It’s 4/20, and surprisingly the herb-friendly bands aren’t banging on the door of this release day like you’d think they would be. (Insert joke here about potheads not being motivated.) Sure, there are a few taking advantage, like long-standing stoners Cypress Hill, whose first album in six years features Tom Morello, Pitbull, Everlast, and others. There’s also Devin the Dude, Kottonmouth Kings, a band called Medications and another called Lovedrug, and the coincidentally named (?) Blunt Mechanic, all with new albums hitting shelves today. And yes, there’s a sweet 3-CD and DVD box set of live material from The Grateful Dead.
But the majority of this week’s new releases are just like that of any other week: a solid and diverse gathering of releases worthy of your hard earned cash. Ontario band Caribou (aka Daniel Snaith) has created an electronic masterpiece in Swim, one quite different and more danceable from his last and also excellent album, Andorra. Okkervil River team up with psychedelic rock hero Roky Erickson for his first proper recording in about 15 years. Longtime KEXP favorites Cloud Cult are releasing a new EP, actually out on Earth Day, but available for download today. And veterans of Latin rock fusion, Ozomatli, one of our guests during our SXSW broadcast, are firing off their fifth studio album.
It would take too long to go into each of these other worthwhile releases, but you really must check out the latest from The Kissaway Trail (featured as a Song of the Day podcast this Thursday!), nerdy hipsters The Apples in Stereo, the incredible soul stirrers Kings Go Forth, the Juno-nominated Cuff The Duke, New York folk-popsters La Strada, Parisian Tango tanglers Gotan Project, Bay Area dreampoppers Stripmall Architecture, cosmic cowboy revivers Painted Hills (perhaps keeping the spirit of 4/20 alive), the legendary country outlaw Merle Haggard, his iconic contemporary Willie Nelson (we know is keeping that spirit alive!), Swedish indie pop band The Radio Dept., and the hard-to-pin-down Plants and Animals, whose follow up to their excellent Parc Avenue LP is both complexly constructed and direct to the gut at the same time. And a decade after its original release, The Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs finally get the deluxe vinyl treatment on six 10″ discs.
No need to see the man today -- just grab a sheet from Largehearted Boy’s list, preview the tracks below, and head out to your favorite record shot (Record Store Day is every day!) to pick up these fine releases.
Oh, wait... This just in: Toots and the Maytals are offering a “stash box” edition of their new album with a joint-shaped USB device. It really is 4/20, man!
The Apples in Stereo – Dance Floor
from Travellers in Space and Time on Yep Roc Records
Blackmarket - Tongue Twister (MP3)
from St. Vincent Decor on The Militia Group
Blunt Mechanic – Aluminum and Light (MP3)
from World Record on Barsuk Records
V.V. Brown - Crying Blood
from Travelling Like the Light on Capitol Records
Caribou – Odessa (MP3)
from Swim on Merge Records
Cornershop – Who Fingered Rock n Roll
from Judy Sucks A Lemon for Breakfast on Ample Play Records
Cuff the Duke – You Were Right (MP3)
from Way Down Here on Ernest Jenning Record Co.
Cypress Hill – Armada Latina
from Rise Up on Priority Records
Devin the Dude – What I Be On
from Suite 420 on Koch Records
Roky Erickson with Okkervil River – Goodbye Sweet Dreams (MP3)
from True Love Cast Out All Evil on Anti Records
Gotan Project – La Gloria (MP3)
from Tango 3.0 on XL
Merle Haggard – How Did you Find me Here (MP3)
from I Am What I Am on Vanguard Records
Horse Feathers - Belly of June (MP3)
from Thistled Spring on Kill Rock Stars
Inlets – In this I, Robert (MP3)
from Inter, Arbiter on Two Syllable Records
Kings Go Forth - I Don’t Love You No More (MP3)
from The Outsiders Are Back on Luaka Bop
Kuan - D (MP3)
from Standby EP (self-released)
La Strada - My New Home (MP3)
from New Home on Ernest Jenning Record Co.
Shelby Lynne – Then the Rains Came (teaser)
from Tears, Lies, And Alibis on Everso Records
The Magnetic Fields - The Book of Love (MP3)
from 69 Love Songs (vinyl remaster) on Merge
Kate Nash - Do Wah Doo
from My Best Friend Is You on Geffen Records
Nedry – A42 (MP3)
from Condors on Monotreme Records
Night Driving In Small Towns – Come and Tell Me (MP3)
from Serial Killer on Lower 40 Records
Ninjasonik – Art School Girls
from Art School Girls on Green Owl Records
Ozomatli - 45
from Fire Away on Mercer Street Records / Downtown Records
Painted Hills - Everybody (MP3)
from Painted Hills on Bird Song Recordings/Parasol Records
Pipettes – Stop the Music
from Stop the Music on 101 Distribution
Plants and Animals – Tom Cruz (MP3)
from La La Land on Secret City Records
The Ponys – Check the Door (MP3)
from Deathbed + 4 EP on Matador Records
Prizzy Prizzy Please - Lost (MP3)
from Chroma Cannon on Joyful Noise Recordings
Solvent – Loss for Words (MP3)
from Loss For Words on Ghostly International
Stripmall Architecture - Radium Girls (MP3)
from Feathersongs for Factory Girls, Part One EP (self-released)
Sweet Apple – Do You Remember
from Love and Desperation on Tee Pee Records
Trans Am - Apparent Horizon (MP3)
from Thing on Thrill Jockey
The Radio Dept. - Tugboat (MP3)
from Clinging To A Scheme on Labrador Sweden
Rufus Wainwright - Zebulon
from All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu on Decca Records
Wye Oak – I Hope You Die (MP3)
from My Neighbor / My Creator on Merge Records
