NEW RELEASE OF THE WEEK: MUMFORD & SONS' BABEL IS 'PERFECTLY MUMFORD & SONS' – AVAILABLE IN 3 FORMATS!

PREVIEW/BUY THE CD HERE
PREVIEW/BUY THE DELUXE CD HERE
PREVIEW/BUY THE VINYL HERE

[Mumford & Sons’] highly anticipated sophomore record begins exactly where we might expect, and the rest of the LP that follows proves that this isn’t an attempt to smash any expectations with a sudden progression of their style. For those devotees looking for the Mumfords to evolve drastically, well, you’re out of luck. Babel’s not a new sentence in the book of Mumford & Sons – it’s what happens after an ellipses. And in many ways, that suits them just fine. It will most definitely suit their fans.

While the band is mostly known for their “Americana” sound, they also pull references from their side of the pond: from both classic British countryside folk and Celtic punk bands like The Pogues. Those influences run a little more clear on Babel – “Ghosts That We Knew” and “Reminder” are both soft, melancholy stunners born out of grassy hills and cockney-tinged tales told in wood-paneled bars. And “Broken Crown” is the boys at their angriest yet: “I’ll never be your chosen one,” Mumford sings lightly before launching into an all-out war over minstrel plucks. It’s a force of a song, and not your firmest pick nor hard-earned callous could weather that storm. — American Songwriter

NEW RELEASE TUESDAY 9/25: LISTENING PARTY WITH MUMFORD & SONS, FREE PIZZA, RAFFLE FOR TEST PRESSING!

The Record Exchange’s New Release Tuesday series continues on Sept. 25 with Mumford & Sons‘ new album Babel! The album will be featured during our weekly listening party at 6 p.m. Enjoy free Pie Hole pizza while you listen to Babel and enter to win one of our New Release Tuesday raffle prizes: An ultra-rare vinyl test pressing of Babel (only 12 in circulation)!

Purchase Babel on New Release Tuesday and you’ll be entered to win. Once the album has been played in its entirety, we will draw the winner at random (NOTE: You need not be present to win.)

Unlike other New Release Tuesday Listening Party raffles, you must purchase the album to be eligible to win the test pressing. Given the rarity of the test pressing, we want it to go home with an honest-to-goodness Mumford & Sons fan instead of some dude who’s just gonna flip it on eBay the next day.

A limited number of Mumford & Sons silk-screened posters are also on the way to hand out free with purchase of Babel (including preorders).

Green Day fans: Stop in and enter to win one of two killer prizes – a vinyl test pressing of their new album Uno! or a 7-CD collection of Green Day albums!

Are you a proud owner of a Radio Boise KRBX Card? Bring it in every Tuesday from 6 to 9 p.m. and receive 20% off gift shop items and used CDs, vinyl, DVD/Blu-ray and cassettes (excluding collectibles – individual items $100 and over).

Speaking of our beloved community radio station, their new Radio Boise Tuesdays series at Neurolux is quickly becoming a new favorite on the music scene. The weekly series features local and touring bands as well as a Radio Boise DJ after each show. Radio Boise receives 20% of drink sales from every Radio Boise Tuesday show. You receive the benefit of DRINK SPECIALS at each one. The music kicks off at 7 p.m. — right after you’ve filled your belly with pizza and heard some new music at the RX!

Check out the Radio Boise Tuesdays performance schedule HERE.

Here’s a quick look at the bright and shiny new releases this week at The Record Exchange:

CD

Mumford & Sons – Babel (deluxe edition also available)

Green Day – Uno! (deluxe edition also available)

As I Lay Dying – Awakened (deluxe edition also available)

Deadmau5 – Album Title Goes Here

Brett Netson – Simple Work for the Dead

No Doubt – Push and Shove

John Hiatt- Mystic Pinball

The Wallflowers – Glad All Over

Lupe Fiasco – Food and Liquor 2: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 2

Joe Bonamassa – Beacon Theatre: Live

DJ Shadow – Reconstructed: The Best of DJ Shadow

Frank Zappa – Various Reissues

Bettye LaVette – Thankful n’ Thoughtful

Joe Strummer – Various Reissues

Murder By Death – Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon

Various Artists – Frankenweenie Soundtrack

Various Artists – Frankenweenie Unleashed

R.E.M. – Document 25th Anniversary Edition

Warren Zevon – Mr. Bad Example/Mutineer reissue

Ben Sollee – Half Made Man

Casualties – Resistance

Chino XL – Ricanstruction

Eluveitie – The Early Years

Witchcraft – Legend

Gary Moore – Blues for Jimi: Live in London

Waylon Jennings – Goin’ Down Rockin: The Last Recordings

Hybrid – Classics

David Hidalgo, Mato Nanji and Luther Dickinson – 3 Skulls and the Truth

Lee Konitz, Bill Frisell, Gary Peacock and Joey Baron – Enfants Terribles: Live at the Blue Note

Larry Graham and Graham Central Station – Raise Up

Dokken – Broken Bones (deluxe edition also available)

The Bad Plus – Made Possible

Medeski, Martin and Wood – Free Magic

Murs and Fashawn – This Generation

Jedi Mind Tricks – Army of the Pharoahs: The Unholy Terror

The Soft Pack – Strapped

Ozomatli – Presents Ozokidz

Preservation Hall Jazz Band – 50th Anniversary Collection

Preservation Hall Jazz Band – St. Peter and 57th St.

Pete Seeger – Pete Remembers Woody

Pete Seeger and Lorre Wyatt – A More Perfect Union

Ricky Skaggs – Music to My Ears

Various Artists – Re-Machined: A Tribute to Deep Purple’s Machine Head

Unnatural Helpers – Land Grab

Steven Wilson – Get All You Deserve

Outlaws – It’s About Pride

Jake Owen – Endless Summer EP

St. Germain – Tourist reissue

The Beach Boys – Christmas Harmonies

Jewel – Joy: A Holiday Collection

George Lopez – It’s Not Me, It’s You

Black September – Into the Darkness, Into the Void

Lavender Diamond – Incorruptible Heart

Nektar – Recycled Deluxe Edition

Dead Amanda – Why

Jonathan Butler – Grace and Mercy

Rachael MacFarlane – Hayley Sings

Heather Nova – 300 Days at Sea

Chevin – Borderland

Jason Collett – Reckon

Richie Sambora – Aftermath of the Lowdown

Jesse Cook – The Blue Guitar Sessions

VINYL

Mumford & Sons – Babel

Green Day – Uno!

Kimbra – Vows

High on Fire – The Art of Self Defense

The Killers – Battle Born

Various Artists – Hey Girl Hey (Polyvinyl comp)

Murder By Death – Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon

LCD Soundsystem – Various Reissues

Liars – Various Reissues

The Wallflowers – Glad All Over

Joe Strummer – Various Reissues

The Sonics – Various 7-inch reissues

Massive Attack – Blue Lines

Massive Attack – Protection

Daft Punk – Homework

St. Germain – Tourist

John Hiatt – Mystic Pinball

The Flatlanders – The Odessa Tapes

Keane – Upstairs at United

North Mississippi Allstars – Upstairs at United

Le Mystere Jazz de Tombouctou – Le Mystere Jazz de Tombouctou

Bettye LaVette – Thankful n’ Thoughtful

Diana Krall – Glad Rag Doll

Circuit Rider – Circuit Rider

Wanda Jackson – Tore Up

Jamey Johnson – Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran

Eagle Town – The Feather Tipped the Serpent’s Scale

Casualties – Resistance

Emerson, Lake and Palmer – Emerson, Lake and Palmer

Emerson, Lake and Palmer – Tarkus

DVD/BLU-RAY

Portlandia Season 2 DVD

Gary Moore – Blues for Jimi: Live in London DVD

Steven Wilson – Get All You Deserve DVD

Circle Jerks – My Career as a Jerk DVD

Gojira – Link Above DVD

Leonard Cohen – Complete Review DVD

Freddie Mercury – The Great Pretender DVD

Autopsy – Born Undead DVD

Black Metal: Voices from Hell DVD

Resident Evil: Damnation DVD

The Carol Burnett Show: Carol’s Favorites DVD

Avengers Blu-ray

WIN A GREEN DAY VINYL TEST PRESSING OR 7-CD COLLECTION AT OUR NEW RELEASE TUESDAY LISTENING PARTY!

Green Day fans, do we have a treat for you. The band’s new album Uno! comes out Tuesday, and we have a vinyl test pressing and 7-CD Green Day collection (1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours, 21st Century Breakdown, American Idiot, Dookie, International Superhits, Kerplunk, Nimrod) to give away at our New Release Tuesday Listening Party!

The party starts at 6 p.m. and we’ll have free Pie Hole pizza for you to enjoy, as well as Green Day lithographs and sticker sets to hand out free with purchase!

RECORD EXCHANGE TOP 20 SELLERS (WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 23, 2012)

1. Shields, Grizzly Bear
2. Tempest, Bob Dylan
3. The Carpenter, The Avett Brothers
4. Mirage Rock, Band of Horses
5. Away From The World, Dave Matthews Band
6. Coexist, The XX
7. Battle Born, Killers
8. The Truth About Love, PINK
9. Tomorrowland, Ryan Bingham
10. I Bet On Sky, Dinosaur Jr.
11. Sun, Cat Power
12. Some Nights, Fun.
13. Down 4 Pt. 1, Down
14. Bear Creek, Brandi Carlile
15. Megalithic Symphony, Awolnation
16. California 37, Train
17. Moms, Menomena
18. Sound Of The Life Of The Mind, Ben Folds Five
19. Negotiations, The Helio Sequence
20. Breakup Song, Deerhoof

PREORDER MUMFORD & SONS NEW ALBUM, GET ENTERED TO WIN AN ULTRA-RARE VINYL TEST PRESSING (ONLY 12 — YES, 12 — IN CIRCULATION)

Mumford & Sons‘ highly-anticipated second album Babel hits The Record Exchange on Sept. 25, and we’re making a big fuss because, well, many of our customers have been waiting patiently for the follow-up to Sigh No More for what seems like forever.

Part of that big fuss is holding a contest for an ultra-rare vinyl test pressing of Babel — as in, only 12 test pressings are in circulation — with purchase of Babel on CD ($13.99), deluxe CD ($15.99) or vinyl ($15.99). Thanks to our friends at RED Distribution for the hook-up!

Here’s how it works: Preorder Babel by Sept. 24 or purchase on New Release Tuesday Sept. 25 and you’ll be entered to win. Babel will be featured during our New Release Tuesday Listening Party at 6 p.m. on the 25th. Once the album is has been played in its entirety, we will draw the winner at random (NOTE: You need not be present to win.)

Unlike other New Release Tuesday Listening Party raffles, you must purchase the album to be eligible to win the test pressing. Given the rarity of the test pressing, we want it to go home with an honest-to-goodness Mumford & Sons fan instead of some dude who’s just gonna flip it on eBay the next day.

A limited number of Mumford & Sons silk-screened posters are also on the way to hand out free with purchase of Babel (including preorders). See, told you we were making a big fuss.

Good luck!