Bill Fay - Countless Branches (Dead Oceans)

Bill Fay returns with the 3rd LP in the celebrated second phase of his recording career. Rave reviews and endorsements from the likes of Jim O'Rourke and Jeff Tweedy led to a huge revival of interest in this vanished artist. Fay, now 76, was not actually a hermit but a quiet, private person who had withdrawn from a music world changed to the point where he felt no longer involved. The songs here are more spare and succinct than before. A prime Fay song is a deceptively simple thing which carries more emotional weight than its concision and brevity might imply. Deluxe 2LP includes 7 bonus tracks!

G. Love & Special Sauce - The Juice (Philadelphonic)

Recorded in Nashville with a slew of special guests including Robert Randolph, Marcus King, and Roosevelt Collier. Co-produced and co-written with Keb Mo, its an electrifying collection, one that tips its cap to more than a century of blues greats even as it offers its own distinctly modern pop spin on the genre. G Love's lyrics are both personal and political here, artfully balancing his appreciation for the simple joys in life with his obligation to speak out for justice and equality.

Pinegrove - Marigold (Rough Trade)

Marigold is an urgent, multivalent meditation' and an expanded take on the blend of alt-country, indie rock and cerebral humanism that's inspired the band's ardent fan community. It marks their Rough Trade Records debut, offering what songwriter Evan Stephens Hall calls a 'heart-first' perspective. Limited color vinyl while it lasts.

Algiers - There Is No Year (Matador)

2017's The Underside of Power, the second album from the Atlanta group Algiers, was a righteous explosion of sound, its songs touching everything from classic soul to grinding electronic music to the razor's edge of the avant-garde. Lyrically, the group was just as pointed, tackling the failure of capitalism, the rise of fascism, and the necessity of response on personal and global fronts. Their latest opts for a slightly sleeker approach; more ruminative, but it's no less committed to a fierce critique of the world's corroded state.

Robert Glasper - F u c k Yo Feelings (Loma Vista)

Glasper's first release of original music under his own name since ArtScience, the Robert Glasper Experiment's 2016 album. Glasper has not only been been a member of other supergroups, including August Greene (with Common and Karriem Riggins) and R+R=NOW (with Terrace Martin, Christian Scott, Derrick Hodge, Taylor McFerrin, Justin Tyson), but has also played a major role in some of the most important releases of the century, contributing most notably to Kendrick Lamar's critically acclaimed To Pimp a Butterfly and most recently to Brittany Howard's Jaime.

...The Trail Of Dead - The Godless Void And Other Stories (Dine Alone)

Expansive yet concise, this album nods to the band's traditional touchstones - the feral scree of Sonic Youth, Rush's symphonic anthems, the textured bliss of My Bloody Valentine - while morphing effortlessly into newer forms. The synth-orchestral swell of curtain-raiser Opening Crescendoes recalls Hans Zimmer and Tangerine Dream, while All Who Wander descends from guitar-soaked high drama into simmering, murky psychedelia, and Something Like This offers nods to the ethereal songcraft that defined 4AD.

Marcus King - El Dorado (Fantasy)

The debut solo album from Marcus King is a revelation. Passionate, penetrating and deeply soulful, El Dorado weaves soul music, gospel, R&B and country into a something modern and classic. Teaming with producer Dan Auerbach (Black Keys) for sessions at Auerbach's Easy Eye Studio in Nashville, the pair co-wrote the 11 songs on El Dorado along with esteemed writers on various tracks including Pat McLaughlin, Paul Overstreet and Ronnie Bowman.

Also New This Week

Jack Broadbent - Moonshine Blue (Crows Feet)
Brother Ali - Secrets & Escapes (Rhymesayers)
Cursive - Get Fixed (15 Passenger)
The Deer - Do No Harm (Keeled Scales)
Deserta - Black Aura My Sun (Felte)
Keeley Forsyth - Debris (Leaf)
Georgia - Seeking Thrills (Domino)
Devon Gilfillian - Black Hole Rainbow (Capitol)
Halsey - Manic (Capitol)
Steve Moore - Bliss (Relapse)
Of Montreal - UR FUN (Polyvinyl)
OOIOO - Nijimusi (Thrill Jockey)
Oval - Scis (Thrill Jockey)
Pale Saints - The Comforts of Madness [dlx reissue] (4AD)
The Professionals [Madlib + Oh No] - s/t (Madlib Invazion)
Rose City Band - s/t (Thrill Jockey)
Dwight Yoakam - Blame the Vain LP (New West)