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Time For Three
Time For Three
Universal Music Classics |
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| Time for Three while studying at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music. Zach De Pue and Nick Kendall first discovered their mutual love of fiddling in the country western and bluegrass styles. Then bassist Ranaan Meyer introduced them to his deep roots in jazz and improvisation – and, from there, the trio embarked upon a new musical adventure. The trio’s self-titled sophomore release represents an eclectic, but natural, mix. Nick Kendall explains: “Like most young people in America now, the three of us grew up listening to all kinds of music 90s hip-hop, grunge, and bluegrass and we’ve always played a wide variety of music. We’re part of a new generation of classically trained musicians who approach diverse styles from the same heartfelt place.” Time For Three features tracks co-produced by Rob Moose from Bon Iver and memorable pairings with pop singer-songwriter Joshua Radin, jazz saxophone icon Branford Marsalis, and folk-pop sister duo Lily & Madeleine. |
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Jacob Young
Forever Young
ECM Records
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| Forever Young features melodically inventive, harmonically sophisticated, and rhythmically alert jazz composed by Norwegian-American guitarist Jacob Young and played by a spirited team of contemporaries. Young and saxophonist Trygve Seim are childhood friends and have been heard on the Norwegian jazz scene in numerous combinations and contexts over the years. They are joined on this album by Poland’s Marcin Wasilewski Trio, a group with its own 20 years playing history. This recording marks Jacob Young’s first alliance with the Poles, although Trygve Seim has worked extensively with Wasilewski and bassist Slawomir Kurkiewicz while all three were members of Manu Katché’s touring band. Drawing both on rich, shared histories and in-the-moment creativity, Forever Young was recorded in Oslo’s Rainbow Studio in August 2013, and produced by Manfred Eicher. |
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Buddy Rich
The Solos
Lightyear
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| Buddy Rich was quite possibly the greatest drummer of the twentieth century. This distinction is remarkable considering he never received any formal training and never learned to read music. His creative genius and artistic dexterity related primarily with his passion and dedication to the art form… And Karate (Rich loved some Bruce Lee. He also earned his Black Belt). One of the musical highlights to any Buddy Rich band concert was the anticipated extended drum solo that normally surfaced during the closing number of the set. It allowed the audience to hear and witness the pure drumming genius of this talented artist. All his musical skills, precision, speeds, dexterity, were on full display. The Solos is just that – a collection of Rich’s finest recorded moments. The performances were recorded in nine separate venues between 1976-1977. The solos range from five to ten minutes in length. We know what you’re thinking (“What the hell?!?”) but trust us: They’re that good. You need this. |
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Magic!
Don't Kill The Magic
RCA
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| The MAGIC! sound distills Caribbean flavor, arena-size bombast, and glistening melodies into an undeniably intoxicating musical potion. "I'm a huge fan of The Police, and I always wanted to do my own project that merged reggae, rock, pop, and a little soul for quite some time," says Grammy Award-winning songwriter and producer Nasri. "The moment [guitarist] Mark [Pelli] began playing, it felt natural. We had this vision, and it all tied together instantly. Everything simply worked like [ahem] MAGIC!" Soon after that initial jam, drummer Alex Tanas and bassist Ben Spivak joined the fold as the quartet entered a Los Angeles studio and began capturing their jams for posterity. The first single "Rude" coasts from a Jamaican guitar twang and danceable beat into a downright irresistible refrain. At the same time, the singer's cheeky storytelling pops out vividly. Elsewhere, "No Evil" builds up into an anthemic chant, while "Let Your Hair Down" is meant to get bodies grooving. |
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Honeyblood
Honeyblood
Fatcat Records |
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| Recorded at legendary producer Peter Katis' Tarquin Studios (The National, Interpol) in just ten days last November, Honeyblood’s eponymous debut is an accomplished and delightfully fierce record. Despite their minimal setup (singer/guitarist Stina Tweeddale) and drummer Shona McVicar), Honeyblood's songs are fully formed and perfectly assured – resonating with deep melodic hooks and the kind of uncomplicated charm that has drawn comparisons to the likes of the Dum Dum Girls, as well as the strident delivery of Jenny Lewis. From the urgent guitar and dive-bomb drums of opener ''Fall Forever,'' the album twists through the gutsy punk of ''Killer Bangs,'' to reveal discordant anthems like ''Super Rat.'' Elsewhere are paired down alt pop gems like ''Biro'’ and ''No Spare Key,'' as well as rootsy moments like, ''(I'd Rather Be) Anywhere But Here,'' ''Braidburn Valley'' and ''Bud.'' Honeyblood pulls in elements of lo-fi punk rock, unfettered indie pop and a deep-seated passion for classic songcraft for an ultimately undeniable feel. |
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French Style Furs
Is Exotic Bait
Frenchkiss Records
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| During frequent stops in NYC, a little band called Cold War Kids reunited with an LA compatriot from We Barbarians. They passed a nearby Greenpoint storefront called French Style Furs. It was kismet. The collaboration that followed was uncharted territory: A recording project that began spontaneously to document a creative urgency. The poetry of Thomas Merton would be used for lyrics. Themes of social justice would inspire the subject matter as well as the unhinged performances. Said album, Is Exotic Bait, lends itself to more than just the voices and instruments of its three creators. They invited percussionist Stephen Hodges (Tom Waits, David Lynch), whose rhythms were essential on tracks like the David Byrne-esque ''Solitary Life.'' Vocals from Haley Dekle (Dirty Projectors), Zina, and Marika Dahlin helped to raise the reach of ''Man the Master'' and ''Bloodstream.'' And horn arrangements from Nick Kinsey and Wyndham Boylan-Garnett (Elvis Perkins in Dearland) fill out the flesh of songs like ''Clairvaux Prison.'' Be glad this happened. |
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Riff Raff
Neon Icon
Mad Decent
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| NEON iCON is the debut album from internet sensation / living meme RiFF RAFF – the Versace-clad rapper known for penning tongue-twisting lyrics that come to life via wild stage antics. No he’s not James Franco from Spring Breakers pulling a Joaquin Phoenix – RiFF RAFF is a real white dude making raps with real beats (he’s on Diplo’s label, Mad Decent) for real songs about being a White Dude who’s running this crazy business we call the “Rap Game.” This is post-irony Vanilla Ice. Or, yeah, it could be performance art, but who cares: Dude’s got flow – conjecture be damned. NEON iCON takes the insanity that is RiFF RAFF to the next level, with cameos from Childish Gambino, Mac Miller, Amber Coffman of Dirty Projectors, Paul Wall, Slim Thug and Mike Posner and production from Diplo, Harry Fraud, DJ Mustard, DJA and more! |
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My Fictions
Stranger Songs
Top Shelf Records
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| Cut from the same cloth of today’s most influential hardcore, My Fictions are a force to be reckoned with. They are unapologetically heavy. Deliberately tense. Manically varied. Though their influences number among acts like Pg. 99, Converge and American Nightmare, the family My Fictions has been born into is one that is revolutionizing the genre today. Since forming in Massachusetts’ Merrimack Valley in 2010, the band has seen added releases to their discography — including 2013's When You Are Close, I Am Gone, the celebrated collaborative split with The Saddest Landscape and the band's Topshelf Records debut, Always Trapped (preceded by I Want Nothing, a split with Aviator and a 2011 demo). Now the band's controlled chaotic stylings and singer Bryan Carifio's brilliant lyrics and vocal delivery have achieved perfect synthesis with Stranger Songs — the band's first full-length studio album. |
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Peter Matthew Bauer
Liberation!
Mexican Summer |
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| The constant changes in scenery that inspired Peter Matthew Bauer to write his solo debut highlight a greater truth about the songs on Liberation! – they exist on multiple levels, they take on meanings other than their intention the moment they left the studio, joined by what Bauer’s phrased in the record’s finale as “the mystery of it all.” Conceived largely on a sojourn all across Europe following the dissolution of The Walkmen, Liberation! was recorded at a factory space in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia with friends such as Quentin Stoltzfus, Christopher Colbert, Matt Oliver, and former bandmates Hamilton Leithauser and Matt Barrick taking part in the recording and mixing. All of this work accounts for Liberation!’s saturated, homemade feel, as Peter’s music fuses a wide swath of influences and technique into an assured, anthemic statement in the palette of rock ‘n’ roll. Liberation! is the soundtrack of one man’s journey inside himself, in preparation for the rest of the world to follow. |
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Starset
Transmissions
Razor & Tie
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| In the early hours of New Years Day 2013, a radio astronomer at the Allen Telescope Array in northern California discovered a mysterious signal emanating from a star within the Ophiuchus Constellation. Contained within the signal was a message of human origin foretelling the details of man's imminent demise. The Message (as it was formally known henceforth) was brought to The Starset Society, who quickly realized the importance of its immediate publication. Risking extreme danger, The Starset Society commissioned a group of – get this -- musicians and scientists to assist them in spreading the knowledge to a broader audience. This group became known simply as Starset. The Message = Transmissions. Come, Armageddon, come! |
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Okay. So more than likely you’ve already made up your mind about Fuego – the new album by legendary jam rockers Phish. That’s okay. Everybody has there own tastes. Hey: Some people don’t care about Lana Del Rey – you can grok that, right? But it’s only fair to let you know that Fuego is really really good. Fuego is the sound of Phish firing on all cylinders. And listen: Even if you like jam bands you know that although these guys are monsters live it doesn’t always translate into a studio album. Personally, we think this is a bit fallacious – The Grateful Dead made plenty of great studio albums… And so have Phish. Why wouldn't they? These guys are music lovers: Sure, they love The Dead, but they also love Boston… And The Velvet Underground. And Pink Floyd. In fact, they brought on legendary producer Bob Ezrin to capture the band at their craftily spontaneous best. After woodshedding the new songs at The Barn in Vermont, the band decamped to Nashville where they recorded facing each other in the same room. The result captures a delicate balance of the band’s manic live energy with the care and quality control of songwriters. Fuego is a remarkable document of a band that continues to thrill 30 years on.
PHISH -
Fuego
JEMP/ATO
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On Wild Animals, Trampled by Turtles’ seventh studio album, themes of impermanence run deep, both lyrically and sonically. The quintet’s hybrid folk sound continues its evolution pushing the band further into a genre-less grey area that defies pigeonholing. Trampled By Turtles formed in 2003 in Duluth, Minnesota. From their beginnings on the Midwestern festival circuit, they have reached new heights with each album. The release of 2012’s Stars And Satellites saw the band play to more fans than ever. Wild Animals finds Trampled by Turtles working with a producer for the first time in four studio records: Longtime Duluth, MN compatriot Alan Sparhawk of the band Low and engineer B.J. Burton (Poliça, Megafaun, Volcano Choir) who crafted a sonic landscape that was spatial and new at Cannon Falls, MN’s Pachyderm Studio (Nirvana, The Jayhawks). The band’s signature harmonies are intact, although the contributions that Sparhawk and Burton added created a new depth. Wild Animals captures the intense nature that goes with being alive; melding the universal and the personal. Urgent, gorgeous, essential… And available on 180-gram VINYL!!!
Trampled By Turtles -
Wild Animals
Banjodad Records
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With Last Dance, Keith Jarrett and Charlie Haden broaden the scope of their duo project to showcase jazz classics like Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight” and Bud Powell’s spritely “Dance Of The Infidels”. Love songs, however, are to the fore Last Dance, with tender versions of “My Old Flame”, “My Ship”, “It Might As Well Be Spring”, “Everything Happens To Me”, and “Every Time We Say Goodbye” as well as versions of “Where Can I Go Without You” and “Goodbye” which are every bit as touching as the renditions on the duo’s previous outing, Jasmine. “When we play together it’s like two people singing”, said Jarrett of his reunion with Haden. The intentions of the song are honored, the shades of meaning in a melody or a lyric explored instrumentally. As Charlie Haden put it, “Keith really listens, and I listen. That’s the secret. It’s about listening.” The music of Last Dance was recorded at Keith Jarrett’s home studio, which adds further intimacy to the proceedings. Last Dance proves that these two masters still have plenty of moves.
Keith Jarrett & Charlie Haden -
Last Dance
ECM Records |
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The Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS) is a group of some of the best independent music stores in America. CIMS was founded in 1995; its current membership is made up of 29 accounts that handle 47 stores in 21 states. Many of the accounts have been recognized by the music industry and their local communities for their outstanding dedication to customer service and developing artist support.
Each member is bound by its shared love of music, a reputation for great selection and customer service in its community, yet each CIMS account is as unique as the market it represents. Most importantly, CIMS member stores continually seek to challenge the jaded, color-by-numbers advertising and marketing of other retailers. |
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