Pokey LaFarge - In The Blossom Of Their Shade - New West Records
Pokey LaFarge's 7th studio solo album, In The Blossom Of Their Shade, showcases the positivity of coming out of the darkness and into the light. When the 2020 global pandemic hit, LaFarge’s rigorous work ethic powered him through the potentially challenging creative period. As days became a couple months, songs blossomed from embryonic ideas into full-formed ones and he was ready to move on, which typified his mindset as a working artist. With this record LaFarge captures the thematic notion of being the perfect summer afternoon soundtrack...the type of music you want to listen to while having a cocktail with your significant other. It makes sense musically as well — LaFarge intentionally crafted songs that created space and have melodies that can glide throughout a composition that’s a far cry from the swing and blues-infused songs of his earlier work. LaFarge is an artist who refuses to rest on his laurels and compromise. He’s always motivated and ready to create. With In the Blossom of Their Shade the album is one of LaFarge’s strongest and most mature efforts to date.  

  

North Americans - Going Steady - Third Man Records
Official reissue of North Americans' 2018 breakthrough album, Going Steady. Originally limited to 100 vinyl LPs. "For a piece that feels as if it could float away into nothing, GOING STEADY becomes the night." - NPR. 

  

Toby Keith - Peso In My Pocket - Show Dog, LLC
Singer, songwriter and entertainer Toby Keith releases his first all-new Show Dog Nashville album in more than five years. Peso In My Pocket was co-produced by Kenny Greenberg and Keith, and features the highest Billboard Country Airplay chart debut of his career with the lead single "Old School." Though Keith has accomplished much since the 2015 release of 35 MPH Town - perhaps most notably in writing the Clint Eastwood inspired "Don't Let The Old Man In" - a new studio album was long overdue. And Peso In My Pocket has more than a little to do with the worldwide pandemic. "My whole musical career, I haven't been off the road this long," Keith says, calling 2020 "a reset button I never would have hit." Also deserving of credit for the collection is Mexico, where Keith has a house he stayed at for the first several months of the crisis. "It was like being on the moon," he says. "A lot of my friends down there were afraid they wouldn't be let back in the U.S., so they all went home. I wasn't on the road and nobody could go anywhere, so I thought, 'You've written a long list of songs by yourself, dumbass. Get up and get busy!' I went through the ideas I keep on my phone and thought, 'Shit, I need to write these.'"

  

Xenia Rubinos - Una Rosa - Anti
Xenia Rubinos is a New York City based artist who's been revered for her innovative voice and maze-like knack for melody. Una Rosa is Rubinos' third album, her second on Anti- Records, following up her critically acclaimed Black Terry Cat (2016).Xenia Rubinos dips in and out of genre and structure to create movingly powerful songs. Her powerhouse vocals stem from a combination of R&B, Hip-Hop and Jazz influences, all delivered with a soulful punk aura. Pitchfork has lauded the radiant singer as "a unique new pop personality" while The New Yorker described her work as "rhythmically fierce, vocally generous music that slips through the net of any known genre."Having previously collaborated and toured with acts as diverse as Battles, Deerhoof, Man Man and Tune-Yards, Rubinos' energetic live show echoes some of the larger than life icons she admired as a child like Nina Simone and Erykah Badu, while wielding a space in music that is utterly her own. "I think my sound is a collage of different music coming together on a visceral level, connecting the dots with my voice and imagination," she said.Una Rosa is produced by Rubinos along with her longtime collaborator and drummer Marco Buccelli, and is full of color- drawing much of it's multichromatic sound from the bright colors of pop art, which Xenia was immersed in during the writing process.

  

Jon Batiste - WE ARE: Deluxe - Verve
WE ARE is a career-changing, chart-topping album from musician & activist Jon Batiste. WE ARE celebrates Black American culture & music while exploring themes of lineage, authenticity, excellence & evolution. This album is about honoring roots & traditions, while looking forward to the future & constantly evolving. Featuring Mavis Staples, Zadie Smith, Kizzo, & many more. This expanded deluxe edition includes new features from Tori Kelly, BJ The Chicago Kid, & a new remix from Big Freedia.

  

Norah Jones - I Dream Of Christmas - Blue Note
Norah Jones has been a warm voice of comfort and reassurance for nearly 20 years since her cozy 2002 debut, Come Away With Me. Now, the 9x GRAMMY-winning artist has made her first holiday album with I Dream Of Christmas, a collection of timeless seasonal favorites (“White Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland,” “Christmas Time Is Here”) and profound new originals that explore the complicated emotions of the past year and our hopes that this holiday season will be full of joy and togetherness.

  

cleopatrick - BUMMER - Nowhere Special Recordings
"Listening to the story of Canadian duo cleopatrick is a bit like hearing the plot of the best, most righteously validating coming-of-age film never made. Two friends meet aged four in Hicksville, Nowheretown (real name: Cobourg, Ontario, population 19,000), grow up completely inseparable, form a band and, against numerous obstacles, blossom into a genuine, global underground sensation. There are heroes and villains, highs and lows and, crucially, some of the most poetic plot twists that could seem almost too perfect, were they not completely true.

Take the story of 2017 breakthrough track ‘hometown’ for example. “It’s one of the craziest, most ironic things that’s ever happened,” begins vocalist and guitarist Luke Gruntz. “I was going to college because I was too scared to put all my chips in the band pile, and that’s what ‘hometown’ is about: it’s a song about feeling like we’re doing all this stuff and we’re working so hard and we’re just never going to be heard. It’s literally a song about people probably never hearing our songs. And then by some act of the universe, that song ended up unlocking all the doors for us.”

Today, cleopatrick has logged 77 million streams and counting - all from an increasingly dedicated fanbase who’ve found the duo, completed by drummer Ian Fraser, their own way: no major label, no big budget, just two best pals knuckling down, cementing a unique sonic alchemy and filling a space of honest, empathetic yet undeniably heavy-hitting rock music that they’d been searching for themselves for years. Between multiple sold out tours in Canada, the US and the UK/EU and appearances at Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits and Reading/Leeds, the pair have been crafting BUMMER: a debut album that sees cleopatrick harness all the magic they’ve been brewing over their two-decade friendship and funnel it into a record that aims to reinvigorate the rock landscape from the ground up. Taking the ethos of their New Rock Mafia collective - a group of friends and fellow bands, united in making a more inclusive, equality-driven space in rock music - and imbuing it with the sonic ambition and ferocity of a record designed to be played hard and loud, it’s an album about two friends, who’ve been with each other since the formative first steps that adorn ‘BUMMER’’s heartwarming cover image and made something that’s a testament to the power of sticking to your guns."

   

Various Artists - The Velvet Underground: A Documentary Film By Todd Haynes - Polydor
Curated by director Todd Haynes, the official soundtrack to his feature documentary (out Oct 15 on Apple TV+) about the highly influential, iconic New York band, The Velvet Underground.

Also Available: I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground & Nico, which is a contemporary tribute to the Velvets debut album.

 

Reba McEntire - Revived Remixed Revisited - MCA Nashville
Revived Remixed Revisited is a reimagined collection of Reba McEntire's most iconic songs. REVIVED features exciting new arrangements of fan favorites like “Is There Life Out There” and “Can’t Even Get The Blues” recorded with Reba’s touring band. REMIXED takes songs like “Little Rock” and “I’m A Survivor” and spins them in ways like you’ve never heard Reba before. REVISITED produced by the Grammy® award-winning Dave Cobb strips back songs like “Somebody Should Leave” and “Consider Me Gone” to let the raw power of Reba’s vocals shine and features a long-awaited pairing between Reba and Dolly Parton on Reba’s most famous duet, “Does He Love You.” The collection spans Reba’s entire career and offers something for every Reba fan.

  

The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die - Illusory Walls - Epitaph
Sometimes, the best place to begin is at the end. If you really want to dig deep into Illusory Walls, the fourth album by The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, it definitely helps to do that. That’s because epic closer “Fewer Afraid”—all 19 minutes, 44 seconds of it—doesn’t just revisit the themes and ideas on the ten songs that precede it, but also offers a self-aware summary of the Connecticut band’s entire history. It’s the conclusion of all the stories within the record as well as a nod to all the lives that helped make them—little glimpses of everything that’s come before, on both a micro, immediate level, and a more universal one. “That song is a higher level look at my whole life and the whole world,” explains vocalist/guitarist David F. Bello, “as well as the album, our band and our discography. It places the band in the context of the rest of the world, as if we’re listening to everything that came before. It touches on all the themes of the previous songs, but there are also callbacks to songs
from earlier in our career. But in this song, they’re the object, not the subject—I’m talking about a world in which these things happen, not talking about these things happening.”  Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the band—completed by Steven K. Buttery (drums and percussion), Joshua Cyr (bass/vocals) and Katie Dvorak (vocals/synth)—had nothing but time to realize the full extent of their musical and thematic aspirations. And so, four years on from lauded third album Always Foreign, they were able to make what is undoubtedly the band’s most ambitious and epic record to date. Written and recorded remotely—a first for the band—Illusory Walls takes on the weight of human existence while it’s buckling under the pressure of today’s near-dystopian society. Personal anxieties and political struggles collide with a series of portentous, apocalyptic and dramatic tunes, resulting in some of the darkest music the band has made since forming in 2009.

  

Various Artists - The Best Of Bond...James Bond - Capitol
The Best Of Bond...James Bond is a compilation featuring celebrated theme songs from the longest-running franchise in the history of cinema. This updated collection includes "No Time to Die" by Billie Eilish, the title theme song from the highly anticipated new film. New additions also include Adele's "Skyfall" and Sam Smith's "Writing's On The Wall," Oscar winners for Best Song in 2013 and 2016, respectively.

Darren Criss - A Very Darren Crissmas - Decca
Celebrate the holidays with A Very Darren Crissmas! Darren Criss is a multitalented musician, songwriter, Broadway star, and Emmy/Golden Globe-winning actor famous for his award-winning roles on VERSACE: AMERICAN CRIME STORY, GLEE, and HOLLYWOOD. His holiday record with Decca Records will be his first full-length album. It showcases creative reimagining of classic tunes and rarely covered hidden gems. Featuring guest artists Lainey Wilson, Adam Lambert, and Evan Rachel Wood.

  

Roger Taylor - Outsider - UMe
Rock icon and multi-instrumentalist Roger Taylor introduces his new solo album Outsider. With much of Outsider recorded during lockdown, this new album finds Taylor in a reflective mood, conveying a palpable sense of isolation, concerns over the passing of time, and tellingly dedicated "to all the outsiders, those who feel left on the sidelines". A highly personal project, Outsider's instrumentation is almost entirely performed by Taylor, with his vocals matching the mood-piece atmosphere.

Hans Zimmer - No Time To Die (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) - Decca
The Hans Zimmer produced soundtrack for the 25th installment in the James Bond film franchise, No Time To Die. The soundtrack includes Billie Eilish's electrifying title track No Time To Die, co-written (with brother Finneas O'Connell) and performed by Eilish. Joining Zimmer on scoring the soundtrack is Johnny Marr, who is also the featured guitarist on the album, with additional music by composer and score producer Steve Mazzaro.

Quicksand - Distant Populations - Epitaph
Distant Populations, just the fourth full-length album of Quicksand's career, comes as a comparatively swift follow-up to Interiors--which itself came a full 22 years after its predecessor, 1995’s Manic Compression. Critically lauded and deemed very much worth the wait, Interiors succeeded in reestablishing the band as the powerful and contemporary entity they had always been. Distant Populations has a punchier, more up-tempo sound than its predecessor; its 11 songs are concise, carved sonic jewels boasting not a single wasted note; and its raw power, its gripping lyricism, leaps out from the very first listening. It is a striking step up for the band.

  

Ringo Starr - Change The World EP - UMe
Change The World, recorded at Ringo Starr's Roccabella West, includes "Let's Change The World" (Joseph Williams/Steve Lukather) that delivers a welcome dose of hope and optimism, the reggae-infused "Just That Way" (Ringo Starr/Bruce Sugar,) the Country-esque "Coming Undone," Starr's first collaboration with Linda Perry who wrote and plays on the track (also with Trombone Shorty,) and Ringo rocks his version of "Rock Around The Clock" revved up by the unmistakable Joe Walsh on guitar.

Steely Dan - Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live! - Geffen
Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live! is the first live Steely Dan album in over 25 years. Featuring Hey Nineteen, Aja, Reelin' in the Years & more.

Donald Fagen - Donald Fagen’s The Nightfly Live - Geffen
Donald Fagen’s acclaimed solo album performed live by The Steely Dan Band. Featuring I.G.Y., New Frontier & more.

Various Artists - I'll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute To The Velvet Underground & Nico - Verve
I'll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute To The Velvet Underground & Nico, is a contemporary tribute to the Velvets debut, with each of the album’s songs performed by one of the band’s noteworthy artistic descendants.  Featured artists include Kurt Vile & the Violators, Sharon Van Etten, Iggy Pop & Matt Sweeney, Michael Stipe, Matt Berninger of The National, Courtney Barnett, King Princess, Fontaines D.C. and more.

  

DJ Shadow - Endtroducing.....: 25th anniversary [Half-Speed Master 2 LP] - Mercury
Celebrate the 25th anniversary of DJ Shadow's Endtroducing..... A seminal, incredibly influential hip-hop release, Endtroducing..... is simply one of the defining albums of the ‘90s. Now available as an Abbey Road Half-Speed Mastered Edition LP.

Mickey Guyton - Remember Her Name - Capitol Nashville
Capitol Nashville’s Mickey Guyton releases her album, Remember Her Name. Mickey co-penned 15 of the 16 songs on the album. Remember Her Name follows the release of her critically acclaimed Bridges EP which included “Black Like Me” for which she went on to receive a historic GRAMMY nomination. Her performance on the prestigious GRAMMY show was the first by a black female country artist and was touted by NPR as “the night’s most affecting live performance.”

  

Carrie Underwood - My Gift: Special Edition - Capitol Nashville
Carrie Underwood releases a Special Edition of her Christmas album, My Gift. This new version includes all 11 tracks from the 2020 release as well as 3 new tracks, including “Favorite TimeOf Year,” “All Is Well,” and “Let There Be Peace/Something In The Water” that was performed on her HBO Max special, My Gift: A Christmas Special From Carrie Underwood.

Charley Crockett - Music City USA - Son of Davy
The album cover you’re looking at might lead you to conclude Charley Crockett is on one hell of a roll. You wouldn’t be wrong. Ten records in six years is some kind of prolific. The latest, a double album, suggests the artist has some songs worth paying attention to. It’s clear that he’s invested as much time in the studio, recording storytelling songs, and making storytelling videos, as he has barnstorming around the United States and Europe playing live shows.  Not bad for a thirty-seven-year-old late bloomer.

  

NCT 127 - The 3rd Album 'Sticker' (Sticky Ver.) - SM Entertainment Co., Ltd
NCT 127’s 3rd full-length album ‘Sticker’ will be released worldwide this week with 11 songs of various genres including the lead single ‘Sticker.’ The album highlights NCT 127’s unique musical sensibility and outstanding performances. In March 2020, NCT 127 became a million-seller with their 2nd album, NCT #127 Neo Zone, which reached #5 on the Billboard 200. The album includes 1 photo book, 1 folded poster, sticker, photo card, postcard (sticker, photo card, postcard: random 1 out of 9). Dimensions 144mm x 205mm x 8.5mm.