New Release Round-Up 08-10-18

Death Grips - Year of the Snitch - Harvest
Year of the Snitch is the sixth studio album by experimental hip hop group Death Grips, released this week through Third Worlds and Harvest Records. LP and Indie Exclusive Clear LP to follow next month. 

Jason Mraz - Know. - Atlantic
The album serves as a follow-up to the 2014 LP "YES!", and is Jason Mraz's first full-length studio recording in over four years. The bulk of the album was written against the backdrop of the 2016 Presidential election and its aftermath, and Mraz found himself writing a lot of "frustrated, angry, even sad songs, but nothing I wanted to sing." Instead he has chosen to convey an uplifting, positive message. Know. was produced by Andrew Wells, who brings an organic and groovy feel to the album's classic, acoustic rock sound.

Shooter Jennings - Shooter - Low Country Sound
Ever the outlaw, Shooter Jennings has now crafted what might well be his most truly idiosyncratic work thus far, Shooter. Produced by longtime friend and collaborator, Low Country Sound founder Dave Cobb, at the renowned RCA Studio A on Nashville's Music Row, the album sees Jennings staking out a fairly straightforward goal: to simply make a great country record. It should be noted, Jennings' last studio album was a genuinely visionary tribute to Giorgio Moroder so in some ways, making a straight up country record is as much of a left turn as anything else in his brilliantly mercurial career thus far. But with songs like "Fast Horses & Good Hideouts" or the raucous "I'm Wild & My Woman Is Crazy," Jennings more than affirms his mission by returning to country's original, if oft misplaced, mandate: singing songs about growing up and getting older, about going out and getting trashed. In short, making music for real people with real lives. With SHOOTER, Jennings truly puts his own mark on country music, living up to his extraordinary birthright with unparalleled passion, experience, and heart.

The Magpie Salute - High Water I - Eagle Records
High Water I is the first album of original material from The Magpie Salute. The album, pressed on 2LP, is limited to 1,000 copies pressed on blue and white splattered vinyl. These colors will not be used on future pressings of High Water I. This is the story of The Magpie Salute. As much as the group represents a musical union of swaggering rock ‘n’ roll, psychedelic blues, and campfire-worthy storytelling, it also marks a reunion of musicians whose paths twisted and turned right back to each other. Pulled together by guitarist Rich Robinson, it continued a storyline he began in the Black Crowes with guitarist Marc Ford and bassist Sven Pipien. Meanwhile, vocalist John Hogg shared Hookah Brown with Robinson as keyboardist Matt Slocum and drummer Joe Magistro both joined him for solo records and tours over the years.

Jake Shears - Jake Shears - Freida Jean Records
Showcasing the essence of what Jake Shears does best, the eponymously titled solo debut from the Scissor Sisters frontman is an album brimming with anthemic choruses and lyrics about the joys and vagaries of love and sex - all of it underpinned by a swampy soul influence imparted from his newly adopted hometown New Orleans. Shears' artistic vision blossomed in the epicenter of Southern decadence, where he had headed following the Scissors hiatus in 2012. Initial ideas for the album were mapped out at the city's famed Marigny Studios before he decamped to Louisville, KY to work with producer Kevin Ratterman (Ray LaMontagne, My Morning Jacket) who recruited members of My Morning Jacket, VHS or Beta, Jim James' solo band, and Floating Action to lay down the album's foundation. With string and brass arrangements by Christian Hebel (Barbra Streisand) and Lance Horne (Alan Cumming), they returned to NOLA to capture the city's signature sound with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Sturgill Simpson's brass section. The result is a thrilling work that plays inside some of the hallmarks of classic American rock music and marries them with Jake's inimitable point of view, humor, and gift for unforgettable hooks.

UPCOMING RELEASES

Great Lake Swimmers - The Waves, The Wake - Nettwerk Records
JUNO nominated, Polaris Prize shortlisted Great Lake Swimmers frontman Tony Dekker set out to specifically make an album without any acoustic guitar. Recorded in the 145 year old Bishop Cronyn Memorial Church in London, Ontario and produced by Chris Stringer (The Wooden Sky, Elliot Brood, Timber Timbre), "The Waves, The Wake" releases on August 17, 2018 via Nettwerk.

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Ariana Grande - Sweetener - Republic
Multi-platinum, Grammy-Award nominated artist Ariana Grande to release highly-anticipated album, 'Sweetener,' via Republic Records on 8/17. Album includes smash hit, 'no tears left to cry,' which closed out the US Top 40 radio panel week-of impact and made Ariana the first artist to kick-off four album campaigns with a Top 10 debut on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The pre-order will launch with new track 'the light is coming (feat. Nicki Minaj).' Ariana Grande will support the album with numerous media appearances.

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For more information on these and other releases out this week, check out our New Releases charts by week section.

Ten Bands One Cause

Four years ago, the charity initiative Ten Bands One Cause began with a diverse array of artists releasing 10 albums in limited quantities on pink vinyl with the goal of raising awareness for Gilda’s Club NYC, a charity that provides free support for everyone living with cancer along with their families and friends.

The Ten Bands One Cause program, which includes notable past participants Run The Jewels , Red Hot Chili Peppers , Sturgill Simpson , Jason Isbell , The Black Keys , and Anthrax , coincides with National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. Since 2014, nearly $200,000 has been raised for Gilda’s Club NYC.

Starting on Vinyl Tuesday September 25th and running through October 26th , The Orchard will release a fifth annual run of pink vinyl, featuring titles by Silversun Pickups, Modest Mouse, Local Natives, Black Moth Super Rainbow, EL-P, Tyler Childers, Soccer Mommy, Daryl Hall & John Oates, The All-American Rejects and The Rocky Horror Picture Show Soundtrack. These limited releases will be available for purchase at vinyl-selling music retailers nationwide, and proceeds benefit Gilda's Club NYC.