unavailable on vinyl since its initial release on Cadabra Records in 2017, the Bleak December adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula is yet another essential recording for fans of classic horror fiction. As with other audio dramas produced by Bleak December’s players, this was adapted by longtime Cadabra collaborator Anthony D.P. Mann, who also plays Dr. Abraham Van Helsing, and features an abridged take on Stoker’s century-old masterwork.
Of course, as this is Dracula, who plays the titular villain? None other than horror icon Tony Todd, whose deep and rumbling tones are perfectly suited for the mesmeric exhortations of the bloodsucking fiend. One does not hear what he’s saying so much as feeling it within your head, much as if Todd’s count is communicating with you as he does with Lucy Seward.
His work here follows in the footsteps of other icons who’ve guested in Bleak December’s work, such as David Warner as Karswell in Casting the Runes or The Wicker Man with Brian Blessed as Lord Summerisle, wherein an instantly-recognizable voice is used to superb effect to raise the already rock-solid work of the cast.
Speaking of the regular cast, one especially worth noting in Dracula is regular Bleak December player Nikolas Yuen, whose portrayal of Renfield manages to rise to the level of mania exhibited by Dwight Frye in the same role over 90 years ago. Frye’s work in Todd Browning’s Universal Pictures adaptation of the Bram Stoker classic is legendary, but the shuddering, maniacal work Yuen brings to his few minutes in the role result in genuinely hair-raising terror evoked within the listener.
Regular composer for these works, Brent Holland, once again brings the deftest of touches to the music here in Dracula. The opening overture is resplendent with deep, bass-laden strings and a wordless choir, giving the production precisely the introduction it needs after the equally sonorous tones of Todd’s vampiric opening. The strings and choir provide the musical through-line which connects this abridged take, and briskly moves the story along.
Vinyl Pressing: Newvelle Records Renewal Collection
Vinyl Pressing: Newvelle Records Unveils First Exclusive Series in More Than Two Years — The Renewal Collection is a four-album series affirming the resilience of music through the anguish and loss of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Newvelle’s community of jazz patrons have come together year after year to support some of the most talented artists on the scene and help bring their music to the world. With plans to press only 500 copies of this limited-edition collection – Newvelle’s first new series release in two years – our long time listeners (you!) will once again play a critical role in ensuring that we can continue to record and release music with the care and attention that we’re known for.
A pre-order not only secures copies of these records, lovingly captured on 180-gram vinyl (pressed with GrooveCoated stamper technology), for your own collection. You’ll be supporting musicians who have presented a wide range of musical reflections and celebrations on what it means to be jazz artists in this moment, and guaranteeing that their art gets to be heard.
Vinyl Pressing: The Harlem Gospel Travelers
Things are looking up for The Harlem Gospel Travelers, who return here with a new album, a new lineup, and a new lease on life. Produced by Eli Paperboy Reed, Look Up! marks the group’s first full-length release as a trio, as well as their first collection of totally original material, and it couldn’t have come at a more vital moment. The music still draws deeply on the gospel quartet tradition of the ’50s and ’60s, of course, but there’s a distinctly modern edge to the record, an unmistakable reflection of the tumultuous past few years of pandemic anxiety, political chaos, and social unrest. The songs are bold and resilient, facing down doubt and despair with faith and perseverance, and the performances are explosive and ecstatic, fueled by dazzling vocal arrangements punctuated with gritty bursts of guitar and crunchy rhythm breaks.
Born out of an non-profit music education program led by Reed, The Harlem Gospel Travelers—singers Thomas Gatling, George Marage, and Dennis Bailey—released their debut LP, He’s On Time, to rave reviews in 2019, with Pop Matters hailing the album’s “musical transcendence” and AllMusic praising it as “dreamlike and joyous.” The record charted on Billboard, earned the Travelers high profile fans like Elton John (who invited them to appear on his Rocket Hour radio show on Apple Music), and landed them festival slots everywhere from Pilgrimage to Telluride Jazz.
Preorder now through Colemine Records.
Vinyl Pressing: Tall Dwarfs — Unravelled
New Vinyl Pressing: A deep dive into the 21-year journey of New Zealand DIY pop pioneers Tall Dwarfs, aka Alec Bathgate and Chris Knox (both previously of Toy Love and The Enemy fame). Designed and painstakingly curated by Bathgate himself, this 55-track collection comprises songs from across the band’s discography which spans a slew of full-length albums, EPs, singles, and compilation cuts released between 1981 and 2002. Unravelled is an abbreviated primer into the ramshackle brilliance of Tall Dwarfs, whose influence has lived on through artists as varied as Pavement, Yo La Tengo, Beck, Waxahatchee, Bill Callahan, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, the Mountain Goats, and Neutral Milk Hotel, just to name a few.
4LP 180 gram set, available from Merge Records.
Vinyl Pressing: Jonathan Richman
New Vinyl Pressing! Jonathan Richman – Want To Visit My Inner House?
Featuring Tommy Larkins on drums, Jerry Harrison on keyboards and Nicole Montalbano on tambura. Recorded at the Mountain Studio in Marin. Produced by Jonathan Richmond, Jerry Harrison, and Nicole Montalbano. Shameless, Shameless was recorded at The Cottage by Jake Sprecher Special thanks to our engineer and collaborator Karl Derfler.
Courtesy of Blue Arrow Records!
Vinyl Pressing: GBV – Tremblers and Goggles By Rank
New Vinyl Pressing – A wild and kaleidoscopic new GBV album. Grab it now from Rockathon Records!
Vinyl Pressing: Chris Lujan & Electric Butter feat. Andre Cruz
New vinyl pressing from Chris Lugan – The Real Thing.
“Iʼve been going at this music thing for a long time”, says Lujan. “But, it wasnʼt until a few years ago that I started getting some real traction going.” – Chris
Chris Lujan, Bay Area born and raised, has been churning out the jams playing bass behind various projects since the early-90ʼs. Itʼs been a long time coming. But, itʼs finally time for him to step out front. And, in a big way.
With this new album, The Real Thing, from Chris Lujan & Electric Butter, Lujan has proved himself a masterful producer/engineer/musician. “Iʼve gotta do all this shit myself. I ainʼt got the money to pay anyone else to do it. So, I have no choice other than to step up to the plate myself and show my ass.”
With the addition of vocalist Andre Cruz, this album truly shines as one of the best from this new soul scene! Andre, performing on nine of the ten tunes, really brought this project to life. “Before Andreʼs collaboration, this album was kind of just a mish-mash, “best of” (what Iʼd done before) kind of affair. Once I started working with Andre, the true album started to take shape.”
At times moving, fiery, and jubilant, this album is, as Jose Valle (Raza Del Soul) puts it, “Soul with a heavy heart.”