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Home , 50 Song Memoir, Aimee Mann, Amy Millan, Benjamin Clementine, Big Fish Theory, Broken Social Scene

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(CD Suggestions) Amen Dunes Freedom The fifth from Damon McMahon is his euphoric break- through. Everything feels silvery and romantic, a halluci- nation of the classic-rock songbook.

Born Ruffians Uncle Duke & The Chief Their 5th album less concerned with what sounds hip than what feels good. In the Ruffians case that means reconnect- ing with the sounds they first heard on their parents’ turnta- bles as kids: Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers, and pre- psychedelic Beatles.

David Byrne ’s first true solo album in 14 years is daring and open-hearted and contains highs a master can achieve when they rediscover a moment of unknown inspiration.

Camp Cope How to Socialize and Make Friends The second album from the Australian trio hums with rage and retribution, executed with biting specificity and vast - tional range by singer Georgia Maq.

Frankie Cosmos Vessel On ’s third official album, pure love, self-loathing, and taxidermied dogs all find their way into her dazzling world of perennially inspired . Editors Violence On their 6th album, Editors retains their distinctive dark, grounded in guitar rock sound, but is laced with vivid, pop- focused and imagery.

Field Report Summertime Songs Field Report return with their third album, a collection of combining narrative lyrics and the sound of the Ameri- can heartland.

Holy Wave Adult Fear On their third full-length, Austin's Holy Wave continue to surf on dreamy, psyched-out washes of sound: distorted guitars, synth washes, echoing vocals and a locked-in to cut through the fog.

Hop Along Bark Your Head Off, Dog Led by singer Frances Quinlan and her remarkable songcraft, the Philly ’s third album is warm and spacious, filled with rich stories rendered beautifully in the abstract.

Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 Black Times On his fourth album with his father’s Egypt 80 ensemble, Seun Kuti delivers a smartly distilled primer on the power of . Algiers The Underside of Power The anger and disillusionment on Algiers’ debut were ex- pressed through its raw, unhinged mix. Here, while their out- look is overall less tolerant, it's voiced with more atmospheric control.

Converge The Dusk in Us The ninth album from the architects is sharp and urgent. The band's songwriting shines as they turn their back on interpersonal torment to face something bigger and more existential. They’ve constantly refined their core—a jagged mix of hardcore power and death metal kinetics—while spreading and evolving their sound, too.

No Age Snares Like a Haicut 2018 album of relentless riff-rock & savage art-punk from duo. It sounds like holding a power saw up to the sun. After their last album, No Age seem to have deconstruct- ed their approach and analyzed the blistering pieces, viewing them now in a reinvigorated and relatively more refined way.

Roxy Music Roxy Music Roxy Music release an expanded edition of their ground- breaking debut album to mark its 45th anniversary. If you can believe it, this record came after just ten live shows together, easily sitting in the compendium of the best music released in the 1970s. Shame Songs of Praise Shame thrives on confrontation. Whether it be the seething intensity crackling throughout their debut LP or the chaos that unfolds at Shame’s shows, it’s all fueled by feeling. Shame carved out a niche in the South music and then barreled fearlessly into the angular, thrashing post-punk that would go on to make up Songs of Praise.

Simple Minds Walk Between Worlds are elder statesmen who’ve come to terms with their past, while making their best music of the century. There’s real hunger as well as craft on these eight stately, sprawling tracks.

Tribulation Down Below Traditionalists no more, the Swedish band spend their fourth album exploring the divide between metal’s underground and mainstream. From end to end, Down Below relishes exploring the divide between metal’s underground and more main- stream access points.

Tune-Yards I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life The fourth album by the art-pop, band is a sophisti- cated, energetic, complex album that explores many themes such as the devastation of white supremacy and the freedom of accepting oneself in totality. The Black Dahlia Murder Nightbringers When it comes to bands, The Black Dahlia Murder have established themselves as one of the genre's most successful and well-known groups. They do it without the clean vocals utilized by many other melodeath bands, delivering nothing but growls and screams from Tre- vor Strnad. Nightbringers is their eighth studio effort. Night- bringers delivers all the heaviness, extremity and brutality fans of the Black Dahlia Murder have come to expect along with ample melody and first rate musicianship. It's both pun- ishing and engaging, an impressive combination.

Brand New Science Fiction Brand New’s fifth album stands as a monument to their grad- ual evolution. Popular guitar music in 2017 undeni- ably shaped by Brand New, a band who has served not just as damaged role models but as a formative musical influ- ence. And this was all before they provided an example of what all these bands could aspire to sound like in their 40s without disowning their younger, more dramatic selves.

Courtney Barnett/ The collaborative LP from Kurt Vile and feels like an overheard discussion between two existential misfits. They sing songs about writing songs, covering each other in the process.

The Church Man Woman Life Death Infinity The amazing thing about The Church's 25th record is that it sounds utterly fresh, even as it's in keeping with their early . Rather than backing away from the gothy, new wave psychedelia of their youth, here they've embraced that aes- thetic and imbued it with the emotional maturity and poetic gravitas that comes with their decades-long jour- ney. Blue Note All-Stars Our Point of View The legendary Blue Note label celebrates its 75th anniversary by reviving the Blue Note All Stars name and releasing this thrilling set from the cream of today’s stars. Pia- nist is a pivotal figure, producing as well as playing a leading role. Glasper teams up with bass play- er Derrick Hodge, drummer Kendrick Scott and guitar- ist Lionel Loueke to form a tight and powerful rhythm section. The of Ambrose Akinmusire and Marcus Strick- land on tenor saxophone complete the line-up.

Propagandhi Victory Lap It would be easy to say that Propagandhi have been doing the same thing since 2005’s Potemkin City Limits, but that same thing they’ve been doing has been putting out absolutely stunning rec- ords. Few bands have made the monumental changes in their ca- reer that Propagandhi has, transforming from a skate punk band with above average political intelligence but fairly literal, straight forward lyrics, into a dark thrash/punk band with complexly poetic and politically radical lyrics, sprinkled with a dose of humor when you least expect it.

Protomartyr Relatives in Descent Here’s a non-exhaustive list of topics broached on Relatives of Descent: talking horses, night-blooming cacti, the Flint wa- ter crisis, the glum sterility of gentrified neighborhoods. Few bands offer up quite as much text as Protomartyr do. The De- troit foursome’s fourth album is, like every Protomartyr album before it, a loose-lipped, allusion-loaded saga, the sound of a scarily smart dude plunging the vast recesses of his mind, looking to make some sense of an increasingly senseless world.

Destroyer Ken Elegant and perverse, Dan Bejar’s latest album slinks around in the shadows like he did on Kaputt, synthy, sleazy, and newly paranoid. He remains one of the most evocative song- writers of his generation. British Sea Power Let the Dancers Inherit the Party British Sea Power’s music has remained seemingly impervi- ous to the modern age. They sound forever ambered in an eternal 1984 when bands like the Psychedelic Furs, New Or- der, and Echo and the Bunnymen were building a bridge be- tween caustic post-punk and stadium-sized pop.

Waxahatchee Out in the Storm Katie Crutchfield’s fourth album features sharp, gorgeous songwriting. The polished production and urgent performanc- es ensure her exorcisms about the end of a relationship are deeply felt.

Japanese Breakfast Soft Sounds from Another Planet Inspired by the cosmos, ’s Michelle Zauner addresses life on Earth. Her voice shines over melan- cholic arrangements, evoking as much as .

Manchester Orchestra A Black Mile to the Surface Orchestra’s new album is their most confounding and thrilling work yet, with the most grandiose narrative con- cepts, production, and arrangements of their career.

Thelonious Monk Les liaisons dangereuses 1960 In 1959, Thelonious Monk recorded selections from his song- book for the soundtrack to French director Roger Vadim’s film Les Liaisons Dangereuses. The lost tapes were never released until now. Oh Wonder Ultralife Oh Wonder’s extraordinary sophomore album exposes their huge talent through their insane ability to create such differ- ent tracks but still stick to a similar style.

Frankie Rose Cage Tropicale With subtle tweaks to her sound, Frankie Rose shows that her glossy new-wave style can be a way of cutting through the murk to find clarity.

Broken Social Scene On their first album in seven years, dis- till their sound to a vital essence. The band is focused and renewed, invigorated by the missionary spirit of their best work.

Radiohead OK Computer : Oknotok 1997-2017 The remaster of the rock band's 1997 third album features eight B-sides, as well as original studio recordings of three previously unreleased tracks: “I Promise,” “Lift,” and “Man Of War.”

Vince Staples The second full-length studio release for the rapper features contributions from such artists as A$AP Rocky, Damon Al- barn, , , Ty Dolla Signn, and ’s . Bleachers is a grown-up emo kid and a fully realized tune machine – an whose yellow-brick road always leads back to his sad bedroom. Bleachers' second LP exudes a kind of afflicted bliss, anthemic Eighties pop and R&B im- pressions built from the harried, diaristic isolation that era's Top 40 only allowed in at the margins. co-writes and sings on the synth-pop gusher "Don't Take the Money," and shows up on "Hate That You Know Me," part snappy electro-pop tune, part industrial angst spiral. Broken Social Scene Hugs of Thunder Hug Of Thunder marks the fifth studio album from Canadian alt-rock supergroup Broken Social Scene, their first in seven years. The new album features 17 players and 15 original members including and Jimmy Shaw of Metric, and Evan Cranley of Stars, and of , and Grammy- nominated Leslie Feist. Ani DiFranco Binary With her twentieth studio album, Ani DiFranco returns to terri- tory that brought her to the world’s attention more than twenty -five years ago, with a set of songs offering a wide range of perspective and musical scope. Com Truise Iteration As Com Truise, the producer Haley works within an es- pecially constrained 1980s aesthetic. But he pushes himself towards a higher level of sophistication on his new LP. It's the conclusion of the story line that began with 2011's Galactic Melt, involving a robot astronaut who falls in love while serv- ing time on a battle mission. How the West Was Won Drug runner first, punk poet second, Peter Perrett squan- dered his big chance with (“Another Girl, An- other Planet”) in late Seventies London. Incredibly, at 65 his smoke-ravaged adolescent croak remains unmistakable on his first solo album. His acerbic wit is laugh-out-loud brilliant in the drawl of the title track. With his flinty confes- sions mixed to wry raconteur effect and his axe-slinging sons picking up his old band’s tight-but-loose cool, songs about love and temptation ring heroically true, from the una- pologetic ménage of “Troika” to the stoic abdication of “Take Me Home”. Can Singles For a band whose legacy rests on the restless sprawls of their catalog, Can could also turn improvised uncut cloth into something stunningly con- cise. This new comp shows that lesser-known side of Can.

Pinegrove Everything So Far Everything So Far does a nice job in charting the Pinegrove’s progression into the bookish and lovelorn brand of indie rock they later perfected, marked out by vocalist Evan Stephens Hall’s quavering tenor and perambulating and pleasingly fun- ny guitar lines. Wolves Over the past decade, Rise Against have become one of the top tier bands in rock. Their last three studio albums have landed in the Top 5 of the With how catchy Rise Against’s songs are, it can be easy to forget how politically charged their lyrics can be. Frontman Tim McIlrath says, “I want to create dangerous spaces where misogyny can’t exist, where xenophobia can’t exist. I want to create spaces where those sentiments don’t have any air, and they suffocate: where those ideas die. Wolves isn’t about creating a safe space, it’s about creating a space that’s dan- gerous for injustice.” Chuck Berry CHUCK Chuck Berry, the father of rock & roll, is releasing his first al- bum in nearly 40 years, which is comprised mostly of new, original songs written, recorded and produced by the legend himself. 'CHUCK' was recorded in various studios around St. Louis and features Berry's longtime hometown backing group which has supported him for over two decades on over two hundred residency shows at the famed Blueberry Hill club. "This record is dedicated to my beloved Toddy," said Berry, referring to his wife of 68 years, Themetta Berry. "My darlin' I'm growing old! I've worked on this record for a long time. Now I can hang up my shoes!" Dispatch America, Location 12 Dispatch, which is based in the area, heralded as one of the biggest independent rock bands in history, one of their most memorable performances included a show in Boston that drew 110,000 people, and was dubbed the largest inde- pendent music event in history. Since their decision to reunite in 2011, the band has not missed a beat, and their latest al- bum continues their 23-year-long ascension with air-tight har- monies and eclectic musicality. Altogether sunny and hopeful with only the slightest hint of foreboding in songs like “Be Gone” and “Skin the Rabbit”, the album is yet again another encapsulation of what has made the indie rockers such a hot commodity for over two decades. Rancid Troublemaker Their 9th album finds the band examining contemporary politi- cal turmoil–blue-collar identity crises, tense demonstrations, the ever-present shadow of the Man– through the prism of their rebellious past, a little more wizened but just as ram- bunctious as ever. Rancid craft a tableau of working-class grit with quick, scratchy strokes: a whirlwind tour of turbulent po- litical rallies and smoke-enshrouded pool halls, factories, and back alleys. Cornell 5/8/77 If you ask many a Deadhead to name their all-time favor- ite Grateful Dead show, a resounding answer would likely be 5/8/77 at Barton Hall in Ithaca, NY. The Grateful Dead had grown from a psychedelic novelty in the 1960s to a reckoning force of musical creation at the start of the 1970s. By the mid- dle of Spring in 1977, the Grateful Dead were in a true peak. Their lineup was settled and their catalog was packed with so many glorious songs. If this isn't the best Grateful Dead show ever -- a hard thing to quantify -- it's nevertheless at the sweet spot of providing hardcore Deadheads with plenty to savor while offering a good introduction for neophytes, which is more than enough to make it essential. Crack Up A rich, ideas-driven record which pulls off a pretty unlikely feat: infusing Fleet Foxes' music with the same sense of tran- scendence and beauty that they managed the first time, now delivered with an added sense of expansive musical ambi- tion. Confirms that rarest of achievements: a group somehow hanging on to the essence of who they are, while pushing their art into thrillingly unforeseen places. Lorde Melodrama Lorde, the preternaturally talented New Zealand singer/ who became an international sensation at the age of 17, knows how to execute not only songwriting and public narrative but also a melding of the two. Melodrama, arriving nearly four long years after her 2013 debut, picks up the thread left hanging on Pure Heroine, presenting Lorde as a young woman, not a sullen teenager. Tonally and thematical- ly, it's a considerable shift from Pure Heroine, and Melodrama feels different musically too, thanks in part to Lorde's decision to collaborate with Jack Antonoff, the leader of Fun. and Bleachers who has been nearly omnipres- ent in 2010s pop/rock. At the Drive-In in•ter a•li•a The music industry sees artists come and go on a regular ba- sis. Plans change, life gets in the way and bands fade away. Occasionally we’re lucky enough to see an important band return from their silence. After a 15 year break, the band re- turned to the studio to create the follow-up to 2000’s Rela- tionship of Command. in·ter a·li·a includes eleven songs that resonate the classic At The Drive In intensity that fans love, while breaking the band’s 15-year drought with something fresh and exciting, that slides right into 2017. The Black Angels Death Song “Death Song” by The Black Angels – Austin’s psych rock masters – will be the five-piece’s first full-length release in four years. Written and recorded in large part during the re- cent election cycle, the music on ‘Death Song’ serves as part protest, part emotional catharsis in a climate dominated by division, anxiety and unease. “Currency,” a strong contender for the heaviest song the band has ever put to wax, medi- tates on the governing role the monetary system plays in our lives, while slow-building psychedelic earworm “Half Believ- ing” questions the nature and confusing realities of devotion. & the Bad Seeds Lovely Creatures "Formed following the breakup of The Birthday Party in 1982, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have released sixteen studio albums, their most recent album was released in September 2016. One of the most critically acclaimed acts working today, the band are known for their pioneering, bold and vital output. This collection will see one of the world’s most respected & remarkable recording & live bands show- case their 30 year long career to date.

Gorillaz On their first album in seven years, are joined by a stellar line up of featured artists which includes Jehnny Beth (Savages), , Benjamin Clementine, , D.R.A.M., Peven Everett, Anthony Hamilton, Grace Jones, Zebra Katz, Kelela, , , Popcaan, , Jamie Principle and among others. Imelda May Life Love Flesh Blood Imelda May has found a new groove, exploring , soul, gospel, folk, rock, acoustic, cinematic drama and explosive balladry. She is setting a new course with a collection of the boldest, most personal and intimately autobiographical songs she has ever written. Still mischievous and playful, still a si- ren, but there’s an ache in her voice now leading us to the wall of her world where trouble has entered the room. Mountain Goats Goths From of : The theme this time around is goth, a subject closer to my heart perhaps than that of any Mountain Goats album previous. And while John writes the songs, as he always has, it feels more than ever like he’s speaking for all of us in the band, erstwhile goths (raises hand) or otherwise, for these are songs that ap- proach an identity most often associated with youth from a perspective that is inescapably adult. Sylvan Esso What Now Sylvan Esso's sophomore album, What Now, is the sound of a band truly fulfilling the potential and promise of their debut. Everything has evolved - the production is bolder, the vocals are more intense, the melodies are more infectious, and the songs sung more fearlessly- to articulate our collective under- currents of anxiety and joy. Jane Weaver Modern Kosmology Modern Kosmology sees Jane Weaver's melodic-protagonist channeling new depths of creative cosmic energy with- in. After previous critical acclaim and hefty measures of radio play-listing, Jane Weaver's conceptual trajectory has sent her neo-kosmische penchants to the point of no-return. Jane Weaver's unwaning yearning for psychoactive pop energy has just reached a new level of magnetism. Aimee Mann Mental Illness Mental Illness is Aimee Mann’s quintessential statement, tempering the discord of life with elegant chamber folk. Mann fills her songs with ordinary people struggling against operatic levels of pain. Laura Marling Semper Femina The sixth album from the British folk snger/songwriter is an intimate, devoted explo- ration of femininity and female relationships, and among her finest work to date. It is at once a distinctive and musically compelling collection of songs, run through with Marling's fierce intelligence; a keen, beautiful and unparalleled take on womanhood. Pallbearer Heartless The third full-length by Pallbearer is their most crucial, massive, and powerful yet. With this nat- ural progression from its predecessor, Foundations Of Bur- den, one of the most acclaimed metal albums of 2014, the band expands their sound further by harnessing classic tradi- tional metal and the prog aesthetic even more while remain- ing true to the essence of their signature sound. A sonic mon- olith to behold, the album embraces a bigger production and sound than any of the band's previous releases. This creative peak sets a new standard in modern-day American metal. Perfume Here in 13 new ferocious and sophisticated tracks, Mike Hadreas and his collaborators blow through church music, makeout music, an array of the gothier radio popular formats, , art pop, , queer soul, and the RCA Studio B sound. Records like this, records that make you feel like you’re 15 and just seeing the truth for the first time, are excessively rare. Vagabon Infinite Worlds On her compact debut, Lætitia Tamko’s inimitable take on DIY indie rock feels victori- ous. She explores ideas of home, community, and sharing space with others who don’t necessarily see eye to eye. But Tamko keeps coming back to the same point: the community you want to live in is one you have to make. Guided by a more mature sound, Infinite Worlds is the we need nowadays. While we could say a lot about Pure Comedy – including that it is a bold, im- portant album in the tradition of American songwriting greats like , , and – we think it’s best to let its creator describe it himself. “Pure Com- edy is the story of a species born with a half-formed brain. The species’ only hope for survival, finding itself on a cruel, unpredictable rock surrounded by other species who seem far more adept at this whole thing (and to whom they are deli- cious), is the reliance on other, slightly older, half-formed brains. This reliance takes on a few different names as their story unfolds, like “love,” “culture,” “family,” etc. Something like that.” Hurray for the Riff Raff The Navigator On The - igator, Alynda Segarra tells an interwoven, cinematic story of a wandering soul at a crossroads of identity and ancestral weight. It finds a street kid named Navita traversing a perpet- ually burning city in search of herself. 'The Navigator' is a thrilling call to arms that could not come at a more crucial time. It also finds Hurray for the Riff Raff at its own musical intersection, delving deep into the worlds of Latin rhythms, searing rock, and incisive . Ibibio Sound Machine Uyai (Foreign) Fronted by London-born Nigerian singer Eno Williams, Ibibio Sound Ma- chine is a clash of African and electronic elements inspired in equal measure by the golden era of West African , , modern post-punk, and electro. Magnetic Fields The five-CD set chronicles the 50 years of songwriter ’s life with one song per year. Merritt began recording on his 50th birthday. Unlike his previous work, the lyrics on 50 Song Memoir are nonfiction—in Merritt’s words, “a mix of autobiog- raphy (bedbugs, Buddhism, buggery) and documentary (hippies, Hollywood, hyperacusis).” In addition to his vocals on all 50 songs, Merritt plays more than 100 instruments, ranging from ukulele to to to abacus.