Roscoe Mitchell Discussions is an orchestral masterpiece. Four original improvisations, taken from ‘Conversations,’ his second release on Wide Hive Records, have been transcribed and performed by a twenty piece orchestra.
Completing the album are two orchestral improvisations and two duets with Roscoe Mitchell and mesmerizing flutist Wilfredo Terrazas.
Discussions is an achievement in both sound and concept by a leading jazz composer of the modern era.
At 14 years old, Ruby Boots—real name Bex Chilcott—left a conflicted home in Perth, Western Australia to do grueling work on pearling boats, and she hasn’t stopped migrating since. Her nomadic streak has taken her around the world, and eventually to Nashville, TN.
Don’t Talk About It charts this drifter’s odyssey, tattered passport in hand. Behind her commanding and versatile voice, sharp guitar playing, and adept songwriting, Ruby Boots confidently maneuvers past the whirlwinds life has tossed on her occasionally lost highway. It’s an album of hope, breakthrough, and handling the unknown challenges around the next bend.
The roads taken, the miles traveled and the voices heard during Ruby’s life’s trek resonate throughout Don’t Talk About It. Informed as much by the wide-open landscapes of her homeland as the intimate writing circles of Nashville, the album may range far and wide but always maintains a firm sense of place. Echoes of first wave UK power pop and jangly punk intersect with the every(wo)man indie and pop-inflected muscle of Best Coast. Classic rock touchstones from T. Rex to the girl group Wall of Sound to personal hero Tom Petty meld with a weary poet’s eye recalling Hope Sandoval.
Preorder now from Bloodshot Records – street date is February 9.
Devoting a lifetime to music, he’s performed and written for a slew of bands up and down the West Coast. 2004 saw him join multi-platinum iconic Seattle luminaries The Presidents of the United States of America on guitar. He toured everywhere with the band and remained integral to 2008’s critically acclaimed These Are the Good Times People and Kudos to You! in 2014. During Spring 2016, he dove headfirst into penning ideas for what would become Andrew McKeag Band. It proved to be the right time to launch his next act.
In order to capture this vision, he enlisted the talents of drummer Charlie George and bassist John Krylow and recorded with producer Scott Hackwith [The Ramones] in downtown Los Angeles at Cassette Recordings. Immediately, they tapped into an indescribable and inimitable chemistry. “It was a really great experience,” says Andrew. “We all clicked in the studio and turned out the album quickly.”
The Self-Titled debut album is available on limited edition orange vinyl.
#23 in The Wire Magazine’s Top 50 Albums of 2017 — Living legend Phew follows up her brilliant Light Sleep album with another masterwork – Voice Hardcore – comprised entirely of her iconic, instantly recognizable voice, twisted, folded and layered over six mesmerizing tracks. Limited vinyl edition with beautiful, silver foil stamped covers and double-sided, full color inserts. Comes with mp3 download card.
The Thread is a tribute album to Matt Nigro. You can pre-order the album at www.freshhatstightbeats.com or click the logo at the top. All proceeds from this album will be donated to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Meditations in Jazz is an exploration of a memory. Blaze creates a minimal composition rooted in tape loops, reflecting on a free jazz experience that still exists and unfolds in an abandoned warehouse somewhere in the old slums of a vacant city. Each of the four parts is an atmospheric contemplation, expressing different aspects of the same experience.
2xLP vinyl in TIp-On jacket is available from Folktek Records.
Insanely raw soul from 1971! Extremely rare and being reissued for the first time here. Gloria Barnes teams up with The Ohio Players and Lee Moses to create her only LP, Uptown, that would become highly desirable in the deep soul/funk market and is just now seeing the light of day again in 2017. This is one of those records that all you have to do is drop the needle and you know it’s for real.
The Distant, Everyday is the first full-length album by Low Lumens, the recording alias of visual artist and musician Danny Bracken.
The sound of ringing church bells mix with swelling synthesizers in the expansive opening track, “Santa Clara.” In many ways, the meditative song sets the tone for the ten track album, a record that is simultaneously complex and spacious. There is an undeniable sense of upbeat repetition, something reminiscent of dance or electronic music. Yet, with bits of voice and acoustic instruments, the compositions retain a sense of humanness. Throughout, a subtle tension weaves: there’s a crackle in the woodwinds, slight feedback in a synthesizer, and a confused auto-tuned brass ensemble lying just below the polished surface.
Available now from Burnt Toast Vinyl.
In the years 1978 to 1981, Robert Crotty would show up on Loren Connors’ doorstep in New Haven, Connecticut with his tiny, almost toy guitar. The two would then spend hours playing acoustic blues, the likes of which was absolutely staggering in its truthfulness.
Robert Crotty with Me: Loren’s Collection (1979-1987) is the first anthology of the late bluesman’s work, as selected by his former playing partner. These are the unheard tapes of Crotty and Connors communing with the spirits of Delta and County Blues through their own revisions of standards and tingle-inducing improvisations. These also some of the legendary Connors’ earliest available recordings showing the development of iconoclast guitar style and vocal moan.
Crotty was a New Haven lifer and linchpin of the region’s blues scene yet, he never achieved much recognition outside local bars and house parties — until now. The album features never before heard recordings, unseen photos, liner notes by Connors and Crotty’s brother plus a bonus CD: the first-time reissue of Crotty’s ultra rare sole LP Robert Crotty Blues and Prove It! 7-inch — both released on Connors’ private St. Joan imprint in the late 1980s.
LP limited to 500 copies worldwide, includes a full-color inner sleeve and download coupon. Preorder now.
Transference unearths and re-examines a diverse collection of honored, distinguished musical artifacts, each from the public domain — blowing the proverbial dust off of them and transferring the life, feelings, and ideas into something completely different.
Marmoset’s team of producers collaborated with a diverse swath of artists from our community — including The Helio Sequence, Ural Thomas and the Pain, Dear Nora, Bouquet and more — to take the timeless design of classic public domain songs and reimagine them into something new, whether it be intimate folk, electropop, or soul revival and funk (just to name a few).
Available December 1 — stay tuned to marmosetmusic.com.
