Indierock | Alternative CD 302 Items

Superior Viaduct and our new artist label, W.25TH, are proud to continue to be the home for Cindy Lee with the physical release of the celebrated album Diamond Jubilee. Universally praised, shortlisted for the 2024 Polaris Music Prize, and already hailed by Pitchfork as the 3rd best album of the 2020s, anticipation and conversation around the record has been high.

Cindy Lee is the performance and songwriting vehicle of Patrick Flegel (who previously fronted influential indie group Women). Over several albums, Flegel has combined delicate melodies and sheer beauty with moments of experimentation. With Diamond Jubilee, Flegel’s undeniable songcraft comes to the foreground, embracing a more instant connection and accessibility. Timeless tales of love and longing, surrounded by sticky hooks, take the listener on an unforgettable journey.

Diamond Jubilee was written and recorded over several years by Patrick Flegel in Toronto, Durham, Calgary and Montreal at Realistik Studios. The album was mixed by Steven Lind, who also contributes to several tracks and co-wrote “Baby Blue,” and was mastered by Joshua Stevenson. Triple LP on black vinyl comes with 24” x 36” poster.

Stockholm post-punk band V**gra Boys (**= "ia" because of spam filters) have announced a new album v**gr aboys (** = ia here too) for April 25th via their newly launched label Shrimptech Enterprises. Co-produced by frequent collaborator Pelle Gunnerfeldt with the V**gra Boys,, v**gr aboys channels the band’s sharp observational humor and unique ability to dismantle everything and nothing at the same time, while juxtaposing real life with high art. The album’s first single, “Man Made of Meat,” draws inspiration from vocalist Sebastian Murphy’s experience cruising through Walmarts while touring the U.S. with Queens of the Stone Age last year. The track is powered by masterful basslines and guitar riffs as Murphy mocks your mom’s OnlyFans and dreams of scoring free women’s sweaters from L.L.Bean. As the chaos escalates, so does Murphy’s sense of complicity, culminating in his bleak yet relatable confession: “I hate almost everything that I see, and I just wanna disappear.”

In October 1987, four months after the release of their critically acclaimed Sister LP, Sonic Youth showcased their latest work in a blistering set at Cabaret Metro, Chicago. The concert was introduced by Big Black's Steve Albini (who at the time was banned from the venue) and subsequently released as a semi-official bootleg under the title Hold That Tiger on writer/provocateur Byron Coley's impishly Geffen-baiting label Goofin' (years later the band would use this nom de guerre for their own imprint). Hold That Tiger's sterling reputation among the Sonic Youth faithful is well deserved. In fact, it isn't a stretch to suggest that the album is to the first handful of SY releases what It's Alive is to the first three Ramones LPs – a feral and liberatory public snapshot of a band's blossoming imperial phase. Indeed, HTT is the sound of a group at the peak of their powers, presenting new songs alongside a handful of older ones with the kind of wild, cathartic enthusiasm common to rock 'n' roll's most revered live albums.Taking nothing away from Sister – inarguably one of indie rock's first true masterpieces – it is reasonable that many fans prefer the live versions heard on Hold That Tiger to their studio counterparts. On HTT, Sonic Youth is a spiky, pummeling and confident force, alternately mammoth and meditative. Sister and its predecessor Evol notably added an airy, dreamlike reverie to the band's turbulent doom-lurch, a stylistic evolution that seems to crystallize on HTT. Throughout, Kim Gordon's sinewy, sumptuous bass and Steve Shelley's propulsive, tom-heavy percussion provide the bedrock groove for Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo's ferocious barrages of noise-guitar crunch. By 1987, the band was confidently articulating their dual lexicon of punk-noir dissonance and supernal, psychedelic sonic calligraphy – bending their jagged, streetwise gnarl into balloon animals of dazzling and beautiful songs. This collision of splendor and chaos would become a hallmark of the group's singular alchemy as well as provide a blueprint for the post-SST American underground they would help invent and ultimately nurture. Hold That Tiger's encore – four songs by the band's beloved Ramones, which Thurston would later astutely compare to "the perfect pudding after a hearty meal" – serves as a reminder that, like any true punks, Sonic Youth never could resist a good, rousing anthem to send the kids home with their ears ringing, their hearts hot-wired. This first-time reissue comes with gatefold jacket. Mastered by Bob Weston from the original tapes. Recorded by Aadam Jacobs. Audio repair/editing by Aaron Mullan.

Be Here Now' is the third release in the Oasis series 'Chasing The Sun: 1993-1997', released on Big Brother Recordings on the 20th anniversary of the first day of the 'Be Here Now' recording sessions at Abbey Road Studios. Arguably the most anticipated British album release of all time, 'Be Here Now' was recorded with producer Owen Morris at Abbey Road Studios, Ridge Farm Studios, and Air Studios between October 1996 and May 1997. Originally released at midnight on Thursday August 21st 1997, 'Be Here Now' sold 700,000 copies in just 3 days and remains, to this day, the fastest selling UK album on release. To date it has sold over 8 million copies worldwide. Oasis released three singles from the album, two of which - 'D'You Know What I Mean?' and 'All Around The World' - charted at No.1, with 'Stand By Me' reaching No.2.The album has now been re-mastered from the original tapes and the deluxe edition format features bonus content of B-sides, rare and unreleased Oasis tracks from the 'Be Here Now' era, plus a brand new Noel Gallagher mix of 'D'You Know What I Mean?'. This deluxe edition also includes the legendary Mustique demos; 14 previously unreleased original demos for 'Be Here Now' recorded in the Caribbean Island in early 1996 by Noel Gallagher and Owen Morris. None of these original versions of the songs have ever been heard by anyone outside of the band before.

'Moonlight Concessions' goes back to basics, a return for Throwing Muses to their esoteric off-kilter best courtesy of Kristin's pin-sharp sketches and their suitably abrasive musical arrangements. The album follows their acclaimed 'Sun Racket' from 2020, a heady set filled with tough and tender tales spiked with surreal imagery.Produced by Kristin Hersh at Steve Rizzo's Stable Sound Studio in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, 'Moonlight Concessions' is a collection of snippets from everyday life writ large - think Raymond Carver Short Cuts, overheard conversations, recounted happenings and telling one-liners, all sewed together to illustrate the times as they slowly mature, fully peppered with original Muses' vim and vigour.'Drugstore Drastic' is a kerbside soliloquy caught en route to a more alluring rendezvous. Built on a brisk acoustic strum with a guitar sub-melody underpinning proceedings, it's an unfolding tale of social awareness from a blurred sub-conscious. 'Summer Of Love' began as a bet with a guy for a dollar that revolved around the idea that the seasons don't change us. The album opener, it's a haunting baroque overture, bowed and brooding. 'Libretto's strings offset the acoustic ambience, the hot and cold of longing at the very heart of it, a thematic driver filed with warmth in a safe haven lubricated by tequila.Written in the differing South Coast environs of The Gulf Of Mexico and Southern California, 'Moonlight Concessions' pulls from the star clusters that light both, generating optimism and hope in varying degrees. Hersh explains, "In New Orleans the stars look greenish-blue, as it's below sea level and swamp-lit. But on Moonlight Beach, they glow icy white. All these songs were written in these two glowy places, which helped our sonic technique find itself."

The tenth studio album by Bjork coming in a Deluxe Mediabook edition.

For collectors: This edition comes with a different barcode than the first edition.

Track 11 is a bonus.

Released in a gatefold paper sleeve with 8-page booklet, Japanese liner notes insert and an obi.

‘Heathen Chemistry’ was released on July 1st 2002 and sold a million copies in the UK taking it triple platinum with 3 and a half million sales worldwide. It was the last studio album to feature drummer Alan White and the first to include a single written by Liam. Produced by: Oasis

The CD Edition includes the remastered 13 tracks and reproduces the original Wax Trax! booklet utilizing new photographs of the Steven Stapleton painting.

Arctic Monkeys and War Child UK are proud to announce the release of ‘Arctic Monkeys - Live At The Royal Albert Hall’ on December 4th 2020. All proceeds from the album will go to War Child UK to help fill what could be up to a £2 million deficit they are facing in 2021, caused by the devastating impact of Covid-19 on their fundraising. These funds are urgently needed to support those who are worst hit by the virus.

Recorded at the start of the band’s ‘Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino’ tour, ‘Arctic Monkeys -Live At The Royal Albert Hall’, features 20 of the band’s finest moments to date.

This Sonic Youth concert recorded at Berlin's Columbiahalle in 2009 and presented from the band's live archive.
Originally available only via Nugs.net.
Recorded and mixed by Aaron Mullan.

This is their sixth album.

35th Anniversary edition of the seminal 1989 album ‘Vini Reilly’, Produced by Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur, The Cranberries, New Order).

Remastered and heavily expanded 5 disc version, featuring over 75 tracks:
1. Disc 1. Vini Reilly album + 3 Bonus tracks [16 tracks] The original album (presented in the famous (and as to now unseen) ‘rejected’ sleeve by 8vo) remastered with bonus tracks.
2. Disc 2. The Sporadic Recordings [28 tracks] , a limited edition CD from 1989 [SPORE 1]
3. Disc 3 :=‘Womad Live’ EP plus bonus live tracks and demos [16 tracks]
4. Disc 4 : An exclusive DVD, Live from Porto 1988
5. Disc 5 : Bonus 1 track 3-inch mini CD - ‘I Know Very Well How I Got My Name’ a replica of the bonus addition from the original CD pressing

Expansive booklet includes new essay by Durutti Column / Factory Records expert James Nice, liner notes by band member Bruce Mitchell, liner notes from Anthony Wilson, interview extracts with Vini Reilly and restored images and outtake images.

"Into The Blue is the clearest portrait of who I am as an artist. It's me through and through," says multi-instrumentalist Aaron Frazer. A daring blend of soul, psychedelia, spaghetti western, disco, gospel and hip-hop, Into the Blue represents the impressive range of Frazer's sonic talents. Frazer maintains the unmistakable falsetto and classic songwriting he's known for, but plants Into the Blue firmly in the now with a hip-hop mentality at its core, weaving together genres and production techniques to form something new. Into The Blue was conceived, like so many classic records, out of actual heartbreak. Frazer moved cross-country from Brooklyn to Los Angeles and embarked on a journey that's reflected in the album's themes of grief, loneliness, and searching for healing. "Into The Blue really means heading into the unknown. That has been the last year of my life and I'm still in the blue," Frazer explains. "But there are also songs here that celebrate love and the giddiness of a new relationship and all that. That's part of a breakup to me, processing the whole thing, remembering the things that were right as much as the things that were wrong." Frazer wrote on every track and played several live instruments on the album. The title track, "Into The Blue", is a haunting, resolute anthem, combining cinematic strings and tough-as-nails breakbeats as Frazer heads west. "Here I go, to a place where the broken heart knows," he sings. "It's all I can do. Back into the blue." "Payback" is an explosive dancefloor heater, featuring shimmering tambourines and driving bass lines. Northern soul drums meet snarling fuzz guitar, hurdling towards its epic conclusion. The album features moments of towering arrangements, recalling David Axelrod and Ennio Merricone, balanced by rawness, incorporating iPhone recordings and one-take vocals. For Into the Blue, Frazer enlisted Grammy-winner Alex Goose as coproducer, known for his crate-digging samples and collaborations with hip-hop artists like Freddie Gibbs, Madlib and Brockhampton. Frazer also experimented with samples for the first time on a record, drawing from unexpected sources like 90s R&B group Hi-Five. Though Into the Blue is born out of heartbreak, Frazer hopes it leaves listeners with a sense of optimism. "You know, you can still laugh on a day when you're grieving," he says, "there's no peaks without valleys," he says, but Into The Blue sees Aaron Frazer at new heights.

Released to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Oasis’ seminal debut single Supersonic –
limited-edition collector’s formats including a replica of the original CD single and a pearl
coloured, numbered 7”.

When Von Spar made their ciritcally acclaimed entrance in the pop circuit in 2003 (e.g. coverstory in Spex Magazine) they were regarded as the German answer to the Post-Punk/No-Wave-renaissance. But their debut was more a clever parody about eighties-style-hipster-bands. Three years later and wiser the supergroup (with members of Urlaub in Polen, Oliver Twist, Aggro Cologne) returns with an uncompromising album that gets ahead of all expectations and will surprise their audience and critics who will be shocked. This is not a band following the latest trend. Detached from the usual style issues Von Spar have exorsized the Zeitgeist and overtaken the discourse. There is no scheme. Anything goes. Their new musical language is inspired by seventies Krautrock taking lines of flight to Fluxus art, Minimal Music and early TripHop. Apart from ringtone-compatible hits Von Spar reanimate the classical album-format. The two 20-minute long songs combine the spirit of exploration from Can and Kraftwerk with the conceptual aesthetics of Steve Reich and John Cage and techniques of dark, psychedelic multi-layering by Neurosis and Bohren & Der Club of Gore. All references are permantly ruptured, adopted and newly interweaved. With two new members the five-headed pack recorded in the legendary Electric Avenue Studio, Hamburg, with producer Tobias Levin (Tocotronic, Blumfeld, Kante). Their new labelbase Tomlab offers the congenial platform for this unusual journey. The new album of Von Spar reclaims music as a truthful place for concentration and collective energy from which newness enters the world.

Since their breakout 2012 self-titled debut album, the Lumineers have achieved some incredible milestones: twenty-four number one hits, billions of streams, packed global arena tours, multi-platinum releases, Grammy nominations, and, most important to core members Jeremiah Fraites and Wesley Schultz, numerous beloved, timeless songs. The band's fifth studio album ‘Automatic’, is being released in a music landscape that has become dominated by solo artists dependent on other writers. Schultz says being one of the few groups touring who write all their own material, is "a unique badge of honor." But that's not to say they won't collaborate with other artists; Schultz and Fraites have recently written and appeared on songs with pop icon P!nk, as well as rising singer-songwriters James Bay and Zach Bryan.

Attn.: We did not receive this record in time for RSD, but we will get it this week.

Journey through the dreamy and sinister psychedelic universe of Retinal Bloom, the latest album from The Scary Jokes. Liz Lehman confronts threats both external and existential, conjuring a set that simmers with passion and rage. Co-produced with Fire-Toolz (Angel Marcloid), Retinal Bloom is The Scary Jokes’ most aesthetically ambitious album yet, augmenting their trademark bedroom pop approach with distortion, guitar, drums and vintage synths.

Five CD set. The Gorge '98 is a two show audio box set from 7/16/98 and 7/17/98 at The Gorge Amphitheater in George, WA - a natural open-air venue with stunning views of the Columbia River Gorge, and onsite camping under the stars. Capturing the band at a summertime peak at this storied high desert venue, The Gorge '98 celebrates this idyllic two-night stand across 30 songs on the band's first archival CD release since 'St. Louis '93 (2017) and The Baker's Dozen (2018). Recorded live by Paul Languedoc, mixed from multitrack by Jon Altschiller, and mastered by Fred Kevorkian, The Gorge '98 is must-hear Phish.

Paving the way for independent artists with songs about love, loss and life, Low Island release their highly anticipated sophomore album, Life In Miniature, promising more ‘delicious alt pop’ (Clash) as the group follow in the footsteps of fellow ‘Oxford bands Glass Animals, Radiohead and Foals’ (Rolling Stone Germany).

It comes fresh off the back of their debut album, If You Could Have It All Again, which placed #17 in the Official UK Album Sales Chart and won them plaudits from Gigwise (‘truly engrossing’), Line of Best Fit (‘arena ready’), Double J, Kcrw, Radio1, 6music and Zane Lowe, who described the bands ‘intellectual, soulful creativity.’ Their second album, Life In Miniature, sees Low Island continue to broaden the scope of their ambition, with a record that exquisitely balances stirring electronics, euphoric indie and infectious pop. It’s a record described by the band as a ‘timecapsule, a sonic photo album that captures three years of accelerated change that felt like a lifetime. Leaving home, falling in love, losing loved ones, trying to capture full complexity of emotion that all of those experiences engender.’

Setting that heartfelt lyricism against such a diverse range of sonic backdrops is something that Low Island have been devotedly fine-tuning over the years, firmly rooted in an independence that extends to everything from managing themselves and releasing their music on their own label, Emotional Interference. Its lead to an electrifying live show, which has seen them play festivals from Glastonbury to Lollapalooza Berlin, support synthpop legends Hot Chip and pack out their own shows everywhere from London to Berlin, Prague and Paris, prompting 6music’s Tom Robinson to prophesise that ‘we’ll have them rocking the Pyramid Stage yet, mark my words’.

Debut LP from The Guy Hamper Trio! For fans of Booker T & The MGs, James Taylor Quartet, Georgie Fame, Big Boss Man. Groovy Hammond garage rock instrumentals from Billy Childish (Thee Headcoats/CTMF etc) and featuring James Taylor (Prisoners/JTQ). Q & A with Billy Childish:Q: We're loving this new album by The Guy Hamper Trio! Who's in the band sunshine?A: Mainly myself on guitar, Julie on bass, Wolf on drums, and of course Jamie on Hammond. A great bonus is Thee Headcoats with Bruce and Tub guest as rhythm section on a track or two.Q: You and James Taylor go back a long way. Do you remember how you first met?A: The Prisoners were a young group who played with us (the Milkshakes) in the early 1980s. One day they turned up with an organ player, Jamie. Jamie used to then borrow my Selmer guitar amp to play through. Q: You've revisited a few old classics on this album, and given them a true makeover. How would you describe The Guy Hamper Trio's sound?A: I guess there must be a derogatory term for it but I might need some help finding it. In the very early days of The James Taylor Quartet (Wolf was their drummer back then), I was in the Natural Born Lovers (A blues group with Big Russ and Sexton Ming). We used to be the support for them. I really liked their sound and I guess The Guy Hamper Trio is not a million miles from that blues-influenced, film soundtrack vibe, man. Thereyou made me say "man". Next thing you know I will be saying "cool!" Let's just say it's a wizard sound, Jamie is such a great player.Q: Prior to this album The Guy Hamper Trio's sole release was the `Polygraph Test' 7" from 2009. Why such a big gap?A: It takes time for all of us to get all our solders in line. "Get on with it mush! And trifle not, your time is but short!"Q: What inspired the album's title track All The Poisons In the Mud?A: It's actually the title of a novel I've been writing, and rewriting, over the past 12 years, and is taken from a quote from I Claudius by Robert Graves - a formative influence on m...

With the downtime of the past 2 years I've been writing a lot. As sort of a little songwriting challenge every once in a while I’d write some Ramonescore tunes. It's almost a concept album in that sense. Most of these songs were written in 2020/2021 but a couple are some of my first attempts at songwriting circa 2004! I was originally going to release this under an alias but decided to just make it a Brad Marino album on the advice of some people whose opinion I trust. It's different than "Looking for Trouble" and "Extra Credit" but It's all rock and roll to me... NO Upstrokes Were Used IN THE Making OF This Record

In your face guitar hooks, sing along choruses, and a penchant for writing 90's alt-rock anthems deeply rooted in Boston Garage Punk, Stars Like Ours deliver their eponymous self titled full length release. Stars Like Ours is a 3 piece, 90's influenced, driving rock band with pop sensibility from Boston, MA, who’s influences include: Sugar, The Amps, Superchunk, Dinosaur Jr., and The Breeders. The band consists of Michelle Paulhus (The Decals, The Marvels, The Real Kids, The Dents, and Andrea Gillis Band) on bass and lead vocals, Kristin Holliday (drago, The Blue Bloods, Full Body Anchor, and The Downhauls) on guitar and backing vocals and Rice Edmonston (Darkbuster, Big Wig, Senior Happy, Heidi, Linus, Full Body Anchor, Mill Pond Falls, and Abbie Barrett Band) on drums and backing vocals.

The Practice Run is a fun new Mom’s Basement Records super group that features members of The Putz, Covert Flops, Ghost Party and Horror Section. The Practice Run takes influence from all of the great Lookout Records bands so you can expect a great time with this one.