Category: What We’re Into – Recent Interest

Less obviously haunted by the influence of George Clinton than its predecessor, Damn still sounds rooted in early-70s soul. There are nods towards the luscious, harmony-laden mellowness of the Stylistics and the Chi-Lites (opener Blood even features a warped version of the kind of spoken-word monologue found on the latter’s single Have You Seen Her?),…

Towards the end of Pure Comedy’s 13-minute centrepiece track, Josh Tillman offers a glum assessment of the album’s commercial chances. His career’s current status, he claims, is under threat. “I’m beginning to begin to see the end of how it all goes down between them and me / Some 10-verse chorus-less diatribe plays as they…

The title of Aimee Mann’s latest solo effort, her ninth, registers like a punch to the gut. In a world full of self-consciously clever and willfully obtuse album titles, Mental Illness is the equivalent of washing someone’s mouth out with soap. It’s not something you mull over or analyze in search of some hidden subtext…

Oddisee, a Maryland native and Brooklyn transplant, has been one of the country’s top independent hip-hop producers for more than half a decade, amassing a sizeable fan base out of the rap nostalgists and beatheads attracted to his mellow, expansive instrumentals. But his new record marks a first; the rapping on The Iceberg—fluid, dynamic and…

The Shins’ freaky fifth album, Heartworms, teems with psychedelia that’ll please the lava-lamp-and-incense crowd. From Magical Mystery Tour-styled sound effects (“Painting a Hole”) to hypnotic island vibes (“The Fear”), the project contains some of the band’s most adventurous music yet. And songs like “Name For You” and “Cherry Hearts” prove Mercer still pens some of…

Béla Fleck is the world’s premier banjo player, a 16-time Grammy Award winner nominated in more categories than any other musician, a genre-busting collaborator, a film producer and a composer. Foremost, though, he is a dad. The impact of fatherhood on Béla is reflected in Juno Concerto, named for his firstborn son with fellow folk…

It’s an interesting week here at New Releases central. We’ve got a potpourri of new stuff that ranges all over the map, genre-wise, from the return of Old 97’s to Wesley Stace’s return to his true name, to a double-album of weirdness from The Brian Jonestown Massacre to some serious loveliness from Rhiannon Giddens. There’s…

The new Nikki Lane album sidles right down the fine line between country and rock iu this week’s new releases, along with a spankin’ new Ryan Adams, the first Son Volt record in four years, Alison Krauss’ first solo album since 1999, and some fresh bluegrass from The Gibson Brothers! Read on… NIKKI LANE, Highway…

Greetings from New Release central, where we’re tickled to have the new Black Joe Lewis album in-stock, not to mention a look back from Kris Kristofferson, some big fun from Elvin Bishop, and there’s even some classical/jazz love for Mr. Gene! Read on…. BLACK JOE LEWIS & THE HONEYBEARS, Backlash (CD/LP) Recorded in the band’s…

At his best, Ty Segall is a master songwriter trapped in the body of a punk — although the limitations of his garage-inflected rock actually keep him grounded and focused rather than restricted. The California bandleader’s prolific output over the past decade has grown increasingly ambitious in its own humble and rough-hewn way; at the…