Makaya McCraven - In These Times (International Anthem)

A collection of polytemporal compositions inspired as much by broader cultural struggles as McCraven's personal experience as a product of a multinational, working class musician community. With contributions from over a dozen musicians and creative partners from his tight-knit circle of collaborators – including Jeff Parker, Junius Paul, Brandee Younger, Joel Ross, Greg Ward, and Marquis Hill – the music was recorded in 5 different studios and 4 live performance spaces while Makaya engaged in extensive post-production work at home. Featuring orchestral, large ensemble arrangements interwoven with the signature "organic beat music" sound that's become his signature, the album is an evolution and a milestone.

Vieux Farka Toure & Khruangbin - Ali (Dead Oceans)

Ali Farka Toure trekked the world, bringing his beloved Malian music to the masses. Dubbed "the African John Lee Hooker," one could hear strong connections between the two; both employed a bluesy style of play with gritty textures that elicit calm and fury in equal measure. While the influence of Black blues music prevailed, Toure created a West African blend of 'desert blues' that garnered Grammy awards and widespread reverence. Though he transcended in 2006, Ali's musical legacy lives on through his son, Vieux aka "the Hendrix of the Sahara," an accomplished guitarist and champion of Malian music in his own right. On Ali, his collaborative album with Khruangbin, he pays homage to his father by recreating some of his most resonant work, putting new twists on it while maintaining the original's integrity. The result is a rightful ode to a legend.

Divino Nino - Last Spa on Earth (Winspear)

Last Spa on Earth deals in release and catharsis: confronting your darkest moments and coming out better for it. The album artwork, done by Medina, depicts a dreamy, yet graffiti-tagged spa, void of physical bodies so listeners can envision themselves in this unique environment. It represents the yin and yang approach Divino Nino took while creating the album: the serenity of the spa and the chaos of the party. Ultimately, the band's desire is to provide healing in the same way one feels after sweating, shivering, stretching, and resting at the spa against the backdrop of the world's darkness. Playing live at the Bishop on October 8th!

Alex G - God Save the Animals (Domino)

Alex's fourth full-length for Domino and ninth overall. Giannascoli wrote and demoed these songs by himself, at home; but, for the sake of both new tones and "a routine that was outside of my apartment" during the pandemic, he began visiting multiple studios in greater Philadelphia. God Save the Animals consequently features the work of some half-dozen engineers whom Giannascoli asked to help him produce the "best" recording quality, whatever that meant. The result is an album more dynamic than ever in its sonic palette.

The Comet Is Coming - Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam (Impulse)

The Comet is Coming returns with their 2nd full length album on Impulse Records. King Shabaka, Danalogue, and Betamax's newest effort finds the trio creating a musical landscape that is equally cerebral as it is physically enthralling. While containing elements of jazz throughout, this release leans further into heavy dance-hall themes, providing hypnotic, electronic soundscapes to dance to while keeping you intellectually stimulated.

Cass McCombs - Heartmind (Anti)

On Heartmind, Cass enters the double-digit-album phase of his career, a quantitatively rarified place for any songwriter; rarer still, though, is the fact that he does not yet seem to have settled into a qualitative sound or pattern, of singing the same thought twice. Songs like "Karaoke" are a god-level burst of power-pop perfection, as fetching as anything Cass has ever cut. The springy staccato guitar, the vaporized electric keys, the melody seemingly born for singing or clapping or dancing along: Cass triangulates a perch of his very own out among The Go-Betweens, The dB's, and The Cure, and vibrates there, a beacon.

Also New This Week

Marisa Anderson - Still, Here (Thrill Jockey)
Carrtoons - Homegrown (Wichita)
Deathprod - Sow Your Gold In The White Foliated Earth (Smalltown Supersound)
Doctor Bionic - Doctor Bionic – The God State: An Aural Stimuli (Chiefdom)
Dr John - Things Happen That Way (Universal)
5 Seconds of Summer - 5SOS5 (BMG)
Maya Hawke - Moss (Mom+Pop)
Iceage - Shake The Feeling: Outtakes & Rarities 2015-2021 (Mexican Summer)
Kikagaku Moyo - Kumoyo Island (Guruguru Brain)
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Omnium Gatherum (KGLW)
Nikki Lane - Denim & Diamonds (New West)
Charles Lloyd - Trios: Ocean (Blue Note)
Joni Mitchell - The Asylum Albums 1972-75 (Elektra)
Modern Nomad - There It Is, There You Are (Soul Step)
Mountain City Four - s/t (Omnivore)
Mystic Revelation Of Rastafari - Grounation (Soul Jazz)
Neu! - 50! [CD Box] (Groenland)
New Riders Of The Purple Sage - Lyceum 1972 (Omnivore)
Beth Orton - Weather Alive (Partisan)
Alhaji Waziri Oshomah - World Spirituality Classics 3: The Muslim Highlife (Luaka Bop)
Risco Connection - Risco Version (Strut)
Ross And Eli - Signs & Seasons LP (Self)
Todd Snider - Live: Return Of The Storyteller (Thirty Tigers)
The Soft Moon - Exister (Sacred Bones)
Stone Temple Pilots - Core [DLX 4LP Box] (Rhino)
Tamino - Sahar (Djinn) Tirzah - Highgrade (Domino)
Toledo - How It Ends (Grand Jury)
Mal Waldron - Searching In Grenoble: The 1978 Solo Piano Concert (Tompkins Square)

Back in Stock Vinyl

A brief selection of albums recently back in stock...
Black Sabbath, Metallica, Arctic Monkeys, Death Cab for Cutie, J Dilla, Alice in Chains, Iggy Pop, Mac Miller, Kinks, Animal Collective, plus many MANY more... stop by and get digging!