Category: What We’re Into – Recent Interest

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…

Cloud Nothings’ latest offering, the bursting, brimming, and brisk Life Without Sound, is a remarkable expansion. Three years down the line, and with a second guitarist growing the trio into a quartet, the band seems to be hitting their stride ever more intently (each record could perhaps be assessed as the band ‘hitting their stride,’…

According to the band’s website, “Susto” is a Spanish word that roughly translates into “panic attack,” or more specifically, the time when your soul is separated from your body. After an early start in the music business led to some burn-out at 26, the relatively young Justin Osborne felt the need for spiritual renewal, so…

“When I started this band, didn’t see no plans,” says El-P on this album’s double-headed closer. “Just run with the craft, have a couple of laughs, make a buck and dash.” That isn’t how it turned out for the 41-year-old New Yorker and his Atlantan partner Killer Mike. Rather than a side project for two…