For the Record
Pedro the Lion - Phoenix (Color Vinyl, 180g, 2xLP)
Capping off a fruitful 12-year long solo career, singer/songwriter David Bazan resurrects and reunites with both the moniker and mindset of his profoundly influential indie rock outfit, Pedro the Lion, with the follow up to their 2004 opus, Achilles Heel. The band's new album and Polyvinyl debut, Phoenix, marks a return to form for the beloved group, while mapping out the emotional intricacies and childhood experiences of growing up in Phoenix, AZ - a process that would ultimately shape Bazan's adult life.
Best Vinyl of 2018!
It's that time again when every cultural, entertainment, and music publication look back over the previous year and put together their "End of Year" lists. Some of these lists start populating our feeds and inboxes in early December. We always wait until January to make sure we get all the albums possible for the year. There are seventy titles on this years list!
Aaron Lee Tasjan - Karma For Cheap (Ltd. Ed. red/orange vinyl)
Limited orange colored vinyl LP pressing. Karma for Cheap is Aaron Lee Tasjan's third LP and second for his label New West Records, based in his current hometown of Nashville. The record was co-produced by ALT and Jeff Trott (Stevie Nicks, Liz Phair, Meiko, Joshua Radin) and Gregory Lattimer (Albert Hammond Jr.) and features Aaron Lee's road band - guitarist Brian Wright, bassist Tommy Scifres and drummer Seth Earnest - with whom he's been touring heavily for the last two years. While the stylistic shift from Tasjan's palpably stoned '70s-country-channeling 2015 debut, In the Blazes, to his more sophisticated, introspective and lushly produced 2016 follow-up, Silver Tears, was relatively incremental, Karma's rocked-up Brit-pop-influenced Beatles-Bowie-Badfinger vibes underscore a significant departure.
Charles Bradley - Black Velvet
Vinyl LP pressing, includes digital download. This 10-track album pulls together previously unreleased material from sessions for each of Bradley's three albums, 2011's No Time for Dreaming, 2013's Victim of Love, and 2016's Changes. The songs include a duet with LaRose Jackson called "Luv Jones", an alternate full band take of "Victim of Love", and a trio of covers: Nirvana's "Stay Away", Neil Young's "Heart of Gold", and Rodriguez's "Slip Away". The title track is an Menahan Street Band instrumental for which Bradley never got the chance to record vocals.
Queen - The Game
The Game is the eighth studio album by the British rock band Queen. It was released on 30 June 1980. The Game features a different sound than it's predecessor, Jazz (1978). The Game was the first Queen album to use a synthesizer (an Oberheim OB-X). "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "Sail Away Sweet Sister", "Coming Soon" and "Save Me" were recorded from June to July 1979. The remaining songs were recorded between February and May 1980. A critical and commercial success, The Game became the only Queen album to reach #1 in the US, and became their best-selling studio album in the US, with four million copies sold to date.
Muse - Simulation Theory
Vinyl LP pressing. 2018 release. Simulation Theory is the eighth studio album by Muse. Co-produced by the band with Rich Costey, Mike Elizondo, Shellback, and Timbaland, it is a synth-rock album with themes of simulation and centering on the idea of "fantasy becoming real". Contrasting the band's previous three albums which dealt with darker themes, the band sought lighter influences from science fiction and 1980s pop culture and produced the album one track at a time without a focus on a greater narrative or theme. Recording began at AIR Studios in London in early 2017 with Elizondo, creating three tracks before embarking on a midyear tour of North America. Production restarted in Los Angeles in late 2017 with Costey, who had co-produced the band's 2003 album Absolution and 2006 album Black Holes and Revelations. "Era-blending" juxtapositioning and the contemporary political climate of the United States informed the album's music and lyrics.
The Revivalists - Take Good Care (Ltd. Ed. red vinyl)
2018 release from the New Orleans rockers. The Revivalists worked with multiple producers and co-writers on Take Good Care. Dave Cobb, Andrew Dawson and Dave Bassett each collaborated with the band on the 14-track effort. Sessions were held in New Orleans as well as at Nashville's iconic RCA Studio B. Marked by songwriting that is both intensely personal and also an escape, Take Good Care is brimming with sonic complexity, celebration, and catharsis. Sometimes raising more questions than answers, it is a reflection of the up-and-down journey of life that we're all on together. Take Good Care is the first Revivalists album since the group's breakthrough 2015 release Men Amongst Mountains.
Daniel Romano - Finally Free (Ltd. Ed. green/red vinyl)
"Finally Free is a lucid plea. It is a final apology and an attempt at the unwarranted reconciliation between us and everything in our path (including ourselves). It is an exploration of how to cope with the certain end created by our own hand. And/Or, it is the enlightenment of change and the promise of all possibilities in all circumstance. The celebration of all things mystical and unknown. Accepting the unknown with grace and humility, one can illuminate in spirit and trudge forward through the remaining landscape. Maybe even see it's beauty for the first time." - Daniel Romano