2010s 227 Items

Jessie Baylin returns with a Deluxe Edition of Strawberry Wind, an album that delivers on a promise Baylin made with herself: to create an honest record for kids and parents alike. With three new tracks added to the vinyl release, the album delightfully expresses a childlike sensibility through tracks overflowing with an excitement for life that speaks well to children. Weaving through lyrical themes of dream life, supermoons, and summertime vibes, there are also some gentle doses of reality on Strawberry Wind. “I don't want to lie to my kids. Life can be hard sometimes, and you need to find a way to deal with it,” says Baylin. “There will always be things in life you can't control, but you can dream of a better world and make your own refuge." She continues, “I wanted it to feel magical and remind people of the child inside of all of us that is filled with a sense of wonder, pure joy, and hope.”

Dark Entries celebrates its 15th anniversary with legendary synth-punk deviants Crash Course in Science. Dale Feliciello, Mallory Yago, and Michael Zodorozny formed Ccis in 1979 after meeting at art school in Philadelphia. As a gesture born of equal parts punk irreverence and brute necessity, the band incorporated toy instruments and kitchen appliances into their aggressive, angular sound. Their anthems “Cardboard Lamb” and “Flying Turns” from 1981’s Signals From Pier Thirteen EP have been staples in adventurous DJ sets for over 40 years - yet some of their finest work is to be found on Near Marineland, a full-length LP recorded in 1981 but remained unreleased in its time. Near Marineland shows the band moving into more diverse and polished territory (although it’s still as abrasive as sandpaper). Tracks like “No More Hollow Doors” and “Jump Over Barrels” highlight Ccis’s singular knack for embedding infectiously monotone hooks in their stiff-yet-funky grooves. Elsewhere we see Ccis going fully unhinged, like on the searing “Someone Reads” or the demented “Pompeii Spared”, where a spray of honks is barely glued together by a frantic synthetic pulse. While this masterwork of malfunctioning analog electronics has surfaced on a few occasions - this first time stand alone remaster includes four never-before-released bonus tracks and includes a lyric sheet. Near Marineland is crucial listening for all devotees of synth-punk and minimal electronics.

“Talk That Talk” is the sixth studio album by Barbadian singer Rihanna, released on November 2011, by Def Jam Recordings and SRP Records. It was recorded while traveling for the “Loud” Tour between February and November 2011, and was originally planned to be a reissue of her previous studio album “Loud” (2010). As executive producer, Rihanna enlisted a wide range of producers including Alex da Kid, Mr. Bangladesh, Calvin Harris, Chase & Status, Cirkut, Da Internz, Dr. Luke, Ester Dean, Gareth McGrillen, Hit-Boy, No I.D., Priscilla Renea, Rob Swire, StarGate, The-Dream. Following in the same vein as “Loud”, “Talk That Talk” is a dance-oriented pop/R&B crossover album that incorporates elements of hip hop, dubstep, electronic and house music. The album also continues to have subtle dancehall genres, whilst its lyrical content and themes revolve around a nihilist, romantic and lascivious lover.

“Talk That Talk” received generally positive reviews from music critics, and debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200. As of June 2015, the album has sold 1.15 million copies in the United States.

Björk presents a strings version of her highly-acclaimed eighth studio studio album Vulnicura, officially titled Vulnicura Strings. The original version of Vulnicura layered the boom and crack of electronic beats with an intense vocal melody and incredible string arrangements by Björk which have been performed live with a fifteen chair orchestra. The new version is musically wholly comprised of strings, with new violin solos by Una Sveinbjarnardóttir and strings recorded by a Viola Organista. Björk used the only Viola Organista in the world to perform some of the arrangements; an instrument which was designed originally by Leonardo Da Vinci but not built until after his lifetime. The instrument uses a friction belt to vibrate individual strings (similar to a violin), with the strings selected by pressing keys on the keyboard (similar to an organ). The instrument was recorded in Krakow, Poland by it's constructor Slawomir Zubrzycki and here is where the album reached completion.

British trip-hop pioneers Morcheeba return with their first new album in over five years. The band have released 8 albums that have sold in excess of 10 million records in their career. 'Blaze Away', their positivity-packed ninth album, marks both a fresh start in its organic approach and a return to the joyous genre-mashing of their early days, with featured guests Roots Manuva and Benjamin Biolay. There was no template for its ten, extraordinary, future-facing songs, no self-imposed limits on style, no themes to be adhered to or rules in place to break.

Morcheeba’s global success is no surprise. Their melting pot sound has been border-hopping ever since the London-based band emerged from the mid-’90s trip hop scene that made them a household name. They’re about to embark on what’s shaping up to be their biggest world tour yet, taking in headline shows and festivals globally, and debuting new tracks from their upcoming record, as well as playing classics to the delight of their global fan base.

Always best selling Adele is back with a new set of heartfelt anthems.

Record Store Day 2021 Release. RSD Day 2021 sees the release on gold vinyl of the UK Number 1 album from 2015 by Jamie Lawson. Originally released on Ed Sheerans label the album features the hit single and Ivor Novello winning song Wasn’t Expecting That. Unavailable on vinyl for a while this new release has brand new gold artwork and gold vinyl and the inlay sleeve features never seen before photos of the album recording at Angelic Studios with new sleeve notes written by Jamie Lawson.