New vinyl pressing! The word “Babble” brings two things to mind: A person pouring out their thoughts with reckless abandon, or a gentle sound coming from water cascading over rocks as it flows past. In the case of this reissue from Kendra Morris, Babble is a sublime melding of these two meanings.

We all have that secondary thought bubble that pops up when we should be concentrating on what’s in front of us. Reflections of our deepest pain, excitement in new love, or subconscious anxiety slink into our psyche and fuel distractions. Kendra takes those inner dialogues and winds them into lilting lyrics and fervent tones then feeds them into you. Questions like “Why do you care?” in Le Snitch, remind us that bullies don’t stop existing after high school while the newly added, and album finale, Ride On, a tribute to her late brother, soothe us with the knowledge that you don’t stop existing just because you’ve left this earth. The ability Kendra has to take trepidation, desire, and insecurities and turn them into comfort and make you want to get up and move with them is a gift in itself. The progression of Twist and Burn, to Woman to Avalanche takes us from the mystical feelings of new love to the self-doubt that creeps in and then to the repetitive rut a relationship can turn into, even if it’s filled with love. The journey through human emotion is accomplished through Kendra’s songs, bringing us, the listeners, into Kendra’s enchanted world of pain and strength, feeling renewed on the other side.

The original release of Babble in 2016 came in the form of a self-released EP. A fan cult favorite; it has now grown to include three additional tracks: Playing Games, Dial Back and Ride On. With the support of Karma Chief Records (A division of Colemine Records), Babble is getting the official release it deserves.

Along with the new tracks comes new artwork. The original vinyl of this EP was released with a black and gold cover, sans artwork, unless you were one of the successful 50 to snag a copy with a one of a kind self portrait collage, meticulously created by Kendra. Now with a modified lightning bolt cover honoring the original, this newly expanded gatefold comes with a select few of those original collage pieces digitally recreated and combined to give the viewer a chance to search for Kendra, hidden amongst the chaos as she would have it.

An artist in every sense of the word, Kendra Morris is devoted to her crafts, and compelled to keep granting us a window into her mind.

Courtesy of Colemine Records.

New vinyl pressing! Breaking from the strange monotony and abnormal norms that took hold during two years of pandemic life, Hammock returns with Love in the Void, an album that looks to the future, seizes the present, and unabashedly relishes the experiences and bonds that bring meaning to our days. Known for crafting orchestral works of stirring cinematic ambience, on “Love in the Void” the Nashville-based duo of Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson bring guitar-forward, heart-pounding urgency to songs that shout through and shatter the static of complacency.

New Vinyl Pressing! Beach Fossils – Clash The Truth 10th Anniversary!

Beach Fossils’ sophomore album is modern post-punk triumph that’s left a lasting impression on the music scene it was born out of. After releasing their self-titled debut and the beloved EP, What a Pleasure, songwriter, and composer Dustin Payseur began recording dissonant and introspective demos reflecting on his southern upbringing and young adulthood in New York. The tracks that would eventually make up Clash the Truth involved Payseur taking his songwriting in a new direction, employing jagged instrumentals, existential lyrics, and socially conscious subject matter.

Courtesy of Bayonet Records.

New vinyl pressing! The third full-length from Overcoats, Winner takes place in the kind of New York City spaces meant for unencumbered dreaming: fire escapes and rooftops, downtown late at night, the majestic Manhattan skyline as glimpsed from the George Washington Bridge. But in paying homage to the city that formed them, singer/songwriters Hana Elion and JJ Mitchell set their storytelling against a sonic backdrop more reminiscent of wide-open landscapes—an unbridled and euphoric sound that evokes the wild rush of hitting the road with your closest confidant, with no particular destination in mind.

Produced by two-time Grammy-winner Daniel Tashian (a co-producer on Kacey Musgraves’s widely acclaimed Golden Hour), Winner marks an evolution of the graceful musicality first displayed on Overcoats’ debut album YOUNG (a 2017 release that earned praise from outlets like the New York Times and NPR Music, who placed it at #4 on its best-of-the-year list). As a bold departure from YOUNG’s sparse electronic pop and the atmospheric indie-rock of The Fight (a 2020 release that nabbed them a Breakthrough Artist nomination from the American Association of Independent Music), the album encompasses a warm and luminous sound sculpted from a tightly curated mix of elements: earthy guitar tones, elegantly rugged textures, the duo’s signature heavenly harmonies.

Available April 7, 2023.

New Vinyl Pressing! Fountains of Wayne – Out-Of-State-Plates 2LP set!

Led by the scintillating songwriting team of Chris Collingwood and the late, great Adam Schlesinger, power pop maestros Fountains of Wayne put out a number of absolutely brilliant albums. Of all the great records released by this New York-area band, this one, the 2005 odds ‘n’ ends 2-CD set Out-of-State Plates, remained reportedly among the closest to the heart of Schlesinger, who died tragically of COVID in 2020. Now, available for the first time on Vinyl.

A mixture of demos, B-sides, live performances, and unreleased tracks (the great “Maureen” and “The Girl I Can’t Forget”), it’s an always entertaining, often hilarious, and (of course!) never less than tuneful romp through about a decade’s worth of recordings, all wittily annotated by Collingwood and Schlesinger. Covers both heartfelt and tongue-in-cheek (Jackson Browne’s “These Days” and Britney Spears’ “Baby One More Time”) and holiday fare (“I Want an Alien for Christmas,” “Chanukah Under the Stars”) lie alongside such B-side gems as “Baby I’ve Changed” and “I’ll Do the Driving” and a live “She’s Got a Problem.” Rummage around the collective psyche of one of the greatest indie rock acts of the last 30 years! Courtesy of Real Gone Music.

New vinyl pressing! The long awaited vinyl release of Trevor Sensor’s On Account of Exile, Vol. 1 and 2 is finally here. The Illinois singer-songwriter’s second and third albums are now available for pre-order as a two disk, gatefold set. This is a limited release, so order now through High Black Desert Records. Shipping begins February 2023.

First-ever vinyl release of criminally unknown early ’80s Japanese punk band.

Fully remastered from the band’s original early ’80s cassette releases, and housed in a sturdy tip-on sleeve. Includes a double-sided, illustrated insert.

Singer-songwriter Syoichi Miyazawa’s tale is a confounding one.

He grew up in a small town in Yamagata Prefecture (in northern Japan), loved Dylan and The Beatles, and had very little exposure to, or interest in, underground music. And yet, shortly after 24-year-old Miyazawa arrived in Tokyo in 1978, he began performing solo shows at tiny clubs in the city, singing and playing guitar. His performances quicky devolved from brisk acoustic jaunts to lengthy, heavy dirges sung in a snot-nosed wail over a blown-out electric guitar detuned to produce a kind of sonic sludge.

At one of his earliest gigs, a mutual friend introduced him to Endo Michiro, who would soon become the legendary front man of Japanese punk icons The Stalin. It turned out Miyazawa and Endo had attended Yamagata University at the same time just a few years earlier, but hadn’t known each other at school. In Tokyo, they became fast friends, moved into the same apartment building, and for years were inseparable. Endo played guitar and drums on Miyazawa’s debut release, the “Christ Was Born in a Stable” flexi disc. But while Endo was social and outgoing, Miyazawa preferred to be alone, avoiding concerts unless he was performing.

Despite these antisocial tendencies, Miyazawa came to despise playing solo. In 1982, an eccentric high school student named Chika introduced herself at one of Miyazawa’s gigs, and Miyazawa asked if she’d play bass. She agreed and drafted two of her friends to play second guitar and drums. The Rabbits were born.

Available courtesy of Mesh-Key Records.