We’re midway through the year in music and liking what we’ve heard so far. We’re excited for what’s to come, but here at the midpoint, we’re taking pause to talk about our favorite releases of the first half of 2016.
Here’s Matt’s picks:
1. Sturgill Simpson – A Sailor’s Guide to Earth
2. Parquet Courts – Human Performance
3. Hinds – Leave Me Alone
4. All Them Witches – Dying Surfer Meets His Maker
5. Moreland and Arbuckle – Promise Land or Bust
It’s Vinyl Tuesday! Record Exchange customers receive up to $5 in used vinyl with every $25 in new vinyl purchased and have access to early and exclusive releases. This week’s releases:
VARIOUS ARTISTS – DAY OF THE DEAD 12-INCH
Day of the Dead – a celebration of the Grateful Dead’s music – was released last month via 4AD, and is currently available on 5xCD. Now 4AD has released a special limited edition 12-inch vinyl of the four-song ‘Terrapin Station (Suite)’ featuring members of Grizzly Bear, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe, Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo and Bryce Dessner of The National. The album cover was designed and donated by acclaimed visual artist and Pioneer Works founder Dustin Yellin.
A1: ‘Terrapin Station (Suite)’ — Daniel Rossen, Christopher Bear and The National (featuring Josh Kaufman, Conrad Doucette, Sō Percussion and Brooklyn Youth Chorus)
B1: ‘If I Had the World to Give’ — Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy
B2: ‘Playing in the Band’ — Tunde Adebimpe, Lee Ranaldo & Friends
B3: ‘Garcia Counterpoint’ — Bryce Dessner
We’re midway through the year in music and liking what we’ve heard so far. We’re excited for what’s to come, but here at the midpoint, we’re taking pause to talk about our favorite releases of the first half of 2016.
Here’s Joe P.’s picks:
The Goon Sax – Up to Anything
Angry Angles – Angry Angles
Car Seat Headrest – Teens of Denial
Various Artists – Wake Up You! The Rise and Fall of Nigerian Rock 1972-1977, Vol. 1
Bummers Eve – Bummers Eve
94.9 FM The River presents John Paul White (The Civil Wars) live at The Record Exchange (1105 W. Idaho St. in Downtown Boise) at 7:30pm Saturday, July 30. This is White’s only show in town! A meet-and-greet/signing with White follows the performance. As always, this Record Exchange in-store event is free and all ages.
White’s new album Beulah is out August 19 (CD and vinyl), and we’ll be taking preorders at the in-store. We’ll also have at the event an exclusive 7-inch featuring the single “Martyr” and non-album track “Maple Hill” for $2, and it includes a $2 off coupon for Beulah – purchase before the in-store and get a free VIP admission wristband!
ABOUT JOHN PAUL WHITE
Single Lock Records will release John Paul White’s solo album Beulah on August 19.
The highly anticipated release is the former Civil Wars member’s first solo work in nearly a decade and was produced by Ben Tanner (Alabama Shakes) and White, and recorded in Muscle Shoals at the renowned FAME Studios and at White’s own Single Lock Records.
Beulah—the title referring to a longtime family nickname and a reference to William Blake’s “place deep in the collective spiritual unconscious”—is a diverse collection of swampy southern rock, folk balladry and dark acoustic pop—songs that came unbidden to White, who wasn’t entirely welcoming of them at the time. “Honestly, I tried to avoid them, but then I realized the only way I was going to get rid of them was if I wrote them down. I got my phone out and I’d sing these little bits of melody, then put it away and move on. Eventually I got to a place where it was a roar in my head, and that pissed me off. Then one day I told my wife, ‘I think I’m going to go write a song.’ She was as surprised as I was. I went and wrote probably eight songs in three days. It was like turning on a faucet.”
1. Thank Your Lucky Stars, Beach House
2. III, Miike Snow
3. Blurryface, Twenty One Pilots
4. Depression Cherry, Beach House
5. Forever, (hed) P.E.
6. Beast, Despised Icon
7. True Sadness, The Avett Brothers
8. Vessel, Twenty One Pilots
9. Dirty Heads, Dirty Heads
10. Stranger to Stranger, Paul Simon