It’s a relatively quiet week for new releases, but there are two albums with KEXP ties that are making splashes this week. The first of these two is O’ Be Joyful, the second album from Charleston, SC, duo Shovels and Rope. First collaborating in 2010 on the murder ballad album Shovels and Rope, the album’s name soon took on a second life as the moniker for the duo of Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent. Like its predecessor, O’ Be Joyful features Trent and Hearst’s whiskey-soaked harmonies laid over classic country instrumentation. You can catch Shovels and Rope this Friday at the first installment of KEXP and The Seattle Center’s 2012 Concerts at the Mural series. The band will also live on KEXP this Thursday at 9:30AM.
The second big release this week is Seattle favorite Allen Stone‘s self-titled second album, which receives wider distribution courtesy of ATO Records. Although it’s been available locally for about a month now, listeners who weren’t within driving distance of his triumphant Capitol Hill Block Party set can now enjoy his summery melodies and singalong choruses.
Additionally out this week are a flurry of re-releases, including Blur‘s career-spanning 21 box, a remastered version of Old 97′s Drag It Up, a slew of Frank Zappa reissues, and the physical release of Bjork’s Biophilia remix series. In stores today, you’ll also find the latest from Columbus, Ohio, band The Black Swans, the debut of a new project from The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart drummer Kurt Feldman called Ice Choir, and two new Seattle based groups, NIKU and Western Medicine. Check them out here and pick them up at your favorite record store.
The Black Swans - Basket of Light (MP3)
from Occasion For Song on Misra Records
Blonde Summer - Slow Days Fast Company (MP3)
from Slow Daze EP (self-released)
Future Twin - Situation (MP3)
from Future Twin Deluxe Edition on Future Twin Inc.
Ice Choir - Everything Is Spoilt By Use (MP3)
from Afar on Underwater Peoples
Illdotlogic - Gum Balls (MP3)
from Dreams in Stereo on Illdot Technologies
NIKU - Broken Seashells (MP3)
from In the Tidelands on Don’t Be A Lout
Photek - Levitation - Altered Natives Remix
from Levitation Remix EP on !K7
Sacred Caves - On The Outside (MP3)
from Sanctuarium EP on hausKat Records
Shovels & Rope - O’ Be Joyful
from O’ Be Joyful on Dualtone Records
Allen Stone - Sleep (MP3)
from Allen Stone on ATO Records
Toadies - Summer of the Strange
from Play.Rock.Music. on Kirtland Records
Western Medicine - Belly of the Beast
from In Transit EP (self-released)
Wildlife Control - Analog or Digital (MP3)
from Wildlife Control (self-released)
