Vintage Vinyl

Ohio Players is The Black Keys’ fourth album in five years, a momentum with a simple explanation, Auerbach says: “We never stopped recording.” There was his and Carney’s reunion, after a five-year hiatus, on 2019’s "Let’s Rock”, then the 2021 blast of Mississippi-hill-country covers, Delta Kream. A rapid-fire follow-up of new originals, 2022’s Dropout Boogie, featured the duo working with outside writers for the first time: Greg Cartwright of Memphis rockers Reigning Sound and Angelo Petraglia, who has worked with Kings of Leon and the teenage Taylor Swift. (Cartwright and Petraglia are back for Ohio Players too.)
“We'd never worked harder to make a record,” Dan Auerbach says. “It's never taken us this long to make an album. We took our time and did it right.”
 
“What we wanted to accomplish with this record was make something that was fun,” Patrick Carney says. “And something that most bands 20 years into their career don’t make, which is an approachable, fun record that is also cool.”
While making Ohio Players, a title inspired by the legendary Dayton, OH funk band of the same name, The Black Keys were also DJing dance parties in cities around the world that they called “record hangs,” spinning 45s from their own eclectic and growing collections. Mojo reports, “The spirit of those parties infused the album’s DNA. ‘That’s been the fun of it,’ [says] Auerbach. ‘Letting go a little bit.’” 

Khruangbin’s fourth studio album, A La Sala (“To the Room” inSpanish), is an exercise in returning in order to go further, anddoing so on your own terms. It continues the mystery and sanctitythat is the key to how bassist Laura Lee Ochoa, drummer Donald“DJ” Johnson, Jr. and guitarist Mark “Marko” Speer approach music.If 2020’s Mordechai, the last studio LP Khruangbin made withoutcollaborators, was a party record that enhanced the band’s musicalreputation far and wide, then A La Sala is the measured morningafter. It’s a gorgeously airy record completed only in the companyof the group’s longtime engineer Steve Christensen, with minimaloverdubs. It’s a window onto the bounties powering Khruangbin’svision, a reimagining and refueling for the long haul ahead. A LaSala scales Khruangbin down to scale up, a creative strategy withthe future in mind. 

The trio’s collective musical DNA, the years spent constructing itin Houston’s local-meets-global cultural stew, ensures the bandcontinues to sound like no one but itself. A cascade of crispmelodies emanates from Marko’s reverb-heavy electric, dancinggently around Laura Lee’s minimalist almost-dub bass triangles,while DJ’s drums serve as the tightened-up pocket and unwaveringdance-floor on which all this movement takes place. Yet there’s afreshness to A La Sala’s instrumental interactivity, less concernedwith getting further out than going deeper in, a profound desire tocelebrate the world’s external wonders. Where prior albums strivedtowards music’s polyglot edges, such inquiries now sound likebeloved intimacies. Here, Khruangbin’s sonic touch-points —whether spaghetti-western film scores (on “Fifteen Fifty-Three”),West African discos (on “Pon Pón”), G-funk fantasias (“TodavíaViva”), living room dancing moments (the first single, “A LoveInternational”), or even ambient found-sounds (on “Farolim deFelgueiras and throughout the album”) — are ingrainedcharacteristics. This is who they are! Unique and huge (andgrowing), ambitious and driven. 

Khruangbin’s aspirations and commitment to playful creativityeven extends to A La Sala’s vinyl packages, of which there will beseven distinctive covers and color-sets. Designed by the bandusing Marko’s multitude of travelog photos, the images arewindows from the band’s living room onto a set of daydreams,scenes of impossible skies, external glances that illuminate what isgoing on inside. Each cover image comes with a matching colorvinyl. These too are all about looking out and looking back, in orderto better look ahead.

One of the brightest young luminaries in roots music today, Sierra Ferrell brings a dose of beautifully strange magic to everything she touches. On her new album Trail Of Flowers, brought to life with producer Eddie Spear (Zach Bryan, Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton) and additional production by Gary Paczosa (Alison Krauss, Dwight Yoakam, Gillian Welch) she expands her sound while deepening the urgency of her songs, often revealing a wealth of wisdom within her wildly imaginative storytelling.

Legendary musician and multi-disciplinary artist Kim Gordon returns with her second solo album, The Collective, which will be released March 8th on Matador. Recorded in her native Los Angeles, The Collective follows Gordon’s 2019 full-length debut No Home Record and continues her collaboration with producer Justin Raisen (Lil Yachty, John Cale, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Charli XCX, Yves Tumor), with additional production from Anthony Paul Lopez. The album advances their joint world building, with Raisin’s damaged, blown out dub and trap constructions playing the foil to Gordon’s intuitive word collages and hooky mantras, which conjure communication, commercial sublimation and sensory overload.

"On this record, I wanted to express the absolute craziness I feel around me right now," says Gordon. "This is a moment when nobody really knows what truth is, when facts don’t necessarily sway people, when everyone has their own side, creating a general sense of paranoia. To soothe, to dream, escape with drugs, TV shows, shopping, the internet, everything is easy, smooth, convenient, branded. It made me want to disrupt, to follow something unknown, maybe even to fail."

“New Blue Sun is the continuation of discovery for me. My entire career has been fueled by this and it is the only thing that keeps me honest. This album is the most honest and interesting offering I can give today. I never could have imagined in high school, when I started rapping and doing music that I would be here right now playing wind instruments. Ha. This life ride always surprises me. I’m here for it.” — Andre 3000

This limited edition 3-LP vinyl is pressed on 180g black vinyl with fold out poster, printed inner sleeves and note from the artist.

Visions is a vibrant and joyous 12-song set that finds Jones singing about feeling free, wanting to dance, making it right, and acceptance of what life brings. It’s the yang to the yin that was Pick Me Up Off The Floor, Jones’ last album of new original songs which was released early in the pandemic lockdown of 2020 and foreshadowed many of the dark emotions of that period. Indie Exclusive "Sun-kissed" Orange Blend LP. Alternate Cover Art.

With $10 Cowboy, Charley Crockett didn’t set out to make a themed record. He had released a concept album in 2022, the critically acclaimed Man From Waco, propelling Crockett to new heights and establishing him as one of the leaders of a sparkling revival of traditional country and folk music.  

For the follow up album, Crockett wrote freely, over a two-month period, as he wound his way across the United States on the back of a tour bus. The resulting songs—raw, personal, vivid portraits of a country in transition—ended up being connected after all.

“This material is written at truck stops, it’s written at casinos, it’s written in the alleys behind the venues, it’s written in my truck parked up on South Congress in Austin,” explains Crockett. “A ramblin’ man like me, a genuine transient, is in a pretty damn good position to have something to say about America.”

As the album unfolds, you begin to understand that a $10 Cowboy is anyone who has hustled to get by, who didn’t fit in, who has slept on other people’s couches, or the street, who has fallen down, gotten up, and ventured from home chasing a paying gig, or a new start.

“Being out on the road gives you a first-hand experience of how different kinds of Americans see themselves as going through some kind of great struggle,” Crockett says. “The roughneck working the oil and natural gas fields in West Texas. The single mother raising kids by herself. The young man working a street corner because he thinks it's his only option. I would be dishonest if I said I couldn’t see the thread. Each of ‘em feel invisible. I am struck by the battles they are fighting internally, and the ways they have been entrapped by what America says they are.”

The album was recorded at Arlyn Studios in Austin, produced by Crockett and his long-time collaborator Billy Horton. It was recorded live to tape, with anywhere from 6-12 musicians and backup singers on each track, giving the songs the feel of a live performance. It’s a sound Crockett has been after for years. “Reason I cut it on tape is because when you got the right people in the room, and the great players rise to the occasion when that red light is on and the tape is rolling, you get the magic of a great performance.”

It's exactly what he achieved with $10 Cowboy. Regular bandmates Fox, Nathan Fleming, and Mayo Valdez are joined by some of the genre’s most talented players—Rich Brotherton, Kevin Smith, Dave LeRoy Biller, T. Jarrod Bonta and others, including a string quartet. Lauren Cervantes and Angela Miller sing on the album. While the musicianship and accompaniment are exquisite, they are also subtle, placed joyously, yet judiciously across the album.

No, Crockett didn’t set out to write a themed record. Or, through his studied eye, to find America. But with $10 Cowboy, he might have done both.

Bleachers return with their self-titled new album, via Dirty Hit. The album is Jack Antonoff’s distinctly New Jersey take on the bizarre sensory contradictions of modern life, on his position in culture, and the things he cares about. Sonically, it’s sad, it’s joyful, it’s music for driving on the highway to, for crying to and for dancing to at weddings. There’s something reassuringly touchable and concrete about its sentiment: exist in crazy times but remember what counts. Vinyl variants include 4 bonus tracks. Indie Exclusive Blue 2 LP.

Dume is a 16-song album (2 LPs) by Neil Young with Crazy Horse from 1975, recorded during the Zuma recording sessions. It includes tracks and outtakes from Zuma. This album is included as CD #8 CD in Neil Young’s Archives Volume II. This is the debut release on vinyl. The D2C/Indie format includes a litho of the album cover.

One of the hardest working singer-songwriters in the game is named Katie Crutchfield. She was born in Alabama, grew up near Waxahatchee Creek. Skipped town and struck out on her own as Waxahatchee. That was over a decade ago. Crutchfield says she never knew the road would lead her here, but after six critically acclaimed albums, she's never felt more confident in herself as an artist. While her sound has evolved from lo-fi folk to lush alt-tinged country, her voice has always remained the same. Honest and close, poetic with Southern lilting. Much like Carson McCullers's Mick Kelly, determined in her desires and convictions, ready to tell whoever will listen.

And after years of being sober and stable in Kansas City - after years of sacrificing herself to her work and the road - Crutchfield has arrived at her most potent songwriting yet. On her new album, Tigers Blood, Crutchfield emerges as a powerhouse - an ethnologist of the self - forever dedicated to revisiting her wins and losses. But now she's arriving at revelations and she ain't holding them back. Produced by Brad Cook, the album features MJ Lenderman, Phil Cook, and Spencer Tweedy.

Voir Dire, the momentous album by Earl Sweatshirt and Alchemist, undoubtedly represents the long-awaited convergence of two rap titans. Earl's personal and intricately woven wordcraft, along with Alchemist's treasure trove of obscure, captivating samples, combine to create an artistic chemistry that permeates "Voir Dire" (which translates from French to "Speak Your Truth"). Earl accomplishes just that as he delves into the analysis of specific phases of his life, particularly in the past where his reflections resonate with immense potency, meticulous detail, and profound insight. The album features notable Los Angeles wordsmith Vince Staples on two tracks and esteemed rap artist, MIKE. On Voir Dire, unmatched lyricism and remarkable maturity take center stage, while personal experiences such as new fatherhood emerge and evolve over stripped-down, spacious Alchemist production — culminating in what many consider to be the best rap album of the year.

Live in Chicago '23 Limited Edition Box Set / King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

Green Day is not your savior. 
 
But the spirit of rock n roll might be. And as the greatest punk band alive, they’re the loudest vessel we have… to give it a shot.
 
Green Day are ready to flip off the famous, stupid and contagious, by putting a mirror to the present tense like only they can, with Saviors — an inspired new studio album to be released in early 2024. 
 
Amazingly, Saviors represents Green Day's 14th studio album, yet somehow this enduring power trio -- Billie Joe Armstrong, Tré Cool & Mike Dirnt -- remain devoted to their defiant craft that has fueled their career-long destruction of every boundary bestowed on the genre, and landed 3 East Bay punks in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.
 
The album was recorded in both London and Los Angeles under the audacious ear and Rock prowess of Green Day's longtime friend & collaborator, GRAMMY® Award-winning producer Rob Cavallo. 

The Beatles’ double-A-side single for “Now And Then” and “Love Me Do” pairs the last Beatles song with the band’s first UK single. Powerful musical bookends to The Beatles’ recorded canon, both songs are also featured in the expanded 2023 Editions for 1962-1966 (‘The Red Album’) and 1967-1970 (‘The Blue Album’). “Now And Then” is the last Beatles song, written and demoed by John Lennon in the mid/late 1970s. With John’s voice now pristine in the mix, “Now And Then” features elements from the 1995 sessions including George Harrison’s guitar parts, and vocal and instrumental parts recorded by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr in 2022, along with a new arrangement for strings. Produced by Paul and Giles Martin, “Now And Then” is the last song recorded by all four Beatles, a powerful and fitting finale for the band’s timeless recordings. The song that started it all, “Love Me Do” was The Beatles’ first UK single in 1962. For the first time, the iconic song has been de-mixed using machine aided learning and remixed in true stereo. “Love Me Do” launched The Beatles’ journey to unparalleled worldwide success and acclaim that continues to this day. Indie Exclusive Blue/White Marble 7" Single. Limited Edition.

Hackney Diamonds is the hugely anticipated new album by The Rolling Stones. Following the release of 2016's Grammy Award-winning Blue & Lonesome, which featured brilliant versions of blues tracks that helped shape their sound, Hackney Diamonds marks the band's first studio album of original material since 2005's A Bigger Bang. Indie Exclusive Diamond Clear 180g LP.

Red Vinyl Second Pressing

Mississippi Nights: A History of The Music Club in St. Louis chronicles the 30-year run of the iconic venue, even diving into the pre-Mississippi Nights history of 914 North 1st Street in Laclede's Landing. Stories include The Police, Nirvana, Melissa Etheridge, Public Enemy, AC/DC, Michael Stipe (R.E.M.), and local bands such as The Urge, Pale Divine, KingoftheHill, Story of the Year, Mama's Pride, and more. The rich music history of Mississippi Nights is brought back to life with stories, photos, and memorabilia.

In the summer of 1969, the Mississippi River Festival (MRF) kicked off on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Over the next 12 turbulent summers, the outdoor concert series attracted more than a million fans, showcased the talents of hundreds of legendary performers, and created countless memories among the artists, fans and workers who called the MRF their summer home. The Who, Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead, the Eagles, Janis Joplin and many other rock legends played the MRF. But the festival’s commitment to music diversity allowed area fans to also enjoy classical, jazz, dance, barbershop, theater and bluegrass over the course of a summer. The Mississippi River Festival is a part of history now, but it remains a beloved piece of nostalgia for thousands of St. Louis area residents. And now, for the first time, the complete story is being told. With fan reviews, artist recounts, and a gallery of rare, vintage photos, this is the story of what happened when the stars came out.

TO THE EXTENT THAT AMERICAN HIP HOP OWES A DEBT TO JAMAICAN MUSIC, THAT DEBT IS ALSO OWED TO U ROY

This Limited-Edition vinyl release for RSD Black Friday 2021 celebrates the long and ground-breaking career of the artist who single-handedly created the model for all succeeding reggae DJs, the legendary U ROY.

It is impossible to overstate his importance to the history of reggae, representing a status as Louis Armstrong’s lasting influence on Jazz; U Roy’s feat of having the Top 3 best-selling singles at one time in 1970 on the airwaves & in record shops announced the beginning of a long recording and live performance career, known internationally as the ‘Rasta Ambassador’, a status he held until his death in February 2021. Quite simply, U Roy created the template for all those countless Mic MCs who followed his example, from the 1970s to now. Bob Marley was known to not be a fan of the DJ music sweeping the dance in Jamaica, but when asked what he thought of the trend replied “Well…me like U Roy.”

Pressed on clear vinyl (with liner notes by the noted reggae producer/historian Leroy Pierson), this compilation includes Roy’s collaborations with the leading vocalists of the day (including Johnnie Clarke, Lee Perry, The Heptones, Slim Smith and others), on his own, now-extremely rare JA-only 45 releases, from the collection on Sound System Records, Foundation Skank . There are also sides from an earlier release on Sound System (out of print on vinyl for 20 years) The Lost Album: Right Time Rockers, cited by the Rough Guide To Reggae as one of its 100 Essential LPs. Chatting as a master jazz scat-vocalist over the rhythms originally cut at the Channel One studio in Kingston for the all-time greatest LP of the vocal group Mighty Diamonds, they give an intimate look at the island’s #1 DJ at the top of his form.

By the time of his demise at the age of 78, every accolade, honor, and recognition given in the reggae world were abundantly his, including the Jamaican government’s highest commendation, The National Order Of Distinction. From the early days until his end, U Roy was the epitome of the Rastafarian message of black pride and love. His primacy in the forefront of reggae is known world-wide, and Sound System Records gives thanks for our two decades + association with the man known as Daddy Roy.

SIDE ONE
1. FOUNDATION SKANK
2. ITAL VITAL
3. TRUTHFUL DUB
4. LOVE I BRING
5. DOWN DEH

SIDE TWO
1. MR. WARNER
2. RIGHTFUL REGGAE
3. CRASHIE SWEEP
4. FULL TIME
5. COOL DOWN
6. CREATION REBEL

Luv 4 Rent is the third studio album by Smino. The album includes guest appearances from J. Cole, Doechii, Fatman Scoop, Cruza, Lucky Daye, Phoelix, Cory Henry, Ravyn Lenae, Lil Uzi Vert and Reggie.