Previous ROCK TO READ RETURNS OCTOBER 21!
Do you like it hard and heavy? Then come to The Record Exchange and visit The Headbanger’s Wall, a listening station devoted to some of today’s best bands pummeling you with raw power and raw emotion.
The Headbanger’s Wall currently features Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, 9 Left Dead, Opeth, The Browning, Kyng, Vader, Dead By Wednesday, Machine Head, Skeletonwitch and Edguy. Come melt your face with us.
Purchase Headbanger’s Wall titles HERE.
BUY THE BLU-RAY HERE
Queensrÿche’s two “Operation: Mindcrime” albums (released in 1988 and 2006) tell the story of Nikki, a junkie, political revolutionary and assassin and his relationship with two key characters Sister Mary and the manipulative Dr X. Critically acclaimed and much loved by their fans the albums are two of the jewels in the crown of progressive metal. Following the release of “Operation: Mindcrime II”, Queensrÿche performed both albums in their entirety on tour in a mammoth stage production featuring actors, staging and films. Filmed on this tour in high definition at the Moore Theater in the band’s hometown of Seattle over three nights in October 2006, “Mindcrime At The Moore” is now released on Blu-ray for the first time and presents these legendary albums as they were meant to be seen and heard. Bonus Features: Tour documentary / “The Chase” performed with Ronnie James Dio in the role of Dr X / Queensrÿche Rock & Ride
Boasting epic staging to match their expansive sound, this 2006 show from Queensryche shows the band still knows how to rock. In this concert from Seattle’s Moore Theater, the quintet plays every song from the concept albums OPERATION: MINDCRIME and its sequel, OPERATION: MINDCRIME II. In addition to this 32-song set, Queensryche returns for an encore with the classics “Jet City Woman” and “Walk In The Shadows.” MINDCRIME AT THE MOORE also features a documentary on the band’s tour, a short film on their efforts for VH1 Save the Music Foundation, and a unique performance of “The Chase” with a special appearance from Dr. X.
OTHER NEW DVD/BLU-RAY RELEASES:
Pirates of The Caribbean – On Stranger Tides
Bad Teacher
Dream Theater Live At Budokan
Chunklet is reissuing two out-of-print double LPs from Elephant 6 psych-poppers the Olivia Tremor Control, Dusk At Cubist Castle (1996) and Black Foliage (1998), on deluxe vinyl gatefold for the first time since their original release. Super sturdy Stoughton tip-on jackets, tons of great artwork and Black Foliage was completely remastered from the original tapes (and sounds 100x better). The band has also been generous in opening their tape vaults to give fans over three hours of rare/unreleased/live material between the two releases via download 
card. Both reissues are limited to 1000 copies.
OTHER NEW VINYL RELEASES:
Real Estate Days
Bill Orcutt How The Thing Stings
Todd Rundgren Something/Anything
Abba Abba – The Album
Abba Super Trouper
Merle Haggard Working In Tennessee
My Brightest Diamond All Things Will Unwind
BUY THE CD HERE
In its own quiet, captivating way, Real Estate’s ‘Days‘ is a daring record. It’s one thing to try to stand out by being novel or radically obtuse; it’s another to make music that attempts to do something well that’s already been done exceptionally many times in the past, and not only aspire to the sounds of those records, but also the emotional resonance. The New Jersey indie-pop outfit fashioned ‘Days‘ in the form of the Beach Boys’ Today, the Byrds’ Notorious Byrd Brothers, and The Shins’ Oh, Inverted World—all perfect autumnal guitar-pop records that radiate inarticulate loveliness and deep, coming-of-age melancholy. Real Estate set itself up to falter by comparison, but Days pulls off the impressive feat of earning that company.
It helps that singer-songwriter Martin Courtney isn’t merely concerned with evoking his record collection on Days. Songs like the ethereal “Green Aisles”—where Courtney sings about falling in love on a college campus, amid dormitories looking like “mountains of make-believe standing side by side”—have the feel of memories, with their blurred edges and strong-but-buried feelings. – AV Club
OTHER NEW CD RECOMMENDATIONS:
Jane’s Addiction Great Escape Artist
Patrick Stump Soul Punk
Chris Isaak Beyond The Sun
Daisy Kitty & Lewis Smoking In Heaven
Shelby Lynne Revelation Road
Alesana Place Where The Sun Is Silent
T-Bone Burnett T-Bone Burnett Presents: The Speaking Clock Revue
Brantley Gilbert Modern Day Prodiga
Sting Best Of 25 Years
My Brightest Diamond All Things Will Unwind
BUY THE CD HERE
For some, the needle of inspiration seems to be dropped in a particular era of their lives. Like filmmaker John Hughes, or author Maurice Sendak before him, 30-year-old Anthony Gonzalez, of M83, seems perpetually obsessed with his childhood. For his sixth full-length ‘Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming‘, the French musician (with help from producer/Beck bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen) returned to the fertile fields that inspired his 2008 breakthrough, Saturdays=Youth. The result is a 22-track, double album of stunningly ambitious, synth-soaked dreams.
A call to arms, opening track “Intro” features the ghostly wail of Zola Jesus (Nika Roza Danilova)—paired alongside swelling feedback and Gonzalez’s own yearning howl. Almost as if to mark the intimacy of the project, Gonzalez claims most of the vocal tracks for his own, displaying a surprisingly agile range alongside Danilova and Saturdays=Youth vocalist Morgan Kibby.
Ostensibly divided into two halves à la The Smashing Pumpkins’ Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (a major inspiration), Gonzalez frontloaded the album with pop-structured pieces. Among these standouts is single “Midnight City,” a kissing cousin to Saturdays=Youth’s “Kim & Jessie,” featuring a circular, squeaky synth riff, Gonzalez’s vocals (here a paper-thin whisper), and the best saxophone riff that 1985 has to offer. The sentimental pull of “Wait” is obvious, featuring Gonzalez’s echo-encrusted vocals over an acoustic refrain—but the sugarcoated narrative of “Raconte-Moi Une Historie” (“Tell Me a Story”)—where a young boy recounts a world of frogs and friendship, may actually make listeners feel a tug for their long-forgotten childhoods. – Under The Radar