RECKLESS RECORDS 3/27/20 NEW RELEASES
DANIEL AVERY & ALESSANDRO CORTINI – Illusion of Time LP/CD (Mute)
Highly anticipated collaboration between two greats of modern electronic music, Daniel Avery & Alessandro Cortini. Avery is a British musician who most recently released the excellent “Song for Alpha” which was a mix of washy ambience & melodic dance tracks. The synth wiz Cortini is best known for his live work with NINE INCH NAILS & a very prolific last few years topped off with the great “Volume Massimo” album. This album is everything we were hoping for with beautiful & arpeggiated synth patterns, thick sub bass lines, with some lo-fi tape hiss that will appeal to fans of BOARDS OF CANADA & SURVIVE with some shoegaze textures. RECOMMENDED!
DEEPER – Auto-Pain LP/CD (Firetalk) Chicago exclusive “deep freeze blue” vinyl!
Local heroes DEEPER follow their 2018 self-titled debut with more angular, spastic post-punk stylings that recall the nervous energy of THE FEELIES and the dark emotiveness of THE CURE. This is dark, nostalgic music that will help through the darker times we live in. RECOMMENDED!
FACS – Void Moments LP/CD (Trouble in Mind) limited color of black vinyl
It’s difficult to imagine a better album title for March, 27 2020 than “Void Moments.” The world is now a few months into a global pandemic & most of have been having our own “void moments” pretty much every day. Thankfully great music is a welcome distraction to all of this topsy-turvy chaos & the prolific & reliable Chicago band FACS has made perhaps their best record yet. Noah Leger is one of the best drummers around & he’s the defacto leader on many of the songs. There’s a ton of interesting studio trickery & effects on EVERYTHING which gives their already post-industrial snarl & unique angle, sort of like THIS HEAT’s playful willingness & to sort of attempt to destroy their own recordings. It’s difficult to say where we’ll all be in a few months or even a few weeks, but thankfully we now have this soundtrack to all of our moments, contemplating the void. RECOMMENDED.
KNXWLEDGE – 1988 LP/CD (Stones Throw)
Rooted in the same gospel, jazz and soul as his fellow Stones Throw Artists MADLIB and J DILLA, KNWLEDGE has made one of his most powerful, expressive statements in “1988”. This is instrumental hip-hop at it’s best: psychedelic, leftfield and yet rooted to the music that gives club music it’s distinct identity. CHOICE!
MOLCHAT DOMA – Etazhi LP/CD (Sacred Bones) color or black vinyl
MOLCHAT DOMA – S Krysh Nashikh Domon LP/CD (Sacred Bones) color or black vinyl
MOLCHAT DOMA is a post-punk band from Belarus. Their covers feature images of brutalist architecture & dadaist art & it fits with their gothic, post-punk meets synth-pop sound. Fans of legends like JOY DIVISION/early NEW ORDER, “Faith”/”Seventeen Seconds” era CURE & the Colour Tapes label releases, specifically MODERN ART will eat this up.RECOMMENDED.
PEARL JAM – Gigaton LP/CD (Monkeywrench)
Already being hailed as the most vital Pearl Jam record in quite some time Gigaton is going to make many fans extremely happy. It’s been nearly 30 years since Ten built a stranglehold on the indie & pop scenes of the early 90s. It would be easy to give up, cash in, & make uninspired drivel, but with Gigaton, you can hear a revitalized Eddy Vedder crashing directly against the politics of the day. For a band that led us directly out of the 80s to come back 30 years later with tracks that remind us so much of Talking Heads!? This is definitely worth your time.
WAXAHATCHEE – Saint Cloud LP/CD (Merge)
The fifth full release for Katie Crutchfield under the moniker WAXAHATCHEE finds her exploring country, roots and Americana, while maintaining the thread of lush indie pop that has defined her already great career. A gorgeous statement.
WINDY & CARL – Allegiance & Conviction LP/CD (Kranky)
Reckless favorites WINDY & CARL are back on Kranky with their first album in 8 years “Allegiance & Conviction”. The Dearborn, MI duo are longstanding heroes of the space rock/ambient realm & a new record from them is always special. Crisp & clean, stream of consciousness guitar with almost barely audible spoken lyrics by Windy that give this one a bit more of a haunting quality than their other releases. Another great one from these record store owning drone masters! RECOMMENDED.
Other important new releases
BON IVER – Blood Bank EP LP/CD (Jagjaguwar) 10th anniversary edition w/ bonus
CABLE TIES – Far Enough LP/CD (Merge)
CANDELMASS – Pendulum LP (Napalm)
CLAMS CASINO – Moon Trip Radio LP (Clams Casino)
IAN WILLIAM CRAIG – Red Sun Through Smoke LP/CD (Fatcat)
DENZEL CURRY & KENNY BEATS – Unlocked LP (Loma Vista)
HERBIE HANCOCK – The Prisoner LP (Blue Note, Remastered, Tone Poet Series)
JIM HENDRIX – Band of Gypsys LP (50th Anniversary reissue w/ booklet & poster)
(Capitol)
LAS KELLIES – Suck This Tangerine LP (Fire)
MAGIC SWORD – Endless LP/CD (Joyful Noise)
HAILU MERGIA – Yene Mircha LP/CD (Awesome Tapes From Africa)
MNDSGN – Bed LP (SSakanoi, reissue)
NAP EYES – Snapshot of a Beginner LP/CD (Jagjaguwar) color or black vinyl
NAZAR – Guerilla LP (Hyperdub)
SNOTTY NOSE REZ KIDS – TRAPLINE LP (Snotty Nose Rez Kids)
SUFJAN STEVENS & LOWELL BRAMS – Aporia LP/CD (Asthmatic Kitty) color or black
Vinyl
SUN ARAW – Rock Sutra LP (Sun Ark)
GHEDALIA TEZARTES – Diasporas LP (Dais)
V/A – Whispers: Lounge Originals LP (Numero)